How is your va-jay-jay?

As some of you have read in a past blog post, I love greeting cards. I love buying them, receiving them, stashing them, hoarding them for the apolcalypse, etc. Today while I was at my neighborhood postal store, I was perusing their greeting card section and found a card that is just awesome. It was in the "New Baby" section and read "How Is Your Va-Jay-Jay"..... Now that is a card that I would love to get post pregnancy, seriously. After you give birth its all about "how's the baby?", "are you getting enough sleep?", "how's motherhood treating you?" No one ever asks "how is your vag holding up after giving birth?" That is a traumatic event for a body part, and more attention should be given to said trauma.

Unfortunately, almost every woman I am friends with that has given birth in the last few years has had a C-section. Good for the vagina health, bad for sending out a greeting card with well wishes for a healthy vagina. Maybe I just need to find a card asking "How Is Your C-Section Scar" with a sample pack of Mederma included.

As for some history of the word va-jay-jay, I guess you can thank Grey's Anatomy, and the all knowing Oprah for that.

P.S. I love you Joel McHale!

Zoo shots of Atti...........

I haven't been to the Woodland Park Zoo since I was in highschool. The last time I went was when I was a senior in highschool, with the Belgian exchange student, Didier. Didier was a strange character. I remember him making fun of my car, a blue Datsun Kingcab, and in my mind I was thinking...."you don't even have a car buddy, or a bike for that matter".......Then he wound up becoming really great friends with one of the only obviously gay guys we went to highschool with. Great story, huh? You want me to tell it again?

The photo below has to be one of my favorites from the zoo. It was taken while we stopped at a concession stand for a break and some food. And when I say food, I mean drippy nacho cheese that is surely clogging my arteries as I write this. Atticus was done eating and was exploring the picnic table area. You can't really tell in the picture but he is playing air piano on a plastic lawn chair. Maybe he'll be a musical genius. Maybe he already is.
Check out the chompers on this kid! He has eight teeth now, 4 on top and 4 on the bottom.

He appears to be in a food coma at this point. Too many cheese cubes, and apparently he's saving some crumbs for later.

Awesome shirt, huh? It was a gift from his even more awesome Aunt Jess. He's a badass and needs a t-shirt that reflects that quality. I don't know about you, but when I see a cartoon lightening bolt, I think "this is one kid I'm not going to mess with." I said oooh boy, shock me like an electric eel.

Here we are at the penguin tank. This joint was jumpin'. With people and penguins. I think Atticus was more interested in the water being pumped in to the tank than the actual penguins. It's the little things in life that make him happy. And that makes me happy.

I'll try anything once.......

I met up with Gina, Atticus, MB, and Lillianna today at the Woodland Park Zoo. I managed to stumble into the face painting booth, and $7 later I left with this on my face. I can't remember ever getting my face painted, so I figured it was about time it happened. What 32 year old doesn't need to experience this?
Shot of me and MB. I tried to get the other girls to follow in my face painting foot steps, but to no avail.

5 hours later I'm still decorated. I think I'll keep it for a few more hours. Maybe face painting will be my new thing.

Doubtful. But fun for a day.

Fist full of music...........

Thursday night after work I made a trip down to Ballard. One of my favorite solo evenings out includes dinner at Sam's Sushi, followed by a trip to Sonic Boom to check out new music. There is nothing quite as satisfying as a belly full of fresh fish, and a fist full of cd's. I've always been a music junky. Growing up my parents always had music playing in the house. I remember going with my dad to buy my very first radio/cassette player when I was like 11 or 12. I think we went to BEST in Everett (or was it still Jafco then? not sure). Over the past few years I've gotten away from playing actual cd's, and have mostly been listening to music on my computer. Recently, I invested in a Bose Wave Music System, and it is hands down the most awesome music player I've ever owned. Crystal clear. I've been listening to music non-stop since I got it a few weeks ago.

One album that I can't seem to get enough of lately is Kings of Leon's Only By The Night. Probably in my Top 5 favorite albums of 2008/2009. My stand-out tracks are Sex on Fire, Revelry, Notion, and Be Somebody.
Here are some of fruits of my most recent Sonic Boom pilgrimage:

Iron and Wine's Around the Well. It's a collection of songs ranging from out-of-print to never-before-released. Includes the cover of Such Great Heights, originally recorded by Postal Service. I love Sam Beam.

Girl in a Coma's Trio B.C. I had never heard of these ladies before, but I checked them out at one of Sonic Boom's listening stations and I thought they were awesome. They are a Mexican-American all-girl trio, and according to iTunes are a mix of rockabilly, country, Texas blues, and a dash of the Smiths. Stand out tracks on Trio B.C. are BB, Static Mind, and El Monte. I really like the cd, and have subsequently downloaded a few tracks of their debut album Both Before I'm Gone. Check out Their Cell, Clumsy Sky, and Road to Home. You won't be disappointed.

Silversun Pickup's Swoon. I really dug on their first two albums, Pikul and Carnavas. According to my iTunes log, I've listened to the Brian Lebarton Remix of Lazy Eye 233 times. Yeah, so I like that song, what can I say? Anyway, haven't fully immersed myself in this album yet, but have enjoyed the first few tracks. I'll have to report back on this one.

Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown. Okay, this album kicks serious ass. Favorite song on the entire album? 21 Guns. Closely behind? Peacemaker. And of course, Know Your Enemy. Hard to believe I've been listening to this band since I was 16. That's 16 years for those of you counting on your fingers. Stop what you are doing right now, and go buy 21st Century Breakdown. You won't be disappointed. Unless, of course, you are my mom, and you should save your money for Josh Groban's next album.

In other music news, here's a list of my most recent iTunes exploits. Thank you Kyle and Cyn for the iTunes gift card!!

Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat): Digable Planets (hello 10th grade, so nice to see you again)

C'Mon C'Mon: The Von Bondies (Rescue Me theme song)

The Fear: Lily Allen

Don't Stop Believin' (Glee Cast Version) (go ahead and judge, I'm not ashamed, well, maybe a little)

Love Game: Lady GaGa (let's have some fun, this beat is sick, I wanna take a ride on yer disco stick)

Hey Ya: Obadiah Parker (cover of Outkast's Hey Ya, except totally folk, it's saucem)

Electric Feel (Justice Remix): MGMT

Right Round: Flo Rida (I like bobbin' my head to this track while driving)

Party In Your Bedroom: Cash Cash (reminds me a wee bit of one of my favorite local Seattle bands, U.S.E., when they play it is like a party on stage)

What music have you purchased or downloaded lately?

I've said it before......and I'll say it again.......

I freakin' love this kid! He makes the most awesome faces. Gina, Atticus, MB, and I met up at the Ballard Market on Sunday for some farmer's market lovin', and people watchin'. The face below is a product of Gina's spinach salad at the organic food joint we went to for lunch. Don't worry kid, I didn't like spinach until much later in life. You'll enjoy it someday, when your taste buds become more refined. I actually have a series of photos of his spinach reaction, but I had a hard time loading them as a blog post. A Series of Unfortunate Facial Events was going to be the blog post title. You get the idea.
Who shrunk Kramer? Wild-eyed and crazy-haired. He's out Jerry, and lovin' every minute of it! And he's rockin' one of the muscle T's I got him for his birthday, which makes this Aunt Jess one happy girl. Who has two thumbs and likes to spoil Atticus rotten? This girl.

Again, with the faces. Adorable. It's like he's saying...."Shhhhhhhh, don't speak, I liked you much better before you opened your mouth. And while you're at it, get that camera out of my face!"

One of the greatest portions of the afternoon occured while we were eating lunch. Apparently MB has been trying to get Atti to say "Mmmmmmbbbbb" for quite some time, no such luck. I got Atti to say a modified version of Jess, basically "Ssssssssssss" in one take. Now I guess it's war. Not sure what that means exactly, but I think I need to step up my game with this tyke. He needs to see my mug more often. Seriously.

What's the next Atti outting on deck? The Zoo. This weekend. With Gina and MB. It's on and poppin' MB, better bring your game face!