June 21, 2009

Two Weddings and a Graduation Party

So I’ve been busy.  How many times have you heard me say that?  Too many, I know.

It just seems to go in spurts, these moments of calm followed by chaos and busyness and holy spotted cow, I’m tired.

We’ve attended two weddings this month, and one graduation party, and then we did some other things.  I can’t really remember what.

I’ve been having more headaches a lot lately, and I’m starting to worry.  Headaches while pregnant can mean blood pressure trouble.  I’ve been monitoring it at home and it’s only slightly elevated, but when I get 3 or 4 headaches in one day (or one BIG headache that goes away and reappears like painful magic), I get nervous.

Also, it’s freakin’ hot.  I complained how the first part of June was cold and rainy and sucky.  Now I want to rip out my tongue.  The humidity has arrived, bringing with it swollen ankles, sticky heat and general discomfort.  Add that crap to pregnancy and Dear Heavenly God, please, PLEASE send me air conditioning.  I just may die without it.

So, in lieu of a real post, I give you pictures of the fabulous times we’ve been having.

First we have my friend Kim’s Wedding:

Next we have my brother Frankie’s graduation party:

And finally, photos from K & T’s Wedding:

Doug and I had a wonderful time at each wedding, and my little brother’s graduation party was lots of fun, too.  We’ve got so many things coming up this summer… I don’t know if I can keep up!

What have you been up to?

February 20, 2009

People Let Me Tell You ‘Bout My Best Friend

My BFF Amanda turned 30 on February 16th, the same day I got the fabulous news I was pregnant.  Before I could say the words, Miss Manda knew.  She looked at my stomach and with a huge smile on her face, she shouted, “Yay!”

Amanda was my first visitor in the hospital when I gave birth to Dawson.  At that time in 2004 she was living in Texas and managed to drive home for a visit during the same week I was admitted to the hospital for induction.

Amanda and I have known each other since the eighth grade.  Her mom, also named Dana, became fast friends with my parents and they were part of the same social circles.

Amanda and I have never had a fight.  Not once.  We both hung out with different groups of friends when we were in high school, but we always managed to pick up our friendship wherever it left off.  After graduation, Amanda moved to Texas to go to school (her mother’s family is from Texarkana, Arkansas, and her father’s family is from Wisconsin) and I stayed in Stevens Point to attend college.

Whenever Amanda came home to visit we made time to hang out and catch up.  On my 21st birthday, I went to Longview, Texas to visit her.

Miss Manda (a nickname given to her because she’s from the south and still has her southern drawl) is the kindest person I could ever want as a friend.  She’s always got a smile on her face and she loves to have fun.  Whenever we get together it’s inevitable that I end up sounding like Scarlett O’Hara.  Her “accent” is contagious.

We celebrated Amanda’s big 3-0 by having dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant, El Mezcal, with a few other friends.  I only stayed for dinner (too tired from the day’s excitement) but told Miss Manda to have a drink or two for me.  Of course she obliged (and promptly ordered a shot of Tequila).

Happy Birthday, girl!  Here’s to being 30!  I’m right behind you, dahlink!

January 4, 2009

Dana + Dinner + Drinks + Partying All Night = Really Bad Hangover

Last night Doug and I went to a holiday party at the Red Mill restaurant.  We had a fabulous time.

Dinner was delicious.  We both had the ribeye steak and potato puffs, and I had chicken dumpling soup while he had the tossed salad.  Then we had cheesecake for dessert, too.  I had several cocktails — before, during and after dinner.  One too many cocktails.

(Speaking of the desserts, the waitress told us if we didn’t like cheesecake we could order an ice cream drink instead.  So then I said, “Oh!  Do you have the cricket one?”  And she replied without missing a beat, “No, but we do have the Grasshopper.”  That was totally what I meant.  Cricket, grasshopper — same family, right?)

I started out drinking a glass of Coca-Cola.  Then I decided since I drink maybe once a year I was going to enjoy myself and have a screwdriver.  After two of those, I switched to Malibu and OJ because the vodka was tasting funny.  That could possibly be because I was getting sloshed.

Doug had two Budweisers and then promptly stopped drinking so that he could drive us home, but the friends who hosted the dinner invited us to their house for a glass of wine, or coffee and to hang out.  Because we like these friends, Doug and I agreed.

When we got there, I decided to have soda so that I could sober up.  I thought that I could avoid a hangover that way.  It didn’t work.

While at the after party, Doug got to try a wheat beer that our friend E. offered him.  It was a German beer (I only know this because it had Weisse in the name) and let’s just say it was probably made of river water and rotten cheese because the toxic gas emissions these men were giving off could have killed a village.

We were just getting ready to leave (because my brother was babysitting and we didn’t want him to drive home too late) when S. got me involved in a game of Catch Phrase.  Oh my gosh is that way too much fun.  Imagine six drunk people trying to play a hilarious game, similar to the game Taboo.  Much laughter and cursing were shared.  I had the best time so I promptly purchased the game from Amazon.com today.

Right after I drank three huge glasses of water and swallowed an Excedrin.

Oh the headache.

Now were going to have lunch at the Tempura House.  Nothing cures a hangover like salty Chinese food!

July 30, 2008

BlogHer ‘08: Feelin’ Funky Friday

Friday at BlogHer was a day of non-stop activity. I woke up at 6:00 a.m. when the alarm in our room went off in my ear. Elizabeth had to work in the BlogHer Book Store, so she had to be up at that time. After turning off that screaming, wake-up machine, I tried to go back to bed. I had a migraine like you wouldn’t believe and I was thirsty. So very thirsty.

After popping an Excedrin, and downing an entire bottle of warm water (yuck, but it helped) I decided to try to blog about the night before. But, really, I was kidding myself. The in-room WiFi sucked and I was too distracted by all the upcoming events of the day.

I went down to the Mezzanine level for breakfast and after eating I got to try out the Wii Fit. Let me just say how desperately I want a Wii and Wii Fit. I’ve been coveting one for months and we just can’t shell out that money right now. Maybe by Christmas. (You hear that Nintendo? I’m in desperate need of a Wii. Can ya hook me up? What? Shameless begging you say? Yes. Yes I know.)

I met Krisco in the grand ballroom and we sat together to hear what Lisa, Elisa and Jory had to say during the opening keynote. The we did some speed dating and I collected and gave away oodles of business cards.

The speed dating session at BlogHer ‘07 really intimidated me, and halfway through it I found myself hiding in the ladies room. I really don’t know the reason, other than it was my first time at a blogging conference and I was so overwhelmed.

This year was much better because we had a different way of meeting new bloggers. We all sat at the table, talked for a few moments, exchanged business cards and when the time was up, two bloggers moved to a new table. It was like Survivor: BlogHer in San Francisco, as Lisa described it, and I liked this method much better than standing in two circles like we did in Chicago last year.

And this is where I finally got to meet this amazing, hilarious, wonderful blogger. She fucking rocks my world. I was so excited, I squeeed her. It’s only because I missed her in Chicago last year (I saw her in a panel, made a mental note to talk to her, but then missed her — so this year I was elated to talk to her and pose for a photo with her.)

After speed dating, it was time to head to my first session. I chose the MommyBlogging track and geared up for “Is MommyBlogging Still a Radical Act?” This session was very informative and the many viewpoints that other mom bloggers presented were interesting and relevant. Lindsay Ferrier did an excellent job of moderating the panel. The focus seemed to steer toward the monetizing vs. non-monetizing issue that so many of us get worked up about. Metropolitan Mama did a wonderful job live-blogging the session so I encourage you to read her post to learn more.

After that panel, my brain got a little fuzzy. I went to lunch and had a delicious Thai Beef salad. I can’t even remember who I sat with. I think it was Ashley. Yes, yes it was Ashley. I swear the days are blurring together, which is why it is VERY important to blog it all right away, yenno?

After lunch I attended the second MommyBlogging panel, “Public Parenting & Privacy”. I really enjoyed hearing what Shannon Lowe, Chris Jordan, Crystal McKee, Shino Tanaka & Shireen Mitchell had to say about the privacy and security issues we face when we blog so publicly online. It’s My Life live-blogged this session wonderfully, as well.

I learned a lot about the online dangers we face every day, and I became particularly concerned about using Dawson’s name publicly. Chris and Shannon use pseudonyms for their children’s names to keep their kids “Google Proof” and I worry about the fact that I didn’t do this.

Anyone can Google my son’s first and last name and read all about him, at least from the point of view of his mother. This issue is so duh! for me, because when I first started blogging, I did use nicknames for Doug and Dawson. Then one day I slipped up and used their real names and felt I had to continue doing so from that point on. I’m still not sure how to go about this now.

After this session, I stayed for the next panel: Mirrors: Ours, the Media’s, Our Cultures’ and Our Kids’ (live blogged at Body Impolitic). I enjoyed this panel because it talked about body image and some of the issues our children face about their own looks and self-image.

I asked a question and I was so nervous about speaking with a microphone at hand, so I was totally flustered when I revealed the morals I was raised with. For the record, I said “I was raised in a very strict Catholic family. I couldn’t wear anything that looked too sexy or too revealing. You can’t have sex before marriage. I held to that.”

What I was trying to say but totally screwed up in all my nervousness: “I was raised in a very strict Catholic family. I couldn’t wear anything that looked too sexy or too revealing. You can’t have sex before marriage. I held to that standard, until I was 20 years old.” (I just want this blog to be authentic and felt the need to correct the misinformation.) I don’t know why I was so darn nervous. Maybe because someone said our panel was being video recorded? (Still makes me nervous! Still!)

After that panel, I went to the Community Keynote and cried my eyes out. Not once, not twice, not even three times. No, I had to be the girl to cry four times in less than half an hour. I sat with Lorraine from Wifey’s House and I told her that wasn’t the first time I cried that day. I swear it was all the estrogen roaming the halls of the Westin St. Francis. And, that fact that each of the bloggers linked above wrote moving posts that were even more stunning when read aloud. Just hearing their voices and the emotions behind them really touched me.

After that we all went down to the cocktail party at Ruby Skye. Where I danced, just a little. Here’s a few Ruby Skye photos:

Ruby Skye is definitely one of the coolest clubs I’ve been to in awhile. But after this fabu party, we headed off to Maggie Mason’s house for her Haus Party. And I danced more (it was like funky dancin’ Friday or something). And that’s where I met Dooce. You already saw that photo. So I’ll share a few others.

Let’s just say that I was so tired at the end of the night I thought I’d never wake up the next day. But I did. At 6 a.m. to go to Yoga. I already told you about that, and yes — I know. I think I’m crazy, too. Stayed tuned for the BlogHer Saturday/Final Recap.