My new hair cut and other things I've forgotten to blog

Last Saturday I went to get my hair cut and my highlights touched up and I felt like doing something drastic. I'd pinned this picture of a young Meg Ryan and I asked Sonya if it would be crazy to go that short.

She applauded my nerve and assured me it would be cute. And if not? Hair grows back.

Despite all the compliments I received from my friends (my children hated it), it took me a couple of days to feel comfortable in my new do. But by Thursday I was really feeling it and I updated my profile pic on all my social networks. This--for those of you who haven't seen it yet--is me now.

One of the fun things about short hair is how much emphasis I can put on accessories. Here I'm wearing a silk scarf my Grandma Lorraine gave me, dangly earrings that used to get tangled in my hair, and a cut little barrette that the girls somehow haven't stolen and lost (yet).

What else haven't I blogged? I went out for cocktails at Hala Kahiki (also known as the mysterious tiki bar on the way to O'Hare) with some girlfriends Saturday night, followed by cosmic bowling at Mont Clare Lanes.

We celebrated Josh's birthday on Monday with 3 other families at Gaetano's. It was family night, which means 8 adults got to enjoy each other's company, great food and half-price wine in the front room while our combined 9 children were fed and entertained in the back.

Ada lost another tooth and Zoe revealed her utter disbelief in the tooth fairy by authoring a tiny note from the fairy and adding one of her own Littlest Pet Shop figurines to the dollar I was putting under Ada's pillow.

The girls made all their own valentines for their classmates using virtually the exact same craft supplies I did back in the day--heart-shaped doilies, construction paper, glitter, glue and stickers. Because of the size of her Montessori class, Ada had to make over 30 valentines--each one featuring a different design and sentiment. None, however, in any way resembled the high design of the valentines I was seeing on Pinterest. I love this one Whitney made with her kindergartener, but candy's forbidden so glitter, glue and lace it is.

Things fall into place

Earlier this week I was in no mood to blog. I was working until 9:30pm on a high profile project, Ada was coughing through the night, and both girls were waking up cranky and fighting through breakfast. I was pissy and tired had no energy to tidy the clutter overtaking the house. I was also PMSing.

But the winds shifted, as they always do. Of course, this time the shifting winds brought an arctic chill to Chicago (I'm talking a windchill of -14F), but they also brought amazing client feedback at work, glowing reports from my kids' teachers (emails from Ada's directress and a parent-teacher conference with Zoe's teacher), and a corresponding lift to my mood. Which was then further improved by a 2 hour Derby Lite practice last night and a free lunch at work today.

In other news, Ada has suddenly grown up! She lost all her baby fat, learned to read, add and subtract and bravely got her ears pierced. Now I'm getting photos from her teacher of her writing stories and teaching her classmates about Pablo Picasso. At home she was still a little wild and annoying (what is with the whiny voice), so I taught her finger knitting, which she quickly picked up. It gives her something quiet to focus on and doesn't leave her manic like the TV does.