Friday Things

1. Last week, my husband and I went on a little pre-Christmas, pre-baby date to see the Christmas lights at Oglebay in Wheeling, WV. It’s a little over an hour drive from our house, and we had gone two years ago when the light display at Hartwood Acres here in Pittsburgh ceased operations (I am still so, SO sad about this!). It was such a nice little half-day getaway, complete with dinner at the lodge, some Christmas shopping at their glass museum shop, and driving through the light display.

2. I am now 36 weeks + 4 days, which is to say, I am now NINE MONTHS PREGNANT. Where did the time go?! I feel like it was just yesterday, still sun-kissed from a week at the beach in May, when we were staring at a “YES+” sign. It seems like a lifetime ago, and at the same time the last seven+ months have absolutely flown by. My official due date is three weeks from Monday, and I think we are just about ready for this little guy to arrive! Most everything has been assembled, clothes and blankets washed, hospital bags packed, and the car seat installed. I’m still doing some random organizing, but for the most part, we have everything we need! Now we wait (and enjoy Christmas!).

3. A number of you have asked about the progress on the rainbow blanket that I began crocheting for the baby over the summer. I’ve finished about 75% of the squares, but had to go on hiatus due to a nasty case of pregnancy-onset carpal tunnel syndrome. I plan on finishing it up at some point after the baby is born, when the carpal tunnel symptoms have (fingers crossed) gone away. It’s absolutely awful and I feel so horribly for anyone who is afflicted with it.

4. Let’s talk grocery shopping lists… do you use an app or good ol’ pen and paper? I’ve always used a handwritten list, but decided to try to use my phone the last time I went. I hated it. Maybe it’s a mental thing, but I just need to do lists (ANY kind of list) with a pen and paper.

5. What’s your favorite Christmas movie? My top three have to be Elf, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, and Charlie Brown Christmas. I could watch each of them over and over and over again.

6. Have you seen this video, This is How Beauty Has Changed Over the Past 100 Years? It just confirmed how much I adore the 1950’s; it was by far my favorite look.

7. Nothing says holiday like a big, decadent breakfast! I love this list of 15 Delicious Breakfasts to Wake Up to on Christmas Morning. I’d like a big pan of cinnamon rolls, please!

8. I would like to petition Showtime to air new episodes of Homeland 52 weeks of the year and I’d prefer them to be two hours long. Please and thank you. I can’t believe the finale is already coming up on Sunday. I feel like the little kid on the commercial that just repeatedly says, “We want more”.

9. If you haven’t done so yet, be sure to enter My Favorite Things Giveaway… it’s a biggie and it ends tonight! I packed in 10 of my favorite things… everything from Tervis tumblers to gift cards, ice cream, a Thermapen, Sonos sound system, and a Kitchen Aid mixer!

10. TGIF! This is what bedtime looks like at our house… hope you have a cozy weekend!