Random Monday Thoughts

Happy Monday everyone and welcome to another edition of Random Monday Thoughts (in my head this is said like the “Wheel of Fortune” opening followed by applause).

It’s sunny but a little chilly in the Garden State today and all the women in my office seem to still be on a Mother’s Day high from yesterday (gee, I wonder what they got as gifts??).

Mother’s Day at Casa Chaos was actually quite nice. I was treated to many homemade cards and gifts from all my men, fresh bagels for breakfast AND an afternoon spent with my mom at the mall with NO KIDS!! I bought myself a new Bobbi Brown lip gloss (High Shimmer Lip Gloss in Naked Plum) and ate a cupcake for desert while watching The Vampire Diaries – it was a “perfect” day.

and now onto my random thoughts:

1) Black Pants are a girl’s best friend:

Well it’s Monday and I am feeling a little fat today (probably from all the margaritas on the rocks with salt that I consumed from Friday night until Sunday) so you know what that means….it’s a black pants kinda day. Ask any woman what their one wardrobe staple is and 9 times out of ten you will hear black pants.

Really, what is there not to love? Black pants match everything, they are slimming, forgiving and can be worn multiple times before laundering (not that I would EVER do such a thing but just sayin’). This morning when I checked the weather on my iPhone and saw it would be a high of 57 degrees, I quickly pulled my black pants off the pile on my bedroom floor, shook them out, ironed them, paired them with my super cute leopard open cardi from The Loft and VOILA – a happy monday outfit was born.

2) It’s margarita weather!

Last week, I talked about flip-flop weather here and now I am proclaiming it Margarita Weather!!! I am usually a big red wine drinker, that is my drink of choice when out to dinner or at home. However, once the weather turns a little warm and the daylight lingers a little longer red wine just does not cut it in Casa Chaos.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE red wine but  it’s just not refreshing in warm weather. So what is a mom of 4 to drink in the summer months????? Jose Cuervo Margaritas – the alcohol is in the bottle!!

Yummy

Just pour over ice, add a piece of lime and some salt and it’s heaven in a glass.

3) I had forgotten how much I LOVE vampires

Some time back, I did a post on my deep, heartfelt love of Edward Cullen here. Seriously, I LOVED Edward, he was/is just THE perfect male species – aside from the fact that he’s a vampire that subsides on blood and a work of fiction.

Before I read the Twilight series, I feared vampires and thought they were all ugly with slicked back black hair and a cape. However, Twilight introduced me to the “sparkly”, hot, world of vampires and I’ve been hooked ever since.

Last week I mentioned that the husband and I had started the CW series The Vampire Diaries on dvd and after 2 episodes we were only feeling “Meh” about the show. Mrs. Jeter told me to stick with it and now, 2 disks in, we LOVE it!!

The Salvatore brothers Damon (bad boy) and Stefan (very good boy) are just dreamy and make for THE best vampire eye candy on tv. Throw in Alaric the handsome vampire hunter and this girl is in!! I can’t wait to start the next dvd.

Oh and btw, me and the husband find the character Elena (the super skinny, gorgeous with great hair love interest) to be rather annoying. In fact, I think she is equal parts Katniss and Bella Swan in her back and forth feelings for Stefan thus far.

4) Channeling my inner-Mrs. Brady

My son M has recently become obsessed with death. I know this is a phase all kids go though, and watching his father fight zombies on his PSP surely does not help the obsession.

Still, I taken aback the other night as I was tucking M into bed and he started crying. Startled, I asked what was wrong and through the tears he told me his brain could not stop thinking about dying and being buried.

Super!! I thought to myself.

With a little coaxing I was able to convince M to come into my bed with me to talk about what was bothering him. As we walked into my bedroom I was freaking out!

 What the hell am I going to tell him about death? I can’t tell him it’s just for old people. What if I drop dead tomorrow, he will forever think I lied to him. He will be scarred for life and wind up in a miserable marriage to some shrew all because his mom couldn’t tell him about death when he was 6.

Immediately, I began thinking about every sitcom I had ever watched and what all those super sitcom moms used to tell their “kids” about death. My mind was a blur of tv moms ranging from June Cleaver, Carole Brady and Claire Huxtable.

Finally, I took a deep breath and calmly tried to quell M’s fears. I told him that he had nothing to worry about, that when people die they go to Heaven to be with the angels and Pop Pop and Bella. I told him it’s a happy place where they have all your favorite foods and that there was nothing to be afraid of.

M seemed ok with that explanation but started crying again telling me that he would miss me when I died. Crap, now what???! I thought??

I don’t know if it was all those years of watching tv or what,  but suddenly a thought hit me.  I told M that Mommy would always be with him forever and ever in his heart and that he had nothing to worry about.

Then I hugged him tight and let him sleep in my bed as we talked about all the happy places we have gone his “whole life” and all the places he still wants to see.

I don’t know if those were the right answers for M but I guess they will have to do for now.

Have a good week everyone, thanks for reading

Random Monday Thoughts

Hello and welcome to another edition of Random Monday Thoughts – previously titled Random Thoughts on a Monday Morning.

I was all set to blog about autism and how much it totally sucks, but after I started writing I got depressed and decided to change gears and be more carefree.

Now if I were a smart blogger, one who would like to attract new readers,  I would make “Random Monday Thoughts” a weekly post. However, knowing myself the way I do, that would cause me stress every Monday and frankly, I don’t need any added stress to my life at the moment.

Now without further ado, I give you my random thoughts:

1) Hello, my name is Nicole and I am quickly becoming addicted to Candy Crush

Do you play this game on your tablet or mobile device? A couple of months ago, I had downloaded this app and wasn’t all that thrilled with it.

It seemed like a Bejewled wannabe with candy and annoying music. I played it a couple of times before deleting. I would see things on FB and friends would send me requests for lives but I never gave it too much thought.

Then last week, I decided to give it another try and OMG I am hooked! AND I even got the husband to play and he is hooked too.

The kids think we are nuts and beg us to let them play but we told them it’s for “adults only”. Currently, I am on Level 25 and I cant wait to play again tonight and see how far I can get.

2) Am I just too old for The Vampire Diaries??

The husband and I are always looking for a new tv series to watch on dvd. It occured to us a couple years ago, that we do better with a series when we can watch it in huge chunks rather than one time a week. You can become immersed in the show AND there are no commercials.

It started with “Burn Notice” then there was “Breaking Bad”, “Homeland”, “Revenge” “Castle”, “White Collar”, “Mad Men”, “Chicago Fire” (this was on On Demand) and now “The Vampire Diaries.”

I was excited, I love vampires (hello…I was Mrs. Cullen for the longest time) and Mrs. Jeter loves the show and talks about it all the time I couldn’t wait.

This past Saturday night, after I had lost all my lives in Candy Crush, the husband and I sat down to watch and all I can say is Meh.

It had all the parts for a great vampire show – hot vampire (check), hot vampire bad-boy brother (double check), annoying, kinda whiney love interest of vampire (check), small town surrounded by woods (check), old mansion that the vampires live in (check).

On paper this show is perfect. However, after watching 2 episodes (one of which was the pilot) I just dont know, Stefan and Damon are seriously NO Edward and Carlisle.

While watching the 2nd episode, I texted Jeter, went on EW (the holy grail of tv) and did a Google search (can I multi-task or what?) to see what they thought and all said the show gets better the more you watch it.

I will give it a another try or 2 and let you know my thoughts.

3) Summer Book Club

A couple of years ago, I tagged along with Mrs. Mayor got invited to a book club in my town and I loved it. It is hosted by my blogging mentor CC and the group of women is great. There is always LOTS of food and/or wine and the discussions are always varied and never dull.

Book club meets every other month from Sept till May.  We take the summer “off” due to schedules and vacations and the overall craziness of the summer months.

I will confess, I miss book club in the summer. Yes, I know I can read w/o being in a group setting, heck I have been doing that my whole life. It’s just that I really like getting together with “the ladies” sans kids and husbands. It’s relaxing and something to look forward too.

That being said, I have come up with my own version of a Summer Book Club. In this “club” we will read a trashy, beach book once a month (June – August), meet and discuss said book over margaritas. Who’s in????

4) Flip-flop season has officially begun

Friday I was lucky enough to get my first Spring/Summer 2013 pedicure and what a treat it was!!

Finally after months of waiting and keeping my feet all cooped up in closed-toe shoes, I was able to break out my flip flops (neon pink from the Gap) and and flaunt my pretty toes.

It felt freeing to be in my flip-flops and it meant that summer is VERY close. I even took out all my sandals and did a shoe fashion shoe for Molly (my daschund). Is there anything better than finding a brand new pair of sandals you forget you bought at the end of last season?????

5) I have no willpower

Since starting this post before lunch, I have given into temptation and eaten 2 pieces of chocolate out of the the Russell Stover Milk Chocolate Sampler Box I have “hidden” in my desk for chocolate emergencies.

and lastly

6) Girlfriends are a blessing

Girls/women often get a bad rap for being catty, gossipy, jealous and bitchy/moody. Sure, sometimes (very rarely) some are like that but they are also nurturing, kind, fun, loving, funny and always there.

I would just like to give a shout-out to all my girlfriends, both old and new. I may not always show it or tell you but I really appreciate your friendship and all the laughter we share.

A special thanks to Mrs. Mayor for hosting a really great time Friday night. Who knew sitting at a kitchen table with some yummy rice crackers discussing a certain priest could be so much fun

Have a great week everyone, thanks for reading!

 

50 Shades of What??

English: Love heart (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am always a little late with the current trends. I didn’t join Facebook until 2008 (although that is 4 years earlier than my brother who joined this weekend), I got my first smart phone in November,  I started ”tweeting” 4 months ago and I didn’t finish the The Hunger Games trilogy until December.

Years ago I remember Mrs. Jeter telling me to read this book about a vampire who falls in love with a mortal. I thought she was insane. Then I read  “Twilight” and fell in love (literally) with Edward Cullen. Ah, the time I spend daydreaming about Edward coming to swoop me away in his Volvo.

So it came as no surprise to me that I was late in hearing about “50 Shades of Grey”. I vaguely remembered my friend CC (centraljerseyworkingmom) mentioning on FB how she was reading a series that was out of her usual genre and I would see things here and there,  but I never really any attention.

Suddenly “50 Shades” was everywhere and all anyone could talk about. Women of all ages were downloading it to their Nooks and Kindles and would blush if their significant others asked them what they were reading. It was THE book to be reading and the tabloids were having a field day casting Mr. Grey in the movie version.

The more I learned about “50 Shades” the more I knew it wasn’t for me. I am too much of a prude to read it. I turn beat red just listening to women describe the book and certain plot points.  A friend of mine gave me books 1 & 2 and I still haven’t worked up the courage to open them.

I did, however,  pass them along to Mrs. Jeter  - she is sort of like my Oprah with books. It was Mrs. Jeter who told me about Twilight, The Hunger Games and the entire Stephanie Plum series.

Mrs. Jeter initially refused to read the books, told me she had too many other things to read. Then a couple of days later, she was sending me texts about how she loved Christian and how no one would ever love her the way he loves Anastasia.

Thinking she was nuts, I asked a co-worker what she had thought of the books (I had also given her a copy). She reacted similarly to Mrs. Jeter and said she was trying to read the last book slowly so she could hold on a bit longer to Christian.

Even at my book club last month the majority of the women had read “50 Shades” and they all had a similar gleam in their eye when they would talk about Christian and say …you HAVE to read them!!!!

Honestly, besides being a prude, I just can’t bear to fall in love with a fictional character again. It has happened too many times before and it leaves me feeling a little sad when the book is done. Out of nowhere I find myself daydreaming about characters and wishing they were real.

I can’t be alone in this since I remember women being on either Team Edward or Team Jacob (duh, like Jacob is even an option). I dare you to name me a female who was not in love with Noah from The Notebook or who didn’t cry while reading The Bridges of Madison County because when Francesca stayed on the damn farm and didn’t leave with Robert.

Knowing how I am (and how I hate to feel left out), I’m pretty sure I will give in eventually and fall in love with Christian Grey.  For now, I will just pretend to not care and that I am a literary snob (lol). If and when I read the series, I promise to share my thoughts.