seriously -- what is wrong with people?!?

i really love sunset magazine. the reason? articles like this and, even more so, this. there's even an article about our little town, pacifica. (nona's kitchen is at the bottom of the hill we live on, and it is pretty good. barolo, also just at the bottom of our hill, is even better.

Getting ready

Well, there are somewhere between 5-9 weeks before we become parents (9 weeks until my due date). We're still a bit freaked out and overwhelmed, but now that we're done with our babymoon and I can't travel anymore, we can tackle the rest of our "to do" list.

We made good progress on the nursery yesterday. We decided on a very loose theme for the decor, hanging a bunch of vintage Hawaii travel posters in white frames (to match the white furniture). The crib bedding and curtains are very neutral, and I bought a cheap khaki throw to cover the futon. It looks pretty good so far. I just need to clean and put away the random stuff that's strewn around the room (feeding stuff that'll go in the kitchen, nursing pillows, baby clothes, etc).

Luckily all of the new parents we've spoken to assure us that it's all worth it, even if the baby seems to have no idea how much work was done ahead of time to prepare for his arrival. :)

We haven't made much progress on a name in the past few weeks. Do any of you dear readers have suggestions? Our ideal parameters are:
1. Nothing that can be misspelled or mispronounced too easily
2. Nothing that's a nickname (e.g. Jack) or can easily be shortened to a nickname (e.g. Michael)
3. Nothing too trendy or popular
Perhaps we should offer a prize to whoever comes up with a winning name...

We're off to an Oscar potluck this afternoon. It's super-duper rainy here, so this will hopefully lift our spirits a bit.

apparently we're not the only ones that are having trouble deciding on baby names. our mayor and his wife are expecting, and they're soliciting ideas too.

it's been awhile since i've actually *written* anything. sorry, amigos!
we're in maui now, on our "babymoon", which is fantastic. apparently it was rainy before we got here, but it's been lovely since we arrived. so far i'm not as much of a fan of maui as i am of kauai. it seems like the tourist areas are much more developed and separate from nature-y areas. however, the beach here at ka'anapali is lovely, and the resort (we're at the westin) is nice: great service (they brought us about a half-dozen extra pillows and some extra towels in about 5 minutes), half a dozen pools (we've been camped out at the adults-only pool most of the time) and decent restaurants.
today we definitely had our highlight of the trip so far: a whale-watching cruise with the pacific whale foundation. we saw lots and lots of hot whale action, including a full breach (spectacular) and quite a number of little baby calves (it's calving season). we also ran into a huge group of spinner dolphins, which had a ton of fun playing around our boat and showing off. soooooo cool!
last night we had an amazing meal at sansei sushi, which a couple of the locals and a few of our friends had all turned us onto. it was completely hoppin', and totally worth seeking out. we're glad we made a reservation. steve can't stop talking about how great it was (and our friends chris & courtney, who had listed it on their recommendations, told us it was one of the best sushi restaurants they've been to, and we agree!). i *almost* didn't mind being restricted about what to order!
speaking of our little dude, i'm about 28 weeks along, and his movements are definitely feeling like kicks now. the past couple of weeks have been an amazing transformation from flutters to little jabs, and the other day i was able to time it right for steve to feel a couple of kicks for the first time. :) amazing!
i think we're going to get cleaned up now and watch a movie. the past few nights we've had dinner around now and then passed out after that (we tend to get up early and go to bed early when in hawaii) but we were starving after the whale watching trip and already ate, so we can indulge in some pay-per-view (it doesn't sound exotic, i know, but since we *never* see movies, i'm super excited to cuddle and catch up on hollywood's finest).
aloha!

check out this funky video of giraffes fighting. thanks, alex!

i don't know why i love the etrade baby so much, but i do. check out this reel of outtakes:

i had work to do tonight, but got distracted looking at these awesome photos of celeb outfits in 2008 from msn's 'undressed' column. wow, there are some real winners in there!

if i had tons of money, i would throw an inauguration party, and would serve Zingerman's Barack-y Road Gelato. yum!
instead, i'll be in NYC for work next week. it's supposed to be about 50 degrees colder there than it is here. ick!

i love this photo.

in honor of the end of 2008, i thought you might want to check out this great slideshow on flickr of end title cards.

happy new year, everyone!

fave things of 2008:


restaurants and foodstuffs:
- Spicy Thai chips from Kettle chips
- Barolo Restaurant, at the bottom of our hill here in Pacifica
- Hint Water (even though i know bottled water is evil, sometimes i need something with some flavor in it but don't want sugary soda, so this is the best)

memories:
- starting off the year with a little trip to Kauai, one of the highlights of which was the drive to (and time spent on) Polihale beach
- attending Ann & Andy's wedding in NYC in May
- taking my mom on vacation to Saugatuck
- finding out we're expecting a baby boy next April!!!
- big, huge dinner out at Zingerman's Roadhouse for Steve's birthday in October
- traveling to Europe in Nov/Dec
- baby showers thrown by my friends (Erin & Carrie) and family (mom & mother-in-law) in Michigan in December

we were joined by some fabulous new additions:
- Naomi Wolosin
- Calder Law
- Claudia Ryder
- Mercer Bora
- Maxine Rosaen
- Tyler Rogers
- Gretchen & Rhys Ransford (who came in just under the gun on New Year's Eve)

music i dug:
- Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend
- Attack and Release by Black Keys
- Accelerate by REM (especially Supernatural Superserious)
- the song "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz (yes, I'm cheesy)
- the song "The Way I Am" by Ingrid Michaelson (yes, I'm really cheesy)
- A Christmas Gift to You from Phil Spector (i had been wanting a copy of this for a few years, but it wasn't readily available on amazon.com, and then when we were walking through Heathrow at 7 am this december i saw it for sale and finally got it!)


fave books i read this year:
- Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl
- Who Moved My Blackberry? by Martin Lukes
- Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
- Moloka'i by Alan Brennert (favorite book this year)

-----------------------

i'm sure 2009 will be full of lots of great things and big changes for us -- and i'm excited about it. bring it on!

in honor of the holiday season, i wanted to share a couple of holiday videos to help get you in a festive mood:




and, although it's less of a holiday tune, there is the classic "o-mazing grace". don't stop before 2:12 -- it gets better.

omg, what a cute baby!. how in the world can it's mother not be in love?

i know these don't really go together at all, but i really dig these shoes from chanel:


and eskimo sweater from autumn cashmere:



...which just goes to show you that i'm waaaaaaaaaay too susceptible to things that i think are funny vs just stylish. if i could afford to have chanel shoes, i would have to get some sort of stylist so that i don't wear things like these together, since i'm sure it would look awful.

hooray for sharon! she was featured on TV for her business, the betty brigade. hopefully that will bring in even more business!

apparently, a man in florida assaulted his girlfriend with a sandwich. it doesn't say in the article what type of sandwich, but steve pointed out that it was most likely a club sandwich (ba-dum-pum)

if only this were real...

what a great campaign from the outdoor advertising association of america this is:



i just hope somehow that this works, and that our country becomes more unified than it's been in recent years. wishful thinking???

i have such amazing friends!
a couple of my long-time friends in michigan have offered to throw me a baby shower over the holidays, and a number of other friends have weighed in with suggestions and advice on what baby products to register for (seriously, unless you go and look, you'll have a hard time imagining how many types of strollers there are!)
tonight my friend courtney went with me to a local baby gear store (and she brought along her adorable and sweet-tempered three month old, calder). she walked me through every section of the store, giving me lots of great advice. hooray for friends!!!