The Fabulous Life of Stefanie

I did it! I ran my first race! If only I liked IPAs.  Let's back this story up a bit, to a time before there was a baby in our lives, when time flowed like wine at an Italian wedding, when sleep was something I spent at least 9 hours a night doing, sometimes even more, because I damn well could. It was the summer of 2010 and wedding plans were wrapping up as our wedding date was getting closer. I was spending a lot of time and the gym keeping myself in shape and able to keep that gorgeous wedding gown of mine fitting like a glove. I went to the gym before work, after work or on the weekends and Matty and I spent a lot of time on our bikes. Around this time Matty had the crazy idea of running the Boston Marathon to support the National Organization for Rare Disorders. I thought this was pretty insane - why would anyone want to run for that long, and was that even possible? It sounded miserable to me. But, being the supportive lady I am, I decided that I would tag along with Ma...

I am a couple of weeks behind, but I wanted to share my first Mother's Day and show some pictures from our awesome afternoon. I haven't been finding much time to blog lately; work has been consistently busy with lots of projects, I have been running and yoga-ing a lot, we have been doing lots of fun things, and we have this little person who I would much rather kiss and hold and play with when she is awake...and that just does not leave much time (sleep, what?). So, without further ado, my First Mother's Day! The day before Mother's Day was Matty's birthday so we had a delicious brunch at our favorite restaurant (aka Aunt Jane's house) and then left Maddie there so we could go to the movies. We had not been to the movies since I was prego (possibly as far back as my 2nd trimester) so this was a pretty big treat. Since it was Matty's birthday he got to pick, which obviously resulted in us seeing the Avengers in 3D IMAX. I am not a huge fan of action movies ...

A collage of my birthday dinner; Maddie had sweet potatoes and was loving them! Monday night before bed I kissed my wonderful husband good night, I kissed my beautiful baby good night, and then I snuggled into bed (well before most senior citizens) and kissed my sweet, sweet twenties good night and good bye. Forever. Then, a miracle happened. I woke up Tuesday and felt...the same! I checked the mirror and I still had blonde highlights (no greys!), I didn't see any wrinkles (unless I crinkle my nose up) and I still looked pretty hot (well, for it being 5am and me having a breastfeeding baby). You heard it here first, folks, I made it to thirty and lived to tell about it! After a three mile run (one for each decade), opening my BEAUTIFUL new Tiffany necklace, playing with the baby and handing her off to our wonderful nanny, and putting on my favorite polka dot dress I set off for work and spent my walk to the T reflecting on all of the things I did in my twenties, and holy shit...

I really love to check the mail, like I can't wait to get everyone and everything in the house in the afternoons so I can grab that little key by our family pictures and turn the lock to see what is there. No, really. I'm not usually expecting anything specific, but I just love to see what is waiting for me on any given day. Sometimes it is a new issue of a magazine (Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Real Simple, Travel + Leisure, to name a few of our subscriptions) and though I don't usually have time these days to sit down and enjoy it right away, knowing that Matty and I will choose recipes out of them that we want to cook for each other, that I will dog ear pages of places to put on our travel bucket list and that they will be tucked away to read at the beach or during a family nap (aka mommy's reading time) makes me happy. Sometimes there are cards from family and friends to the baby, which I love to see. Her little name printed on an envelope always makes me smile; su...

Enjoying her four months of life during a trip to Newport, RI Baby girl had her four month check up yesterday and our pediatrician confirmed everything we already knew: she's totally perfect! She is gaining the right amount of weight, growing longer and longer and ahead of the curve with her rolling over (both ways!) and ability to sit up (with a little help). I was super glad to hear the pediatrician say that her weight is just fine, as that was the only thing I was concerned about. I feared hearing that my pumping at work wasn't enough and that I would have to supplement with formula. It's the one thing I really, really want to avoid, and it looks like we get to! The doctor also commented on how happy and easygoing Madeleine is, and also how calm and relaxed I am, which was a huge compliment. I definitely feel like I have this mama thing down, but hearing it from a woman who sees dozens of moms and babies every day was a major boost to my mood and confidence. I feel like ...

Baby Girl enjoying the hotel room bed Last Tuesday was my first day back to work (Mardi Gras, coincidentally) so I spent most of Monday evening packing and checking and thinking and packing more, preparing for my big day as though it was my first day of school (I even had a back-to-school zit pop up, just like high school!). I showed up to work on Tuesday morning with three bags full of stuff - breast pump, lunch, bulldog puppy calendar - you know, the necessities. I also had dry eyes. Like, no tears at all. Nor have I had them yet. In fact, I can say with confidence that it is good to be back to work. Crazy, right? The thing is I love my job. And I have awesome co-workers who decorate my cube and give me hugs and check on me and let me show them twenty five pictures of Maddie doing the same thing over and over and they smile and fuss over her with me. I love them, all of them, I really do. I also have an awesome boss who urges me to slow down and ease into work again (which is such a ...

Since having the baby Matty and I have been lucky to make it out for a date night once a month, though it took us until the third time out to really let loose and not inhale our food and rush back as soon as possible. I have to admit, it was pretty awesome just to relax and enjoy each other, to talk about work and dreams and gossip (my favorite topics, especially the latter two) and to allow Maddie to have her fun time away from us too (ie. getting spoiled with love by her Grand Aunt). We decided to get dinner at the Island Creek Oyster Bar in Kenmore Square as we had been meaning to go there since they opened, but someone was pregnant for 9 months and couldn't have raw oysters, which is the whole point of going there, if you ask me. The spot itself is really well thought out and resembles being down the Cape in an artsy, modernist sort of way. There is a huge mural of the shore on one wall and oysters in cages line another wall while dozens of cans of Narraganset line the bar wa...