Tuesday, March 31, 2009

The weekend of fun.

This weekend a bunch of us met in San Francisco to go on the hunt for the PERFECT wedding dress for our dear friend Lucy. Yes, we did do more than eat and go out dancing, but I have to get those pictures from Lucy as I forgot my camera during our day excursions....go figure.
It is highly likely that Lucy has found the gown that she will become the Mrs. Jim in on the sands of Cabo. It goes without saying that she is going to be a beautiful bride and we could not be happier for the two of them.
{The start of the weekend. Dinner at Asia de Cuba}
{The Dessert Platter}

{The Menu at Cortez}
{Lucy, the bride to be, and I prior to tapas}

{Carrie in all of her glory}

{Jackie and Jasmine}

{Our table at the Red Room}

{The girls acting crazy}

{Just Chilling}

{A room shot}



Two nights at the Clift. Numerous fantastic meals. Great girl time and shopping galore....LOADS of FUN. But I could not have been happier to get home to the hubs and my little lovey.
They had a great weekend too....went biking along the river, the park and tons of daddy daughter time. Pretty sure that they were just as ready as me to be home.
Girls, let's do it again...and soon!

Monday, March 30, 2009

Girl's weekend.




...more to come on that.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

You are more and more like your mother every day.

There is no higher complement that could ever be given to me other than the above. My mother is the worlds most amazing person.

She loves completely and with gusto, she cares like no other, has a sense of style that Jackie O is envious of, a remarkable body (seriously, I won't tell you the number of calendar years she is, but to look like that is AMAZING), she is a culinary whiz, a domestic goddess, green thumb galore and she can learn a new skill (and master it) at the drop of the hat.

All things that I want to encompass.
{Three Generations Gathered Together}

The one thing I could do without? The inability to sleep. I have been up since 2:30am and now I am just going to start my day.

Arrrgh. I love you Meezer.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Mas, mas please.

Friday night, we thought was going to be date night, but we changed our plans. We found out that one of our local Mexican restaurants has LIVE mariachis on Friday nights. We happen to be the proud parent of one mariachi loving girl. So Ralph and I tabled date night for an evening of fun with Miss Gia and Tyler and Jill...which was seriously icing on the cake. We love them. The Talamantez Gang
RT and AT
Mas Kid's Menus...with FREE Dinasour toys!

The Perfect Miss G
My two favorite people.
We had such a lovely time with Tyler and Jill...I think the funniest part was Tyler saying, "Man Gia, you can't just throw my food around" Hilarious. Seriously....two and three year olds say the FUNNIEST things. Hope you had a great weekend too!




Wednesday, March 18, 2009

I feel spring is in the air.

I don't know why, but there is something about the day after St. Patrick's Day. It makes me feel like spring is in the air...warmer days on the horizon. The anticipation of Easter and all of its glory are in full swing. Little tanks with light cardigans over them. Cuffed jeans and spring dresses with something under to catch the chilll...brings a smile to my face.

In celebration, I think that I am going to break out the cream pants (not the winter white lined, but full on spring pants)...pray I don't freeze!

May the sun be on your face today and look up and thank God for all of his blessings!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

St Patrick's Day.

Hope that the luck of the Irish blesses each of you today. Mr. R Tizzle is headed out to calls with some of the local distributors, so I hope that he will have loads of fun and does not beg me to take him to Jack In The Box at 2am....this would not be fun for the wifey (me.) Have a blast...whatever you do...I think Ms. G and I will enjoy some time in the wagon at the park, a short run...then some "corn" on the couch!

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Building a fort.

It was to yucky to go outside to play today....so we decided to stay in. What to do....a poor little bored two year old?
We put our minds together and decided to build a fort!
We exceeded our normal TV intake and just cuggled on the ground. It was loads of fun.
and a big mess to clean up.
Hopefully the warmth will hit for us next weekend!

Lunch on the patio.

Lunch on the patio is something that Gia and I both love to do. If I am home for lunch (usually on Thursday, Friday and the weekends) we are eating outside. Even today, when the weather was like this.....rainy, cloudy and cold. I decided to bundle her up to stop the horrific tantrum that she was throwing.
I really thought that after we got out there that she would have no interest in staying. Everything was wet...which she kept telling me with great squeels of delight....it was quite cold and windy...pretty miserable.
My reverse phsycology did not work. She could have cared less. Enjoyed every minute of the sixty two that we were outside (no, I wasn't counting) eating, blowing bubbles and running around. I am sure that she is glad that her dad was not home...as this would have NEVER happened.
We had fun. I just hope that we don't have to do it again too soon.

Baby watch Elmo.

Gia watches roughly one hour of television a day. All Sesame Street....all the time (for that hour) which we both agree on. It usually consists of thirty minutes in the morning and thirty minutes after nap. Up unitl the past two weeks or so she really has not been into it. All of a sudden, she is into it...so much so that if se is asking for more she finds ways to M-A-N-I-P-U-L-A-T-E....."Baby watch Elmo?" "Mama, baby watch Elmo....PLEASE!?!?!?" "Mo, Mo Elmo baby"
Gia says, "My mama didn't have any stupid children...."

Saturday, March 14, 2009

The stinker strikes again.

Sleep. Gia is the perfect child...just don't try to put her to sleep. It has been two years and four months since she came into this wonderful world and for two years and four months sleeping has been less than stellar in the Talamantez home.

Health has had a lot to do with it. Suckers for parents have contributed as well. First it was the jammies...now it is the diaper.

After a good nine months of crying until she sleeps (per pediatricions....numerous...reccomendations and her parents not wanting to), she no longer shrieks for long stretches on end. Now it is a few moments of, "How could you leave me? I will never be able to go on" to just mindless chatter with her dolls. Little banters of "No crying baby" " Jammies on baby" and "Shh baby, I am reading". It really can melt your heart.

This is an improvement...in a MAJOR way. Jammies off? Come on, is that really THAT big of a deal...we live in California. It doesn't get THAT cold. She will survive.

Taking the diaper off...that's a big deal.

Followed by the endless crying.

What to do? Seriously, suggestions are desperately needed and wanted. So for now, the stinker has won...and we cleanded the stinky mess too.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Thank goodness it is Friday.

This week has been especially stressful. Which stinks because it was especially good too. My dad was here which was such a treat and we so enjoyed all of our time together and I loved watching him with Miss G. Ralph had a good trip and it is always nice to see him come home off of a successful work event.

There were several work things that have left me unsettled. Some things that have not happen to me, but a person that I deeply care for that are just wrong and really make my blood boil.

As I was talking to Ralph this morning, he reminded me that stress is typically induced by knowing that you are not doing something that you should/could.

I agree with this for the most part. However, my stress this week has all been out of my control and there is really nothing that I can do to remedy it.

I am hoping for a weekend that involves, sunshine and family time....some cuggles from my girl ( and my guy) and maybe even a date.

All in hopes of putting me in a better place on Monday.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Bubbles and a sunny day.

Photobucket
Gia loves her bubbles....and we have been having the most GLORIOUS days....sunshine, bubbles and giggles from a darling two year old.....life doesn't get much sweeter....oh wait, RT is home from his business trip...YIPPPPEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

A morning at the park.










Who wants to come play at the park with us!?!?!?

Bye-bye Popa...thank you for coming to play.

Popa, thank you so much for coming to play with me!!! I cried the entire way home from the airport and can not stop talking, asking, telling everyone all about our visit! Thank you for coming....and next time we will have to have some more "Happy Cakes"! We LOVE YOU POPA!!!!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Loosen the rope. You might hang yourself if you don't.

Once upon a time I prided myself on the amount of control I needed over my life. Everything had to be in order. Even more so, I wanted everything to be done my way. While this worked to an extent during my college years and early career days I have become much more lax and compromising.

Marriage (a happy one) and children will do this to a person.

I have had the most eye opening experiences as of late regarding said control freaks. Pretty much I find most of them to be incredibly unhappy and don’t have the opportunity to enjoy things because they are too busy wanting to be right and wanting to have control over everything that you do.

I am not a completely reformed control freak. My house does have to be just right, but I no longer attempt to control RT and Gia to conform to my way of thinking or doing things. I like to have control over things like my plans and where I see my future in the next six months, but I no longer need (or want) to control how others do things or that they always have to think that I am right.

It leaves you lonely. Without friends and having a husband that is a puppet….not a real life man. Let’s be honest, part of why I love RT so much is he fights back…just don’t tell him that.

You know who you are….loosen up…..maybe you could have some fun then.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Spending time with Popa.

Popa has come to spend some extra special time with Gia. He is her best friend. Tonight, she didn't even want to talk to her daddy or Mimi on the phone...which NEVER happens. Here are some pictures of Popa and G over the years.... Back when we thought his name would be Grandpa (6.2007)
11.18.2006...she is so sick here...right before NICU
Playing with blocks....LOADS of laughter.
All smiles all the time.
We are so thankful that Popa is here to spend time with us and give Miss G lots of things to do. It has been such a pleasure to hang out with my dad and see Gia look at him with the same sense of awe that I did as a young little girl....let's be honest, I still do. Dad's are great. And I have the world's greatest. Thank you dad/popa, we love you!

Spitting nails.

I am so angry that I could spit nails. SPIT NAILS….. I TELL YOU. I was blind sided today by some very unsettling news at work. While my job is safe and I will spare you the gory details it is amazing to me how people can be forty six years of age and act like a catty, better than you prim-a- donna.

I really hope that what goes around comes around. Maybe that makes me just as bad. But I have to tell you, my very own MOH said, “the thing about Allison is….if she loves you, she will do ANYTHING for you., but if you cross her there is no going back.” This is true.

Well, you mess with my family and my kid….YOU ARE DONE. Don’t then email me and have the audacity to ask me if we have and understanding and if we are ok.

You want to pull a fast one on me and my family and you want to be friends. I will forgive….that is the Christian thing to do, I will be cordial, but don’t take me away from my little girl and think that we are hunky dory gal pals…..life is a long way away from the Alpha Gamma Delta house on Chautauqua in Norman. The stakes are high.

I AM SO MAD…..

Sunday, March 8, 2009

I am pretty sure this makes me a bad Catholic.

Lent. —The Teutonic word Lent, which we employ to denote the forty days' fast preceding Easter, originally meant no more than the spring season. Still it has been used from the Anglo-Saxon period to translate the more significant Latin term quadragesima (Fr. careme, It. quaresima, Span. cuaresma), meaning the "forty days", or more literally the "fortieth day". This in turn imitated the Greek name for Lent, tessarakostē (fortieth), a word formed on the analogy of Pentecost (pentēkostē), which last was in use for the Jewish festival before New-Testament times. This etymology, as we shall see, is of some little importance in explaining the early developments of the Easter fast. Well Ralph and I decided that this year we would not be "giving up" a worldly vice for lent. Seriously, other than caffeine they are all gone. We are two working parents. Caffeine. Is. Going. No. Where. And really, how does caffeine take you away from God?
In Post Vatican II days, Catholics believe that you should not eat meat on Fridays. We try to strictly adhere to this. So, for the past three years every Friday night of Lent I make Cioppino. My struggle? I think that I am supposed to view this as some sort of sacrifice....instead there is nothing that graces my table with more glory than the lovely said Cioppino.
Bad Catholic? a) Did not give up anything for Lent b) see said sacrifice (no meat on Fridays) as a treat. Oh, and after we ate Cioppino, we left Ms. G with a babysitter and went to go see Doubt....which again I think would add c) went to see Doubt as another sin.
Any thoughts?


Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Smiles to my face.

Little James Peters....a little angel.
James and Gia...so happy to play.
Jenna and Gia
The Talamantez Family eating Spaghetti Pizza.
Gia and her Great Papa

Memoria HS C/O 1986
Anna Lammatina and I
Anna....seriously, she makes me smile.
Good friends, great times.