So you think you can dance?

Shake your groove thang. Yea, yeah.

All your "placenta" dances worked! My placenta is now in a galaxy far, far away from my cervix. And baby is measuring in at a honking 1 pound 4 ounces. And he waved to us. [I’ll post ultrasounds pics tonight.]

Somebody must have been doing a "multiple offers" dance too because we now have 3 (possibly 4) offers on our apartment. To date all my real estate experiences have been accompanied by feelings of helplessness and fear. So, it’s rather unsettling to be in this position of power. But, hey, I’m not complaining. The view is MUCH better from this side.

Yahootinis & More

As I write this entry, 100s of bloggers are standing in the hotel courtyard downing "Yahootinis" and free wine. Making the most of the last opportunity to network. And get drunk without their children.

Meanwhile, I’m in my room looking at the overabundance of food I ordered from room service and half-watching Jerry McGuire.

I’d say my eyes were bigger than my stomach, but that phrasing doesn’t really apply to me anymore. Luckily I can expense it.

I was feeling guilty about not networking longer at the cocktail hour (for about 15 minutes), but I’m over it now. It’s been a long few days for me and I’m done. Stick a fork in me. And please get that damn quesadilla off the desk. Bleh. I want to go home. I want my bed. I want my Snoogle. I want my husband. I want my MTV and my TLC and my HGTV.

Now all that stands between me and this household bliss is a night of sleep and a 5-hour plane ride.

PS – Monday morning is my follow-up ultrasound. Hopefully you’ve been doing your placenta dance for me and everything’s going to look honky dory on that screen.

La Cucharacha

When I got up at 4:30am for my now routine pee break, I came across this giant cockroach on the bathroom floor (tea bag placed strategically to show how BIG it was):

It was lying on its back, squirming in agony. So, I covered it with a coffee mug and went about my business. Not the best way to start the day – eh? Lesson: Trip Advisor doesn’t lie.

Do you know the way to San Jose?

Just follow the big belly!

Or, do what I did and just get on the Jet Blue plane bound for San Jose. That worked for me.

I was really dreading the flight, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I had an aisle seat so I could get up and walk around a bit. And since the plane left at 7AM–which meant I got up at the ungodly hour of 4:45AM–I even managed to doze off for a bit.

Oh, why am I in San Jose? Blogher. I’m currently sitting in my hotel room trying to decide whether to be social or take a nap. The bed is looking mighty inviting right now…

Holy Cow! An Offer!

We got an offer on our apartment today. Full price! (It must have been that new comforter.)

Now the question is – Do we get greedy and wait for the open house on Sunday and see if we can get multiple offers and jack up the price? Or, do we accept the offer and get on with things? Hmmmm…

Photo Start

You’ve heard of a photo finish. But this week, it’s a photo start. Welcome to the Monday Morning Photo Extravaganza, brought to you by my super dooper thoughtful husband who surprised me a cool new digital camera on Friday!

Let’s start with me (a very good place to start – right?). Well, actually, this photo is a long distance dedication going out to AnnMarie in Boston. She’s requested a photo of me. Luckily I’m pretty sure it’s just my belly she’s interested in, so you can all ignore the goofy look on my face.

Next, our apartment hit the real estate web listings on Friday and I’m sooo happy with the photos they took of it, that I wanted to share. These are WAY better than I’ve ever been able to take. They hide all the flaws nicely and make the place look pretty huge. Speaking of huge, it must be the same photo technology that makes my thighs look so huge in that photo above. It’s a photographic conspiracy.

Behold the good hugeness:

Ready for our close-up

The last 3 days have been a whirlwind of activity in our home.

Monday – We told the real estate agent we were ready to put our house up for sale.

Tuesday – We signed the contract.

Wednesday – The photographer came to take photos of our apartment.

Today – We’re having the preview for the real estate agents.

I had no idea things would happen so quickly. Consequently, I’ve spent the last few evenings in a haze of cleaning, organizing, and touch-up painting. I watch far too many of those ‘how to sell your house for more money’ shows (Flip This House, Flip That House, Sell this House – you name it), so I probably have a skewed conception of how our place needs to look in order for it to sell. I’ve managed to totally wear myself out trying to get things looking "perfect".

I also never really considered what life would be like when your home is on the market. Each and every day, it needs to be ready for potential buyers to view it. Our current lifestyle consists on being total slobs during the week then cleaning up after ourselves on the weekend, so this is a major adjustment for us. Let’s hope we get an offer quickly!

In none-housing news, I felt the baby have hiccups for the first time this weekend. So darn cute! It felt like a thumping, kind of like a strong heartbeat on the top of my stomach. That very cuteness is why this whole home-selling process is worth it!

Q&A with C&B

ppwgal – Why would I shlep myself 30 blocks in this 101 degree hotness (in a taxi with NO AIR CONDITIONING) to Crate and Barrel on my lunch break instead of staying in my nicely air conditioned office and just ordering online?

crate&barrel – <shrug>

ppwgal – Because I want my new duvet cover TODAY not next week.

crate&barrel – <shrug> That’s a shame because we don’t keep any bedding in stock in our actual store. (What a silly notion – actually having the products that we sell for purchase in our store.) So, basically you just wasted your time and energy. But, we’ll be happy to ship it to you next week.

ppwgal – <evil eye> But, the photographer is coming to take photos or our apartment tomorrow morning. Who’s going to want to buy our apartment when they see the photos of our fugly bedding?

Getting all Martha Stewart on you

There’s something incredibly satisfying about having clean, organized closets.

Loving thy body

I’m liking my body right now. (Wow, did I just say that?) Sure, I have cellulite in places I didn’t know you could get cellulite, but I can deal. My belly is in the cute stage. It’s big, but not too big.

Just when my body self-image is peaking, I come across The Shape of a Mother. Last week I couldn’t escape mention of this new blog and so finally this weekend I decided to check it out.

The idea behind the blog is noble and inspiring:

Becoming a mother changes everything in your world – including
your body. Here we share images of our bodies during and after pregnancy so we
can see what real women look like.

Let me start by saying that I totally admire the women who are posting their photos and showing what their bodies look like. But, I’m sorry to say that I was more scared than inspired. I didn’t know that your belly could look so different after pregnancy. I figured I’d be dealing with weight issues and maybe my boobs would be a little saggier, but I had no idea the stomach could look so distorted post-pregnancy.

I’m not sure whether it would be better to have blissfully gone along through the pregnancy and been shocked by my post-partum self. Or maybe it’s better to know now and prepare myself. I know it’s all worth it in the end. And I’ll gladly take stretch marks in exchange for a healthy baby. But, darn it, it doesn’t seem fair. After carrying the baby for 40 weeks and nurturing it inside of us, shouldn’t nature reward us by giving us an even better body than we had before?