whatnot wednesday.

why, hello there, whatnot. it's been a while. and yet, you've just been building and building in my already cluttered brain, so it's time to get some of you out. enjoy your short time in the spotlight, because i'm pretty darn sure there's more of where you came from still stuck in there.

*so, i've somehow ended up being subscribed to a lot a lot a lot of those daily deal email things. and i rarely buy any of the deals, but for whatever reason, i can't bring myself to unsubscribe. perhaps it's from fear of missing out on a truly ahhhmahzing deal or something. anyway, i'm always baffled by the number botox deals there seems to be. i'm talking at least one a week. are that many people really looking for deals on botox? and when they see those emails, do they think, "score! now i can get my botox for 65% off!"? it's just weird to find so many botox deals sprinkled amidst deals for gutter cleanings, restaurants, and canvas prints, you know? does anyone else find this shady and bizarre? no? just me?

*you know that trust game you play at those cheesy team-building retreat thingies? you know, the one where you fall backwards into a crowd of people that are waiting to catch you? or when you play with a partner and lean all your body weight back so they can support you? choi boy would *rock* at that game. he has total and absolute trust when it comes letting other support his body weight. in fact, he is rarely allowed to hold two grown-ups' hands simultaneously. because when he does, this happens:


cb pretty much just makes the adults holding his hands drag him around. that is, when he's not using the grown-up arms as trapeze bars.

*a few weeks ago, i found out firsthand that boys are truly better at spacial awareness and depth perception. check out this awesome bruise:

you shouldda seen the other guy!
just kidding. because the other guy was a stair railing.
yep, you read that right. i was turning a corner to head to the staff bathroom at school (the school that i've worked at for the past TEN years -- and i'm pretty sure i know the layout pretty darn well) and i didn't clear the turn. i completely misjudged the space (apparently, i think i'm a lot skinnier than i really i am!) and ran straight into the railing. yup, just me and my body. not me and a shopping cart or me and a stroller or me and my car. just me. sad.

*remember that scene in HP and the deathly hallows where hermione throws a hex on harry so he is unrecognizable to the snatchers? we had a kinda sorta similar experience the other week. we went in to scoop choi boy up from his crib after he hollered for us to come get him (it's actually super cute -- he wakes up, chats and sings to himself for a bit and then calls us over when he's ready to get up). well, when we saw him, we gasped because this is what we saw:

crazy! so swollen and almost unrecognizeable...poor little guy. :( after checking things out with the doctor, it turns out it was not, in fact, a hex or spell gone wrong, but we're pretty sure it was a new brand of milk we tried. of course, in true cb form, the hives did not bother him one bit (aside from being a bit itchy), and he continued to scream and shout and run and jump just as he normally would. except with a crazy puffy face. can't get him down!

*choi boy has been chattin' up a storm and trying new words all the time. as with any two year-old, he sometimes gets confused with the new words he's learning. my favorite confusion? cb confuses the word "your" or "yours" with "my" or "mine". it's rather hilarious and makes him sound like the most giving and selfless child ever. for example, if i pull out something he wants to eat, cb will come grab it and say, "yours! your apple!" or, if he's playing with some buddies and "working on" sharing his toys, he'll walk over and tell them "your ball! your car! yours! yours!"
so giving, right? that's my boy. ;)

*i've had my iphone for about 8 months and i still cannot properly type on the keyboard. and i promise i don't have crazy large, yeti thumbs. really. but the typing? it's absurd. and the (ridiculous) auto-correct makes my emails/texts/anything i type on my phone look and sound crazy.
proof:



i mean, come on!


got some whatnot you need to clear out of your head? go forth and link up with elizabeth!

whatnot wednesday {on thursday}.

it's been a while since i've joined elizabeth for a whatnot wednesday. she's right...there's too much pressure to bring the funny. and while she pressed on and continued to blog despite the pressure, i...just stopped. but i'm going to get back on the whatnot wednesday horse (a day late, mind you) and try again. pretend i'm funny even when i'm not, okay? ;) thanks!

*i'm busy planning choi boy's birthday party and am having a bit of cool idea overload. there are too many amazing ideas out there and so much pressure to make cb's party phenomenal. not that i could, but you know. anyway. an idea that i ruled out early on was a pinata. i'm sorry, but i just don't get how i could hang a beloved character, only to have the kids beat the living daylights out of it. what kind of message does that send to children?! okay, i suppose the pinatas with the pull strings are pretty harmless, but then doesn't that still lead young children to believe elmo or dora or whoever is filled with candy? hmmm. how i'd love to be able to peek into a young child's mind as they create schema and try to make sense of this kinda stuff. intriguing.

*i love summer movies. there are always several that i'm itching to see (currently, the help!) and often they do not disappoint. sure, they're not usually oscar contenders, but generally, they're feel-good or great movie-experience flicks. but, there are two movies this summer that i just do not get. first, cowboys and aliens. dude. there is a huge wtf factor going on there. seriously?! cowboys? and ALIENS?!! and clint and daniel? who thought that was a good idea?? second, that new plant of the apes movie. okay, this one is slightly more plausible (hey, it doesn't take much to be more plausible than COWBOYS and ALIENS), but that's kinda what freaks me out. have you seen the previews?! that look that the chimp gives the dude sends chills down my spine. ::shudder:: eeeeeeeeeee...incidentally, did you know that the guy that "plays" that chimp is the same guy that "played" gollum in the LOTR trilogy? i wonder how he feels about being typecast as the freaky nonhuman thing...

*on that note, i seriously worry about children who are cast in horror films. doesn't it mess with them? don't their parents worry for their mental wellbeing? do they need major cuddles and happy songs and joke telling after each take? note to future choi boy, i could totally see you on the big screen, but you're not allowed to be in scary movies, okay?
glad we got that out of the way.

*speaking of grown up choi boy, it seems that some people wish he would hurry up and grow up. because the other day, choi boy got a letter addressed to him from ford informing cb that he should take part in their awesome! buyback! program! not sure how that happened, but i'm pretty sure 23 month-olds are not allowed to sell cars, let alone own them. or, you know, drive them.

*this is really pathetic, but i'm giving myself a present. i'm declaring blog commenting bankruptcy. yup. there. i said it. i have hundreds of posts that i haven't been able to comment on and was planning on playing catch up this week. we're away and i was hoping to whittle away at my google reader, but the internet connection here has been spotty and it's just been too difficult to try and open blogs and comment (though, clearly, i've been able to blog, so i totally have my priorities straight, folks). i'm so sorry. i know how important comments are and wish i had time to be able to go back and comment on all of your posts, but i head back to work next week and know the backlog will only get worse. so sorry. but, please know that i've been keeping up with blog reading and have been rejoicing with your good news (yay, for those of you that FINALLY got EP!), laughing with you, and even shedding some tears with you.
and with that, i will be hitting the "mark all as read" button on my reader today and starting fresh tomorrow.
eek! i feel strangely nervous...

*and finally, so i don't end on that pathetic note, here's one more whatnot tidbit for you.
choi boy has taken messy eating to a whole new level. somehow, he manages to paint his face with whatever he's eating. it's quite classy. and he still hates getting his face wiped, so it makes clean up even harder. if only you could reason with an almost two year-old...if only.
here are some of his latest masterpieces:


just beautiful, no?


happy whatnot to you!

insta-whatnot-thursday.

i'm linking up with jeannett for insta-friday (on thursday), and since the pictures are totally random, i'm also linking up with elizabeth for a whatnot wednesday (on thursday) in pictures. i'm a rebel like that, yo. y'all don't mind if i double dip and mix up my days, do you? ;)

*choi boy makes the BEST, most expressive faces. especially when he's chowin' down.

the cowlick just kills me. :)

i think stonyfield farms may have found their newest model, don't you?


*dry shampoo is my new BFF. i can now go four full days without washing my hair, thanks to this lovely product. holla! the only weird thing is, it smells like froot loops. or maybe trix? one of those sugary, fruity cereals...i suppose it's better than it smelling like bran flakes.


*two-year old molars are sucky. really, really sucky. popsicles the yummiest kind of help.


*i have an irrational (uh-huh, i'm admitting it's irrational) fear of all kinds of bugs. i'd really like to get one of these babies. anyone have one? does it really work? right now, my version of this is get the bug on the floor, cover it under a heavy jar and wait for the hubs to come home and take care of it. the bug vacuum seems like an easier solution, no?


*we met up with my sister for lunch last saturday...mini magnadoodles are perfect for keeping cb entertained while we wait for food. such concentration!


*the turkey burger at good stuff eatery. it's, well...good stuff. :) too bad we didn't run into spike! top chef fans, anyone?


*i picked up these pretties at eastern market. i love them! except, they really remind me of kate gosselin.


*oh, wegman's you've done it again! this is their red, white and blue bread...cranberries, blueberries, granulated sugar on top...heaven. i might have eaten almost all of this entire loaf by myself. in two days.


*ridiculously hot and humid days keep us indoors...the mall playground, although likely super germy, is a good hangout. look at my little monkey climb!


*iced coffee is my other BFF. don't worry, she and dry shampoo also get along. they both know and recognize their roles in keeping me awake and non-greasy. and i am so grateful to them.


*this picture makes my heart smile. (and also makes me realize how badly my bangs need to be trimmed.) after every bath, i wrap cb up in his towel, carry him like a baby and we go to the mirror and sing the baby burrito song. and it makes cb giggle like crazy. i love it.

oh, you want to know how the song goes?

i'll gladly share!

baby burrito,
you are so neato!
you're my
baby burrito!

and with those grammy award worthy lyrics, i bid you adieu. :)

go forth and link up!

whatnot wednesday -- school's out edition!

*"schoooooool's out for summer!" :) as of 12:07pm today, i am officially done with this school year! whohoo! it's always stressful packing up my room, but there is nothing like being DONE. one of the coolest things about teaching is that there is closure at the end of every year and every fall brings a brand new start. oh, yes, and the 2 months off in the summer is pretty darn cushy, too. ;)

*being off from school frees up my brain to think about many a useless things. for instance, on the radio today, i heard that pippa and prince harry are getting awfully close. which makes me wonder, is it weird if you date or marry your sister's husband's brother? something seems a tad off about it, but i also think it would be quite convenient to only have one set of in-laws to deal with, no? think about how easy it would be during the holidays!

*if that's not weird, how about this one...you know lindsay price of 90210 and lipstick jungle fame? her mom is a korean adoptee and her father is her mother's adoptive brother. did you get all that? in other words, her parents are not biologically related, but were raised as brother and sister and later ended up marrying each other. which means her mom is also her aunt and her dad is also her uncle and her grandparents are her maternal AND paternal grandparents. is that weird? or is it strangely normal? twalk amongst yourselves...creepy or okay? discuss.

*the hubs came downstairs this morning wearing a blue polo and khakis. he looked nice and all, but oddly familiar. and then i realized he was wearing the best buy employee uniform. sadness. blue polos and khakis will now forever be associated with the electronics superstore. just like a red top and khakis will forever make you look like a target employee.

*check out my latest engrish find.

yeah.
listen, i totally commend korean companies for trying to market their products in english. but, hi. *someone* must know a cousin or a friend or somebody that could do a quick spelling or grammar check. yeesh.

*even better? check out this gem:

nice, huh?
i double-dog dare you to guess what this awesome packaging is for.
double-dog dare you.
:)


c'mon out and join the whatnot wednesday party with elizabeth!

whatnot wednesday.

*it's true, choi boy is a broccoli fiend. a few weeks ago, cb discovered a serious love of broccoli and has been inhaling it ever since. weird. not complaining, though. beth asked what the broccoli diaper looked like. and i feel obligated to let you all know that it was too many kinds of disgusting to describe. like, explosively disgusting. it didn't help that he also inhaled mounds of blueberries the next morning before the broccoli came out. let's just say there were bluish green stains all over his shorts. aren't you happy beth asked?? :)

*i'm writing this as choi boy is in his crib napping. or, rather supposed to be napping. he's talking to himself, reading books and bouncing around. he's also pointing to the pictures above his crib and calling out everyone's names. except, he's calling out the names and then wagging his finger and saying, "no, no. no, no." i'm not sure what he's scolding us for...maybe he's practicing for the terrible twos? yay.

*generally speaking, i like birds. they're cool and beautiful to watch when they're in flight (unless they are in giant flocks -- then they give me the heebie jeebies. but that's another bullet point). except for canadian geese. i do NOT like them. they're EVERYwhere and their poop is so nasty and EVERYWHERE. (can you believe i've already mentioned poop twice?!) when i was in high school, we had to move a lot of outside PE classes indoors because our fields were *covered* in goose poop. so gross.
canadian geese also seem to have no fear and get right in your face, which can be a little frightening. the other day, when we went to the park for the train ride, we stopped by the lake and met some very rude geese with no concern for personal space.

i made the hubs pick cb up because i was afraid the goose would try to nip him. and good thing, too, because when i said, "look at the goose!" cb said, "KICK!!!" and pretended to kick the goose. lovely.

i promise, he didn't learn that from us. we love animals. really.
oh, darn, i guess the entire paragraph above negates that statement. let me rephrase -- we love most animals and believe in being kind to all animals. is that better? ;)

*so, yes, hordes of things freak me out. giant flocks of birds, colonies of bugs just hanging out, etc. even clumps of holes or bumps totally gross me out. like the bumps on the backs of fern leaves? oh my nastypants. i have goosebumps now. someone told me it's called pattern sickness. whatever it is, it's enough to make me want to cry and vomit. (oh, now i've mentioned poop and barf! keepin' it real, folks, keepin' it real.) anyone else like this? or am i oddball out again?

*choi boy learned a new word. pig. he used to make a snorting face to refer to pigs, but now he calls them by their name. except, the way he says "pig" actually sounds like a bad word. like a bee with an itch, if you will. nice. especially when he screams it excitedly. we will be staying away from the farm until this is sorted out.

*and finally, an announcement. if you're reading this on my actual blog, you'll notice something new at the very top. last summer, i applied to the blogher publishing network on whim and then forgot about it. well, last week, i got an email from them inviting me to join their network. at first, i was really iffy about it because i didn't want to take away from the fact that this is our family's blog and it's really for our friends and family. but then i thought i'd give it a shot because it's a great network and site and my (pretend) BFF, ree, is doing it. and if the cool kids are doing it, it's gotta be good, right? actually, that's a terrible message, i take it back -- don't listen to me! but, anyway, i went ahead and accepted the invitation, with the thought that if it wasn't right for me, i'd withdraw. so, please, if you think i'm being a dummyhead and i shouldn't do it, please let me know. for reals!!!


join elizabeth's party and get on your whatnot!

whatnot wednesday.

so, i missed whatnot wednesday last week because i was too engrossed in "so you think you can dance" (<-- um, best.show.ever.), but i'm back and ready to take on the random. :)

*choi boy has learned a new word as of late. "share". which he says the way he says bear and chair, so "shay-yah." except, he *totally* misunderstands the meaning of the word. i'll tell cb to share when we're around other kids, and somehow, in his toddler brain, he has come to understand that the word "share" applies only to him. in other words, if he wants something someone else has, he will tell them "shay-yah!" and take it from them. or (and this one's the kicker), if someone wants something he has and tries to take it from him, he will yell in the face of the other child, "SHAY-YAH!," hold on tighter, and scoot away. so considerate.

*choi boy has also recently discovered the joy of unrolling toilet paper. and since we are a solely "over-the-roll" family, the toilet paper can be unrolled by pulling it or batting at it like cat, both of which cb enjoys. as soon as he starts or looks like he's about to start, we'll pull him away and redirect him. but if you know my child, you know he's super fast. so, a lot of times, we end up collecting all the tp cb has pulled (and ripped off) and stuffing it back on the roll. and on any given day, our tp roll looks like this:

classy.

*toilet paper roll placement seems to be a very polarizing topic for many. as i said, we are exclusively "over-the-roll" with our toilet paper. i just think it's more aesthetically pleasing. you know? i've been known to flip rolls of toilet paper at other places when they are on the wrong way. i know, i'm nuts. anyone else?

*technology is scary. it's crazy to think *just* how connected we are. even the fact that *you* are pulling *this* up on the internets and reading it is enough to boggle my mind. and sometimes, it freaks me out just how much people can find out about you online. which is why i just do not understand this check-in feature on faceb00k. i just don't get why you want to broadcast to everyone where you are and who you're with! doesn't that seem like an open invitation to come and rob your house since you're obviously not home?? or is that just the old lady in me? probs.

*when i was little, i was a major rule-follower. i think it was the first-born in me. i've loosened up majorly and completely, to the point where i should really return to some of my rule-following ways. anyway, you know those "DO NOT REMOVE THIS TAG" tags on hairdryers? i used to have heart palpitations worrying about the tag accidentally falling off or someone taking it off. i seriously thought the police would come to our house and arrest us for removing the tags. same with the mattress tags. and for some reason, this has stuck with me into adulthood and i am the owner of both a hairdryer and a mattress with tags still on. nerd.

*i'm annoyed that pandora mobile now has ads. this is especially annoying when you are playing "the brahms lullably" station (yup, it exsists!) so your child can fall asleep in his carseat and an ad comes on that disrupts the sleepy melodies. anyway, we listen to pandora A LOT when we're driving. and the "we are farmers" ad comes up A LOT. so much so that now when choi boy hears the beginning of the jingle -- "we are farmers!" he follows it up with the "bum-buh-dum-bum-bum-bum-BUM!"
does that count the first song choi boy can sing? because we can't seem to get passed "B" in the alphabet song.

silly boy.



c'mon out and play! join the whatnot wednesday par-tay! ;)

whatnot wednesday.

it's wednesday! you know what that means...crazy, nonsensical drivel smashed together in one happy post -- whoohoo!

*so, you know how p0ttery barn kids monograms anything and everything? and you know how they show examples of this in their drool-worthy catalogue? well, choi boy's first name is all over their newest catalogue. i think they pick a handful of boys names and girls names each season and use those names to showcase their monogramming super powers. anyway, i'm not so sure how i feel about this. i LOVE cb's name and picked it because it was classy and fairly timeless, as well as unique but not weird -- or at least that's what *i* like to think. ;) but now that it's all over the pb kids catalogue, i'm worried that cb's name will skyrocket in popularity and suddenly he will no longer be the only kid (or at most one of three kids) at school with his name. am i letting too much ride on this one little catalogue? probably. am i totally obsessed with and possessive over names? totally.

*i blame this on the jennifer and michael phenomenon of the late 70s and early 80s. i had THREE jennifer b.'s in my class (jen, jenn, or jenni, if any of you happen to be reading this, hi there! hope you are well!). i also blame this on the strange popularity of the name "grace" within korean circles in the late 70s and early 80s. i think i was one of 6 korean girls at school with that name. when talking about one of us, one would *always* tack on our last names to make the distinction. i couldn't stand that. and because there is a very finite number of korean last names, i knew several graces that not only shared my first name, but also my last name. not cool. because of that, i swore that my children would have unique (but cool) names so they wouldn't have deal with the, "grace? grace who? grace kim? lee? park? chung?" kinda questions. seriously, not cool. i guess i could i have just stuck with unique and named cb something like "batman" (the hubs' serious contender for cb's name. i'm not kidding). maybe if we have a choi girl one day, we can call her "princess consuela bananahammock." :)

*you know how i know i'm getting old? i love going to f0rever 21 and finding cute, trendy pieces that are cheap and i don't feel guilty about buying. but, now, when i go in, i have to seriously brace myself to deal with a) the loud music b) the disarray and c) the half-my-age girls squealing, "ohmygosh, that. is. SOOOO cuuuuuuuute!!!"
oh, and i find myself tut-tutting and shaking my head at the pieces labeled "dress" that i really think should be labeled "shirt."
perhaps i shouldn't shop there anymore...

*the main road leading to our neighborhood is being repaved. the poor repaving guys have had to contend with the crazy spring rain we've been having so it's been taking extra long for them to finish. because of that, there have been no lane markers on the road for the last week. so, the busy road that ususally has three lanes on each side is now just a big fat stretch of asphalt. it reminds me of that seinfeld episode where kramer makes the "extra-wide" lanes for driving comfort. remember that?
but, amazingly, all the drivers on our road have maintained the three lanes on each side, even with no lane markers! sometimes, it boggles my mind at how dangerous driving really is and that it takes a lot of trust in random strangers following arbitrary driving rules. you know what i mean?

*while we're on the subject of driving, is it just me, or do other people also have uncontrollable urges to jump out of moving cars and roll down the hill off the highway? no? or what about the uncontrollable urge to take your purse and knock down all the fancy plates in the china shop? anyone? no, really, anyone? am i the only nutball in the house? should i see someone about this? is it an indication of suppressed anger? or, do i just watch too many movies?...

*one last little morsel of randomness for you.
last week, the hubs was away at a conference and came home with a little bat and ball set for choi boy. of course, my ball-obsessed little guy was over the moon about his new gift! but, here's what he did as soon as we opened it an handed it to him:

did you see that crazy smacking-his-hand-with-the-bat threat thing he did? i swear, i have no idea where he picked that up.
no idea.
no, seriously, i promise the hubs and i don't walk around the house smacking our hands with two-by-fours or clubs like members of angry mob.
PROMISE!


happy wednesday! come out and join the whatnot wednesday party with elizabeth!

whatnot wednesday.

happy wednesday!

*wanna know a secret? i'm actually writing this on TUESday and then scheduling it to post on wednesday. so sneaky. ;) it makes me feel like i'm on top of things and gives me a sense of accomplishment. you know what else gives me a serious sense of accomplishment? having an empty g00gle reader. i had to play some serious catch up on my blog reading this week and i was actually feeling a bit of anxiety seeing the numbers climb into the triple digits in my reader! phew!

*i have a bit of an obsessive personality when it comes to certain things. i am guilty as charged when it comes to playing out songs and listening to them on repeat until i can't listen anymore. in eighth grade, i pretty much wore out my cassette tape single of ace 0f base's "the sign" because i played it again and again. and again. and then my friends and i went to great adventure and sang it in one of those mini recording studios. we were so cool. and then we played *that* tape again and again. and again. and then the song was dead to us. until recently when it came up on my glee pandora station...now i love it again!

*anyway, i say all that because i tend to be obsessive with certain foods, too. i'll get on a kick and consume copious amounts of a certain food (usually snack food) until i get really sick of it. case in point: mini eggs. i think i'll be okay if i don't see another one until next easter. (so sorry, jojo, now i'm REALLY done talking about them, promise!) and now i've moved on to this:

it's only the best cereal ever. or at least until i've had enough. care to venture a guess as to how many boxes it will be until then?

*you know how everyone thinks their child is a genius? mine really is.
no, seriously.
you know how i know? look what i found in choi boy's bookshelf:

he found it in the office and put it in his bookshelf all by himself. he's just catching up on some light reading on leadership. you know, all part of his plan to take over the world.
oh, but don't worry.
apparently, it will be a soulful takeover.

*another one of choi boy's favorite reads is this recordable book we sent over to korea in a care package.

cb's sweet, sweet foster mom sent it back home with him and cb's recently rediscovered it. but here's the thing. while he was in korea, he played with it so much, it broke. and the recording is a bit wonky now and goes off on its own. so, we'll be going about our day at home when suddenly i'll hear voices coming from cb's room, which freaks me out to begin with, but then as i head upstairs to investigate, i hear that it's MY voice and get REALLY freaked out. and then i realize what it is and feel silly, but still kinda freaked out. ::shudder::

*i'll leave you with this...in addition to being on je0pardy, one of my dreams in life is to be in a flashmob. like, a really good one. that would be SO super fun. and i think the best flashmob would be one that did double dream hands. kinda like ellen's staff did for her birthday show, but even bigger. and better. that would be SO awesome.
and if you're not familiar with "double dream hands," please, please watch this gem. john just makes me smile and i love his over-the-top enthusiasm. my absolute fave is his freestyle. it's like the modified carlton! i know that he became an internet sensation because everyone was making fun of him, but elementary school choruses need crazy cheesy choreographers, too, right? ;) and besides, he hasn't let the mocking get him down.
so, giggle along and learn yourself some double dream hands. and then let me know you've learned it and we'll plan that flashmob.

so, who's in??


c'mon and join the whatnot wednesday fun and link up with elizabeth!

whatnot wednesday.

happy hump day, folks!

*i think we've got a sleep talker on our hands. lately, we've been hearing choi boy chatter in his sleep and when i check the video monitor, he's sound asleep, just chattin'. i talk quite a bit in my sleep and the hubs snores, so between the three of us, we've got one noisy sleeping household! the funny thing is, because cb isn't yet putting sentences together, his sleep talk sounds something like this, "dah dah, ah, BALL!!" or "ahbahbah MOO kokoh!" it's actually very funny to hear over the monitor.

*i'm not kidding when i say my child has a serious obsession with balls. not only does he talk about them in his sleep, but he also likes to have them close by when he sleeps. cb's really gotten down with his bedtime routine and he knows that after stories, a prayer, and hugs from umma and appa, it's time to go in his crib. we've been allowing him to "read" books on his own before he falls asleep, so lately, he's been going to his bookshelf, picking a few favorite titles and slipping them into the crib in between the slats for him to enjoy on his own. last week, he also tossed his football into his crib and apparently had some quality snuggle time with his football before he drifted off into dreamland.

see the football in the corner? funny kid.

*so, there's *another* pirates 0f the caribbean movie coming out?? seriously?! what number is this one? 8? i stopped watching after the second one where there was that whole weird painted eyes on j0hnny depp's face thing going on. freaked me out. no, but, really, i'm sorry to offend all you PoC fans, but i just don't get the excitement of these movies anymore. the first one was entertaining, but now? meh. and really, for all the fans out there that squeal with delight over j0hnny's "hotness" in these movies...really?? the guy plays a dirty, smelly pirate with nasty hair and teeth and he wears tons of eyeliner. i just don't get it. and this whole movie franchise was based on a *ride* at disney w0rld?? what's next? "it's a small w0rld" the movie??

*i cleaned out my closet last week. my mom told me it embarassed her and that people were going think she didn't raise me right because my closet is a mess. um, not sure who's going to come over and check out my closets, mom, but it *was* about time to do some serious organizing in there. and, i was happy to find that i still fit into a lot of the clothes i hadn't worn in while. yay! and, though i love my skinny jeans, i was reminded why bootcut/flared jeans were the "it" jeans for so long. they are WAY more forgiving than their skinny counterparts. WAY more. i'll be pulling those bad boys out again a lot more frequently now. except the super lowrise ones...those just had to go. a plummer's crack is cute on no one. just sayin'.

*i've come realize that i am not above bribing my child with sweets in order to get him to cooperate with some picture taking. in the past, i've used fruit or something semi-healthy/not-terrible-for-you to bribe cb, but on easter, i grabbed the closest treat in sight, which happened to be some of my precious chocolate eggs. cb nibbled on some eggs while my sister snapped some shots of us, and here is one of the resulting pictures:

choi boy's tiny choclate mustache and tiny chocolate soul patch are so classy, right? and about two seconds after this picture was taken, choi boy wiped his chocolatey hands all over my tulle cap sleeves. i think i'm going to stick with non-staining treats from now on when doing my bribing.

*and i promise, promise, promise this is my last little bit about chocolate eggs. you know why? because they're ALL GONE. i opened the last bag, had a few and then forgot about them. later, choi boy reached over from his booster seat and knocked the bag on the floor, spilling all the remaining chocolate egg goodness. i'll confess that i really considered just abiding the five second rule and stuffing them back in the bag, but piper was trying to eat them and licked a few and by the time i had gotten her away, five seconds had passed and though i love my chocolate eggs, i wasn't about to eat some that had been licked by my dog.

sadness.



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whatnot wednesday.

*i cannot not talk about the royal wedding! kate's dress was ABsolutely gorgeous and i am just so happy for her and william. they just seem so normal, right? anyway, the wedding. two things i need to mention.
the first.
what the *heck* was up with this?!
(source)
was the goal to look like a giant weird present? crazy.

and second.
i was so incredibly impressed by how orderly and gentle the british crowd was. there was no pushing, no shoving, no *touching*, really. and they just calmly walked behind the row of police officers (or constables or bobbies, if you will) once they opened up the gates to the palace for the kiss. amazing! i am almost certain that if the crowd was made up of americans, we'd be all up in each other's personal space and the police officers would be facing the crowd and walking backwards while wielding those giant SWAT shields at us. just sayin'.

*one of my life goals is to be on jeopardy. i think i know enough (mostly useless) trivia to do mildly well. or rather, at least well enough to make it to final jeopardy without being in the red. especially if one of the categories is something to do with entertainment fluff. i am really sad i missed qualifying for the jeopardy teacher's tournament this week! that could have been me! really, though, i want be on celebrity jeopardy. 'cause it's clearly easier than every other jeopardy game. more specifically, i want to be on celebrity jeopardy with will ferrell as alex trebek and darrell hammond as sean connery. :)
(source)

*since choi boy is not yet 2 years-old, he's still discovering a lot about the world and can take things i say at face value (well, as much as he can understand). for example, the chocolate i'm eating that he's pointing at? i can just say "ugh, it's gross! you don't want any!" and he'll usually believe me. ;) yesterday, we were at the farm and there was a carousel. instead of being a super fun, super cool nice mommy and getting him on the carousel, i said something like, "wow! look at the horses going 'round and 'round! it's so fun to *watch*!"
and choi boy thought so, too.



see? he's doing his "oh-wah!"

yes, i realize i'm pretty much lying to my child, but i'm fully aware that this will only work for a little longer, and i'm going to take advantage of it while i can. ;)
and now i feel terrible about lying to my child. but only kinda. no really, i'll start telling him the truth. tomorrow. ;)

*a short whatnot open letter:
dear j.crew,
you need to get over yourself. i love you dearly and your spring/summer line makes me drool. and all i want to do is roll around in your merchandise and take one of everything in every color, but girrrrrrrrrl, you are not worth *that* much! seriously, a t-shirt should not cost $50. on sale.
thank you.

*and finally, please head on over to my (pretend) BFF's website. my (pretend) BFF, the pioneer woman, is doing an awesome "giveaway" where the "prizes" are four $500 donations to a charity of the winner's choice. AND she will donate a quarter for every entry to help with the relief efforts of the devastation in alabama. win-win. it's a wonderful way to contribute to relief efforts even if you can't make a donation yourself. win-win-WIN!


c'mon out and join the whatnot wednesday party with elizabeth!

whatnot wednesday.

*i hope you had a lovely easter weekend. we sure did! and it was made even lovelier by post-easter candy sales on monday. i was crushed to discover that BOTH targets i went to were swept clean of my precious mini eggs. but, i discovered these little guys that are an acceptable (but still not as awesome as the original) stand in:

i bought four bags. i probably should have bought more, but i still haven't given up hope on finding mini eggs on sale! and i think i've uncovered what it is that makes the mini eggs superior (because i can clearly claim expertise in this area since i have consumed multiple bags of both). it's totally the candy coating. and not just the ratio of coating to chocolate, but also the coating itself. it's a little thicker on the mini eggs and it stays on better, so you don't have those little coating flakes at the bottom of the bag or eggs with only half their coating. and i feel like the fact that the mini eggs have a matte coating (versus a shiny coating), makes them tastier. and it makes me feel like it's *slightly* less chemical-y, since one would think it takes more chemicals to make something shiny, versus matte. no?
probably not.
i can't believe i've written this much about chocolate eggs.
i need help.

*so, vanity plates are huge in our area. i'd say as many as a third of the license plates are vanity plates. some of them are funny (the best i saw was on a REALLY ugly car and the plate read: OK LAFF). some of them are clever. and some of them are fun to try and figure out when you're stuck in traffic. but others are just plain lame. last week, we saw a license plate that said SAM PARK. and i'm thinking it's probably the dude's name (and he's probably korean). hmmm...do you really want your name on your license plate? doesn't that make it super easy for people to track you down and remember you? for example, if you were fleeing the scene in your getaway car, witnesses could just tell the police, "SAM PARK did it!!!"
not that i'm planning on doing anything bad and then fleeing the scene or anything...;)

*have you seen that new show "happy endings"? it's okay. not hilarious, but fairly entertaining. in the preview commercials, it was described as being "like 'friends,' but not as white!" huh? not exactly sure what that meant, but it cracked me up. that comment was probably funnier than the actual show. ;)
anyway, i was watching it, and i as obsessively often do, i looked up the cast on imdb.com (i heart that site -- anyone else?). and i was so sad to discover that half of the cast is younger than i am. for some reason, the fact that they have sitcoms about people my age and younger, makes me feel old. i used to watch sitcoms and think "haha, that's funny! someday, i'll be able to relate to that!" and now i watch and think, "oh yeah. i remember when i could relate to that."

*know what else makes me feel old? faceb00k profile pictures. every once in a while, an old classmate's status or activity will pop up in my news feed and i'll click on their profile, look at their picture, and then gasp and think, "good gracious! when did they get so OLD?!" and then i remember, oh, wait. i've aged, too.

*one of my favorite singer/songwriters is ingrid michaelson. she's fun and cheeky and quirky and she writes great music and lyrics. i just love her. apparently, so do advertising execs. because recently, two commercials have ruined two of my favorite ingrid songs. the hair*cuttery used "maybe" in one of their commercials -- and i have NO idea why. that commerical makes ZERO sense. plus, do you really want to pair an advertisement for your business with lyrics that say, "maybe, in the future you're gonna come back..."? shouldn't you be a little more confident in your product and say that people will *definitely* want to come back?? i don't understand. anyway, after that, i can't listen to that song and not think of that blonde chick standing in the street with a pouty look on her face, showing off her hair.
and now, e*harm0ny has gone and used "everybody" in their commercials. and admittedly, the lyrics to that song are quite appropriate for e*harmony's product, but still! i don't want to think of dr. neil when i'm singing along to one of my favorite songs!
if someone uses "the chain" or "lady in spain" in one of their commercials, i'm going to be so sad.

*i'll end with a confession:
up until three years ago, i had no idea that asians had different earwax than (most) other ethnic groups. and the way i discovered this is rather amusing. i was in the middle of a reading lesson with a (non-asian) student and noticed a dark brown, sticky substance in her ear. i thought it was dried blood. i thought she was BLEEDING FROM THE EAR. so, i stopped our lesson, and took her down to the school clinic and told the nurse, "i think the inside of her ear is bleeding." she took a look and then laughed and said, "oh, that's just earwax! it's different from your earwax, but that's what it looks like."
oh.
i was embarrassed. and then grossed out. and then quite curious. and i also finally understood why it's called earWAX. ha!
and it also made me realize why, growing up, my non-asian friends looked at me as if i had two heads when i mentioned my mom cleaning my ears with an ear pick.
you know, these:

{source}

i know, they look like tiny torture devices, but don't knock 'em til' you try 'em. 'cause it feels awesome.

oh, and in case you're worried about the safety of using an ear pick, don't worry. because these newfangled ones come with a handy dandy LED light.

{source}

off to go pick my ears now.
kidding!
maybe. ;)

{edited to add a clarification}: you can read all about earwax here. it's actually quite interesting. and plenty gross, so don't click on over if you have a weak stomach. here's the gist, taken from the page itself: "There are two distinct genetically determined types of earwax: the wet type, which is dominant, and the dry type, which is recessive. East Asians and Native Americans are more likely to have the dry type of cerumen (gray and flaky), whereas Caucasians and Africans are more likely to have the wet type (honey-brown to dark-brown and moist). Cerumen type has been used by anthropologists to track human migratory patterns, such as those of the Inuit." <-- how COOL (and bizarre) is that?!

so, to sum it up, east asians and native americans have dry earwax that is yellowish to grey (more like the consistency of dirt) and caucasians and africans have wet, light to dark brown earwax that is more like the consistency of wax.

and that's probably more than you'll ever need to know about earwax.

if that's not whatnot, i don't know what is.

;)


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