Christina, Author at A Mommy Story

Mar 18, 2008

Recycled, And Yet Brand New

March 18, 2008 By Christina

St. Patrick’s Day, 2005:

Cordelia, 6 months old

St. Patrick’s Day, 2008:

Miranda, 9 months old

I made that dress for Cordy back in 2005, never realizing I’d get another chance to use it again. Mira got just as much attention at the parade today as Cordy did three years ago.

And while Cordy had to miss the parade due to school, she still did her part to celebrate:

Filed Under: Cordy, holidays, memories, Mira

Mar 17, 2008

When going to a party, there’s always that fear in the back of your mind that you might run into another woman at the party wearing the exact. same. dress. And it’s even worse if she looks better in the dress than you do, right?

OK, truthfully, I probably wouldn’t care. I’ve never been much of a slave to fashion myself. Except for prom in high school. When it came to my prom, I wanted to have the best dress out there. I remember buying Your Prom magazine and clipping out pictures of dresses I liked, scrutinizing the features of each dress, considering which dresses would look best on my figure and so on. It was the one time in my life when you could officially call me “girly”.

For the 1993 prom, I picked the perfect dress. We were still in the final few years of the Southern belle style gowns in the Midwest, before slim-line dresses would become the prom gold standard, and when I saw this dress I knew it was for me. Off the shoulder to show off my upper half, full skirt to hide my lower half, and in my perfect color: royal blue. Plus let’s not forget the lace and tulle.

While the dress was nearly impossible to fold into my date’s car, I felt like a princess. And thankfully, when I walked in I was relieved to see no one else was wearing my dress. (Although two other girls were wearing a dress in the same style, different color, and gave each other the evil eye all night for it).

So you can imagine my surprise when, 15 years after the prom, I see my dress on someone else while surfing through my Bloglines! It would seem that the dress was also perfect for T With Honey. Proof? OK, click the link and take a look at that dress. Yes, she had it pulled up to show off her awesome lace ankle boots, but you can get the general idea.

And now, me in the dress:

Focus on the dress, not the geeky date, OK?

See? Same dress. And my 31 year-old self LOVES that I wasn’t the only one who wore that dress to prom. That dress meant so much to me – I put so much of my self-worth into that dress. How I looked in my prom dress would determine my entire prom night, which would determine how my high school experience would be capped. It’s crazy to think I put so much importance on a dress, but oh how I loved it.

I’m not sure what happened to my prom dress. It hung in my room, plastic dry-cleaning bag still covering it, until I graduated from college. At that point my mom moved, and many of my things were boxed up or discarded. I think I told her to get rid of the dress, and that’s probably for the best. I’d be happy to see one of my daughters wear my wedding dress, but I’d rather they stay far away from that mess of satin, lace and tulle. I don’t think it’ll come back in style during this century.

Anyone else want to show off their totally cool prom dresses? Or even better, prom hair? You can’t see all the curls well in that picture, but I can assure you that it took over three hours and a gazillion bobby pins to pull off that hair sculpture. If someone else posts their prom hair, maybe I’ll dig out a close-up of mine to show off.

Filed Under: me me me, memories

Mar 16, 2008

Final Guest Poster

March 16, 2008 By Christina

Hi everyone. Welcome self-professed new blogger James to the blog as my final guest poster. One more exam and I’m done with finals week. I’ll be back with something fun tonight.
**************

My life is split into two parts. BD and PD. BD being “Before Danny.” Danny is my son, and Monica is my wife. He came into our life two years ago and changed my life in so many ways. Before Danny my life was pretty simple, go to work, spend time with my wife, and get in as much fishing as possible. When he was born, he changed everything! I knew that with his birth I might not be able to fish as much, but what I didn’t know was that this 7 pound, 3 ounce, 19 ½, inch bundle of joy would completely change my work life and my family’s future.

Shortly after welcoming him into the world we were bombarded with requests for news, pictures and videos of Danny. Seeking to quell the mob that demanded to see our new family member we logged onto the Internet and started posting pictures here and there and sending scattered emails that were sometimes filtered out by Spam-screeners. We soon became very frustrated by the need to act as technical support for Danny’s various online profiles and photo sites. Plus, we were constantly worried at how safe these sites really were. So, one of my closest friends and I created our own website for Danny. It was supposed to be just a one-time thing for Danny – next thing you know we were doing it for many other new parents and had built an online network, BabySpot, for new babies.

All of a sudden my simple, but pleasant life that entailed work, my wife and family, and fishing was turned upside down! I now had my own company on my hands and work-life balance became an utter challenge. My wife and I both work full time and now we have two babies on our hands – the love of both our lives, Danny, and our new company. We struggled initially balancing it all, but were blessed that our families have helped out. My mom lives a few minutes from us and so she takes care of Danny for us during the day. And, while I work a lot now, my schedule is more flexible where I can spend time with him in between meetings.

My little mister, Danny, completely changed my life – he definitely made it much more hectic – but he also gave it so much more meaning. My life now is about Danny, my wife and family, my company, and fishing whenever I can sneak it in! I can’t wait till Danny is older so that I can take him fishing.

Although that might be awhile, as my beautiful wife is 7 months pregnant and our little cutie pie, Danny, is giving us a fun time with his terrible two’s! I’m sure each of you out there has your own stories of how hard it is to manage newborns, work, and family. How did you manage? As we expect our 2^nd son, my wife and I are really nervous for Danny as he will have to go to daycare for half the day. As new parents we feel like we are starting school again ourselves! Remember those butterflies in your stomach that you probably got when it was your first day of school? YUP those! Did you go through this?

Would love to hear how you balance it all! Let me know by leaving a comment of how you have been able to balance it all. Now, I have to run, Danny wants to play with Thomas the Train!

Filed Under: sharing the soapbox

Mar 15, 2008

Spring Cleaning

March 15, 2008 By Christina

(Yes, I’m supposed to be studying for finals. Shhh…I can’t tear myself away from blogging. )

Spring is just around the corner, and the desire to start tossing practically everything we own out the window is growing stronger everyday. It seems we always collect more junk each year, and then I spend a month going through it and purging what we no longer need.

Years ago, the amount of stuff that I would re-home was tiny. But having two kids somehow multiplies that amount to the nth degree. From clothes that are quickly outgrown, to toys that seem to reproduce like bunnies in the dark, if I don’t get this junk under control it will take over our house.

(And let’s not forget the money that was spent on all of this stuff. I wouldn’t mind having some of that money back.)

So what do I do with all of this stuff? Well, sorting it is generally how I begin. Anything that shows serious signs of wear is thrown out immediately. What purpose does a chipped glass have, anyway? Even if that glass was part of the set we received for our wedding, I can’t keep every item that has the slightest sentimental value.

Those items that can be reused are then scrutinized for value. Most of the Cordy’s clothing will be saved for Mira. Some of Mira’s clothing, and toys they no longer play with, will be sold to a resale shop like Once Upon A Child. Anything not sold back there will be given away.

Electronics and brand name baby clothes (like Gymboree) will likely go to eBay. These items have a higher resale value, so I can clean out my house while making some decent money in the process. I’m a bargain shopper – most of the items I own were purchased on sale to begin with. On more than one occasion I’ve sold items on eBay for close to what I purchased them for, and once or twice for more than I paid.

Miscellaneous items will be offered to friends and family, and the remainder will then go to a charity group. I used to hang onto things in the past just because I didn’t know what to do with them, but didn’t want to toss them out. Now I have no problem throwing a box of stuff together and dropping it off at our local Goodwill.

I think the best way to get rid of unwanted junk, though, is to stop buying so much to begin with. We’ve already cut back on our frivolous spending, thanks to $3.45 per gallon gas and grocery bills that are pushing $100 every week. Simply asking “Do we really need this?” goes a long way.

What about you? How are you saving money and simplifying your life?

***************
This post is part of the Parent Bloggers Network blog blast sponsored by Zwaggle, an online community devoted to helping parents get rid of what they no longer need and find items they want, without the retail price tag. Sign up for Zwaggle through this blog blast to get extra Zwaggle points to use towards their first transaction.

Filed Under: daily life, money