Let's Talk!

I'm linking up again with Andrea and Erika.

Today we're talking about guys. Men. Dudes.

My kind of talk!

There are two main men in my life.

The first is The Agent, my husband. I met him when I was 27, and we got married on the third anniversary of the day we met. We've been married for 11 years now.

The Agent is a quiet guy, not a big talker unless he's had a few cocktails (which he often requires in order to exist in social situations), is incredibly smart, but will often overthink simple questions.

The Agent can fix anything. We bought our home as a fixer upper and he did almost all of the work himself. He can tile, put in wood floors, and carpentry. I don't know how big of a deal this is, but it's a big deal to me!

The Agent rarely gets mad at me. I, on the other hand, get mad at him constantly. Pick up your socks. Rinse off your plate. Please don't leave your drill on the dining room table. But we balance each other out. We complete each other.

The other guy in my life is my son, BK, who came into my life almost 7 years ago, after we waited for three years. You can read about his story here.

BK is my love bug. He is the sweetest little boy. People are always commenting on how well behaved he is when we're out and about.

It is amazing to me that someone so sweet can also have quite a bit of the devil in him. He is only in the first grade, and has already been suspended multiple times (the most recent being last week). He has problems with hands on contact, and he has a  problem with lying, even when we have told him we know what the truth is.

BK is my sporty guy. He excels at all things athletic, but especially baseball. He is about to start his third year of little league. He's kind of a big deal.

His academics... need a little work. The school is threatening to hold him back, not because he can't do the work, but because he refuses to sit down in his seat long enough to actually do the work. He's one of the younger first graders, so I wouldn't really mind holding him back, but his problem is behavioral, so I'm not sure that staying another year in first grade would help at all. I'm just not sure how to get him to behave.  Poor little naughty boy.

BK is a mack. All girls love him. I can imagine him being one of those cool high school jocks, and all the girls sit at home, waiting for BK to call them and ask them to the Homecoming Dance. I just home that he isn't also the bully who stuffs the nerds into their lockers. At this point, it could go either way.

So those are my menfolk! Who are the guys in your life?

The Real Girl's Guide to What I Wore Wednesday

I went wine tasting with my girlfriends this weekend and wore this casual little outfit:

The lighting isn't great. Here I am with my girlfriends: 

The shirt is from Target. Target has really stepped up their game this season! So many cute and fun options. I was having a large in charge day when I bought this, so I got an XL, and it's a little baggy around the armpits now. I could have worn the large.

The jean capris are also from Target. Fyi, white jeans are not forgiving. But I live in California, and there are rules here. I'm wearing a size 16 and they're too tight. However, these Capris look better on me than most white capris, so I'm running with it.

I can't find the cardigan sweater, but I got it at New York and Co a few years ago. I can't find anything similar from NY and Co, but I have a very similar sweater from Target, found here.

I can't tell you about the sandals, other than they're cute little blingy sandals. I got them Ross last year, so good luck finding them! :) 

The Top 5 Most Romantic Movies.... According to a guy

Happy Valentine's Day!

With the arrival of Cupid and his arrow, Netflix and RedBox are trying to convince us of the romantic movies we need to watch. When Harry Met Sally, P.S. I Love You, The Notebook.... all good movies. 

But these are all decidedly chick flicks, and not quite the movie that your guy might want to watch. And let's face it, Valentine's Day is for guys too, right? Right! So I asked The Agent to help me out, and he came up with his top Five Favorite Romance Movies! 

Willow-- Google says  "Enter the world of "Willow." Journey to the far corners of your imagination, to a land of myth and magic, where dream and reality live side by side ... to a place that never existed, a time that never was. It is a world where a young man named Willow lives out an adventure that explodes beyond the boundaries of his own hopes and fears."

The Agent's take: "Two of the main characters, despite differences in social status, money, upbringing, etc, come together because they have the same moral beliefs."

Why you might like it: Val Kilmar stars, and is looking all kinds of hot in it. 

The Princess Bride-- Google says  "A fairy tale adventure about a beautiful young woman and her one true love. He must find her after a long separation and save her. They must battle the evils of the mythical kingdom of Florin to be reunited with each other. Based on the William Goldman novel "The Princess Bride" which earned its own loyal audience."

The Agent's take: "Despite falling on love while young and being separated by years and miles, they were ultimately drawn together to find each other."

Why you might like it: I actually love this movie. He never stops loving her. He never gives up on her.  I'm not entirely sure why-- she doesn't seem to contribute anything to the relationship. 

The War of the Roses--  Google says: "After 17 years of marriage, Barbara (Kathleen Turner) and Oliver Rose (Michael Douglas) want out. The trouble is, neither one wants to part with their opulent home. So begins a long war between husband and wife, reaching farcical heights that leave much of the house -- not to mention their lives -- in shambles. The couple's children (Sean Astin, Heather Fairfield) watch in horror while lawyer Gavin D'Amato (Danny DeVito) tries his best to stem the bloodshed."

The Agent's take: "The two start off madly in love and then grow apart... and yet the husband continues to love her, even though they outwardly despise each other."

Why you might like it: Remember the 80's movies Romancing the Stone and The Jewel of the Nile? You can imagine that this is their not so happily ever after.

Fatal Attraction-- Google says: "For Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas), life is good. He is on the rise at his New York law firm, is happily married to his wife, Beth (Anne Archer), and has a loving daughter. But, after a casual fling with a sultry book editor named Alex (Glenn Close), everything changes. Jilted by Dan, Alex becomes unstable, her behavior escalating from aggressive pursuit to obsessive stalking. Dan realizes that his main problem is not hiding his affair, but rather saving himself and his family."

The Agent's take: "She's completely infatuated with him. She will stop at nothing to get the man she loves. Unrequited love is the most romantic love of all."

Why you might like it: I would NEVER consider this a romance. No, this is a thriller all the way. But you can snuggle up with your man and watch this with him and know that he will NEVER cheat on you after seeing this. 

Princess and the Frog-- Google says: "Hardworking and ambitious, Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) dreams of one day opening the finest restaurant in New Orleans. Her dream takes a slight detour when she meets Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos), who has been turned into an amphibian by evil Dr. Facilier. Mistaking her for a princess and hoping to break the spell, Naveen plants a kiss on poor Tiana -- thereby turning her into a frog as well. The pair hop along on an adventure through the bayous to seek the help of a powerful voodoo priestess." 

The Agent's take: "When a girl and a boy fall in love, despite outward appearances, they fall in love with each other's inner beauty, and against all odds, they lived happily ever after."

Why you might like it: Well, it's a Disney musical, so that in itself makes it pretty cool. 

Personally, my favorite romance is P.S. I Love You. I always cry from the first line to the ending credits, but I love it. What's your favorite romance? What's your guy's? Are you able to meet somewhere in the middle?

January recap and goals for February

It's time to recap those January goals and make some new goals for February!

1. Read at least three books. NAILED IT! I actually read 8. These are the books I read this month:

For The Right Reasons by Sean Lowe. You know I am a Bachelor fan, so I had to read Sean's book! I liked it... He's not perfect, he made mistakes, but he's learning and he loves Catherine. This was an easy read and an entertaining story, especially if you're a Bachelor fan.

The Home Series by Megan Nugen Isbell. There are five books in this series (and more are coming), and I read them ALL this month. The series is centered around Riley Rivas, who moved to a tiny town in Kansas her senior year of high school, after living in Boston her entire childhood. The series follows her love life as she grows up (and later focuses on other characters).  I was really sucked in from the first book! It's a love story, but it's not dirty at all. It's romantic.

Country Heaven by Ava Miles. This was free on my Kindle, so I gave it a shot. This is another romance, about a country mega star who (spoiler alert!) falls in love with his cook while they're on tour together.  It was OK. Good enough to keep me entertained, but not quite good enough to make me want to run out and buy the next book.... although there is a loose end that still needs to be dealt with, so I may spend the $4 after I read a few more books that I already own!

The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty. This is the 3rd book of hers that I read, and they've all been great. Lots of plot twists and turns. This book was a STEAL at 1.99 for kindle (most of her books at $10+). Although this book was still quite good, it was my least favorite of Liane Moriarty's (there's one huge plot hole that I can't get past.... perhaps the reason why this book is so much cheaper than the rest.

2. Lose 5+ pounds. Well, I didn't lose 5 pounds. On January 1st, I was the heaviest I've ever been: 243. As of this morning, I am 239.9.  That's progress! Every little bit helps!

3. Make 2 new recipes. I almost didn't make this goal. It's just so much easier to make the same things every night. But I made crock pot chicken parmesan from a recipe I found here, and I made deep fried zucchini chips from a recipe I found here. I may or may not be posting about these next week. To be determined.


4. Limit Candy Crush to one night a week. Success! I actually didn't play Candy Crush AT ALL in January. Hence the reason I read so much!

It was a successful month! Now here are some goals for February:

1. Lose 5 pounds. I need to keep the momentum going! I'd love to lose 50 pounds this year, but it's one step at a time!

2. Read 3 more books. Any suggestions?

3. Design and make cute Valentines for the kids to pass out. I actually need to get on this ASAP. I am leaving for a business trip on the 9th and won't be back before Valentine's Day, and I doubt that The Agent would be able to recreate whatever cuteness I have in my head.

4. Throw a fabulous party for Bug. She originally wanted to have it a laser tag place. Sounds easy enough! But then she sprung on me that she'd rather have a slumber party. Oh Mylanta! I'm not sure that I'm ready to take that on!

What do you have planned for this short month of love? Anything special?

(ETA-- Linking up with Angie and Karen, so we can all share in our successes and challenges!)

Weekend update-- I'm a sports mom

I cannot fathom how it’s February already. Nor can I comprehend that my February is already booked pretty solid.

BK’s baseball draft was on Saturday. He did…. OK. First he was thrown three balls, like pop ups. He was supposed to catch the ball from the outfield, and then throw it to first base. He caught one of the three balls, but was able to throw them all back with ease. Then three grounders were hit to him, which he again needed to stop and throw back. He missed one completely and had to run to catch it, but was able to throw it back from the outfield. He stopped the other two and threw them back, although one throw completely missed his mark. Finally, he had to hit the ball from a pitching machine. He was given 5 pitches, and he hit three of them.

We only took video, so this is a still shot from the video. Ready to play!

Overall, I thought he did well. He wasn’t the best kid there, but he was by no means the worse. And BK was just happy to be out there playing ball. He said, “I think I’m going to get drafted to the A’s!” We’ll see!

I actually missed the tail end of the baseball draft because Bug and I had to go to her basketball game. She gets better every game, and you can tell that she’s really enjoying herself! She still hasn’t scored during a game, but she is clearly better on defense than offense. She had some awesome blocks: DENIED!

I need to get a phone with a better camera. This would have been an awesome shot! 

After the game, I worked on Bug’s birthday invitation. She has convinced me to let her have a slumber party for her 10^th birthday. I’m such a sucker!

I would love to take credit for the cuteness of this design, but I can’t. The original design came from Note-able Chic. She has a totally cute etsy shop, check it out here! 

On Sunday, I went grocery shopping while The Agent worked on my fireplace. The process is painfully slow, but it’s coming together, one step at a time!

Bug spent Sunday afternoon working on a project for her girl scout troop. She had to read the news, find an issue that’s important to the community, write a letter to a politician giving her opinion about the subject, and then give a presentation to the rest of the troop. She decided to write about the water contamination in our city (something that Erin Brockovich has decided to get her nosy butt involved in). The subject was a little over her head, but she did a good job. She also made a poster as a visual aid.

TTHM stands for Total Trihalomethane-- a yucky bacteria that's growing in our water pipes

Hope you all had a great weekend!