goodbye weekend!

Oh, what a weekend. For some reason I feel exhausted right now, even though I've been getting a lot of sleep. Let's just hope I'm not getting sick because this week is crunch time for my sister's wedding! Yes, in LESS THAN A WEEK my little sister will be a married woman. That just seems crazy to think that she is all grown up. It's funny how certain people in your life always seem the same- in a weird way I think I always imagine my sister as being much younger than she is, and it's often surprising when I'm hit in the face with all of these adult things she's doing.

The past few days have been a whirlwind of getting things done, which is a always a good thing, and I'm feeling very inspired and fresh. Yes, fresh. I know that may be an odd way to describe my current and most common mood lately, but I just mean that I feel new and happy and just "fresh." Take from it what you will. But I attribute this overall wonderful feeling to a number of things, from hanging out with new people, spending more time with friends, Madeline and Henry starting to really notice one another, happiness in so many of my loved ones' lives, and getting some decorating done around the house. Happy. And plus, my baby sister is getting married, how could I not be on cloud nine?! This week is going to be a good one, I'm sure of it. I will mention though one tiny little weird thing that I sometimes do when I'm this happy...I start thinking about how strange it is to be happy, and to fully know that I won't be happy forever. I've always been this way, it's like I almost can't exist in the happy moment for too long before I have to remind myself that it will soon be gone. Bizarre, I know. And luckily I've pretty much stopped those kind of thoughts (they ruin everything!) but I do think about it sometimes when I type something like that out. Oh, brain. Why you so crazy. And on that note, I am going to get back to my sewing, but here are some photos and highlights from the past few days via instagram. Enjoy your upcoming week!

left-right: view from a neat kaleidoscope in a gallery downtown, Henry and Lisa at the Raven for afternoon tea, a bit of Henry's nursery (yes his nursery tour is overdue and coming soon finally, I promise!), my darling boy and his drool, Hank and me at Kokopelli's, Adie's delicious dinner- red enchilada tacos, our double dates, our family, Henry snoozing in his swing, coconut tea at Wild Iris, Henry with his grandparents, mini carrot cake I split with Adie (so good), my new jewelry tray, shoes in the mail- thanks UPS man!, sleeping baby, sewing on a Sunday night.

Week in photos

This week has been a good one. Originally it was supposed to be my last week of work, but I decided to just keep on going and work through next week as well. It's funny because I wasn't even sure if I wanted to go back at all this year, or even work past Fall Break, but it's just been so much fun that it's actually a little hard for me to just be done. As of today I'm 11 days from my due date and still feeling really wonderful. And yes, I know...wonderful and almost 39 weeks pregnant don't always go hand in hand! I feel lucky I've been feeling so good. I attribute this to still working out almost everyday, whether it be walking for an hour outside or doing the elliptical followed by light weights. Pregnant women: stay active! I swear it's been the best thing for me and has made this pregnancy such a pleasant experience! Also: if you're planning on getting pregnant and aren't much of an exerciser, start now! I know due to circumstances not everyone is able to exercise throughout the entire 10 months but if you can, I say do it.

So yeah, we've had a super fun weekend so far...we are just about done with the nursery (photos very soon), my parents came up for brunch and a fun day of family stuff yesterday, and I managed to get a lot done. We're also allllmost done with Modern Family Season One too. And helloooo, how have we never seen this show before?! It's amazing and so, so funny!

Today Hank and I got up early and fit in a workout, then I came home and enjoyed my current favorite breakfast: an Ezekial cinnamon raisin English muffin with Trader Joe's peanut butter, Wallaby lemon yogurt with raspberries, and a little orange juice. So good. I could eat that exact combination at every meal. Right now I'm about to start prepping homemade ziti for dinner tonight- have you ever had baked ziti? It's seriously SO GOOD. We're having family over tonight which will be fun, and then I will getting ready for my last week of work. I'm really excited. :)

Here's my weekly collage 'o photos! I hope all of you had a great past week, and I hope this week is even better. I'll be back later tonight or tomorrow with a special letter to Henry. Happy Sunday!

left to right: a beautiful quilt for Henry made by Erin's mama Anita, finishing up Harry Potter Book 4 (so obsessed), so many band shirts Hank is boxing up and saving for H. when he gets older, Mom and Dad downtown, steamed cinnamon apples and raisins, my handsome husband, root beer float night, my Mom's vegan, sugar-free, pumpkin biscuits (made with fresh pumpkin!), my last evaluation at work, an amazing sunset from our driveway, one of my favorite iPhone apps, takeout Thai food date night, a cute mobile in the nursery, some changing leaves, a deliciously huge vegan cookie I enjoyed at work, my aforementioned breakfast from this morning!

the week in photos

from left to right: Madeline lounging in the sun (it's tough being a spoiled pup!), one of my favorite nighttime snacks- fresh air popped popcorn with sea salt, a really funny/cute letter my students wrote to me, my handsome breakfast date, The Bagel Cafe downtown, our delicious bagels, so many baby socks to match, the Lights show with Erin and Hank, hot apple cider/hot chocolate break, the adorable HCHIV onesie from Erin, Madeline and me hanging out in bed, more onesies from EP!

Overall this past week was wonderful! Towards the end of the week work got a little rough- it's hard to be on my feet all day and I found that I was having some increased stomach-area cramping (contractions maybe? I feel like I still don't know what's a contraction or not), and I was just overall uncomfortable. I am thinking that next Friday (38 weeks) will be my last day of work, and it's definitely going to be a little sad to say goodbye to my students. I've talked about it before but this year has been just wonderful- my best year ever. I feel like I finally have gelled as a teacher, which is ironic, but maybe that's just how it goes. Five years later and it's a LOT easier. And really fun! It helps that I'm a huge nerd about my subject area, American Literature. I'm going to miss it for sure but at the same time I'm just beyond excited about my "new" job like I've said a million times before.

So yes, good week for sure. I'm looking forward to these next couple of weeks and really just wondering when I'm going to go into labor (19 days 'til my due date!)! Talk about crazy anticipation. It's wild! I obviously won't be blogging while I'm in the hospital but I'm sure I will be tweeting, so if you'd like, feel free to follow me over there: twitter.com/danihampton. I'm not going to play by play the birth or anything but I will definitely update when I go into labor, etc. AHH just typing that out makes me feel SO insane but so excited. The count down is definitely on and I am ready (or at least I keep telling myself that).

1 week, 1 collage

from left to right: the beautiful sky from our backyard, BLTS everyday for lunch (and a little sandwich lurker), storms and more storms. Harry Potter #4, trying out (and loving) Evol burritos, late nights and empty gyms, diapering an elephant at birthing class, brownies for my darling, heading to work, Thaifoon dates, yummy breakfast, "H" plates for my department baby book-shower at work, Henry's cake, cute board, Robyn- the hostess, KB reading me the children's book she got for Henry.

Happy Friday!

Music Monday: 16 albums, 16 songs

I thought I would continue my sporadic Music Monday postings today by putting together a little playlist that includes 16 songs from 16 of my all-time favorite albums. Ideally I've chosen my very favorite songs from each but unfortunately some of them aren't featured on playlist.com. I've made do though, and picked my next favorite song to share. I also made a fancy little collage of all the album covers. So, here you go. Happy Music Monday everyone!

*don't forget that if you are viewing this via Google Reader you need to visit my actual blog to view the playlist!

Autumn thoughts and inspiration

Today is a little bit like Saturday, because I have off Monday...so the weekend is extra long and extra wonderful! Yesterday was a good day. Hank and I went out and did something we've been talking about for years...we bought a new bed! I can't even explain how happy I am to have graduated from our full sized bed to a king-sized, monster-sized, HUGE bed! We've been sleeping on the same mattress I've had since college, mainly because we've always rented and lived in smaller, historic houses and didn't care too much about it. But now since the bedroom in the new house is really large so we can finally make the upgrade! It's way overdue and much-needed. And happily, now this bed can go into one of our guest rooms to accommodate our friends and family when they come and visit. The new mattress set gets delivered on Monday, and I'm not even sure if it will fit in our current place (we won't move for a few more weeks), so we may end up having to sleep in the living room on the huge bed for the time being. That will be super awkward if anyone happens to stop by (imagine a UPS delivery coming to the door and seeing a huge bed in our living room behind me as I sign for a package- very Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, minus the four old people!), but I know we can make it work!

I have been feeling so inspired by fall lately. I'm not sure what it is, but as soon as September hits there's this feeling in the air that starts to seep into everything around me. It makes me feel happier, definitely more excited, and gives me the urge to really have a fresh outlook on life. I'm not sure if it stems from the ingrained idea of fall equaling a new school year, or the end of the summer and the start of that new year, but it definitely exudes that fresh and new feeling. I want to become more organized, update my wardrobe, and be more positive. Maybe it's the feeling people when springtime hits, but I get it right around this time of the year.

Some of my most favorite memories come from the fall. My family and I would always go apple picking at a local orchard, and end our early morning eating fluffy, freshly made cinnamon doughnuts from the farm's bakery, washing it down with the most delicious, crisp hot apple cider you'll ever taste. We'd tote our apples home, and my mom would make all sorts of delicious treats, namely apple pie, and the smell of autumn would fill every corner of our East Coast home. We'd also always take a trip to the pumpkin farm, taking a tractor ride through the brown and gold hills, sitting on bales of hay while we oohed and ahhed over the beautiful countryside. We'd weave in and out of the rows, finding the very best, roundest pumpkin to take home and carve. Once home we'd scoop out the juicy insides of our pick, and then my parents would roast the seeds in the oven so we could snack on them as we carved and designed our Halloween decorations. We'd construct scarecrows to put in the front yard, make huge leaf piles to jump in, and stretch decorative cobwebs over every inch of our living room windows. Everything about this time of the year takes me back to being a child, and it's funny that I still get those same feelings I did when I was so young.

Hank and I are lucky enough to live in a place that experiences all four seasons in a beautiful way. The leaves up here in the mountains turn vibrant colors, the chill in the air makes your cheeks rosy, and you can smell all of the delicious seasonal goodies baking as you walk past the many local coffee shops downtown. Fall is my favorite times of the year here, and I love having our friends come up and visit for the weekend so we can enjoy the scenery and weather together. I'm also more than excited for Henry to experience all of these exciting sensations, and make so many memories for him over the years! I get so happy just thinking about pushing my one-year old son in his stroller next fall, all around the square and through our beautiful town.








Plus, fall clothing is the best. This year it's a little different for me because I'll be pregnant all the way through November so I'm missing my favorite time of the year to shop, and also my favorite time to wear new clothing! If I was to do some fall shopping (and I'm sure I still will to tide me through the holidays once I get back to my normal size), I would be looking for a few particular things for this year, including a lot of chunky knits, layering pieces, short corduroy/wool/plaid skirts, thick tights/knee socks for layering, jewel toned flats, lots of mustard yellow, red-orange, and gray, great fresh prints, and sturdy boots. I've found inspiration in a lot of different shops online, so I've put together some of my favorite looks and items from some of my favorite stores, from all price ranges, to share with all of you! These are definitely all images of "fall inspiration" to me, and I hope you find something that makes you feel happy among these lovely images!

J. Crew


Orla Kiely (my favorite designer in the whole world)




Forever 21

Modcloth

Anthropologie


Wherever you live, I hope you get to experience a bit of fall in your neck of the woods! One of my sister and my goals is to take a family trip to Salem, Massachusetts during Halloween. I'm more than a little obsessed with history, and one of the most interesting periods in time to me is the Salem Witch Trials. The Crucible is one of my favorite plays in the whole world. We've all been to Salem together already, but last time we were there Lauren and I promised each other we would go back during the fall one year to really enjoy it. Trust me, there's NOTHING like a New England Autumn.

I hope all of you have the most perfect Sunday, and continue that happiness over the rest of the long weekend!

Happy Autumn!

Thursday night update

What a week! It's truly been a roller-coaster these past few days, and luckily it seems to be ending on a very great note. If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you'd know that Hank and I have been house hunting since last spring. We have pretty specific things we want, and it's hard living in a small town because there aren't as many houses for sale that fall into our specifications. Although we're in a bit of a time crunch (12 weeks until our baby is due), we still didn't want to settle at all. Plus, this is our first time buying a house and we really wanted to take our time and do it right. So we've been looking, and looking...and looking. Almost two months ago a home popped into our listing cart at midnight, and of course I was awake and immediately got excited. It was exactly what we wanted. It was seriously perfect for us, and had so much more than we wanted with no negatives that we could see. I got Hank and showed him all the photos, and emailed our realtor. We ended up going over there first thing in the morning, absolutely falling in love with it, and submitting our offer that same day. We were so fast that no one else even went to see the house before we submitted our offer (with a stipulation in the contract that they couldn't accept any other offers/contracts), and the agent told us that the next day about 20 different people called about it, so I'm so thankful we got there right away. Being that it was a short sale we had no idea how it would pan out. It could take months and months for something to happen, so we continued to look. It was hard because nothing matched up to "that" house, but we kept our search going. Little by little our short sale house started to move along. And to make a long story short, the bank accepted our offer! We found out earlier this week, but the house was set to go to auction, so we had to get that taken care of. Apparently even though the bank approved our offer, sometimes houses can get inadvertently sold at auction like this if someone drops the ball. Luckily that was cleared up today, before the auction date, which happens to be tomorrow! Our last hurdle is the inspection, which originally was happening on Monday but is now happening tomorrow! I'm really excited to see the house again, and hopefully hear that it's in great shape and we can move forward. Being that it's almost brand new and it's hardly been lived in I am hoping the inspection goes smoothly, but I'd appreciate any and all positive thoughts being sent our way (tomorrow at 10am Arizona time! haha). ;)

I'm just SO excited. To be able to have a HOME to welcome Henry into, to be able to stop renting, to have a garden in the big backyard, to have so much space and so many rooms, to be able to finally get the furniture I want, to decorate, I'm kind of dying a little just thinking about it. We've been renting for six years now and started off living in a teeny tiny studio, and shared a TWIN BED for a year. So you could say we are very excited for this big step.

In other news, school is going very well. It's definitely my best year yet and the kids are so fun. I'm having a great time. This week I've been really overwhelmed with everything going on, and I owe about five of my friends phone calls, so I'm looking forward to getting comfortable this weekend and making some time for that. Hank also had a basketball game tonight (they won, yeah!), and it was so fun to watch him and our friends have a great time. Now they're all downtown have celebratory drinks, and I'm sure Hank is enjoying a Shirley Temple. ha.

Here's a little collage from some photos from this week:



each row from left to right: my handsome breakfast date at Cuppers, waiting for a basketball game to start, flowers in our front yard, my giveaway win from Merry Made Handmade, the Pink Team wins again!, driving/looking like a bug with those huge glasses, cuties lounging on the couch, baked potato with broccoli- so good, vintage tee for Henry, gifted by the lovely Ashley, Mike's b-ball legs, tonight's game, a present for Henry from Kat and Oliver!

Here's a bigger version of their team photo, it's so cute!



I mentioned in the caption but I want to give a HUGE thank you to Ashley over at Merry Made Handmade for sending over the biggest box of goodies for me (and even adding in a present for Henry!). I won a giveaway over there a week or so ago and I was so excited to see a cute little package from her. I opened it, and it was chock full of so many awesome things. Definitely stop by her blog if you don't already- she is a Phoenix gal who runs her own business, and she's the sweetest little gal in the world. Click here to head over to her blog. So I was just blown away by that wonderful package, but then Hank tells me I have another box waiting for me, and inside I find the cutest Seahorse toy for Henry, from my darling friend Kat and her son Oliver. I love it so much and I know H. will love falling asleep to his "Soothe and Glow Seahorse." :) I have the sweetest friends- thank you both SO very much. My heart is so happy.

That's it for now, but I will be back this weekend with a pregnancy update, and the second part to my "10 Things I've Learned in my 20s" post. Have a great night!

Wednesday, today

This week has been a good one. The weather's been a dream- thunder and lightning almost every night, some rain, and every evening sky has been one of those weird gray-yellow colors that just screams that monsoon season is here. I've been trying to really slow down a bit and enjoy this last week of summer, before I head back to work next Tuesday. We've been taking walks, and sucking in every last bit of this amazing weather up here in the mountains. This week's been full of appointments for me- Madeline went to the doggie spa, I headed to the dentist, and I have a hair appointment this Saturday. I'm truly looking forward to freshening up my color and getting a little trim. I went through a phase a few weeks ago where I wanted to cut my hair...but now that phase is OVER and I am back to loving it, in all it's long length glory! The only thing I'd like would be for it to be more of a rich chocolate brown with some more depth to it. My hair feels so dull and Saturday can't come soon enough. Other than that, I'm just winding down the summer and getting ready to enter my third trimester next month. Can you believe time has gone by so quickly? Today while at the dentist (no cavities yet again, yeah!), I had to make my next cleaning appointment for February. I was looking through my planner trying to pick a day that would work with my work schedule until it hit me that I could come anytime, since my job will be taking care of Henry...who will BE HERE then! It was kind of weird to have that realization, and think about that life change, so I went ahead and made my appointment for 10am on a weekday...since that time will work out just fine for my stay-at-home-mom self! :) So, so neat and it made me really excited, as silly as it sounds.

So, for the rest of the day today I'll be doing little things around the house- laundry, organizing, etc. and then getting a GOOD night's sleep. Last night I went to bed incredibly late, and I had to be up at 7am. It's imperative I get back into a good schedule for school because otherwise I'll be a disaster. Last night was fun though, I met up with Amber and Adie at the Raven to enjoy some dessert. Our original plan was to get pie, but we decided to do the Raven instead and enjoyed the most delicious root beer floats. I totally treated myself and it was so tasty. I can't wait to take Hank there on a little date night! I had a great time, even though it was a little bittersweet, since in the morning I knew Amber would be heading off to her new home in Texas. I'm so excited for her though, and it was great to have "one last night" before she left. So after a long night of root beer float sipping, girl-talking and downtown walking, I headed over to my friend Robyn's house for a little visit and got home way past twelve, and didn't get to bed until well past 2am. Not the best choice. I'm still feeling good though, so maybe it's what I needed in order for me to get to sleep early tonight. Let's hope!

Well, signing off now, but I hope all of you enjoy your Thursday, and have a great day!

Saturday and Sunday

clockwise: morning photo in our hotel room, working out in the 1980s hotel gym, lunch at Loving Hut in San Diego, lemongrass "chicken," tofu and veggie spring rolls, "beef" with broccoli, delicious red velvet cupcake courtesy of Alex, Hank organizing his new toys from Comic Con, finishing the first Harry Potter book on a lazy Sunday

(you can click the collage to enlarge it via the "all sizes" option on Flickr)