Devil Baby

Happy Halloween, peeps! We were going to dress up and go out with some friends but Mama Jarcy is not feeling so hot. Also, Mr. Jarcy is stuck on the side of an LA freeway with our broken down car for the second time. This day is not turning out to be the best in terms of celebrating but luckily Devil Baby is really cute and keeping us afloat.

We'll try to dress up in our costumes tomorrow and pretend that it's really October 31.

Video Takeover?

Where did my video of Matzoball go? Adam Sandler's bulldog was my video and now it's some screaming metal band? I'm confused.

And now the dog is back. That was weird.

Curls, Curls, Curls

My hair seems to have taken a cue from the rest of my life and made some changes. It used to be pretty straight and now it is pretty curly. It's very odd. It started down this path before I had The Boy and now it has intensified. Wavy, curly combo and I'm at a loss as to what to do with it. I can't just wash it and expect it to style itself (well I can expect it but the hair isn't conforming to this desire). Unfortunately, I got it cut into a short bob as well so I'm looking like Shirley Temple. In my minimal experience, I can tell you that curly hair is not nearly as easy to style as straight. Those "beachy, natural waves" take a ridiculous amount of time to create but after buying all sorts of styling products I'm determined to make a go of it. Wish me luck.

How Many Gourds Can You Fit Into Your Escalade?

I need your help. Someone please find me the answer to the following...

Why are celebs so obsessed with taking their kids to pumpkin patches? I get that it is Halloween season but I do not recall ever being hauled off to a specific pumpkin selling vendor when I was a child. I've seen one of these patches in Sherman Oaks and have wondered if this is the one Christina Aguilera, Tobey Maguire and Jessica Alba tote their little kiddos off to in search of the perfect gourd. I'm not sure why this rubs me the wrong way but it does. Maybe because these are the same people who pay minions to pick up their groceries, dry cleaning and designer duds. So why does the pumpkin get so much face time? These patches are just in the middle of busy LA! It's not like we're taking an outing to the country here. Right behind Ralph's grocery store--where the minions can purchase pumpkins--is the temporary "patch" to buy the pumpkin. And the day after Halloween it will vanish with the LA morning fog.

 A few days after that a Christmas tree patch(?) will show up in it's place and the whole tradition will start over. I won't give them a hard time about the tree though, now that is something a child must take part in. 
:-)

Burnt To A Crisp

Not 2 seconds after I clicked "send" on my last post did The Boy wake up and cry from his teething. He's still up. It's 11:07 PM. And now his parents are toast. Maybe I'll eat some toast to keep my energy up! Ha.

Do You Think Perez Would Change A Diaper?

Hello! Happy Sunday night! It's 9:22pm and The Boy is in bed. I'm not going to hold my breath that he will stay there but it's always nice when this bedtime mumbo jumbo gets started before 10pm and Mommy and Daddy are toast. The last few weeks he's put us through the ringer with bedtime--or lack thereof--so we celebrate these moments.

A high school friend of mine lives out here and has been nice enough to share with me all of the mommy resources. I told her I was thinking about a play group or class for The Boy and I to join and she sent me 4 or 5 links. (I should be making her a casserole or something as a token of my gratitude.) I'm sure I'll check out all the groups she's sent my way, however, I can't help but wonder if Perez Hilton might join us for a play date too. I've been reading his celebrity gossip site since long before he moved to L.A. and in my head we are good friends. Of course, I'm the same person who mistook Dale, a contestant from the reality cooking show "Top Chef" as someone I knew when I saw him on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Oops, I don't know you! I only think I know you because I watched you prepare critiqued meals on TV! It was a bit awkward for us both.

I don't get this way with big stars. Throw Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise in front of my path and I'm sure to pretend I don't care in the least. And in many ways I don't. I don't need them thinking they're any more extraordinary than they already do. Perez Hilton though, hmm, I'd like to sit and chat with him. Or Joel McHale from The Soup. Kathy Griffin would be super fun too. Tom Bergeron the host on Dancing With The Stars and America's Funniest Videos... yes, I must have an affinity for the working class of celebrity comedians. Take out the word "celebrity" and I just described the majority of my friends out here.

Okay, 15 minutes until Mad Men and then I can sleep (please, Boy, please don't alter this plan). Maybe I'll email Perez and see if he's free to meet up later this week. I've got a Pilates class Wednesday and then I'm wide open...

6,877 Square Feet From America's Sweetheart Up For Grabs

A "Home" section comes in our Los Angeles Times paper every Saturday. There are beautiful estates featured which one would expect. What is not expected, however, is the celebrity home for sale feature.

Last week it was the cottage of an actress on "Dexter." The week before it was the renovated home of actor James DeFranco. Today's edition features Meg Ryan's Bel Air estate. It's priced at $14.2 million if any of you are in the market. Even more entertaining about this "Hot Property" section of news (are we calling it news?) is that it will list the home specs along with the celebrity's resume. "Meg Ryan, who will star opposite Timothy Hutton in the December comedy 'Serious Moonlight'," and "Ryan, 47, has been a leading lady in the films such as 'When Harry Met Sally (1989) and 'Sleepless in Seattle (1993)'." Did we really not know who she was?

On a similar note, Dancing With The Stars is usually the top story on the local network's nightly news. Heehee, I love L.A.-- Swine flu is a major epidemic out here, however, you won't get the update on that until after you find out how Kelly Osborne did with her Argentine Tango.

Sun and Surf? Uh, Where Again?

We made an impromptu visit to Santa Monica this morning. We had planned on going to this outdoor recreation area called Lake Balboa but The Boy fell asleep in the car on the way there so we decided to head in another direction to the beach. I've never seen the Pacific ocean and was sooo excited. Here's what I wasn't expecting:

1. Well, above was my first glance. The beach and Santa Monica Pier were covered in a haze, fog or god knows what. It eventually burned off and got sunny but I was still a little thrown.
2. There's a substantially large amount of homeless residing there.
3. The Pier is strewn with restaurants, an arcade, vendors selling tourist trinkets and even a trapeze school. Perhaps the oddest to me was the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company establishment that was attracting visitors by the droves. Huh?

Not quite what I expected but then we drove up Pacific Coast Highway and things started to look more like what I had imagined.

Whatever Keeps You Motivated

Dearest Mrs. Jarcy,

I noticed how much you enjoy Pilates. Yeah! Please do it often and I will greatly appreciate it.

Love,

Your Body

Teach English As A Foreign Language Perhaps? Hmm...

Wow, I just noticed how lengthy my last post was. Eesh, that must be breaking some blog rule. I'll try to edit this one...

I've been perusing university websites, the Craigslist job section and random career related sites. I do this every six months or so. I searched constantly when I unhappily worked in social services. I was on a mission to find a more suitable career and spent many hours wandering aimlessly online for an answer. And for awhile I found it! I began to improvise and loved it! I wrote funny stuff and loved it! I performed and got paid and definitely loved it! It was goodness!

But life changes. The paid gig went away. I wrote less. I stopped performing almost entirely. And while I was sad about those things, I also got pregnant with The Most Amazing Boy To Ever Live! I devoted all my time and energy to that endeavor, partly because I was so darn thrilled to be a mommy and partly because being pregnant was not easy. (Why can't us women folk get paid to grow life for god's sake?)

Now I have The Boy. And we live in a new state. A state where my creative endeavors can flourish if I let them. You see, I know what I want to do. I always have. I just keep trying to find a way to make all those dreams come true while coloring within the lines, so to speak. How can I fulfill these creative tendencies while finding stable hours, health insurance and a 401K? I can't. I can check out all sorts of other careers that I'd be good at but I won't like them as much. So I gotta stop running to the computer in search of an answer and just run to the computer and create the answer. It is time.

Comfort Zone

Morning!

You'll notice my site has had a face lift. I've tried to change the design a handful of times over the years but I always go back to the dark hue and dots. Change is hard...even when it comes to switching up your blog's appearance. I'm the same woman who's had Justin Timerblake's "My Love" as her phone's ringtone ever since it came out. I've temporarily changed it but for some reason I can't fully commit to the change.

So I've been trying to switch things up a bit, shaking out of my comfort zone in small ways. I figure I've already done the big changes with having a baby and moving 2500 miles away from my place of origin so a few little ventures from Comfort Land won't kill me. Ha.

1. I'm cooking a lot more. Cooking is a word that often times could be replaced with "assembling Trader Joe's food packages" but it still is categorically cooking. I'm liking it too! Fridays have become pizza night and friends seem to show up whether we've planned for company or not. The Boy is eating tons of solid foods and I'm happy to say most do not come from a jar bought at the store but from the farmer's market and steamed to his liking. It's great, no negative effects from this daring feat.

2. I took a Spin/Yoga class. Spinning is when you sit on a stationary bike and when I say sit I mean you sit on an extremely uncomfortable seat for short amounts of time intermixed with hovering over an extremely uncomfortable seat for long periods of time. It was torture! I knew it would be because a) I had taken a long, steep hike up a neighborhood hill the night before, b) I have a heart condition and c) extreme cardio is not really my thing. But I've always been fearful of a class like that and now I can check it off my list of things I'm afraid to do but will never do. I did it. I still can barely walk but we won't go into that now.

3. Spending money. Ah, this one's a toughie. Mr. Jarcy and I are essentially out of work, however, moving across the street requires you spend a little cash let alone across the country. We've never done a lot of big ticket purchasing and so while the piggy bank will eventually have to be replenished (sooner rather than later I hope), it's been nice to get ourselves set up to our liking. Not always the most exciting purchases--new car battery, printer/scanner and water filters are in no way glamorous-- but essential nonetheless.

I'm sure there are more things I've done to bust out of comfort zone but I'm a blank right now. While I've tried new things, I haven't changed my ring tone from JT just yet. And I like the dots I used to have on the blog, it's very possible they'll return. But for now I like the switch. I feel like I'm becoming a better version of myself these days and making little strides here and there are the name of the game.

Just Breathe

The Boy is 8 1/2 months old now and I am still paranoid that he will stop breathing in his sleep.

For those of you who have had the privilege of meeting The Boy, you know how hearty he is. He's a bruiser. At 3 months of age one doctor referred to him as "that hunk" and he wasn't referring to his looks (although we all know he's the cutest thing to ever exist). So there is no basis for me to worry he will stop breathing while he slumbers. On the contrary, he thrashes around in his crib like it's a wrestling ring. But I worry nonetheless. I'm pretty sure my heart would shatter into a million pieces and never heal if anything were to happen to him.

So no pressure, Kid, but your mother's happiness depends solely on your ability to thrive. Please don't screw this up.

Need An Apartment In Studio City?

There are a number of available apartments in our building.  One of my favorite hobbies is exploring them.  They have "Open House" signs posted on them so I figure I'm allowed to enter at any time I choose.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do when someone actually moves into them.  I'm starting to feel attached, as if they're mine.  This one in particular has a fantastic view of the hills and the pool.  There are days I'd like to pack up my belongings and move into it.  Couldn't I use it as an office or something?  

Today In (Un)Sunny L.A.

Usually you can see more of the hills from this view.  Today we're in Cloudsville.  Bring on the mudslides!

Nature

Before we left Chicagoland, we took a walk along a nature path.  The Boy really enjoyed it.  Today's weather in L.A. is nothing like this sunny shot.  It is raining and overcast!  Not what I had in mind when I moved here but lucky for us its still in the 60's and by the weekend will be back up to sun and 80.  Woo hoo!

Sunday

Friends loaned us this jumping vessel and thank god for it.  The Boy loves it.  He jumps and jumps and...jumps.  Twice he has fallen asleep in it.  And thankfully it is as tacky as all the other baby toys that now live throughout our home.  I've learned that the gaudier the baby toy the more entertaining it is to us all.

I Hate Teething

See this cute little boy?  He's gnawing on a frozen washcloth in an attempt to soothe his teething pain.  Sadly, it's not working.  Napping does not happen when teething takes over.  It's really not so fun.

ESP

One thing that I find quite interesting about L.A. is that there is a psychic on just about every corner.  In Chicago it's a Starbuck's.  Here it's a psychic.  I guess when work is so unpredictable and sporadic in the entertainment industry, a psychic is a buoy to grab onto.  I wonder how long until I venture into one of these places?

The Elevator

As I mentioned a few posts ago, we live in an elevator building.  It's the first time I've had an elevator since the dorms in college and I'm not really a fan of them.  I was stuck in one as a child for all of 2 minutes and it was enough to give me a phobia (I'm very impressionable if you haven't noticed).

While riding the 'vator on my own the other day I had a revelation.  If I got stuck in it by myself I could do two things I sorely miss and do not do enough now that I'm a mom...sleep and zone out.  

Wow, wouldn't it be amazing to get stuck in the elevator??!  This is my new thought.  And now each time I'm in there I think up other things I could do in there.  Yoga, push ups, write a novel, sleep some more, listen to silence...the possibilities are endless.  

Aging Greasily

This morning I put 3 different lotions on my body-- one self-tanner in an attempt to conceal bruised legs (The Boy is rough on me I guess), one in an attempt to eradicate stretch marks (The Boy was rough on me during pregnancy) and one with sunscreen (this California sun wants to be rough on me).  Three different lotions slathered on three different regions of my body.  Let's not even go into my face regimen.  I am officially old...

Wouldn't We All Enjoy Bathing In This? I Think So.

Mr. Jarcy and I have gone a little overboard with purchases for The Boy.  Things I never would have considered before having him are now "necessities."  This massively huge inflated duck tub being one of them.  God help me but I love it and I'm hoping he does too.