High Five for Friday

So this is my first High Five for Friday post in a while! I think it’s the perfect way to appreciate some of the little things that happened during my week. Oftentimes, I blow past good moments and dwell on the negative. I hope to use this fun link up to give me better perspective.

1. I had a really rough time last Friday at a freelance job. It was my first show on a new switcher and it was not pretty, to say the least. I was back on my normal switcher this week for a different show and it was SO much better! It kind of brought back my confidence!

2. The Ginger got a new job a few weeks ago and it was about time I stopped by to check out his new office. And of course I had to take a cheesy proud wife photo!

3. My mom is THE best, hands down. She made curtains for the nursery from fabric I designed and had printed! She was so nervous that she would mess up, but they turned out perfect! They bring so much color to the room. I can’t thank her enough!

4. After many years of waiting, our favorite pub opened up a small take awayshop for fish and chips! The Ginger and I grabbed a quick bite before our birthing class. SOOO good!

5. My week wrapped up with another freelance job. It was a big show as it was the start of basketball season in a new conference, and it went really well. Plus, I worked with some of my favorite people!

30 Is Not The New 20

TED Talks are one of my favorite things about the internet age. I don’t think I’ve watched one yet that didn’t affect me in some way. It almost makes the mindless Facebook checking worth it when you click on a Friend’s link that leads to a talk like this. 

“Thirty is not the new twenty, so claim your adulthood, get some identity capital, use your weak ties and pick your family. Don’t be defined by what you didn’t know or didn’t do - you’re deciding your life right now.” -Meg Jay

I really believe this statement. I know I’m not the normal twenty-something…I decided what I wanted to do and had a job in my chosen field at 20, married at 23 and now a baby on the way at 26. But even if all of these things are not accomplished so early, I believe there still needs to be a plan in place. And not just a plan for family and career, but for developing into the person you want to be. For me it has been so important to travel, attend cultural events, watch or read something that changes my mind on a topic. Jay points out that in your twenties you can make real changes in who you are and I hope that the lessons and experiences I gained from those things important to me will impact who I am for the rest of my life. 

Library Baby Shower

During this time while pregnant, I’ve realized just how many people really, truly love me! I was given the most amazing shower by my mom, sister, and cousins. They put so much time, energy and love into it and I can’t thank them enough. For about a month we crafted every Monday night to prepare! Those nights were just as much fun as the shower, spent laughing and laughing! 

The theme for the shower was Build-a-Library. We asked everyone to bring a book instead of a card and baby Jack is so set to be an avid reader! With the book theme in place, we decided to use Little Golden Books as inspiration for the decorations. Like with the Gender Reveal Party, Pinterest was an amazing source of inspiration. The color scheme was green and yellow to match the nursery. Everything came together so beautifully! Probably my favorite part of the decorations were the reading quotes on brown kraft paper. It was so simple, but really beautiful paired with the pennant banners made from old Golden Books.

 

Most importantly, I loved spending time with so many lovely women who attended my shower. I really have some of the best friends and family! We played shower games (because I LOVE them), ate delicious homemade food, and got to look at all the presents that guests so generously gave to make Baby Jack’s entrance into this world easier! 

Well the spend freeze is not a total success. Nor is it a total failure. We’re sort of right in the middle.

Certainly have stopped spending like wild. I feel like I’ve really made an effort to eat out less, go to less concerts/events, and have completely cut out shopping at the Loft. We’ve made due having just basic cable with Netflix. Grocery shopping has been much more condensed and sensible. There are less frivolous purchases, though not a total success there. 

The areas I have a bit of trouble are Target shopping. And beauty products. I want organic shampoo and conditioner. I want non-bleached, environmentally friendly toilet paper. I want that paraben free press powder and blush from that really awesome make-up boutique that supplies the make-up for Homeland, meaning I wear the same make-up as Claire Danes, which means we should be best friends, and she should let me hook up with her husband at some point. Too far? You know what I mean. These wants weigh me down and I don’t know how to stop having the urge and I don’t know how to put down the debit or credit card and step away from Amazon, or drive past Target when I see it. More to work on, I guess.

At this point, we’re still down two credit cards. Four more to pay off, but the balance is consistently going down. I’m trying to pay at least $100 every month to each of them, but it’s usually more :) Our one car should be paid off by the middle of November, and then we will start saving for a down payment for a second car. We plan to purchase a second car in March before I go back to work after maternity leave. 

Some progress is better than no progress though. And I know that as long as I keep making the effort then we’ll be better off. I just need to remember that this debt free lifestyle will be a better environment for our little baby and future family. 

Maternity Session

Back in May, the Ginger and I won a raffle basket that included a free portrait session with a local photographer! We decided to use them for our Maternity shoot! We had a blast at our shoot in Dormont Park with Melissa Distel. She was so generous to included a $75 portrait session, along with $75 worth of products. Since we were so quick and easy with the shoot, she said we could use the rest of our package for a newborn shoot with Baby Jack! I can’t believe we have that all set! Newborn photos…it’s unreal! I love free, or mostly free stuff (the raffle ticket was cheap compared to what we won)! And I’m in love with the photos. I know we will cherish these and will be so happy to look back at these in twenty years! 

Buctober

With the spend freeze in full effect, the Ginger and I have only attended a couple Pirate games this season. The two we went to during the regular season were with free tickets, once for a work event and once with friends! How lucky is that?

But our luck continued and we scored amazing seats during the post season (seriously Pirates in the post season!) from our friend who works for the team. I really wanted to get the Ginger tickets and was so thrilled to get them for a really reasonable price, especially when they were hard to come by! We had so much fun and saw a winning game! Being in PNC Park for a play-off game is something I never thought I would experience. It was unlike any other game I’ve ever been to. I can’t wait to for more from the Pirates next year! Let’s Go Bucs! 

Apple Picking

This weekend to get in the Autumn mood, went apple picking with my good friend Steph! It was a real thrill picking our own fruit, straight from the source! I hope this becomes a yearly tradition! 

Asheville Trip

My friend Ashley and I recently visited our favorite college professor in Asheville, North Carolina. Jan Getz, is an amazing woman with an equally amazing background in television production. She’s a true inspiration, not only in her professional life but in real life too! She’s traveled the world with her husband, who she met and married right out of college (just like me and the Ginger). She lives to help people, whether it be her students, friends or through the non-profits she’s involved with. I aspire to be more like her every day! 

It was such a cool experience to see a glimpse of her life outside of Pittsburgh and Point Park. Asheville is an incredible city set among the Blue Ridge Mountains. It’s residents are a mix of hippies, hipsters, mountain people and retirees. There are over 250 locally owned businesses (I only saw one or two chain retail stores or restaurants while there)! There was so much local culture, local food and pride for both. I can’t wait to take the Ginger and baby there on vacation in the future! 

It's a Boy!

And we cut the cake to find blue icing!! 

We had our ultrasound painstakingly early in the morning…8am. I say it was painful because our party wasn’t until 7pm that night! We had to wait all day to find out…I don’t know how anyone could wait the entire nine months.

The ultrasound tech wrote down the gender in a card and I brought it to the bakery. I was a bit nervous leaving that envelope. Especially because I used some stationary I had laying around, and it had a pink envelope (no expectations, just what I had already). The guy at the counter was like, “Oh we’re making a cake with pink icing, right?” I sort of freaked out and shouted, “NO! Look inside the envelope!” I was a bit on edge, I guess because he just started laughing at me!  

But the bakery did a fabulous job and it matched the card…which I asked to have back just in case! Ha! So paranoid. 

It was the most amazing feeling cutting into that cake with the Ginger. I had guessed boy beforehand but I really wasn’t sure. I always imagined having a girl, but I could not be more thrilled to raise a little boy. Everything will be so new and exciting with a boy. I have nothing to compare it to, like I would with a girl! I know the Ginger is going to be an amazing father and it’s going to be a blast being a parent with him! 

And now we can start shopping! Oh wait. I’m on a spend freeze. Well, we’ll see how that goes. I guess moderation is key, because I know I can’t hold off on buying baby clothes for too long! 

Gender Reveal Party Part 1

The Ginger and I decided we would have the most fun finding out the gender of our baby while surrounded by friends and family! As true products of our age we hosted a Gender Reveal Party! Pinterest was my great friend during the planning process!  You can check out my inspiration board! 

It was a very light, fun party so we decided to have just a dessert bar! But of course we went all out! We had French macarons, chocolate covered pretzels, my Mom’s famous chocolate chip cookies and Hope’s oatmeal peanut butter cookies (my favorite kind), brownie bites, M&M’s…and then the cake! More on the cake in a later post!

No party in 2013 is complete without a photo booth, so we had two options for our guests. Everyone who thought it was a boy got a mustache, while those guessing girl got lips. It’s great to have a log of who guessed correctly before we cut the cake…and I love photo booths because you are sure to get at least one photo of everyone at the party! Stay tuned for the gender reveal!