five things | the smell of meat, the color beige, and oprah

1. am i total white girl cliché if i tell you how much i love yellow leaves against a dark grey sky? because i really love yellow leaves against a moody sky. new york does fall a-okay. especially with this crazy indian summer we're having.

2. recently, someone, whom i hadn't talked to in a while, asked me if i still hated pumpkin spice lattes. i consider myself a fairly complex, multi-dimensional person and yet this is what sticks out in their memory? it's funny what we remember about people, isn't it? but for the record, yes. i still despise them, the color beige, the word m-o-i-s-t, and the sound of someone clipping their nails. we all have our ticks, i suppose.

3. every corner of my entire apartment smells like meat right now. i call your overpriced rose-scented organic soy wax candle and raise you a slow cooker full of simmering barbacoa. ziiing.

4. i think co-sleeping is great. i agree with every aspect of it (especially after reading this book). however, i loved actually doing it for about...oh.... three and a half minutes. i'm not sleeping, edie isn't sleeping, joe isn't sleeping. i'm waking up as grumpy as a t-rex with an itchy ass. luckily edie wakes up happy regardless of how much she doesn't sleep. i really enjoy the cuddles but i'm ready to have my bed back and i'm fairly certain that we're all ready to sleep. add that to the growing number of tally marks under the positive column of moving back to charlotte. you get a room! you get a room! you get a room! EVERYBODY GETS A ROOM! *said in best oprah voice.*

5. when i was a youngin' and i wanted something not meant for youngin's, my mother would always say, "i'm sorry honey, but it's just not age-appropriate." it was a no. and for what felt like forever, EVERYTHING wasn't appropriate for my age, even as my age changed. i cringed when she would say this. when i became a parent, i promised myself that i would always try to explain why things are done a certain way instead of the because-i-said-so way of explanation of yesteryear. and for the most part, i stand true to my word. well, low and behold, the other day, when mo asked me why she couldn't wear a bra for the twentieth time (even though mommy does), why she can't wear red lipstick out of the house (even though mommy does), or why a certain movie isn't meant for her (but mommy and daddy can watch it), i became agitated and couldn't bear to explain myself one more time. so, instinctively, i just blurted out, "i'm sorry, mo, but it's just not age-appropriate. end of discussion." dear mom, i get it. i totally get it. and you were right. (ps. do not gloat.)