That’s What’s Up…

I haven’t been picking up my camera enough lately. Instagram, yes. Real camera, not so much. That being said, I was so incredibly flattered to receive the most lovely baby announcement from Sara the other week featuring one of the photos I took of Charlotte at 6 days old. Her little lips just melt me. Note to self: Keep practicing! Take more photos of something, anything, just do it! Note to Sara: I miss you, mama, and need to cuddle Charlotte asap!

Hubby and I had a date night Friday after spending the week apart. Date nights are exponentially more fun when there’s something called a “Beer Paddle” on the menu. We tried a slew of new beers, but the only one I can remember is “Laughing Dog Ale” because it had the head of a yellow lab on the tap. Hey, I buy my wine for the labels and choose my beer based on the tap. Don’t hate.

Speaking of dates, I had an awesome lunch date with my bestie Alex the other day. The fall weather was delivering and we enjoyed sitting outside, talking about life, laughing way too loudly and taste testing the selection of mini-cheesecakes from the cafe. It was a much needed reprieve from an otherwise jam packed week. A reminder amongst the hustle of life that it’s important to step away from the never ending t0-do list and carve out time for the people and things that truly matter.

Did someone say never ending to-do list? I guess the whimsical lunch dates and fun nights out with my husband need to be balanced with something. Does anyone else feel like a freakin’ domestic goddess when they reach to bottom of the dirty laundry basket?! I totally do. It ranks right up there with putting a knife into a brand new jar of peanut butter on the “Life’s Little Pleasures” lists.

And that’s what’s up.

Scenes from a Weekend: Friendship

This weekend was another Pittsburgh adventure, but this time it was extra special because Hilary is back from Africa! Girlfriend has been gone for 2 years, so we decided a girls reunion was in order and it was high time baby Connor met his world-traveling Auntie!

I swear this little man gets cuter every time I see him! We had a blast loving on him the entire weekend, and catching up with each other on life’s happenings. It had been four years, FOUR YEARS, since the four of us were all together and it was amazing how it seemed like no time had really passed at all.

I feel incredibly lucky to have such amazing women in my life, the kind of friends that cheer you on, pick you up, encourage you, listen with their whole heart and truly wish for nothing but happiness in your life.

It doesn’t hurt either that they know me so well they bring me Eataly goodies from a recent NYC trip, and make funny signs for the guest room door because they know cats make me sneeze.

We got to celebrate an early first birthday with Connor and life in general with each other. It was just what the doctor ordered.

“Yay Connor” because Happy Birthday was too long 😉 Alex, you’re a genius!

The new answer to, “What time is it?”

The photo-bomber in the background makes me love this picture even more!

Hope you had a great weekend!

More of the Usual

Somewhere along the line I forgot to introduce you to this little heart breaker. Meet Henry! His mommy is a friend of mine who I met on the second day of my very first job out of college, and she’s pretty much the sweetest person ever (plus she can make a killer meatloaf and sweet potato fries while nursing a baby, so basically she’s a superwoman). She’s also Japanese which explains where this little guy gets his exotic good looks 🙂 Henry and Connor might have to have a baby-off in the category of most squishable cheeks ever.

So now that we’ve got the baby talk out of the way, it’s time for my other most blogged about subject — weddings! As in we went to a wedding this past Saturday of one of Joey’s best friends, and I’ve decided that we’re officially old. We may or may not have broken our no drinking Whole30 rule. Ok, who am I kidding? We definitely broke it. Exhibit A:

This is in fact the only picture I have of the two of us from the wedding, and in a true reversal of roles Joey looks completely normal while I look…well…completely drunk. Awesome.

Back to the fact that we’re getting old. I swear it took me two days to fully recover from a weekend that included a rehearsal dinner on Friday, wedding on Saturday and birthday party for my Mom on Sunday. We’re so out of practice with these marathon type social engagements! Despite the achy bones and breaking out my walker, this weekend was pretty freakin’ awesome given I got to spend time with awesome family and friends. Can’t complain about that.

You know what else I can’t complain about? The dentist! After putting off going to the dentist for more years than I care to admit, I finally got my teeth cleaned a few weeks back and my one sad little cavity filled this evening. All those dental fears were for nothing! The hygienist that cleaned my teeth was so nice and straight-out-of-Jersey funny. She said she’d pronounce my last name like the Italians intended — Tro-EEE-Zeeeee. Love that. Then today when I went to get my cavity filled the dentist said it would hurt less than a flu shot, and he was totally right! I didn’t feel a darn thing, not even the needle to give me novocaine. Had it not been for the post-cavity-filled crooked smile, I would have sworn there was no needle involved.

You know that’s a good look.

So what’s going on with the usual in your life? Any cute babies or party hardy weekends? Do you see the dentist every 6 months? I’m totally starting.

Simple Things Sunday: Hello, Baby

I got to spend my Sunday afternoon snuggling up with this little cutie pie. Baby Emily had me at hello. And seeing Kacie as a mommy for the first time just made my heart happy. She was made for this role.

As my circle of friends continues to expand to include these new little lives, it somehow has a way of putting everything else into perspective. It’s a reminder of how important and precious life is, and how we should remember every day to be good to one another, live optimistically, laugh more and love more fiercely. Lets get all Ghandi up and here and just remember to Be the Change, people. Be. The. Change.

Welcome to the world, baby Emily. We’re all so happy you’re here.

Simple Things

Some of the simple things I’m loving on from this weekend…

I know, I know…I did say I was going to soak up these last weeks of summer, but these awesome fall worthy moccasins literally jumped off the shelf and onto my feet. I think they whispered something in my ear about pumpkin spice lattes and apple cider. I couldn’t not make them mine.

These girls. My best childhood buds. And now Laura (center) is about to get married! So when her sister emailed Emmy and I to come up to Philly and surprise her on the night of her bachelorette party, we didn’t even bat an eyelash before enthusiastically saying YES. Although our visits can be far and few between, I know these girls will be in my life forever. If for no other reason than we all have highly incriminating VHS tapes of one another from every awkward phase we ever went through 😉

There’s a new produce stand around the corner from our house. I think they charge me $5 regardless of what I get.

Small watermelon, zucchini, cantelope, pepper — $5. 

Medium watermelon, two large zucchinis, two red peppers — $5. 

The produce is huge, fresh from the farm and at an unbeatable price. I’m obsessed with this stand, and it’s open until November. Best. Discovery. Ever.

So what are the simple things lighting up your life lately?

BUmP-date

You know when you’re at a restaurant waiting and waiting for your food to come, and so you tell someone to go to the bathroom because everyone knows that when someone goes to the bathroom that means your food will come? Well, it was sort of like that in terms of me mentioning in my last post that we were still waiting on the arrival of Kacie’s little girl, and then that afternoon I get a text message saying girlfriend had gone into labor. Only the arrival of a baby is like a million times better than restaurant food! Unless maybe you’re at Eataly, in which case that statement could be debated 😉

I’m thrilled to report that Kacie and her husband welcomed sweet little Emily Rae into the world this past Tuesday. I’ve seen lots of pictures from a very proud new grandpa, and mom and baby are doing well.

And in other breaking news, I’m excited I can finally share this:

That’s right, Alex ate a really big lunch! 😉

Actually, Alex and the hubby have officially announced they’re expecting their first bambino (bambina?) January 2013. I couldn’t be more thrilled, this girl was made to be a mommy.

Anyone else have fun baby announcements to make? This is clearly the theme of 2012, so by all means let me know!

 

I See A Lot of Lawwww Breakers

When your out of town guests show up at your door with a dozen of the most amazing doughnuts, a box filled with Pittsburgh themed goodies and a mission to giggle like 12-year-olds during Magic Mike, you just KNOW it’s going to be a good weekend.

The kind of weekend where a random guy gives you free bottles of unopened beer when you’re pulling out of the parking garage simply because he’s an “Army guy in a Navy town” (my mom is definitely freaking out right about now), and you come home late at night to find your husband making homemade meatballs for everyone and cucumbers at each place setting dressed up like the characters in Magic Mike.

*Let the record show the cucumbers were not Joey’s doing, but rather my silly mother’s.*

We’re not even taking into account yet the bottle of champagne during a sunset sailboat cruise on the Chesapeake Bay.

Yes, the laundry is completely piled up after a weekend of indulging with friends. And our guest room bathroom still doesn’t have a proper mirror since in a haste to finish it before company arrived I didn’t measure closely enough. But looking at pictures of happy friends and beautiful surroundings reminds me that those things will get done eventually, and I spent this weekend doing exactly what I was meant to be doing.

We all need to stop and watch the sunset every now and again.

Preferably from a sailboat. With champagne. And three of your most awesome friends.

(PS: Check out Pam101’s blog for more stories from this weekend.)

Bump Ahead

So I didn’t want to say anything just in case things went terribly wrong, but Kacie came by tonight and we did a little Baby Bump photo session. Alex joined in on the fun and I can honestly say there’s nothing better than a Friday night with your two best girlfriends. And while I’ve spent many a Friday night with these two ladies by my side, life is changing in big ways and I’m enjoying the newness of it all.

As for the photos, this was something completely new to me and I’m happy to report I captured some decent images :::insert sigh of relief here::::. I’ll be sure to share some of my favorites soon (UPDATE: Check them out here), but right now I’ve got an alarm that’s set to go off at 5am and I haven’t even started packing my suitcase yet. I’ll try and Instagram the trip to Georgia, so feel free to follow at @dianatroese. See you soon!

When Life Happens

I was driving home from work last Thursday thinking about how I would pay the monthly bills that night after dinner, when I got a phone call from the hubster that went a little something like this:

J: Hey, can you swing by the beer store and pick up an 18 pack on your way home?

D: Ugh! I’m in traffic on 32 and have been driving for 45 minutes, I’m coming home. You can get it yourself.

J: Fine. Bye.

D: Bye.

{Insert internal dialogue here where I tell myself I’m rude, the beer store is right near the house, channel inner badass, get your husband beer and pick up something for yourself too. Hey, it’s almost Friday!}

:::Call Joey Back:::

D: What kind of beer do you want?

J: Coors Light.

D: Bye.

J: Bye! ::friends cheer in background::

When I got home, there was an impromptu summer BBQ going on, complete with friends and two little kiddos. So instead of paying bills, I watched kids chase dogs, went to the playground for an intense game of sniper, cut up watermelon, ate burgers off the grill, roasted marshmallows and then ran around catching lightning bugs in a mason jar.

Full disclosure, the lightning bug escapade consisted of 3 adults and one child. It was intense! I don’t remember those suckers being so hard to catch. And as we were running around, falling down hills, lunging at the air because we ‘swore there was one right there’, I couldn’t help but think how great it is when Life Happens. Like, really happens. Like it pops in on a random Thursday night just to say, “Hey, I’m here. I’m awesome. Let’s party.”

And in the words of Dave Matthews, “Celebrate we will, because life is short but sweet for certain.”

My Husband Thinks I’m a Huge Dork

And who could blame him when things like the above come in the mail? Thanks for the copy of EW, Pam101 🙂 Anyone else looking forward to “Magic Mike” as much as we are???

Happy Friday!