Our weekend.

This weekend consisted of:

- GOING OUT TO DINNER: Usually on Friday nights we're so exhausted (and never want to do anything to mess up Javi's 7PM bedtime) that we order in but we decided to go out! It was a lot of fun and Javi missed bedtime by 20 minutes (not too bad) and slept in until 8:30 on Saturday morning. (so many smiles here)

// toddler adidas sneakers // converse //

- EASTER EGG HUNT: On Saturday morning/afternoon our town held an easter egg hunt for children ages 1-8. Javi didn't really get the whole egg hunt thing so he ended up giving all his eggs away to other children. He finally ended up with 4 eggs (because other children gave them to him). Unfortunately for us, the timing of the hunt messed up nap time (I curse whoever thought a 1PM egg hunt for toddlers was a good idea) so he didn't nap. 

// leather jacket (on clearance!) //

- PHOTO SHOOT: This is our town "beach" and I say that very loosely because I could never bring myself to swim there -- but Sean says it's fine! Javi has no fear of the water and just walked right in! It made for cute pictures. :)

- BUILDING A GARDEN: We've finally committed to doing something with our yard. I've been pinterest-ing layouts and gardens and have so many ideas. But we're starting with leveling some areas and getting rid of huge rocks that shouldn't be in the space. I would love to put a patio down and paint the concrete foundation of the house... and add some mulch and flowers and paint the deck and the list goes on. But we're starting with a raised-garden bed. We tried to buy vegetables but apparently we're way too early! 

We're almost caught up with The Path. It's so good and I don't want it to end. Are you watching it?!

SCENES FROM THE WEEK

How is it Monday again?! Here are a few snapshots of our week:

// got a new iPhone 7 // Javi's fascinated by tablets // & obsessed with teeth brushing //

// put away lots of his toys in exchange for some Montessori "works" -- we haven't mastered color sorting (ha!) //

// but he LOVES the vacuum //

// shape sorting activity // why did it snow on April 1st? // it's not stopping us from building garden beds //

// went out to lunch for mexican food and this guy choked on a tortilla chip -- like actually choked -- he was fine but has learned to slow down on the salsa, sour cream and gauc // 

// switched out my classroom shelves // why do cats love fresh sheets as much as people? // it's almost Artemis' "gotcha day" // this photo is on the wall in Javi's classroom -- he loves to play dress-up! //

I can't wait for the weather to act like it's spring! I'm excited for florals and to start planting. Excited to start running and move Javi's outdoor toys from inside to outside (his slide, his car, his basketball hoop) -- they are crowding the playroom! I'm also thrilled to begin spring cleaning! I just love getting rid of the old to make room for the new! Oh -- and Easter! Bring on the bunny and the egg hunts! 

I hope this week treats you kindly :)

Weekend behind + the week ahead.

- This is seeming like the winter that never ends! We still have snow and more flurries in the future but I decided it was time to bundle up Javi and play in the yard. He lasted 20 minutes and then was over it. Truth be told, I was over it once I snapped the pictures of him in the snow.

- Javi has become obsessed with brushing his teeth! [and he finally has enough hair for a mohawk!] -- but the teeth! I have been trying to brush his teeth for a while and he never seemed interested, in fact, he down right hated it. But then he saw his big cousin in California brush his teeth and developed quite the interest in the task. It's so cute!

- Sean's final birthday gift arrived today! I can't wait for the good weather to come so we can start thinking about our yard. We really want to spend a lot of time outside this summer and I think the key is having things to look at (like a garden), comfortable places to sit and activities for Javi to do.

- We had an unfortunate incident regarding one of the cats and a mouse in the house. Sean thinks it was a mole but I'm all like... does it really matter? Either way there was a mouse/mole in our house and one of the cats, who sleeps on me and licks my face, killed it. The question is did they kill it where I found it [my bedroom] or did they kill it elsewhere and bring it to my bedroom as some type of present. Ugh. 

- We finished iZombie this weekend (highly recommend!!). We're also catching up on Bates Motel and The Path and I'm totally obsessed! Annnnd, I'm behind on This Is Us (just 2 episodes) and on Scandal. I just love TV. :)

- The first day back at work was smooth and quick and amazingly within just a few minutes I had forgotten I was just on vacation for 2 weeks! Funny how that happens. I'm looking forward to the rest of the week -- though, it's a busy one so I also can't wait for the weekend! :)

Weekend feelings.

I'm a bit sad the weekend is over but happy we are a bit closer to our trip. I'm excited about California for so many reasons. I love traveling. I love traveling with my people (Sean and Javi). I'm attending the American Montessori Society conference. When I'm not conferencing it up, I'll be back with my people. On Sunday, we're driving a bit north to see my family and Javi will get to meet/see lots of  his (not really cousins but my cousin's kids and we'll call them...) cousins. We're going to Disneyland and we'll eat at in n out and bonus... I hear it's much nicer weather. So, excitement has officially set in!

This weekend was a lot of fun. Turns out it's not such a bad thing to have a broken washing machine but it was wonderful not having to walk down into the scary basement to do load after load of laundry. The new one is being delivered today so I guess my job will start back up again this afternoon. The toddler in the house goes through clothes very quickly. On Sunday, we bought him those adorable swimmy trunks I posted about the other day -- kid clothes make it so hard to say no. I try to think about all the laundry but the idea of a swimming pool at the hotel just got the better of me.

We had a lot of down time over the weekend and a lot of time together. Javi is still doing this thing where he cries and has fevers but he's not sick. It's confusing but new teeth just keep popping out so I'm pretty confident it's that. In all our free time, Javi began to show interest in putting his own pants on. :) Video below -- he's still practicing.

Javi vs. jeans from Jasmine Duffy on Vimeo.

Enjoy the week!

Weekend in Maine.

Last weekend we went to Maine with Sean's parents. The ride takes 3.5 hours and since we went after work on Friday we didn't get there until 9:30. We woke up in time to drive to the lighthouse and watch the sunrise. I, clearly, wasn't thinking straight at 6:15 AM when we were leaving the house and I forgot my scarf, gloves, hat, extra layers -- and it was so cold. Apparently, Sean was still under the impression it was warm outside since he wore shorts. While we were standing on the rocks watching the sunrise, the moon was still out behind us. This is also the location Sean proposed to me -- so it's sort of special all around. Later in the day we drove south to Portland, Maine to shop, have lunch and visit the Shipyard brewery. On Sunday, we had a relaxing day and walked around the small town where the house is and saw "pumpkin fest". They close the house up for the winter and I can't wait to go back in the warm weather. 

Cats, weddings and Bloglovin'.

It's the weekend! As far as I'm concerned there's no real difference between today, yesterday or tomorrow. It's all vacation! This weekend we have a wedding to attend, an afternoon BBQ, Sean's band is moving their practice space, we have odds & ends to tie up (like oil changes and apartment browsing*) and other random things (like laundry and food shopping). Although, those things will probably hold off until Monday. :)

We found a cat sitter. The cats are incredibly excited to not have to go away to a kitty cottage. And we feel happy that we won't be spending so much money to send them away. 

I'll admit that the dress I'm wearing to the wedding today, is the exact same dress I wore to the last wedding we attended. Why? Because it's pretty and I love it and because I'm finding it silly to have to buy a new outfit every time I go out WITH DIFFERENT PEOPLE just because there are pictures of me on Facebook, Instagram and this blog. I'm not doing it. So, when I post pictures later in the week you may be like "didn't you wear that a few weeks ago?" and my answer is yes, I did. PS, remember when wearing the same thing wasn't such a big deal? Thanks a lot Facebook. Now everyone and their mother can scroll through their iPhone to see that what I'm wearing in front of them is exactly what I wore to the last "dress-fancily" occasion. No more. I'm taking a stand. 

Hey, in case you haven't noticed the multiple pleas from bloggers -- follow this blog on Bloglovin'. It's the way to do it, apparently, and although I LOVE seeing the number of followers rise through GFC -- it's a bit sad that you'll disappear in just a few days. So make sure you start using Bloglovin'. Hey, did I mention Bloglovin'? Annoying? I know. It totally is. ;)

Follow on Bloglovin'

Happy almost July! 

*Apartment browsing is sort of wishful thinking since it'll never happen.

It's weird to go out without my husband.

A few weeks ago, I attended a bridal shower for a good friend, Lin. It was wonderful to be there with friends on a beautiful day. I love weddings and all the festivities that come before them.

This past weekend, I was a part of her bachelorette party in Boston. It was great time including dinner in the North End (very delicious), an improv show (super funny), and coming very close to singing karaoke. (maybe next time!)

I don't go out that often. I do the occasional dinner here... movie with a friend there... and sporadic hangouts with people at home (mine or theirs) but I don't often go out. This weekend was definitely fun but I noticed something -- when I go places without Sean, it feels weird. 

It's like I'm missing something. I'm not sure he would necessarily say the same for me (maybe he would :) ). But when he's not around, I notice and appreciate how much he does for me when he is around: walks slowly with me, holds doors open, holds my hand, orders my drinks, makes sure I'm not hungry or cold, etc., etc., etc. (The list could seriously go on & on.)

Without him, it's like I have to be an adult and take care of myself. :)

A busy weekend.

Our weekend was packed full. That's a rarity for me and it makes me exhausted. Like I can't even switch the laundry from the washing machine to the dryer. Or watch my DVR. So... it's pretty bad.

But we did a lot of fun stuff: the drive-in (we saw Star Trek for him, The Great Gatsby for me), homemade breakfast (I made him breakfast for a change), a wedding, a Sunday morning flea market, grocery shopping, family dinner, etc.

Is it bad that I'm already looking forward to next weekend?

5 things for a successful weekend.

1. a trip into Boston
2. eating at UBurger
3. fresh tulips
4. seeing the set-up of the Boston Marathon (which obviously means spring is here)
5. spending time at the animal shelter nearby and adopting a new kitten

See? Successful.

Also check out our new tabs (top of the page).
I decided to do some re-vamping.
Here's the new link for "best of" posts.
And for the link to "contact & advertise".

Enjoy!

Weekly recap + a new kitten!

On the blog:

Sunday: Simply Bridal wedding gowns.

Monday: My most recent date night has left me terrified of vacations.

Tuesday: I'm selling my things.

Wednesday: My iPhone memory is packed with videos of my cat.

Friday: I think my heart is growing.

I told you yesterday, we're adopting a kitten.

She's six months old, and has been living in a shelter for three weeks.

No one knows where she was before then, but she's really nervous & so scared.

So we can only imagine what she's gone through in her short six months.

We met her today, and the shelter says she's not quite ready to leave yet.

She has a bit of a cold, so hopefully once we visit a few more times,

and the vet clears her to be around our Apollo,

we can bring her home.

She has a warm blanket, a new bowl, a big sister, and two human parents who are so excited for her.

Weekly Recap.

On the blog:

Sunday: Happy Easter.

Monday: Want to make more money? Rent out your textbooks!

Tuesday: The grocery store brings out my serious side.

Thursday: A response to being a musician's wife.

This morning, I decided it was time to switch out my winter clothes for spring clothes.

It's only 29 degrees outside but I figure someone needs to make the first move.

And it's clearly not going to be mother nature.

A huge mess was made before it started looking semi-normal.

The closet was emptied, as were huge bins from underneath the bed and hall closet.

But I'm about to leave and it still looks a little disastrous.

In the same spring spirit -- I'm going to get my first pedicure of this "warm" season.

I'm excited to wear flip-flops... even if it means that today I could possibly get frost bite.

Ouch.

A birthday weekend.

Sean's birthday was a major success.
We had a day, filled with his favorite foods, a walk around Boston, a movie, and ended the night with chocolate pudding pie.
Today, the celebration continued with lunch with his parents and dinner with mine.
He loved the idea of spreading out the gifts and making them last throughout the day.
He anxiously awaited each of the present opening times,
and it really extended the fun.

For gifts, I decided against Google's advice of money clips & poker chips...
and stuck to what I know Sean loves:
supporting his friends, beer, and the chance to win millions of dollars.
Plus, a couple of things I'd like him to have.

So, I got hoodies from his friend's clothing lines: Monogram Apparel & Hurt Reynolds,
a Sam Adams variety pack + beer glasses,
lottery tickets (we didn't win),
new sneakers + candy,
a level (so he can evenly hang everything I ask him to hang, ha!),
a French press coffee maker with coffee,
and the new Justin Timberlake CD...
(okay, that's sort of for me, too).

I'm clearly too old for this.

via.

I'm not exactly 30. I'm in the middle of my twenties, give or take.
But after last night, I realized that I'm getting old.

I sort of knew this.
For instance, when I get off the couch after sitting for an hour my legs barely stretch out and I make inappropriate jokes about arthritis.
When I don't wash my face at night, I swear I see a wrinkle the next morning.
I need my eight solid hours of sleep or I can't even function the next day.
I have a full time job, bills to pay, and I no longer feel joy in getting the mail.
And while most of those can be remedied with a gym routine, a daily vitamin, and paperless statements... that's not all.

You see, it's becoming more common that when I go "out" places --
I meet more and more people who are younger than me.
I imagine this is a normal occurrence.
I mean, as you grow, others grow but at different rates than you.
So you figure you'll always be younger than some, but that means some will always be younger than you.
Get it? Okay.

But this wasn't always the way.
I remember being 21... 18... 16, not too long ago,
and it seemed like anyone I met... was always older than me.
Now suddenly, years & years have passed... and I didn't even see it happen!

Well, last night I begged Sean to take me to a concert.
I haven't asked him to take me to a show since the last time this band played in the area... two years ago.
And we didn't end up going back then because I got sick.

So, we drove the hour drive that it takes to get to Rhode Island from our house.
Drove around for 20 minutes to find parking, only to walk to the venue and find out that the show is sold out.
SOLD OUT. What? I didn't even know that was possible.

The doorman immediately tells us that if we meet him outside in 10 minutes, he'll get us in.
Uh, excuse me? Is this some sort of illegal deal? Because I want out.
But... Sean agreed. I'm standing there thinking, "great, all that gas wasted getting here.."
Meanwhile, Sean's planning on meeting this stranger in what will probably be the last 10 minutes of our lives.

It turned out less sketchy than I originally thought.
But I'm pretty sure we had to pay an extra four dollars.

Once we walked in, it hit me once again.
These people are all younger than me.
No wait, these people are all kids. Like aren't even of legal drinking age.
And I felt old. Too old.

I watched them stage-dive,
next to the sign that said "NO stage-diving".
And I was worried for them.
I saw the girls who were barely dressed, or wearing certain clothing items,
and I felt like saying "you'll regret that in 10 years".
I stood and listened to the band playing,
and a person kid passed me... and said "excuse me, ma'am".
Uh, excuse me?
You've got to be kidding me.

I can't even talk about the fact that I was out until 1AM,
and couldn't even get out of bed this morning.
For real.

Now, this doesn't happen to Sean.
He can go out, stay out, not sleep, not eat right, and still go out, stay out, not sleep, and not eat right.
It's the weirdest thing.
And I hope this trend doesn't continue for our lifetime.
Or he's going to be doing great, full of pep & life,
and I'm going to be the sore lady in the corner being called "ma'am" and falling asleep in the booth.
Oh, wait, that's apparently already happening.

Weekend recap.

I feel as though this collage sums up our weekend.

I wanted the husband to take me to Target at midnight on Friday night to purchase Breaking Dawn, part II.

He fell asleep, and I woke him up just to make sure that when I asked... 

he told me he would actually take me.

Then I said... no, no, it's okay as long as you were willing to do it.

:)

In the morning I got my DVD, walked through Target and saw the Easter decorations.

I thought about buying some.

I really like the thought of decorating for holidays.

But when it comes down to it, I feel like it's a waste.

[I know...]

All that work, buying, decorating, admiring...

Only to clean it up, organize it, and find a place to store it all, in just a couple of weeks.

No, thanks.

I've already missed opportunities to decorate for winter, Valentine's day... 

St. Patrick's day is right around the corner, and now apparently Easter.

Oh, well.

I got my DVD home, without any Easter decorations 

and made sure to take a picture of my complete set of Twilight Saga movies.

Apollo wanted in on it... but is clearly confused.

She was supposed to smile... but she looks like she's disgusted and yelling at them.

[She's really yelling at the birds outside that were taunting her.]

One more reason for Sean to make fun.

Sunday morning we were up super early so I could drag Sean to another one of those

"you won the largest prize at the show" presentations.

It was horrendous.

Remind me never to fall into that trap again, k?

It was a "90-minute talk" that turned into an ALL-DAY event.

And not a fun and exciting one.

It lacked food, drinks and comfort.

I prefer to spend my Sundays on the couch watching DVR,

opposed to in a "resort" being hassled.

Never again. Never again.

The best part was stopping at McDonalds on the way home 

(after not eating anything all day), 

ordering a happy meal and receiving a barbie tiara as my toy.

Oh, the joys in life.

It's Monday, this post lacked any real insight, but I think that's okay.

We're just getting back into the week.

And for me, it's my last week before a two week vacation.

Yay!

I'm off to watch The Following (I'm so frustrated with it! Does anyone watch??),

and to cut Sean's hair.

Apollo is hunting a bug that is flying around.

We're so busy...

Weekly Recap & Valentine's Day.

On the blog:

Sunday: Valentine's Day week: our story, part I.

Monday: Valentine's Day week: our story, part II.

Tuesday: Valentine's Day week: our story, part III.

Thursday: How well does your spouse know you?

It's the middle of February, otherwise known, as President's Day weekend,

or more importantly... a long weekend.

Yay!

I'm so happy that my immune system failed me on the Friday before this 4-day long weekend.

Thanks.

Sean thinks it's funny to see me, in bed, with 2 boxes of tissues (back-up for when the first runs out), my laptop, my tablet, a bottle of water, glass of soda, cell phone, Apollo, glasses, etc., etc., etc.

Basically I don't need to move for a couple of hours.

And that's my plan.

How was this week?

It was great!

Minus a visit to the dentist, who I blame for my current bill of health, as well as my low bank account.

We also had more snow this week.

Which caused me to sleep at my parent's house (to avoid any driving mishaps),

but I got to sleep with two dachshunds.

We went to the movies and saw Identity Thief. Hilarious. Go see it.

via.

AND because we spent so much money at Regal, they gave us free movie tickets that I'm pretty confident we'll use this weekend as long as I can keep my eyes open.

I'd like to see this:

via.

My other half doesn't agree.

Valentine's Day was fantastic, complete with tasty Italian food at a restaurant with a screaming hostess and a stressed out waitress (super romantic, let me tell ya), and great gifts.

It's the thought that counts, but it's super when the gifts are nice, too!

Once I have enough energy to take pictures, I'll blog about the gifts.

Oh, and the AMAZING card Sean made me.

It's amazing.

Our weekend.

The Patriots just lost.

Like really bad.

I've said before, football isn't for me and I don't really follow it.

But I left our family dinner at half-time and they were winning.

I got home and they were losing by so much.

The fact that they lost today, doesn't change how I went to the stadium for lunch yesterday.

My parents and I went to CBS Scene, where you can "see" the field and watch the game while you eat.

I really only think that's true if you have one of those crazy lenses the paparazzi uses to take photos of Justin Bieber.

Because it was a good distance away.

But each table had a TV and you can watch any show you can imagine:

If it's on CBS.

So we watched Big Bang Theory while we ate.

Pretty sweet.

Saturday night we went to a third anniversary release party for a friend's clothing line: Monogram Apparel.

It was a lot of fun and we were able to see lots of people we haven't seen in some time.

Sean also took his promo shots for his new band.

But more on that later in the week.

Sunday morning, Apollo woke me up at 6AM.

She doesn't quite understand the concept of a weekend.

We spent most of the day "running around" as Sean says.

I call it window shopping, browsing and grocery shopping.

We went to a local bookstore in search of travel books for our next trip.

Made a stop at Home Goods because I'm positive I need throw pillows.

Ended up at Target without any intentions of going there.

But walked out with $50 less.

How does that happen?

And finished our outing at the grocery store.

It's amazing to look down the aisles at the supermarket when every person in view has on a Patriots shirt.

It's a little crazy.

Which brings us to the end of our night, and the end of Sean's weekend since he doesn't have tomorrow off.

We had dinner with family: Mexican night.

Tacos, chili, quesadillas, the works.

It was delicious.

We watched the first game.

The 49's & the Falcons?

Or "I left my heart in San Francisco" & "Welcome to Atlanta where the players play".

That's more like it.

And then we watched the Pats.

Or "Boston, you're my home".

I don't have a clever song lyric for the Ravens.

In Pats nation, I guess they don't really deserve one at this point.

...Or expect it.