Tales of Me and the Husband

no more snow!

{shirt: asos}
{pants: h&m}
{shoes: uo}
{necklace: c/o lisa leonard}
{scarf: h&m}
it’s officially official!  the snow is all melted except for those massive piles that bulldozers and such have made in parking lots that are now as dirty and disgusting as can be and will remain, slowly melting, until, oh, mid june.  gosh, that sentence was a mouthful.  but, yeah, unlike this post, the bare ankles are not just form over function.  (though, i will admit, i’m a big believer in form over function except when walking all day long–flats, never heels–and, in this form/function debate, steve and i can go round and round because he’s strictly function over form though, i suppose, aren’t most men?)  so, that title is as much a declaration as it is a question.  massachusetts?  please?  no more snow?

anyyyyway, on this beautiful necklace, a brief word: without getting too into it, i grew up as catholic as they come and said the our father hundreds of times in my life.  that line, “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” always stuck with me.  on earth as it is in heaven.  it has more meaning than that for me, but it just seems this is not the post to go digging into all of that.  so, there you have it.  (it wouldn’t all fit on the necklace, but i do get my point across nevertheless!)

it also happens to be one of the greatest songs of all time from one of the greatest soundtracks of all time.  i do hope you already know and love the mission soundtrack.  otherwise, you must.  the music is unreal.  i’ve been listening since i was a little girl and it never gets old.

The Fault In Our Stars. {And, (really small) spoiler alert!}



“In the last weeks, we’d been reduced to spending our time together in recollection, but that was not nothing: The pleasure of remembering had been taken from me, because there was no longer anyone to remember with.  It felt like losing your co-rememberer meant losing the memory itself, as if the things we’d done were less real and important than they had been hours before.”

John Greene

I’m writing this post with tears in my eyes because, well, I just finished The Fault in Our Stars.  I took the book outside today, Saturday afternoon, it was way too cold, but the sun was out, the wind minimal, and with a giant fuzzy blanket and an Adirondack chair that sits on our lawn, I was able to read the rest in relative comfort (and, most importantly, quiet).  And, God, it was so sad.  I cried, and if I let myself, I could’ve turned it into a bit of a mess.  I refrained, but then went to type the above quote, and began to cry again.  I called Steve over to read it because, really, he’s the one I had in mind when I first read it.

I haven’t experienced any real awful hurt in my life.  I’ve experienced some loss, but no tragic losses.  No died-before-their-time sorts.  I’ve lost my grandparents, the only two I’ve ever known, and I miss them, especially my grandfather as I knew him longer in my adult life–we just passed the year anniversary of his death–but… I don’t even really like to write it or think it because who wants to jinx themselves?  But yeah, I’m lucky, I’m really, really lucky.  I pray for the health of the people I love most on a daily basis, it’s all I can do, and while I can’t really say that means a thing because doesn’t everyone want, pray, hope, wish for the ones they love to live?  And sometimes they don’t?  No matter I do it anyway.  I don’t know what else to do.

So, I thought of Steve when I read that because, while I haven’t experienced a great hurt, he has.  And in some small (really small, no doubt) way, I’ve felt it a little bit too?  Because one of the people I love most in this entire world has experienced one of the greatest hurts there is.  You just don’t want that for someone you love, you don’t want that to be a part of their past, their history.  But, nevertheless, sometimes it actually hurts me that he lost Shannon.  I can’t imagine losing him and here that’s just what happened to him.  Anyway, I remember him telling me this, when we would talk about Shannon and his grief.  That without her, it was like their memories were lost.  They’d met in college and they were married 14 years when she died.  That is a lot of memories.  And when she was gone, it was like they were gone too.  I think about how often I have to ask Steve how something went, or where were we when, or did we go there?  I can’t imagine being left as the sole memory-rememberer.  It’s too much.

The book is really quite beautiful, albeit an easy read (hey, an easy read does not have to preclude a beautiful read!) and if you’re not afraid of a good cry at the end then do pick it up.  You’ll probably end up thinking, like I did, that it’s got some of the wittiest and most charming characters.  And that there’s no rhyme or reason to life sometimes.  But, we keep praying, hoping, and wishing nevertheless, don’t we?

giveaway: the caramel jar + the providence story!

today’s giveaway is all going to ONE winner and 
it’s for TWO pretty awesome etsy shops.  
first, the caramel jar.  these caramels ARE DELICIOUS.  DELICIOUS, my friends.
they’re made without preservatives, and have been 
featured in martha stewart weddings, food + wine magazine, and more.  
why?  BECAUSE THEY ARE SO GOOD.
nicole uses organic madagascar vanilla and sea salt and organic fleur de sel salt 
and, well, eating them is magic.
enter to win a
$50 credit to her shop
{excluding baby shower + wedding favors!}
next up, the providence story.  i love the bold colors and chunky beads of these necklaces.  
{i’m wearing one here!}  they’re natural wood beads painted with acrylic paints, coated to seal, and then strung on a leather cord.  i think they’re perfect for summer or, who am i kidding, any time of year.
enter to win a
$50 credit to her shop
{to be used on necklaces only!}
to enter:
{u.s. addresses only}
+ leave a comment below and include your email address!
additional option entries:
{separate comments as each gains you another entry!}
+ follow @thecarameljar on instagram
+ pin a necklace from the providence story
+ pin an item from the caramel jar
+ follow the providence story on facebook
+ tweet the giveaway and provide url!
giveaway closed.
karrie s. is the winner!

easter weekend in crappy iphone pictures!

{last week we decorated eggs a different way – wholly inspired by see jane!}
{nathaniel came home for the weekend and we celebrated steve finishing a HUGE project.}
{being the youngest = having to wait awhile till the big kids get up in order to dig into the baskets}
{lindsey with her loot}
{william, is that you digging into your chocolate at 8 am?!}
{smoooochin’ on an easter afternoon!}
{we went to good friends’ of ours for easter.  she is the hostess with the mostest, for sure.  
and isn’t her table pretty?}
{well aren’t you a dapper gent!}
hope you had the loveliest of easters
and that you feel the blessings life offers all year long.

the newest wendy’s sandwich is here, folks. read on!

so, you all knew this was coming, right?  you might’ve already seen the trailer, or some of the mysterious instagrams and thought… #wendystastekitchen????  what is she doing there and why and what and huh?  cause that is sort of what i thought when i first got this email.  an email inviting me to taste-test a brand new wendy’s sandwich in columbus, ohio at the wendy’s headquarters?  really?

my initial thoughts:
um… i don’t eat at wendy’s very often (not often, but i have and do–and, it’s delish–and remember this?).  and i soooort of preach health food on my blog.  plus, will i have the freedom to write about it however i see fit?  basically, how is this gonna fly?

cause, let’s be honest, i like free things, i like food, i like trips… but sell-out, i am not.

so, we had a conference call.  i told them my thoughts + concerns.  the people (really, really cool people, by the way) i spoke with were like, “we get it.”  in summation (and my own paraphrasing): we read your blog.  we know you don’t eat out all the time.  we know you like healthy meals but are still willing to indulge in quick food that might not meet the standards of the food you put on your table at home.  we still want you to try it because wendy’s is really trying to push the envelope and get on the same level as your paneras and chipotles, and that’s pretty cool.

and i do hope we can all agree wendy’s is already a step above mcdonalds and burger king.  please.  (sorry mickey d’s and bk but, come on!)

plus, plus!!  wendy’s has a drive-thru window.  does panera or chipotle?  (a few paneras maybe, but is there a such thing for chipotle?  i don’t think so.)  big mistake, chipotle, huge (said like julia roberts in that pretty woman scene)!  big selling point, wendys, huge!  and does your baby fall asleep in the car like mine does when you’re so hungry that you consider carefully tipping up the car seat to gather the stale droppings that might’ve fallen through the cracks over the last several weeks?  no?  so now, an option verging on healthy (and most definitely healthy by fast food standards) but also available at a drive-thru.  enough said.

so, as they were saying in my summation/paraphrasing way: we want you to come here to the headquarters, see it for yourself, try the sandwich.  we want you to tell us what you think–honestly–and write about it in your own blog voice however you would normally go about writing a blog post.  oh, and a really legit film company (shout out to plan a!) is gonna film the whole thing.

say what????

this was crazy.

so, the real point of all of this fun brou-ha-ha.


the sandwich.  and, if you’re a notorious post-skimmer, especially a wordy one such as this (i had to do this sandwich justice!), then at least read everything i’ve italicized for you below!


(the experience part comes in a later post – hold your breath!  as i’m sure you will! – and, dude, it was crazy.)

oh, and i guess i should include one of those whole, “this trip was paid for by wendy’s, but these opinions are seriously my own because, well, they said to tell the truth” disclaimers.  there you have it.

{photo from mel}

this sandwich was good.  this sandwich was really good.  is this sandwich going to change your life?  no.  (though, depending on how life-changing you find food, and how often you eat out, i’m going to change that no to a definite maybe.)  but here’s what i will say.  this sandwich WAS way more panera-ish (maybe even better) than it was fast food-ish.  and i WILL order this sandwich again, like after i’m done writing this post.  let’s break it down.

allow me talk about the bread.  cause the bread is probably what excited me the most.  here’s my beef with a lot of bread (no pun intended!).  a lot of sandwiches are too bready for the filling they hold.  you know what i am saying, i know you do.  it ends up tasting dry or like you need to take a nap afterwards because too many carbs.  this was a flatbread.  it was thin and so right for the amount of filling.  and!  perhaps the best part.  five grains in the bread: millet, flaxseed, sesame seed, rolled oats, and cracked wheat.  do you really expect that when getting fast food?  NO.  i felt like the bread had an earthy taste, you could see the grains in it, and even a little crunch in your mouth.  win, win, win.  you go flatbread, you go!

and now the veggies.  two big slices of tomatoes (red ones!  not the white so-not-ready-to-be-picked ones!), and a big handful of fresh spring mix on that baby too.  i am totally the girl eyeing my meager sandwich vegetables when out at fast food places like, “how wilty is that lettuce?  how red and ripe are those tomatoes?”  but this was good, people.  (i know what you’re thinking.  “bridget.  of course it was.  they prepped it perfectly for you guys.  you were there to try it and write about it, girl.”)  to that i say, touché!  it’s true.  i can’t speak for the sandwiches that you are all rushing out to try just as soon as you finish this blog post but i can speak for mine whose vegetables were total winners and say i hope (wendy’s!  i’m talking to you!) that your sandwich is just as good as mine.  and, for the most part, i feel like when i’ve eaten at wendy’s, i’m never terribly disappointed.

the sauce.  first i should tell you we tried two sandwiches.  one was called the asiago ranch flatbread grilled chicken (my favorite!) and the other was the smokey honey mustard flatbread grilled chicken.  now, if you’re me, the sauce is pretty important…. enough of it so the sandwich isn’t dry, enough flavor so it… has flavor.  well, there was a big ‘ol dollop of awesomesauce (had to!) underneath each chicken breast.  and, this is pretty cool: the sauces have no msg!!  no preservatives!  ALL ingredients i can pronounce (seriously, i saw the list.) – things like garlic, honey, cheese, apple cider vinegar.  i thought that was pretty cool because i’m an msg hater and thought i pretty much had to forsake my hatred for the stuff when i ate at a fast food restaurant.  so, yeah, they were really good and i was really impressed both with the flavor and the ingredients.

finally, the meat.  there was a good-sized chicken breast on each, sliced up, with the dressing underneath.  and this chicken – farm raised and cage free!!!  i, for one, assumed that all fast food chicken was factory raised (and i can’t speak for the other two big fast food chains) but that’s not the case here.  isn’t that surprising?  and great?  so, while it’s not organic, it is the next best thing.  also, the ranch version had… meat candy, my friends… in the form of bacon.  a couple legit pieces of applewood smoked bacon that were not flimsy the way bacon can be.  like, if you held it, it would be stiff as opposed to falling to make a sad downward u-shape.  you get it.  and apparently it’ll be cooked throughout the day in the restaurants, as opposed to some precooked mumbo-jumbo going on your sandwich.  pluuuus, the sandwich itself will be made to order.  so if you want them to hold things, add things, i was told that would be a-ok.  also, on the ranch one, two slices of asiago cheese.  so, to refresh: both sandwiches had chicken, spring mix, tomatoes and their own sauce.  but the ranch one had cheese and bacon in addition.  anndddd, bacon.  thus, it wins.

so, in conclusion, i’m psyched about this because it was delicious and because it doesn’t have any seriously funky fast food chemical crap in it.  so, vote with your wallet and show fast food places that we are interested in these sorts of changes.  go getcha’ flatbread sandwich!

and hey, between now and 5/12, wendy’s is giving away $1000 PER DAY to someone who tweets @wendys with the hashtag #twEATfor1k.  so do it!  {official rules here}

now stay tuned for some more about this whole crazy thing in the coming days.  and maybe a picture or two of the hunts eating this sandwich because you can bet your bottom dollar that we will.  the kids have been asking about it and i’m all, “you’ll have to wait and see!!” so they’re basically ready to eat one or two or ten.

and please tell me if you decide to try it and what you think.  i really hope you do.
{and p.s. if you try it, please get a picture of yourself in all your sandwich-eatin’ glory, however silly or not, and send it to me!  itsahuntlife@gmail.com}

happy birthday lindsey!

lindsey turned 11 last week and… i’ve got to admit, it’s pretty hard to believe.  she’s just so young lady now and so much less little girl.  i married steve when this one was in nighttime diapers.  and now???  i paint her nails and we sing katy perry songs – really, really loud – when i go to drop her at her friends’ houses (usually hot ‘n cold – and then i sing nonsense really loud over the one cuss word in the song.  she always expects it, and laughs at me.).  it seems sudden, as it always does, and there’s never a time like a birthday to, well, gush about a person a little bit.
lindsey.  let me start by saying she is really fun and funny.  i told her, as we sat around eating apple blossoms (from trader joes!  her choice!) and vanilla ice cream on her actual b-day, that i both love and like her.  i emphasized the like part to her because, i don’t know, i have a feeling that not all moms are totally diggin’ this age?  she knows i love her but does she know i really like her?  that i enjoy being around her?  this age can be so full of drama and, you know, angst and while she definitely has some of that she also has this incredible confidence.  she walks to the beat of her own drum and often that can imply loner but that’s not what i mean here.  i’m pretty sure, in just observing her with her friends (a little healthy eavesdropping is a must from time to time), that she is a truly nice girl.  she seems above a lot of the nonsense that a lot of girls her age are into.  i like that so much about her.  she’s kind to her brothers (who, i might add, are not always so kind to her) and she’s just got this older maturity about her.  but she can be totally spunky and weird too and thinks i’m the weirdest ever OMG but says it with a smile so i think she secretly/not so secretly likes that about me.  (“you are the weirdest mom ever!” she says and i say, “lindsey, your friends’ moms are not their weird self when you are at their house so you don’t really know if i’m the weirdest ever!” i point out every time.  we go round and round in this debate.  and then, back to our – joint – weirdness.)
when i married steve, she was a total daddy’s girl.  i think having gone over a year without a mom in the house and being both the youngest and only girl in a house full of boys, she was a little bit of a queen bee.  i remember being a bit intimidated by their relationship.  i do believe i caught her side-eyeing me from time to time as a four-year old when steve and i would go in for a kiss.  i worried what our relationship would look like as she got older.  if she’d always be daddy’s girl and was there a spot for me?  and while, i don’t want to take anything away from steve as a dad (cause, let’s be honest, there’s some things he’s just better at.  namely, in the middle of the night.  though, not limited to that!), recently we were sitting around the dinner table and she and william were bantering back and fourth about us as parents.  she said, and i’m paraphrasing because i can’t quite remember her exact words, but something like, “mom’s the one i want to talk to about like friends and stuff.”  just the night before, i had been walking past her room as she was falling asleep.  she called me in and told me about some friend issues – you know, mean girl stuff – that she was having in school.  we talked it over, she felt better about it, and i sent her to bed with a hug and kiss.  and she likes having me be the one to do that stuff with.  i’m sure all moms would be happy about this, but it is perhaps even more significant to me as a stepmom.  it makes me feel more like mom, less like stepmom, and i love when those moments present themselves.  i so have a place with her now and i’m really glad.  she needed a woman in her life to talk about girl stuff and that’s me.
happiest of birthdays to the sweetest of young ladies.  we love you, lindsey.
{pictures from her party last night.  she had her two closest girlfriends sleepover and i bought a bunch of silly prop things for them to take pictures with – girl heaven.  then i had the pictures developed and they’ll take them home with them.  also, the ruffled streamers tutorial here if anyone’s interested.  and i am a dud when it comes to sewing (like third time i’ve ever touched a machine) but this was EASY.}
{and her tenth birthday!  which does not feel like a whole year ago!}
{and her ninth birthday!  which does not feel like a whole two years ago!}

no head-wound here, folks.

{style mint lorraine dress ($20 right now!): zulily}
{cardigan // old: old navy}
{clogs: c/o moheda}
first picture: smelling my armpit
second picture: add eyebrow pencil to the “to purchase” list
third picture: careful of that snow with my nearly bare feet (naturally!)
also, it should be noted that i’ve had this scarf for years and every time i wear it
steve asks, “is your head okay?”  (as though it’s a head-wound bandage)
but i keep wearing it.  all the time.  (and maybe even more often than i would otherwise)
who’s got the last laugh now, steve?

pride and prejudice.

Dawn by Pride And Prejudice Soundtrack on Grooveshark
on saturday morning, lindsey and i were sitting in the computer room together.  i had picked up pride and prejudice maybe a day or two earlier, and was beginning to read it (again) after giving it up for more of a page turner (and this one too–and speaking of that one, i have so many thoughts on it… i was, simultaneously, so angry with and feeling so sorry for the main character.  but i’ll save that for another day.). 
anyway, once again, shame on me for putting down a classic in favor of a current best seller.  seriously, shame on me!  these classics are classics for a reason.  (remember i vowed to read more of them?)  and when i do allow myself to get lost in them, i’m struck by how well written they are, how careful the writers were then.  i think there’s a lot of mediocrity out there–writers sacrificing perfectly constructed sentences, carefully chosen words, in favor of suspense or action or grit.  and, there’s something to be said for the latter, no doubt, they’re best sellers for a reason… but i worry that our (i’m speaking to myself here too!) attention spans are dwindling fast and thus we’re more captured by the latter than former.  
i’m truly making my way through it now, so help me, and actually enjoying it too.  i’ve said before that i’m incredibly nostalgic.  i’m nostalgic for my earlier days but i’m even nostalgic for a time i didn’t know–for the time of jane austen–when people penned notes to one another on real paper, walked in the country, and didn’t have the distractions, oh the distractions, of our modern life.  yes, it had its drawbacks–ohh, the disenfranchised women to name one… not able to hold even their own land and thus potentially married off to the highest bidder (mr. collins!  yuck!)–but as someone who is really troubled by the addiction to distraction (from which i suffer immensely!), reading pride and prejudice alongside a cup of tea and a lit candle is a seriously lovely break from it all.  
i began by saying lindsey and i were sitting in the computer room together and, let me set the scene for you: i had the soundtrack playing as i read (you know, reading a book alongside its movie soundtrack makes it all the more a sensory experience).  i suggested to lindsey that she read it.  she already loves the movie, has been begging us to watch downton abbey (this summer i think we shall!), and had just watched emma a few days earlier.  so basically, she’s into that whole time period.  she’s an incredible reader already and, while i was a bit afraid she’d tire of it and thus choose not pick it up later on down the line when it might suit her better, she said okay.  i grabbed another copy off the shelf, gave it to her, and we read that way for quite some time.  a couple days later, she’s still reading.  we talk about which scene we’ve read, what chapter we’re on.  i walk by her room at night and, when she should be sleeping (as i do remind her!), she’s got her nose in pride and prejudice.  it’s keeping me accountable, her reading it too, and also grateful that there is another girl in this testosterone-filled house.  cause, i assure you, william will not be picking up pride and prejudice any time on this side of forever.
p.s. on twitter, casey tipped me off to how good the jean-yves thibaudet station is.  i’ve been listening to it, along with the soundtrack, a lot these days!  andddd so should you.

giveaway: coconut robot + annapolis & co.!

today’s giveaway is for a loot of stuff all going to one person.
there are some pretty sweet things below, so go see how to enter and best of luck to everyone!
kacia from coconut robot has a suuuuch a great shop.  when i first saw it, what struck me was that her stuff is both seriously well-made and also really, really unique.  there is a lot of stuff going around the internet that’s beautiful, sure, but sometimes a lot of it looks the same.  she’s seriously creative and came up with some cool ideas that have now gone up for sale in her shop.  like those name tags???  the child’s name is written in your own handwriting!  (here’s the one i have for parker!)  and her scarves!  oh i love them so.  (here’s me wearing one of ’em!)   she’s also got these gorgeous wooden prints and, oh i’ll stop there but go have a look!
up for grabs from coconut robot: 
$50 credit to her shop

A-&-C-Giveaway-_-Tales-of-Me-&-the-Husband

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and finally, mary beth from annapolis & co. has a great eye and great style (i recently emailed her to ask where she got the awesome dress she’s wearing in her about picture.  suffice it to say, i want a lot of her clothes.).  she’s put together her own giveaway (+ cool graphic to showcase it) for one person to take home.  it’s got so many fun things in it — gimme those pins and that polish please.  so, go on over and visit her blog.  and then you can wonder, with me, how she has time for it all.  like this for instance!  (seriously, mary beth, how??)

up for grabs from annapolis & co.:
all that’s pictured above!

to enter:
{u.s. addresses only!}
+ leave a comment with your email address

additional entries:
{each can be a separate comment}
+ pin an item from coconut robot shop
+ pin an item from annapolis & co. (maybe from her food or craft section)
+ tweet about the giveaway
+ follow them on various social medias – and get a comment for each you’ve done!

giveaway closed.
youngmammatales is the winner!

parker’s plate.

i’ve seen posts such as these before (these series from both bleubird vintage and oh dear drea come to mind!).  the whole dreaded question of what to feed your toddler that’ll win them over.  that sometimes battle, sometimes not business (and often over the very same food).  it’s hard to figure out.  no, it’s impossible to figure out.  
exhibit a: parker, for a long time, had no problem with scrambled eggs.  then, no longer!  so steve tried fried eggs.  he liked them.  and now, he decided he likes scrambled again.  then for about a week he turned his nose up at chicken.  now, he likes it again.  i think he’s just rolling dice in his crib before the day begins–what will i dislike today???  $*()$#@!!!  that is all i have to say.  
moral of the story: don’t try to figure it out.  it’ll make you crazy.
while my meals above don’t have a whole lot to add to the plethora of posts out there, i know sometimes i still need some inspiration in the kitchen when trying to figure out what to feed him.
so… bring in the winners.  i can almost always count on him liking these things (especially the fruit + carrots… he is always down for a baby carrot).  he’s something (a loose correlation, really) like this lady minus the whole moral backing behind it.  
anyway, what is working for your kid these days?  and please tell me: do you find there are days when they eat and eat and other days when they’re practically on a hunger strike?  what’s up with that?
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