Thursday, June 26, 2008

To Eat or Not to Eat

Most of us would choose eat! Not the Princess. Dad picked her up today for their weekly trip to Chuck E. Cheese only to leave after 30 minutes to go to McDonald's because she didn't eat her lunch. When Dad called and told me that I said no way, she didn't eat her lunch, she doesn't get to eat McDonald's for dinner. So he took her home (she cried the whole way) and she ate chicken noodle soup, crackers with butter and now we're having a battle over an apple that she is only choking down because she wants the brownie in the end.

I am at my wits end with her and food. There is barely anything left that she wants in her lunch everyday and breakfast and dinner are not much better. My biggest fear is that she'll end up with some eating disorder over all the constant battles we have over food. She has already made comments about people being fat and how she doesn't ever want to be fat! She's not even six! They say that kids will eat when they are hungry. The problem is we didn't handle things well when she was younger and we are already paying the price. Whenever she gets hungry she always wants junk.
The other mistake we made was giving her choices for her meals instead of telling her what she would be eating like when we were kids. We were asking our parents what was for dinner, not the other way around. I tried holding off sweets and junk food for as long as I could, but lost the battle to my husband after awhile.

I know there are many people in the same boat as I am. I need to find an online group to be able to get ideas...

Friday, June 6, 2008

Impulse Buyer

I am the worst when it comes to impulse purchases, especially ANYTHING having to do with facial products and makeup. I've spent hundreds of dollars in the last year on products that I really didn't need or could afford. Someone was watching out for me the other day at Sephora. I went in to get two things, the Laura Mercier lipstick that I love (even though it's $20 for a small tube~I spent about $150 at Laura Mercier when we got our make-up done for my friend's wedding) and an eye shadow by Bare Minerals. I told the girl what I was looking for and she said, "oh sit down, I think you need an update for summer". Sixty dollars later (I turned down the "crease brush" for another $22), I was at the register, but oops, my wallet was in the car. So I offered to write a check, but I couldn't do that either because my I.D. was in my wallet and the cashier told me she would need to see it in order to accept the check. Phew, that was a narrow escape, but I didn't get what I actually needed either!

Two other major purchases in the last year:

1. Seacret: Supposedly all the products are made from some aspect of the Dead Sea. They were selling it at a kiosk at The Paseo. They get you first by showing you this nail buffer that makes your nails look like they are coated with glass, so shiny...and comes with cuticle oil and a body lotion, ONLY $20. Three hundred + later, I had a salt scrub, facial soap, mud mask, eye gel, blah, blah, blah. I told myself after spending all that money I was definitely going to use these products. RIGHT! I do, but no where near as often as I should for them to actually work. Oh, and I have never been able to make my nails as shiny with that buffer as the salesman did.

2. Lancome: I spent almost all of my $500 Nordstrom gift card at the Lancome counter. I got a complete makeover. I purposely picked this woman who looked around my age so she would have some kind of clue as to the issues we have with make-up at mid-40's. It was great, I loved what she did, but damn that shit is expensive. Plus I got schmoozed into buying two eye products that I didn't need because I have the one from Seacret that was expensive as hell and I have a ton left!

SUCKER!!!

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Grandparents Visit

My mom and stepdad were here visiting since Sunday. I took them to the airport this morning. It's a combination of sadness and relief, but mostly relief. I love them, but more than 3 or 4 days would be overkill. We had a great time with them. The Princess loved it and they loved her. I was pissed before they got here because my stepdad kept saying "We're following you" meaning we expect you to make all the plans and we won't even give you a hint of what we'd be interested in doing. So, here is what we did:

Sunday: Pick them up in San Pedro after they get off the ship from which they just cruised. Go to hotel, check-in, go to Old Town and eat and then back to their hotel for swimming (The Princess' new favorite activity).

Monday: Aquarium of the Pacific plus Harbor Cruise in Long Beach. Got back and ate fish tacos at Rubios then part ways and go home and drink lots of wine.

Tuesday: Griffith Park Observatory, lunch at Noodle World, back to hotel for sunning and swimming. Go home and drink lots of wine.

Wednesday: Take The Princess to school, pick them and luggage up at hotel. Breakfast at Marsten's. Airport drop-off (where my mom slips me a $100~Thanks Mom!). Check engine light comes on in car on the way to the airport, which I don't mention, drive to dealer when I get back. Sitting home on computer hoping it is something EXTREMELY minor.

Last but not least, Hubby and parents never see each other...Ugh/Hooray