*crickets chirping*

Oh, hi there.

So I took a non-intentional hiatus.  Just kinda happened.  No particular reason, other than I just got a little busy living life.  Maybe a little uninspired.  Maybe a little overwhelmed.  And I felt...unattracted to writing.  Weird, right?  I honestly hadn't even turned on my personal laptop in what has probably been months.

But somehow I winded up checking out my own blog.   Reading back on my own posts.  And I just miss documenting. Writing things down that I would normally never remember or record.

So here I am again.  I can't promise anything, but I am certainly going to make a concerted effort.


How ya been, blogger world?

Read More

six weeks

It's been six weeks since I last blogged.

Six weeks since I wrote about Sadira's birthday, and turning five.


So much has happened in the past six weeks.  Things that I want to write about.  Things that I NEED to write about.

I'll be honest, I've felt a little off-balance, not blogging during these past six weeks.

I've felt a little like something was missing.  My recap.  My reflection.

Writing has become a bit cathartic for me...in a weird way.  It's obviously my life that I'm blogging about, but somehow in the re-telling of the story, the documenting of what happened, the who, what, when, where, how...it helps me process, reflect, and gain some clarity.

And that's been missing.

So many things have happened.

Yet somehow they feel unfinished.

Undocumented.


So now, on the heels of a new year, I'm posting an abbreviated recap of our past six weeks.  With the complete stories hopefully to come.

I feel like 2013 is going to be a big year for Sadira and I.  But I don't want to leave 2012 without giving it it's due credit.

So here it is...my 6 week recap.

Courtesy of my handy log of iPhone pictures. :-)

After Sadira's birthday, we spend a fun weekend in Philadelphia...

 

 Celebrated Poppop's birthday and Kerri's birthday...

Thanksgiving was quick to follow...we were blessed to have both Aunties join us once again.

Then Sadira started a small project...

 

...which turned into a Big project...

...which turned into a HUGE project.

The Christmas season was well underway, and with it came some of our favorite traditions, including Festival of Trees...

 

...Cookie bakes with friends...

...and Christmas parties at school and dance class.

A birthday party for Tallulah...

...and finally a quick trip to New York with my littlest sister.

Christmas with the family..

 

...and a New Year to begin with just a day left.

There are some challenges coming up in 2013...Sadira's dad is moving back to Ohio and that will be an adjustment for us.  Mostly for me, as I'm stressing to figure out how to do it all, and be everywhere I need to be.  But there are amazing things on the horizon...visits and trips with friends, excitement with my new job, which I love, and a sweet, new baby cousin just waiting to be born.

Hopefully I can catch up and tell the story of the past six weeks, before the next six fly by.

Happy impending 2013!

Read More

"it's been a long time, since you came around. it's been a long time, but i'm back in town..."

Hello?

HELLOOOOO OUT THERE???

Remember me?

{I swear I'm wearing clothes in that photo, promise promise promise.}

Hi.

Sorry I've been a slacker.

I really haven't been a slacker, I've actually been crazy busy, but I have been a blogger slacker. 

Blogger, it's been awhile.

My apologies.

I guess while I realized that some people read my blog (it's always funny when I mention something and someone says, "oh yeah! I read about that on your blog!"), I didn't really think anyone would notice if I was gone for a bit.  

But they did!

I'm not gonna lie, it's nice to be missed. :-)

I've actually been surprised by the number of people who've said to me, "Hey! When are you gonna write a blog post, it's been awhile!"  So here you go.  To all of the 4 or so people who read my ramblings, it's time to fill you in.

Sadira and I had a busy second half of the summer.  Here's the short list:

1. I visited Lindsey in Atlanta, I saw her basement remodel. (#15)
2. While there, I learned to shoot a gun. (#20) {Okay, sidebar, when I went back to proofread this post, I had typed "fun" instead of "gun."  See that Lindsey?!  Maybe my perspective's changing...Guns can be fun, y'all!  HA!}
3. I did another "touristy" thing in my city, and saw the Grand Prix speed through Baltimore. (#21)
4. I purged my shoe closet. Yes, it made me cry. (#25)
5. I've been working on my list of "Prudent Advice" for Sadira. (#26)
6. I have learned the difference between knitting and crocheting (kinda).  Still need to learn how to actually DO one. (#30)
7. I walked the Susan G. Komen 3 Day. All 60 freakin' miles. (#2)
8. We've kept on giving, at least once a month.  It's part of us, and we love doing it. (#10)
9. We've gotten ourselves one step closer to making it to Disney World (SIGH...I am NOT a Disney fan, but Sadira is...)  (#14).
10. I've finally hung those Roman shades that I bought in 2006. (#17).

Okay that last one's not true.

I haven't hung them.  But I did find them and bring them out of hiding, with the intent of hanging them.  So we're getting there, right?

Some other awesome things we've gotten to do...

1. Sadie started pre-school.
2. Sadie started ballet.
3. Sadie started soccer.
4. We made it through a hurricane and an earthquake, all in the same week.
5. I got to attend a Ravens' game in a swanky Sky Box for the first time.
6. I went to my very first NHL game - the Caps! And they won. :-)
7. I treated myself to an indulgence, a delicious new Coach purse...and my friend bought a matching one, so we're twinsies. ;-) 
8. This is not the first time that #7 has happened, it's actually happened twice, with two separate friends.  Yes, we are adults and not tweens.  And yes, both times we thought it was cute that we matched. #dontcareifitsafashionfauxpas.

I've also had some pretty mind blowing conversations with my soon-to-be 4 year old.  Conversations that I really didn't think we'd have at this age, but we have.  She's intiated, and I had to figure out had to respond. The two most recent things she's asked about were September 11th, and breast cancer.  

I don't know if I responded the "correct" way, or even if how I answered her questions made sense to her, but I intend on blogging about these things, because these are moments in our life that one day I'll forget.  And one day I want her to read and understand how her little mind worked when she was three years old.  It fascinates me, and I want her to know when she's older what an interesting amazing little person she was when she was little.

So that's our update. 

I'll try to be better.

I promise not to be so sparse. 

And I'm gonna get those damn Roman shades hung before my next birthday.

XOXO,

Nasrene

Read More

playing catch up

So just to play catch up about some things that Sadira and I have been up to....

Last month we went to Chicago and met up with my awesome friend Tora, and her awesome daughter Mackenzie, who just so happens to be 1 day older than Sadira....cool huh?

We had planned the trip a few months back, having gotten ridiculously good airfare through Southwest Airlines (LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM!) at $30/per person each way.  I had an existing hotel credit for 2 nights in an Embassy Suites hotel that had to be used within a year, so we had a free hotel as well.  Even better, our hotel stay came with free breakfast for all---and I'm not talking skimpy continental breakfast, we had a full on complete breakfast buffet with made to order omelets, fresh pastries, Belgian waffles, hot foods, the WORKS.  It was banging.

I love a good deal. :)

So, of course you all ask, "why Chicago in JANUARY?"

Well, I'll tell you.  First, the catch to getting this fabulous airfare deal was it had to be booked within certain date ranges.  Second, we had previously talked about meeting up in a different city (she's in St. Louis and I'm in Baltimore, and we've both visited each other already) and neither of us had ever been to Chicago. Third, well, we're idiots. ;)

We arrived on Saturday, landing within minutes of each other.  After cabbing it to the hotel, checking in, and letting the girls run around for a bit, we decided to get some lunch, and swing through a grocery store for snacks, since our suite had a mini-fridge and microwave.  Good thing we did that, because Sadira must've been going through a growth spurt that weekend, walking around like a mini-garbage disposal, yelping "I'm HUUUUNNNNNNGGRRRYYY!!!!" every 15 minutes.

I swear to you, it was...Every. Fifteen. Minutes.

So after a short 3 block walk to Navy Pier, we spent some time checking out a snow sculpture competition and walked through the shops.  Fun day.  That evening while we were relaxing back at the hotel, Tora came across a visitor's guide and found a page advertising the SkyDeck at the Willis Tower (Sear Tower).  Basically it's a ledge that's made out of glass on three sides that protrudes off the side of the building...1,400 feet up in the air.

I think her exact words were, "look at these lunatics going on this ledge."  I asked if she would do it, and she answered with a resounding, "OH HEEEELLLL NO!"

:)

The next day we spent the majority of the morning and afternoon at the Chicago Children's Museum.  Since Sadira and I are members of Baltimore's Port Discovery Children's Museum WITH the reciprocal membership we were able to get all four of us in FOR FREE.   I LOVE FREE!!

When we got back to the hotel I couldn't get the idea of that crazy ledge off my mind. So I tried to convince her a few more times, "Come on, Tora, go with me.  Let's check it out.  You don't HAVE to go out on the ledge if you don't want to..."

I admit, I was secretly curious if I had really conquered my fear of heights.  Now, like I've said before I've never really had fear going up on top of tall buildings, it's just when given the sensation that I'm going to FALL TO MY DEATH (ya know, like what I experienced during that crazy rappel back in September...) that I get a little, well, shall we say ANTSY.  Walking onto a piece of glass suspended 1,400 feet in the air would definitely get the old heart pumping...

But Tora would not be swayed.  "You go have fun in a glass cage hanging off the side of a building.  I'm going to the pool." And with that my powers of persuasion failed.

So Sadie and I hopped into a cab and made a beeline for the tower.  I'll admit from the ground looking up it didn't look too intimidating...perhaps its the design, since there are several levels on the bottom, so you're not looking straight up 1,400 feet. Perhaps I was overconfident.

We paid our admission (NOT free, booooo) and up the elevators we went.  The view was absolutely spectacular.  See for yourself:

 

As we rounded the observation deck, I could see "the ledge" up ahead.  I saw people precariously perched on this glass floor with knobby knees and shaky hands.  I started to get that queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach as we approached.

As we kept walking closer and closer, I couldn't believe the sight.  From a little distance, especially because the sun was almost setting and the glare of the edges of the windows was misleading, but it almost looked like you were stepping off the side of the building into nothing.  Standing in absolute thin air.

I started getting a serious case of the nerves.



And the next thing that happened blew my mind.



Like seriously, I couldn't believe it.



Total jaw dropper.



Wanna know? ;)



As I stood there, squirming in my shoes, Sadira walked right on out TO THE EDGE OF THE LEDGE...and pressed her little nose up against the window.  I'm talking ALL THE WAY OUT.  There was my baby, suspended 1,400 feet in the air, standing in a glass box with a look on her face all like, "Mama, this ain't no thang..."

That kid has no fear. NO FEAR. NO FEAR!!!!!

I kept telling her how brave she was, that I couldn't believe that she just went out there like that.  The other adults around me were marvelling at her, "look at her! She's so brave! Kids have no fear!" It was amazing. Of course I could NOT be shown up by my three year old, so I gingerly took a step forward.  Reminding myself that they would not have this tourist attraction if there were any REAL danger of it's genius design failing.  Reminding myself that the law of physics got my back, and this super reinforced glass would not do me wrong.  Reminding myself that in the event that the glass DOES start to shatter, it would probably crack first giving me enough time to grab my baby and use my long spider monkey legs to leap to safety.

Honest to God, that was my thought pattern.

And so we hung out on the ledge.  Made friends with other visitors, bought a lollipop and had a good old time. I got some amazing shots of the city, really beautiful, and then back to the hotel we went. 

When we got home and I told Tora how amazing the view was, her response was, "I still think you're a damn lunatic."  Love that girl. :)

The next day (our last day) things got a little scary...a major blizzard decided to make it's way into the midwest, and while it wasn't scheduled to hit Chicago until the following day, we started noticed flights were getting delayed, since the blizzard HAD started affecting other airports.  We decided to try to get out of there sooner rather than later, and moved up our flights to earlier departure times (again, for FREE! Love SWA!)  We THOUGHT we were doing the right thing; however when we got to the airport, I was able to check in with no problem, but Tora was given the horrible news that her flight back to St. Louis was CANCELLED.

UGH.

After considering all of our options: flying her to her parents' house in Phoenix (too expensive), flying her to Baltimore with me (no room on the flight), she chose to be re-routed to Kansas City, with the hope that she would be able to rent a car and get home before the blizzard hit, or try to fly home the next day. 

The bad luck continued when Tora got to Kansas City to find out they would not let her rent a car, and all the hotels were booked up for the night.  She started preparing for an overnight camp-out in the Kansas City airport.

Fortunately, just in the knick of time, her luck turned positive and she was offered a hotel room by the SWA folks, AND some of her awesome co-workers volunteered to drive through the night to come pick her up....in a flippin' blizzard!

So all's well that ends well. :)

But no more trips to Chicago in January for us. ;)

Read More

accentuate the positives

 

Brian and I, Santa Monica pier, May 2007, almost 4 months pregnant with Sadira...I can't wait for her to experience this "ex utero."

4. Drive the PCH and make good on my promise to the Cali girls.

7. Learn to play the drums.

Just a quick little post, since my heart is still broken over the Ravens choke job yesterday, blowing a 14 point halftime lead to our arch-nemesis, the Pittsburgh Steelers, in the AFC Divisional game...SIGH...

So I figured I'd post about two VERY EXCITING things I have coming up to re-focus my energy on the positive in my life, in an attempt to forget the negative.

FIRST, I've found my drum teacher. :)  I officially start lessons on February 7th...probably for about 3-4 months. I interviewed three different drum teachers over the phone and within the first minute of talking to this guy I knew he was the one.  AND he lives in my neighborhood...what are the odds?  I'm so so so so excited to learn a new instrument!!!!  Now if only I can find a place to store my practice drums, and actually PRACTICE... My house is unfortunately not an option due to my close proximity to my neighbors, and the fact that one of my neighbors is 154 years old.

SECOND, in just over a month Sadira and I will be taking the trip of a lifetime that will start out in Hawaii, and end with us driving up the beautiful California coast.  This trip was on my list to do last year, but we ended up having to take an extra year to save up for it...to REALLY experience everything I'm hoping to experience.  And so this trip has been long awaited...and I couldn't be more excited!!!

Read More

progress

There's been a great deal of progress in the Mirjafary household recently toward completing My 30 Before 30....a brief update, if you will...

3. Write a letter to a friend every week for one year.

Letters have been sent weekly and once received I will post to whom I wrote and why.  I've started calling these "love letters to my friends" because that's what they've become!  Sadie asked me what I was doing the other day and I said, "oh Mama's just writing some love notes to her friends..."  To which she replied, "I love my friends MORE, Mama."  Ahh, to live a with a competitive 2 year old.

5.  Make a once a month donation to an organization that could use it.

This month's lucky organization was the St. Vincent de Paul Society, here in Baltimore.  Per their website, "The Mobile Clothing Bank distributes clothing, blankets and personal care items to homeless people at various shelters and other programs in Baltimore City and County, Maryland."  In a household of two girls, such as ours, there is NEVER a shortage of clothing.  In the Baltimore City rowhome CLOSETS of two girls, such as ours, there IS a shortage of space.  So saving clothes forever and ever Amen is just not practical.  I was able to pull together 3 large trash bags full of clothes that we will never miss and unload them to folks who need them a lot more than we do.  And now, for a moment, I have a shred of closet space again.

9. Complete my Masters program.

As of this week I have officially completed 1/2 of my summer semester.  Which means only 6 more weeks of summer semester.  Which means when that's over I have only one class left.  Which is Marketing and Strategy Management in the Global Marketplace.  Which really could be Writing Papers about Purple Fish while Pondering the Discourse of Kangaroos for all I care at this point.  Which means after this summer...one more semester.  Upon which I will be Nasrene M. Mirjafary, MS, MBA. Which makes me very, very happy.

13.  Actually do that damn 30 day shred for 30 days straight.

I started this this morning.  Today = Day 1.  Which means I need to make it to August 11th.  30 days of Jillian Michaels yelling at me every morning for 30 minutes for 30 days straight.  I know some of you may think that's easy peasy...but 1: I am NOT a morning person, yet morning is the only logical time for me to do this every day and 2: 30 days is longer than you think! Without a break!  But it's on the list, so I have to give a try...and if I skip a day, my count of 30 days straight starts over.  That just may be the best motivation yet...

15. Stop biting my nails.

For the record, I know nail biting is a filthy, disgusting, ridiculous habit. I know. I took microbiology, I know how gross and germy fingers are. And guess what? It never phased me. But I'm proud to say that I haven't bitten my nails since my 29th birthday!  I've come close, and I honestly thought this would be the toughest task to accomplish because I bite my nails so mindlessly--I just don't even realize I'm doing it--not to mention they are attached to my body, so it's not like I can just avoid them.  But nevertheless, I'm coming up on three weeks of no nail biting (HUGE for me) and I think it's time I get treated to a real manicure.  The trick I've found (for all you nailbiters out there) is to file them and buff them EVERY SINGLE DAY.  For some reason I'm less likely to bite my nails if I took the extra effort to shine 'em up a bit. 

18. Read or re-read 5 of "the classics."

I'm about midway through To Kill a Mockingbird.  Yes, it's awesome, and I can't get over how much Scout reminds me of another little moxy-filled girl that I know and love.  If I weren't so preoccupied working on #9 I probably would've finished it by now, but that's okay, I'm enjoying it immensely.  I honestly can't even remember having read parts of this book in high school.  I may have just been so busy that I breezed through it, I'm not certain, but I do know I'm very happy it made it's way onto my reading list this year.  Next up is The Great Gatsby!!!!!! (A huge favorite of mine!!!)

20.  Get Sadira 100% potty trained.

I'd say we're about 75% there.  For your own well-being, internet, I'll save you the details. :)

21.  Teach Sadira to read.

My little linguist is successfully sounding out short words.  She can read almost all of the names of the colors...sounding out the letters B-L-U-E and then putting them together to read "blue" and so forth.  She actually ENJOYS this kind of stuff, and will bring me a book and ask me to read with her.  She blows my mind on a daily basis.  I'm not really sure how or where she learns everything she learns, but she's a bit a of a know it all. Last week at dinner I thought Tassie's head was going to spin off when Sadira started telling us, "N is for nest...and nail....and noodle...and B is for boy...and bat...and boobies...and bug....and S IS FOR SADIRA!!"

Yes, you read right..."B is for boobies."  Either my toddler is reading alphabet books written by frat boys, OR she's really understanding the sounds that letters make.  And THAT is pretty amazing to me. :)

23. Do not use a credit card for an entire year.

So far so good! This is actually probably the easiest for me to accomplish because I haven't been using credit cards at all for about 6 months.  I did almost use it once this weekend because the Papa Johns' lady kept keying in my debit card info incorrectly over the phone, but eventually she got it right.  Ya know, after scaring me out of my mind and telling me that three separate cards of mine had declined.  "Are you sure you're typing it in correctly?  Or maybe your machine is broken?" "Nah lady, your card's just declined. "

10 frantic minutes later after checking all of my accounts online, I decide either she wasn't typing the numbers in correctly or the machine was broken.  GRRRR..

Either way, we're another month closer to being debt free!

Oh and as for: 1. Conquer a fear....

It's coming along.  More information to come, so stay tuned.  But every day I drive past Silo Point on my way to work and when I come home...and there it stands...taunting me with all of its 23 stories....

Read More