Today I Love

Hi friends! If you don't yet know what "The Flop" is. Let me explain. Occasionally, Boy has a few really really busy days at work. When this happens, he usually ends up working well into the evening, and eventually, through all of the night. We end up going for a week or so sleeping all day and living all night. When this happens? We call it, The Flop. The lack of natural light makes it uber difficult to blog so I do so apologize for my absence. Should be getting back on track after today!

Today I love the fabulous kitchen we are THIS close to being done with! I know it's all I've talked about for the last few days but we are getting CLOSE and I did some thrifting [and some not-thrifting] today and started gathering the lovelies that I want to incorporate onto counters and centering the table and all that amazing stuff and I'm falling in LOVE. I love love love the fabrics I found to use as wall art, curtains, placemats and so forth. Do you want a peek?

Don't you just love them? I just love them. I mean really, I am IN. LOVE. With the colors. With the patterns. I didn't even mind waiting in line at Joannes for 30 minutes plus in loo of the fabulous Labor Day sales.

I also love getting to visit my sister and her family and I love playing "pretend" with my niece and nephew. "Auntamalie! Auntamalie! Pretend you're the mommy pony and we're the baby ponies! 'Mommyyyy, can we go to the park??'" My response: "Of course we can go to the park! As soon as you  make your beds."

Silence.

"Auntamalie. Let's pretend you're the mommy pony and you let us go to the park without making our beds first."

My bad! I love that in those cute little minds of theirs they make their "pretend life" exactly what they want it to be.

Mostly though, I love coming home to a sleeping boy and having him lift his drowsy head when I come in the door. Without his glasses on he can't see five inches out but I still get a, "Hey Hot Stuff!"

Oh how I love him for that.

If I could have.

If I could have invited you over for some raspberry lime iced tea while the sun set, I would have told you how completely inspired I am for this weekend. I would have told you about the last three nights of [no] sleep I've had and how my mind will just not stop reeling about all the crazy ideas I'm gathering for our newly re-finished kitchen. I would tell you about the vintage motifs I want to bring in to break up some of the geometric lines. I would have told you about how badly I want to go shopping for some mellow floral patterns to pair together for curtains and wall art and everything else. I would have shown you the blank canvas' that belonged to my grandpa before he died and tell you how excited I am to paint them and incorporate something so meaningful into the room.

I would have told you how busy I've been for the last three days and how bummed out it makes me when I don't have time to take pictures and blog about everything going on. I would have told you that I couldn't wait to spend the next three days at home, with my camera around my neck, and the boy right next to me squeezing my hand whenever I need a lil' energy boost. 

Then I would probably have closed my eyes for a second and fell into a daydream about him. I would have laughed and tried to explain to you how adorable his little boy face is when he wants to ask me to make shoyu chicken again even though I've already made it for him five times in the last two weeks. I would have told you about how needed he makes me feel. I would have told you about how much I love the way he loves me. I would have told you about last night. About how he took me to a birthday party for one of his old school friends yesterday and about how he held my hand, and kept me with him and made sure to introduce me to every person we came to. I would have most definitely mentioned how sweet he is to act so proud of me and my photography and how special he makes me feel when he brags about it to his people. I would have definitely told you how much I love that boy. [IF I was feeling super comfortable, I may have even told you how lately we've discovered that commercial breaks go a lot faster if you make out all through them - but really only if I got super comfortable.]

After that, I would have asked you if you wanted to come inside for some cookies and milk and I'd pull out the chocolate chip cookie dough I made and froze yesterday and while they were cooking I would have thanked you endlessly for listening to me and chatting with me and giving me a chance to clear my mind before I jumped in to my [endlessly long] to do list for the next few days.

Then of course, I would have asked about you. I wonder what you would have told me. Hope you have had a lovely Saturday friends. Thanks for the date.

I'm pretending it's fall already.

[At least from the waist up.]

Sometimes when Levi and I don't go anywhere all day so I know I'm going to be inside out of the heat, I throw on a long sleeve shirt. [I think it makes me feel rebellious or something.] Anyway, quick one today but hey, I'm still on track! Cheers!

Necklace: Gift from my seester.

Top: Thrifted but it's Threads for Thought.

Yellow Undershirt: F21

White Shorts: Charlotte Russe

Zebra Flats: Target [FOREVER ago again.]

Today I Love

Today I love dentist-clean-teeth! I love that my appointment was at two, and Levi's was at three, so we got to say hi, "refer" each other [For a discount!] and make the secretaries laugh at us in between! I love getting there and getting to say "Hi, I'm Amalie. My boyfriend made an appointment for me?" THEN, I absolutely adore the fact that after Levi finished talking to Doc about his teeth, he asked about mine. "Which of her cavities should we get filled first?" "We're under the same roof, can we fudge it over for the family plan?" [Seriously babe, just ask me to marry you already and get it over with!] I also love running to Wal-Mart while he went back and getting him a thanks-for-going-to-the-dentist-with-me-present to surprise him with when he got out...

I think my conversation with the cashier when I bought it was pretty worth loving too.

Cashier: You gonna be needin' a gift receipt with this hon?
[She shakes her head like she already knows.]
Me: No...
[She blinks at me a couple times.]
Me: It's actually for me and my boyfriend.
[Couple more blank-stare blinks.]
Cashier: You know, I think the day we stop buying toys for ourselves is gonna be a sad one!

Right? Have a good night, peeps. We gots some underwater catch to be playin'!

Appreciating it all.

I almost made today like every other. I woke up, was going to get to work on the kitchen. Probably complain a little about how hot it was. Probably sit here and wish that these dang cabinets were already painted. I almost took advantage of the fact that I get to work on the kitchen today. I almost took advantage of the fact that I'm able to use a little elbow grease. I almost forgot how blessed my life is.

See there are these three tiles in our entryway that have kind of "wiggled" for as long as we've been here. Every time you step on them you kind of hear them hit the mortar underneath them that they must have separated from. Well in the last couple weeks, it's made the grout around them start cracking and coming up in little pieces. Kind of obnoxious and really ugly. Well last night, Levi decided to fix it. And by last night I mean right about the time I threw on my PJ's and was pretty ready to crash out. So I fixated myself on sleep and laid down to you know, make a point or something. A few minutes into the project I hear his little voice. "Babe, where you at?" I look up, a little bit set still on my heavy eyelids, and mumbled a bitter, "What?" He repeats himself, "Where you at? You're usually right here with me on stuff like this." A little bit chagrined [and secretly dreading him asking me to mix him up some mortar or something], I say something about not thinking he needed my help on this particular project. He says, "Of course I need your help!" Then, when I dreading the response asked him what he needed, he came back with this.

"I need someone to say, 'Phew! Looks like a tough spot!' or 'Nice! It's lookin' better already!' then I'm going to need someone to hi-five when I get all done!"

At that point, I paused. I closed my eyes, counted to ten and reminded myself who fully I love my life. I ran over the list of all my favorite moments with Levi. Going to buy a lawn mower and some flowers, sitting outside planting while he cut the grass. Barely surviving under the weight as I held up ceiling fans and he attached the wires. Levi and I have done a lot of really fun things, but doing the little things together? Remembering to appreciate the not-so-obviously "fun" projects that we get to do right next to each other?


That is something I never want to lose. That is one of the main reasons I even started this blog. Those are the moments that make us, us.

Sorry babe, how about I paint some cabinets while you sand some edges today? Thanks for the reminder that life is better together. Love you more than grout floats and lemony baked carrots.

Have a little faith in me.

What I wore number five, comin' your way folks. Are you ready for this?

Saturdays. The end of the week. For me [because I watch a nine month old for work and come home smelling like spit up and / or baby food Wednesday through Friday] Saturdays are one part let's-get-dressed-up-and-feeling-good-again and one part let's-sleep-all-day-and-screw-even-getting-out-of-pajamas so I never really know what's going to happen until halfway through the day when Levi and I decide if it's a get things done Saturday or a going out Saturday. This particular Saturday we had cabinets to finish painting, a pool to clean, and all kinds of dust bunnies begging for our attention so it was thhhhiiiiiissss close to being the latter of the two choices. Then my hair shaped itself well - and if the hair works? Well, you really just gotta roll with it.

 

 I still stuck with a super comfy look. Love slipping into maxi's. They're kind of fabulous because of how chill they are. [Also because when you get back in the car after shooting in 115+ degree weather you can pull them up and let in the AC. Just sayin'.]

A trifecta of unpleasent situations.

So first, I got all ready to head out this morning, hair, make-up, shorts and Toms, the usual. Then I checked back once to make sure Levi was still sound asleep. Convinced by his heavy breathing and the goofy grin stretched across his face, I assumed that he was still frolicking his happy life away in dreamland, and I left. I turned out onto the main road and got about halfway to the stoplight when I hear "Toot toot!". Classy. The "I think I'm so cool because I give the obviously inferior bike rider on the side of the road whiplash in order to gain her attention even though I'm going 50 mph and she's going like, -2" honk. [You know people, we don't even have time to see your face as you drive by and I seriously doubt you have time to see ours. You might as well be honking at the plane flying overhead because the flight attendant might be hot.] Anyway. This time I looked up and it was big, lifted, black Dodge Ram. Same truck Levi drives. Had a cover over the bed and everything. Now let's think about this. Do you wave? Or do you not?

If you do, you could be leading on some innocent flirt and create for yourself a situation you weren't actually trying for. If you don't wave though, you do risk hurting the feelings of your boy with an un-intentional ignore. I mean he could have woken up. Maybe you forgot something. Then again, maybe it WAS your man's truck but NOT your man. Maybe someone stole it after seeing you ride away! In that case wouldn't the finger be appropriate? But if you give the finger, you could also be either crushing some sweet [although privileged] teenager's heart just for trying to be cute, or you could get yourself in serious trouble from the boyfriend who maybe woke up and was just trying to help. Sigh. By the time I decided that not doing anything was probably the best call, the whoever-it-was was already gone anyway. I just can't think fast enough for these drive-by-honkers.

Later I talked to the boy and we decided that in the future, if he ever drives by me on the side of the road he's going to lean out the window and yell "BABBBEEE" at the top of his lungs so there's no confusion next time. Phew. Sure am glad he's so good at solving life's main mysteries.

Number two. I'm at work now. Later in the afternoon, four or so. Baby is in his little walking device ramming into the kitchen pantry over...and over...and over. I'm just finishing reading a quick text from the boy ["Missin' my lady." Awww.] when I look down to the ground about a yard away from baby where my Toms are kicked off under a kitchen chair. Suddenly my shoe...twitches. I look a little closer, take a couple steps, and BAM! Two inch long scorpion takes off across the kitchen floor. Towards baby.

I should probably take a moment right here to explain to you how fully I do NOT do scorpions. As I explained to my sister later, throw me off the Eiffel Tower straight into a burning building filled with free roaming snakes, spiders and the like. If I catch fire throw me in the Nile. It's cool. I'll be fine. Not worried. Stick one scorpion in that mess and FORGET IT. I'll find myself a different horror story to live. One without long stingers that turn your limbs numb. Shudder.

However. There was a baby in the mix. A really cute baby that is MINE to take care of from 8 in the morning to five at night. So, I reacted. First baby. I grab the little guy and cradle him one-armed as close to my chest as I can. Then I look for a hammer. Fail. So I grab the first thing I see and I turn that BAM factor right around on the nasty fellow. Lucky for me he was a slow one and it only took me two smacks to leave him motionless. Problem averted. WAY easier than I imagined.

Then I washed all the scorpion guts off of the bottom of the boss's favorite thermos. Seven times.

Even LATER today. I'm already home from work. I've been home actually. For a good hour or two. I mention dinner and Levi suggests Shoyu Chicken again [we're kind of rut people]. I tell him we need chicken breasts for it and we decide that since Levi is in the middle of laying tile, I'll just go pick it up. I need toothpaste real real bad and have a little list I'd like to get some things on anyway. So we kiss. We hug. We say some nasty "Don't be gone too long..." "I miss you..." mushy gushy stuff and I head to Fry's. [Which is of course an entire two and a half minute drive from our house.] I start with the chicken and as I'm walking over there I catch the eyes of the "meat boys" behind the glass and I lip smile courteously before turning around and picking the pack I want. I decide on one, wrap it up and I'm off to the next. Rice. Soy sauce. Maybe some bread. Peanut butter would be good. Maybe there's a sale on Pop Tarts... I'll go get my toothpaste on the way to the check out... I'm just wandering the isles having myself a good ol' grocery lovin' time when I start hearing these whistles. Like the way people whistle when they want people to notice them being inconspicuous. Then I start paying a little closer attention. I realize that each isle I'm walking down, the same boy from the meat department that caught my eye before is at the end of. Just sauntering. Whistling. Looking. My stomach gets a little sick and I try heading all the way up to the front where the fruit is. Then I come back. Still there. Still lurking. Still staring me down every chance they get and then looking at each other laughing like they're doing something they should be proud of. I force myself out of enjoyable-sale-hunting mode and try to grab the necessities but it's getting ridiculous. I can feel him burning holes in my back and the whistles are getting louder and the laughs are getting fuller. So I grab my bag of rice and turn straight towards the end of the isle where sure enough, he's walking slowly down at the end of. I stare him down the entire time. Dirtiest look I can muster. Then I leave. Frustrated. Then I get home. No toothpaste. FURIOUS. Then I call the manager and tell him to "give the bastards in the meat department a stern talking to". He agrees and apologizes profusely. I feel a little better.

Then I got on and bought new Toms and felt a LOT better.

But what is the point of that, really? What do they think that it's going to accomplish? "Hey, buddy-who-also-smells-like-a-dead-cow, let's make this lady trying to do some simple grocery shopping feel really uncomfortable because we're so cool that we can!" You know what? Whatever makes you feel better dude. I'll just bring my boyfriend-who-is-twice-the-size-of-you with me next time. No big deal.

Old picture today. Cause I'm reminiscing over my old Toms. Will forever love those babies.

Night, y'all.