♪ Vay-cay-tion, all I ever wanted... ♫

... ♫ vay-cay-tion, had to get away! ♪

...ah! Vacations are wonderful but sometimes it leaves you feeling like you need a vacation FROM your vacation, know what I mean? We three Bears went on a little trip to visit some extended family of E's.

Five years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting his Aunt & Uncle during the last leg of our honeymoon and we were excited to bring Cubby to meet them. We had a nice time, relaxing and eating and just visiting with his family. We mainly spent time with his Aunt & Uncle, as they live on Long Island about two hours away from everyone (and everything - including the city!) else.

We managed to do some shopping (outlets anyone?) and I picked up a new Coach purse (*squeeeeeal*) for an EXCELLENT deal and even meet up with a couple of friends!

I managed to catch up with one of the awesome Mamas from my birth board who lives in Brooklyn. When I was about five months preggo, I joined the Babycenter and the Community and found a great group of first-time-moms-to-be who were all due close to the same time frame. We were able to share our concerns, worries, joys, etc. throughout our pregnancy and even now, we still keep in touch. We still share our concerns, worries, joys, frustrations, etc. about mommyhood, life and the little ones (who are growing so fast!).

So, when I found out we were headed to the East Coast, I let her know I was coming that way and I'm so glad we were able to meet up! It was fun visiting and seeing both kids play together.

After our visit with her, we headed into the city - near Times Square - and met up with an old high school friend of E's. Oh, what fun that was! He had a lot of knowledge of New York City history and it was fun to hear about.

Then we headed into lower Manhattan to meet up with E's cousin and had dinner at a local pizza joint there. E hadn't seen his cousin in almost 20 years, so it was good to see them together and catch up.

The next evening, his Aunt arranged for us to have dinner at her son's place (another cousin of E's) and we all hung out over there, visited and ate MORE yummy New York pizza.

It warmed my heart to see E with his extended family as we're closer to my family (we live close to them) but most of his family lives in other cities/towns/states. Overall, it was a GREAT trip for us.

Ah... vacation - did you have to end?

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Dear Dad...

It has been nine years. NINE YEARS to the day that you left us. Left us for some place peaceful and where you can watch over us.

Everyday, there is at least one moment that you come into my mind, and my heart twinges with fond memories and the love I shared with you. But I cannot write this post without tears today.

Today I feel sad. Why today after nine years today is especially hard is beyond me. I excuse myself at weddings when the bride dances with her father because it hurts that I never got to share that with you. But I know you were there, looking down on me on our wedding day.  My husband carries so many of the great qualities that you have, I can't help thinking and wondering if you had a small hand on bringing him into my life shortly after you were gone.

My son carries your name. I gave him your name, so one day he will know how much you meant to me, what a great man you were and what an honor it is to share your name. My heart is saddened that you won't know him and he'll only have "memories" that I share with him of you. Sad that he won't be able to experience the love and affection that you gave to me and shared with us kids and grandkids that knew you.

Some days I feel robbed - robbed of the time I would've had with you. Remembering the times we shared and thinking of the times we could have shared.

I know that life is not infinite - that each of us has our time when we must pass on. Today, I feel your time came too soon for me. Today, my heart aches and tears flow without restraint. I miss you Daddy... I miss you so much and I wish you were still here to share in the love and joy of my son and my life.

May your soul continue to rest in peace. I love you always...

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Christmas in July!

About five months into my pregnancy, I joined Babycenter. It's a website targeted towards parents-to-be and parents. I spent HOURS on this site, checking up on the progression of my pregnancy (how Cubby was growing) and even joined the BabyCenter Community where I found other first-time parents (moms mostly)-to-be like me. My birth board and the small group I joined was (is) my lifeline when I need someone to share in my challenges and triumphs as a first time mom.

As time as progressed, I started joining other boards on the Community and now belong to an awesome group of "crunchy"-like Mamas like myself. So one of the awesome Mamas put together a "Christmas in July" gift exchange which of course I hopped on board to participate in. How FUN to get a present in the middle of the year just because! Thank you to the CMT gals and for letting me into your group! Here's my AWESOME gift I got (excuse the blurry shots, I had to include 'em because of the action):

So here I was setting up a shot and what comes in? Cubby's stealth-like hand!

Take two: Once again, setting up the shot and before I know it....one was gone!

He finally just climbed up on the table to play with HIS new toys:

As I attempted to take them away and grab Cubby off the table, screaming ensued with a lot of "Mine! Mine!", so I just gave them back to him for a little bit...

Yep. Definitely not MY Christmas in July. *giggling*

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A New Love

Isn't love amazing? You always think you've found THE ONE LOVE and then something else comes along, unexpectedly and grabs your heart... You can never have too much love in your life. It just makes the world brighter and the flowers smell sweeter!

As I get older, my tastes change and I'm more discerning on what I choose to buy. I mean, eons ago I was complacent to buy cheapie purses anywhere I went (Target, Mervyn's (now nonexistent), etc.) and I would just BALK at the thought of spending more than $40 on one! Not to mention, as rough as I am on purses - I can't see "throwing away" much more than that every month or so (yes, I was buying a new purse about every month back then). EEEK! Now, you'll find me hauling ass to the Coach outlet and spending slightly more than $40 on a purse or wallet (EEEK!).

Let's move on to shoes. I have a love-hate relationship with shoes. I just LOVE how beautiful and elegant they can look but hate the fact I have HUGE, F-A-T, FLAT feet. I only wish I could don a pair of strappy sandals with heels and run amuck a-la-Carrie-Bradshaw style, but I can't. Five minutes into wearing a pair, the balls of my feet are turning numb and I'm wobbling like an amateur carnie on stilts. Just my luck that I've been relegated to wearing flats like flip-flops, tennies and the like. Occasionally I can find a pair of wedges or low to mid heeled dress shoes with the right height to length ratio that won't kill my feet. When I do find those, I buy them up in every color (or multiple pairs in the same color) so I won't be caught in a bind when I pull them out of the box in the closet and realized I've worn them so much they've fallen apart.

Let's face it - as I'm aging, comfort is starting to take precedence over "cute" and it's hard to find shoes that are comfortable AND cute without bordering on the old school granny-like thick soled nursing shoes. But alas, by taking a chance - I have found at least ONE pair that still is "hip" AND comfortable. So much so, I am claiming LOVE to this new shoe.

Now, the reason I took a chance on this new brand is that I bought a pair of flips first - they were an INCREDIBLE deal and I figured - why not? As soon as I got these flips, I ripped open the package and immediately put them on and have worn them EVERY.SINGLE.DAY since. They were so comfortable, I do not even hesitate walking long distances in them - as my feet don't get sore at the end of the day like my traditional Old Navy flips do (yes, I just about have one in every color from Old Navy).

So I thought, if their flips are THIS comfortable, what about their other shoes? I'll be honest. I'm not a fan of their "traditional" shoe, the one they are famous for but now they carry all kinds of styles - so I managed to find the style I traditionally love - and armed with a 20% off coupon code, took a risk and ordered three pairs! EEK! Now, what shoe/brand is this you ask? I'll tell you:

CROCS

Yep. I know some of you hear that and you think of this:

I think they look absolutely U-G-L-Y and I'm sure they will make my feet look even bigger than they already are but those aren't the only style they have!

They have these:

and these:

and of course the style I love so much - THESE:

I also ordered two other pairs exactly like this but without the fun decor - one each in "Espresso" and black. When the box arrived I hurried and opened it and immediately put on a pair. Just so happened, the next day I was headed out to a Baby Welcoming so I donned a dress just so I could wear them and give them a test run.  

VERDICT: I never knew I was wearing a heeled shoe - they were so comfortable, it felt like I was barefoot!!!

Here are a few pics of the gorgeous, yet oh-so-comfy pair that I wore (please ignore the poor lighting and so-so pics. They were taken with my phone):

Oh... I'm in HEAVEN. What else can I say? How about 

"CROCS... I ♥LOVE♥ YOU!!"

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Fourth of July

The Fourth of July is an overlooked holiday in my calendar. When ever I'm asked in one of those random e-mail survey thingamabobbers what my favorite holiday is, I NEVER think to answer the Fourth of July/American Independence Day. The truth is, I love this day.

I think it is a great holiday and we should all take time to give thanks to all of those who serve and have served in the military branches and to their families who are also making sacrifices for us civilians. Our country would not be what it is without those who find honor in serving America. To those of you, I thank you. From the bottom of my heart for doing what you do everyday to allow me the freedom to post this blog, tweet my heart out and Facebook my friends to death with Mafia Wars game requests.

The reason I love this day so much is because I think I'm a closet pyromaniac. I use this term very loosely because in no way would I want to purposely destroy something belonging to someone else or could risk the possibility of great harm to any one person. But every year, I find myself headed to the fireworks stand to buy, buy, buy!

Times are tough this year, so I scaled back in the choosing of fireworks but between me and my mother, we spent about $200. This is actually probably piddly considering past years and the massive amounts of firepower we hoarded back in the day.

My mom and I are thrilled with the prospect of lighting up fireworks to see the colors, sparkles and to hear the whistles. This year was Cubby's first time trying out sparklers and I was thrilled! He did GREAT with our little show and we even started with it still being light out. (Unfortunately, I left the job of capturing our memories up to E and he stuck with what he knew - and videoed snippets instead of taking still photos. See the link above to see a video of Cubby with his sparkler.) We ended at about 9:30ish and Cubby was already headed to Sleepville. No crying or anything.

So there you have it! A short summary of our day yesterday - check out Cub's blog for more!

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