I Love Lucy

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Catching Snowflakes

Remember when I used to write monthly letters to my little Lulu? I stopped doing that when she turned two, due the worry for her privacy, the lack of time to keep up, et cetera, et cetera. But just last night Trent and I were talking, and I started to worry that some of the greatest Lucy moments are slipping by, and if I don’t get them down in writing, I might forget completely! So here, in no particular order, are a few things about Lulu that make me smile on a daily basis.

– Every morning she tells me I’m her best friend
– If she sees Trent and I hugging, she run over, yell “Family hug!” and squeeze in between us
– She likes to be in charge of feeding the dog and is constantly telling Molly how wonderful she is
– She uses words like “cool” “awesome” and “bummer”
– When she accidentally wacks me in the head with a book or arm or something she automatically starts going “sorry, sorry, sorry” and kisses wherever the injury is
– She only likes to wear dresses that twirl when she spins
– She hates tights/pants/anything on her legs
– She tells me I look pretty when I’m dressed up for work, and then asks if she can borrow my clothes when she gets bigger
– She can work my iPhone better than I can
– When we’re at home she’s either in her jammies or a princess dress up dress, never normal clothes
– When she gets in trouble or gets denied something she says “I’m sad about that” and storms off to her room
– She lies to strangers and tells them she has older brothers and sisters
– She likes showers, not baths
– Her current favorite album is the Where the Wild Things Are soundtrack
– Her current favorite book is The Lorax by Dr. Suess
– She’ll yell at strangers for littering (see: Her favorite book)
– She’s a master at stalling, she’ll always ask to stay up for “12 more minutes”
– She likes to lay nose-to-nose in her bed before she’ll fall asleep
– She hates getting up in the morning, and will cover her head with her pillow and hide when I come in to wake her
– Her favorite game is “hiding,” but she will always tell you where she’ll be hiding before she goes there, as in “I’m gonna go hide under the couch, then you come find me”
– She does not like broccoli

I know it’s totally cliche, but I adore Lulu. She is my favorite person in the world. Ever. She’s inching closer and closer to the age when she’ll be totally embarrassed by everything I do (am, say, act), but for now, she still thinks I’m the best person she knows. And honestly, there’s not really anything better than that.

100 Things is Now 88 Things

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About a year and a half ago, I decided to make a list of 100 Things I wanted to do during my lifetime. The idea was mercilessly copied from Mighty Girl, but still, it felt pretty amazing to sit down and pen a list of things I wanted to do, regardless of whether or not these ideas were based in reality.

Since then, I’ve been plugging away at the list as I have time, and so far I’ve checked twelve items off said list. I know, right? TWELVE! Someone call the Pope, there is a saint over here!

Yeah, so I had hoped I’d have more then twelve done by now, but it is what it is, and twelve ain’t that bad. This year in particular, I’ve done the following:

No. 55 – Go see a Broadway Play: Now this one is a bit fuzzy, since when I originally wrote the list, I meant see a play on Broadway…but apparently that’s not what I actually added to the list. So when the Broadway touring company of Wicked came to Kansas City in November, I decided it counted. Trent and I went on our fourth wedding anniversary, and although I thought he might fall asleep during the show (could someone please inform my husband that sleeping at night is imperative, to, you know, living?!), we had an amazing time. And now Lucy’s very favorite song on my iPhone is “Popular,” which is requested almost daily during our drive to school. Hearing a three-year-old sing along to “Popular” should totally be on your to-do list. Hi-lar-i-ous.

No. 58 – Cook every night for a week: 2009 was the year of the chef for the Peters family, as I finally now have a kitchen that isn’t the size of a submarine galley, making daily meals a much easier task. In June I cooked every day for seven days and it was glorious. Some family favorites? Chicken enchiladas ala Trent’s mom’s secret recipe and the Pioneer Woman’s lasagna.

8/4/09

No. 77 – Have a girls vacation with friends: In April of 2009, I packed up my car with an IKEA shopping list and a very grumpy Mara (and her Lady Gaga CD’s) and headed to Dallas to see my lovely friend Abbie. We tried on silly hats, made fun of Abb’s fascination with the jumpsuit, drank massive amounts of bourbon (me…not them), created the best group to ever play the game Rock Band and saw Miss B. Spears in concert. I also inherited a new nickname, Old Balls Black Bear. I know, it doesn’t make sense to me either.

Hats

No. 11 – Give a stranger $100 on Christmas Eve: This is one of those items on my list that I think is going to become a yearly tradition in my family. Lu and I took a $100 bill, and after getting some advice via Facebook on where to go to distribute it, we headed out to the Salvation Army Thrift Store. We browsed for a while before Lu tugged on my coat and whispered, “There she is! A nice lady!” We walked up to a woman who had kids clothes in her arms, handed her the $100 bill and said Merry Christmas. I will admit, it was a little awkward, but we just decided to smile and walk out of the store, instead of waiting for her reaction. Felt more anonymous that way. I must say, it was a great way to end the year.

12/24/09

Now, as for 2010, I’m honing in on a few items I’d like to cross of my list:

No. 7 – Learn to snowboard: It’s the coldest winter on record, so why not?
No. 8 – Blog everyday for a month: Easier said than done.
No. 12 – Go on a honeymoon: We always said we’d go for our 5-year anniversary…which is this year!
No. 22 – Spend a day at a spa: See No. 12
No. 28 – Take Lu ice skating: Already planning this one.
No. 40 – Take a university level design or photography class: I’m starting to feel inspired again….

What are your 2010 goals? Anything I should add to my list? Want to offer me a trip to India so I can ride an elephant (No. 82 + No. 83)? Want to plan a roadtrip to Chicago to see Oprah (No. 18)? Want me to shut up now?

Oh, Wait, It’s a New Year!

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IMG_2767

I hope your New Years was full of sparkly drinks and midnight kisses…or maybe just some delicious s’mores and Lifetime movie marathons (or both, like me!). I had a big plan over the holiday weekend to upload all of my photos from the last few weeks and take down my Christmas tree and make up a huge list of resolutions, but other things intervened. Items that involved massive amounts of baby snuggling and snowman building and gift organizing. And now I’m back at work and (somehow) insanely behind. Already. How is that possible?

Anywho, hope your 2010 is going swimmingly. Mine is kicking some major butt so far.

Although I could do without the negative four degree weather….Mother Nature, could you get on that, please?

2009 Playlist

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It is three days from 2010? Shouldn’t the apocalypse have occurred by now? Not to be morbid or anything, but, seriously. Twenty-ten. TWENTY-TEN! Jesus.

This year in music has been rather fantastic in my not-so-humble opinion. Granted, my likes tend toward indie rock, which has had a banner year with some incredible new artists, and updated work from some old goodies as well. Every end of December I try to post a playlist of my favorite music from the past year (2008, 2007), and my biggest problem this year was cutting myself off! I finally stopped at 20 songs from 20 of my very favorite bands of the year. If I would’ve just had favorite songs (and not favorite bands as a whole) this list would be in the hundreds, no lie. But I figured you all have more important things to do, like drinking champagne or making resolutions you’ll never keep (why of course I’m going to get over my fear of large boats in 2010!).

So, for your listening pleasure….


A few notes on the bands, in case you care:

Animal Collective – My favorite band of the year, by far. The song featured above was given a five star rating from Pitchfork, a VERY rare occurrence. Honorable mention: My Girls…I jammed out to this little diddy almost daily in early 2009.

Local Natives – Technically this probably shouldn’t be on this list, as the album won’t be out until January of 2010, but I have this song on constant repeat on my iPhone so it made the cut.

Citizen Cope – I know I make a big stink about rap and pop music and what absolute crap it is, but if you listen to this, you’ll understand why. Rap/hip-hop music can be fantastic, so why settle for cheap imitations?

Mutemath – Got into these guys due to their appearance on the 2008 Twilight soundtrack album, and they hooked me. Their 2009 offering was even better.

CSS – First of all, their name in Portuguese means “I’m tired of being sexy” which is just ridiculous awesome. Me too. Secondly, this Brazilian band has probably been in your head all year due to them being featured in iPod commercials…but strangely, I’m not sick of them. That’s quite a feat!

Camera Obscura – This Scottish band sounds like something from another era. And given my obsession with everything vintage, it’s no surprise they are one of this year’s favorites. Honorable mention: French Navy.

The Avett Brothers – I found these guys due to my love of this particular song, which is eternally dedicated to my friend Theresa (of NYC + KC fame), and stuck with them because their music makes me sad and happy at the same time. I’m complicated.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – This is another song that makes me think of a friend (Abbie, I miss you!), but the entire album is so happy and fresh and lovely. Lucy loves these guys too, so that’s a total bonus.

Life Magazine – Trent and I agree on few things, but music is one of those areas where we almost always love the same thing. He loves this song. I do too. Woot.

Grizzly Bear – This is a fav band of 2009 for a zillion reasons. I’ve posted their stuff on Crazybananas before, so I won’t bore you here, but you should look ’em up. For reals. Honorable mention: Slow Life

Bon Iver – Justin Vernon of Bon Iver just kills me. Really, when he sings my heart just bursts. So, thanks Justin, for busting my heart. In a good way. Honorable mention: Re Stacks.

Taken By Trees – This Swedish singer was on my list last year as the female voice in the Peter, Bjorn and John song, Young Folks. She made her current album in Pakistan, and I feel like “East of Eden” is so much better for all of the multicultural influences. Her voice is lovely, the instruments used are unique, but blend together so nicely. Good stuff all around.

Phoenix – This band was on repeat so much this year, Trent is totally sick of them. I sort of am as well, but I couldn’t have a music of 2009 list without them.

The Features – This is a band that I totally found due to my awesome birthday gift, XM radio for my car. Yay for Trent and his great gift ideas!

The Middle East – Ditto, see above.

The Rosebuds – I owe most of my musical growth in 2009 to Miss KT (who is now blogging, wut wut!), and she introduced me to the Rosebuds. I love bands that have male and female leads, and this really is a great one.

Noah and the Whale – Their 2009 offering told the story of a breakup, through each painful stage. There is sadness, anger, resentment, and finally acceptance and the idea of moving on, which is where Blue Skies comes in. It’s a great album to listen to in its entirety.

Band of Skulls – This is one of the many, many featured indie bands on the Twilight New Moon Soundtrack, which gave some amazing exposure to some great indie bands this fall. I mean, come on, Thom Yorke on a soundtrack? Seriously! Honerable mentions: Lykke Li and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

Florence and the Machine / The XX – Trent pointed me to the XX earlier this year as one of his new favorites, and when they did a remix of another great new band, Florence and the Machine, it was heavenly.

Thom Yorke – Is a golden god. Enough said. (P.S. I know this album is old…but I discovered it this year, so it’s new to me, which is all that counts. That’s why having your own blog is the best, because you make the rules!)

If you made it this far, congrats! What were your favorite songs/albums of the year?*

*If you say the Black Eyed Peas I may have to unfollow you. Word.

Relaxation

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Last night, after a trek across the blizzardy Kansas prairie to get to a family Christmas engagement, we arrived home exhausted and ready for day-long naps. It’s so funny, we spent our entire Christmas Eve and Day at home, snowed in, and happy as clams to be hibernating through the holiday, and when we were forced to leave our house for a mere 27 hours, it almost killed us. I think we are officially in winter mode. Give me the remote, a fire, some hot cocoa (and Bailey’s if the night is just right) and I’m good. We have built up such a collection of movies not yet seen, we may be here until March. Goodbye cruel world, we’ll see you when the temperature hits 60 degrees!

So last night we get home and Lucy, totally spent from the whole Christmas extravaganza, starts screaming. I can’t remember why now, but I’m sure it was either that we made her take off her jammies or put on clean underwear or turn off Thomas the Train….life is hard for that kid. She screamed and screamed until her face was bright red, and then she crawled on to the couch with her daddy to watch football. Somewhere along the line she guilted him into changing the channel, so they both sat there, under piles of blankets, watching the Sound of Music. That’s when I decided to make a break for it.

I took our little TV/DVD player from the kitchen and put it in the bathroom, filled the tub with hot water and bubbles, popped in a rom-com I’d received in my stocking and turned out the lights. This was gonna be ah-may-zing.

I sat down in the tub and immediately realized something was wrong. The water was lukewarm, barely warmer then the air. I like my baths scarily hot, so this certainly would not do. Then, as I emptied out half the tub and started to refill with hotter water, I heard little feet coming up the stairs. Lucy came bursting into the bathroom with Trent right behind her, and within ten seconds had completely stripped down and was climbing into the bath on top of me.

“What are you doing mama? I love baths! Oh, bubbles! I want to take a bath with YOU! Yay! You’re my favorite mommy in the world world and my very best friend!”

As she jumped in, the (still cold) water sloshed out and Trent scolded me for having electronics on the floor. Well, when it was just me in the bath, there wasn’t much danger, was there? He quickly unplugged TV and took it out of the bathroom, turning on the lights on his way out.

There I sat, in cold water, getting soap splashed in my eyes by a three-year-old. After about five minutes I decided this was ridiculous, and got us both out (Lu screaming, of course, because she wanted to play with the bubbles longer). Trent had checked our water heater, and it had gone into “vacation mode” during our holiday absence. The hot water would be back on by morning. I took the wet, screaming child in my room, wrapped both of our cold bodies up in towels and blankets, and proceeded to read an hour of princess books before she went to bed.

Then I went to get a nice glass of wine….and we were out. With the million holiday parties we had to attend this year, we’d given away every bottle, finishing the last one with Christmas dinner.

So I went to bed instead.

Relaxation = FAIL

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