Tales of Me and the Husband - Page 81 of 207 -

March 17, 2015

boyfriend jeans?

here’s the thing: on the websites boyfriend jeans look awesome. they look all i’m casual but put together but i really didn’t try and oh these old things? just threw them on as i ran out the door why do you ask. you follow? it seems they must be rolled up, look really awesome with a heel (i basically never wear heels unless i’m my other identity and she rarely comes out to play but is much more fun than me), and also look very comfortable. i’m pretty devoted to the skinny jean (these being my favorite ever which i wear no less than twice or seven times a week, cat’s out of the bag) but there’s something to be said for trying something new! ooh, so daring! my biggest gripe about boyfriend jeans is that they do nothing for the behind (beeee-hind. emphasis on the first syllable.).

i just ordered these last week and moved every which way in the mirror but couldn’t really embrace them. and now these and these (of course, both shown with heels, the natural choice for a stay at home mom) look really great but now the wind’s all sucked out of my sails with my returned purchase. are boyfriend jeans just not for me? someone, tell me quick.

March 16, 2015

a day in the city.

last week boston had a day in the 50s. woah, stop there. that’s news! let that marinate…….done? it might’ve even crept into the lower 60s. boston, you sweet temptress! trying to make us all fall in love with you again after the 108+ inches of snow! you don’t think we could forget so soon do you?! anyway, steve was on spring break last week. so… we went to boston! (so anti-climactic. you may have the bahamas. but we’ll always have boston.) we strapped into the ‘ol odyssey and headed in and, all jokes aside, it was a really nice day. first stop: sweetgreen! i do love me a giant salad with all sorts of stuff in it and these days i’m way lazy with my salad-making at home so they’re getting real boring. those folks at sweetgreen know their way around a salad (as well they should, i guess). i got the hummus tahina. two thumbs up!

click for mooooore!!

and then onto the boston public library. the renovation of the children’s section was adorable although it was a little planes, trains, and automobiles getting there. does anyone else think the bpl is like a giant maze?? “how do you get to the children’s section?” they look at you, they look at your stroller, they look back at you. “go to through the wardrobe, then down the tunnel, past the candy forest…” we did get there, and i’m sure there was an easier way, but our meandering route did work. parker, who is in costume almost 100% of the time these days, enjoyed a new one to try on: swat team! he looks all sheepish and too cool about me taking his picture up there but, promise, he wanted me to. you might fool these people, parker, but you can’t fool me.

then we walked over to beacon hill because, naturally, we had to check out the new tatte coffee shop. (does it rhyme with latte? or mate? i think it’s the first and so does my friend rachael who knows more about such things.) who doesn’t want a flaky pastry filled with chocolate? crickets. and under no circumstances am i like theeee most well-versed in the coffee shop scene of beacon hill but correct me if i’m wrong, was it not in dire need of a good coffee shop?! i’m pretty sure that answer is yes. this one fits the bill even if i did feel a little bit like an elephant in a coffee shop with my stroller and children (or maybe it was the taking overhead pictures of my coffee and croissant, i get that.). “whatever! go back to your laptops and lattes! nothing to see here!” everyone behaved themselves. even steve (who really embraced the whole unwashed professor-on-a-break look.) anyway… it was a good day. boston, keep it up.

March 12, 2015

The things I wish I bought in the aisles of Target but didn’t or else I’d be broke, volume 01.

Anders, I promise! This place is amazing! Just wait!

So I love Target (no one’s ever said that before). I refer to it as the promised land without any hyperbole. If only they offered ten minute chair massages right next to the makeup section, then it would really meet all my needs and I could leave my husband and kids and make the Nate Berkus home aisles my new nesting grounds. I’d grab my Starbucks coffee in the mornings, my personal pan pizza in the afternoon, and maybe a bag of carrots and a LaCroix for snacking in between. They begin to find opened packages of things–mascara, lipstick, pretzels and hummus–look the other way, Target! It’s just that crazy lady who’s living in your store!

So, since I can’t spend our entire paycheck in the aisles of Target (so unfair!), here I will unpack my photo library frame by frame to direct you in your own Target purchases. Because, prior to this series, you were really struggling to spend your money at Target? Thank me later!

Let’s do this! AFTER THE JUMP, FOLKS.

Their bathing suit scene is pretty good this season. I keep passing it and really wanting to try the tops on but the idea of peeling back the winter layers and staring in the mirror under those gosh darn complimentary fluorescent lights at a pasty whiteness staring back at me just doesn’t scream “do it!” The first bathing suit is way better for my build but I might prefer the second even though it doesn’t work on me (my torso is too long for these sorts of tops; I’ve tried, unsuccessfully). While browsing online, I saw this one that’s awesome too.

The planter game at Target is reeeeeal good right now. I bought one, much like the above, but circular for my friend. Stick a succulent in it and you’re good to go for a little thank-you-for-playing-hostess gift. I loved these too (come in a few different colors). Their hanging ones (top left of the picture) are AMAZING. I considered it. I walked away. I walked back. I debated how long it would be to hang something in the ceiling seeing as we still haven’t hung our collage wall in this new house. I walked away, and I remained away. Sad.

Okay, I did buy some tea. Tazo. English breakfast. It’s good. The tins on the shelf below it are way prettier though. But were they on sale???!! Noooooo. Looking at YOU Target.

If I were pregnant this summer. This perfect striped shirt dress would’ve been in my cart.

I’m having a moment with the Acure line right now. You should know that I am NOT a products junkie. I like one thing that works and I stick with that one thing for like eighteen years. But after a very long and dry winter, my coconut oil was not cutting it. The tops of my cheeks, where blush is normally spread, was soooo dry. Enter this! It WORKS. Plus, my sister’s homemade face wash (more to come on that, because she’s a genius and I love it). Or at least it has been for the last couple weeks. I love it. I love it so much I searched for it high and low with a screaming baby and crazy three year old. The skin situation was getting dire. Apparently the Acure line is new to Target so nobody knew where to direct me. Then it ended up being a very obvious end cap. Whomp. I threw the eye cream into my cart the other day without even checking the price. Walked away like I owned the place. So risky, so dangerous. Used it for a week. Already look like a 15-year old.

This was very cute. So was this. I actually like the second more (but didn’t see it in the store).

I don’t have this book but I’d like to. I’ve always been afraid it’s one that I’d flip through and then need things like whey and the hair of a golden unicorn to complete the recipes so it’d just sit on my shelf. Is that true? Do you guys like it? I’ve heard good things.

What did I actually come home with? A pair of socks! Tea! Sweatpants! Just kill me now!

This post is not sponsored by Target but if Target would like to take notice and start sponsoring my shopping trips going forward, I will allow it.

March 12, 2015

10/52.

anders, 3 months: his feet are always, always, always kicking. i love watching babies and noticing that, unless sleeping, they’re virtually never still. booties c/o naturebaby
parker, 3.5 years: he and steve have this whole routine: the phone rings, they take a fire call (always 320 sycamore which is from it’s a wonderful life), parker’s pants are pulled down and wrapped around his rain boots so he can just step into them the way real firemen do, he grabs our step ladder for a ladder and the vacuum hose for water… the whole thing is ridiculous and parker loves it. i think they’re sitting in the “fire engine” here.

March 10, 2015

keeping things clean with babyganics.

There’s never a time when I’m more aware of how clean (or dirty) my surroundings are then when I bring a baby home. Every speck of dirt magnified! Endless laundry piles! All the dirty hands zeroing in on holding that brand-new little person! I am most content and happy in my home when it’s clean. Like, it makes me really happy… whether or not there’s a baby present, but especially when there is. A clean home with a happy baby feels so… zen? I don’t know. Whatever the case, I am most zen in a clean home. Happy wife, happy life! Or something like that.

I’m not really into using things that are too harsh or chemical-y, though. Especially when they start to crawl and put their hands (and everything else in their paths) into their mouths. The cleaner has to be something that won’t freak me out knowing they may have gotten some (however little) of it into their mouths, onto their skin.

Enter Babyganics. It’s baby-safe without sacrificing cleaning power. We’ve been using their lotion, foaming hand soap and hand sanitizer, laundry detergent, bubble bath, and toy wipes for the past several weeks. I always have a to-go package of these in my pocket when we’re out, and we use the soap as soon as we get home. (Especially Parker, as he touches everything and then wants to touch Anders. GERMS.)

I don’t have to wince when Parker uses their sanitizer and then pops a clementine into his mouth immediately after. I’m pretty content that he’s neither taking in all the germs he just picked up while we were out or a bunch of harsh chemicals. Win-win. The smells are nice and not overbearing and the packaging is cute. Plus, they get a great rating on this website. Thanks Babyganics!

(Side note: My sister swears by this. And when my current stock is gone, I will most definitely be replenishing this.)

This post is in partnership with Babyganics.

March 9, 2015

anders emmett hunt at three months old.

poor second (and sixth) child! i’m sure that by month three in parker’s life, he’d had no shorter than sixteen posts dedicated solely to him, his stats plastered all over the blog, and i may have even had his cord stump in a little baggie in the freezer.

i’m just kidding, i did not save that with either boys, but ask me if i considered it for half a second…

meanwhile, i blinked and anders is suddenly three months old. what the heck. i am routinely in total love with this boy and also totally heartbroken–both all the time. god i am such a cliche. even as i write this next sentence i’m like, “don’t do it bridget! don’t do it!” whomp whomp… here it goes. time moves so damn fast! and faster yet with the second (and sixth–he’s really both, you know?). and the fact that i can’t just steal away with him any time i please is really hard, i won’t lie. because when you do look at this kid, his expression and his smile totally communicate, “she’s looking at me! she’s looking at me!!! oh my god, she’s looking at meeeee!” and, i sure do wish i could give him that joy every single second of every single day. when i get the chance and parker is busy with legos or with a game on the ipad, i will slink upstairs with this little bundle and give him a bath followed by a nice coconut oil massage in which i tell him everything i’m doing. “and now, anders, i’m massaging your little feet,” and he just smiles at me in wonder. one out of every three baths is interrupted by his big brother parker who wants to help with everything and squeezes his cheeks and says, “hey wittle guy!” and those baths are equally adorable, but in a different way. watching them together brings me so much joy but man, do i love our alone times. i’m not sure anders cares one way or another because he locks eyes on parker in both amazement and bewilderment like, “who is this creature who moves so quickly and talks so much and wears a different uniform every day????” he’s doted on by all, and happy to just be. but, nevertheless, our time is sacred to me. i soak it up like a healing balm. more cliches, but really, it does wonders for my mama-heart.

i was talking to a friend lately about how i’m still, at times, struggling with anders being my last, struggling with the attempt to not make everything such an anniversary in his life such that it’s more bittersweet than it needs to be. “and that was his last poop ever in a size three diaper!” tears ensue!! (a little hyperbole in that last sentence, i promise.) some days things feel so complete and i’m so content and other days as i pack away newborn clothes, it gets to me. sometimes i’m actually amidst this utterly beautiful moment and my mind actually wanders to seventy year old bridget wanting this very moment back. i told everyone around the dinner table the other night, “don’t get married! just stay here forever!” is that not crazy?! even as i do it, i want to smack myself. raising children into successful adults is definitely the goal, i do know, but this cocoon i’m in sometimes feels awfully good. i’m a work in progress, let’s say. and i do believe i’m getting better all the time. be present. be in the moment. be present. be in the moment. my mantra for the month of march, k?

what can be said about little anders? so much. he is a such a sweetheart. i mean, he really is. he’s so soft and squishy and his breath smells so heavenly. he likes to just be, to chat, to smile and coo. he loves splashing in the tub and his latest trick is pulling off nursing as soon as i have a letdown (awesome!). this happened at dinner last night and i’m pretty sure i shot steve in the face at the other end of the table. he’s such a good sleeper. i mean, it’s a little weird how good a sleeper he is. he’s no nonsense at night so i will forgive him any amount of nonsense he brings to his waking hours when he’s happily giving me such lovely sleep through the night. not to be mistaken with him sleeping straight on through the night, no, but close! i am fully aware that he’ll sprout his first tooth (oh, if only they just sprouted them. that sounds so much less terrible than what the reality of teething is.) and it’ll all change. but for now, the night is more of our special time cuddled up next to each other taking up such a small portion of our queen bed because he just wants to be close. i love it. and his smiles! his smiles are big and open mouthed and his little tongue curls up and i declare, “you are such a beautiful baby!”

i can’t wait to take him outside in the warmth and this week’s temperatures reveal the promise of spring!! it was beginning to feel like it may never come. we’ve seen so much snow this winter, blah blah, you know, that spring feels so out of reach. i think he’ll really like it. he’s not a fan of any cold air. no matter how bundled he is, he seems to gasp and sputter making our outdoor time less frequent than it might be otherwise. so, we cuddle up inside and take more baths and massages (well played, mr. anders), and i fold clothes while he blends into the piles of laundry that form around him, or he kicks-kicks-kicks in the mamaroo while i cook a soup and dance with parker.

he’s just the sweetest, most precious, beautiful little baby and we couldn’t be happier that he decided to join our family.

i love you so much, anders. i’m yours forever.

and just for posterity, he just had his three month well check and he’s a little over 14 lbs. and between 24-25 inches. that’s something i’m going to want to remember and i haven’t written it down elsewhere yet. so here it is and here it shall remain!

and some have asked how his name came to be. we couldn’t settle on a name for awhile but when we heard this one, we both liked it. bonus that it was scandinavian and so is steve. add to that, it is andrew over here and steve’s middle name is andrew. emmett is my dad’s middle name. and so… there you have it. that’s how anders emmett hunt’s name came to be. a bit of a combo of some of the most special men in my life. (we pronounce it ann-ders, not on-ders though i do believe it’s the latter in the scandinavian countries?)

March 6, 2015

have a happy weekend!

Anders! Up here, buddy!

Oof. Rough week people. Pretty sure yesterday actually tried to KILL ME. Steve’s sick, I’m sort of sick, Lindsey’s sick, Parker was sick. William, Anders, and Gracie are the only three who’ve been spared thus far (give us time! We’ll give you our disease! Yes, even you Gracie!). We’ve been plowing through the tissues (Puffs Plus only! Get away from me, you sandpaper varieties!), and the Congaplex. So much for all my voodoo fire-cider-salt-lime-juice magic. The results? Disease: 4 / Hunts: 2. Just now I walked up to him locked and loaded with an essential oil respiratory relief spray. “Close your eyes and breathe” as I sprayed it all over his face. He doesn’t even ask questions anymore. Oh, and earlier this week I drove to Target (20 minutes) which is, essentially, the promised land, only to enter the doors and promptly discover I’d left my wallet at home. And because this week wasn’t fun and eventful enough, Parker’s basically decided to potty train and sometimes if we don’t get to him quick enough he starts to clean out the potty himself and you can imagine how that goes. Plus, winter is still sticking around soooo things are really, really good.

Okay, let’s carry on, shall we?

This throwback post. Everyone looks so little. Nostalgia.

Five houseplants that you probably won’t kill (right away). I’d definitely add the snake plant to the list as well as the philodendron selloum (wellllll, look who sounds like she knows a thing or two!).

Moms, no doubt you feel strung out sometimes then read a viral article on Facebook about how FAST THIS TIME WILL GO SO ENJOY EVERY MINUTE. Here’s a different spin: I’m grateful, now fuck off.

This top. This dress!!! Hell, all of it. (There’s a 40% off sale going on over there and while I sometimes link to things and just dream of them, I think I have to place a (small) order. I love everything. How’s their sizing?)

I was sent one of these a few weeks ago and it was a fun bright spot in an otherwise wintry, gray week. The mug was my favorite part! I’ve had coffee out of it every day since.

Carry your yoga mat in style. I love this.

Love has no labels.

Madewell here now. I own zero Madewell items but the rest of you seem to be obsessed. And now, free shipping (& returns). Love Nordstroms.

This house renovation is mind-blowing. But may be old news to most of you. (Where’ve I been?)

And finally, I’m making a bolognese for friends this weekend and am not sure I have THE bolognese recipe in my possession. Do you? Care to share?

March 5, 2015

09/52

anders, nearly 3 months old: that face! i want to jump into it and smooch his lips in the worst way.

parker, 3.5 years: he got this game all set up and organized and waited patiently for me to change a dirty diaper till i could play. it was so sweet.

william, 14 years: i told him as i took this, “i think you’re either in your pajamas or eating every time i take your picture.” this picture covers both. we laughed. it’s pretty accurate.

March 2, 2015

taking stock / 07

Making: white chili, quesadillas, and bolognese sauce… not all at once. But I think those are on the docket for this week’s dinner.

Drinking: that lime concoction still–in the mornings! Verdict to come. Wondering whether I’ll never want another margarita after this.

Reading: actually, wanting a good book recommendation… can you give me one please?!

Wanting: to go for a walk without bundling up, to let Anders feel the sun on his face and a warm breeze!
Watching: Friends with Benefits (over the weekend), always a fun one. Oh! And Rick Steve’s Europe shows. We make William and Lindsey watch them with us too.
Listening: to Anders’ coos. He has the most beautiful, sweet voice!
Eating: steel cut oatmeal for breakfast; turkey and cheese paninis for lunch
Smelling: this this lotion that I grabbed off my bathroom shelf to finish up
Wishing: my collage wall would just hang itself; we’re mostly moved in but things on walls… not so much.
Enjoying: my home when it’s clean; a clean home brings me serious satisfaction
Loving: sleeping next to Anders; he’s such a cuddler.
Hoping: the snow melts soon (I’m sorry, I can’t help but be a bit of a winter-hater at this point!)
Needing: to shave my legs; and some new coffee mugs.
Feeling: so excited to go to NJ this summer and hang out on the beach with my family
Wearing: this emoi emoi sweatshirt and black skinny jeans at least once a week!
Bookmarking: this recipe; my friend Gail (a serious foodie) claims it was AWESOME.