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The more I watch NatGeo TV, the more I dislike western culture

When everything inside me looks like everything I hate, you are hope I have for change. You are the only chance I'll take. I'm on fire when you're near me. I'm on fire when you speak. I'm on fire burning at these mysteries. (Switchfoot)

Patrick and I have been watching a lot of NatGeo TV lately. And the more I watch these shows about taboos and people (especially in the eastern world- last night we watched 'China's Elephant Man') facing adversity, the more I start to despise the western world and the culture we live in.

Let's talk about my everyday life. I work in Del Mar, a community in San Diego known for it's geographic beauty (hello, ocean!), and notorious for the wealthiest of wealthy living. The cars you see driving around here are top of the line, and the lower end BMWs and Mercedes are really more like the Toyota Camries of the community. Typical Del Mar moms weigh in at about 100 lbs a pop, most of that weight coming from their boob jobs! So, needless to say, I see and experience vanity everyday, even in my own workplace!

It's unfortunate that I know women who literally only will associate with you if you have any hint of wealth. Otherwise, you aren't worth their time. They thrive off leasing luxury cars in an effort to appear of a higher social class and name-dropping clothing brands as if they know of nothing else in the world. I know men who won't even glance your way if you appear to weigh more than 110 lbs. I know men who ignore you completely if you refuse to bat your eyelashes and give them the goo-goo, ga-ga attention they crave. I also know women who publicly weep at the very thought of having to get dental work done, for fear that their social lives and prospects of sexual partners might be inhibited throughout the process. Say what?!

Remember folks, there are gazillions of people on this planet, and I many of them are much, much worse off. Now, in the interest of keeping things 'light' and 'happy' in my work environment (I mean, hell, there are less than 20 people that work here), I don't actually call these people out. But in my mind I am always screaming at these people! There are people who don't have teeth, or dental care! There are people out there who are shunned by society because they have tumors on their faces or leprosy or other medical conditions they can't receive care for! There are people who have never owned a car!

I'm amazed at how much ignorance there is in our society. I certainly won't say that I am never vain, that I never forget how lucky I am, that I never get caught up in this posh lifestyle. But the awareness is there, in my gut, and I hope that never leaves.

A 'Congrats' Party for Patrick

Big news- Patrick accepted a job offer with the dental division of Colgate/Palmolive! Which leads us to our 'life altering' news- we're moving... eventually. Patrick's new territory is from Thousand Oaks up to Salinas and inland into Bakersfield. So for the next few months while he gets accustomed to the job he'll stay with his parents in Santa Maria and I'll stay with mine in San Marcos (weekends are about to get very, very valuable). That way we won't have to pay rent! Score!

We are still having our baby girl here in San Diego, and I'll be working up until then. What happens after my maternity leave is still being discussed :) I think I'm doing pretty well not stressing about everything!

Anyway, now is certainly not a time to stress, it's a time to celebrate! Patrick had his eye on that Colgate job for a while and we're so glad he got the offer! We would have actually questioned the company's intelligence had they not offered it to him!

So yesterday I (with the help of my parents) threw Patrick a little 'Congrats' party at their house. My mom and dad were nice enough to pick up the tab for all of the food, and I took care of dessert, decor and alcohol! I made P a totally pimp banner and baked what seemed like a thousand cupcakes, and mini cupcakes to boot! He loves lemon flavored (blech) desserts, so I baked up some amaretto cupcakes from scratch with lemon buttercream icing. For those less inclined towards lemon, I also whipped up funfetti cupcakes with vanilla frosting! My parents cooked up a storm- full on BBQ and filipino food!

One of the greatest parts of the day was that Patrick's parents actually drove down and surprised him (and me)! Turns out my parents knew they were coming, but 'forgot' to tell me while I was setting up for the party (our guest of honor came a little later). I thought it was so great of them to come down and support him like that! His mom also brought a huge crate of freshly picked strawberries (I just ODed on a ton of them as I was preparing this blog)! So it was a really good time. Patrick's closest buds came, my cousins were there, and we spent the day watching sports (Lakerrrssss) and at one point in time us 'girls' went shopping!

Oh yea, and that's me, almost 6 months prego!

Peonies

I was at Trader Joe's the other day and stumbled across a bouquet of peony buds for $6.99! I should have bought every single one there, but I told myself to get a grip. Peonies are my absolute favorite flower. I hoped and prayed that our wedding florist would be able to get her hands on at least 1 for my bouquet, because our wedding came right after 'peony season'. But she worked her magic and we even had peonies in our centerpieces! Swoon. Of course once my bud bloomed I had to take pics. They look amazing in the Ralph Lauren Silk Ribbon Crystal vase we got for our wedding :)

We're having a girl!

We finally found out we are having a baby girl! It was really cool to see our baby moving around at the ultrasound. We could see her mouth opening and closing and her tongue moving- I swear she was smiling :) Everything looked good- her spine, stomach, brain... they checked all of it out! Right now she's about 6-7 inches and a little over 10 ounces. She's a tiny thing but full of energy!

The day we found out, we hit Barnes and Noble and browsed through baby name books. Our top choices are Hallie, Riley, Kenlie, Brennan, and Devon. No matter what the first name is, her middle name will be Adair (Patrick's grandma's middle name).

We started our registry over the past weekend and I got totally overwhelmed with all the baby stuff. There must be thousands of car seats and strollers out there! We ended up taking a breather and going to another store another night to test out more equipment and that really helped!

Current cravings: frozen yogurt, fruit (still), milkshakes, crabcakes :) and Yeah Yeah Yeahs

East Coast Lovin'

Finally we went on vacation! Flights to DC on Virgin were ridiculously cheap over Easter week/weekend so we jumped at the opportunity. My cousin Katy and her boyfriend David were nice enough to let us stay at their swanky pad in Washington, DC for the past week. I hadn't been to DC since high school, and Patrick hadn't been there since middle school. We were stoked to finally experience the sights and museums as 'adults', and having the cherry blossoms in full bloom while we were there was a huge bonus. We also were able to visit with our friends Porsche and Donnie, who moved out there last year... AND we visited Patrick's mother's side of the family. I was a little scared because it was my first time meeting them, but they were all really friendly. They had that good ole southern hospitality in them! David was quite the host- he took us to his family's Passover Seder dinner (our first Seder!... and we LOVED his family), and introduced us to the art of eating Maryland crabs! Maybe another time when I'm not at work and totally swamped... I'll fill in more about our trip!

My brother is a rock star

Everyone knows I totally adore my little brother, Christopher. He's 9 years old and just too cool for school! He's crazy smart and is involved in a million activities: baseball, basketball, hockey, football, karate, choir, science club and chess club are just a few! Patrick and I weren't able to make it to his school's open house and choir performance, but luckily my sister caught some of the 'magic' on film for me! The video clip shows his solo.. and it rocks!