Anouchka Talks

Happy fall, y'all!  It is my absolute favorite season and I'm so pumped about my favorite month and sweaters and decreased humidity (where I live) and crock pots and candy corn and colorful leaves and hot beverages and crisp mornings and all the things commonly associated with this beautiful time of year.  I friggin' love it.  Before I was pregnant, and especially when I was in my peak training condition (read: back when I weighed a whopping 99 pounds), I was cold all. the. time.  Once I got knocked up and packed on some extra weight (that apparently has no intention of leaving me any time soon), my thermostat changed.  Now, I can't handle the heat.  I schvitz above 65 degrees and drag my feet to go anywhere that requires pants.  I rarely wear a winter coat in weather that normally dictates one and I dread the advent of summer.  I dream of a white Christmas. And Mardi Gras.  And Fourth of July.  I not only prefer fall weather these days...

Dear (singular) Reader, I've been meaning to write all month.  In fact, it has been my goal to write a post once a month, but August just slipped by, almost unnoticed.  I have been so busy planning the Fall Session of French classes for work, getting ready for that damn gala (a success, BTW...I looked sufficiently mediocre, but I ate with enthusiasm.), and -biggest news of all- prepping my precious Chicky for her first day of pre-school. I am delighted to inform you all that she absolutely loves school.  As far as I can tell at this point, she is doing well and behaving like a normal three-year-old.  Like her mother, she is pure Alpha, but I'm hoping that being around other children and adults (without her parents) will gently ease her into choosing her battles and emotionally maturing.  You know, the way I so obviously have. Full disclosure:  Even though she is the one attending school, I feel like I'm the one doing all the learning.  For insta...

Habibi and I were invited to a gala.   A friggin' GALA, y'all!!!   The NPO that I work for is hosting its centennial celebration this year and a couple of the members decided to sponsor our attendance because they are saints who know that we are poor. I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am for this event.  Not only is it a night out with my main squeeze, but check this out:  it's cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, a four-course gourmet dinner with French wine pairings (!), and entertainment.  Plus it's being held at this swanky modern art gallery which makes it feel v. Sex and the City  to me.  What really makes it the bee's knees is that it even has valet.  I can picture myself now, decked out in some bedazzled gown, throwing my keys to some college kid and saying "not a scratch on her, young man!"  It'll be just like in the movies.  I'll be James Bond and Habibi will be my hot piece of ass. But wait a minute.  I don't own a beda...

Last night, Habibi and I got out of the house like normal human adults and went to the movies.  I know, weird.  Of course like any 30-something wife and mom, my favorite thing to do on Date Night with my husband is watch gorgeous women run around in their underwear.  It renews my heart for my love affair with cookies and wine.  We saw Wonder Woman. I am undoubtedly a Marvel girl.  I am loyal to my brand and will (almost) always choose Marvel characters and movies over anyone in the DC universe.  (I know.  Nerd alert.  But don't worry, I don't dress up.)  It isn't that I dislike Batman, Superman, or any of their... co-workers  (??), it's just that I like The Incredible Hulk, Captain America, and Thor better.  I was a big fan of the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight   Trilogy , but I can't say the same for the most recent incarnations of some of America's favorite superheros.  Sure, Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill are easy on th...

DISCLAIMER:  This post is full of TMI and graphic descriptions.  If you are uncomfortable with either of these, please stop reading now, amateur. "How are you feeling?" asked the nurse as she strapped the blood pressure cuff to my arm. "Like shit," I replied, not meaning to startle her with my perhaps too direct response. Perhaps both of you recall my past complaints about my postpartum body ( here  and here ).  Long story short, I was apparently never made to carry babies, nor to deliver them.  Of course of all the women in the world who want to be mamas, I am probably one of the better ones to be blessed/cursed with this issue.  I never felt the need  to carry my own children for nine months; I was fine with "outsourcing" it.  Ever since I learned about adoption as a little kid, I knew it was something I wanted to do, regardless of whether or not I was able to have children myself.  In fact, I hated being pregnant, and still have no ...

Well, we are approaching the end of yet another year, and here I am, writing only my second post of 2016.  I'd like to tell you that I will do better in 2017 (hell, I'd like to believe that myself !) but I probably won't.  Why, you ask?  (OK, just pretend that you asked.)  Because I became a mama... again!!! YES!   On October 16, 2016, we welcomed our son Bathrobe into the family!  While Bathrobe isn't his Christian name, that is the name that his big sister chose for him, long before he joined the peanut factory.  So, like the rest of us (Anouchka, Habibi, Chicky), he will have a "stage name".  Bathrobe it is! But how about a little Bathrobe backstory... As both of you know, Habibi and I have been planning to adopt for some time.  After about five months of "official" waiting (read: all paperwork/home studies completed), we received correspondence from our adoption agency that a young college couple in the neighboring state was ...

I began composing this post in my head about four months ago.  Then, I jotted down a few notes in an old notebook with the intention of writing it about three months ago.  Then I promptly forgot about it two months ago.  Then I felt guilty for not writing it and neglecting my precious "me time" one month ago.  Now I am writing it. The point of this post is not particularly for your enjoyment.  Don't get me wrong - I do indeed hope that you will pass a few pleasant moments here, making note of your own opinions.  Howevs, I really just wanted to write something on the blog as it has been months since I made my last appearance.  And I like making lists.  Shut up.  It is fun for Type A Introverts with obsessive compulsive tendencies such as yours truly. Enough introduction.   (Insert awkward transition into post...) Raise your hand if you have ever been to a Starbucks.  (If your hand is not raised, then I sincerely wonder who you...