Sexy Cupcake Saturday!! :)

That's right, lovelies! It's time for your weekly dose of sexy cupcake. Because it's Thanksgiving this Thursday I wanted to find a cupcake that was beautiful, elegant, delicate... and orange.

I searched high and low, near and far. I climbed mountains, sailed the seven seas, scaled cliff sides and ate some food that I probably shouldn't have.

It was only when I came home and plopped down at my office chair, exhausted from my travels, that I finally found her.

Oh, I found her alright. And do you want to know what the best part was?

She was with her friends.



Aren't they beautiful?!

But seriously... are you getting the message I'm trying to convey, my dears?

Sometimes, there is no need to go exploring the world. Sometimes what you're looking for, what you truly want, is right in front of you at home.

Be thankful for what you have, and have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Wordless Wednesday

A moment of solitude and a silent prayer for those who passed. Taken 25 minutes before I walked down the aisle.

Thankful Thursday... On A Wednesday.

:::::looks around:::::

Am I able to do that?

...

I'm a little worried that the Earth might shift on its axis and the mountains might turn to ash. Perhaps there will be a bit of blood in the rivers and the fish will all die?

:::::whispers::::: I'm going to try it anyways. This is totally worth it heh heh heh.

On a serious note, people, I tried really hard to wait this out. I wanted to post this on Thursday but I got the blogging bug (or the muse, rather... that sounds prettier) and I can never ignore my muse.

I hope you like pictures. You've been warned.

I have many things to be thankful for. Today I want to focus on my one and only best friend. Her name is Ondrea, but I call her Drea for short.

This is us:
Ok, ok, that's not REALLY us. That's CC Bloom and Hilary from the movie Beaches. But whatever, that movie was made specifically for us. How do I know? Easy. Those characters are the *exact* embodiment of our personalities. Drea is CC Bloom and I am Hilary (why do I always have to be the one that dies at the end?). Yeah, it is totally lame for me to compare our relationship to a cheesy 80's movie, but I'm not embarassed. I will belt out Otto Titsling in the middle of a shopping mall if I feel the need. So will Drea... no seriously, we will. Don't doubt our awsomeness, we are pretty fearless.

Here we are for real this time:

We were pretty hot stuff back in those days (oh yeah, all of these pictures are a good 10 years old). Check us out!
Drea:
And me:

And here's my favorite picture ever of Drea because I think it pretty much sums up her personality:

I think every girl should have a BFF. Someone she can call when she's down, hang with when she needs some girl time and just someone to be yourself around. Drea has been my BFF for close to 13 years now. She was the maid of honor at my wedding (she also happens to be my husband's cousin, that's how I met him!) and we've been inseparable ever since the first day we met on the school bus in 8th grade.
Remember how I said she was just like CC Bloom? She basically sat down next to me on the bus and said "Hey, I'm Ondrea. I'm going to come over your house and we're going to be best friends."
And I, being the shy outcast that I was just sort of said "Ok, that sounds cool."
The rest is pretty much history. :)

Drea is honestly my soul mate. I firmly believe that soul mates come in all shapes and sizes and I don't believe that a soul mate is someone you have to be in a romantic relationship with.

I just know that Drea literally completes me. If we go more than 48 hours without talking, something just seems wrong.

Our friendship has lasted through the major distance that was put between us when she moved from Florida to Vegas and then when I moved from Florida to North Carolina and she moved from Vegas to California and then from California back to Vegas and then from Vegas to Colorado. Are you getting all this? Distance doesn't get in the way of our friendship. Nothing ever does. It's so nice to have an unconditional friend. Those don't come around very often, if they ever do at all.

So, I am dedicating this Thankful Thendnesursday (that's right, I combined Wednesday and Thursday into one awesome word) to my best friend, Drea. I could never in a million years wish for a better friend.

PS - I'm so excited that I finally get to follow a blog from her. She has such an amazing talent with words. If you want to check out her blog (you'd be just in time for her Wicked Wednesdays which are so great!) click Here . Even our blogs are inextricably linked for some reason, as you'll see if you visit her and take a look at the "If She Didn't Laugh, I Would Cry" post.

And, Drea, since I know you're reading this... I toatz love you (that's WAY more than totally). Thanks for giving me something to be thankful for :).

PPS - It's my birthday. I'm pretty sure someone needs to find me a cupcake and stat.

If We Did Not Laugh, We Would Cry.

You will have to excuse me, dear readers, as I lapse into what I'm sure will be a brief - but powerful - moment of sadness.

It may not seem like it most times, but this blog made its debut as a baby blog. I created it with the intention of documenting my journey through the TTC process, pregnancy and, God willing, motherhood.

Here I sit, thirteen months later, with a blog that contains more humor and cupcakes than updates on doctor visits and basal body temps.
It is no longer just a baby blog, and that is fine with me. I love to make people laugh. Making others laugh in the face of sadness is in my blood, and hunting down even the most miniscule smile or chuckle in a flood of tears is something that I hope I have a gift for.

The fact is, I have remained very strong and very positive throughout this entire process. I have barely allowed myself to feel pity these last 13 months, mostly because I cling to hope. I am always hoping. Hope is something, like humor, that has been passed down generation to generation in my family and it is so very important to me.

But... for the first time - maybe the second - I allowed myself to break down, and I chose to do it (of all places) in a Starbucks.

My husband, mother, step father, nephew and I were at Starbucks grabbing our coffees and teas before going back to my mom's for some birthday cake. My nephew is brilliant. He's 8 years old and one of the smartest kids I know. He's extremely intuitive and very sensitive. He's also very kind, which is rare in an 8 year old boy.

I was standing in line, silently lamenting my body for giving me the period I definitely didn't want to see that morning. As I mindlessly fidgeted with my belly button ring over my shirt the way I always do, my nephew came up to me and touched my belly and said "You're going to have a baby," and then he hugged me. My mom told him to rub my belly for good luck and he did.

That simple gesture unleashed thirteen months of pent up feelings and I had to excuse myself. I ran to the bathroom and bawled my eyes out for a good two minutes before washing my face and going back out to join our party.

If I were to be completely honest, I would say that it felt really good - in a very bad way - to cry like that. It's not something I've allowed myself to do.

I don't enjoy bringing religion into my blog, especially because I am a part of two different religions and I don't like to feel as though I'm negating either one of them. But, more often than not, one religion overpowers the other and I am compelled to say something. Every once in a while, I feel as though it's necessary to get my point across. This is one of those times. I'm sure that I'll return to my usual ways, finding humor in dark times is part of being Jewish. We all do it. Whether we are religious or not, whether we're converted or not, whether we are Orthodox Jews or Reformed Jews, whether we believe in God or we don't. We all find humor in the dark times. It's one of the things that ties us together as a people.

It's one of the most famous Jewish Proverbs of the last 2,000 years:

"If we did not laugh, we would cry."

Yesterday, I finally allowed myself to cry.

Tomorrow, I think I'll go back to laughing.

Oh Happy Day!! It's...

This is becoming one of my favorite days of the week! :)

This Saturday's Sexy Cupcake is a real romantic. She loves long walks in the oven, her boyfriend, going to the opera, and hanging out with her girls for a nice glass of wine.

She also likes... pillow fights? Wow, that could have an ugly ending.

Just be gentle, this one wears her heart on her frosting for everyone to see.

Say hello to this week's sexy cupcake!!



It's ok, you can buy her flowers, she gets that a lot.

Friday Confessions

I've decided to make this Friday a day for my confessions, because this week I have been a pretty awful person.

For starters, at the moment I am having this for breakfast. Please excuse the awful camera quality. That's a cupcake, just so you know... a chocolate frosting cupcake at 10:00 in the morning. Wow:


Last night, after dinner, I went to Starbucks to meet up with my new friend and I had one of these:


I have had 4 of these this week:


I have $24.90 in the bank right now. Luckily, Russell gets paid today. However, I am seriously contemplating buying these:
I've never owned a pair of Winter boots before. I like them. They are FLUFFY!

To finalize my confessions, I joined Twitter last week because I thought that little bluebird was so damn cute. You know which one I'm talking about

That's him! He's adorable. I joined a social network site solely because I liked the gimmick... now THAT is what I call good marketing, my friends.

Do you know what time it is?

That's right!!

It's :::::drum roll please!:::::



Many of my fellow bloggers have specific days set aside where they deal with a particular subject. Some of my favorites are Wordless Wednesdays, Friday Confessions, Thankful Thursdays, and I'm sure there's more.

I've had a longstanding affair with cupcakes. Everything about them makes me... well, it just makes me happy, if that makes any sense. There's something in the way they're constructed, how they smell in the oven when they're baking, and how you can change them around to fit your mood that makes them so *neat*. You can have pink cupcakes with blue and yellow polka dot wrappers or black cupcakes with orange frosting and candy corn on top. You can have red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese topping when you're feeling a bit on the romantic side.

Am I getting my point across? I hope so... it's pretty obvious that cupcakes are one of the best inventions ever.

So, without further adieu, I hereby declare Saturdays on the Daily Tribal to be *SEXY CUPCAKE SATURDAYS!!*

I found this cupcake lounging by the pool. It's chocolate, classic, and looks absolutely delicious. Awesome.



I hope you enjoyed this week's sexy cupcake! Check in next Saturday for more viewing yumness!

A Love / Hate Relationship With My Chart

Back in August I stated in a post that I was considering the idea of fertility charting, but that I really didn't want to because I was stubborn, because charting would mean that I was admitting I needed help... that I didn't know my own body.

On the first day of my last period I finally decided to do it.

I've mentioned this in many previous blog posts, but throughout our TTC "adventure" I have remained extremely positive. I don't even have to try *not* to be bitter as I don't associate my fertility with anyone else's. I know everyone is different, but I honestly don't see a point in getting upset because someone else was able to get pregnant. Why? Well, because (again) everyone is different. What does that person's fertility have to do with me and my body? Absolutely nothing.

I have to admit that ever since I got past CD14 there have been gray clouds slowly gathering on the horizon of my normally sunny disposition.

For most of my life, I have had extremely irregular periods. I would go 2, 3, sometimes up to 6 months with nothing. It was really hindering the TTC process.

Much to my surprise, I have been very steady since June and getting a period every 30 to 35 days. I was absolutely shocked the first few times.

I am now on CD24 of my first chart and there's no ovulation in sight and I'm starting to worry that the last 6 months of periods have been anovulatory. That's a very hefty thing for me to just guess at, but it's something that's definitely freaking me out.

I suppose, like many things in life, I will just have to be patient and wait to see what happens with my chart. I've only been charting for 25 days and it's already a love/hate relationship. I love the idea of knowing more about my body, but I *hate* sitting there and staring at it even though I know the cross hairs that signify ovulation aren't going to magically appear out of nowhere.
Heh, it's sort of like staring at a home pregnancy test.

One Lovely Blog Award!

I'm so incredibly excited! I feel like I got an early birthday present :).

Today I was given my first ever blog award from my good blog-buddy, Nina. Definitely check out her blog: Nina's Theories

Nina and I share a love for Europe, designer luggage and, of course, sexy cupcakes.

Thanks so much, Nina, for making my day bright and happy with this awesome blog award!

I can't wait to pass this award on to 15 of my blogging buds that I feel have Lovely Blogs!

To accept this award: Post it on your blog together with the name of the Person who granted and his or her link. Pass the Award to 15 other blogs that you newly discovered & Remember to contact them and let them know.

And the award goes to :::::drum roll please:::::

1. Aloha Boyfriend
2. Rubber Baby Buckin Bumpers
3. Experiments in a Galley Kitchen
4. Home of the Lazy Dog
5. I've Changed My Name To Mommy
6. Jael Custom Designs
7. Munckie Madness
8. Mommy In Pink
9. That's What She Said
10. The Seamstress of Avalon
11. Tudor City Girl
12. Working Girl
13. 20-Something Dreams and Cocktail Wishes
14. The Heir To Blair
15. California Girl Lost in a Southern World

Perpetual Near Death Experiences

People who have had a near death experience usually tell you that, in the instant prior to *almost* dying, they were able to see their entire life flash before their eyes. I always found that odd. How can one see an entire lifetime in a matter of seconds?

I think I'm starting to figure it out.

I set my clocks back at 2:00 this morning and realized that it is November 1st. In 17 days I will be 26. I'm not old by any means, but I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea that I've been on this Earth for 26 years. I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around the truth of the matter... that, even though I remember the smell of my hair on my wedding day, even though I remember the look on my father's face the night he had his stroke and I found him lying in the middle of his bedroom and thought he had been shot, even though I remember the taste of the sweat running from my hair and into my mouth on the night I played that awesome show at the Culture Room with my very first band when I was just 14 years old... that it has been YEARS since any of these things occurred.

Am I living in a state of perpetual near death experiences? Is that why these memories still flash before my eyes almost every single day? I always wonder if I'm the only one who relives so many experiences on a daily basis. I suppose that everyone thinks this way. I think it's part of being human. We are always wondering if we're the only ones.

Are we the only ones in the galaxy or are there others just like us? Am I the only one of my friends who will have trouble getting pregnant? Am I the only one who doesn't believe that everything happens for a reason? Am I the only one who likes to put oreo cookies on cheese pizza or barbecue sauce on my tuna fish? Probably not.

It almost seems arrogant to think that, out of the entire universe, I would be the only one to feel so much nostalgia over the past that I have trouble enjoying the present.

I feel as though my life is going by too fast.