getting my fix

i am completely addicted to stitch fix.

fix #5 arrived last week, and it may be the best one yet. because i went back to my profile and removed all of the jewelry, all five items in this box were pieces of clothing - just the way i like it. 

first, i tried on these fabulous brick red skinny cords by kut from the kloth.

this is a really great color that will work wonderfully for fall/winter. and they're so comfy that i kept them on as i continued my little fashion show. 

next up: this super cute black lace-y tank.

another top that is the perfect length and drape-y fit for pairing with leggings:

just to reiterate...i'm totally aware that these pieces don't actually go together. honestly, i was just too lazy to change into another pair of jeans for this photo shoot. you know me. 

i dig how this little colorblock cardigan fits, and like the pants, isn't necessarily something i'd have chosen myself. for me, this is the beauty of stitch fix. i tend to get stuck in a rut and pick out the same stuff over and over again (just ask the teen), and this is a fun way to break out of my comfort zone. 

the final piece from this fix is the only one i was iffy on. but because of the "25% off the whole box" that they dangle in front of you, it was actually cheaper to keep it all than to send it back (note to the hub: please don't kill me). anyway, it is cute and i can wear it with a cardi, tights and boots now and sandals in the spring and summer. 

and hey, if you're inspired to sign up and start getting fixes of your own, use my special little link, yeah? hook a sista up with some referral bonuses!

tea time

before we unshackled MIL and let her get on a plane back to texas, we managed to  squeeze in a visit to one of our favorite places:

it'd been a long time since we'd been to tea together, so this was a lovely treat. the menu was still as i remembered, with just a few minor adjustments for the season. this is what i love most about this place - consistency. i like knowing that i'm gonna get exactly what i'm looking for. 

it took me all of about a second and a half to pick my tea: french caramel crème brûlée. duh. 

now, i fully admit that i'm rarely full after these afternoon tea sessions. i mean, look at the size of these little teeny-tiny sandwiches:

my very favorite part - freshly baked scones with clotted cream. YUM. 

the dessert tray offered pumpkin cheesecake bites, lemon bars and simple shortbread cookies. 

by this time, i'd had so many cups of that delicious tea that all i could fit in my belly was one of the cookies. no worries, though. i'm not a huge pumpkin fan anyway. 

group photo op! i guess we forgot to tell MIL to find something black and white striped to wear. 

fun times. and now the countdown is on till christmas, when MIL, FIL and brother wan all come home for the holidays. 

can't come soon enough!

so who's running for chocolate?

oops - i totally forgot to share the winner of my giveaway for a free entry to the hot chocolate 5/15K race!  sorry, folks.  i'm sure you were on the edge of your seat, losing sleep every night, and crying hot, bitter tears over it.

no?

well, that's okay.  but i did hand it over to my friend random.org to see who gets to do this super fun run:

and earn one of these sweet finisher's mugs:

looooooook at this chocolaty goodness!

and, if you're lucky, you get to strike a pose in front of the hot chocolate trailer.

if you do it right you'll be all sweaty and gross like me - with or without a sparkle skirt.  heh.

okay, okay - i've stalled long enough.  i guess i don't have a whole lot of runner friends after all, because even after tweeting and facebook-ing a link to the giveaway, i still only had 21 entries by noon last friday.  but that made the playing field a lot smaller for those of you who did enter!  and here's what i got from random:

commenter #13 was…(drumroll please)

congrats, drew!  drop me an e-mail when you get a chance and i'll connect you to my hot chocolate homies for your promo code.  if i'm not mistaken, you're pretty tight with one of my favorite runner friends, so i'm sure i'll see you both at the race!

no shots for you!

so because i am a big ol' chicken shit, i totally made sure to schedule the bean's annual birthday checkup to happen while MIL was in town.  i'm awful when it comes to her getting shots (which i'm sure you already knew), and having her grandma there always comforts and calms her.  and to make it even better, her beloved sister came along too, for moral support.  although she didn't know what was happening that day when we picked her up from school.  when i tried to prep her a couple of weeks prior, she shut me down.  "mommy, i don't want to talk about it."  and so we didn't.

and as if on cue, when we pulled into the parking lot for our local kaiser clinic, she semi-flipped out.  "WHY ARE WE HEEEEEEEEEERE?" came shrieking from the back seat.  MIL did her best to offer some soothing words and a hug, and although she didn't cry (much), we did have to practically pry her out of the car.  if it weren't such a bummer, it'd have been pretty comical.  we must have looked ridiculous to anyone who may have walked by.  luckily, it was at an off time and there was no one around.

she may not have been particularly happy to be there, but changing into the hospital gown ("what IS this thing??") and having a squishy friend to hug lessened the anxiety.  not to mention, hearing that she wouldn't have to endure any needle pokes for another five years finally brought the "hey, kool aid!" grin out.  oh, happy day!

the checkup was quick and easy.  although we yet again had to endure a lecture from the doctor on the bean's weight.  apparently, she's somewhere in the 90s for weight and the 80s for height.  if you ask me, i think the numbers are all bullshit.  while she's not a skinny minnie, she's a healthy kid who's active damn near every day of the week.  and the pattern of her weight and height isn't a new thing.  i could see if she'd gained a boatload of poundage from one visit to the next, but it's all been steady.  ugh.

eye exam.  crushed it.

i'd been prepared to let her skip that afternoon's gymnastics class, thinking there would be tears and agony over a round of immunizations.  but since all was well and we'd even celebrated with an ice cream cone (yeah, i know, shut it), the leotard was on and off she went.

did i mention that she also tested out of both levels of the beginning class and is now in the intermediate 1 group?  oh, yeah.

big things happening for the bean these days, people.  big things!

coffee, kelly and coupons

i love starbucks like it's a family member.  actually, with the frequency of my visits, i suppose it pretty much is.

but there are days when i just don't feel like putting on pants and going out for my beloved iced caramel macchiato.  luckily, we have a sweet keurig machine that comes in handy for times like that.  and i recently got a chance to sample some of green mountain coffee's three continent blend, from their fair trade certified k-cups line.


i never really paid much attention to stuff like this before.  well, i knew that something labeled "fair trade certified" likely meant that it was a product that deserves support, but didn't really give it a lot of thought.  so i decided to get myself a little edumacation at the green mountain coffee website.

hey, look - kelly clarkson is a big supporter too!  KELLY CLARKSON!!  (i hope you saw "40-year-old virgin," because otherwise that just isn't funny)

so here's what i learned - choosing fair trade certified coffee means that i'm supporting farmers who align themselves with companies like green mountain coffee to ensure that they're paid a fair price for the beans that they grow.  and in turn, the money the farmers earn ends up going into their communities - funding important stuff like education and health care.  everybody wins!

and because you're so cool, you can win too:  i've got a printable coupon to save a buck on a box of green mountain coffee k-cups (12 or 18 count box) for the first four commenters who want it (be sure to leave me an e-mail address to send you the link).  if you prefer ordering stuff online, i've also got five codes that'll save you $2 on a 24-count box of green mountain coffee k-cups.  these codes are good till december 8th, so hop to it, people.

but wait!  there's more!  you can use coupon code FAIRTRADE on keurig.com and greenmountaincoffee.com and save $2 on any green mountain coffee fair trade product, and if you spend at least $45, they'll throw in shipping for free.  this one's only good till november 30th - but hey, you can stock up for when you serve dessert and coffee on thanksgiving.  bonus!

don't ever say i never gave you anything.

disclaimer:  as a member of bzzagent, i received free samples and coupons as an incentive to write this post.  all opinions are my own, and i haven't received any monetary compensation for this post.  and hey, if you're interested in joining up to get free samples of all sorts of stuff to review, let me know and i'll send you a referral link.  free is fun!

werk.

check out the bean's official kindergarten school portrait:

kills me.  kills me DEAD.  earlier that day she'd posed for me at home.  i swear, i have no idea where she gets her supermodel tendencies.

either way…awesome.

i am INCREDIBLY photogenic.

i finally got a couple of my biggest fears behind me: being out completely under and having my bottom (majorly impacted) wisdom teeth removed.

two things pushed me to get it done - one being the dental appointment for a checkup and cleaning that i ended up postponing because i was supposed to have had this done over the summer. the other was the fact that MIL was at the tail end of her visit and she'd volunteered to come with me, be my driver and take care of me through the whole thing. how awesome is she?  

when i called to make my appointment, i found out that i could either split it up into two visits: one for the x-rays and consultation and then another for the actual surgery. or i could simply do both in one appointment and just get it all over with in one shot. well, duh. as much as i dreaded it, i went with option B. 

the office was in a nondescript business park in diamond bar. 

i tried to joke around and laugh it all off, but in truth i was pretty petrified. my anxiety was at an all-time high, i'd had to fast in preparation for the anesthesia, and i'm truly terrified of needles. i kept thinking of how the bean had endured being put under at the dentist's office when she was so tiny, and i just kept telling myself that if she could do it, so could i. 

the first part was easy. the x-ray machine was giant and i had to bite down on a plastic stick and hold still while the machine rotated around me and took the x-rays. the image was already up on a monitor when i came in and sat in the chair. 

can you say "freaking out silently"?

the oral surgeon came in, briefly discussed what would be happening next, and then i was filling out a plethora of forms and signing a bunch of acknowledgments. the next thing i knew, i was being shown into another room where nurses were busily prepping for my procedure.

i had one monitor stuck to my belly, on on either side of my chest and my arms were strapped down. the nurse knew that i was stressed over the needle and the anesthesia, and she assured me that they used a small gauge needle...the kind they use on little kids. that made me feel a lot better, and it showed in my blood pressure. they'd had to check it three times because it was higher than normal due to my anxiety. 

the doctor strode in, got a quick briefing on my stats and wasted no time in sticking me with the needle and inserting the IV. it stung just a little, and with the worst (to me) part over with, i relaxed considerably. he was pretty breezy and asked me about my kids, and the last thing i remember is telling the room how old my girls are. 

so...i don't even remember taking these. 

clearly, the needle poking was still fresh on my (foggy as hell) mind.

i vaguely remember snapping these as i was moved to the recovery room. i'm not quite sure why my pose of choice was a thumbs-up, but there you go. 

yo, i am friggin' adorable. 

i'm not sure how long i was lying there before the nurse helped me up and out towards the car where MIL was waiting for me, right outside the door. but wait...here's a couple of gems MIL snapped for posterity. she later said she'd contemplated taping a video, and i'm so sad she didn't. that shit would've been comedic GOLD. 

"hey guys, how YOU doin'?"

in the car, i apparently thought it was important to continue the selfies as MIL stopped at target to get my meds and some other necessities. 

something else i seemed to think was a great idea was to hop onto twitter. hey, at least i was entertaining. plus, this answered the burning question posed by the surgeon: am i a happy drunk or a surly, sad one?

we won't even address some of the craziness i put on facebook, let alone the handful of emails i found later. again, i'm oh so happy that I was able to entertain some of you. 

thanks to MIL paying closer attention to the post-op instructions than i possibly could, i got these for soaking up the ickies instead of nasty ol' gauze pads. 

also, DRUGS. 

lastly, knowing i'd been fasting since the night before, she picked up some nice, soft mashed potatoes and gravy for me. honestly, my MIL is the best.

much of the rest of that day was spent on the couch in my stretchy pants, snuggled in a soft blanket and dozing on and off (mostly on).  the next morning at the bean's soccer practice, i threw on that sexy ice pack and sat my ass in a chair. 

day two. swollen cheeks and throbbing mouf. fabulous. 

day three - AKA my very best chipmunk impression. 

day four was more of the same. 

day five brought some improvement.

happily, day six saw me looking almost normal again. 

and today, i head back to the surgeon's office for a checkup to make sure all is well. the swelling is right around 97% gone, the pain has lessened to a dull ache on the left side, and i'm able to eat most of what's in my typical diet. 

i'm still holding out some hope that the weight i gained back from my bronchitis loss will have gone away again with the wisdom teeth extraction, but we'll see. i was banned from any sort of exercise for the last week, and i'd already taken it easy the week before since coming home from the nike half. i'm feeling über flabby, ugh. 

good thing i have a 5K tomorrow! unless i get told otherwise, i'm gonna hit it hard again starting this week. after all, i've got tinkerbell half in january. 

here we go again!