Holiday Gift Guide 2013

06 Friday Dec 2013

Posted by in Charity of the Month, Christmas, gifts, Uncategorized

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I’m linking my oldies but goodies at the end, plus including a few new favorites that I wouldn’t mind having myself!

I couldn't pick just one item!

I couldn’t pick just one item!

Holiday Guide 2013 #2

I would like to state that the above are my first adventures into the world of Photoshop.  Not the greatest, but not awful, right?  Although I do have to confess that the roundy cool one for Nena & Co. and The Root Collective was done by the hubby…I don’t have those kinds of skills yet (hence why the rest are not as pretty).

I was too lazy to make a cool Photoshop just for this, but I’m sure this will be a beautiful calendar for next year.  I plan on buying one for my office :)

Supports The Network in Solidarity With The People of Guatemala (phew, that's a long one).

Supports The Network in Solidarity With The People of Guatemala (phew, that’s a long one).

Another gift guide that I came across this year is from Home With the Boys.  The website is down right now but hopefully will be back up in the next day or so.  And of course, there’s always Nicholas Kristof’s guide from The New York Times.

And the oldies but goodies:

2011 Gift Guide (apparently I missed 2012…)

2010 Gift Guide and 2010 Update

Happy shopping!

Life Lessons: Always Bring a Notepad

04 Wednesday Dec 2013

Posted by in lessons, life, office, work

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There are many things I disliked about my first job out of college, the main one being my boss.  Actually, he was the only thing I disliked, haha.

BUT, I did learn a lot of basic office stuff while working there, and I’ll never forget what my boss told me on my first day after I walked into his office: “never leave your desk without a notepad.”  Granted, it was said in a condescending tone that made it sound more like “you idiot, never leave your fucking desk without a stupid notepad,” or “I have many important things to say to you and you better remember every single one and you never will without writing them down so bring a notepad.”  Or something like that.

Nevertheless, it’s something that I’ve carried with me through every job I’ve held since then (minus Starbucks), and it’s a lesson that has come in very handy.  Especially since I’m the kind of person that forgets things as soon as I hear them.

And so, I’m passing on this gem to you.

Books I Want to Read

04 Wednesday Dec 2013

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Here’s a list of books that’s on my “to read” list, but that I probably won’t read for a long time.  If any of you do or have read them, please let me know what you think so I can prioritize my list :)

The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism, by Naoki Higashida.  I heard about this book on The Daily Show, and Jon Stewart just couldn’t say enough about how great this book is.  It piqued my interest.

Julie Andrews’ Collection of Poems, Songs & Lullabies, by Julie Andrews and her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton.  I came across this while looking at some of Julie Andrews’ other children books, but they’re all for girls…I think this might be more up Jake’s alley :)  Reviews look awesome!

julie andrews

In the Company of the Poor: Conversations with Dr. Paul Farmer and Fr. Gustavo Gutierrez, by Paul Farmer, Gustavo Gutierrez, and Michael Griffin.  This is the uber nerd in me, but also one of those books that will probably be at the bottom of my list for a while.

Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man’s Fundamentals for Delicious Living, by Nick Offerman.  Ron Swanson.  Need I say more?

paddle your canoe

The Sugar Barons: Family, Corruption, Empire, and War in the West Indies, by Matthew Parker.  A few years ago I read Bananas: How the United Fruit Company Shaped the World.  It was a short read, but really interesting and enlightening.  I figure the history of sugar must be just as interesting.

Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Wolf.  Why not throw in a kind of classic in there?

Sam the Cooking Guy: Just a Bunch of Recipes, by Sam Zien.  Back when Jeff and I had our apartment, and basic cable, we were limited to about five channels.  One of which had Sam the Cooking Guy.  Jeff and I love watching his show, and this is definitely a cook book I want to add to my kitchen collection.  Even if I use it as sparingly as my other cook books…

cooking guy

The Literate Lushes Updates

03 Tuesday Dec 2013

Posted by in book review, books, Literate Lushes, reading

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Well, it’s been a while since I updated this section.  To be honest, since having Jake it’s been pretty difficult for me to fully participate in our book club, but I’ll still share with you guys the books that were chosen over these last few months.

August: The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman

Great, short read.  I think everyone in book club enjoyed reading this one.

September: Eek, I can’t remember!

October: The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy, the Shocking Inside Story, by Ann Rule 

i went as far as buying this book and reading the first 10 pages or so.  It is loooooooong!  With Jake being awake more and more around this time, I just wasn’t able to make a significant dent in the book.  Not to mention: I’m a little afraid about getting creeped out by it!

November: Dictionary of the Khazars, by Miorad Pavic

Again, I didn’t get around to reading this one, but sounded like an interesting concept.

January (skipping December due to busyness): Play it as it Lays, by Joan Didion

I just got this book today, and I think I’ll be able to read this one by the time book club comes around!  Looks fairly short and simple, which I’m excited about :)

 

What are you reading these days?

Motherhood: Early Mornings

14 Thursday Nov 2013

Posted by in family, life, mornings, Motherhood, parenting, sleep, Things I want

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Jake has started sleeping through the night!  The only thing is he goes down at like 7:30 p.m., so even though he’s sleeping almost ten hours before he wakes up to nurse, it’s still only 5:30 a.m. for me.  It started with him sleeping until about 1:30 a.m., and waking up again around 3 or 4 am, and then up by 7 ish.  When he was getting up that early in the morning, it was easy to crawl back into bed and go back to sleep.  The problem with a 5:30 am wake up time* is that by the time I’m done nursing and then pumping, it’s only about an hour away from Jeff’s alarm and I’m just wide awake.

On the plus side, this means that for the last two days I’ve had VERY productive mornings.  I can get everything done while both boys are sleeping, which means I don’t have to worry about holding Jake or leaving him by himself.  So yesterday morning, for example: I nursed, then pumped, got a load of clothes in the washer, ate my oatmeal, washed all the parts for the pump (I have to wash them like three times a day, can’t wait to buy some more…), took a shower, got my water and snacks ready for work, picked up the room and got the coffee pot ready.  All of this before 7:00 am!

You can probably tell what hasn’t been happening, even with these early mornings: working out, haha.

*Mind you, I’m not complaining by ANY MEANS–the fact that my three month old (tomorrow!) baby is sleeping through the night already, regardless of how early he wakes up, is quite remarkable!

Music Corner: Ben Howard & Of Montreal

14 Thursday Nov 2013

Posted by in entertainment, Morning Becomes Eclectic, music, music corner, soundtrack, video

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For fellow Walking Dead fans, this song was on the last episode and I’m sure it struck many of you as being….awesome!  For those non-Walking Dead fans: enjoy!

Pretty awesome, eh?

Speaking of “eh,” I heard this song by Of Montreal on Morning Becomes Eclectic and thought it was a fun song to share.

What’s your latest music discovery?

Cristina Siekavizza Update

11 Monday Nov 2013

Posted by in Cristina, Discussions on Development, Guatemala, Justice

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About two years ago, I had a series of posts relating to the disappearance of a Guatemalan woman, followed by the disappearance of her husband, Roberto Barreda (the main suspect in his wife’s disappearance), along with their two children.

I also posted about how a specific group of people, including Cristina’s parents, were relentless in searching not only for Cristina, but Cristina’s children.  They mobilized a whole country.

Most of these stories seem to not have happy endings, but I’m happy to provide an update today letting people know that although Cristina has not been found (she is presumed dead), her children were found living in the Yucatan peninsula with their father.  He has been arrested and deported to Guatemala, and the children are now in the care of their maternal grandparents.

The challenge for justice still lies ahead, since Barreda’s mother used to be a judge and has already shown considerable influence in this case.  I want to be hopeful and think that justice will prevail and that Barreda will go to jail for what he’s done, but time and time again I seem to be disappointed by the judicial process in Guatemala.  Time will tell.

Always Go to the Funeral

11 Monday Nov 2013

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I recently came across an NPR article entitled “Always Go To The Funeral,” and I immediately recognized that as something my grandmother taught me as well (my grandmother also translates this as “always go to the mass”– I can clearly remember my grandmother saying “everyone always goes to the party, but no one ever goes to the mass!”).

I lived with my grandmother in Guatemala for a few years growing up, and during these years there was a bus-mate that passed away from a pretty bizarre car accident.  The girl was in junior high, maybe 8th grade, and I was probably in third grade.  We’d never really talked, but we took the same bus to school and home every day.  To be honest, I didn’t like her much–not only was she way older and intimidating (as I write this I can’t believe she was only in 8th grade, in my third grade mind she was always at least 17 or 18), she was a little stuck up.

When she passed away, my grandmother made me go to the funeral, and for the life of me I couldn’t understand why I had to go to the wake of someone I barely knew or liked.  As I got older, I started seeing the importance of it.

A friend of mine lost her father a few years ago, and I made it a point to go to his wake.  I still remember how thankful she was for that, and how not difficult it was for me to be there.  At that moment I was thankful to my grandmother for instilling that value in me.  It’s so easy to avoid things because they’re not convenient for us, but we should remember that sometimes it’s not about us at all.

Charity of the Month: Holiday Volunteer Opportunities

11 Monday Nov 2013

Posted by in charity, Charity of the Month, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Uncategorized, volunteer

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With the holidays around the corner, I thought I would dedicate this Charity of the Month to sharing a list of places in Orange County where you can volunteer some time to provide holiday cheer to those less fortunate.  My compilation is a shorter version of a compilation already made by One OC (hey, why reinvent the wheel?).  Click on the One OC link and check out the page number listed below to get contact information–I’m also providing links to each of the organizations in case you’d like to find out more about them.  Get your volunteer on! (too cheesy, huh?)

  1. Families Forward in Irvine needs help preparing Thanksgiving bags (p. 11).
  2. Make a Wish Foundation needs volunteers in November and December for their Santa Letter Writing Campaign at Macy’s stores (p. 22)
  3. Colette’s Children’s Home in Placentia needs volunteers on November 25th for their Thanksgiving Feast for homeless women and children (p. 8), as well as November 26th in Huntington Beach (p. 9).
  4. American Family Housing in Westminster needs volunteers on Thanksgiving Day (November 28th) for serving, setting up, and breaking down a Thanksgiving dinner for homeless people (different shifts available, p. 3).
  5. Families Forward in Irvine needs help distributing gift bags to families (p. 11).
  6. Grandma’s House of Hope in Santa Ana (and multiple locations) needs help decorating their women’s shelter’s for the holidays (p. 15).
  7. Alzheimer’s Family Services Center in Huntington Beach needs help on December 3rd with setting up holiday decorations (p. 2).
  8. Giving Children Hope in Buena Park needs help wrapping Christmas presents on December 3-5th and 10-12th (p. 14).
  9. The Wooden Floor in Santa Ana is looking for people to donate a Christmas tree and decorate it for families that cannot afford one.  Needs to be done by December 6th (p. 31).
  10. Child Guidance Center in Newport Beach needs help on December 7th and 8th setting up for and during their Annual Holiday Tree Fantasy Event at the Balboa Bay Club (p. 7).
  11. Colette’s Children’s Home needs volunteers for their Christmas Party at the Huntington Hyatt on December 19th (p. 9).

Motherhood: who puts who to sleep?

31 Thursday Oct 2013

Posted by in baby, Jacob, Motherhood, parenting, sleep

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So we’ve been trying to get into somewhat of a routine at night with Jake, usually involving bath time and putting on his pjs. We’ve read a couple stories sprinkled in there, but he’s usually too tired to deal with that–hopefully when he gets a little older we can try adding that in again.

Although he’s amazing at putting himself to sleep after we lay him down, sometimes he takes a while to fall asleep so I like to stay in the room with him in case he looses his binky (pacifier) before falling asleep completely. Ninety-nine percent of the time what this means is that I’m passed out in our bed by 8:30pm waiting for him to fall asleep. I’m not ashamed or embarrassed about going to sleep that early (you know you’re actually jealous), but I am trying to slowly start becoming a little more productive with my time, and I’m losing out on peak productivity hours by falling asleep at the same time as Jake.

Yesterday I thought I had a genius idea: start taking a shower at night. In my mind this would kill two birds with one stone: I wouldn’t have to worry about watching Jake since everyone’s home, and it would give me my second wind after putting him down for the night.

Well, as these parenting things go, it didn’t quite work out as I planned. Dinner was running a little late so I took a shower before dinner and before Jake’s bath. Which means that when I put Jake to bed I ended up putting myself to bed as well. Again.

I’ll have to try my shower theory again some other night and see if it helps me stay up at all…

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