the cureall

this winter has really gotten to me, like way more than last winter. i feel like the cold and gloom are never ending. and i just found out that i can't go on maternity leave as soon as i'd hoped to. so obviously, the best cure for all of this is food + friends. chicago is a food mecca, so why not take advantage?

this weekend, we tasted:
papousas
tapas (favorite: bacon wrapped dates)
paella
homemade guac made by nate



i also made nate be my model -- while he was reading up on jimmer facts i'm sure. i'm trying to figure out a new lens well enough to take good pictures of baby girl. i have a long way to go, but it's fun to mess around.

when broken hearts become one

Right after we met, a boating accident dramatically changed Jessica's family. Our church magazine, the Ensign, recently published an article about the summer of the accident. The article discusses Jessica's home ward and the traumatic events they experienced. We have been so grateful for our ward here in Chicago and the awesome friends that we've made.

Chandler, Geoff, and Nate

happy president's day

nate is home from singapore! i love having a husband again. he's traveling back and forth to asia pretty often these days. we relaxed this weekend...and finally utilized our membership at the museum of science and industry:

very cool tsunami exhibit

and the babe continues to grow. or should i say my thighs continue to grow? i am feeling pretty good right now and love feeling her move around all day. i always scoffed at those girls who would say, "i LOOOOVVEEE being pregnant!" but i get it. it's kind of fun when you're not throwing up all the time. my preschoolers still love to touch my belly and give me name suggestions. we took a vote while eating lunch one day and the top name suggestion was cha cha. perrrrfect.

my valentine is across the world right now...

so glad he's mine.

three little boys in my class brought me roses today. being a teacher on v-day almost makes up for an out-of-town husband.

project

one day, i got this idea in my head. i wanted a chevron wall. with silhouettes hanging on it. silhouettes painted on canvas. i am neither a painter nor an artist, but that didn't stop me.

while the husband was off gallivanting in asia {i mean, working hard, doing his job} i googled and blogged around and made myself a plan. i knew absolutely nothing about picking out paint or painter's tape or any of that nonsense that i should have paid attention to when i could have learned from my mom. so dave at home depot and i became buds, and i chose martha paint because can you really go wrong with martha?

nate came home to a chevron wall. and now, after a phone call to my brother, the real artist, after i panicked about what to do with a blank canvas, my wall is complete:

what i learned is that picking out paint is hard. the gray is way darker and bluer than my vision wall. also, leave the painting to the artists. now i understand why people do paper silhouettes. but it was fun to do and adds a little spice to these bland walls. and when i get sick of my amateur paintings, i'm just going to cover those canvases in fabric.

p.s.
i am getting so excited for this baby girl of ours. grandma sent her a valentine...more like eye candy for me.

drain your pasta in style

i usually feel like the last person on earth to hear about things, but have you checked out zak! design?

gallery trays. so versatile.

love these stacking rose bowls

i saw this red rose colander at a kitchen store and couldn't think of a valid reason to buy it (my husband has rubbed off on me). should have! not shippable to the u.s. on amazon...

with this cold weather, i don't even feel like venturing out in that wind chill so i've been browsing online. kitchenware makes me equally as happy as cute baby girl clothes. another reason why i need to move to the hamptons, be ina garten's neighbor so i can get an invite to her impromptu gourmet luncheons, and grow my own herb garden out my back door.
then drain everything with my red rose colander.

the name game

i like getting my weekly emails from babycenter.com about every possible woe that might be going through my pregnant mind...are older moms more likely to have bigger babies? which diaper bag is the biggest loser sporting? which celebrity baby name would best fit my unborn fetus? thanks, baby center! i was totally losing sleep over whether this tiny being inside me moves more like a suri or a shiloh!

today, i got a nice little list of alternatives to popular baby names...and it just made me laugh...

instead of madison, you can name your child jazalyn
instead of chloe, you can name your child cleta

of course! i always wanted a cleta instead of a chloe. and why didn't i think of jazalyn!?

hilarious. in all honesty though, choosing a name is hard. this kid is stuck with whatever we choose for.ev.er. yikes!

blizzard 2011

we survived snowmageddon!

the power went out at my school yesterday, and all the teachers and kids were sent home before the roads began closing, so i wasn't one of those unfortunate souls stuck on lakeshore drive for eight hours until the fire department rescued everyone. nate is working from home lately, so he just watched the storm get nastier throughout the day.

winds hit 70 mph on the lakefront, where we live. we both watched in awe as this crazy white-out swirled around us.


roads closed.


we walked over to nate's office today through the mounds of snow...
it's almost not as fun living downtown. chicago is so prepared that most of the roads by us were somewhat clear by afternoon. i kind of like being stranded {in a warm apt.} in snow. i love the calm after a snowstorm when everything is in a blanket of white.









snow on the bean




the worst part about snow in the city: it turns to this wayyy too fast


just took this one. the storm has calmed, but the wind is picking up for a nice forecast of -30 tonight. roads are still closed and hopefully school will be cancelled again tomorrow. blizzard warning has expired...let the wind storm warning begin!