Happy Thanksgiving

 

From the shoulders up, I recognize the girl in the picture.  But I don't recognize that waist at all.  I swear it's not mine.  

This Sidewinder Isn't Sleeping Tonight

A full night's sleep - I miss that more than my waist.  I haven't slept through the night in over 2 weeks.  Perhaps it's my body prepping me for the sleepless nights I'll have once the babies arrive? It's more than just an overactive bladder because I'm waking up at the exact same time every night/morning.  I wake up at 3:00am, 6:00am and more recently - I've started waking up at 4:30am, too.  And let's not forget the 45 minutes worth of tossing and turning I do before falling asleep - I feel like a dog who walks in circles before finding a comfortable place to sleep. Who knows - I may start up a new hobby during those bits and spurts I'm awake. 

Week 16: Doc Appointment

Had another ultrasound at Tuesdays’s appointment (my certified nurse midwife does an ultrasound at the beginning of every appointment to check on the kiddos and their fluid).  Starting as early as ultrasound number 2, I've noticed they’ve each had very distinctive movements.  Twin A continues to rock and roll inside the womb while Twin B just sits back and chills*.  I wonder if that’ll be indicative of their personalities outside the womb?

*  this observation is based purely on the ultrasounds – I haven’t felt them kick, yet

It's Alive! It's Alive!

I’m giving the blog a second chance at life.  It was hard keeping it updated when the blog didn’t really have a purpose to it, aside from assuring G-Ma that I was still alive out here in CA.  Now that I’m incubating, I’ll use it as a way to keep family updated on how things are going. 

4th of July cake

Some friends invited us to their house for a 4th of July bbq and block party.  Since I don't cook - I always bring desserts with me to bbqs and potlucks.  The last time these friends invited us over for a potluck I made Guinness & Bailey's chocolate cupcakes, so I knew I had to step up my game for this one.  I decided to try my hand at a cake.  For all the cookie and cupcake baking I do, I can't remember the last time I made an actual cake.  Not content to make a regular cake, I decided to make a Red and Blue Velvet layer cake with cream cheese frosting.

No need to adjust your computer monitors - the batter turned out turquoise and dark pink - not quite the blue and red I was going for. I'm so used to dealing with cookie batter - that I momentarily freaked out when I saw how runny and liquidy the cake batter was.

I love my Pampered Chef cake pans.  They cooked the cake so evenly and were a breeze to clean.  I cut each of these cakes in half (vertically) to make a 4-layer cake.

My favorite part of the cake is the frosting - I used a cream cheese frosting.  Buttercream is too sweet for my taste - it makes my teeth hurt.  But the cream cheese frosting is perfect.   I have no idea how people get their frosting to look so smooth.  I was proud of myself for putting on a crumb coat and letting it harden in the fridge for an hour.  But even going that extra mile I couldn't get the frosting to look smooth.  So I embraced the messiness of it and made the swirls part of the decoration.

The original decorating plan was to frost a small American flag on the cake.  Seeing as how this was the first cake I've ever frosted - that was a lofty, unreachable, goal. Instead, I broke out a star cookie cutter and used it as a stencil and poured sprinkles onto the cake.  Viola! 

I wish I had a better picture to show you of the inside of the cake.  It looks unappetizing, but I gotta tell you, it was DELICIOUS!  I'm bummed I couldn't evenly divide the cakes in half - but I figure that just takes practice.  As yummy as the cake was - I think I'll stick with cookies and cupcakes. 

One Sentence Review - Dengue Fever

Where:  Detroit Bar

When:  Saturday, May 29, 2010

Dengue Fever:  Awesome, awesome, awesome - I don't understand how Cambodian Pop Psych Rock isn't the most popular music out there.

Pocahaunted: Ugh - they're everything that gives acid-rock a bad name - with a dash of pretentious d-baggery by 'playing Indian' in feathered headdresses and facepaint. (Is this the new accepted form of blackface?)    

One Sentence Review

When:  Sunday, March 28, 2010

Where:  Detroit Bar

Turbo Fruits:  This opening band was the highlight of the evening for me – they outshined (outshone?) the headliner in every way: energy, mad skills (their drummer’s a machine and their lead guitarist plays with his mouth) and wicked stashes.

Surfer Blood:  Unfortunately, it was a case of ‘the album sounds better than the live band.’

Thought of the evening:  When did I become older than the people in the bands I see?  Especially Surfer Blood – I’ve never seen a more baby-faced lead singer. 

DeVito Watch 2010!

Hotel rooms are booked.  Line-up's announced.  More excited about the line up (Grace Jones! Sly & the Family Stone!  John Waters!) than last year's.  I'm ready for afternoons baking in the sun, evenings braving the crowd in front of the stages and late, late nights dancing in the Sahara tent.   87 days.    

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, love the Flinns

4 Easy Steps to Become an Oompa Loompa

1. Turn your face orange. Resist urge to use self-tanner - you only want the orange glow for a single night, not the next 2 weeks. I found putting on a liquid foundation and then heavily coating yourself in bronzer worked very well.
2. Create costume. Brown long sleeve shirt with some brown/white striped fabric sewn to sleeves to form cuffs, white skirt, brown/white striped tights and a pair of white gloves and you're set. And don't forget the wig - I found that putting on a wig cap first was a huge help - it kept all of my hair in place.
3. Don't put wig on backwards. You're going as an oompa loompa - not Cousin It. It doesn't matter how many attempts it takes you - put the wig on correctly. This step will come in very handy at 2:00am when attempting to walk down street to hail a cab.

4. Find yourself a Willy Wonka. Otherwise, you're just some crazy broad in a green wig.

Lessons from a Dumbass Homeowner

We bought a house! Woo-hoo! We decided to paint the walls of our house before we moved in.
We thought that we’d be able to knock it out in a weekend. For the most part – things went well; we were able to knock out the living room, dining room, office and bedroom in 2 days with no problem. However, being the dumbass first-time homeowners we are, we had NO idea how f-ing impossible it would be to paint the kitchen and bathrooms because nobody told us that painting over glossy paint is a mother-f-ing nightmare, what with the sanding, wiping, washing, and repeating multiple times. We invested at least 20 man hours trying to paint the 2 bathrooms. After 3 weeks the paint in the powder room was still tacky and it was peeling off in other spots – at that point we knew we were in over our head and needed professionals to tackle the kitchen and fix our bathrooms.

We're glad we decided to paint before we moved in - that saved us major hassles and headaches. However, we learned a few lessons that we'd like to share with you:

1. Spread the wealth. Take stock of the work needed, determine what your time is worth, and then decide what’s more important: A) spending the money on a professional who’ll do it right the first time, or B) saving a few dollars to do it yourself just so you can gain the knowledge that hiring someone to do it was the correct choice to make.
2. Don’t trust the word of the 18 year old working at Lowe’s or Home Depot. Ignore the "Hi, I'm Bob your trusty paint specialist" button they're wearing - wearing the button doesn't make him a specialist.
   
3. Buy your paint directly from Sherwin-Williams or Dun Edwards, not Home Depot.
4. If your wife says, “let’s put the couch on the 1st floor, rather than try to squeeze it upstairs,” listen to her. (story to come later)
   
5. Painting your living room, office or bedroom by yourself = good idea. Flat enamel paint is easy to use for even the most amateur of painters.
6. Painting your bathroom or kitchen yourself = bad idea. See rule #1. Glossy and semi-gloss paint are now 4-letter words in my book. We sunk at least 20 man hours into painting the guest bathroom and powder room and we STILL had to hire a professional to fix what we couldn’t.
7. If, after 3 weeks, the semi-gloss paint in your powder room is still tacky, hire someone who knows what they’re doing to fix it.
8. Be prepared to feel like a complete and utter Eddie Bauer-certified yuppie when discussing paint colors. Our colors are Expedition Khaki, Corn Husk, Spiced Acorn and Windsor Haze. In other words - tan, light green, orange and dark blue. I can't say our color names without feeling like a complete schmuck. The only color that's not dumb - Milk Chocolate. Mmm, that just makes me hungry.
   

...And I'm Off

First off – I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who donated to fundraising efforts!! I have the most wonderful and thoughtful friends and family who helped me totally exceed my fundraising goal. I couldn't have done it without your help! Thank you so much. As my team - The Underwires - walk throughout Minneapolis, St. Paul and the surrounding suburbs, I'll be thinking of you and your support. And trying desperately not to think about the thousands of footsteps that lie ahead of me each day. (Seriously – what was I thinking?!?)

I still can't believe I leave tomorrow morning to head back to MN. It's crazy - but I haven't been back there since I moved to CA over 5 years ago. I'm really looking forward to heading back to the state that I called home for 6 years and catching up with friends and, most importantly, relaxing at the cabin for several days. Hello pontoon boat!

See you on the other side of 60 miles.

We Did It!

We did it! We met my fundraising goal for the Twin Cities Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk! Thank you all SO much for your generous donations! For the first time in my life, I can use 'literally' in the correct context: I literally could not have reached this goal without your donations. Thank you SO SO SO much!
Exactly 2 weeks from today I'll be on Day 2 of the walk - I'll have already completed 20 miles and will working on miles 21 - 40. Luckily, I fit some training walks into my weekends over the last few months so I'm feeling really good about the 3 Day - I know my legs will carry me through.
I know that I wouldn't have been able to commit to any of the training walks (each training walk was 10+ miles) without Sean. He was my source of entertainment when my mind would shut down and he was my source of encouragement when my thighs would feel like a ton of bricks. I'm not sure how he trained for 3 marathons all on his own - because I couldn't have made it through any of these 3+ hours-long training walks without him.
The highlight of the training walks was knowing that I'd be walking along the ocean at some point during the walk, whether it was on the beach itself or along the cliffs. I know MN won't have nearly the same views - but given that I'll get to spend 3 days with one of my closest girlfriends during the walk I'll gladly trade the view for time spent with her.
Again, thank you all so much for your generous donations to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund.

I'll be taking lots of pictures documenting my experience during the 3-Day Walk and will be writing a full blog post when I return. Thank you!!

OC Mud Run (or How I Spent My Saturday)

The next time someone asks you, 'hey what you doing next month - want to do a 5k with me? and oh yeah, it's through some mud' - you should say 'yes.'

Yesterday, some co-workers and I ran the Orange County Mud Run. The day started out hot - at 7:30am it was already in the high 80s - and it just got hotter. Luckily, we had pits of mud and lagoons of dirty water to race through and keep us cool.

Our two teams: Oz Clodz and the Mudder Fruckers

...and cleanliness ends.

Obstacles included crawling through mud pits...

...and hopping over mud-encrusted walls.

The Mudder Fruckers post-run.

It was a great time and I'm looking forward to my next one!

I’m your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb

Well, 5 years, hundreds of concerts and countless celebrity-spottings and shoulder-rubbings later, I finally have an “I met so & so story” to tell my relatives about back home.

Last night, thanks to an incredibly generous offer, we watched the Joan Jett concert back stage and then were invited into her trailer.

Our view from backstage

The woman is my hero. Onstage, she’s still as intense and intimidating as she was 30 years ago. At one point during the show I was watching her and wishing I could be her when I grew up. At the same moment, Sean leaned over and whispered, “I’d be afraid she’d beat me up.” *huge grin*

After the concert, we were invited into her trailer, where we met Joan, her longtime producer, and a couple people from the production company producing The Runaways (the movie based on the first band she was a part of). She was incredibly generous and polite, letting us into her space after the concert. And it was thrilling to meet her. It was awesome to say the least, but also slightly awkward because she has no idea who we are or how we know the same people she knows. But, it was cool to hang out with her for a few minutes. And ever the guilty Catholic, on the way out the door, I thanked her for letting us invade her space for a few minutes.

(apologies for the sideways angle)

We took another trip to the house site and I was pleasantly surprised with all of the progress that’s been made since the last time we visited.
1. It feels real now!
Up until this point, when I would walk through the house I never got a sense that it was ‘my house.’ It always felt like I was simply walking through a construction site. But once the drywall went up I was finally able to see the rooms for what they were and that’s when the switch went off in my head and I realized that this is our home.

2. We have kitchen cabinets!
I am absolutely salivating over all of the cabinet space we’ll have in the kitchen. This is at least 4 times more cabinet and storage space that we have in our current 2-butt kitchen.

3. We have railings!
4. We have a roof with shingles!

I’m now getting pretty anxious to move in. To clarify, I’m actually getting pretty anxious to start painting. After living in a condo that we couldn’t paint for the last 4 years, I’m super excited to finally create an environment that suits us perfectly by adding some color to the walls.

I’ve also been spending an inordinate amount of time each night on Craigslist scouring listings for furniture (patio and living room). We don’t need a lot of furniture, just a few pieces that we’ve always wanted to purchase (hutch, bar) but we never had room for in the condo.

One Sentence Review - Dandy Warhols

Where: The Glass House
When: Saturday, June 6, 2009

I forgive Courtney Taylor-Taylor for looking bored out of his skull when he first took the stage (and during most of the first song) because I’m a sucker that’ll forgive anyone* as long as he plays “The Legend of the Last of the Outlaw Truckers.”


* anyone named C T-T

More from the House Site

This past weekend, we continued with our now traditional Sunday trip to the home site. This time, Sean’s dad, Steve, joined us. (As always, Sean did a much better job writing about the trip at his blog.)

Always wear a helmet, kids! Talk to Sean about the perils of getting hit by a car while on your bike if you need convincing.

Since the house is only 7.25 miles away – we decided to ride our bikes there along the San Diego Creek Trail, look at the house, ride to lunch and then ride home.
It was a perfect day for riding – a little overcast and a little chilly. The first few miles of our ride took us through Back Bay. I’m going to miss being so close to this place – great bike paths and beautiful scenery. But, there are some great trails near the new house, so we’ll still be able to ride on weekends.

The ride hit a few snags along the way. The first, being that our fearless leader decided to take us on the extra long route to the new house. Since I’m trying to curb my backseat driving, I tried to bite my tongue as long as I could and not start a new habit of being a backseat bicyclist. Finally, after reaching the entrance to the community after having gone on a 3 mile detour, Steve’s bicycle chain snapped right off. Lesson learned on this trip: bring a repair kit with you. Luckily, we weren’t that far from the home site so we walked the last quarter mile. (Big shout out to our friends, and new neighbors!, J. & A. who gave Steve a ride to our place so he could pick up his car (w/ bike rack) so we could get home later that day.

We now have windows! Seriously, this is exciting to me because up until this point I haven't been able to see any of the progress being made on the house. This is the first real "cool! this is shaping up to be an actual house" moment for me.

And this would be the second. We now have a tub in the guest room bathroom. Wasn't planning on going for an electric blue theme in the guest room - but I can make it work. :-)

That's all for now.

We're Buying a House!

It's official, the Flinns have bought their first house. Sean is putting his English degree to use and is keeping a more detailed account of the process on his blog (part 1 and part 2). Me, I'm a fan of bullet points, so here are some fun factoids about the house.

1. This is what it currently looks like:
2. This is what it will look like (2nd from right):

3. No more 2-butt kitchen for us! Come Christmas time, that island will be covered in cookies.

4. It's near a blimp hanger. 5. After signing all the paperwork we went to Memphis for celebratory (and bottomless) mimosas.