you didn’t think i’d let a historic day like today go by without at least a mention here on this neglected blog.  happy 9-02-10 day!

so how else to honor such an important, once in a life time event – a top 10 list of course!  you may agree and you may disagree -weigh in, share your 90210 stories.

THE TOP 10 BEST 90210 EPISODES/MOMENTS ACCORDING TO LBN:

10. VALERIE AND HER INSENSE – a list wouldn’t be complete with a little valerie malone. remember before we knew she was bad? i think there were a solid 40 minutes there when she was just a girl from buffalo. and then, she lit up her special herb – IN THE WALSH HOUSE!!

9. BRENDA AS LAVERNE – while brandon is off becoming a soap star, brenda holds down the fort at the peach pit

8. HELLO DAY – dylan and brenda get back together, emily valentine wears a leather hat, there’s singing and dancing…what a great first day of school!

7. I CHOOSE ME – ugh the episode makes me sob every time, first andrea leaves and then kelly chooses herself

6. DONNA AND DAVID DO IT – and she goes from virgin to major beverly hills slut…no judgement
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5. U4EA – steve and andrea exchanging an egg…i die

4. SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET – we learn important background on the girls, like that donna puts popcorn in her ice cream (later referenced at her bachelorette party!)

3. CAMPING TRIP – teaching the ever important lesson – booze are bad, forgetting to pack hiking boots can be deadly

1. DONNA AND DAVID GET MARRIED – dude everyone came back for the big event!  the only person they didn’t bring back was scott – and they totally should have, can you imagine a better flashback?

ps. i also bought crib bedding.  like.  woa.

is it possible the spawn growing inside of me is sapping up all of my creative juices?  because really, i want to write – i know it would be good for me – healthy – and also it would be nice to have some sort of record of this important time in my life.  but when it comes to actually putting pen to paper, or in the case of this here blog – fingers to keys – i draw a blank.  nothing.  it seems that what this baby inside me wants more than anything else is to eat sour candy and watch beverly hills 90210 reruns.  at least it’s issue based tv.

ABN and i have been busy at work on prepping our lives and house for the arrival of the spawn – after all we are only 3 months away.  we’ve bought the very few essentials we plan to buy beforehand and in the next month we will have the bedroom painted.  that’s right – ABN has moved his office – his desk is now located in the sunroom/laundry room which i get is less than ideal but at least he has an office (says his wife who works from home and is relegated to the kitchen table).  i’m doing my best to do laundry when he is at work although i know once BBN arrives that will not be possible all the time.

yesterday we interviewed a pediatrician and i fell instantly in love.  she’s jewish and sarcastic and answered my questions about breastfeeding by saying “you get what you get and you don’t get upset” but then leaned in and said with knockers like mine i should be fine.

it turns out there’s a bit of a mohel shortage in san francisco (if you ware looking for a career change it’s not a bad idea).  of course we don’t know for sure that we will need a mohel but if the random women who stop me on the street are any indication, there will be bagels at my house 8 days post BBN’s arrival.  i have this vision in my head of a bearded  religious man coming to my home and taking care of business quickly and efficiently but it seems that in the bay area the trend is women who take this on as a second career.  i’m not judging (ha!) but i know what i want – and that’s not what i want.  the pediatrician shared stories of the very mohel i was looking for who came to her home three years ago for her own son’s circumcision.  unfortunately he’s now dead.  so that’s not going to work.  she suggested i call his widow and ask if she knows of anyone.  i did some online searching and found the guy who the jewish newspaper bills as his “replacement.”  he doesn’t have a beard but he’s ortho and has a penis of his own which for me is two steps in the right direction.  as a con he used to be a professional chef but as i learned yesterday, “you get what you get and you don’t get upset.”

i know what you’re thinking – no FREAKING way – she’s back.  well, i’m not sure if i would go that far.  it seems that this little bundle of joy that is quickly growing in my belly is sapping up every last ounce of my energy – creative and otherwise.  i know i’m supposed to be writing everything down – first kick, how quickly my nails are growing, how we weighed (literally) the options when choosing the perfect stroller and car seat, but i just can’t seem to get my act together.  it’s true, i do have so much to say.  i just seem to have no ability or drive with which to say it.

it’s gorgeous here in SF today and i am taking full advantage by sitting on the back patio, in a purple mumu that is too short to wear in public (due to the rise in my belly).  i think pregnant looks a bit better with some sun so i’m trying to grab it where i can.  my advice for all of you who think about one day spawning – do it in SF.  while my friends are literally wilting on the east coast, i’ve spent most of my summer happily tucked into leggings and sweaters, no overheating, no sweating, no humidity.  i’ve already made a deal with ABN – i’ll live anywhere he wants to live as long as the next time we decide to do this, i can be pregnant in SF.

you’ll also be glad to know that in last couple of months since my last update, i’ve stopped consuming two bagels a day.  sure, carbs still make for one happy lady but i’ve sorta moved on to fruit as well.  put a bowl of peaches in front of me, i’ll eat the whole thing.  cut up a watermelon – i’ll down the entire thing in one sitting.  yes, there are pictures to prove it.

i guess i should tell you that the baby did start kicking – and it has been exciting, and pee inducing.  it feels like often the baby is kicking directly into my bladder.  my day goes a lot like this: kick, kick, pee.  kick, kick, pee.  again, i feel very lucky to be working from home and to never be too far away from the toilet.

now wasn’t that worth the wait?

i’m sitting outside and my laptop battery is running low so this is going to be short.  also i just killed a small green bug on my computer and so now there is bug juice on the keyboard.  i didn’t mean to kill it, just wipe it away.  oops.

today i have witnessed many amazing things.  first, i was watching THE TODAY SHOW, as i do every morning, and a 13 year old girl said cunt, twice.  okay truth be told i missed the live, east coast feed but when MEREDITH later apologized for the vulgar use of language, i had to investigate (what did people do before the internet?).

also i went to a coffee shop to work and there was a group there studying talmud.  this made me blissfully happy.

there was a  group of people from various small non-profits having a “professional development” meeting.  it seemed they were talking about how to build a useful board, how to recruit new members, i could go on.  but largely they were talking about how no one ever came to these meetings and how maybe they should put together a survey to find out how to get more people to participate.  i wanted to scream – ” no one is going to answer your survey.”  but instead i just smiled to myself and thanked god my non-profit days are over…for now.

i haven’t been avoiding you – it’s just that i’ve been really busy.  and napping too.  i think that’s allowed right?  at least that’s what people keep telling me.  i feel like a huge slacker every time i nap.  but i also feel about a kabillion times better post snooze so if it’s okay i’m going to keep it up for now.

i’ve been more busy than usual because i’ve taken on my hours at my secret job.  it’s a good thing really – making a little moolah (just a little), keeping my mind active, getting me off my couch for a few hours each and every day.  i enjoy the work and the fact that i can work from home (or from a coffee shop – or from LA) is basically the best thing that has ever happened to me.  and when i say best thing that ever happened to me i don’t really mean best thing ever, i just mean, it’s a nice change.  especially with this babe on the way – it’s nice to slow down a bit.  because my life before was anything but slow.

i’ve had a lot of questions in my personal life about if i quit my DREAM JOB so that i could get pregnant.  the answer is no.  i quit my job because it was not the right job for me at this point in m life.  my job wasn’t making me happy (duh) but that wasn’t totally it either.  before EDDIE got sick i had completely rationalized sticking it out one more year.  sucking it up, not crying under my desk, and not having a kid (because let me tell you – the DREAM JOB and kid were not a match made in heaven…more like THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN PURE HELL!!).  once EDDIE got sick he spelled things out for me pretty clearly – “your coworkers are border line abusive, your NANI needs you, quit your job and have a baby.”  i spent a month or so thinking it over and decided to quit – it was just a matter of when.  again, i felt like i should stick it out through the summer and then quit come august.  after all, summer was the fun part…or was it?!  there were parts of summer that were great – singing modeh ani every morning, watching asian children fall in love with shabbat, hiring a killer staff and making life long friends…but summer also sucked ass.  i don’t think i took a deep breath between april and august, i didn’t sleep, didn’t eat and i didn’t see ABN.  not a great way to prep for a baby.  so together, after a raucous new year’s eve celebration that consisted of scrabble and the lights out by 10:30, ABN and i decided together that it was time to walk away – immediately.  i hoped by leaving right away i was leaving them in a place to find a great replacement way before summer.  and i knew i would be able to begin traveling down to LA and sitting with NANI on her pink couch.  and of course it meant we could now try to get pregnant – just never imagined it could possibly happen so quickly.

so there you go, the complete story.  i feel good because i feel like i was honest with my coworkers from the beginning.  i also took care of myself which i’m not totally apt to do. and i’m heading to LA for a week on monday which would have been IMPOSSIBLE while working at the DREAM JOB.

in other news, as we were getting into bed last night i caught the last few minutes of the play-off game.  now i’m not really a professional basketball fan (go BRUINS) but the inner fan came out.  ABN had to step back.  he never knows what to do with me when i clap wildly and yell at the screen.  my future kid may not be the BIGGEST sports fan, but for basketball, the kid is covered!

i’ve been meaning to write a blog post all day but i’ve been distracted.  distracted by my gas filled, bloated stomach (tmi?) that makes strange noises and makes it impossible to sleep (both during the day and at night – i’ve tried both) and distracted by the death of RUE MCCLANAHAN.  it’s hard for me to imagine a world without blanche – i mean it would be like a world without brenda walsh.  i wonder if i’ll have time to obsess about these types of things once i’m a mom.  who am i kidding – i’ve got my priorities.

in order to distract myself from my distractions i’m thinking about the following things:

1. i just read THIS post by INDIANA, one of my favorite fashion bloggers who is now pregnant as well.  when doing research for where and how i wanted this baby to be born i quickly nixed one birth center when the home page loaded on my screen and featured walls painted with placenta.  yeah – no.

2. TODDLERS IN TIARAS has got to be the most upsetting show currently on television.  these girls and their moms are absolute terrors.  i saw currently because I DIDN’T KNOW I WAS PREGNANT: ON A BOAT doesn’t premiere until next week.  (as a side note…now that i’m actually pregnant – how the hell do these women not realize they are pregnant.  the fact that my stomach has popped is a sign for sure but if i didn’t know i was pregnant all of the puking and aching and exhaustion would lead me straight to a doctor…and i don’t go to doctors).

3. have you been watching the REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NYC???  what if my face does what BETHANNY’S face did?  this keeps me up at night (this AND the gas = a lethal combination).

tomorrow is a BIG day in the BN household.  finding out the gender of this kid growing inside me?  no, we’re not going that route – after-all, i deal so well with surprises (ha!).  finally planting some veggies in our overgrown backyard?  not so much, maybe next year.  no, tomorrow is a big day because our new bed arrives!  that’s right, ABN and i are finally joining the rest of the adult world with a queen size bed.  it’s funny, while our full bed was always a tight snuggle, it worked quite well – until recently.  you see, this lady with her rapidly expanding belly (by the day, hour, minute!!) needs more space and i’m hoping (praying) that those extra six inches make all the difference.

yesterday was a day full of laying on mattress after mattress (can you get lice from laying on mattresses at a store?) and trying to imagine myself dozing off into a peaceful sleep.  we didn’t go into this experience blind.  no, i’m married to ABN and he is in his MOST happy place when doing research (must be something about that PhD).  it doesn’t matter the subject (hawaiian vacation rentals, strollers, where we should eat dinner), he’s on it…with gusto…for hours.  not so helpful when trying to make a quick decision but he takes his work seriously and so far, he hasn’t led me astray.

we did the whole deed in only two stops and even after the first stop (which included ABN laying on each mattress for 20 minutes – research shows that this is how long it takes to find the perfect mattress) we had narrowed down our options to a winner.  we went to a second store to see if we could get a slightly better deal (ie free delivery) and found the same mattress.  after going back and forth, trying to decide if this was indeed the right mattress for us (it’s quite different from what we are used to and felt like a big decision) the sales guy said the magic words that if he had said 2 hours earlier would have made this process MUCH easier – “this is the mattress that the westin calls the HEAVENLY BED.”  and sold.

so tomorrow, at 7:30 am, our new mattress is being delivered.  this big day also marks the start of THE GREAT BN PURGE OF 2010.  that’s right, this kid is arriving in just over 5 months and while the kid itself will take up very little room, the kid’s stuff is going to be a different animal.  we are already a family with A LOT of stuff so it’s time to start to downsize.  it turns out that in addition to being a researcher, ABN is also quite sentimental and likes to hold on to everything.  we are very lucky that we have a basement and so theoretically he can keep EVERYTHING, and simply move it out of the way (he’s having a hard enough time dealing with this concept).  but i’m hoping (praying) that he decides to get rid of some of it.  i’m hoping that if i can make some progress tomorrow with my own piles, i’ll be provide the inspiration that he needs.

i’m back from the east coast and in major recover mode.  i had a wonderful time seeing my parents (who spoiled me with maternity clothes, diet coke and homemade bagels) and juggling 48 hours among friends (late night talks, one cute baby, bridal showers and appetizers on screened in porch) and most importantly a dinner at PUNJAB (apparently all this pregnant girl ever needed – hold the rice!).  somehow my trip didn’t include my daily required nap and so, for the last few days, i’ve been playing catch up.

in addition to napping, i bought a bridesmaid’s dress six sizes bigger than my current size for CASTLE ROOMATE’S august wedding (omg, i’m gonna be huge) and ventured into my first baby store where i promptly got super overwhelmed and had to leave.  in addition i watched the two hour season finale of GREYS in approximately 10 minutes.  and then i watched THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW JERSEY in depth, rewinding twice to make sure i caught every minute.

today i made my 2nd annual appearance at MAKER FAIRE and i have seen many things – many of these things i am still in the process of processing.  many of these things included goggles and brass which is apparently a THING, but a thing i’ve never heard of.  i also ate falafel and kettle corn (i think it was the kettle corn that set me over the edge…i’m feeling pukey).  to make the event even more memorable, ABN bought me a little crocheted piece of poop….really.

but really, getting back to food (because, that is what’s important), i think i’m having a craving….or at least…a strong want.  i want really good bread, toasted, with tomato and avocado and parmesan cheese.  doesn’t that sound awesome?  also, maybe some celery with cream cheese.

i am never going to get used to this being able to be online while in the sky thing!  it makes the flight so much more pleasant and at $12.95 for a six hour flight, i really find the cost/satisfaction ratio extremely reasonable.  i mean a freaking cookie is like $7!  and that lasts about 35 seconds, on a good day.

so i’m flying east – a mandatory trip to westport.  now that i’m knocked up my parents (and, i can admit it, me too) are acutely aware of how far away we are from one another.  when you grow up with all four or your grandparents living in spitting distance from you, 3,000 miles does seem a bit unreasonable.  i’m going so that my mom can make me a cheese souffle and my dad can feed me homemade bagels.

as any reader knows, under the best set of circumstances i’m not the best flyer and under these circumstances i’ve been a nervous wreck.  not because i’m worried about the spawn currently growing inside me.  it will be fine – i’m sure.  but i fear puke and dizziness and general discomfort.  to combat these issues i have packed enough snacks to feed a small pre-school.  sour gummy candy, honeynut cheerios, ginger snaps, prestzel rods, jelly beans, a bagel and cream cheese, taco salad, two different kinds of mints – i could go on.  when i arrived at the airport i also bought a large size FIJI water and i immediately thought of EDDIE who thought this water, coming from FIJI, was dirty water.  he wouldn’t like the fact that i’m drinking it, especially while PREGNANT.  it made me laugh out loud.

between the Dramamine and the snacks and the water and the sea-bands, so far, so good.  being able to work while aboard a flight helps too.  it’s like a typical day except my phone won’t ring.

my parents must really love me, and this spawn, because they are picking me up from JFK right in the heart of rush hour.  i think the plan is to head straight to the diner for a turkey sandwich.

i promise that this entire pregnancy is not about food – although clearly it’s playing a big role.  i’ve been having weird-ass dreams too.  like two nights ago when i dreamt that as a married, pregnant 29-year-old i had to go back to THE BIG M to finish some class that i hadn’t quite finished before.  and i had to wear a uniform.  the craziest part of the dream was that my khaki skirt from 1997 still fit.  unfortunately, just to make life SLIGHTLY more difficult, THE BIG M was in the process of deeming those skirts OUT of uniform, and only approving of the grey flannel skirt which i know longer owned.  luckily, in my dream i was still in touch with some of the girls i went to high school with and so i asked around.  oh they were willing to sell me their skirts, for $300 a piece.  thanks girls, thanks.

alright, it looks like they are almost done with beverage service and this pregnant woman has been sitting for over an hour and needs to empty her bladder.  also it’s 10:23 am and the guy in front of me has already ordered two jack and cokes.  we have 4 1/2 hours left.  AWESOME.

in an effort to not have to play catch up on three months in one blog post, ever.again. i’m back to blogging a semi-regular basis.  not only have i missed the part of my day that is filled with writing and nothing else, but i am realizing that if i don’t write it down, i might not remember and that would just be – well, sad.

while there have been a lot of foods that i’ve been staying away from: the aforementioned rice, any kind of meat (except for one insatiable craving for an in n’ out cheeseburger), cooked vegetables and jello (there was a BAD incident early on which may lead me to never eat jello again – it’s sad really) – there are a few foods that have truly gotten me through the last few weeks.

it started with honeynut cheerios.  while i kept this secret from almost everyone, fairly early on, just as the nausea started to kick in i found myself on the phone with DIDDY and while our visits are few and far between i still feel myself sharing things with this former GUCCI that i wouldn’t share with anyone else.  anyway she said that when she was pregnant the cheerios worked for her and next thing i knew i was eating them by the handful.  now they are a little too sweet for me and my “swamp mouth” but boy did they settle a stomach.

next up – ginger snaps.  ABN went ginger happy the second my tum started to turn.  he literally bought out the whole ginger aisle at whole foods – bet you didn’t know there was a ginger aisle, oh but there is.  the ginger ale, the ginger gummy bears, the ginger pieces, the ginger tea…it all made me…puke.  but those ginger snaps.  to this day i still don’t leave my house without a little ziploc baggie full of them.  just to be safe.  and ABN?  he’s been doing a great job of drinking the ginger ales…after all, he bought three different kinds.

my mom is particularly excited that i’ve found comfort in orange slices (NOTE: not orange juice.  PUKE).  apparently, that’s what she ate when she was knocked up way back when.  while the slices are good, it’s really lemon slices that i love.  the juice cuts through the swamp mouth like no other.  sure, this might lead to my teeth falling out but at this point, i’m sorta willing to take that chance.

and finally – the occasional fountain soda diet coke.  i know, i know.  keep your caffeine down to a minimum…and a minimum i have.  i’ve completely cut out the coffee – which let me tell you, is quite the fete.  but every few days, when my energy is particularly low, that fountain soda diet coke just makes everything better.  the bubbles, the taste, the buzz.  we all need a vice and this one is mine! (luckily i’m a natural red head so i don’t have to dye my hair).

i don’t know if i’d consider any of these foods that i’ve been eating cravings – more than anything they just get me through the day.

bagels on the other hand…i’d say that’s a craving.