Top 10 Complaints for 2010

I am woman, here me rant!  Warning, this is quite a pessimistic post.  I figured I would break up all the gushy baby love stuff with a cold splash of reality...and the not so perky thoughts that run through my head.  No offense is intended, but feel free to let me know if I stepped on your toes!

1. Why are most maternity shirts crew neck?  I have been living in crewneck pergatory for MONTHS and I cannot wait to go back to my scoop and v-necks!

2. What is with the phycadelic neon Christmas decorations?  What is wrong with traditional?

image via hgtv
david bromstead's color splash: miami

Orange, turquoise, and lime green are bad, but they are the least of our worries.  What really irks me are the abundance of bright pink artificial Christmas Trees.  People, enough with the pink!

3. No new trends?  Seriously?  I walk into my favorite stores only to see what is already hanging in my closet, often for a steep increase in price.  We are in a recession, all the more reason for discounts, deals, and funky new trends to spice things up a bit this year!

4. When will society's obsession with vampires end?  I am over it.  To be honest, I never really got it.  I am ready for folks to wake up and move on.

5. Smoking?  When did this become popular again?  How is it okay to justify "I only smoke twice a week..." or "I only smoke socially..." So people, you are telling me that you chose to partake in a highly addictive habit sparingly?  This is just odd.  I blame Mad Men.

6. Skating with the Stars...really?  I thought Dancing with the Stars was bad enough!

7. 8. 9. & 10.  Sorry.  I ran out of steam.  I can't actually be that much of a pessimist.

Really, I just want to wish you all...

...A Very Happy New Year!

without smoking, crew neck t-shirts, neon christmas decor, vampires, or dumb reality tv shows

A Cozy Christmas

With a baby right around the corner (still not here yet) we decided to lay low this season.  It wasn't photographed!  {seriously, it was that low key!}  Our Christmas was untraditional, but perfect.

Christmas Eve Day
Mark's brother and parents came into DC to join us for a festive supper.  We had ham, scalloped potatoes, a winter salad and fruit salad.  I was happy to cook and enjoyed being able to serve everyone around our recently purchased table.  Good food and great conversation made for a joyous time that was blissfully uneventful.  We exchanged gifts.  Ben received a rain coat and brown socks...from both his parents and us!  It was pretty funny.  They joint gifted us a wonderful new TV.

Christmas Morning
Ben spent the night with us.  We woke up to a pancake breakfast by chef Mark, good coffee, Christmas movies, and rousing games of monopoly.  Ben smoked us all...over and over again!  After Ben left, Mark surprised me with a video camera, something I had been hoping to get to capture precious moments with our son.  Now if only he would decide he was ready to be born...

The next day a blizzard hit the East Coast.  It skipped DC, but hit Philly hard enough to prevent my parents from coming down to celebrate.  They were finally able to make it down.  We had a great time hanging out, exchanging gifts, they got us a new DVD player as ours is on the fritz, walking around DC, and playing games.  Our day was capped by dinner at a local German restaurant, Cafe Berlin.

We loved spending quiet time with our families and look forward to seeing them again soon after the birth of our baby!

Two More Nurseries

As I have been continuing to put endless final touches on our nursery, I came across two that also incorporated the blue and orange from the Serena and Lily Ben line.  Will I ever stop looking at nurseries?  Nope, probably not.  They might be my new favorite room to decorate!

{seen here}

{seen here}

This second one is my favorite of all nurseries I have seen.  Once we move into a bigger home (likely never) I might bring this punchy approach to nautical into our son's next room.  I love the vintage looking beach toys hanging on the wall!

Merry Christmas