What a strange, sad, crazy week this has been!

First, we had one of the worst ‘sleep weeks’ with Marco…between Thursday afternoon and Friday evening, he hadn’t slept a longer stretch than 1 1/2 hours, and most of the time he was awake, fussing. It was miserable!  Then, Tim had to work through Thursday night, because of an issue with a server. I was home alone with Marco almost all night.

Friday was Adrienne’s birthday, and we’d made plans to have lunch in St Helena with them. I’d had to cancel because Tim was ridiculously exhausted, and Marco was in no condition to go out in public. Later in the afternoon, we heard from Adrienne and Justin…they returned home from their vacation to find they’d been robbed! Someone had broken into their home and stolen almost everything of value. Tim and I decided to drive down and visit them, and make sure they were okay.  The thieves left all of the important paperwork (birth certificates, social security cards) so at the very least, they don’t have to worry about identity theft. 

 Yesterday, I found out that an old friend from high school, Isaiah, had passed away a few days ago. I was very sad to hear about it; I’d really had no idea the extent of his illness. Isaiah had Type 1 Diabetes, but I’d always assumed it was pretty well under control.  He was always such a good friend during our high school years, and though I hadn’t seen him since we graduated, we’d maintained friendly communication (thanks, Facebook). Anyway, it was definitely a bit of a shock. I am holding his wife and 5 month-old daughter in my thoughts.

Here’s hoping this week is much better for all my loved ones!

So, recently, I was selected as a caretaker for the Flat Joe Project. You’ve probably heard of Flat Stanley? It’s a similar premise.  A jewelry designer, Joseph Allen, decided to make a necklace character by the name of Joe. He travels around, meeting new people, and seeing new places.

About the designer: Joseph Allen makes hand stamped jewelry.  The items are made with high quality Argentium Sterling Silver; they come in satin and hammered finishes and you can personalize them however you’d like (birthstones, pearls and crystals can be added as well)!  View his shop here: Joseph Allen Designs

I was so excited to host Flat Joe! He came to us all the way from Georgia, and seemed a little jet-lagged from the long trip! After a nice nap to acclimate him to our timezone, we started our adventures. 

First, he met the family. Me (Michelle), Chloe (the black lab), Tim (my husband) and Stabler (the feisty cat):

Tim, always glad for an extra pair of hands, wasted no time in putting him to work. They added some neat details to the fireplace in our living room:

Afterwards, we relaxed in our backyard, and Joe decided to hang out with the bougainvillea:

Joe joined us for our anniversary dinner at Bottega. It was a lovely meal (read about it here). Joe helped us select a dessert:

He even helped Tim polish off a delicious Zinfandel!

The next day, I thought Joe should see the beautiful Napa views:

There was a beautiful fountain in Yountville, and at first, Joe wanted to test the water…

But he (quickly) thought better of it.
On his last evening, Tim opened up a nice bottle of Pinot Grigio, and Joe seemed very interested:

The Dickson family thoroughly enjoyed meeting Flat Joe, and we hope he had fun experiencing the Napa Valley. Where will he go next….???

If you’re interested in hosting Flat Joe, please go here and leave a comment with your contact information!

My blog readers get a 10% discount on any purchase from Joseph Allen Designs!! To take advantage, make sure to mention my blog and ’flat joe’ in the comments section of the Checkout process, and you will be refunded the 10%.  

FYI: I was given the opportunity to host Flat Joe on the incentive that I would receive a significant discount on a future purchase. I was not compensated in any other form.

Tim started my day off with doughnuts from Buttercream Bakery and a non-fat Chai from Starbucks. Mmm! I was, unfortunately in quite a bit of pain and discomfort, so I spent the morning and afternoon in bed, trying to save my energies for our anniversary dinner at Bottega.  For lunch, Tim went out and got my favorite sandwich (avocado, mustard, lettuce, tomato, red onion and cheddar cheese on cheesy bread), and while I ate, he finished a couple of house projects (a blog post is in the works). Stabler was very cuddly and kissy all day, and I liked it.

Our dinner reservation was at 5:45 (I wanted to go early, just in case!) and we arrived with a few minutes for picture taking. The restaurant itself is designed very well. I loved the atmosphere, and the seating was comfortable.  We were served sparkling water (I believe it was house made), and as we looked over our menus, our eyes had to keep up with our tummies! I ended up with the Insalata del Bosco (mixed greens & pear salad) and the Handkerchief pasta with asparagus. It was all delicious! Tim ordered the Mozzarella Buratta with artichoke hearts, and a Rib-Eye steak with truffle-parmiggiano fries. Tim and I have had many, many versions of the french fry, and this was probably the BEST we’ve ever tasted – which is definitely saying something! We loved them. OMG my mouth is watering, just imagining the flavors. We ordered two desserts to share; the first, a chocolate torte with caramelized banana, roasted banana gelato and a chunk of chocolate peanut butter bar; the second consisted of Zeppole (almost like a doughnut hole?) with a warm lemon curd and a blackberry, blueberry and earl grey jam. It was like we’d died and gone to pastry heaven. It was one of those meals where, from start to finish, Tim and I couldn’t stop smiling – the food was THAT good. I can’t wait to go back.

After dinner, we drove around Napa and talked. When we got home, I put on some records and we played a few rounds of Mancala (Stabler LOVES the shiny stones), took a few pictures, and enjoyed our food coma.

Thanks to my wonderful husband for making this day so special.
XOXOXOXOXO

Long post today- you’ve been warned!

May has always been one of my favorite months (the others being September and December), and I am so glad it’s here!  This year, there may (LOL) be even more occurring this month than the usual. Our ‘dating’ anniversary is May 9th (7 years!), and our wedding anniversary is May 21st (5 years! OMG!). But yesterday we received the information that we will be sharing our ‘month o’ love stuff’ as we call it, with our son’s day of birth. Initially, when we first figured out our due date, we’d say “Oh, I hope that he’s born June 1st instead of May 31st, because May is OUR month!”.   However, the excruciating pain that he puts me through every day has given us a change of heart, and we’re happy to share our month with Marco – but I don’t want to share my anniversary!

Right now, if he doesn’t make his appearance by 38 weeks, it’s 99% sure that we will induce. I’ll be 38 weeks pregnant on May 17th.  I’ll do the damn thing May 20th or 22nd, but NOT May 21st!! I have to make sure to tell the doctor that, if they decide they want to wait until I am 38 weeks + 2 days or something.

Sunday is both our dating anniversary and Mother’s Day, so  Tim and I are going to relax together, since I’m very restricted on traveling far from the hospital too often - sorry, Moms!   Timmy is taking me to an early dinner at Bottega, Chef Michael Chiarello’s Italian restaurant in Yountville. I am very excited; we’ve heard so many great things about the food! Mmmm, pasta and bread….

Next Sunday, I have my 2nd baby shower to attend, and I am looking forward to it – I just hope that Marco doesn’t decide to come out while we’re in Livermore!  I’d have to keep it together for the almost 2 hour drive to the hospital; I would NOT want to be in Tim’s shoes either, though- I can imagine the yelling, ha ha! 

MAY
Watching:  very little. watched ‘House’ on Monday night, and will probably watch a movie tonight with Timmy.
Reading: finished ‘On Becoming Baby Wise’ (parenting philosophy – sleeping, eating, etc.) and read through a few Agatha Christie mysteries that I love. Haven’t started anything new today.
Listening: the records that I used to love when I was a kid! Lots of Fleetwood Mac, The Police, Violent Femmes, and even some UB40 (oh yeah, we’re jammin’ the ‘Red Red Wine’ on my record player!!).
Cooking: Last night I made tomato, basil and mozzarella sandwiches, lightly brushed with olive oil, black pepper, garlic and balsamic vinegar. Mmm, maybe I’ll have another for lunch today!
Wanting: more sleep, less pain.
Promising: Stabler that I will still scratch under his chin after the baby arrives. Chloe isn’t worried, she’ll just shove her little nose into my palm until I pet her.

Here are a couple of pictures from our maternity shoot with Suzanne; I haven’t seen them all yet, so will share more with you later!

At any given time, I’ll have about 40 different topics swirling around in my head, all vying for prime space in my brain’s receptors. All this jostling and shoving around can sometimes throw the important stuff into the background where it may remain for several hours, or even several days! This is one of the reasons I enjoy lists. I make lists for almost everything. Groceries needed, household chores needing to be done, books I’ve read, books to be read, people I’m not speaking to (KIDDING! Although, Stephen Colbert’s ‘On Notice’ board isn’t a bad idea — I’m looking at YOU, mean woman from a certain winery!!)… Anyway, this blog post is going to be a little like one of my lists. Slightly random and probably completely unhelpful to anyone other than myself.

-Tim is the loveliest husband. Example: He removed the chipped nail polish from my toes the other day because I couldn’t reach them very easily, and he HATES the smell of polish remover. He offered to help me paint them too, but I was kind and told him I’d keep them plain for now.  Further cementing his place in the ‘Awesome’ category: when we take showers, he always angles the shower head around my back so that the warmth can get through to my muscles; he runs out to get me veggie sandwiches even when he’s tired (and I don’t even have to ask!), and he not only tolerates my fussiness over picking the right shoe for the outfit – he’ll go through my stacks of shoe boxes and offer ideas (and funny justifications for polka dot espadrilles!) when I’m frazzled!  Tim’s also a faithful reader of my blog (how sweet is that!?) and I know this post will make him blush a lot little – sorry, hubby!

-I’m really having fun with this Richard Doyle’s FairyLand coloring book. I grabbed some colored pencils and am enjoying picking out my colors for each character and shape. I also have this coloring book arriving today or tomorrow from Amazon, and I’m looking forward to shaving off a few hours of my day with some scribbles.

-Haven’t seen anything more hilarious/oddly adorable than Hugh Laurie saying the word ‘Ba-donka-donk’ in his charming British accent. Check it out at the 1:59 mark

-Just finished reading The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff.  Also, Tim and I are finishing up Season 1 of ‘Mad Men’. What do they have in common? They’ve both got me thinking about how far women have come, in terms of our place in society. Do we still have far to go? Of course – we’re leaps and bounds away from true equal footing with men. BUT, in consideration of where we’ve been, I think it’s fair to say that our roles in the lives of our husbands/boyfriends/lovers have grown into real partnerships; and, I do also think it’s fair to say that some (NOT ALL) of the ‘imbalances’ today are probably more our own fault than we women would like to admit. One more note about Tim – bear with me! – watching ‘Mad Men’ has made him positively indignant about the way the men in the show treat their female co-workers and wives. I love him even more when he goes on a rant about it.

-Tomorrow I have another appointment at the OB office (2 in one week!). I’m having another fetal fibronectin test, and the unfortunate news is that I think the labwork has to be sent out, so I may not find out the results until next week.

-Need to remind Tim to pick up more Pink Lady apples. I <3 them.

-I’m really excited to see the pictures from our maternity photo session. The shoot was yesterday evening, (yes, I know I’m supposed to stay at home; but I wanted to make sure we had this done BEFORE Marco showed up!) and our photographer, Suzanne Becker Bronk, was great!  There was a little bit of a rough spot when a winery worker yelled at us for being on the property after hours (the gates were still open and it hadn’t quite closed yet when we arrived), and then drove down the road and proceeded to LOCK US IN. She saw that I was pregnant, knew we’d arrived on foot, and even after speaking to us she still locked us in. The three of us had to climb over a few rocks and onto a bridge (with a small creek below) in order to get back out to our cars. Apparently the woman couldn’t wait the 5 minutes for us to walk to the gate behind her truck. I was wearing 4 1/2″ heels, for cryin’ out loud! Don’t worry, they were one of my most comfortable heels – but she couldn’t have known that!

-I’m becoming more and more excited about my baby showers – and a lot of that has to do with the all the yummy food that’s set to appear. Is that sad? Probably. Will I be stuffing my face? OH YES.

I told you my grey matter was disorganized!

Earlier today a friend mentioned her desire for Valentine’s Day cupcakes from her husband, in lieu of flowers. As I am pregnant AND an avid cupcake fan, it gave me not only a strong craving for buttercream, but the idea to post my thoughts on some cupcake bakeries I’ve visited.

Icing on the Cake: Located in Los Gatos, CA. BEST cupcakes I’ve ever had! Cakes are always moist, fresh and delicious, and the frostings are inventive and tasty. Strongly recommend: Salty Dog (chocolate, caramel and sea salt flavors!)’, Luscious Lemon, Berry Berry (it always tastes like fresh strawberries), Mint Chip and the Swirly Cakes (one of the ONLY chocolate cakes I’ll eat, though one is good for 2 or 3 people, in my opinion).

Image from Icing on the Cake’s website

Kara’s Cupcakes: Located at Santana Row in San Jose and Oxbow Market in Napa, CA. The cakes themselves have good flavors, but are usually very dry (like they’ve been sitting out for 3 or 4 days). The pastry chefs have NO feeling for buttercream; it tasted like a single block of butter. Buttercream is truly an art. Note: definitely not the work of one shop.  I’ve been to two different locations and tried three different flavors; same results, I’m sorry to say.

Teacake: Located in Emeryville, CA. Not great; they have interesting flavor combinations but they always sound better than they taste.  They do, however, make a few tasty cookies; but since I’m reviewing their main money-maker, kind of moot at this point. I’ve only been to the Emeryville location, but have visited on several occasions without a change in the cupcakes.

Sift: A Cupcakery: Located in Downtown Napa, CA. I love the cupcakes at Sift. Everything tastes fresh, and they do a lovely job of decorating their cupcakes (fun designs and glitter!). The buttercream is delicious (always a little extra for those frosting lovers) and the cakes are moist. Notable flavors: Pink Champagne (raspberry cake with champagne buttercream), Limonata (Meyer Lemon cake, lemon curd and lemon buttercream) and Snickerdoodle (vanilla cake with cream cheese frosting and tons of cinnamon!!). There’s also a location in Santa Rosa, but I’ve never been.

Anyone have any recommendations of other shops to try?  I’ve heard great things about Sprinkles, but have yet to try one of their creations.

Christmas Eve we visited with the Gomers and exchanged gifts. Belle crawled up to me and gave me a hug and that made my day. Afterwards, we drove to San Jose to visit with my family. My uncles were all a little tipsy by night’s end, resulting in interesting conversations!! Lots of conversations about the baby, of course. Much advice given against our desire to have just 1 child, which shall most likely be ignored. But, it was great to see my family and lots of yummy snacks! I got a gift card to Macy’s from my mum, and a book for the baby!

Christmas Day we slept in a little, and exchanged gifts. Stabler was SO excited with his new toy mouse! It makes a realistic mouse noise just by tapping it, and he was chasing it all around the house. He still hasn’t left it alone! Luckily, the noise isn’t annoying. Chloe was happy with her doggy treats, and less than enthusiastic about her PetiCure grooming tool. Timmy suprised me with a Bose Wave system for my record player, complete with an iPod docking station! I can’t wait to get it all set up. His mom sent us a surprise gift, a Flip Video HD camera! It takes 120 minutes of video, perfect for fun videos of the baby. I gave Tim his Nikon Coolpix, as well as a nice leather camera case. He also got a few surprises in his stocking, including a copy of Oregon Trail!!

I had to whip up some bruschetta to take to Christmas dinner at his Dad’s house, and even though tomatoes are no longer it season I managed to make a tasty appetizer, complete with fresh baguettes from Bouchon Bakery. Things got derailed when I failed to eat enough breakfast before taking my prenatal vitamin, which resulted in me leaning over the sink, expelling everything. We had a nice, relaxing time at his parent’s house, and received some fun gifts. I got the black suede gloves from Nordstrom that I’d asked for, as well as the calendar. I ate way too much food, but it was hard to stop snacking!!

After work on Saturday morning, I came home and Tim and I took naps and lazed around a bit. He finished putting up all the doors, and then we went to dinner at Siena, at the Meritage Resort here in Napa. The food was good, but not great. I probably wouldn’t go back, because there are much more fantastic places to eat at here, and some are a little less expensive. We’d had a $50 dining cheque from OpenTable.com, so it was almost completely paid for. I love opentable! I use them all the time to make free dinner reservations. I get points for each reservation, which I then turn in for dining cheques that I can use at any restaurant listed with them.

Here are a few pics taken with Tim’s new camera, after dinner:

…we’re going to have a mortgage.

Our offer was accepted on this amazing house in north Napa. Its just a few minutes away from the first house we liked on Jefferson, but its 10x better! 3 bedroom, 2 baths and a big backyard. There’s even 2 bonus rooms (one of which will be my library!!). Its 1670 sqft!

Here’s a pic of the house from the MLS listing:

The inspection is on Wednesday, the same day escrow officially starts. 45 days and then we’ll be moving in!!

I’ve been slowly (i usually finish books in a day or two) reading a book my friend Justin recommended. Its ‘The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao’ by Junot Diaz. I still am not sure how I feel about it. I think that it is extremely well written, but I don’t feel like the story really grabbed me. The footnotes are part of the story, and it explains more of the history of the Dominican Republic (such as it was/is). I was more interested in the footnotes than the tale itself; I’m looking into learning more about the country.

Next book I am starting is ‘Rape: A Love Story’ by Joyce Carol Oates.