this week was pretty laid back and lovely. there was coffee, a playdate (lookie that Brynn’s cheeks!), more coffee, of course mini-topknots, and a lady date with Elizabeth, Amy, Lindsy and Bree for dirty burgers. what makes them dirty? well, it’s the way you feel after you eat one – so incredibly dirty and full of self loathing for having just enjoyed a pile of food as much as you did. burger, cheese, thick cut bacon, garlic mayo and tomato jam on a pretzel bun. i have mentioned it numerous times here and probably will again, because i have dreams of this burger. if you’re local, hit up DOA and get one. or the elk sliders. or the greek burger. or anything on the menu. i get my burger with garlic fries because i hate myself.

Harper now has 2 levels of fashion attire – naked with undies OR omg wearing every piece of fairy attire she owns at one time. she goes from jammies to naked in .6 seconds, then from naked to fairy like it’s her job. we are talking tutu, wings, headpiece and wand. most of my days consist of picking up tulle and clothes strewn about the house.

besides no clamp curls and Kristen Bell, here a few other things i loved this week:

Stacy threw her son a Mario birthday party. freaking love it.

i bought this gelaskin for my phone and it’s on its way! NEON ANIMALS.

massive blog crushes – Oana Befort and designlovefest.

we have been downing smoothies like it’s our job. Harper’s two favorites have been this one and this one.

and thank you to Lisa for bringing this amazing blog to my attention. hilarity.

how was your week?

yesterday i kept H home from preschool because she was sick the majority of the weekend and her nose has remained a faucet. but we got dressed, she picked out some shoes although we were going nowhere, and asked me to put her hair up on top like mommys. we cooped up in her room and read books, did puzzles, and played store (where she used her typewriter as a register and demanded i pay her for things). every so often she would say “mommy, take a picture of me doing this” which is completely out of the norm for her. i brought up snacks and we played the morning away. sorry for the photo overload, but she was just too much.

sweater and striped tank underneath: h&m //jeggings and flats: target

i mentioned this briefly last week, but wanted to devote a post to the age of three. because three? three is kind of a b.

in fact, that should be it’s motto. tagline? it should be next to it in the dictionary. is what i’m saying. with a side note that 3 is also the funniest, cutest, warm and fuzziest.

it can be summed up perfectly like my reader Hilary said: three year olds are like those sour patch kid commercials. “first they’re sour, then they’re sweet”. uh-huh. all day long dude.

newborn was hard. there was no sleep to be had. nipples were harmed, hair was lost and hormones made my husband very, very scared. chubby baby stage ruled, minus teething and all that, but still, it was do-able. two was easy like sunday morning in the grand scheme of things. but three? oh dear lord. who is this person? and why does her head spin around like that?

had i known i’d need some sort of degree in negotiating with terrorists, i sure as hell would have looked into that before she turned into one. because nothing is quite as fun as trying to coax your kid out from under a table at preschool pickup without looking and sounding like an asshole. nothing to see here! i’m just the only one with a kid who hides when it’s time to leave! righty-oh. kill me now. the whole “come on kiddo i have something fun to show you at home!” only works so many times. but what is it? is it a toy? are we going to starbucks? are we going to disneyland?! uh, no, i bought yogurt covered raisins instead of regular?

do not anger the three year old. three year old will ruin you. DID YOU HEAR ME, YOU PUT JUICE IN THAT CUP NO NOT THAT ONE THE PINK ONE WITH THE YELLOW FLIP STRAW BEFORE I LOSE MY DORA LOVING MIND LADY. god, the three year old is scary. and then? when you’re at your breaking point and it’s not even close to bed time and if you get kicked/screamed at/ignored one more time you might cry? out of nowhere (imagine scary toddler unzipping itself and cute toddler comes out like it was wearing scary toddler like a costume) comes the cutest, funniest, sweetest little muffin basket asking to cuddle. and will you rub her back? pleeeeeease?

asdfghjkl.

i suspect this is all preparation for the teen years, when all hell will break loose and there will be no sweet moments again until they have their own kids. my mom says i wasn’t like this as a toddler, but i think that’s because years 9-17 were so traumatizing for her that she pushed it out of her mind. that is the only explanation, because these kids are whack. i’ve seen it at preschool and at the playplace we go each week. tiny little mean people coated in sugary sweet adorableness. and what fun! you never know which you’re going to get! it’s like a surprise party (oh you shouldn’t have!) where all the guests are banshees (no seriously…you shouldn’t have). who then morph into an adorable baby hedgehog. and you’re just left there doing the ugly cry where you’re really scared but smiling because REALLY WHAT JUST HAPPENED.

i’ve heard four year olds are magic. i’ve also heard that four year olds are scarier than three year olds. i’ve also heard anderson cooper is gay, but you don’t see me rocking in the corner eating my own hair at the prospect do you?! oh.

i know the internet is supposed to be full of sparkly sunshine happiness, but toddlers are crazy you guys. let’s commiserate. please?

my apothecary jar i wanted to use was too small for the bunting and Harper wanted one for her room and she loves dinosaurs. a trip to the dollar store, some painting and arranging later, the dinosaur terra/aquarium was born and sitting on her shelf. Harper said it looks like an aquarium/fish bowl and since it’s not alive, we are calling it both. because you do what a three year tells you.

besides, a fish is the last thing i need around here. plastic dinosaurs live foreverrrrr!

bonus – this fulfills two of my must-do-soon crafts: terrarium and painted plastic animals. unfortunately, it only made me want to paint more plastic animals and create more terrariums.

i bought the moss and dinos at the dollar store, the paints i already had (but were less than 2 bucks a pop) and i picked up the fish bowl at goodwill for a dollar. Chelsey’s printout was free (if only printer ink was!) so in the realm of cheap crafts? ::insert YOU ARE HERE arrow:: in hindsight, the only thing i’d do differently is splurge (heh) on the moss and buy it at Michaels. the dollar store moss isn’t very green.

do any of you own a real live terrarium? give it to me straight – are they easy to maintain? or should i stick to neon and gold children’s figurines in a bowl – which oddly i’d be ok with?