Black Friday

Early this morning, my little Tills climbed into bed with me. She had spent the night before being sick over and over again and I used every last blanket and set of sheets I could find before she finally relented and made it through the rest of the night. As I snuggled her close to me, I realized how grateful I was that she had made it until......? wait, what time was it again? 6 am? 6am nothing! It was 2. 2am. 2:00. I hadn't even been asleep for 2 hours. good grief, girl! Go to bed!!! I ushered her back to her own room and bed and she. had. a. meltdown. Waaaaaaah!

Now, normally, I would just ignore it and let her cry herself to sleep, but we have company and her hysterics weren't really conducive to the sleeping arrangements. ah, geez. For the first hour I did my best to console her and help her calm down and then gave up. Seth took the second shift, but to no avail. This baby was not going to sleep. I went in her room and practically yelled, "what are you doing?! People are trying to sleep in this house! Stop crying and GO TO BED!" But that didn't really work and just made her more upset (surprising, I know!) In a state of desperation I threatened, "if you don't stop crying, you're going to have to go to sleep in the car! Do you want to stay in your bed or go to the car?!" Well, guess what she chose? the car, of course. Since Seth was awake now, too, we decided to pack up the car and take a little drive.

It was 4 am at this point so the streets were pretty empty. Neither Seth nor I has ever participated in the Black Friday sales, so we thought it would be interesting to see if there were lines already forming. Walmart and Best Buy already had ridiculous lines. Who are these crazy people? Standing in the freezing cold rain, waiting for their doorbuster deals? Not my idea of a great day. We drove all over the city: Toys R Us, Target, Office Depot, the malls, hundreds of people everywhere. After almost an hour the traffic got heavy and our baby had finally fallen asleep. I felt tempted just once to wait in line, but then I remembed what I was wearing (and not wearing!) and decided against it. We rolled in our driveway on the heels of 5am. What a night! sheesh!

What do you think was the best deal we saw the whole morning? Gas at Costco. $1.49/gallon. That seemed like something worth waking up early for.

Grateful for .....

Thanksgiving is upon us and it hasn't quite registered all the way what exactly that means. I've gotten as far as "no work" and then the idea sort of runs away to a dusty corner of my mind. I've read the blogs and emails of several people and think, "what a great idea....I'm glad someone is demonstrating immense gratitude...." and then I skip back to my own blog and think: "Shabby Apple....more work....." and then proceed to check my work email, acting all skittish if I think I hear Seth walking around the corner--like I'm either looking for Christmas presents or checking out something a little bit more scandalous (eeeek!)

So I've been a work-a-holic lately. so sue me.

Apart from my all-consuming working ways, I have found time to see some great movies, hang out with friends and catch some serious zzzzzz's. I've re-discovered the joy of sleeping in and eating breakfast at 10am. I got to give a great (and all too personally real) lesson on procrastination to a group of 14-15 yr old girls, all of whom had never heard of cliff's notes. what?! (My mom just barely gave away my overwhelmingly large stack to the DI this summer. yeesh!) I celebrated my 4th wedding anniversary and spent a romantic evening with the man of my dreams (blog post to soon follow). I have even been surpringly dedicated to my gym workout (by 'surprisingly dedicated' I mean I have now gone 3 out of 5 days, instead of my usual zero out of 5 days routine). I have kept my house clean--a VERY impressive act, since I am THE WORST housekeeper I know of. I made a Thanksgiving dress for my daughter and it's probably the cutest thing you've ever seen. I learned how to play a new board game and I paid all my bills! so hah! check and check!

allora....i'm grateful that I actually have some wonderful things to show for myself. Now back to those work emails.....

SHA-BAM!

If you're looking for something fun to do this weekend, come over to my house and try on something pretty! I'm having a Shabby Apple Party and there will be loads of great dresses to try on (plus some sweet accessories to check out!) Here are some of my favorites (in no particular order:)

Saffron

Go Go Girl

Beauty Mark

and this sassy purse: (lily)

Not to mention these kickin' boots: (persknickety)

and this sweet little girl's dress: (canary)

The Shin-Dig starts Saturday morning at 10am and will go until 2pm. Bring your friends and family to make it an all-around event!

We'll have yummy food, fun music, and, as already promised, great mirrors and your own cheerleading section to let you know just how awesome you really look!


If you live far away or just have other plans....no worries! I made this free shipping code just for you: LeBaronNeedsDress (exp. 11/14/08)

Hope to see you there!