Work Life Balance

*warning: Stress Post*

Let me ask you - is work/life balance even really achievable? 

Are you (we) always just trying to "make things work?"

I feel like I am always scrambling to get all the pieces together, and all it does it create more issues for me to scramble against.

Why does it seem like if work is going great, home is a mess? and vise-versa?

Or why does the shit storm always hit at once?

This week has been baby ear infection / missed work / sleepless nights / angry client / husband leaving town / mother coming into town / need to clean the house / crazy long to do lists / dropping the ball / more sick baby / oh shit I better start planning his birthday /

Scramble Scramble Scramble.

And what happens at the end of the day? I have a glass of wine or three two and start all over again the next day?

What happens to us that we feel the pressure to be 100% at all three of our roles?

Wife
Mother
Employee

That means you need to be 300%!

Then what? You quit your job and eat Ramen Noodles because you just dropped your lifestyle to non-existent? Are you then feeling that you are failing at having a good home life because money is so strapped?

I love my husband and baby.
I love my job.

I don't love the act of meeting the needs of everyone at once. I have this sense of failure at times that leaves me wondering why I even try..

Yes, the Zoloft helps but still... I don't want to turn to that forever.

Where is this "balance" when you get home at 5:30pm and proceed to shove play time/bath time/dinner time/ bed time into less than 2 hours? Then you still need to be a non-vegetable to interact with the husband and pets and fold laundry and clean up dinner and watch a funny tv show and..

Holy shit I am tired.

Currently...

**I saw this on Brunch with Amber and loved it so I thought I would give it a whirl**

current book(s):
I just finished up Hunger Games (awesome!) and now not sure where to turn. I have a Michael Connolly and a JD Robb book on my Kindle I could read. Any suggestions?

current playlist:
The Limousines - Internet Killed the Video Star
The Black Keys - Tighten Up
Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks
Kings Of Leon - Knocked Up
Jimmy Buffett - Migration (or really anything)

current color:
Mademoiselle - Essie

current drink:
Godiva Pumpkin Spice Coffee

current food:
None... I made Italian sausage, broccoli, sun dried tomato pasta last night though!

current favorite show:
Flipping Out on Bravo - LOVE!

And Real Housewives of New Jersey..

Anything on Bravo really...



Big Rich Texas! Best show ever!

current wishlist:
These flats.. I can't help it!

 

current needs:
Pedicure. BAD

current triumphs:
getting the hang of motherhood and not freaking out when I get puked on... 

current bane(s) of my existence:
This damn heat. 

current celebrity crush:
I don't stray far from Mark Whalburg...

current #1 blessing:
Everything in my life. My husband, son, pets, home, job, friends, you name it!

current indulgence:
chardonnay (or wine of any kind)

current outfit: 
Black pants, white ruffle shirt, purple cardigan, black flats.

current excitement:
Going to Palestine this weekend!

current mood:
tired... Baby ear infections are the worst!

Monday Magazines!

Man. This weekend I was pretty much on my own with Logan while Lee was in New Orleans.

I am tired.

I needed more wine.

I needed way more coffee.

I am totally ready for a little trash talk.

Who knew how empty the grocery store is on Sat morning at 9am??

This week seems to be all about Brad and Jen:

So in the last week or so, Brad said some odd things about his life when we was with Jen. Something about being "boring", etc. Now this headline leaves you to believe that he just made that up because Angelina has his nuts in a silver case somewhere.
Also: What? Annulment for Kim already? Goodness. Give them more than 4 months. (wait, how long did they date?)

So this headline makes you think otherwise than the one above. Is she mad? Come on - after John Mayer telling everyone in the world how awesome you are - do you really give a shit what Brad says? I mean, Angelina is a freak and they have 25 kids and 35 nannies and have this odd life that no one quite gets...

I do want to see Moneyball....

Again - balls in a silver case. Knowing her, maybe some blood somewhere... just not right.

I wonder if he was all "Hey, we are filming Mr. and Mrs. Smith and you are hot for a freaky chick so we should get together and OHMYGODWHATHAVEIDONESHELOCKEDMEINTHEBASEMENT!"

Speaking of freaky and evil...

If she is in Texas or Florida, she will be shot in a Walmart parking lot by a redneck with a hero complex and then there will finally be justice for Caylee.
Until then, NO MORE MAGAZINE COVERS for this evil woman.
Also: More Brad and Jen. Don't worry, Kirstie will gain it back....

Now I need coffee....

Welcome!

Hello everybody! Today is the greatest day in all of bloggy land! Today is my SITS DAY!

*cue applause*

Thank you! Thank you!

Welcome to Life and Love of a Parrothead where I blog about things my husband does that makes me nuts, cute stuff my kid is doing, and just general obsessions (like Gilmore Girls). Sometimes I ramble. Sometimes I rant.

Since I am sure I will have some people stopping over by-way-of SITS, I thought I would explore how others find their way to my little slice of blogosphere.

According to Google Stats - here are a few random google searches that resulted in my site.

1. Blue Bell Ice Cream Slogan (3 hits). Ok... I had to search my own site to see where they may have landed, but this one may be a good post for them. Texas Grown

2. Computer mouse with long cord on white background (2 hits). What? I am sure they were dissapointed in the findings here and were like "WTF is this site?" But maybe they enjoyed learning that I had to bribe myself back to work... Prezzies

3. Jeans and Boots / Boots and Jeans / Jeans with Boots (total of 16 hits): Well I can say I did recently blog about this. I am super happy to see that I am not the only person out there obsessed with the fall weather that will never show up coming! I mean this heat... Enough Already!

While I am sure my website wasn't exactly what they were looking for in their search, I am really glad they stopped by and I hope they at least enjoyed the visit.

This weekend was a rough one y'all. Logan is teething hard core and had two break through up top and I think another one is just under the surface. Needless to say, he wasn't happy all day. Tylenol and lots of stuff to chew on helped a little. He kept doing this thing where he would just lay his head down like "oh man, I am so over this!"

Nowadays, if it is stable, he pulls up and stands. That box in the background? Stands against it. Baby gates, ottomans, myself - he is up. Seriously the coolest dude on the planet.

Thanks for stopping over today and y'all come back now, ya hear?

*I think that is from Beverly Hillbillies, which my husband has never seen.
*He has also never seen Andy Griffith - really? Wow. When I tell him that he will go fishing with Logan and they will be like Andy and Opie, he has no idea what that means.
*AND when I refer to the garage looking like Sandford and Son? Nope, hasn't heard of that either. 
*Ok maybe I watched too much Nick at Night as a child...

Week Two

This was week two of my adventure in Fantasy Football and here is how I did:

Yeah, kind of got my butt kicked...

Better luck next week huh? The thing that is hardest is when a player is "questionable." Then you don't know until game time if they are playing and it's too late to put them in your line up... Last night I had H.Nicks who plays for the Giants and he was questionable with an injury..and what happens? He has a touchdown. Grrrr....

I would like to announce the winner of my giveaway!!

Hilary of Real Life isn't Always Clever!

Hilary's comment was:
My dear friend (dear friend, I swear) is pretty much having a wedding YEAR. I am the planner for the bachelorette party in Vegas and a bridal shower out of town.

She is a very expensive friend. Expensive friends are great gift givers and shopping friends, but I'm concerned about my abilities to plan these events up to her expectations!

So far, I have collected baby jars for party favors at her bridal shower... I am not sure I'm meeting her standards yet.

It would be wonderful to use these labels to liven up (read: look expensive) some baby jars or the centerpieces (which are some collected wine bottles... I am nothing if not thrifty) 

Haven't we all been there?!!

Have a great day everyone!!

Monday Magazines!

Ah, Monday. Such a love/hate relationship with Mondays...
But here is something to cheer you up a bit...

A GIVEAWAY! Today is the LAST DAY and I will announce a winner tomorrow! HURRY!

Now on to Monday Magazines!

I was an avid fan of Girls Next Door and I have watched Kendra's spin off. She isn't really in the news very often and the fact that she is on the cover makes me wonder how much truth there is to this. Depression I could understand since she travels with her husband and he has had a rough career lately in the NFL. I thought the last headline I saw was them wanting another baby?
Also: Jlo and Bradley Cooper? NOOOOOOOO!

I watch Teen Mom. I watched these girls as 16 and pregnant. Farrah took the longest to grow on me because she was a spoiled brat who didn't seem to want to own up to the new responsibility a baby brought upon her. Also, who talks to their mom like that? This whole leaving baby with mom to go to college thing has me torn. I don't see why she needs to move to Florida, but I could see how taking the baby would set her up to fail. We'll have to keep an eye on this and see how it goes...
Also: Justin and Jessica - wedding? When did they get back together?

I am not even sure I can comment on this. It's plain trash.
Also: UGH, stop showing the Jlo and Bradley photo! I can't take it! I just don't like her...

Really? Miserable already? How is that possible? I mean if Kourtney can make it work with that dillhole Scott, surely she can be happy for at least a month with Kris.
Also: Oh man, Ali Lohan looks baaaaaaaaaaaad.

Again, we can put up with Scott and go through all those things with him, but Kris gets no chance? This is just malarky.
Also: Poor Cameron Diaz.. I think she can do better than A-Rod.

I saved this for last... I don't watch this show. I refuse. This is just plain awful. These little girls are being made into hellions who will later turn into slutty young women who feel entitled to everything. Dressing one girl up as Julia Robert's Hooker chick in Pretty Woman... REALLY? Sexy dances? SERIOUSLY? These are little girls! They should be playing barbie and having sleep overs. Living through your children is unacceptable.

Once again - don't forget - GIVEAWAY!

Seriously?!

You guys, I am so very happy to all of you who have nice cool weather and can play outside, open the windows, and not sweat by just opening the front door.

Really, I am.

However, here in Houston, it's still a nice, humid, hell-like 95 degrees.

So to have to go out for an entire day and measure a crap-ass strip center wasn't really something I was looking all that forward to.

I woke up, moved slowly around the house since Logan slept a little longer than normal.
(Sidebar - why doesn't he do that on the WEEKENDS? huh?)
As we were getting ready to head out, I tested the laser measure tape I had to make sure it was working.
Nope. Nada. Zilch.

Great. The #1 tool I needed for the day wasn't working.

I get in the car with Logan and head out, only then noticing I am running a good 20 minutes late.

Logan is dropped off and I am headed to the office to get the other laser measure tape. I call in and Jimmy tells me it will need a new D battery.

Fine. I stop at CVS.

Then at Starbucks.

Then at Costco for gas.

THEN at the office for the other measure tape.

At this point, it's about 9:15. That's 15 minutes later than I thought I would be at the site.

So I drive my merry way down to Sugar Land, TX and pull in the parking lot.

In my bag are the following items:

(2) Cameras
1 tape measure
1 laser measure
1 clip board with papers
Travel pack of tissues (impluse purchase at CVS) (then I used them to clean up spilt coffee)
Small makeup case holding womanly items, because what makes being out in the heat better than that awesome time of the month?
Phone
Keys

Then I notice the major thing missing.

A pen.

A fucking pen.

SERIOUSLY?

Invent some expletives and that is what I said. I dug through the car and didn't find a damn thing. So I leave the parking lot and drive up and down the feeder road looking for a place to find a pen. I finally end up at Super Target.

Oh darn.

With all the reserve I have in my body, I walked past the fall candles and to the supplies and bought a pack of Sharpie Pens and a pack of mechanical pencils.

Really, that's all I bought.

I promise.

So, after almost getting run over by an Asian lady in the parking lot, back to the site I go. At this point it's 10am. Perfect.
It's also about 85 degrees or so.

You know, I think you all need a visual of what I was trying to draw.

Let me ask - just HOW do I get the radius of that?

So after wandering around swearing and trying to figure out where to start, I decide that I will just count windows. Almost every window was 5'-0" big. So my sketch would have:

9w
Door
3w
Door

Etc.

As I am in the atrium (the part under the white thing in the middle, which smelled like arm pits) these kids come running out of a suite and they are all over the place and screaming and playing. I notice the sign on the door - it's some kind of children's behavioral center.

Oh swell.

After 2 hours, my face was red as a beet, people were looking at me cautiously, and I had walked around the whole thing at least 3 times, and my notes were crap. I got into my car and blasted the air and made lunch plans. At this point, it was 90 degrees and hot as hell. We are in a drought with no signs of any real rain and the slimy green "lake' behind this building was calling my name.

But rather than embarass myself by swimming around behind the building, I went and had fattening tex mex instead.

So, who wants my job?

Didn't think so.

**Side note, I love my job, but days like today I yearn for the lifestyles of the rich and famous.
**Also, I think I earned my Tex-Mex after that crap.
**please don't judge me for saying something off color about an Asian person. 

Where am I?

At work it is highly stressed that we keep our calendars up to date so that if someone is looking for us, they know where we are.

Today I will be about 30 minutes south of work measuring and ENTIRE STRIP CENTER that then I have to come back to my desk and stick all my measurements in the computer. Fun times, right?
And it will only be a balmy 94 degrees!

I decided to have fun with my calendar so that if someone is all "Hey, where is Breann?" they will look at my calendar and see this:

FV = Field Verify

Notice my priority - to be done in time to come back and have a snack with a rep.

Don't forget about the GIVEAWAY! Who doesn't like labels? 

I heart football....

When I was just a little girl
I asked my father "who's a good team?"
Will it be Cowboys?
Will it be Steelers?
Here's what he said to me...
Que sera sera
You better root for the Cowboys
They are America's team
And I said so...

So... I grew up in a football household. My dad played high school football and was quite the small town legend.
In our house, it was all about the Cowboys. Granted, this was during the Troy Aikman and Emmit Smith days, so they were hot to trot.

As I have grown older wiser, I have chosen my own team to root for, and that is the Houston Texans.
This year I decided to play Fantasy Football, just to really get into the other teams and know more of the players.
And to understand what the hell this is all about.

Here is my team:

























The first week, I was up against non other than... my husband!

Here is how I did...























I WON! How about that?

I am now trying to learn the ins and outs of moving my players around and keeping up with injuries, pick ups, and trades.

I hope to keep up the fun!

Do you play Fantasy Football? Do you even watch the games or hide in the other room?

Rules of Civility

Do you like Mad Men?
Martini's and Tweed?
The 50's in general?

Then you will enjoy Rules of Civility by Armor Towles. Read my review here:

BlogHer Book Club - Rules of Civility 

Giveaway!

Helllooooo fellow bloggy peeps. How's it hanging?

Don't answer that.

Today I am pleased to announce my very first GIVEAWAY!

*squeeeee!!*

So here are the details:

Prize:

250 Labels for One (1) Winner
2" x 3.5"
70lb Label Matte, Front Only Printing, 4 Business Days Turnaround
Free Shipping



Restriction: Limited to US residents 18 years old and above only.
You must be a blogger and have a website I can link up to.


Have you heard of UPrinting? Well...

UPrinting.com is one of the versatile online Printing Companies and one of their products is Labels. They can also customize it according to your needs and offer Custom Labels.

  Here is how I will choose the winner...


Go to the website (link is under the photo) and look at the type of label that will be the prize. Tell me in a very funny and creative way what design you would choose and why. Whomever I think is the most creative/funny will win!

You can go like them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter, but I am not requiring that for the winner. Honestly, I dislike campaigns that require that!

Have fun!

You have until September 20th. HURRY!


This giveaway is sponsored by UPrinting, no monetary compensation was given and I will receive labels for hosting

Monday Magazines

Man, what a weekend. Between football and the 9/11 remembrance, I am beat. Now it's Monday and I am slugging a Pumpkin Spice Latte and trying to stay awake at my desk. Let's enjoy some gossip, shall we?

Oh man, all new stuff! This should be fun!

First - In Style

About time we got off of Jennifer Anniston's ass about a baby and moved on to Angelina. First off, she has always been skinny as a rail. I remember her next to a helicopter or something some years back and how she was too skinny. What's the real news here?
Also: Leave Taylor from Real Housewives ALONE. NOT OK to talk about her being skinny because she is sad. Who wouldn't stop eating out of sorrow or shock? Hell I lost 10 pounds after hurricane Ike  because I was so freaked out. This is way more serious of a situation.

Next up, Us Weekly:

I'm not gonna lie - I thought that was Lindsey Lohan on the cover at first and my reaction was "WTF?!" Even so, JLo doesn't really do it for me.
Also: I doubt Joe wants Taylor back. She wrote a song about him. She messed around with John friggin Mayor. Moving on....

In Touch (my guilty pleasure)

Seriously? You have NO M-O-N-E-Y. A wedding? I love this show but I have been against her this season because she is in serious denial.
Also: Again - give Taylor a break.

How about some People Magazine?

No. No her kids will not be ok.
Also: Why is Eva Mends slumming with Ryan Gosling? Just because he got all ripped for that movie doesn't mean he is hot. Not my type I guess.

Now we see why Jennifer got a rest this week... OK! Magazine:

Now it's Sandra's turn for crazy rumors!
Also: There is nothing redeemable about Kate Gosselin whatsoever. I don't care if she is broke.
Why did Jlo and Marc split? I would like to know why they were together in the first place!!

I hate Sexy Bikini Bodies issues. At least I didn't burst into tears while trying on clothes in the dressing room this week. Making progress...

10 years ago...

I had reservations about blogging about the Sept 11 10th anniversary today. I realize that many other bloggers out there will be doing the same.

Some will blog about where they were, how they found out.

Some will post photos of the towers on fire.

Some will blog about what it means to them today.

I am not really sure where to begin for one simple reason....


I had no idea what was going on when it happened.

I woke up late that day and skipped my first class. I was a Junior in college at Stephen F Austin in Nacogdoches, TX. I got on AOL Instant Messenger and was surfing the internet when a friend popped up and said "Are you watching tv? a plane hit the twin towers this morning!"
My first thought was: What are the twin towers?

I went into the living room and turned on the tv. At this point, the towers had both fallen. I saw the images as they replayed over and over. I had no idea what was going on. Why did this happen? Why did someone fly the planes into those buildings?

Terrorism?

You don't hear much about Terrorism when you are growing up in East Texas. The only memory I have of Desert Storm is seeing the map on the news. I couldn't tell you one single thing about that war.

As the day went on, I went to class and I listened to the conversations around me. One teacher even said "yeah yeah I know what's on the news but we need to focus on the assignment." I wonder if he even knew what the real deal was.

I went back home and watched the news all day. My cousin joined me at one point. It took me longer than I can remember (or even admit) to really understand what happened and why. I just knew many many people had died. That alone made me so sad. This was the first time I could recall actually even hearing the words "World Trade Center."

As the years have gone on, I have watched the repeated news coverage and have been totally entranced by the reactions as things actually happened. I slept through all the beginnings.

I remember watching a report later that year on why the towers fell. As an Interior Design student, I was interested in the structure and how it was all put together. Come to find out, the towers were built to withstand the possibility of a Cessna hitting them, but never accounted for a jet liner full of fuel.

Other than increased security at the airports and the friends I have had go off to the war that followed - I still to this day can't really put a finger on how it has affected me. This is something I have never really told anyone and I guess I felt that being 10 years older, maybe it was time to admit that I was someone who had very little knowledge of the world outside of the U.S. or sometimes even Texas in general. I was young and in college and living life in a selfish state of mind, like many 20 year olds.

It's somewhat embarrassing to reveal how ignorant of the situation I was. I know this even affected everyone differently, and to talk of how long it took for it really affect me at all feels awful.

As hard as it was to write this post, it's even harder to find a decent way to close up. While I will spend the day with friends watching football, I will also spend the day hoping that the world becomes a safer place for my son to grow up in.

Photo Challenge - Day 3 and 4

Day 3 - Clouds
It was a little hard to find clouds - but I kind of did...

No Clouds..

These are either clouds or smoke in the sky from the fires...

 Day 4 -My favorite color
Being a designer makes it hard to say what my "favorite color" is - however anyone that knows me well knows that I lean towards one end of the spectrum pretty heavily...

Sage.

Of all the sage-green colors out there - Grey Wisp by Benjamin Moore is the one I love the most. I am a very traditional person when it comes to design. Heavy leather furniture, dark woods, and neutral walls. I like to mix sage in my home with light greys and beige's.

I hope that isn't a boring "favorite" color...

Gimme...

Guys, I need help. I am a we bit obsessed over-focused on a new table for the kitchen.

As always, my house is covered in baby things...

This table it too large for the space and... boring.

I really want a stainless top. I love the look of it and the easy care.

I found this at Crate and Barrel

But it's too big - exactly the same size as the one we have, which defeats the purpose.
And it's 'spensive.

I found this at West Elm

But it's technically an island, so it would be hard to get 6 around this.

I am thinking of trying a place that builds custom...

The deal is - do we give up the look I want for a smaller table that still accommodates 6 when needed (maybe a leaf that pulls out, etc)

Or do we stay with the look we love and really only comfortably seat 4?

Thoughts?