unintended hiatus

So working through pregnancy is and isn't as hard as I had anticipated. There are days in which work goes as expected: stressful with fleeting enjoyable moments and increased bathroom breaks. The only major difference is the percentage of time spent both walking to and sitting on the toilet. I get a lot of questions from co-workers curious about my health, energy level and overall well being and I am happy to report that the answers are typically positive.

On the flipside, there are days, also increasing, in which I am finding it very hard to be at work. And in those cases, I have been remaining home While they are few and far between, they are oh so present. And today is one of them. They are typically predicated by a serious lack of sleep due to overheating, discomfort and today, heartburn. If the commute wasn't cross town Los Angeles, I would try harder to get into the office However, knowing that up to 3 hours may be spent in rush hour LA traffic, I have been quicker to make the decision to take a day. I have never used up all of my sick days in the 10 or so years that I have been banking them at various jobs. This year (or shall I say past 8 months) I have exhausted them and now am taking unpaid days to remain home. Sitting in the AC and not having to brave the frustrations of LA traffic makes it all worth it though.........

Amy and Nick threw me the most beautiful baby shower yesterday. It was all I could have hoped for. Close friends and family at the house. Delicious food. Cakes from Lark. The whole 9 yards. I am so thankful for my amazing and talented friends.........

LA Marathon 2013

Today I rode the Gold Line to Little Tokyo to catch a front row view of the 2013 LA Marathon. Just because I was under orders not to run, didn't mean I wanted to miss the event! The Metro was a perfect way to get to mile three without having to deal with the massive road closures causing motorists throughout the city some major frustrations. I was pretty proud of myself timing wise. I got off the Gold Line round 7:14 and by the time I walked up to Central, I was just in time to catch a couple of the wheelchair racers and the Women's Elite group as they came racing through around 7:27 or so. The Elite Men were shorty after followed by the general public who were completely filling the streets from about 7:45 to 8:45. And when I say filling, I mean it. A poor Asian couple suitcases in tow were literally stranded at the crosswalk for over 30 minutes until they dared to cross the sea of runners tripping one man while doing so. Here are some highlights:

Hopefully I will be in the sea of madness next year! Looking forward to training with a jogging stroller after lil' girl arrives! ;)

On Getting Bigger. And Slower.

Just in the past couple weeks I feel that I am crossing the threshold into the physicality of being pregnant. Specifically, the discomfort, awkwardness and clumsiness that coincides with a growing belly. About a month ago I had passed the point of 'just having put on a few extra pounds'. This became clear when at work I began to get the whisper-level questions about being pregnant. First from the ladies, then the gentleman. And now, at 25 weeks, there is no debating "chubby or pregnant".

It is very weird not being able to fit into my favorite running pants. I know in my mind that getting bigger is a very normal aspect of a pregnancy, but for some reason it is harder than I had anticipated. Perhaps impacting my mental morale is also the fact that the LA Marathon is this weekend. I have a paid entry but will not be running. Giving up training in October did not seem like a big deal at the time but as the weekend nears, there is a bit of a loss that comes with it. When attempting to go on a big walk the other day, I was tired and crampy at just over a mile. It is hard to believe that 6 months ago I was running 10 miles easy at 7:30 AM on a Saturday morning! ;)

I have been researching those who have gone back into distance running after giving birth and it seems as if I will have to start slow. And frequent bathroom breaks will be something that I will need to get used to! I have already been looking into jogging strollers and am looking forward to have my lil' companion with me when I hit the streets of Pasadena.......but not until I am ready.........

Insta-link!

It has been a busy weekend but the chair finally got recovered this Sunday afternoon. Thankfully the sun was shining and we cleared out the workspace in the back. It made for a nice Sunday activity. Check it out on Instagram! I will take a proper picture tomorrow.

DIY Nursery Projects

With the initial hullabaloo of moving subsided, I have been able to focus on getting some baby projects started. For awhile, the designated baby room has been the moving catch-all with boxes and miscellaneous crap all over the floor. Just this past weekend, most of what shouldn't be in there is finally out. The sorting and decorating is moving forward. We have been fortunate in receiving some key pieces of baby gear from David's sister including a Bugaboo Stroller, a Pack N Play, an Ergo as well as a box of clothes and toys! Amazing! Thanks Jennifer (and lil' Aya!)

Wanting to keep budget conscious, we did our research and made the following decisions: a crib from JCP.com using some gift cards accumulated from the holiday time, a desk to be dazzled up from Craigslist.com (40 bucks!), Echino Fabrics off of Etsy to create the baby quilt and matching laminate to upholster the desk chair, wooden chair from the PCC swap meet and the one full price item, a Jenny Lind changing table off of Amazon. The two big pieces left are going to be a futon...to both sit with lil' girl and accomodate family when they come and a rug of sorts for the floor.

The only project that got started this weekend was redoing the knobs for the desk. I really wish that I had taken a before, but I got so into the hands on that snapping pics just wasn't on my mind. I was fortunate enough to have some baby blue spray paint from one of my work projects and lo and behold....it matched the wall color perfectly!

Up next on my list is to re-cover the chair. In all honesty, this chair does not need to be recovered but I have a vision of matching prints and seeing as how I now have the laminate in hand, it is a go. I am going to leave the original on and just use the staple gun to adhere around the existing vinyl. We shall see how it goes. 

Adorable chair from the Pasadena City College Flea Market

This laminate will be the new seat cover!

I will keep you posted on how the project unfolds. Oh! And my other budget find of the weekend was a nice board book copy of Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you see? for 2 bucks at a little antique shop yesterday. Score!

Weekend of Friends

Nathaniel and his boyfriend Ben came to visit Los Angeles this weekend. Lots of fun was had. Lots of food was eaten. Food that would not be classified as the most healthiest. Today had us dining on fried chicken and waffles at Cliff's Edge. Friday night we were surrounded by the most delicious of Mexican food at Loteria! Grill. This afternoon Cindy and I trekked over to The Grove to check out the new TopShop. All I could think about while trying on clothes was how huge I looked with my ever growing pregnant stomach. And yes....I know my food choices this weekend did not help those thoughts in the slightest! Here are some highlights from this morning:

Cindy and Ben in the beautiful apartment above Cafe Stella

Nathaniel!

Beautiful bottle collection

Dining at Cliff's Edge. Post waffles.

Cindy's amazing pants. 

Wading into the World of Maternity Clothes.....

The time has come. The other day driving home from work, I noticed that I had to unbutton my jeans in order to have a comfortable drive home. Prior to this defining moment, I had been having a progressively harder time pulling up my jeans throughout the week. The final straw was yesterday, while sitting in a meeting, I noticed that I had a bump on my stomach. After further investigation in the ladies, I realized the bump was directly next to where the jeans button had been digging into my skin all day. So not so much a bump, but an inflammation.......a clear as day sign telling me loudly that I can no longer fit into my clothes of choice.

I had picked up some larger and longer tops at TJ Maxx over the weekend, but now the pants issue had to be addressed. Last night I came across my favorite jeans...the Gap 1969 Always Skinny cut in maternity style! Woo Hoo! Ordered. Done. Hopefully they will arrive over the weekend.

These jeans have a demi panel. Can't even tell that they are maternity!

I got away today with wearing a dress and tights at work today which was considerably more comfy. It prompted me to go out and look for another one to don during the day. After work we stopped over at Nordstrom Rack where I picked up this lil' goodie....in a larger size mind you:

This Lucky brand dress is super stretchy and has a nice defined waist which sits right about the baby bump. 

I have a trip to Crossroads planned this weekend and will let you know what I come across!