on random wednesday thoughts.
I feel like a normal human.
For many weeks writing anything on Wednesdays was a complete nightmare. Coupled with the fact that I didn’t have much to talk about along with being petrified that I’d spill the beans about the baby accidentally on purpose, I felt like there was a zipper on my lips. Remember this post? HAHAHAHA. So awful. Most people in my life were like yeah… that’s probably the worst thing you’ve ever posted in five years. Agree agree.
And that post certainly doesn’t help the fact that I still struggle with (read: loathe) everything I do or make or create after I do or make or create it. So much second hand embarrassment for that.
I’ve been insanely nervous to talk about real life things because – personally? I had no interest in reading ANYTHING pregnancy related before I got pregnant. It’s just the truth. But the problem for me is that most of my posts – food and not – revolve around my real daily life and all that jazz. I’m like… am I supposed to write faux junk about my annoying life? Cannot do.
So! Things lately:
I mentioned this weeks ago but I have been ob.sessed with traveling far, far away. I still want to go to Ireland and I’m trying to figure out if it’s a weird pregnancy thing because it feels like I won’t be able to go ever (false, I know) or if it’s a real life thing. I wanna go with real life thing and plan it.
Eddie and I have talked a lot over the last week about creating your own opportunities and happiness. I don’t really like to settle for anything less, after all it’s the only reason I get to do what I love to do everyday. Create create create is the new motto. It’s hard. But I think it’s totally worth it. At this point, it’s hard for me to have any other mindset. Now if only I had an eye for creating things like home décor and fashion, I’d be SET. I desperately need help in those areas. I just don’t get it.
I still am not hungry… for much of anything. Luckily when I make things that sound good in the moment, I can eat them. Like this salad. My tastebuds still aren’t loving coffee like they once were, but I’ve made a jar of decaf cold brew about once per week. This also means that I’ve only bought some iced coffee out when I end up meeting someone. AND. This also means that I have to get a croissant or something delicious because BREAD. It’s still the main love of my life.
We had our anatomy ultrasound and I’ve always said I’d never be one to throw those pictures all over the place and shove them in everyone’s face. Meanwhile, I then made the sonogram photo my phone background contradicting all things in life I’ve ever said (as usual) and can’t stop staring at it. I’m like – that is a person. In my body. This is nuts.
I had another dream last week that the baby is a boy and I gave birth in a field with cows around. I have no words other than WTF. The next night, I had a dream that I gave birth at home and our contractor delivered the baby. When I do sleep, it is by far the weirdest sleep of my life.
Can we talk about how Donna from the West Wing is on the Leftovers? Sometimes I google what she is doing because I’m a straight up lunatic and I hadn’t done that in a while. Then I saw her in an episode and started pointing at the screen like a maniac and I’m pretty sure everyone thought I want insane. (I am at most times.)
The internet is causing me to forget how to use commas and apostrophes. Not that I ever really knew how, but now it’s terrible.
The sweet spot with planning some meals for the week lands at about three. This means we have enough leftovers combined with stuff I may make for the blog and something usually comes up once or twice, so it works. This week we ate these tacos, I’m making this soup (I KNOW. It’s 90 degrees with 90% humidity but this stuff is so good, especially with chips, and makes a boatload of food) and one of my favorite recipes from my book – some awesome chicken pitas with hummus and feta. I stole the recipe idea from my cousin and have been making it OFTEN for two years and it’s been nearly impossible for me not to tell you about them. They are so freaking good. So simple, but good. I can’t wait until you can make ‘em too.
I am officially SICK of froyo. I think we had it twice in the last month – after finishing up our childbirth classes. Which were hilarious because everyone else was due in like four weeks – at times I still just look fat and not pregnant – but this was the only time before the baby comes that we could fit it in. So we’d get froyo after – and now I have no desire to ever eat it again. But ask me in like three weeks because I’m pathetically fickle.
I totally slowed my roll when it came to reading this past week. The last few days I’ve been reading Vintage and with only a few pages to go, it’s a super cute story. Puhlease leave me some book recommendations below! We move late next week, so I have a feeling reading will take a backseat as I collapse into bed every night. Or maybe not, since most nights I’m like sleep? what is sleep? I still haven’t felt the fatigue during pregnancy that people talk about. (remember when I talked about watching a boxing match into the middle of the night by myself? Uh huh.) But I want to make sure that I have some good books for when we go on vacation later in August.
And then! I’ll be doing a lot of book related things after that. I’m nervous and scared and excited and freaked out. Essentially… I’m having a baby before having a baby. It’s true.
61 Comments on “on random wednesday thoughts.”
I hate everything I make too. I start out thinking it’s a really good, novel idea, and then end up feeling like it’s stupid and unoriginal. It’s hard to be objective on your own work, I guess. But I find you to be VEEEERRRRRY creative and original. Exceptionally so!
I don’t have kids and can’t have kids, so admittedly, find it hard to relate when some blogs are heavy-handed on the kid pics and stories. I totally get it, it’s just not relatable for me. BUT, I have reaaaally enjoyed hearing about your experiences. Your perspective is unique and hilarious.
Fellow sunglasses hoarder here. I was adamently against spending a lot on sunglasses for years because I always lose/break them, but WOW do nice ones make a difference. Now I can’t stop myself. I’m possessed by nice sunglasses.
Hi, I’m a long-time reader, first-time commenter. Just wanted to say that I love your blog – you’re so honest and inspiring and fun. Don’t ever stop writing! For books, have you read Outlander by Diana Gabaldon? If not – you should!!
Well I love the glasses and I hope you find some time to sleep at some point because sleep is fun! And the baby will take care of the baby if you take care of you. True story.
Also my son just turned 13 (gags, turn back time) and I had a dream that he saved us from a Zombie apocalypse last night. I don’t even like watch anything Zombie related, so the weird dream thing is just………..I blame summer. :)
(hope this doesn’t post twice! got an error on the first try)
tomorrow and tomorrow – by a pittsburgh author (Thomas Sweterlitsch) and is somewhat based in pittsburgh – can’t say too much or i’ll give it away… had a sci-fi, futuristic twist on it which usually isn’t me at all but was sooooo obsessed with this book couldn’t put it down….
Unbroken – Laura hillenbrand (story of Lou Zamperini) if you haven’t read it already you have to do so before the movie comes out later this year, such a raw story of WWII
Orphan Train – christina baker kline – more of a YA fiction but still was a nice little read in between the others that were so dark and serious…
I’m 14 weeks pregnant and I have to say, your blogs make me feel so much better. Everyone makes pregnancy out to be this magic time, but in reality it isn’t all showers and cute onesies. You always think “man when I’m pregnant I can eat burgers every day”. And then you dont want/can’t eat burgers! Your blogs are so refreshing :)
yay, you’re back! this is very Jessica post. i remember seeing that post on food for thought and wondering what got into you alittle. but now all is right in the world!
i have no book recommendations because i haven’t had time to read a real book in a very long time, but my husband asks for the smokey white bean chili ALL THE TIME.
I think part of the reason your blog is so wonderful is because of your honesty and willingness to share your life with all of us. It’s refreshing to read a food blog that isn’t JUST about food, ya know? It makes me feel like we’re friends. That said, keeping a pregnancy secret is totally justifiable and hopefully you weren’t feeling guilty or anything! It’s just the most exciting (and FREAKY…) thing in the world! Share away! Be that “annoying” preggo who talks about nothing else all day. Shout it from the rooftops, girl. I think most of us WANT to hear about your experience. I could be slightly influenced by my own bun in the oven, though. :) Finally, love your note about creativity being super important. I’ve always struggled with finding creative outlets, and I think you’re a great example! SO EXCITED FOR THE BABY…AND THE BABY!
The Glass Kitchen by I can’t remember who :/ but it’s a good fast read.
Long-time reader, first time commenter. Congratulations on both babies (book and human)! You always speak with an honest voice, and as a reader I really appreciate how you keep it real :)
I’d love to help you in the fashion department. I can put together a maternity lookbook for you through my free personal styling website on Keaton Row. There are some really cute maternity clothes out right now!
https://www.keatonrow.com/leighprofit
Julie Klassen has some great books, if you like historical fiction.
I’ve been on such a book binge lately so I can definitely provide a few suggestions:
– Remember Me? by Sophia Kinsella
-Dedication by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus (they wrote the Nanny Diaries)
– Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway
-The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton (this one can get a little confusing so not a quick easy read but still a good mystery)
Good luck with the move!
I loved The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith (who is actually JK Rowling.) More favorites from book club are The Hypnotist’s Love Story by Liane Moriarty, Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler and The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff, which caused all of us to become totally obsessed with Mormonism. Sounds weird, and is weird, but there you have it.
It’s a thousand degrees in Michigan this week so I’ve been making your salads for my dinners. Chickpea corn, with a little bacon thrown in and the corn charred in the fat, chipotle honey chicken quinoa bowls last night, and tonight will be BBQ chicken chopped salad. The boyfriend is loving it. He didn’t think he liked salad :)
Galbraith’s new novel “The Silkworm” is also AMAZING.
Yes!!! I’ve read both Galbraith books and they are both amazing!
I just read This is Where I Leave You, because I hate reading anything AFTER the movie is out. It was dark, and a little filthy, but funny! I have THAT wise-cracking, passive-aggressive, smart-alecky family.
Jess. Please please please read:
Our Daily Bread
The Book of Negroes
A Thousand Splendid Suns
BOOKS! I have been IN. LOVE. WITH. Wally Lamb this year. “She’s Come Undone” and “I Know This Much Is True” are so beautiful.
I have that soup on my meal plan this week, I make it all the time! Love it
Lol I remember reading that post that day and thinking how disappointed I was with it (lol I’m sorry!). This one was fantastic :) P.S I love how your dreams are insane like mine lol
Love the sunnies! where did you find them?! thanks for your random/honest thoughts & of course yummy recipes! congrats on the book & baby! you are so blessed!
If you actually do get around to planning a trip to Ireland then please post about it and I’ll comment with loads of advice! i met loads of people while Interrailing and because they all came to visit me I’m quite the tour guide now!
Loved this post!! Even though I’m nowhere near having kids, I love reading about pregnancy experiences — I don’t know what it is. Either excitement or sheer terror at the idea of going through it myself :) So share away :):) Wishing you nothing but good things with the little one and your book and everything else! Thanks for a lovely post — and YES! Go to Ireland!!
Felt like I was reading about my life! I’m due in December also, had my anatomy ultrasound last week, still don’t love coffee like I used to, and my appetite changes week to week…sometimes hungry, sometimes not at all. Pregnancy is a funny thing!
Am I the only one that actually liked the inspirational quote post? Short and sweet….that’s ok every once in a while! I just finished The MatchMaker on your suggestion – it was wonderful and found myself up at 5 a.m. crying at the end. Reading “Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me” by Mindy Kaling now – laugh out loud funny.
Hello! What a nice post, I really love the way you write! I’m actually in a sort of reading rut right now, and don’t really know what to read next, so I’m glad for the many comments :) I can add (it might be there already) Gone Girl (actually a bit old already) by Gillian Flynn, Under the Dome (Stephen King, muuuuch better than the tv show!), and maybe some books by Karen Rose, they’re kind crime/romance-y but quite entertaining! AND if you feel like something completely different: the hundred-year-old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared (yes, that’s the title) by Jonas Jonasson. It is hilarious! :)
I just finished All the Light You Cannot See – literally stayed up way past my bedtime last night to finish it. It’s a little heavier than what it seems that you normally read – WW2 historical – but it’s BEAUTIFULLY written and I so desperately want to go help these characters and befriend them. It is a little sad, so if you’re super emotional/hormonal I’d put it on the back burner, but it’s such a wonderful book I wanted to recommend it anyway.
For lighter things I’ll always say The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter, and The Vacationers by Emma Straub.
The best thing I’ve read all day: “I had another dream last week that the baby is a boy and I gave birth in a field with cows around. I have no words other than WTF. The next night, I had a dream that I gave birth at home and our contractor delivered the baby. When I do sleep, it is by far the weirdest sleep of my life.” — Love love love.
Here’s a list of authors to choose from since I love just about everything I’ve ever read by them: Mary Kay Andrews, Dorothea Benton Frank, Anne Rivers Siddons, Karen White (love, love, love her Tradd Street series) and Heather Gudenkauf (her new one, Little Mercies, is fantastic). Also Beautiful Day by Elin Hilderbrand and The Apple Orchard by Susan Wiggs. She has a sequel out now that I haven’t read yet called The Beekeeper’s Ball.
Is that enough for you to pick from? My friends always ask me for suggestions of books to read so I have kind of become “that person”.
The Paris Wife is a good read. Also loved Gap Creek by Robert Morgan, but if you’re not into historical fiction you probably won’t be interested
I’m glad I’m not the only one taking childbirth class early. We’re scheduled for a one day 8-hour class next weekend (I’ll be almost 23 weeks) so it won’t conflict with football watching.
Through a Glass Darkly by karleen koen, one of my favorites and the start of a trilogy.
Have you ever thought of highlighting some of your readers’
talents? Maybe a contest one in awhile where we could have our post
published on HSII.
I just finished reading The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd and really loved it. And it was perfect historical fiction because I learned quite a bit as well! Definitely recommend.
Read anything and everything by either Jojo Moyes or Rainbow Rowell!
I also recently finished This Is Where I Leave You (saw the previews for the movie and once I realized it was a book, I had to read it). Very good book!
I don’t have kids, but I think that you definitely need to keep posting about your pregnancy and future baby. It’s your LIFE. A blogger friend recently texted me a copy of a mean comment she received on her blog, someone saying that they only liked reading her blog before she had her baby. I told her “you try NOT changing your diary as your life changes.” Right? So there you go. Plus, I’m baby crazy so I love reading every word about pregnancy.
I hate everything I make too.
Hi there! So I’m 20 weeks prego and I’ve absolutely loved all of your posts forever, but these most recent ones have been especially wonderful (and timely!!) We just had our anatomy ultrasound earlier this week and I did the exact same thing with my pictures, which is hilarious, because in the past I was totally rude about other people and their dang blurry, confusing pics. Anyhow, I hope you continue feeling more and more normal and look forward to reading upcoming posts!
one of my all time favorite books is To Be Sung Underwater. my life would not have been the same if I hadn’t read it (so dramatic)
Some of my all time favorites…Unbroken, Z: a Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, The Book Thief, The Song of Achilles, and Me Before You.
i have been loving your book recommendations. Recently read The Rosie Project and loved it.
Pregnancy is SO weird. I didn’t gain so much I didn’t look like myself but it was like someone switched around my likes/dislikes entirely! Suddenly, I couldn’t eat salads, cheese and bread (my faves!) and was obsessed with apples and french fries. I watched a lot of sappy dramas and when I ran out, I watched South Korean, Taiwanese and Indian dramas because they produce LOTS. I’ve never been a huge TV person before and I’ve barely turned it on since. So strange, but I’m thinking, it’s only 9 months so just roll with it. Hehe, no pun intended.
I think you would love the show Tyrant on FX. It’s so crazy that I can’t watch, but I’m also dying to know what happens next because I know exactly what’s going to happen but I can’t handle it- and I watch it anyway. Plus, Uncle Andy (Justin Kirk) from Weeds is an American Diplomat in the show and I can’t stop commenting that no one should listen to Uncle Andy when it comes to politics. hahaha! Plus the main characters are all beautiful and the fashion and style is amazing. Check it out.
If you haven’t read The Alchemist, I highly recommend it! It’s a quick and easy read but so powerful!
Creating your own happiness — yes yes yes! And Donna is on something I don’t watch? I must start!
Jess, I don’t care if you write about food, pregnancy, trips to Target, or the colour of your nail polish – I will ALWAYS read it. I loved your comment about creating opportunities and happiness. It’s something I think about a lot and progress is slow but at least it’s still progress and I think it’s in the right direction! As for book recommendations, my current reading list pretty much consists of Runner’s World Magazines and blogs, but I second Alex’s comment above about The Alchemist. I listened to it as an audiobook on a long drive a few months ago and it definitely ties in to the whole happiness/self actualization theme!
Great post and photo! Goodluck with the pregnancy – keep us updated on it! Abi :) myw0rldmyview.blogspot.co.uk
I just finished Reconstructing Amelia and loved it. Also Shotgun Love Songs :-)
I’m all into reading right now because I’m temporarily relocated for work, and I need something to do at night that doesn’t involve going places alone or sticking my face in front of a screen for more hours in the day.
I’m enjoying: Half Broke Horses, by Jeannette Walls (who wrote The Glass Castle); Hyperbole and a Half, selections from Allie Brosh’s magnificent blog; and No One Belongs Here More Than You, short stories by Miranda July.
I’m looking forward to: The Secret History, by Donna Tartt (heard it’s better than The Goldfinch); Maine, by J. Courtney Sullivan; and Summer House with Swimming Pool, by Herman Koch.
Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple is a quick and wonderful read.
I had the most messed up dreams during both my pregnancies. With my first, I had been marathon watching Angel and so started dreaming about vampires and zombies…with my second, I tried to avoid creepy or supernatural themed shows because they would end up in my dreams and add to my insomnia.
I also point at the screen frantically whenever an actor or actress from an old TV show appears in something new.
Have you read “This is where I leave you”?
http://www.amazon.com/This-Is-Where-Leave-You/dp/0452296366
It is so entertaining!! Highly recommend it, it’s the best book I’ve read in a long time. It doesn’t hurt that the movie is coming out soon and the cast is amazing :)
I totally get the feeling fat stage and being self conscious that strangers just thought I was really bloated in those weird weeks between a belly pooch and a full on bump. I remember the day someone asked me when I was due. I felt like I was finally “pregnant” pregnant, like those days of exhaustion and dry heaving didn’t really count. But they so do! Anyway, books I loved while pregnant were Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthy and The Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy. Both made me laugh until I cried.
So funny that you had a dream that your contractor delivered your baby – once I had a dream that my mechanic gave me highlights. in his garage. Like with foils and everything. Nuts. I wasn’t pregnant.
Have you read the Divergent series? It’s a quick and easy teen-read, but totally loved it more than Twilight (ugh) and actually more than Hunger Games.
You are HILARIOUS, thanks for making bust out laughing at my office :)
Please please read The Opportunist (Love me With Lies #1) by Tarryn Fisher or Mud Vein by Tarryn Fisher — I really think you will love them!!