Getting a dog after losing a dog.

November 12, 2019 littleshoeprincess

Two years ago, we lost our beloved Vito the Wonder Dog. It was a soul-crushing experience, and one that I’m not yet truly over. That dog was woven so tightly into our family unit, that saying goodbye was tougher than saying farewell to some humans.

The Little Mister and Vito, a few months before we said good-bye.

In the weeks and months that followed losing Vito, the hole in our hearts was so big, that I often found myself saying, “I don’t think I could ever have another dog. How could I ever love another dog like I loved Vito?”

A year after we lost Vito, we still never mentioned getting another dog. The Little Mister, who was now 4, would bring him up every once in a while, with heart-wrenching questions such as, “I miss Vito. When is he coming back?” and “Is Vito in heaven? When will he be done up there?”

Our lives had changed a little bit in the year since Vito was gone. I had started a new job that allowed me to work from home. My inlaws also lost their dog, almost a year to the day that we lost Vito. And my father-in-law couldn’t wait to bring another dog into their lives. If there was ever a get a dog, we were approaching it.

Yet, we still didn’t talk about it.

Because as much as we mourned Vito, we had a little bit of a new lease on life. We no longer had to worry about getting home at a certain time to let a dog out. We could go away for the weekend and not have to made doggie arrangements. When one of us was away or working late, the other didn’t have to juggle taking care of a 4 year old and walking and caring for a dog.

But even with all that freedom, I still was in the habit of checking the floor for poop when I came around the corner. Or rushing to pick up a fallen M&M or grape or piece of onion from the floor. We didn’t physically have a dog, but mentally, I still felt like we did.

One cold Friday night, while Mr. KK was playing in his monthly poker night, I started scrolling through petfinder.com. You know, just to see what was in our area. We hadn’t really yet talked about getting another dog, but it had almost been 2 years, and I know at some point we would get one. We knew we’d rescue again, and who knows how long it would take to find the right fit?

On that very first night, I came across Rocco – at that time, named Nikki by the shelter. He was a 3 1/2 month old mix, some combination of chihuahua, dachshund and miniature pinscher. He was in a foster home 2 miles from our house. He had the cutest little face. His ears were so big and alert, he looked like a bat. And the clincher: he was black and tan, and looked a lot like Vito.

I emailed the rescue, and 3 weeks later we brought Rocco – formally known as Nikki – into our house, and our lives.

At first, I was a wreck inside. Rationally, I wanted Rocco to be part of our family. Emotionally, I felt like I was betraying Vito. On the third night of Rocco being in our home – and me chasing him around to make sure he didn’t pee or poop in the house – I broke down. “What if I can’t love him like I loved Vito?” I asked Mr. KK.

We had never had a true puppy before. We rescued Vito when he was about 8 months old. I was living in Boston, and Vito was with Mr. KK and his parents (before he was Mr. KK as we weren’t married yet) in Connecticut. My father-in-law house trained Vito in about 3 days.

When we picked up Rocco from the foster home, they informed us that he used pee pee pads and tended to just “poop by the back door”. Um, that would not fly in my house. From the minute he came home, I was in full puppy potty training mode. I took him out constantly, monitored his intake – and output, and made sure he was never left unsupervised. It took a bit of time but eventually we were on a schedule and I didn’t feel the need to freak out if he was out of my sight for more than a few minutes.

As the months passed, I began to feel less like Rocco was replacing Vito and more like he was becoming an addition to the family. Little Mister absolutely adored him, and Rocco was so sweet and gentle with him. During Rocco’s teething phase (that felt like it lasted forever), Rocco would chew on our hands but he would only lick Little Mister’s.

It was no surprise that Rocco was attached to me, mostly because we spent so much time together.

He’s my daytime work buddy, who often sleeps on my desk chair, snuggled up behind me. He’s the ultimate cuddler, often making it hard to get out of bed in the morning.

Little Mister enjoying a quiet moment with Rocco.

This little boy wiggled his way into my heart, when I thought I couldn’t love another dog again. I can’t imagine our lives without him.

NaBloPoMo, New Haven, pizza

We are pizza snobs. #sorrynotsorry

November 9, 2019 littleshoeprincess

Every state has something they’re known for: BBQ, lobster, cheese, potatoes…

I’m proud to live in the state that is known for having the best pizza on the planet. (It’s Connecticut, btw, NOT New York).

Unless you are gluten free or can’t eat dairy, I feel it’s safe to say you like pizza. And you’re particular about your pizza. Maybe you’re a deep dish lover. A New York-style die hard. Or a Sicilian pie is where it’s at for you. Whatever the case may be, there’s a style of pizza you like and to you, it’s the best there is, and no one is going to tell you differently.

For me, that pizza is New Haven-style pizza, that is only available in New Haven, CT.

What is New Have style pizza? Or should I say, apizza? (pronounced a-beetz).

It’s a thin crust pizza cooked to crispy perfection in a coal-fired oven that’s as hot as the sun.

As for toppings, they can vary. There’s the classic tomato pie with grated cheese, the white clam pie (add bacon and peppers and make it ‘clams casino’) and everything in between.

New Haven is home to the three heavy hitters of the pizza world: Frank Pepe’s, Sally’s and Modern. And if you’re familiar with them, you are loyal to one of them.

For us, we’re a Modern family. Their clams casino pizza (on the left in the photo: white pie, mozzarella, chopped clams and garlic, peppers and bacon – and we add hot cherry peppers – is to die for).

The tricky thing with the New Haven pizza scene is that none of these places deliver. So if you’re not in the mood (or have the time) to drive down to New Haven and stand in line for a table, you have to find other options.

Let me tell you, with a 5 year old, we order pizza a lot. And we’ve have had some BAD pizza trying to find our “local” pizza place.

Our test pizza, the our favorite pizza to order from places that aren’t Modern, is aptly (self) named The KK Special. The KK Special consists of sauce and mozzarella, with sausage, black olives and ricotta. This is an especially difficult pizza to master, as you need to find not only the balance of the toppings, but you must ensure you have a crispy enough crust to hold up to the soft ricotta. (If you deliver a soggy pizza, you are one and done).

It took some time, but we’ve found our neighborhood pizza place. They only do take out – not a table to be found in the place. Only downside: they don’t deliver. But it’s THAT good, that we will throw on a coat and boots and leave the warmth of home to go and pick it up.

Olde World Pizza is amazing. And, it’s consistently amazing, which is a very appealing attribute for a pizza place to have.

Here are tonight’s selections:

For Mr and Mrs KK, the pizza on the left: eggplant and meatball.

And for Little Mister, his favorite: bacon, spinach and black olive. (Pretty impressive for a five year old).

And you must have beer with pizza. No arguments.

And if you don’t eat so much pizza that you can’t breathe, you’re not doing it right.

Life, Mornings, Mr. KK, NaBloPoMo, Screen time

Why I’m proud of my excessive “screen time”

November 4, 2019November 4, 2019 littleshoeprincess

‘Screen time’ is a buzzword, most often used by professionals and websites telling people how they are bad parents when their children get too much of it. Little Mister does not do a ton of screen time at home, however I question whether these experts who pooh-pooh ipads for kids have ever tried to get dinner on the table at a reasonable hour, eat a meal at a restaurant while it was still hot, or just wanted 1 hour to get the grocery shopping done without having to answer the question, “Can we get this?” 3,728 times.

Now, adults are being judged on their screen time. It was either with one of the latest iPhones or one of the millions of updates that I started getting these weekly “Screen Time” alerts, where my phone would ~~scold me~~ tell me how much time I spent on my phone in the past week.

(by the way, that “5:41” at the top is AM folks, not PM)

I spend a lot of time on my phone.

I am an early riser. I mean EARLY. (Don’t even get me started on Daylight Savings Time, when for the past 2 days I’ve basically woken up in the middle of the night).

And when I wake up, I need something to do to occupy my mind and time that is not loud or disruptive. Sometimes I read. But most times, I’m on my phone, scrolling, researching, planning.

Sure, I’m catching up on social media and reading articles that Facebook thinks I’ll like, and mentally shopping all of the goodies I see on Insta with the #targetdoesitagain.

But these early morning hours, these are the hours I’m most productive.

Here are some of the things I accomplish while the world still sleeps:

Catch up on all my emails that came in the night before
Check my calendar and mentally plan out the morning, and my day at work
Sign up for exercise classes for the upcoming days/week
Organize my photos and upload them to Shutterfly
During the holidays, get inspiration for gifts and make lists
Shop! I’m Amazon’s best customer before the sun comes up
Peruse family vacation houses
Make a grocery list
Research anything that Mr. KK and I have been taking about in the last few days: recipes for Thanksgiving, activities for the Little Mister, the new brewery opening up
Secretly look up and price out beach vacations
Silently LOL at the funniest things parents tweeted for the week on HuffPo

Of course, when Mr. KK finally wakes up, it’s likely I’ve been on my phone for a few hours by that point, so he barely has an eye open when I start bombarding him with questions, showing him recipes and asking him to look at the 37 links I texted him while he was sleeping.

Hey, if I’m going to be awake, I’m going to be productive.

Boston, getting old, NaBloPoMo, Restaurants

I’m too old to stand in line at a bar.

November 4, 2019 littleshoeprincess

Once a year, my friend J and I arrange a girls’ weekend in Boston where we spend the weekend eating, drinking, catching up and shopping.

The weather Gods were in our favor this year, as we had gorgeous fall weather, low 50’s and sunny – perfect poncho weather.

Lunch was at Coppa Boston, where we sipped wine and enjoyed a gorgeous charcuterie platter of fennel salami, duck prosciutto and spicy soppressata, paired with nutty pecorino, creamy robiola and and sola cheeses; and meatballs and a celery caesar salad that was so crunchy and fresh, I have to try and recreate this dish at home.

When J and I lived in Boston (15 years ago!) we both lived in South Boston (Southie, to those in the know). J lived on the nicely gentrified East Side, right on K Street near the famous L Street Tavern where Matt Damon and the Good Will Hunting gang used to hang out. I lived on the gritty west side off of West 5th Street, next to the park where Matt, Ben and others fought those kids on the basketball court.

Even though we lived on different sides of town, we both left before Southie became the trendy, up-and-coming area teeming with hipsters and millennials that it is today. So in an effort to relive our time living in the greatest city of all time, we decided to go to dinner in our old neighborhood.

“Wait until you see how Southie had changed,” I told her. “You won’t even recognize it.”

As our Uber driver, Wellington – whom we fondly referred to as Beef Wellington – took a left onto Albany Street, we both pressed our noses to the glass. What used to be dilapidated buildings and abandoned doorways, was now trendy gastro pubs, fromageries, and wine shops.

Whitey Bulger’s old haunt Triple O’s Lounge was now a rustic Italian cafe. Hole in the wall pizza joints were now chic taverns. And the old Mexican haunt with tabletops sticky from spilled margaritas was now a loud and hip sushi restaurant – and our destination for dinner.

Maybe it was eating at a restaurant where we the scene matched the food, or the hoards of youth on the sidewalks, but after dinner these two now-suburban moms were not ready to call it a night.

“Let’s go back to Broadway and go for a drink!” we thought who we were. And then we saw the lines at the bars. And then we realized who were weren’t.

We weren’t waiting in a line at a bar. Because we are OLD.

Both bars had lines so long, that it was doubtful that the kids – and they did look like kids – would ever see the inside of the place before dawn. And, not to go all MOM on the young ladies, but it was under 40 degrees, and the girls wore halter tops and mini skirts and no coats!

Don’t get me wrong, I still wait in lines. I’m just selective about the types of lines I’ll wait in.

I’ll wait in line to get into my favorite pizza place.

I’ll wait in line to get the latest beer released at a brewery.

But I won’t wait in line to get into a bar and pay inflated prices for cocktails and scream to be heard.

When we saw those lines, we looked at each other and a look passed between us, and in that brief moment we silently said to each other, “We have pajamas waiting for us in a hotel, with no spouses or kids and an entire bed to ourselves where we can lie down and watch HGTV uninterrupted until we fall asleep. So let’s leave these kids standing in line and high tail it back to our room.”

So we abandoned the line, hopped in an Uber and were in our jammies faster than you could say “millennial”.

To the young ones out there, waiting in lines at bars, enjoy it while you can.

And, for the love of God, WEAR A COAT!

Life, NaBloPoMo

Hello! Let me catch you up!

November 2, 2019 littleshoeprincess

It’s Day 1 of NaBloPoMo – and I’m back blogging after almost a year off since last year’s month-long blogfest.

I always like to start the month off with a little recap of what I’ve been doing for the last year, besides sneaking off to Target and single-handedly keeping Amazon in business.

A year in review.

December

As always, it was a busy holiday season. We decided that we would indeed introduce the Elf on a Shelf into our home (more on that guy in another post). As predicted, I thoroughly enjoyed finding new and interesting places for his shenanigans. I’m looking forward to ~~threatening my child with no presents~~ spreading that holiday magic again this year!

In true Little Mister fashion, he SLEPT IN on Christmas morning! Bright side: it gave Mr. KK and I a chance to make tea and coffee and sit in quiet for a few moments before the craziness began.

We have never been big fans of going out on New Year’s Eve; I think we’ve stayed in the last 10 years. Mr. KK will mix up some adult bevvies, I’ll cook up a tasty meal and we’ll play games and watch my all-time favorite reviews of all the people who died in the last year. Since Little Mister joined us, we’ve had the same plan, except our gourmet dinner includes pigs in a blanket and faux countdown at 9pm. But…we still have fun!

January

I jumped on the Instant Pot bandwagon. Mr. KK bought me one for Christmas (unlike some women I LOVE getting kitchen stuff for Christmas! Bring on the appliances and gadgets!)

I’ve mostly made soups (split pea, chicken, tortilla), artichokes (revolutionary!) and buffalo chicken.

February

We tried swim lessons, again.

And, once again, our child took swim lessons from land:

That was about as close to the pool as he got. Each week he would sit there and watch the class. One week he dared to put his feet in the water (!) and the swim instructor pulled him in the pool. The parents around me started to cheer and clap (as they, too, watched him watch swim lessons for weeks). Little Mister, however, was NOT having it. He started to scream and cry and when she put him back on the tile he looked directly at me and yelled: “I am so ANGRY right now!” Then he stomped off to the women’s locker room, with as much dignity as possible while wearing a rubber tube around his midsection.

Bonus points for him being able to express his feelings?

March

Perhaps the biggest news of the year, was that we added to our family! Meet: Rocco!

Rocco is a shelter dog, and we rescued him when he was just 3 1/2 months old. I was home alone one Friday night, throwing back cabernet and scrolling through Petfinder (like all the cool kids) when I came across his face. I immediately texted the link to Mr. KK who distractedly responded, “He’s cute!” Which I translated into, “YOU MUST GET THIS DOG RIGHT NOW.”

Fast forward two weeks from that fateful night, and I picked up this little 7-pound fur baby. And we haven’t looked back since.

You can follow his antics on Instagram @therealroccomars

April

Milestone birthday for me.

Moving on.

We also discovered the Little Mister’s love of roller coasters! Who would’ve thought this shy child who wouldn’t participate in swim lessons would become a coaster junkie??

I think Mr. KK and I squeezed our adult-sized bodies into this rickety kiddie roller coaster 5 times that night. My back still hasn’t recovered.

May

It was a good year for beer. Lots of new, high-octane hoppy releases from some of our favorite breweries. Now that I’m up in Boston so often, it’s easy for me to pop over to one of our favorite breweries and grab whatever’s new.

This was a Quadruple IPA.

Not double.

Not triple.

QUADRUPLE.

And it was delicious. Smooth, hoppy, no bitter after taste. And not to sound pretentious, but it drank like a double IPA.

Summer

We took our usual family vacation to Maine, where Max fall in love (that’s a post in itself!) There is just something about the southern coast of Maine in the summer. Between the food and beer scene in Portland, and the beaches in Cape Elizabeth, and that laid-back summer state of mind, it must may be the most amazing place on earth.

September

If you know me at all, you know that if it involves a trip to Target, I’m down. And if it doesn’t have anything at all to do with Target, I will force fit that sh*t.

Because LM’s Grandmothers ruined Target for me, I now have to have “the toy talk” before we head to the Happiest Place on Earth. Armed with the understanding that we were only getting a backpack and a lunchbox for school, we strutted around the store show off our Toy Story stuff:

And see that yellow price sticker? That’s CLEARANCE, kids.

BOOM.

October

The Little Mister turned 5! I’m not sure how that’s possible, because it feels like just yesterday we were given the side-eye in a Virginia hotel when we stopped for the night with a 3-day old baby.

If the objective of the day was to keep a big smile on Little Mister’s face, then mission accomplished. We rented a bouncy house, and Little Mister jumped in that thing from the minute it was inflated at 8:45am until they came to take it away at 5:45pm.

I spent a little time jumping in this thing, too. And I’m embarrassed to say that I was WINDED after a minute of jumping.

And that my legs were sore the next day.

****

There you have it – the year in review.

Get ready, folks. In the next 29 days I’ll write about my latest food obsession, college before technology, getting old and being told you’re old, and Little Mister’s thoughts on where babies come from.

Happy reading!

Life, NaBloPoMo

I hate how this world has changed me.

November 30, 2018November 30, 2018 littleshoeprincess

Screen Shot 2018-11-29 at 8.03.05 PM

I should premise this story by saying I’m a paranoid person by nature. When I travel alone I barricade the hotel room door. I triple-check the locks at night. I’m the one who asks, “Did you beep the car?” multiple times.

This morning I made an early morning grocery store run. I pushed my cart into the parking lot and stopped my cart behind my car so that I could load my groceries. There was a car backed into the spot next to me, lights on and running. As I started putting bags into the back of my car, the window of the car rolled down to reveal a woman inside.

“I love your glasses,” she said to me.

“Oh, thank you!” I told her, continuing to load my car. “They’re actually cheater readers because I’m old and I can’t see anymore!” I thought this would be the end of our conversation, but she pressed on.

“Where did you get them?” she asked.

“At The Loft,” I replied, hurrying up a bit.

“Is that in the mall? Where is The Loft?”

At this point, I started to get a little leery. Here’s where my train of thought went: a few months ago, a person was mugged in this very grocery store parking lot around 8am in the morning (it was 7:30am). I had just gotten money back when I paid the cashier. Had someone inside watched me? Who was behind me in line? Was this their getaway car? Is that why it was running? Did a husband and wife team work together? Was it her role to sit in the car and distract someone with small talk while her counterpart surprises them and robs them? Am I total nut job???

See, I told you I was paranoid!

I was trying to be nice, while checking out my surroundings, and getting the hell back in my car.

Also, for the record, my little cheater reader glasses ARE really nice. I do get lots of compliments on them.

“It’s in Milford,” I tell her, slamming my trunk. “In that little strip mall.”

I push my cart into the cart corral and hurry to my door, checking over my shoulder.

“See you later!” I tell her, hopping in my car and hitting the door lock.

Once I was safely inside, that’s when I started to feel badly. She really was just being nice, and here I was paranoid she was part of an elaborate mugging scheme.

The world has changed so much, and it’s disheartening. Ten years ago, I would never have had those crazy thoughts. I would have had a normal conversation with this woman without worrying that someone was watching me. I wouldn’t be cataloging in my mind everyone I saw after checkout who could have seen me get money from the cashier. (The fact that someone was robbed in that very parking lot didn’t help, either.)

When I look at what the world has become, I often wonder how any of us who grew up in the 80s are even alive. We left the house in the morning and came home for dinner. We didn’t have cell phones to check on (or for parents to track us).

It makes me sad for what the world is going to morph into as Little Mister gets older. Will he never feel safe outside? (Or, more likely, will I never feel safe letting him play outside?) When I was in middle school, I was considered a ‘walker’, which basically meant I walked to school. And, I would take the short cut to school, which meant walking through the woods. Can you imagine this happening today? A school saying it was ok for a 12-year-old to walk through the woods alone to school?

I know I will be a paranoid mother – probably more so than I have to be. Will he think I’m crowding him? Probably. Being over protective? Yep. Annoying? I’m sure. But it’s who I am for myself, and who I will undoubtedly be for Little Mister.

Mr. KK, NaBloPoMo

Day 28: What I love about Mr. KK

November 28, 2018November 28, 2018 littleshoeprincess

NaBloPoMo can be a stressful time in the KK household. The added pressure of coming up with new blog posts every day for 30 days – often at night, after we put the Little Mister to bed, when all I want to do is lay in a semi-comatose state on the couch – can wear on you.

What started out as an innocent question has turned into a bit of a joke. Every night I ask Mr. KK, “What should I write my blog post about today?” and every day he replies, “How about how much you love your husband?” He’s (mostly) kidding.

So the joke is on him, today. I’m taking him up on his blog idea. And I’m writing an entire post about some of the things I love most about Mr. KK:

He’s an amazing father to our Little Mister. Even when LM was going through his ‘mommy phase’, and he didn’t so much as want to give Mr. KK the time of day, Mr. KK was patient (for the most part!), finding special times for just the two of them to hang out (and give Mom a bit of a break). Now they’re best buds.
He’s a perfectionist. I make fun of him for this, how we can’t hang something on the wall without using 47 tools and it taking 3 hours. But his attention to detail and desire to do things the right way, say a lot about who he is as a person, his integrity, and how he approaches his job and his life in general.
He’s a good sport when I make fun of him for “blowing leaves”. We have a term in our house: blowing leaves. I actually posted about it a few years ago. Blowing leaves is described as this: starting a task that bears no relevance whatsoever on the situation at hand, and having said task take up WAY too much time and energy, both of which you do not have. For example, we’re cleaning up the house when we have people coming over, and Mr. KK pulls out 3 months of bills and receipts and starts to organize them. REALLY???
He’s my biggest fan. When I told him I wanted to change careers a few years ago? He 100% supported me. He loves all the meals I cook. He doesn’t question my crazy ideas and decisions. He takes over when I have to travel for work like it’s no big deal. And he knows I don’t mean it when I act a little crazy.
He’s humble. Mr. KK never wants to be the center of attention. Even when he’s the smartest person the in room, knows the right way to do something, or is being told he’s wrong when he’s really right, he keeps quiet. He’ll usually choose the path that makes life easier for others, and not complain. Unlike his lovely wife. 🙂
He’s a good human. He was raised well (hats off to you, mother-in-law KK!) and he genuinely cares about other people’s feelings. I tend to push him to be a little more aggressive when it comes to advocating for himself, but that’s probably why we balance each other out so well.

I’ve probably embarrassed him enough, so I’ll stop now.

But as you can tell, he’s really pretty great.

Christmas, NaBloPoMo, shopping

kk’s favorite things: 2018 edition

November 28, 2018November 28, 2018 littleshoeprincess

Everyone is coming out with their best gifts of the season lists, so here are mine!

Lou & Grey Poncho

Screen Shot 2018-11-06 at 8.58.39 AM

A girl can never have too many ponchos, that’s my motto. And, it’s in my signature color: GRAY.

2. Everlane Commuter Backpack

Screen Shot 2018-11-12 at 10.18.07 PM

Speaking of gray, I love the shade of this backpack, perfect for my trips to Boston. This compact size will make it easy for the train rides, and the outer pockets made it easy to reach water, my phone or kindle.

3. Turquoise utensils from Wayfair Screen Shot 2018-11-18 at 9.04.17 AM

Our kitchen utensils are approaching 14 years old – which is like 150 in human years. This bright turquoise color will complement my orange stove perfectly.

4. Lap Desk Screen Shot 2018-11-24 at 8.28.57 PM

I haven’t had a lap desk since college, when I would write my papers on my Brother word processor on my bed. This lap desk would be perfect for the times I’m writing blog posts on the couch, trying to balance my lap top…like right now.

5. Anthropologie Spreaders

Screen Shot 2018-11-24 at 8.32.35 PM

These are almost too pretty to get dirty! I love the bright colors and patterns. One more reason to entertain.

6. Crate & Barrel Marble Cheese Board Screen Shot 2018-11-25 at 5.44.08 PM

One of the gifts I gave to my mother-in-law recently was a square marble cheese board. Every time I’m at her house and it’s out on the table I’m so jealous – and mad that I didn’t get one for myself.

7. Opalhouse Holiday Wreath from Target

Screen Shot 2018-11-25 at 7.59.40 AM

I have resisted the urge to buy this about 73 times (even today, when it is 30% off!). I just love how fluffy and festive it is, everything Christmas should be.

8. Felt Laptop Sleeve

Screen Shot 2018-11-25 at 8.01.50 AM

Just when you thought I couldn’t add any more gray into my life, there’s this awesome laptop sleeve. My Mac will fit snuggly inside, and this case will fit snuggly inside the commuter backpack above.

9. Scout Duffle Bag

Screen Shot 2018-11-27 at 9.29.43 PM

Oh, how I love me a Scout bag. This duffle is the perfect size for an overnight trip (hint, hint, Mr. KK!), with lots of pockets and a shoulder strap. And a cute little dachshund logo to boot.

10. L.L. Bean Cozy Pajamas Screen Shot 2018-11-26 at 3.01.04 PM

I’m always cold, so these cozy flannel pajamas are perfect for me when the temperature drops below 55 degrees. Bonus: they come in petite sizes!

Hopefully you saw something here that would be perfect for someone on your list! Happy shopping!

Kids will be kids, NaBloPoMo

From the mouth of a 4 year old.

November 27, 2018 littleshoeprincess

Ah, the uncensored, mostly hilarious – yet sometimes mean – mouth of a preschooler.

If you’re looking for honest feedback, find the nearest 4-year-old. They speak their minds, have no filter. They also pick up on things they hear and that you say to them, then turn around and use those same phrases in shockingly proper ways.

Here are some recent gems:

When he sees a toy commercial or a toy in a catalog. “I would like that toy from Santa! Wait, was is that toy? What does it do? Doesn’t matter, I still want it!”

“I’ll take one of these, and one of these, and one of these…”

Little Mister was pretending that me and Mr. KK were babies. He woke us up and told us he needed to go to work. He put on my scarf, kissed us both good-bye and said, “Now don’t do anything I wouldn’t do when I was you!”

I was drying him off after his bath, and he ran to the bathroom before we put pajamas on. When he came back, he informed me, “AND, I didn’t even pee on the floor! Well, except that one drop, but that’s right in front of the toilet, so it’s ok.”

Little Mister brought his stuffed monkey in the car with him on the way to daycare. I let him know that he needed to leave his monkey in the car when he went into school. His response, “Ok, but I don’t want your girlfriends playing with my monkey all day.” Oh boy.

Never a dull moment in this house!

NaBloPoMo

Since when is the movie theater your second living room?

November 26, 2018November 26, 2018 littleshoeprincess

Fun fact about me: I am HORRIBLE when it come to movie trivia. Unless your questions are about Dirty Dancing, Pretty Woman, Meet the Parents, Wedding Crashers, The Hangover or Pitch Perfect (the original), I’m pretty much useless. Don’t ever pick me for a teammate for movie trivia night.

On average, Mr. KK and I average possibly less than one movie per year. Some of you are probably gasping at this, because you frequent the movies and have seen all nominees come awards season. Us? Unless there is a movie that we are dying to see/features one of our most favorite actors, we’ll maybe catch it on tv.

Just because we’re not big movie buffs, we don’t want to project that onto the Little Mister. So today, we took him to his very first movie: The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

We really talked this event up to the Little Mister. He has a tendency to be excited about something for a while, but when it’s ‘go time’ – i.e., time to change out of his pajamas and actually leave the house – he all of a sudden doesn’t want to go.

Needless to say, we made this movie event feel better than the second coming of the Lord. And Little Mister was right there with us.

Not being seasoned movie goers, I was under the impression that we could just go to our local movie theater and purchase tickets for the movie that was starting in 20 minutes. You know, how you used to be able to go to the movies. Oh, but no. Now, all off the tickets must be bought online (fine) and you choose your seats ahead of time. When I checked Saturday night, all shows in our theater only had seats in the front row available. I was not taking Little Mister to his first movie experience and making him sit in the neck-ache first row.

We ended up getting online tickets to a theater one town over, where we didn’t have to choose our tickets ahead of time. And guess what? It was fine. In fact, there was only a few families in the theater when we arrived, trough-sized popcorn in hand.

This is when I met the most annoying movie goers on the planet. If I wasn’t with my child, I would have truly said something snarky to them because they deserved it.

Not the best view in this video, but you can see how they have basically moved into the movie theater.

The theater was not large, and all of the seating was accessible by one aisle along the left side of the theater. We found a row that was occupied on one side by a family but had 5 free seats all the way against the wall.

Let me set the scene for you: the family consisted of 7 women of varying ages, who more or less appeared to have moved into the movie theater, claiming the row as their new home. Each one was reclined in the movie seats (fine), legs propped up, pretending people weren’t trying to get into their row. They had brought blankets with them from home (BLANKETS – like the ones from their couches), and the walkway in front of them and the seats was littered with backpacks (yes, BACKPACKS) so much so, that no one could walk through if they tried (let alone my 4 year old who could trip on air).

As I tried to enter the row, the mother hen – who was sitting on the end – looked at me with a look that said, “Really? You’re going to come in our row?” (I could have slapped her on that look alone.)

“Do you think we could get by?” I asked, as Little Mister asked loudly, “Are we going to sit here???”

She looked down the row to the empty seats, then to all of the shit on the floor, then to me. “We figured anyone wanting to sit there would enter from the other side.” She said, then went back to sipping her soda.

“This is the only way into the row,” I pointed out.

She made a half-hearted attempt to look down the aisle and then back at me. Her little brood at there avoiding looking at us, staring at their phones and stuffing popcorn in their faces.

“Come on, buddy,” I said to Little Mister, guiding him up the stairs. “We’ll find another place to sit.”

“Yeah,” the mother said to me. “That would probably be best.”

ARE YOU EFFING KIDDING ME????

We sat in the row behind them, close enough that I could hear her nasally, annoying voice, but far enough away that I could shoot secret looks to Mr. KK and complain about her.

I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that the movies were now a place where you practically MOVED IN with your family wearing basically pajamas (as an adult) and bringing half of your living room blankets with you.

Annoying family aside, Little Mister had a great first time at the movies! I’m pretty sure the big tub of popcorn was his favorite part of the day, but he was totally into the movie. He didn’t say a word from the time the lights went down until they came back up

We’re ready for the next movie, and now we’re prepared. I know I need to buy and reserve seats at some theaters a week ahead of time, and I know the family that we need to avoid at all costs. Oh, and we’ll be leaving our blankets at home, thank you very much.