98 degrees*

Hot enough for ya?

(I hate when people say that. I know making small talk with strangers is tough sometimes, but maybe come up with a better fall back option than the weather....)

But seriously- it is hot. That's all people can talk/text/tweet about. But I refuse to complain. We've embraced the heat. Yep, we've stripped down, broken out the popsicles, and given summer a big sweaty embrace. Well- at least Piper has....So for this week's Summer Friday post (go ahead...join the fun!), enjoy some Pipin' Hot (iphone) Photos:

Cold watermelon in a bag? That's not anger on her face. It's determination. Yum.

Naked in a beer bucket. You'd do it if you could too.

Everything's better al fresco. Even baths!

Bare piggies enjoying the breeze from the window A/C. 

What happens when your mom cheaps out on the baby sunscreen. 

And by "your mom", I mean me. The worst. 

This one comes courtesy of my mom's cell phone from her day of babysitting this week.

1: how awesome is it to have someone around to watch your baby, 

clean your clothes, wash your dishes, and cook you dinner? Rreeaaalll awesome. 

2: Stop it right now with the half-naked, giant bum, tiny bow, tongue out adorableness. Too much.

3: Yes, her bloomers say "Courtney". Vintage bloomers, you guys. I said stop!

Ok. Now for real. Everyone can stop taking pictures of anything. 

Because this is the cutest shot that has ever been or will be taken. Ever and ever amen.

* I know. I was bummed too. Off to drown my sorrows in a Summer Shandy!

B.M.W.

Pittsburgh's five day forecast:


The average temperature is supposed to be around 50 degrees and here we are sitting with an average high of 41 degree... and that's an improvement from Sunday and Monday which had highs in the 30's!

I'm sick of it! Courtney is in Las Vegas at the moment where the forecast is this:


Spring is so close that I can almost taste it! So I'm declaring tomorrow a B.M.W.

Bob. Marley. Wednesday.

Bob Marley is synonymous with summer, beaches, sun, reggae and most importantly good feelings and "one love". Now Bob Marley didn't only sing about puppies and rainbows but I personally think that it's impossible to listen to Bob Marley and not feel better if only for a short time. I have to admit, I only have the Bob Marley Legends album. So the songs I like are pretty much his most popular songs, but so what? They're great songs and they instantly transport me back to Jamaica. I can't wait to sit on my deck with a Red Stripe basking in the warm weather and loving life 100 times more than I do when the high is 27 degrees.

Sometimes work stinks and you're stressed or just in a bad mood. I'm going to do my best to change that with a BMW. I won't listen to it all day, but Bob Marley will be in heavy rotation on the ipod. Ans because I love you guys so much, I provided some songs for your listening pleasure. Since we have tens of readers I'm pretty sure the servers won't get too jammed up with all of you trying to watch the video at the same time. So have at it!

One Love.

Jamming, Bob marley from Courtney Bowden on Vimeo.

Three Little Birds, Bob Marley from Courtney Bowden on Vimeo.

One Love, Bob Marley from Courtney Bowden on Vimeo.

Could You Be Loved, Bob marley from Courtney Bowden on Vimeo.

Stay-cation

When Dustin and I first moved to Pittsburgh, we didn’t really think there was going to be much of a climate shift. It’s a couple hours east of Columbus, but that shouldn’t really affect the weather, right? Well- let me tell you. It’s cold here. Like fridgid cold. But that’s not really the worst of it. The real problem? The sun- or rather, the lack of it. You see- everywhere else we’ve lived has been cold in the winter, but we at least had sunshine. So even when the thermometer seemed to be stuck on 17, the blue sky, and rays of sunshine pouring through frozen windowpanes at least gave you hope that Spring would indeed come again. In Pittsburgh? Not so much. The sun packs its bags around December, and doesn’t bother returning until late March (I heard it has a nice place in Boca).

(Notice the weather on my phone- if you can't tell from the camera phone pic of a camera phone...the forcast for the day says N/A over a picture of a grey'd out sun.

As in- the sun literally doesn't apply to Pittsburgh.)

You know people that complain about grey skies in Seattle? Or London? I don’t think they’ve ever been to Pittsburgh, or they’d realize how nice they have it. (then again...I’ve never been either of those places...why bother? I heard it’s so dreary.)

(Word. drawing by artist Wendy MacNaughton.)

So- since we can’t exactly change meterological patterns, we’ve done the next best thing: Every year we make it a point to save some vacation days for January. This way we can bail on the sleet and snow, and head for greener pastures (i.e. the tropics!) (We didn’t have this wisdom in Winter 08, so those few months were when we officially learned this the hard way.) In 2009 we visited Dustin’s parents in Florida, and in 2010 we were blessed beyond all reason with an invite to join friends in St. John. (Never did get around to posting that...but don’t worry, that’s why Golden Oldie posts were invented!)

This year, we were all set to start planning another trip. We had the days racked up, and were kicking around ideas on where to go, and what to do.....Puerto Rico was a strong contender...Belize was mentioned (as it is every year....someday!)...Florida was another possibility. We even got a generous gift of flight miles from Dustin’s step-dad. All we had to do was pull the trigger, and book the trip.

But for some reason, we couldn’t. Though we have certainly grown weary of the winter weather, a big trip right now just didn’t seem right. Maybe it’s because we went on the trip of a lifetime in September? Or because we are trying to save money for our kitchen? Or because planning something major right now makes me more stressed than not taking a vacation? I think it’s all of those. So we decided to stay put this year, and muddle (puddle) through the winter slush....

But just because we’re not flying anywhere exotic, it certainly doesn’t mean we can’t take advantage of our vacation days! Enter.....the Stay-cation!

Dustin and I decided that we are still taking our week off (well 4 days....schedules got a little complicated), and we’ll be spending it in the winter paradise that is Pittsburgh (at a nice little bed & breakfast known as Chez Bowden...maybe you’ve heard of it?) It may sound a little lame, but we’re actually quite excited to have an extended time off together.

And what will we be doing on this Stay-cation? So glad you asked. Because we’ve made an itinerary:


We made a rule that just because we’ll be at home, it doesn’t mean we’ll act like we’re at home. So as much as possible, we’ll only be doing things you’d typically do on a vacation. This means no doctor’s appointments, no bill paying, no sitting on the couch watching The View in pj’s while folding laundry (I mean, unless that’s what you typically do on vacation....). Sure, it’d be nice to take advantage of this time at home with some big time productivity, checking off projects and getting to those boring tasks that never quite seem to get done during the work week. But that’s no fun! And vacations (and stay-cations!) are all about FUN! Yes- we included some things that seem a little like work- like painting, but we’re only doing those if we feel like it...no pressure. (And getting the car fixed doesn’t count as work because we don’t actually have to do anything, other than drive together for a few days.)

And you may have noticed that museums, zoos, botanical gardens and other typical vacation “attractions” are conspicuously missing from our list....But that’s because we decided we just don’t like that stuff all that much. But we do like to shop...and eat...and play games...and eat. So that’s what we’ll be doing! We depart tomorrow, (destinations: Lazy Town, and Fun Village). I’m so very excited!

P.S. If you’re wondering what “Find the BEEP” means, it refers to the random, completely aggravating chirping noise that seems to be coming from some place in our house. It’s not the TV. It’s not the smoke alarms. The refrigerator is suspect...but only because everything is a suspect at this point. It’s driving me bonkers, and it has to stop.

Take Me to Flower Town

I wish it was Summer. Or Spring. Really I would settle on it just being warm enough for Dustin to push me around in a magical land of flowers.

Is that too much to ask?!?

*Photos circa May 15, 2010. I miss that day.*

Muffled.

This weekend we went to Philly. It was a great time, we saw family, watched a play, ate a lot, and laughed even more. But that's not the story I'm going to tell right now. No, today's story goes a little something like this:

We started the four and a half hour drive.
But then our muffler fell off.
And so the drive took much longer than expected.

That's the short version anyway.....
About halfway through the drive, Dustin and I heard a terribly loud noise. We were scared for a minute (well, I was) but realized pretty quickly what had happened: the muffler on my beloved 1998 Corolla had come loose, and was now dragging on the highway. Ugh.

Thankfully it had stopped raining (we had been stuck in torrential downpours several times already), so Dustin stepped out to take a look. The muffler was attached, but dragging, so it needed to be reattached. A call to AAA proved unsuccessful- their only option was to tow the car. Ummmm, no. Not an option. So instead Dustin had to figure a way to fix it himself.

Enter, the MacGyver method:

I stayed in the safety and warmth of the vehicle, so I can't tell you his exact solution, but I know it involves a carabiner, some golf shoelaces, and maybe some chewing gum. But however he did it, he got the job done, and it held for the whole rest of the drive. Unfortunately, in doing so, he burned his fingers on the car, resulting in a couple of painful blisters.

But luckily for him, I was able to pull a MacGyver of my own: at the next rest area, we stopped to get ice, but there were no plastic bags. No worries- I asked the nice Annie Ann's worker for a plastic glove, and made a makeshift ice pack.

He doesn't look happy, but I think it helped.....

So, that's the long and the short of our most recent road trip. It may not have gone as planned, but it really could have been so much worse. I was so impressed with Dustin- he fixed the problem quickly (if a bit creatively), and didn't even get upset. It's so easy in situations like that
to get frustrated and take it out on each other, but he didn't complain or sulk. I'm so thankful we got home safe, and blessed to have a husband that takes such good care of me.

But I don't think we'll be driving to Philly again anytime soon....

Ice ice baby

With the record amounts of snow falling in our area, I've been trying to document it a little so we can remember the craziness that was the 2010 blizzard. My hope is that we can look back on this in future years and thank goodness whatever we're experiencing at that point isn't as bad as what we went through this year. If it is...oh heaven help us....

Most of my photos thus far have been taken from the warm confines of my home- capturing the wonderland through the windows. But every once in a while I do venture outside (I have to work, after all), so I decided to snap a couple of shots yesterday evening. Here is our house in all of its snowy glory.



Pay close attention to the icicles, as that will be our focus from here on....

Here's a shot of what the neighbors across the street are dealing with....they reach from their roof to their yard...Yikes!

Yesterday we were discussing the crazy amounts of icicles with a couple of friends at church. One mentioned that he had begun to knock them off with a broom handle, in order to relieve the weight from his gutters. Dustin thought this seemed like a pretty good idea, just in case our gutters decide to give way, and we end up with a "Why is the carpet all wet TODD?" situation on our hands. ("I don't know MARGO!")

So that night he went up to attack the stalagtites with the business end of a Swiffer (note: I have no idea which end that would be in this scenario....it just sounded tough). I left him to his project (I had blogging to do...) and didn't hear a peep for fifteen minutes or so....

Imagine my surprise then, to see him lumber down the stairs wielding this:

No, that's not a light saber...or a jousting stick...it is an icicle.

A human sized icicle.
I laughed so hard I nearly peed my pants. Which I could have conveniently blamed on a melted icicle...

From now on, when people bid me goodbye saying "stay safe", I will assume they aren't cautioning me of the road conditions, but rather, warning me of the perils of ice weaponry. En garde!

The snow is snowing...

So it appears this was just a preview of the blizzardy breezes that were to come.

Friday night, we got some snow. A LOT of snow. This much snow:

Yeah, that's twenty inches. As in, two-zero. Yikes.

It is pretty though....

As fresh and pretty as it is, it's also more than a little inconvenient. All that snow closed some roads, disabled our cable TV and pretty much canceled any weekend plans we had. But we tried to make the most of it. There was movie watching, craft making, and snow-playing.

After all, it's not like we were driving anywhere...

Soon, the neighborhood kids came to rescue us. And by "rescue" I mean try to swindle us out of $60 for a half-hour of shoveling. (Added insult: They borrowed our shovel for the day to do the other houses on the street...Rest assured, Dustin is working out the royalties on the invoice!)

Hope you were able to stay safe and warm....and maybe even have a little fun!

Good Morning Pittsbugh

Maybe I spoke too soon.....

As this is how I was greeted this morning...

Hope the sun is shining in your neck of the woods. 

Have a safe and happy New Year!

See you in 2010!

A light at the end of the wintery tunnel....

...this morning’s view from our driveway....

The countdown to vacation is on: 10 days ‘til our toes hit the beach!