life's a beach.

my oh my, what a week. [actually more like 2]

So much to tell! On the 18th, I turned the ripe age of 25. Milestone much?
My mom threw me a lovely dinner party at which we ate enough food for 30 people [there were only 12 mouths] We licked our lips with lamb, hummus, caprese, about 5 other salads, cheeses, olives, sparkling ciders for me, wine for everyone else, breads, fruit tart, ice cream and fresh fruit. It was a pregnant starving woman's heaven. Not to mention, I got gorgeous gifts from everyone. it was truly a wonderful evening. I was so glad to be surrounded by people who love me so much.

It was also quite the mind job to think that 'by this time next year...I'll be sporting a 6 month old on my hip...' [eeeeeeee!]

Oh yeah, and did I mention that I had 4 house guests and took an impromtu trip to Ohio to see some old friends! Like I said before busy week. Yesterday I spent the day cleaning my floors and doing 5 loads of laundry. Now I'm wiped, but NOT QUITE wiped enough to pass the opportunity to throw a little party for some friends tonight. Sean and Kate are thinking of moving to my are and we are trying to seal the deal by showing them a great time. I'm thinking Sushi party.

Cheers loves!

12 weeks already...?

big things come in small packages...

[photo by Niki Crosby of Happy Clay]

book: devoured

I've devoured this book in less than a week. Recommended by a friend, it has informed me of so many things about birthing & hospitals I didn't know. I love being informed. Ignorance isn't bliss, it's entrapment. Information is power, and what's better than being empowered? Especially when it comes to giving birth!?

You are what you eat, and you are what you read!

Do you have a book about babies/birthing/pregnancy that you would recommend to me?

i love Imogen Heap.

can't wait for her new album!

black bean salad deliciousness

mmmmm.

I've eaten one of these puppies nearly every day since I saw Casablanca's post about her black bean salad with veggies fresh from her garden. While I don't have my own garden, and am rather bummed about it, I still was inspired to eat. Hah, I don't seem to have a problem eating anything now-a-days. Just offer!

Ok, so here's my little recipe for an uber delicious BB salad...with ingredients from my local amish farmers. Yay for farmers.

Black beans (if you are really good, you will soak and cook them yourself. I opt for organic cans)

Tomato

Cucumber

Red Bell Pepper

White Cabbage (thin shreds, and they key is to squeeze them after chopping. Help to break them down and the dressing really soaks in!)

Avocado

Fresh Cilantro (a lot)

Fresh Mint and Basil are also SO good

Top it off with some salt and pepper, generous lemon juice and olive oil....and voila!

If you want to kick it up a notch (Emeril.) add some diced jalepeno and fresh garlic. yum!

Thanks Casablanca for the inspiration!

:) haappy eeaating!

11 weeks & counting...

Today marks my 11th week of pregnancy. Baby Brink is now the size of two starbucks sugar packets. How sweet. Last week we saw the heartbeat at my first ultrasound, and I can tell you that my heart skipped a beat. It was a phenomenal feeling to see our little lima beans' eyes, head, little arms and beating hard. The technician was so nonchalant, 'and there is the little peanut' but I was like 'omg. it's real. it's really in there! wow!' Seems that a little bit of faith is needed for this kind of thing, because at this point I'm growing at such a slow rate I hardly feel pregnant. Top it off with not an ounce of morning sickness or intollerance to any foods. But that's only physically. Mentally, emotionally and spiritually I'm on a topsy turny ride. Maternal insticts are forming. I've been reading books, blogs and this birth story today and balled my eyes out.
So while my body is telling me only that I'm more tired than usual, my heart is telling me, 'you are going to be a mamma.'

I don't know if I should begin posting 'belly' pics...there's not much there to show yet!? Should I?

Our babe's first glamour shot:

happy year of love

June 8th was our 1 year wedding anniversary! We ventured down to D.C. for the weekend. we had known for a week that we were pregnant, so we had two reasons to celebrate!!
It was a great time for us to get away, relax, shop, & eat. We spent a lot of that weekend talking about our #2 year, and dreaming about being parents. What an adventure we are about to take!

Well doves, it is late, and time for me and the bean to sleep. I hope you all have a delicious and sunny and happy holiday, overeating and lighting sparklers! Enjoy!

Xx,
Yana

because cable is SO much more important than an ultrasound

we had an appointment to get an ultrasound tuesday of this week.
In my total excitment and glee, I didn't remember we had the cable guy scheduled for the same time. for whatever reason, we changed the ultrasound app, not the cable. [i am still irked about it] and I called to confirm my rescheduled app for tomorrow, and they are telling me the office is closed and they don't know how that could've happened [like it's my fault they are retarded?]
I'm waiting for the office to call back and reschedule me, but I hate knowing that it might be another week...

i'm crying because all I want to do is see/hear the little babe and it keeps getting delayed.
what's a girl to do if she can't cry to her fellow bloggers??

{ EDIT: God works in mysterious ways. I have been rescheduled for tonight at 7:15! woohooo!!!!! }

the future is at my doorstep

Last night I woke up at 2:30 thinking of baby names. (subconcious musings?) I laid in bed till 4:30 and couldn't stand to be hungry any longer (hungry all the time!) So I ventured down into the kitchen and made some toast. Then I drank a small cup of OJ (apparantly I have the smallest kidney in the universe now) and ate some berries. As I dined on my 4 am snack, I thought, and thought. and thought. I thought of this little lima bean sized life growing in me. I thought about time. And how it moves forward in nearly violent force.
"I've already been married a year and a month! I'm turning 25!? And my babe will be here, in my arms, in 7 months. That's nearly half a year!! Before I know it, the babe will be 6 months old. Then they will be walking! Then...graduating from middle school. Then College!!! Then they will come home with their love and tell me they are getting married.........."

OMG. Please someone, tell me to slow down! I know my brain moves in recdiculous ways, but I'm just going to freak myself right out if I keep thinking like this.

That was how I went to bed last night. This morning I purposed to just.....enjoy today. And not to be so anxious, just excited. Maybe I'm not ready to see my 'heart running around on the outside of my body' is how my friend Katie explains her love for her children. It must be the most incredible thing to watch a child grow, mingled with a twinge of sadness. Oy. These emotions!
Hopefully you will all stay with me as I ride this rollercoaster...I have a feeling there will be many more blogs like this.

Love, Y

Oh my stars!

Doves!
It's finally happened. I am the proud owner of Internet and Cable! (i'm not excited about the cable part, honestly. After 1 year without it, I thought I'd never need it again) But the internet! !

So finally, updating my posts, pictures and hours of web wandering will be a cinch! Oh my stars! (I've only really heard the phrase 'oh my stars' used by two people. My mother, and my friend Madeline, and I love it. So cute!)

Well, my last post was quite the tear jerker for me. Not surprising, these hormones are a doozy!
So, all of you beautiful women out there who are proud mothers, you can believe I will be devouring your blogs for any and all things baby. Any recommended books/dvd's/websites I must know about? This is a whole new world for me and I'm eager to learn. Of course, I know that the best learning will be 'hands on'. Oh, Jan 30th! Be still my heart!

xx, Y

'The story of the littlest Brink'

Wow, I didn't expect to burst into tears as I sat down to type this. I really wasn't expecting that at all.

But, alas, I am, expecting. A little baby. My first. A child. My child.

I'm 9 weeks pregnant!

I'm suddenly, so overwhelmed seeing the words written 'my child' that I can hardly type.
You can't see how long I'm taking to write this, but take my word for it....

I am so: excited, happy, nervous, anxious, dreamy, shocked, processing, amazed, in-love, overwhelmed........and so many other emotions that I can't even put it into words.

This is not another 'chapter' in life...this is more like whole new book. With beautiful, crisp, blank white pages, waiting for this little story to unfold and change my life forever. Welcome, littlest Brink!

I. couldn't. be. happier.

xx, Yana

pritty tuulips

Chris and I are headed to Maine this weekend to celebrate his dad's birthday, Father's Day and also visiting some friends. Until I am home again, I thought I would leave with you some photos of my tulips. The bloomed so gloriously, and now they are gone, until next spring.
Enjoy, and have a loverly weekend!!

xx, Yana

Art show !

Hello doves,
Today is a thundery rainy day in Eastern PA, and I took the opportunity to go to Borders with a friend and do some important stuff. [leafing through books, magazines, sipping on iced green tea, blogging]

I didn't expect such a lapse in blogging, but I was busy preparing for my first art show! It was quite successful! Selling wasn’t my goal, and I didn’t, but the experience and exposure was thrilling. After meeting and becoming acquainted with gallery owners & partners John & Gary of HMAC http://www.harrisburgarts.com/ we quickly bonded. I soon learned that they are a very rare type of people, less like gallery owner/entrepreneur/business men, and more mothering hens. They want to see local artists and artisans exposed and out there, baring their best, artistically speaking. In response to my fear of ‘what if you don’t like my stuff, Gary’ he hugged me and replied, ‘darling, even if it’s mediocre, it doesn’t matter. We’ll find a corner for you! Just do it. We want you to show’. Last Friday night I displayed 5 pieces at the Stage on Herr Gallery and because of the rain the attendance was a little low for an art walk. Thankfully many of my friends came to support me and cheer me on.

That night I fired my inner critic. She was such a downer, a real negative Nancy.

This series was done on galvanized sheet metal. It’s a beautiful medium, but not always the easiest to work with. Thankfully my tetanus shot is up to date, as I certainly had my fair share of scrapes, cuts, nicks, and blood loss. I hope you Enjoy! Cheers :)

nesting

Hey peeps. So we are still internet-less, which has been a little refreshing, and a lotta bit horrible, aggravating, and exasperating. I'm itching to get pics up of the new house, and as well as read all of your pretty blogs. Someday, soon. Dont forget about heart go boom!

I have enjoyed nesting. unpacking. decorating. redecorating. trying on all my clothes.
My little house is shaping up quite nicely. I'm happy. I had my parents and in-laws over for dinner on Mothers Day, it was so lovely.

I've also been busy preparing for an art show June 5th that I will be showing in. A connection with two very influential art gallery owners practically fell into my lap a few weeks ago, and I am very excited about this opportunity. Keep your fingers crossed!

Ok, friends, readers, loves...have a lovely thursday.

xx, Y

Fallen off the face of the earth??

for the record:

I am alive.
I am WONDERFUL!
I am living in my new house!
I've spent this past month NESTING.
I'm busy decorating, cleaning and settling in.
I don't have internet at my house.
My tulips have bloomed!
Spring has arrived in Harrisburg.
The boxes are almost all empty.
May brings my in-laws and many other house guests, that I am busy preparing more.
And lastly, I PROMISE I will blog again...soon.

The lapse of blogging was unexpected, but needed. My house and husband have been the priority, and that's a wonderful thing. Keep checking for updates, and most fun of all: PICTURES!

Love you to all!
(I imagine I will need a solid week to catch up on a month of all your blogs and adventures!)

I get to UNpack now??

Folks, today is the day. It's THE official move in the bed and clothes day!

Huzzzzah!

So.....maybe instead of blogging about moving....I should actually GO and move. Hah.

cheers and cheerios my friends!

peace out!

wow. woooooow.

Psycho stage moms unite and live vicariously through their spray tanned, false eyelashed, fake haired 3 year olds. Dear Lord, deliver us from evil...

stooopid

In an amazing acrobatic feat of tard, I burned the back of my calf with freshly boiled water. Incredible, I know. 'And the Tard Olympics would now like to present the Gold to Yana....' It's mostly healing now, but the potential scar had me in tears.


The ANTM cattle call was last night. As I walked up to the Coliseum at 6:15, there was a line from the doors outside and around the building. The tension was thick as frozen butter as I watched the girls in the line check eacother out. SO HILARIOUS. After inching our way in the cold for 25 mins, a man came out and announced "NO MORE GIRLS. THEY AREN'T SEEING ANYMORE GIRLS, SO GO HOME." Wtf, really? Chris joked, I bet that is just some womans boyfriend trying to get to rid all the competition!' Then a black mamma started yelling at the local news camera "this is my daughter's DREAM! We worked too hard to get turned away at the doors!! TYRA!!! THIS IS THE AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL!!!!!!" Ahh, don't you just love stage moms projecting their dreams onto their daughters? We then decided a celebratory drink was due...to celebrate.....the effort! I love an excuse to celebrate!

Oh Shel. You're such a hoot.

As a child, my favorite Shel Silverstein poem was 'Sarah Cynthia Slyvia Stout Would Not Take The Garbage Out'. I remember memorizing parts of it!

What was your favorite poem or story as a little kiddo?




Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout
Would not take the garbage out!
She'd scour the pots and scrape the pans,
Candy the yams and spice the hams,
And though her daddy would scream and shout,
She simply would not take the garbage out.
And so it piled up to the ceilings:
Coffee grounds, potato peelings,
Brown Bananas, rotten peas,
Chunks of sour cottage cheese.
It filled the can, it covered the floor,
It cracked the window and blocked the door
With bacon rinds and chicken bones,
Drippy ends of ice cream cones,
Prune pits, peach pits, orange peel,
Gloppy glumps of cold oatmeal,
Pizza crusts and withered greens,
Soggy beans and tangerines,
Crusts of black burned buttered toast,
Grisly bits of beefy roasts...
The garbage rolled down the hall,
It raised the roof, it broke the wall...
Greasy napkins, cookie crumbs,
Globs of gooey bubble gum,
Cellophane from green baloney,
Rubbery blubbery macaroni,
Peanut butter, caked and dry,
Curdled milk and crusts of pie,
Moldy melons, dried-up mustard,
Eggshells mixed with lemon custard,
Cold french fries and rancid meat,
Yellow lumps of Cream of Wheat.
At last the garbage reached so high
That finally it touched the sky.
And all the neighbors moved away,
And none of her friends would come to play.
And finally Sarah Cynthia Slylvia Stout said,
"Ok, I'll take the garbage out!"
But then, of course, it was too late...
The garbage reached across the state,
From New York to the Golden Gate.
And there, in the garbage she did hate,
Poor Sarah met an awful fate,
That I cannot right now relate
Because the hour is much too late.
But children, remember Sarah Stout
And always take the garbage out!

Wedding Bliss

I'd like to share our wedding video with you all! Filmed by my friend David Larkins & edited by Andrew Bowser of Monachetti. They are incredible filmmakers and I'd highly recommend them for weddings. Tell your friends!


Cheers to love!



Wedding Video from Yana Banova on Vimeo.