You should smile more

speakeasy14

This Hilarious Video Is For Every Woman Who's Been Told To Smile


I was cracking up over the weekend from this video. 


Hope everyone had a nice weekend.  I'm sure it'll be a ghost town here again.  So, use this as a venting space, or share something random. 

jenna8984

Hello! Weekend was boring... same as usual, just sat around the house. My week days and weekends blend together on maternity leave. I realized I haven't really done anything except sit in my house for two months. So I'm going to tey hard to take advantage of this final month off and take little day trips. Sucks to go alone because H and friends are all at work but whatever, I'll find some fun. 

We are currently looking at ways to save money since daycare is going to wipe us out each month. We're going to try some of the streaming apps instead of cable. I love TV and cable but $120 a month (internet separate) is pretty ridiculous. And we may trade in H's truck for a cheaper car. We would be losing out on some of the equity/ down payment made on it but it would even out over time with the monthly payment savings. Not sure if we want to pull the trigger. Cutting back on fun like dinners and movies has been easy since we can't really take him places like that lol. 

Hope everyone here is well, miss the daily chats and I'll definitely be back when I return to work!! 

labro

@jenna8984 Ughhh that really sucks. It's such a crime that daycare in this country is so incredibly unregulated and expensive. There are TONS of great streaming apps out there that can be very very affordable month to month. Have you looked at Sling TV? Also, there are some great budget cooking blogs out there can help you to cut down on grocery bills. I would also recommend (if you aren't already) writing down a specific monthly budget. Figure out what your total net income is every month and then start allocating that money to the must-pays - rent/mortgage, utilities, daycare, insurance, cell phone/internet, and then follow that with groceries, fuel, pet care, and so on. 

@speakeasy14 Thanks for the permission to use this as a venting space/randoms.

I had a nice easy weekend. Friday I got to spend the afternoon with my sister and Callie. We made Kraft mac n cheese and salad out of a bag for dinner and drank wine (that part goes without saying). Saturday I mowed the lawn while H replaced a part on the truck. We didn't get to go to live music at the botanical gardens because H didn't finish the truck until nearly 6. I ended up making eggplant parm. for dinner and we had a nice evening in.

Sunday  I spent all afternoon with my Callie-girl and my mom and sister. Callie played in the sprinkler for the first time ever. She was a little apprehensive but she mostly seemed to enjoy it. I think she would've had more fun earlier in the day when she had more energy. Also, she REACHED for me for the first time every which absolutely melted my heart!

minskat30

@speakeasy14 - I HATE being told to smile.  Video is hilarious.

@jenna8984 - I'm glad you are getting out more.  When is your return date? And, yes, daycare is ridiculously priced.   

Weekend was fine here.  Lots of cooking and meal prep.  We also met a sitter for date nights.  She seems very nice and is a nursing student who works with children at a children's hospital.  I also changed my flight to Houston yesterday...I just don't want to do a layover with Ani (and a tight connection to boot) so I am going direct from Chicago instead.  I feel 100% better about the decision and I'm going one more night so I'll be there Friday to Sunday.  It was surprisingly easy to change the flight since I booked it with miles!

minskat30

@labro - Ahhhh, Callie!  She is so adorable!  Your weekend sounds amazing.  And reaching for you....my heart melts!

labro

@minskat30 EEK! All the vibes that your first flight with Ani goes 100% perfectly! At least it should be a fast flight to Houston!

jenna8984

@labro yea sling TV was on my list, it looks like PlayStation Vue offers more channels than them for $5 more. I wrote out our budget and income when trying to determine if I could quit my job and I definitely cannot lol. But it was alarming to see where we can cut expenses. Aaaw Callie is too cute, love that you get so much time with her. 

@minskat30 great call on the direct flight! I go back October 12th. 

PamBeesly524

@speakeasy14 LOVE that video

@jenna8984 I feel like your maternity leave is flying by! Good luck on your mini excursions, hope you two find some fun stuff to do.

@minskat30 Remind me what you're doing in Houston? Glad you were able to change your flight!

@labro Callie is so adorable! Her 1st birthday is coming up soon, right?

Not much to report here - Work is crazy busy with my manager out so I might not be around much but I promise I will lurk and keep up! The weekend was good - we saw H's parents and took them to the zoo and dinner, and then had lunch yesterday with his parents AND my parents, which never happens so that was really nice.

The only thing I have to report today is that I went to spin this morning and forgot to pack a bra to change into - I currently have to wear my jean jacket over my dress all day to hide the goodies. It feels SO. WEIRD. and yet SO. FREE.

labro

@PamBeesly514 LOL! Free the boobs!!! I would definitely be in trouble if I didn't remember a bra...my boobs are too huge to hide.

Callie turns a year in about two and a half weeks!!! We're having a big party for her a few days early because her actual birthday falls on a weekday. I talked to my sister about it yesterday and I think we're going to take her out for a birthday ice cream on the official day.

beachyone15

Good morning! H and I had a great weekend. We ate lots of yummy food, hung out with family, and most exciting of all - painted our bedroom accent wall! We still have to hang the gold mirrors, I'm thinking in a diamond shape...


@jenna8984 - Cutting down like that sucks. H and I have been wondering how we'd pay for daycare if we had a child. It's stressful for sure.
@labro - Love that picture! That would melt my heart too!
@minskat30 - I hope it all goes smoothly!!

speakeasy14

Ok... guess this is going to be a daily thread... sticking with routine can be random too ;-) -- welcome back all you strangers

@beachyone15 your room came out gorgeous! 
@labro Callie is so adorable! That's awesome that she reached out for you! 
@minskat30 smart move switching to a direct flight! 
@jenna8984 Are there any parks near you?  That would be a good way to get out of the house. 
@PamBeesly524

minskat30

@pambeesly524 - My friend is having a baby shower for her little girl due in November! I'm so excited for her. Actually, another law school friend (we were all roommates at one point) had a baby in July too so we will all have little girls before the year is out! 

KeptInStitches

@beachyone15, gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous!

@jenna8984, good luck cutting down. Adulting sucks.

@labro, Callie is so adorable!
---
The bridal shower went well! Many people said it was the most fun shower they'd been to - games were my department, so score one for Stitches. We had date night ideas (and the bride read them out loud near the end), an Easter egg-style hunt using engagement rings, and the purse game where we had 51 items and the winner had 30. In what was the tiniest purse I've ever seen people pull that much stuff out of. It was like a Bag of Holding, or Mary Poppins' carpet bag.

However, it left me wiped out. The rest of the weekend I pretty much just knitted (2/3 done with my friend's Seahawks scarf!) and watched football. My fantasy teams could have had a better week - I am projected to win one game on the strength of Kirk Cousins and Jordan Reed by 6 points and lose the other by 15 points, but I still have people going and my opponents are done. (So you're saying there's a chance ...)

beachyone15

@KeptInStitches- I love the purse game. It always amazes me what some people have in their purses. Mine is already heavy enough that I can't imagine putting anything else in there!

KeptInStitches

@beachyone15, the only thing I carry is a credit-card sized aluminum wallet. I always win 'minimalist' award. The last shower I was to, they wouldn't even let me count my cell phone because I couldn't get it in my 'purse.'

AlPacina

@speakeasy14 – “SMYLE, Because you asked!” So so great.

@labro – I do not make eggplant parm often enough. Sounds like a fabulous weekend!

@PamBeesly524 - Omigosh, that sounds amazing to not have to wear a bra. At the same time, I’d probably be so self conscious that I’d go home sick, lol.

@beachyone15 – YES. That color is awesome! I really do love your headboard.

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Hi everybody! I've been caught up in the awesome world of new-job-ness and holy cow these people go to a ton of meetings. I have to start getting better about carrying around snacks with me because 2 out of the 4 days last week I was in meetings through my entire lunch.

My BF ran the shopping cart into my flip flop covered (read: not covered) foot yesterday and it's purple and painful. Needless to say, I did not run today.

And then as soon as I'm getting ready to leave this morning, the dog jumped on the fence and busted out a board. So I had to wake up my neighbor on his day off, and I felt so bad, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't want Marv digging up his yard too.

But hey, I won my first week of fantasy football! It's my first time ever playing, so I'm gonna ride this high since I don't think I'm going to be able to keep up with everyone else. Especially considering I don't really watch football.

labro

@KeptInStitches I'm so glad the shower was a success! I always fail at the purse game too because I just don't carry a ton of stuff...although I'm certainly  not anywhere near your level of minimalism.

@beachyone15 The accent wall looks great! I actually think the mirrors hung in a horizontal row and evenly spaced would also look very pretty and elegant! Where did you find them?

@minskat30 Ahhh so many girls!!!!! They are all obviously going to be BFFs!

beachyone15

@labro - Thanks! That's what we were thinking too - side by side, just can't decide if we should hang them all (or some) tilted on their sides so they each look like a diamond. We found them at a furniture store called Hemispheres - and they were half off!

speakeasy14

@alpacina Somehow I'm winning in my fantasy league.  I have no idea what I'm doing, nor have the patience to keep up every week, so I don't see this lasting long. 

@keptinstitches glad the shower was a success! I almost always carry a large purse with the most random things, but I always leave it in the car when I go to parties.  Every single time the purse game is played, I get so mad that I left it behind haha

labro

@beachyone15 Ohhh I get it!! I personally like [  ] rather than diamond but that's me...I'm very traditional and organized lol and I think diamonds would annoy me. But it needs to fit your vision!

speakeasy14

But @labro

beachyone15

@speakeasy14 -
 

labro

I wanna see diamonds here!



Not here.

jenna8984

@beachyone15 love that color!!! 
@speakeasy14 yea there's probably a park, I could go sit and read and hope he slept lol
@alpacina boo hope your foot feels better and good luck on fantasy football

audrewuh

@jenna8984 the thought of daycare scares me. H and I have Vue and really love it. It's super slow on the FireStick, but runs very fast on the PS4. We also trade HBO and Netflix passwords with a friend so we have both streaming options + Amazon Prime with the FireStick. We haven't had cable for 2 years now. 

@beachyone15 Your bedroom looks AMAZING!! I love that color and it works so well with all the white you have in there. Glad you finally got your H to crack!

@minskat30 The CHI - HOU flight is short, 2.5/3 hours if I remember correctly. Ani will be great!! 

@labro YAY Callie reached for you!!! What an amazing moment!! Congrats, Best Auntie Ever. 

@KeptInStitches Glad the shower was a huge success! I usually play a version of the purse game with my students at our all-girls lock in every year. It's always a huge hit.

@AlPacina Yay new job, but boo non-food lunch meetings! What kind of heathens are these? Also boo to your BF and his foot mangling cart skills. 

Re: everyone playing FF this year: good luck!! It's so fun, but takes sooo much work to do well! I wish I cared more to pay attention and play again. 

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This weekend H and I were crazy lazy. Friday, my Saturday, I stayed in my pajamas all day and read, watched Netflix, and dozed on the couch. Saturday, H and I woke up early and I made breakfast tacos, cinnamon rolls, and mimosas for the UH football game. Afterwards, @eilis1228 came over and we worked on our sewing projects for a few hours. 

Sunday was an insanely hectic morning at work that I wasn't expecting. Put out lots of fires and went home to meal prep for the week. I didn't steam the broccoli long enough, so it's a little raw this week. Ugh. After our dinners and lunches for the week were set, I plopped my ass back on the couch and watched Toddlers and Tiaras for four hours. 

Things at work are much quieter this week, thank God. They've started construction, allegedly, so part of our new route into our office is outdoors. It's glorious with this new weather in the 80's. Fall is actually here!!

Speaking of fall, does anyone else watch movies/listen to music to get into a fall kind of mood? This is only the second time I've ever really experienced this season and I'm soaking it all up right now. Living in Houston, it seriously went from summer to "winter" to summer again. I'm loving the fact that it's feeling like fall. 

beachyone15

@audrewuh- I *so* wish we had a fall season here. H and I like to travel in the fall, so we can at least get some crisp mornings and orange leaves - even if it's somewhere else!

AlPacina

@audrewuh - I honestly can't think of any movies or music that get me in a fall mood. Mostly just the fall drinks at Starbucks! I seriously love this time of year. Love love love love love.

PS. I love you more than fall, though.