The AWOL Mattress Pad, a Chocolate Monkey and Graduation...

So I lost a mattress pad. Actually, physically lost it. As in cannot-find-it-ripped-the-entire-house-apart-kind of lost a mattress pad. I can understand losing a sock, your keys, a shoe (which happens about 18277 times a day in my house and is on my top ten most hated wastes of time). But a mattress pad. I repeat, A.Mattress.Pad.Is.Gone. 

So a few Wednesdays ago I worked a double so it was my usual get up at 4am, at work by 5:30, work for 17 hours, leave at 10:30, get home by 11:30. When I got in bed that night, I was obviously exhausted but just not able to fall asleep (per usual). Matt woke up, and he couldn't go back to sleep either. So, we hung out and chatted until all hours of night (like 3:30am). Around 4:15am Layla started sobbing which only means one thing: she peed through her pull-up. I am so tired at this point that I literally strip the child, clean her up with some wipes, wrap her in a towel and bring her in our bed. Deal with the sheets later, right? 

So the next day (exhausted, obvi) I stripped her sheets and mattress pad, included blankie in the bunch (this is a serious crisis because blankie needs to be available at all moments of the day for Layla to hold). I put everything in the laundry and continue the chaos of the day. I do remember that instead of putting everything in the dryer at once, I took Blankie out to dry first. After Blankie was dry (about 12 sobbing meltdowns in front of the dryer later), I put the rest of the sheets into the dryer and put yet another load in the washer (laundry and dishes are evil because you are NEVER truly done). When the dryer sang to me (my new fab dryer doesn't do the evil beep. It plays a little tune. It makes laundry just a smidge better because I at least feel like it is not screaming at me when it is done. Only a smidge better, nothing more. My ovens sing to me too. Love that.) I went to get the rest of the sheets to put them back on Layla's bed. Or so I thought. 

Welp. This is when I made my discovery. Now you may be thinking, "Okay it obviously has to be somewhere." That is what I thought too... But I have actually put off writing this post because I keep thinking it will turn up... But it hasn't... And it is making me feel even more psycho than usual. The other day I was looking for my blood pressure cuff and I still can't find it. This drives me insane, but I can understand why something like that could be misplaced. It is a smaller item in a little black case that could easily be put in a random drawer, get mixed in with the toys, etc. A MATTRESS PAD. COME ON. So, several weeks have passed, house cleanings have occurred, and it is STILL GONE. GRRRRRRRR. 

Now what makes me able to move past stupid missing mattress pads is the fact that my oldest little girl has graduated preschool. The next lunch I pack will be for a kindergartener. This completely freaks me out because I do not feel mature enough in any way to have a child in elementary school. We had a special night out just the two of us this week for a haircut and shopping for a graduation dress. She had four inches cut off but her hair was so long you could barely tell. 

We went to dinner and she got a special beverage... a chocolate monkey (sidenote this brings me back to our amazeballs Jamaican honemoon but there was obvi some adultness to those).

Then we had a lovely day at graduation where she wore the dress she picked out, we curled her hair, and she put on 12 pounds of lip gloss. I can truly say my dad would have called her "greasy chicken lips" which is what he called all of us when we had any type of shimmery/glossy lip stuff on. We had to punch a new hole in the belt about six inches from any of the other ones because that little waist was too tiny for it. 

During the ceremony when passing out 'diplomas' the teachers read aloud what each child had said was their favorite thing about preschool, and what they wanted to be when they grew up. Summer "loved playing with the ponies and with her friends, and she wants to be a nurse just like her mommy." My heart melted. We also found out (and were beyond thrilled) that Layla is going to have Summer's teachers next year. I have already started explaining how utterly different two sisters can be... Miss Layla Mae is not the rule-follower that they have come to known and love about Summer... but she brings her own amazingness that no one can resist. 

On another exciting note, I ordered my new dining room furniture yesterday! I shouldn't say 'new' as opposed to 'old' since my dining room has been sitting completely empty since we moved (we eat in the breakfast area in the kitchen). I also got way too excited and stupidly motivated and started something last night... 

Let the transformation begin (somehow)... and yes, I do realize I am crazy. 

Happy Wednesday! 

DERBY TIME...

It feels like an actual eternity ago, but the Derby has come and gone. We had an absolutely amazing time. I actually feel like I have been so utterly spoiled by this experience that I don't know if I could go back. I would be the brat who thinks, "Well the private suite on the finish line was better..." Our journey began at the airport where we got food and drinks while waiting for our flight: 

We took the smallest plane ever for our quick flight, and arrived in Kentucky to music, bourbon balls being passed out by lovely ladies in hats, and roses everywhere. We got to our hotel where they were passing out Mint Julips and champagne in the lobby. That is where I tried my first (and last) Mint Julip. It was just gross... but I am not a bourbon fan. Matt liked them. You will see my drink of choice for the weekend a little later on. So we get up to our hotel room and we had presents! 

We took a super awkward pic of the two of us: 

Then we ended up going to the sports bar/restaurant across the street and found the Caps game. I wanted to be rested up for the craziness of the next few days. So the next morning we went down to an amazing breakfast... Bloody Mary's, Mimosas, Mint Julips, made-to-order omelets, essentially whatever we wanted before we set off for day 1: 

The Kentucky Oaks. 

So this is apparently a race that many more locals go to. It is called the "little sister" of the Derby and instead of the rose, the official flower is the Star-Gazer Lily (which just happens to be my favorite flower. I even had it in my wedding). 

It was an absolutely gorgeous day, I wore my hot pink dress, and we had a great time. 

We got to our AMAZEBALLS suite and I really could not believe it. It was on the infield right by the finish line. It was two levels (a bartender on each level), a huge buffet all day and our own private betting person. This is where I discovered my fav drink of the weekend: The Lily. It was Grey Goose, Triple Sec, sour mix and cranberry juice. Sort of cosmo-ish but not. DELISH.

We got to take these glasses home too. It was light, easy to drink, and pink. Perfection. 

So the lower level of our suite was completely enclosed but the upper level was open. Here are a few pics: 

Look how close we are to the finish line!! 

All of the food as amazing, and the dessert table was to die for... 

Some of the races were on the grass which was even closer to us. You could actually feel the thumping of their hooves as they ran. 

I had to bet on this horse purely because of my job: 

Matt won on a trifecta-box-score-place-exacta-show-win-whatever. It all got so confusing and I gave up quickly. My motto was "Go big or go home" so I always bet to win (except one time...). 

I bet on the following horse (for obvious reasons). 

I got up to the betting station, and last minute decided to bet to show. The horse, of course, won... and instead of winning around $200, I won $5. This showed me that I should never steer from my "go big or go home" theme EVER again. 

The winner of the Kentucky Oaks was Princess of Sylmar, and she got draped with lilies (obvi). 

So that night for dinner they took us downtown where we had a scrumptious meal at The Spire which is on top of the Hyatt. The restaurant actually spins around. One woman for real could not find her hat for like 20 minutes because she put it on the spinning part next to her table and it was all the way on the other side of the restaurant when she went looking. (The same woman asked me the next day if the Derby had already happened at 3pm because California was on a different time zone. After I tried to explain, she still didn't get it so I just had no words. Hilarious). 

On to Derby Day... 

We had another yummy breakfast, got ready, and trudged out into the rain. I swear watching the women trying to keep their hats dry was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. People get ridiculously decked out, and for some reason many went for the crazier the better. This woman spent $4000 on her hat, and this guy had his suit custom-made (I mean, I wouldn't expect that to be on the rack anywhere): 

I went for the big hat, Matt found and bought me my dress (yes, I was impressed too!) and Matt's tie was my fav (he had people trying to steal it from him all day... and sidenote, his suit is actually a tan seersucker. Awesome). 

 Mint Julip anyone?

I once again felt very spoiled for being able to be sheltered from the rain all day. 

Martina McBride sang in the winner's circle and then walked right in front of us: 

The horses raced... 

And the winner was Orb! We bet on him but barely made any money because he was a favorite. 

They warmed him down right in front of us: 

 They draped him with his roses: 

After the two minute race we waited two days for, we were chauffeured to the Maker's Mark restaurant in downtown Louisville. 

I never was more thankful that we weren't paying for a dime on this trip (except for betting). I snuck pics of the menu because I couldn't believe it. 

Every table had been ordered the Raw Bar ($70) and some other appetizers. When it came time for the main course...

In case you were wondering, this is what an $85 plate and a $100 plate looks like: 

                                    

And to think I have always thought the Capital Grille was expensive. But I actually went to buy a t-shirt but they even put that on the bill. I really would love to have seen the tip. 


All in all, we had an incredible time. I then returned to face harsh reality... Matt flew out a few hours after we got home on Sunday for work stuff until this past Friday. Going from being pampered and spoiled to a single mom for six days was rough, to say the least. As much as I wanted to get away with my amazing hubby, I really did miss the girls the nanosecond we left. 

 

One of the best inventions EVER...

So if you are anything like me, you depend on coffee to survive. I never thought I would be this way, but I literally feel nonfunctional until I have some. There will be mornings that I don't know why I am so out of it and crazed, and then I realize I haven't had any coffee. Now in the winter, there is nothing like a hot cup of coffee when you are freezing. BUT in the summer, hot coffee to me is just unappetizing. I am super obsessed in general with iced coffee. Whenever I get iced anything from Starbucks I have to get light ice (even though I love a ton of ice) because I slurp it down in about four seconds. I've tried making hot coffee and putting it in the fridge. I've tried using day-old coffee put in the fridge. I have tried another method where you soak coffee grinds overnight in a giant bucket and have to somehow strain it out. The last method worked fine, it was just beyond tedious so I never did it. 

Enter the Toddy: 

My sister introduced me to this little baby last year. After she made me a glass of iced coffee when it was super hot a few weeks ago, I went straight to Amazon and bought it. Around $30. Worth every penny. So what you do is get a bag of coffee beans at the store. I got: 

It was on sale and I had a coupon. Obvi :o). So I ground the beans at the store (first time I have ever done that. Sort of exciting in a totally dorky way) at the coarsest that it would do. That evening after dinner (it needs to sit for 12 hours), I began the process (it isn't really a process. It takes like seven minutes, and five of those don't count because it is sitting there). All of these instructions are in the Toddy, but just so you know how easy it is... you put the little plug and filter in the bottom of the brewing container which looks like this: 

You add one cup of water and half of the bag of coffee (6oz). Then you add three more cups of water, then add the last half of the bag of coffee. Wait five minutes, then add three more cups of water.

After 12 hours (I have done 10 and it has still been perfect), you take the plug out of the bottom and let it flow into the glass decanter provided. Voila!! AMAZEBALLS!!

Warning... this is a coffee CONCENTRATE. NOT STRAIGHT COFFEE. DO NOT POUR AN ENTIRE GLASS OF THIS STUFF!! YOU WILL BE SHAKY, NAUSEOUS, AND BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS. I know this from personal experience, so seriously don't do it. They recommend doing one part concentrate to three parts water, milk, soy milk, whatever. Sidenote... it makes more than what shows in the picture (this is after several glasses were already guzzled). But one batch really will last you a while (depending on how much you slurp down everyday). It really is super delicious, it takes a lot of the acidity out, and it is just straight awesome. I need to guzzle an extra glass today... Olivia decided to strip her pajama pants and diaper off at some in the night. Pee everywhere (it could have been WAY worse. I know this).

Happy Tuesday!! 

Sisters, Moving and the DERBY...

So I had an utterly FABULOUS weekend. Matt decided that I was way too tense, stressed, and exhausted with life so he sent me to good old OC for the weekend with my sister (have I mentioned how awesome he is (despite the alarm clock issue)?) If anyone is fortunate enough to have a similar sister relationship like I have, you are a lucky, lucky person. Both of my sisters are pretty much the only people in this world that are as insanely similar/drastically different as I am in a way that just works. We can be doing nothing, be psycho busy, annoyed, happy, hungry, whatever... But somehow we always understand each other, can laugh about absolutely everything, and not be mad five minutes later despite whatever is said. My sisters can tell me I look like a train wreck (and one did... last week). We can talk about serious stuff like parenting, marriage, the future. We can also talk about the Real Housewives of wherever. There is nothing quite like a sister relationship and it is something I really really REALLY hope will be a positive thing in my girls' relationships. Unfortunately my oldest sister lives in Georgia, so it was just me and Stacey (the one I live in the same neighborhood with). So essentially all we did was shop, eat, and watch movies. We were so excited to go to the outlets to get some clothes for ourselves, but we both ended up buying a bunch for our kids and like two things for ourselves. You know times have changed when you walk into a store and go to the kids section before you look for yourself. 

Background on the whole same neighborhood thing... Stacey and her husband Ronnie (their kids are Tyler (he is three, EXACTLY one year older than Layla to the day) and Madelyn (less than three months older than Olivia) moved 3 1/2 years ago to the most amazing neighborhood in the world. When I first drove through it, it truly looked like it was from TV, as in Desperate Housewives-esque (perfect trees, green grass, kids outside playing, etc). We weren't ready to move but I knew I would die to live here. We already knew that we wanted to be in this general area (because of school systems, etc... which sidenote, there is nothing that has made me feel more adult-like than discussing quality of school systems when moving. I mean seriously. Yikes). My major need was a grocery store within three minutes (Okay five is fine, but I have three small children... I can't be driving to Africa every time I need milk or diapers. And I ALWAYS forget something). Long story short, we found several houses that we didn't get (the devastation... for real), and then we ended up getting an absolutely AMAZEBALLS house for a ridiculous price, in the same neighborhood as my sister. Not only is it the same neighborhood, but we both back to the same strip of woods AND we have a bike path connecting my street with hers that also goes to the tennis courts, park, and pool. In the winter when there are no leaves on the trees, I can make out the back of her house. It is literally our dream come true (in this sentence, the "our" is me and Stace. Our husbands were fab enough to oblige). So many people have been like, "Wow, you really want to live that close to each other?" Yes, yes, and YES. Besides the amazingness that is living so close to my sister, our new neighbors are pretty great as well. It is a "pop in, what is everyone doing tonight, let's do happy hour and let the kids play, huge party for every random holiday" kind of street. We were welcomed with open arms into the group (even though most of the people here are original owners) and I couldn't be happier. Life is good. 

Soooooo Derby update (we leave a week from Thursday. OMG!!!!) We got another package!!! It is making me so so SO excited to go away with the hubs. I opened it and... 

A hat box, of course!! 

I feel like I have it in my head what people wear, how it is, etc... but this is just awesome and super helpful. Inside was even better: 

Mint Julip glasses!! I have never had one, but clearly I will be indulging. I think it would be a sin not to. 

This little booklet had facts, attire suggestions, etc. It even had the recipe for these beloved Mint Juleps if anyone is curious (and doesn't know how to google): 

Underneath the booklet was our itinerary, which looks pretty fab. It even included this: 

I mean, that is pretty great. 

One thing I learned from this lovely little booklet is I needed ANOTHER dress. And it HAS to be pink. Apparently the day before the actual Derby is Oaks day, which is the "little sister" race. It is a Pink Out, so everyone has to wear pink in some way. I was hoping to find something at the outlets this weekend and I did! (It was one of the two items I bought for myself). I found the most perfect nearly neon pink dress at J. Crew. The only problem is that it is a size too big, but I'm calling this lady who did my alterations for a wedding I was in at almost 8 months pregnant (if she recreated that dress to fit me when I was that large and in charge, I'm pretty sure she is a miracle-worker). 

So Matt survived all weekend without me (I wasn't really concerned. He can handle it better than I can). He told me one story that was pretty comical.. He was putting pajamas on Olivia and I recently got her these silky/soft Disney princess top and bottom set (sidenote... I bought Livi about five pairs of top/bottom pj's at the outlets because if she does not have some sort of pants on, her diaper is off in about 0.384 seconds and it is just a bad, bad situation). Anyway, he put the princess top on her and just another random pair of sweatpants. Apparently she had a conniption, went back in her drawer, found the matching bottoms and insisted (in the form of cries and grunts) that she match. She is 16 months. This doesn't bode well for the future that she is this particular, but it is just crazy to me that she is becoming a toddler and not just a baby. I will tell her some random task to do without showing her anything, and she will do it. She understands me! You'd think with my 3rd that I would get used to this but I really don't think you ever do. Realizing when your child actually understands you and is becoming a little person of their own is a scary/crazy/sad/exciting time (Sad because they are growing up so fast. And no, I don't want another one). 

I'm pretty sure this was a rambling mess... but that is my life these days. 
Happy Tuesday!