Tate is Born!!

Candice is a planner when it comes to birthin' a baby. She likes her epidurals and her inductions and that's just the way it is. So Tate was set to be induced on her due date Thursday, April 24th at 7 a.m. And at 8:30 p.m., last night (Wednesday, April 23rd), Tate decided to come on his own terms. Her water broke then, and at 9:49 p.m., Tate was born, and his 14 inch head 8lb 15oz body entered the world. He is darling. And Candice rocked it. She was NOT happy. She did NOT have her epidural. She did NOT have drugs. She did NOT have a particularly nice nurse either. She had one tiny dose of Stadol that kicked in after it was all over. But she still did such a good job. I was so impressed. 

And Kaitlynn was so cute. She held Tate's hand and said, "Don't be scared, Tate. Your sister's here." She kissed and loved him so softly and so cute. 

awww....

How I Met Your Mother

I didn't even now this show existed until yesterday when Bridget brought the seasons over. She went home after 2 episodes and Brad and I watched 4 more. It is seriously the most hilarious show ever. Now as I write this, I'm like, "Crap, what if this show has some really naughty parts that I overlook or that are in upcoming episodes and somebody's going to be all offended if they watch it." And I can only say if that is true, I'm sorry. It is so funny to me. And I like that it's all about a sweet 27-year old looking to get married. 

3 more things before I start watching some more episodes:

• I put up pictures of my shirt and purse on their respective entries. My jacket is too big so I'm sending it back.
• I met two guys. They are roommates. Well, I met one who volunteered his roommate. I had just told Ariana a couple days ago that I need to meet a nocturnal person or someone who is unemployed to hang out with when I'm awake and no one else is. The guy I met is unemployed. His roommate works nights at Intel. They are both 27. Yay!! (I'm 28 in case anyone's lost track :o) )
• 2 more days to Candice's baby!!

2nd Attempt at Ravioli

Yep. It's still awful. I finally found a pasta maker. Which, I will say, is great. I looked EVERYWHERE. Including: Macy's, Linen's N Things, Bed Bath and Beyond, Mervyn's, JCPenney, Target, and Craiglist. There were a few expensive ones available at Williams-Sonoma and SurLaTable, and some online. But not here. And guess where I found one!! SEARS! For $30! Sweet. And it works like a dream. (Ok, Ariana found it and I thought she was pointing at Olive Oil Mister. Maybe other places did have them...)

But the ravioli was still not not good. I don't know how I make such crappy pasta. Maybe I need different flour. However, it was fun!

(Oh, and we finally got rid of wireless Verizon internet and changed to cable internet and it is SO FAST. OH I LOVE IT. I CAN PUT UP SO MANY PICTURES SO FAST!)

My Mexican Sister

Actually, she's Honduran. And she's been my friend for a very very long time now. She lives in Texas and I talked to her today. And I realized she looks like a celebrity. :o)

Sunvisor Project

This is kind of a complicated entry, which is why is has taken me so long to actually write about it. But about 8 months ago, my sunvisor fell off. In my lap. While I was driving. Since then, I have thrown it in every possible direction in my car. I'd put it back it, it would stay for an hour, and then fall back out. I called Nissan and it would be like $200 to replace. I went to junkyards (like 10 of them....I think that's it's own separate entry) and apparently every other Nissan visor in America has also broken because they had none. See, the plastic thing in the second picture had broken in half, thus not holding it in. 

I tried to fix it once with lots of little rubberbands, and that didn't work at all. And the other day I fixed it with rubber washers, which I thought was brilliant, and that worked for an entire day and a half, until they slid off. So...today I used both rubber washers ("o" rings) and electrical tape. On the bottom AND the top. Pulled tight like string. I think this just might work. I'm not paying $200 for this plastic crap!

Updates

Check out my sister's belly on her blog!

And...Jessica's List is coming along nicely :o)

How Do You Think We Should Fix This?

So Kaitlynn was naughty today. She straight up took a little pair of bathroom scissors and snipped my mom's curling iron cord smack in half. 

And she got in big trouble. I think she got a spanking, and she definitely got a talking to. And Candice told her that she was going to have to take some money out of her piggy bank to pay for it. 

Later, Kaitlynn was sitting on my mom's lap, and my mom said, "What do you think we should do to fix this?"

Kaitlynn thought about it for a minute and then said, "Do you know any fairy godmothers?"

heeehee

42 Cures For Laziness

So on Friday night, basking in the laziness of another "What Not To Wear" evening, I felt, as I occasionally seem to, lazy. Yep, the kind of my house is messy, I'm in my pajamas, haven't worked out in like 6 days kind of laziness. So I called up Bridget, my new friend, and casually mentioned, "Hey. If I end up doing something productive tomorrow, like hike Camelback, do you want to come?" "Oh, well, I'm running a 4.2 mile race for Pat Tillman at 7:00 in the morning if you want to come.""uuhhh, yeah, ok. I could do that."
In case it's not obvious from my random sleep schedule and other entries, it was actually the time of day that scared me more than the race. But I needed to get off my butt so I said yes.

Now, Pat Tillman (hotness pictured above), died in the war and used to play for both ASU and for the Cardinals. His number at ASU was 42. So we ran 4.2 miles and ended on the 42 yard line of Sun Devil Stadium. And I ran it in 42 minutes, which was cool. 15,000 people did it, which made it exciting to be part of such a huge river of people. 

Then I went home and slept for 8 hours. Man I have a screwed up schedule. 

Stimulating the Economy

So my economic stimulus check has yet to arrive, but I've decided to go ahead and get started stimulating the economy. Monday I made two returns: a tank top and my color printer cartridges, which almost equalled my purchases: some shorts, my Ross Dress for Less purse, sunglasses and rubber washers from Home Depot (later story). 

I have had crappy cast-off $5 sunglasses for years now. So I almost spent $105 on sunglasses at Nordstroms on Saturday (see reference to Jimmy Choo below) (why do I really even look in that store I don't know). But instead I bought fantastic Isaac Mizrahi ones at Target! And I love them. And they were $15 whole dollars. 

So what does that mean? It means that I can just barely justify the J. Crew shirt that arrived yesterday that was featured in the March issue of Glamour magazine and makes me feel uber fashionable. And the Banana Republic jacket that is almost totally sold out so I had to call like 10 stores and finally am having it shipped to me from Seattle. Which kind of negates the sale it was on, but whatever...

Isn't it interesting? Some people easy spend $200 on sunglasses. Or $300 on a purse. But I think there needs to be a balance. (And not a chance will I buy $200 sunglasses just to leave them somewhere). Go ahead and buy a hundred dollar shirt. As long as you return those stupid printer cartridges. 

This is the part where you tell me your last fun splurge and the last time you totally struck a deal.

Oh! And I also saved about $200 by fixing my sun visor on Monday, too. But I'm so excited about that I have to make it a different entry. And I'm about to go to sleep, so you'll have to wait until tomorrow! :o)

Good-night/morning! cc

Juno is Due

Juno came out at midnight tonight. Brad and I were bored so we went to Wal-mart and made the poor stockboy dig it out of the back. It was kind of fun to know we had the first :o) Please feel free to leave your favorite Juno quote here. Ok, I'll start.

"I just drank my weight in Sunny D and I need to pee PRONTO."

"I'm already pregnant. What other shenanigans can I really get into?"

Juno

Ross Dress For Less

So when Katie and I lived in College Station, TX ('98), we spent Spring Break with her family. Katie always laughed because all the women in her family called "Ross" "Ross Dress for Less."

As in, "Ohhh, let's go to Ross Dress for Less" and "Where did you get that cute skirt?" "Oh, Ross Dress for Less." No matter how many times Katie explains that the store is actually just "Ross," it doesn't matter. The name doesn't change for them. 

So now I call it that for fun. And I tell everyone for whom it is remotely relevant the story of why I do. 

And today I got the sweetest purse at Ross Dress for Less. 

I've been looking everywhere for a cute white purse. You would think in April they would be easy to find but not so much. I went to Forever 21 and Charlotte Russe trying to strike a deal and get a cheap one, but neither store had one. And one at The Limited was ugly and the ones at Target weren't what I was looking for. And Nordstroms. I went there Saturday. Really. What was I thinking? You know when the Kate Spade bags are the cheap ones, you have a problem. Anyone for a $1725 Turquoise Jimmy Choo?

Ariana suggested Ross Dress for Less and I got the perfect one for $10. I like to use purses as scripture cases on Sundays, and they fit just right. 

When I got home, Brad was like, "Oh, did you find a purse at Ross Dress for Less?"

Oh, Brad, he knows me so well. 

Christin Needs

Travis did this on his blog, and it made me laugh. Type in a google search for "[Your name] needs" and write down the first ten. I'm writing down like all of mine because my name is kind of uncommon and there weren't a lot of results. (Make sure you search for the exact phrase or you might get 30 pages instead of 2.) Apparently, I'm also need in need of justice and am a Christian radio show host. 

Here goes

• Christin needs to go 4 guys her age
• Christin needs _____________
• Christin needs to wake up and realize she's being used by Kimmer
• Christin needs a vacation
• Christin needs to win the lottery
• Christin needs to study harder for the next test
• Christin needs our prayers
• Christin needs her beauty rest
• Christin needs someone to hang out with on the weekends when the temptation to return to her old lifestyle is almost unbearable
• Christin needs a henchwoman for this
• Christin needs help to figure this out
• Christin needs more baby names and last but not least
• Christin needs to lay the, er, uh, "smack down" on you! 

A Mild Version of a Disaster

Tonight was the first dinner party that really wasn't good. I mean, it wasn't. And that's okay. It happens, I guess. So, (Jessica this is not your fault. I don't blame you.) Jessica lovingly got me a cookbook called "Dinner Parties" from Williams-Sonoma, which we used for the first time tonight. It is the prettiest, most fun book, but oh, we did not do it justice tonight. 

The menu went like this:

Celery Pear Salad with Toasted Hazelnuts

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Brown Butter and Roasted Pecans (and chicken)

Apple Pear Crisp

It sure sounded good. 

Three things I should have thought about:

• People are weird about celery. Especially, it turns out, when it has pear vinegarette on it.
• Good pasta is fetchin' hard to make without a pasta machine. This I knew. And considered. And still trusted Brad to make miracles happen. 
• Everything took forever. And almost everything looked brown. (We did buy broccoli, but I was tired, and nobody really felt like it.)

Both guys cancelled. We couldn't get anyone else to come (LAME). So the two girls came, which made for an awfully small party. And I was the only one who ate all my salad. The deal is this. I freaking love hazelnuts. Really. I don't know why, but they are hands-down the sexiest, most heavenly food on earth. Emily Smith may remember my love for Haagen-Daaz hazelnut gelato, which they shamefully discontinued. And when I tasted the toasted hazelnuts fresh out of the oven, it was almost exactly the same. I almost ate them all without sharing. So I really liked the salad, even though it was different for sure. 

The pasta tasted a lot like undercooked pumpkin pie. Sad that this didn't really turn out great because

a) I LOVE butternut squash 

b) I LOVE gruyere cheese

c) I LOVE brown butter sauce

The filling was good. We still need to practice the sauce. 

And dessert was okay, but it should have been crunchy. And it wasn't. 

So really. Kind sad. I'll put a picture up later. And I think Brad and I are going to practice pasta making soon. The Naked Chef gives a little more detailed directions, so maybe we'll start there and then head back on over to Williams-Sonoma (which has inspired a ton of great meals!)

Nite!

p.s. Vanessa T. was one of the girls who came over. Every time (3) that Brad has tried to cook something for her or with her, it turns out bad. So we blamed it on her. We call it the Vanessa curse. We told her that if something turns out good, we'll bring it to her. But for now, she's not allowed back over while we cook :o)

This is the Life

So I had the night off work tonight (and last night, too actually, which I spent watching 4 straight hours of What Not to Wear. Which I love and always miss. I felt strangely lazy and fulfilled at the same time.) Anyways, back to tonight, Brad organized a little drive-in get together. There were about 8 of us.  We brought my little grill and went to the drive-in movie to see "Horton Hears a Who" and "Jumper." I ate the most superb grilled hot dogs while lying on the hood of my Bel Air and I was in heaven for a little while. 

Now, I could tell you that I was fifteen minutes late, so tired that I slept through 1/2 hour of the first movie, a little frustrated by all the stuff I had to throw together after grocery shopping, and mention that my house was a disaster. But it's so much better to let you all think my life is perfect. So I'll leave that out. 

It took me how long to figure this out?

So with all our cooking, Brad and I continued to be embarrassed by our "pan-searing." The food usually turned out okay, but always at the expense of our smoke-filled lungs.  We couldn't figure out how to get the stuff to not smoke so much. 

This is how:

Do not heat the oil up with the pan. Heat the pan up for about 3 or 4 minutes. Then add oil. Then add food immediately. Wow. It works great. Much less smoke. Much prettier food. 

My Soul is Skeptically Content

So on my list under "Nourish my Soul" was "get rid of printer and cartridges." The reason for this is that my printer has only rarely worked since I got it in August and is a horrific thorn in my side. It literally torments me whenever I come up with a good idea of something to print or write. Nuts nuts nuts. So...I finally called up hp (I'd e-mailed them before) and told them all the things I had tried to do with my printer to fix it that hadn't worked. And...they gave me a $123 gift card for hp stuff. So I bought a new printer and two sets of ink cartridges and my new printer came yesterday. And I actually had to call hp about that one, too, because it didn't work right away. But it did just now. I finally have my own copy of my list and am about to have a coupon for Cranberry Total. Finally. Now I just have to take the annoying printer to some donation thing. And get my money back for those cartridges. :o) Later.

Did Your Prince Get Lost?

So my 3-year old niece is so much fun to talk to now. There's so much going on in her little head and so many interesting questions that it blows my mind. For example, today. My mom was telling her a story about fairies or something and said "The End." Kaitlynn goes, "Finish it so they can get married and live happily ever after!"
So, of course, she did.
Then Kaitlynn on the phone today tells me the same story. Then there's a long pause.
"Christin, why is you not married?"
"Because I haven't found a boy I want to live with forever," I said.
"Did your prince get LOST?"
"Maybe."
"In the forest with dragons?"
"Maybe. Do you think he can beat the dragons and come to me?"
"Yes," she says.
"Oh good. Me, too."
It was so hilarious. She's such a trip.

My Sister Has a Blog

So my sister has a blog- well, Adam is in charge of it. They just recently decided to update it (from quite a long time ago) so now there is a link to it on the side. Which is important so you can all see my cute niece and my very-soon-to-be-arriving cute nephew. :o) April 24th!

Riazzi's and The Phoenix Suns

So I told Doug about my list. And yesterday he randomly calls up and is like, "We're going to go do something fun." And I'm like, "Ok! Sounds great!"

Apparently he had googled my list and found it and decided we were doing two things. So we went to one new restaurant in town and to a Phoenix Suns game. The restaurant was called Riazzi's and was a fun Italian place. I had a great seafood linguine and Doug had Stuffed Eggplant. 

Then off to the game! 

First off, I am not a huge NBA fan. I generally find only the last 5 minutes to be remotely exciting. Even the highlights of this game on TV were boring to me. Here's a link anyways:
NUGGETS vs SUNS

BUT THE GAME WAS AWESOME. I have seen one other game live (Utah Jazz, 2004) and that was actually very fun as well. (Apparently I do like the NBA- just only live). They played the Denver Nuggets who played the prettiest basketball I've ever seen during the first half. I mean, seriously, Swoosh! Swoosh! The ball almost never ever touched the rim. I had a hard time not yelling for them because I was so impressed. But by the end of the first half we were down 20 points. (Crap!) And then the SUNS got all pumped up and four different players shot 3-pointers in a row and Shaq (who we just inherited) got on a roll and then we started playing pretty basketball and won by like 14 points. Nash had 8 3-pointers and Stoudemire had 41 points! The fans were so excited. I had a blast. 

Doug got me a foam finger and I was on Fox Sports Network for a minute in the back jumping up and down with it. :o)

Cross that off my list (and I might even go back again!)...