Cool, new stuff I discovered this year

Even if the past year was at times a bit lonesome (because there was a mass exodus of our friends leaving Chicago for other places), it didn't stop me from trying a few new things like zipping around on a Segway, scoring a blogging position for a national publication, and eating with my hands. Also, I discovered some cool, new stuff! Well, don't get carried away... these are all things everyone but me already knew about. Finding things out after everyone else is my kinda my specialty. :P

Okay, let's take a look at the year in review...

- I discovered Pandora!
Yea, I know, shame on me, really. It's a wonder I even know what Facebook is. I didn't know about this internet radio website until May when I heard the coolest music selection playing from a co-worker's desk while she got prettied up to go out to happy hour. 

"What playlist is this?! Can I have it?" I shouted out (while shaking my booty in my head).
"It's Pandora!" she yelled back in a blasé voice from the bathroom.
"Who's Pandora? This girl is so cooool. We have like the same exact taste in music!!!"

That's when she explained about Pandora internet radio. And since then, I've discovered so much music and new artists. At work, I would tuck in my earphones and blast Pandora all day long as a means to block out colleagues annoyances. At home, lately, I play my Pandora stations every day to entertain Baby Max (and myself) during feedings and whatnot.

Really, if you don't know about Pandora, then you're just not cool.

- I discovered Entourage!
I'll just go ahead and put it out there that I'm like 720 days late on this one. While we don't usually feel like we're missing out on anything by not subscribing to cable, ENTOURAGE IS SOOOO FREAKING RIDIC! In a very good, cool way, of course. It almost makes me wish we had cable all this time just so I could have been watching this show regularly! The Fella and I got hooked on this series when the CW started playing reruns at 11pm every night. And then they took it away, replacing their nighttime lineup recently! How dare they.

What's so cool about finding out about a show after everyone else is that you have EIGHT seasons to catch up on... I've got many long winter nights ahead...

p dot s- Vince Chase is kinda a heartthrob. #JustSayin.

- I discovered The Fugitive!
How did I not know about this classic movie?? First of all, it's set in Chicago! Second of all, it has Harrison Ford in it! I actually stayed awake for the whole thing when The Fella was watching it on tv today. For those that know me, I do NOT stay awake through any movie. EVER. That just goes to show how good The Fugitive is. 

Also, it turns out there is a whole world out there of awesome classic movies from the 80s when I lived in a bubble!!!

- I discovered UrbanDictionary.com!
Yea, I actually looked up "Like a G6" because I had no idea what that song was referring to until now. I'm sure this website has been around for like ever, but I just found out about this when I realized most of the time I had no idea what the interns at work were talking about and one time an intern said with disdain to me, "Like, don't you know about UrbanDictionary.com??" Now I can at least communicate with 21 year olds and pretend I'm young, urban, and cool.   

Here's hoping for a happy new year, new beginnings, and discovering lots of cool, new stuff in 2012!

{ Baby Max, Day 2, all pictures courtesy of Annie }

Romping around...

I cannot wait to dress up Baby Max in this adorable striped romper from our friends Maya and Haseeb! We'll pretend like we're dashing about the Hamptons or Martha's Vineyard on a brisk fall day, collecting seashells in a pail or something fabulous like it. Seriously, who designs these things? It's so cute and mini, I can't even stand it!

Max vs. The Robot

{ Baby } OOTD: Plaid + duckies

{ 10 weeks }

I don't know why Max always looks like he wants to box. Many of his baby pix to date, including his birth announcement, show him with a balled-up fist. He's so cute, my little strongman! Today was a day for kicking back and relaxin' in the house, so Max is wearing cropped jammies with a duck print and prep-school plaid legwarmers gifted from my sister. They're so stylish and cozy, I kinda want to rip them off him and steal them. Is it wrong to steal from a baby?

Speaking of duckies, I noticed that Baby Max starts smiling real wide whenever I put him on the changing table. Now, I know he can't be loving diaper changes, so I followed his eyes upward one day and found him squealing in delight at the University of Miami mascot mobile––all four hanging Sebastians (ibises really, not a duck, although it looks like one) are at the perfect height right over my head. To Max, they look like they're walking on mommy! This never fails to entertain him... Silly ducks...

{ 8 weeks }

So, Baby Max is 10 weeks today. He had his 8-week wellness check recently, and weighed in at 11lbs 11oz! A solid round number. Max has grown out of his "Newborn" sized clothing. These look so teeny tiiiiiny now and honestly, I can't really remember how he was ever that wee. It makes me cry a little at how fast time seems to go by now. I just want him to stay a baby! I love how The Fella can scoop him up with just one hand, and yet I have developed a touch of early onset arthritis in my fingers and wrists from holding him so much!

All that glitters

I can't wait to wear this!

The morning after Xmas . . .

Just chillin' in my first pair of big boy pants...

And wearing my very first newborn shirt from the hospital! It reminds me of back in the day when I was a baby...

It still fits! Why, this ain't so bad after all!

Merry Christmas!

Last Christmas it was blue skies and palms, family and a beautiful new niece. This year, we stayed put with our own little one and enjoyed a quiet time at home, just the four of us. We delighted in putting up seasonal decor, a very puzzling, mild Chicago winter, making Christmas dinner at home, and introducing Baby Max to his first ever Christmukkah!

{ Baby Max, 9.4 weeks: Why am I in a full-body Christmas suit?? Thanks, Grandma! }

{ sleepy, cross-eyed + lizard tongue }

{ Daddy telling Baby the story of Hanukkah }

{ basketball watching + fist pumps }

{ FurFur time }

{ Max's favorite new book! Did you know that the Grinch's reindeer dog is named Max?! }

{ reindeer with eyelashes }

{ roasted turkey breast with herb butter from Whole Foods }

{ lobster egg rolls }

{ chocolate dessert shells with plums }

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, everyone! xo

Chambray + bits of sparkle

I love me my sequins! I picked up this sparkly number at Topshop during opening weekend in Chicago in September as a post-baby present to myself. I saw a Topshop PR girl wearing it at the private Topshop dinner party at Paris Club that I was invited to, and made it my mission to score one for myself. It was the perfect touch of sparkle for our Christmas Eve dinner out yesterday. Baby Max has been fixated on it as it hung at the front of my closet for the last few days. I'd been contemplating how to wear it, as it's most definitely not baby-friendly and I haven't exactly been going to any parties lately. So for a casually festive look, I dressed it down with a chambray top, relaxed jeans, and a white blazer. And don't forget the NARS Red Lizard lippy! (I think Baby Max likes when I wear the bright red color, he stared at my face for hours!)

Blazer, Limited (old); Chambray top, Old Navy; Sequin top, Topshop;
Jeans, Nine West via Filene's Basement; Suede booties, Modcloth (old)

'Twas the night before . . .

{ Milwaukee Ave. }

'Twas the night before and not a creature on Milwaukee Ave was stirring... this street, normally packed with Wicker Park's hipsters and bicyclists, felt eerily quiet on Christmas Eve but for the flickering neon lights on storefront signs blending in with colorful Christmas ones. Tonight we took Baby Max out to have sushi at a new BYOB Japanese resto in the neighborhood. Most Jew Christmases are spent eating Chinese takeout, but we like to shake things up! We had the place all to ourselves. We enjoyed a generous portion of Creamy Soft Shell Crab with sesame oil, asparagus and spicy mayo, Chef's selection of sushi, a signature maki called Strawberry Sundae (shrimp tempura, cream cheese, scallions, unagi and strawberry sauce), and a spicy tuna roll. I was surprised to find that it was only 7pm when we got home from our (way early) dinner because it sure felt like hours later! Boy, how things change with a baby! And here's a preview of what I wore...  

Hanukkah to Christmas...

This week was the perfect lead up to Christmas––we were invited to dinner at new friends' home, did some shopping downtown at Filene's Basement before the department store closes for good (scored amazing deals!), and had a yummy lunch today with The Fella at Whole Paycheck Foods. For the fourth night of Hanukkah, we picked up potato latkes and matzah ball chicken soup from Whole Foods using an incredibly thoughtful gifted eCard. Tonight there were twinkling white lights, flickering candles, and a warm meal, followed up by our annual holiday viewing of Love Actually. One night, Baby Max will be awake for the lighting of the menorah...

"Tough guy"

When our little "tough guy" pouts, it makes my heart melt. Yep, Max definitely has mommy wrapped around his little fingers!

Hot cocoa + chocolates

Lookie here what arrived for us! Mmmmmmmmmm.......

The weekend, succinctly

{ lunching in Chinatown }

{ The Fella tending to some work }

{ Baby Max, bored of being in the carrier }

{ salt & pepper squid }

{ whole butterfish }

{ CTA Holiday Train }

{ tasty treats mailed in old-fashioned care packages }

{ Santa Baby }

{ Baby's matching shearling mittens }

Weekend style notes:

:: The Fella, Baby Max and I spent Saturday walking around town in Ugly Christmas Sweaters. Fella's is an original from the Kmart ladies department a few years ago. He gets a lot of mileage out of it every season. It's got pearls, embroidery, sequins, beads, metallic thread... the whole Christmas smorgasbord. You LIKE? 

:: I donned my ugly plaid turtleneck (also from Kmart) and Baby Max sported his new Santa hat and "Baby's First Christmas" red velour onesie from Grandma. Classy, right? The hat came in the mail along with a matching bib.

:: So in our Christmas finery off we went for Baby Max's first trip to Chinatown. We rode the CTA Holiday Train back home––it was jam-packed with families, strollers, and angry CTA employees elves. Nevertheless, I wait all year to ride this train, and it was worth the angry passengers and crying baby! Back at home, we lit a spicy cinnamon candle and watched old Christmas movies all night––Frosty the Snowman, Frosty Returns, and Elf starring Will Ferrell. We indulged in homemade Christmas cookies mailed to us by a dear friend and fancy "marbled chocolate flower shells" sent by my mom, which we filled with fresh kiwi!

:: I also took Max for some North Avenue shopping, followed up by a little family walk in the neighborhood––but not before I dressed him like a sweet, little Ralph Lauren candy cane! You look delicious, Baby. I might have to eat you up!  

It feels like Christmas, finally!