Stay Classy San Diego

Decorating for the holidays always begins the weekend after Thanksgiving. Out come the menorahs, the holiday lights go up, Christmas trees are decorated...  it really is the most wonderful time of the year. I love going around to houses and seeing the beautiful decorations. 

{just enough = gorgeous}

When does it get to be too much?

Did Santa really crash into your lawn and throw up all of his decorations....

 If you really want this, maybe one Santa, a couple  reindeer, and a tree can be added to the classic lights, but this, this is absurd. Not to mention the electricity bill...

All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy.

When I hear the word fall, I automatically think of school. Papers, projects, studying, all nighters... all things that are potentially very stressful. It is importance to have balance so the stress doesn't take over who you are. Having friends and family that support you makes it a lot easier when you have to miss out on something fun because of work. 

As I lay in my room with homework stacked up around me I think about what I could have done to prevent this overload. Procrastination is my problem, I sometimes put things off until the last minute and then regret it. However, when I do plan ahead it always works out for the better, and I get to do fun things and go out with my friends because I don't have the stress of worrying if I will finish in time. Everyone procrastinates every one in awhile but I have found this semester that making to do lists has been very helpful. Start little things like this when your kids are younger because school just gets more intense and it will help with their studies being more organized.

sales

As much as I love target, you will not see me in a line like this at 4am to get the best doll or toy. A little word to the wise, don't torture yourself. Unless you are in need of a new T.V. or computer and will be saving yourself quite the load of cash, then it really is not worth your time to save a couple bucks on a doll. A few years ago when the "Tickle Me Elmo" was all the rage, my cousin literally got trampled by a lady who wanted it. RIDICULOUS. Especially now when sites like Amazon have an entire weekend of online sales and the "Cyber Monday", that just sounds so much better to me. I get to skip the crowds, and get the deals, while bundled up in my pajamas at home.

NOVEMBER SUNSHINE

 There is nothing like spending Thanksgiving on the beach playing football with the family.

It really is the little traditions that make the holidays so much fun.

New family members putting their little toes into the sand of the pacific for the first time as we laugh and play and soak up the sun on the crisp but beautiful day.

siblings

[my sisters and I at our Thanksgiving]

My sisters and the experiences we have together are my favorite part of my life. We laugh, we hug, we cry, we scream, we give our parents hell, and we make their day. 

This week my cousin who is thirty and a new mother said that she doesn't know if she wants another. Everyone was in shock, she says she will most likely have another because she has a great relationship with her siblings, but right now with the stress of being a new mom she cannot imagine having more.

I would HATE to be an only child. 

Who would be there to tell me that Santa Claus wasn't real? Who would help me with my homework? Who would watch movies with me when I am sick? Who would I have a sleepover with whenever I wanted? 

I think siblings are a must. One kid is just not enough. Don't be selfish, think about your child, always having a best friend, and someone to be there for them, no matter what. But also be smart, do not pop them out so close in age that you have a million diapers to change. A two to three year age difference is perfect, close enough to have common interests, but far enough apart to have their own lives. However big gaps are fun, my little sister and I are just about eight years apart, and I would not change that for anything. It is so much fun watching her grow up and being there for her.

there is no place like home

I always knew I loved San Diego, but the last few weeks have really confirmed that.

Where else can you play with giraffes and rhinos, and be in good weather in November?

 I am so thankful for all of the things that San Diego provides. The food, the entertainment, the weather... AMAZING.

 Tongues out to all the suckers not from SD.

Just kidding, we know you wish you did.

SAN DIEGO SUPER CHARGERS!!

Even though we have not had the best season, we love your bolts!

And not to mention the beauty of San Diego, this picture was taken by my aunt at her beach house this week, it looks to perfect to be real. San Diego has so much to offer, and sometimes I think we take it for granted.

my christmas wishlist

 a classic pair of black Christian Louboutin heels.

 a flight to Chicago, Spokompton, or Hawaii.

on a more realistic note::

 &&

But no matter what I get, whether a card or my dream shoes, I will be sending out thank you cards. I think it is very important to teach your children manners, and that is not just please and thank you verbally... when they are little, write the cards and have them do a little doodle, as they get older they can sign their own name, and eventually do it themselves. Get them in the habit of little things like this and they will thank you later.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER...

...BUT NEVER LATE IS BETTER.
There is probably something still to this day that you never told your parents you did. Now think about your child doing that thing, and keeping it a secret... How does that make you feel? 

It is inevitable, rarely any child will tell their parents everything. even if they do not lie to you, they may keep some things secret. Do not freak out, do the best you can, talk to your children, let them know you are there, and do not get mad over little things. 

If your child spills milk, teach them how to clean it up, let them know that you know they are capable of overcoming little problems all by themselves. This way when they do something actually "bad", like throw a baseball through a window, they don't hide it from you because they see that you are there to help them overcome the speed bumps of life. It will lead into independence later, and then they may ask for your opinion later on. 

When your children are older it is pretty much the same thing. If you get mad because they got home 5 minutes after curfew, do you think they will tell you anything that might make you remotely disappointed? Instead of lecturing them, have a conversation, know what your kids are doing and who they are with. 

And do not be mad if your child likes to tell your spouse things but is not as comfortable telling you, that was a big thing in my house. Some things I just knew my mom would take better than my dad would, and vice versa. I knew the other would eventually find out, but one on one is sometimes a little easier than talking to a line of judges. Just because you are the boss doesn't mean you have to be bossy.

MUSIC

Everyone gets tired of childrens songs, lullabies, and Mother Goose rhymes. They just get old, but your children love them... They love them because they know them, children love music that they have heard before, that they can sing along too and learn the dance and words. Live a little, don't torture yourself. They will get enough of that music at preschool.

WATCH THIS VIDEO

know your children

 More than anything in the world, the beach is my happy place. Give me some sunshine, some sand, and an ocean breeze, and I am the happiest person ever. In the summer I will spend all day in the sun, listening to the soundtrack of the ocean and all of the noises of the people enjoying their days. I love to travel, but if I had a choice of going to the mountains of Ireland, or a beach twenty minutes away, I would probably pick the beach. It is a part of me, even in the winter I like to bundle up and watch the sunset and listen to the waves crash.

While my favorite place in the world is the beach. There are a million other things that make me happy. Scrabble, Edible Arrangements, Airplane rides (I know, weird, I LOVE THEM), a good book, TULIPS, steak, and Mexican hot chocolate. 

These are all just things, they can all be taken away, and I can definitely live without them. But my parents know what makes me happy, so when I am having an exceptionally bad day they know exactly what can cheer me up. 

Do you know where your child, best friend, or spouse would go if they could go anywhere in the world?

yesterday i would have never watched a silent film

BUT THIS IS AMAZING. 2010 AND WE ARE STILL DEALING WITH THE SAME PROBLEMS AS 1919.

Media

Children and adolesence spend an average of 6 hours DAILY with media, this leads to:

OBESITY

 Eating disorders often start because of a negative body image. The media shows very skinny, very tall as the typical "beauty" and children, especially girls thrive to be this way.

An average child views 7500 food advertisements a year.

SEX 

 

Media is associated with the earlier onset of intercourse.

DRUGS

Alcohol and cigarette advertisements make these so appealing.

 

VIOLENCE

(SEE BELOW) 

sad realities

10% of real life violence is associated with media.

5 million children are killed annually by their caretaker.

3 million children in the U.S. are abused or neglected annually.

long term effects, low self esteem, lying, misbehaving, lying, underachieving, criminal behavior, depression & suicide.

ANY SIGNS OF ABUSE OR NEGLECT SHOULD BE REPORTED.

GAMES

Outside games have gone out the drain. Of course there are still kids in every sport, but less and less kids go outside just to play for fun. Outside games have been taken over by video games, all the kids have a wii or some kind of electronic games, and parents use them as a babysitter so they don't have to go outside and supervise their children at play

 Another thing that these video games have replaced are real games like chutes and ladders...

 (remember these?)

 GUESS WHO?

(who would pick Jake?)

 Every kid dreams of living in Candy Land.

 OR AT LEAST LEGITIMATE VIDEO GAMES LIKE NINTENDO 64.

(mmmmhmmmm)

I mean we definitely do have more dilemmas like our neighborhoods are not as safe, and there are more things to worry about. But it shouldn't be hard to take a little time out f your day, or at least your week, to make sure your child plays outside. Are these kids really going to grow up without any scars on their knees from riding a bike or climbing a tree? LET THEM LIVE.

daylight savings

I am going to blame daylight savings for me wanting to have a lazy day today. It gave me an extra hour of sleep, but now I do not want to get up. The worst part about daylight savings, is your kids usually wake up at 8, so they naturally get up at that time, and now it is 7. So for all the mothers out there, not much time was saved. However I am not complaining, it will be weird with the sun setting before 530pm this week.

dilemma

 What do you do when your car stops in the middle lane of a very busy street? Well you do not just sit around and mope, I have learned. You need to make people aware that you are stuck -- turn on your hazard lights, get out of your car, and try to get help. Hopefully some nice garbage men will get out and push your car over to the side of the road where you can wait to get jump started by a friend or call AAA.

 Hpefully you do not have to wait over an hour in 95 degree weather.

 If you do, it is nice to have a mini closet in your car to change into more weather friendly clothes.

 Maybe if you are lucky you will not be alone, and you can have the other person guide traffic around your car while you sit on the side of the road embarrassed drinking water and Dr Pepper.

AAA is a life saver, they will tow your car and call you along the way telling you prices, like it really matters... YOU OBVIOUSLY NEED A TOW.

So what do you do when you are in this situation alone with kids? Well they are going to be late for school, or miss their soccer game. Make sure you call a friend or spouse to come deal with the kids. Missing one sports event or one day of school is not the end of the world. Step out of your car and wave down someone to help, you need to move your car as soon as possible because it is not just you at risk of getting hit, but your kids are in the car as well. Hopefully a god samaritan will pull over and help you, and maybe AAA will not take over an hour, but you just have to deal! As hectic as my day was I can only imagine how horrible it would have been with kids in the car. After that day you just need to get big joe out of the cuboard, fill him up with wine and laugh. That's all you can do.

CREATIONS

 

Shoes, glorious shoes. Reused old shoes, decorated them into fly Halloween kicks.

 Cupcakes food or decorations.

 Little creative paintings instead of buying big expensive ones.

 A LEMON MAN. 

enough said

 just making a man at the beach out of rocks and sand.

 Popsicle tower.

great wall of cups?

It is so easy to create fun activities out of things you have around your house. Maybe I am the only one who has all of these random "Michaels Crafts" at my house. But they are simple easy fun activities. :)

I LOVE MY LIFE

Please let me live it... Smoking is a disgusting habit. I could never be really close with someone who smokes. First it smells. Second the smell doesn't go away. Third I literally cannot breathe around smoke without coughing. Fourth it makes your teeth disgusting and does nothing for your looks. AND OBVIOUSLY IT KILLS. Europe at least has these facts right on the boxes, but really people what are you thinking? I have noticed recently that more and more people are smokers everywhere I go. It was a beautiful day a couple weeks ago and I was at school reading outside. During a two hour break I had to move three times because of people smoking around me. I obviously was spoiled at my community college because it was a non-smoking campus, I wish all schools were like that, or at the very least had designated areas for that. When I lived in San Francisco that was the worst part as well, over the cold weather, and the bums, the smoke everywhere was the worst! And then on Saturday night I was downtown for Halloween, and there was a cookie monster smoking, that is where I drew the line... I simply informed him that cookie monster DOES NOT SMOKE. It really is my biggest pet peeve, why do you do it? Do you really hate yourself so much that you want to go through a slow death killing one part of your body at a time? WHY DO YOU THINK WE HAVE RED RIBBON WEEK IN SCHOOLS? DRUGS ARE BAD.

Making a list...

... CHECKING IT TWICE.

It's that time of year already. Time to think about who you are buying for this year, and what you are going to get them. Some people are easy, while some are very difficult to buy for! I try to get all of my shopping done by Thanksgiving to relieve myself of last minute holiday shopping crowds, they are too stressful! I will be buying a couple gifts a week until then!

Also I thought this was hilarious... from one of my favorite blogs, http://catalogliving.net/

"Oh, it’s not all holiday spirit.  The Halls are our next door neighbors."

FALL

I LOVE when the inside matches the outside...

Fall is such a beautiful time of year. The leaves change color, the air gets crisp, and all of the holidays start to arrive. For me fall is about family, and prioritizing my life in a way that I can spend as much time with my family as possible. Of course fall is school time, so family and my studies are basically my life. Game nights, movie nights, hot chocolate cuddled up by the fireplace nights. Mhmmm such a wonderful time of year. Take a little bit out of your day to appreciate the beauty. :)