Happy Halloween 2012!

It's no secret that Jason and I love Halloween.  I used to think Halloween was just an okay holiday, but since Jason came into my life I've grown to love it.  Besides loving all of the horror movies that come out around Halloween, the best part of Halloween for me is the inflatables all over the neighborhoods!  I just love them and since we own a home this year, we got our very own!!! 

Remember two years ago when I won a blog's Halloween Inflatable Contest.  Told you I love them. 

My other favorite thing is dressing up poor little Tucker.  I don't think he appreciates it as much as I do.  I will reveal his costume this year tomorrow, but I will say that he got off the hook majorly this year!  We went more for his comfort and dignity in mind than in years past. 

Spider - 2011

Turtle - 2010

Bumble Bee - 2009

Dorothy - 2008

Captain Jack Sparrow - 2007

Jason and I did it up big this year for Halloween and it's not even over yet.  We carved pumpkins, roasted pumpkin seeds, watched lots of scary movies, and made yummy Halloween treats.  We enjoyed Terrifying Taco Tuesday night last night complete with orange and black tortilla chips and tonight's dinner is Spooky Spaghetti!

Jason even sent me Halloween flowers to the office!  I didn't dress up for work today because I had several serious meetings, but I did rock all black with this orange Stella & Dot necklace. 

I hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween tonight.  Being this is our first Halloween in our new house, we aren't sure how many trick-or-treaters we will get, although I'm hoping for a LOT since we have tons of candy. 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 

Maternity Leave in America

This article is a must read for every American, especially women.  Very interesting and hitting super close to home right now. 


Via: TakePart.com

Five Things Friday

Five things I loved this week:

1.  The sweetest message from my dear friend Caileen who lives in Colorado and is getting close to having her baby girl!

2.  Surprise from my mom and Aunt Vicki...a jacket that I can wear this winter with my baby bump and a FABULOUS bag to match.  Not bragging but it rhymes with "Ranel." 

3.  Still coming off my high of seeing Ashley and Wentzel last weekend

4.  Our gas lamp getting repaired this week.  It now puts out the most perfect glow near our gazebo.

5.  Hitting my ad sales goal for the Junior League!  That takes a major weight off my shoulders. 

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Candy Corn Bark

 

I got this recipe for Candy Corn Bark from Allyson over at Mimosas in the Morning.  Love her blog and was so happy to meet her at the Houston Blogger Symposium!  Go check out her post about this Halloween treat, as her pictures are 500% better than my amatuer iPhone pic.

 

This recipe is so easy and quick.  It looks great on a plate or in a cute Halloween treat bag. But be warned that it is sugar overload...a little goes a long way! 

 

Ingredients:

14 Halloween Oreos, broken (I couldn't find Halloween Oreos, but the regular ones still looked great)

2 bags of white chocolate chips (preferably Ghiradelli)

1 cup candy corn

1/2 cup of pecans (if you don't like nuts, another recipe used broken pretzels)

Halloween sprinkles (I purchased mine at Michael's, but Target has too)

 

Instructions:

Cover a large cookie sheet with wax paper or parchment paper. Spread 1/2 broken cookies, 1/2 nuts and 3/4 of the candy corn onto paper. Place your white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and heat in the microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring between, until melted.  The chocolate melts quicker than I thought so be careful not to burn.

Pour the melted chocolate mixture over the pan and spread if necessary for even coverage. Sprinkle the remaining ingredients over the white chocolate while it is still wet. Place cookie tray into refrigerator over night (or until it is firm).  I put mine in that morning and it was ready by lunchtime.  Remove and break (using your hands - I gripped the outside of the paper and tried to break within the pan - toppings will fly) the bark into smaller pieces.



Week 10 Pregnancy Update

Not ready for belly pictures yet!  I feel bigger, but it just looks like I ate too much Mexican food at this point.  Jason and I officially found our doctor last week and had a great appointment.  I got all of my lab work done, met and interviewed the entire office staff and did another ultrasound.  It's crazy how much bigger Baby P is after just a few weeks.  We even got to see Baby P move around a bit this time. 

Baby P is the size of a date this week. 

I'm not technically in maternity clothes yet, although I've pulled out some of my tops that are very flowy and loose just to be comfortable.  Most everything still fits, but I just get self conscious about how tighter things look on me right now.  My regular pants still fit. 

Still feeling nauseous, but not nearly as bad.  Mostly, I'm just so, so tired.  Tucker feels my pain!

I've been craving orange juice and oranges non stop.  I can't get enough ice water.  And Mexican food is ALWAYS on my mind, although I was pretty much like this pre-pregnancy, it's just a little worse now.  Don't worry, I only give in to this desire once a week. 

Because I've been so tired I'm finding it hard to get to the gym after work.  I have been walking a lot in the afternoon.  Maybe that's why Tucker is so tired. 

I've been reading lots of pregnancy books including Rosie Pope's new book, Mommy IQ.  My favorite so far is probably The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy just because it's so honest and funny.  I read Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthy earlier this year, but I'm thinking about re-reading it because it was so darn funny and now so applicable!  

Cadbury SCREME Egg

You don't have to wait until Easter to get a Cadbury Cream Egg!  This year, you can buy a Cadbury Screme Egg.  Love these so much...they even have a little Halloween twist in the middle with green gooey goodness!  Thanks Ashley for telling me about them...you were right, CVS has them!

Great Weekend

We had such a wonderful weekend!  The best part was getting to spend time with Ashley and Wentzel who stayed with us over the weekend from Tyler.  We ate too much, got pedicures (with color, watch out now), shopped and stayed up past midnight!  That is HUGE for us. 

While shopping at Nordstrom, we randomly ran across Steve Madden doing a store appearance.  We didn't make it in time to get an autograph, but we snapped a few pics of him. 

Sunday we were lazy (surprise, surprise) and ended the weekend with a good and a bad. 

The bad...the Texans lost!  It hurt. 

The good...the season premiere of The Walking Dead!  It did not disappoint.  Love how kick-butt Maggie is this season. 

Have a great week!

Mammograms...a few minutes for a lifetime

I don't write about my day job much, but I work for a company that owns and operates diagnostic imaging centers around Texas.  We also have diagnostic sleep centers and outpatient surgery. 

It's easy to get caught up in the day to day grind and specific tasks at hand to forgot how this work can really help people which is why I wanted to take a minute today to remind you of the importance of a routine annual mammogram.  We are hitting the pavement this month with lots of pink to remind everyone to schedule that mammogram! 

There are so many facilities out there to get this done, even if money is an issue.  Your doctor should be able to recommend the best facility and course of action for you. 

If you need an example of how breast cancer can happen to anyone of any age, just look at Giuliana Rancic's breast cancer story.  It's never too soon to get one. 

The best protection is early detection!

TGIF

I'm so excited for this weekend because I finally get to see Ashley!  I haven't seen her and Wentzel since last May when Jason and I visited their new home in Tyler.  Way too long for us since we used to see each other every single day. 

I don't have much planned, but have a feeling we will manage to squeeze in a pedicure, shopping and maybe even Pitch Perfect.  We get to celebrate her and Wentzel's birthdays too!  Tucker is pretty excited too except for the fact that he is getting a bath this afternoon for the occasion. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend!  If you don't do anything else this weekend, please go purchase the new Mumford & Sons album, Babel.  It's nothing short of amazing.  Ashley agrees too.

October Scares

If you read the blog regularly, you know that Jason and I LOVE horror movies.  And every kind...gory, slashers, paranormal, zombies, vampires, science fiction...we are equal opportunity horror movie lovers.  Needless to say, we love this time of year, when everyone is gearing up for Halloween, haunted houses, and LOTS of scary movies on TV and in the theatres. 

We are dying to see Sinister with Ethan Hawke on Friday when it opens. 

Last Friday, we were browsing the horror movies on Uverse and Netflix and couldn't find anything that we hadn't already seen so I suggested we start the AMC cable show The Walking Dead from Season 1. 

For whatever reason, Jason wasn't that jazzed about it, but humored me (yes I played the pregnancy card).  By the end of the very first episode he said "this is the best show ever!!!!"

The show is about a group of people trying to survive after a zombie Apocalypse.  They throw in many different types of people who are forced to form a family in order to survive and fight off the "walkers" or zombies.  Besides the horror aspect there is humor, action, romance, scandal...a little something for everyone!

We ended up watching about 4 hour-long episodes that night, probably 4 on Saturday and a handful on Sunday.  Today, we are already in the middle of the second season with just a few more episodes until we are totally caught up. 

Just in time, because Season 3 premiers Sunday, October 14 on AMC.  If you love the Walking Dead, you must also checkout American Horror Story which kicks off Season 2 on October 17 on FX. 

Another recommendation is for The Possession which should still be in most theatres now.  This movie is an exorcism type movie, but with a Jewish twist.  J and I both liked it.  Plus it has Geoffrey Dean Morgan in it whom I love...Denny from old school Grey's Anatomy. 

 

Why Do Women Tear Each Other Down?

Okay, so this post is a little whiny and heavy so if you aren't in the mood for it, visit me another day and I promise it will be back to fun and light!  You've been warned. 

I know I'm extremely new to this pregnancy thing and I'm in for lots of strangers offering unsolicited advice and belly touching, but I've been a little taken aback by some of the reactions I've received from my pregnancy news by women.  I must have skipped this chapter in the pregnancy books.   

So it's either:
a.)  Me...I'm a fat cow.  Let's just start calling me Fat Chelsea (yes, I referenced Pitch Perfect)
b.)  The people I encounter on a day to day basis are mean
c.)  Women are too hard on each other in this world
d.)  All of the above
Does my mini quiz make you think of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn?  If not, go read it!

My coworkers learned of my pregnancy between 1-2 weeks ago.  I would never have told everyone so early, but I do work with family so everyone got a little overexcited and the news spread like wild fire.  I've received lots of congratulatory emails and hugs, but some were accompanied with a little side of mean:

Example 1:  "Congratulations!  We all were talking about you recently and how we thought you were pregnant because you've been looking a lot rounder lately."

Example 2:  "Congratulations!"  Followed by belly rubbing...which I'm sorry, but at only 8 weeks you are simply rubbing my fat and bloated stomach!

Example 3:  "You're pregnant?!  So that's why you looked like sh*t on Friday." 

Example 4:  "I was wondering because you looked horrible last week." 

Example 5:  "I could tell weeks ago.  Your face is so much fuller." 

Example 6:  "That's great!  I can really see it in your waist and stomach." (this was at 7 weeks). 

I could go on and on. 

Maybe I'm overreacting, but frankly I'm sad that this is how women are reacting to me.  Instead of being encouraging or supportive during this exciting, but very scary time, I've been made to feel self-conscious about my appearance of all things.  I would also like to note that I haven't received one mean comment from a male yet.  Maybe they are thinking it, but at least they have the decency to keep it to themselves.  Men have actually asked me how I'm feeling more while women focus on how I'm looking.   

I just want to scream...sorry, but I'm nauseous, bloated, sore, tired and emotional.  Spanx just don't fit into my equation right now! 

Blog friends, I know I'm preaching to the choir, but is this how women are to each other?  Maybe my women's studies degree is making this into something bigger than it is, but I'm saddened.  And "rounder" evidently. 

Don't go feeling sorry for me though.  I say all of this with a chuckle.  I know right now, health is so much more important that my appearance.  We just came from another great doctor's visit so I can't complain one bit.  I just wanted to share some of the experiences that make me laugh and think and aren't often discussed. 

I hope you are having a wonderful week so far! 

Love,
Fat Chelsea

Coming May 2013...

Baby P! 

Jason and I are so excited to announce that we are expecting!  I realize that it is very early to make this announcement, but it's almost all I can think to write about.  We are thinking positive that everything will happen as it's supposed to, but if something unfortunate does happen, my blog would be one of the first places I would run to for support. 

So the things I've been dying to tell you for weeks:

-  Friday, 9/7:  I took a pregnancy test, okay 6 tests, on a hunch.  I've had countless "hunches" before that all turned out negative so don't think I was so in-tune with my body.  Shock, happiness, disbelief.  We didn't want to get too excited until we saw the doctor, but it was so hard not to.  We tried to go living the weekend normally, but I felt so weird!  We even attended a block party in our neighborhood that Saturday.  While everyone else was drinking beer, I happily sipped my water, and EVERYONE kept asking me if I was pregnant.  No, I told them, just trying to be healthy.  I hate lying and am really bad at!

-  Tuesday, 9/11:  Doctor's Appointment.  Doc predicted I was 5.5 weeks along, but it was too early to detect a heartbeat so he told us to wait it out 10 days and come back for a second ultrasound.  At this point we were still scared to tell anyone since it was crazy early.  Parents were told, but again, we tried not to celebrate too much.  My body was doing crazy things so I was so hopeful that this was a sign that everything was good. 

-  Monday, 9/24:  Doctor's Appointment #2 for second ultrasound.  I had a meltdown/panic attack the night before.  I was just so scared that we wouldn't see the heartbeat.  If this seems dramatic for you, you have to understand that a.) I'm a glass is half empty kinda girl.  I like to prepare myself for the worst and b.) we know how common it is to have a miscarriage early on in a pregnancy.  But, it ended up being the best day!  We saw the heartbeat and were given an estimated due date of May 11, just 2 days before my birthday. 

 

So you are totally up to speed now!  I'm almost 9 weeks along and feeling so, so tired and nauseous (not to mention bloated), but I'm not complaining one bit.  We are so happy and excited.  I'll keep you posted along the way and am definitely up for any advice you are willing to give!  Since this will be our first, we have a LOT to learn. 

 

Have a great weekend.

 

Love,

Chelsea

Winter Break

Jason and I will be headed to Belize at the end of November!!!  Nothing like getting into a bathing suit right after Thanksgiving...real smart of us, but I don't care! 

 

Hello Winter Break!

 

And in case you were wondering, although exciting, this is not my exciting news.  That post is coming tomorrow morning.  See you then!

Deoderant Removing Sponge

Ladies, who else has the problem of getting deodorant marks on your dark clothing?  I do, no matter what type of deodorant I use or how I get dressed.  I feel like this happens to me often since I wear a lot of black, especially in the fall and winter on all my sweaters. 

This product by Hollywood Fashion is a must!  I have used it for a year and it really and truly works great.  Since it's a small and light sponge I just keep it in my purse for whenever I need it...or for a friend in need!

 

Get it here on Amazon for only $5.62!  FYI, this is the same company who makes the Fashion Tape that I swear by and use for everything from quick pant hems to low cut tops that you want to stick to you. 

Fifty Shades of Pale

After I attended the Houston Blogger Symposium, I ran home for a quick rest and then headed out the door for White Salon's Fifty Shades of Pale fundraiser and silent auction for melanoma cancer research.  I attended with my mom who is also a client of White Salon.  We were so excited to support the salon and Allison, our fabulous hair stylist and friend who planned the whole event!

 

Mom and I went a little crazy on the auction items...putting us together + both of our competitive streaks = bad news for our wallets, but good news for the fundraiser.  We ended up with way too much, but were so happy to support Allison and this cause.  

 

Mom, me, Allison

 

 

It was also great to reunite with Shanon, our former hair stylist who referred us to Allison after he started a new career.  I went to Shanon back in high school and had such a crush on him back in the day.  My mother decided it was a good idea to tell him that at the event...thanks mother!



Mom, Shanon, Me



The salon looked great!

 

Shelley in action!  She STALKED the items she wanted!

 

Congratulations Allison on such a fun and successful event!  Everything was perfect.  And by the way, if you are looking for a hair stylist in Houston, Allison is your girl!  Contact here.  The salon is located in midtown. 

Scarf Swap 2012 Reveal

I'm very late posting this, but last week was the 4th Annual Scarf Swap Reveal for 2012 hosted by Meredith.  I participated last year and it was so fun...who doesn't love a new scarf for fall?  The weather in Houston even turned a bit cooler over the weekend so it isn't so much of a stretch to wear a scarf now, although I wear mine year-round! 

This year I was paired with Kim.  I will let her reveal the scarves I sent to her, but I included one for her and one for her sweet daughter Ashley.  I read on Kim's blog that she is a big fan of the University of Illinois and even has season tickets for the football season so I found scarves in orange and blue for her and Ashley to wear. 

Kim gave me this awesome scarf that I LOVE (in the cutest packaging, by the way)!  It has greens and blues and reminds me of a peacock!  Did you know this was my fave Kim?  She also sent a sweet note and a sheet showing 9 different ways to tie a scarf...love!

Thank you for my new scarf Kim!  It was fun getting to know you and swapping scarves!  I love mine so much and can't wait to wear it this week.  Also, thank you to Meredith for hosting this another year!  Already can't wait to do it again.