Worst Pregnancy Nose Day Ever

by Kayla Posted on March 25, 2012

It is now 5:30 PM. I have sneezed every five minutes and felt miserable since 1:30 PM. No joke. Constant sneezing and blowing my nose. Everything that I tried to do was interrupted continuously. I can’t remember the last time I felt like this. For the past few years I never get sick – this has been the closest thing to being sick with nose issues in such a long time. The funny thing is, now that I’ve actually felt calm enough to sit down and write a blog post, Daniel is on the way home with some benadryl for me. But I just ate a soft peppermint candy and it seems to have provided me with relief. Are you kidding me? It has been over five minutes now without a sneeze. I’m now actually worried that the sneezing is over with and he will not think that my day has been as bad as I made it sound. I figured out why I am probably sneezing: at one point I went outside and saw pollen and dust falling from the sky. I guess it is being sucked into the house because this house is old and full of cracks. (Which okay, I used to love this house – of course I did! But now I want to be in a new house. We let the realtor know that we need to move via email on Saturday. He will reply tomorrow with the verdict when he checks his email. I truly hope we can leave much earlier – we would like to move in June or July.)

Anywho, I have been sneezing and coughing all of the time since around the end of February. But today was by far the worst of it. There are tissues all over the place, more than usual at least. My brain feels like it is out of place. My sinus area has so much pressure. And my eyeballs feel loose. That is a feeling that I especially do not like having… I just feel like a mess. I can’t concentrate on my work. All I can concentrate on is rambling, which I am doing now.

After writing that last bit, I still haven’t sneezed. I am very surprised. Daniel will think I made all of this up! But I think when he looks at me he will be able to tell. I look pale and my nose is pink. Today was just insane.

These are two photos from yesterday when we went to Cracker Barrel. Apparently I should not wear this dress – it makes me look like a big ball!

He is so handsome… *swoon*

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Websites I Love

by Kayla Posted on March 24, 2012

500px

There is always a photo here that makes my mouth open. No other site can do that for me. This is the only “photo sharing” site that I belong to these days. And that is because there are true quality, professional photos here. This is not Flickr. Here is my portfolio so far: http://500px.com/ksela/photos I don’t have amazing shots of New Zealand or magical islands, but I’m working on it. :)

Yelp

I’ve been a member of Yelp for a long time now, but I only started using it a lot in the past two years. Yelp sometimes has a bad rap (by people who do not use it) but it is extremely helpful. It has helped us make a ton of decisions on where to go, what to eat, etc. I’ve also been lucky to enough to work with Yelp and hope to do more photography for them in the future. I’m going to continue Yelping it up! Yelp with me here: http://kaylas.yelp.com P.S. As I am writing this, at nearly midnight on a Friday, I just received the coolest message/compliment in a Yelp friend request. Those Yelpers are truly a nice bunch when they want to be. ;)

Last.fm

I know, I know. There’s Pandora. Spotify. Songify. Songdora. I don’t care! For some reason, I started using Last.fm again recently and I have loved it. There has just always been something about it. I like their style. And they do introduce me to really random songs which is the reason I love it. http://www.last.fm/user/meilleure

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Tired again? Oh no.

by Kayla Posted on March 22, 2012

As soon as I posted about my energy coming back (a few days ago) my crazy migraine (combined with a sinus headache I guess) continued on, and I have felt like a squashed bug for days. I am so tired. I just crawled out of bed from a late afternoon three-hour nap. I really, really hate not being productive. At least I did some errands this morning and had a really good lunch (that I did not have to cook). Chicken Francese (chicken in a lemon and white wine sauce) with mixed veggies and half a sweet potato. How I loved eating that sweet potato. People always have bad things to say about Florida, and especially the food in Florida, but I can always get a good Italian meal any day. Bippity boppity.

I finally got a box of goodies sent out to my mom the other day – I think she probably got it today. I was happy to get that out, as well as a ton of DVDs for photography clients. I am all caught up right now except for one engagement party. I am transferring those photos to my computer right now. And oh my gosh… it has been really saddening to turn down two weddings so far for July. I just have no idea how much pregnancy is going to effect me. So I just cannot do any weddings after May. Sad face.

Mini-rant. The only thing that bugs me about my D700 is the flimsy plastic door on the side of the camera (not the sturdy one with the memory card – the other door for using cables). For the life of me, I cannot figure out the technical name for this “door” or flap right now. But FLAP it does. It never, ever wants to snap back in anymore. I guess this is because I have opened it 100,000 times by now. Imagine me taking pictures somewhere and this flap keeps opening. It is the most annoying thing ever. It takes over 5 minutes, maybe even longer, to get the thing to stick back in. It even hurts my fingers by the end of it. I have actually tried to close this flap while talking to clients. They must think I am crazy as we are both standing there talking while I am fiddling with this door, pressing it incessantly and probably becoming flushed in my cheeks with frustration. I wonder if the D800 has that same silly thing. I guess I just need to get a card reader again and stop opening it.

Look at me, complaining about things that really are quite simple. I will stop. Time to take a shower, refresh myself, and probably stay up all night. This is what happens when the day just does not agree with you.

Update: It’s 10, we had dinner a little while ago. This is baby bump + food bump:

And yes.. this is a crazy, crazy dress. I am having a hard time finding dresses. That’s all I want to wear right now. I don’t want to buy a ton of maternity clothes so I have been on the search for stretchy material. :)

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Zany Recipe Project

by Kayla Posted on March 20, 2012

I tried to win an old box full of handwritten recipes from the 50s and 60s (and located in Los Angeles, making it even more appealing to me. I mean, I’m imagining this really eccentric lady with pink hair wearing a sequin mumu collecting those recipes).

Someone really, really wanted it more than me so I stopped bidding. Luckily, the auction lister typed out a huge amount of the recipes. (That also made it easier to stop bidding and save my money.) I plan to look up all of these because I am nostalgic like that. I wanted to create a blog where I make each recipe and take photos of the results. It stinks to not have the actual box because that would have been great to photograph. But I can still do the site idea by looking up all of these recipes – I’ve already found many of them in Google news archives among other places. So, it is possible!

Check out some of these zany, cool names! Can’t wait to start this project. :) And sure, some of these are going to be downright scary to make – but it will be so much fun.

Hogan Punch, Slushy Wedding Punch, Cavalier Cup, Herbed Blue Cheese Dip, Pink Pickled Eggs, Dilly Dally Dip, Party Banana Chicken Sandwiches, Party Paddle Pops, Pink Popcorn Balls, Sponge Candy, Dieter’s Cookies, Harlequin Dippers, Rocky Road Cookies, Wine Cake, Minted Kisses, Cheesecake Blackie’s, Quick Tomato Spice Cake, Heavenly Hash Cake, Raisin Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake, Choco Mallow Logs, Naniano Bars, Butterscotch Banana Bread, Rainbow Pie, Pears Helene, Fabulous Frozen Brandy Alexander Pie, Coffee Gelatine, Royal Meringue Dessert with Strawberry Cream, Curried Coconut Lobster, Taos Salmon Chalupas, Shrimp Stuffed Eggplant Creole, Herb Fried Yellow Perch, Cheese Tuna Chop Chop, Confetti Crab Pies, Imperial Chicken, Roast Duckling Piquant, Chicken in Barbecue Wine Sauce, Chicken Paprika, Chinese Chicken, Chicken Parmesan, Watermelon Pickle, Tomato Marmalade, Mama’s Company Cabbage, Gorkey’s Stuffed Cabbage, Peas with Mint and Orange Rind, Green Beans Almondine, Caraiofini, Kahnabahar Yemegi, Golden crumb Meat Loaf, Favorite Pot Roast, Veal Cutlet Cordon Bleu, Jeweled Ham Slice, Corned Beef Patties Franciscan, Red Cabbage and Kielbasa, New Englad Boiled Dinner with Curry Radish Sauce, Easter Pineapple Baked Ham, Veal Rolletini, Eggs Newport, Beef Bean and Sausage Casserole, Speedy Tuna Casserole, Johnny Mazette, Tuna Rice America, Prize Winning Regina Salad Dressing, Reception Salad, Continental Salad, Whitecap Salad, Patio Salad Bowl, Mock Crab Salad, Merry Cherry Cheese Mold, Curried Chicken Salad in Tomato Petals, Tomato Aspic with Roquefort Cream Dressing, Oklahoma Casserole, Tuna Chow Mein, Hawaiian Sweet an Sour Meat Balls, Mock Hollandaise Sauce, Wally Sauce, Spicy Sauce for Fruit, Almond Cream Sauce, Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce, 21 Club Burger, Lemon Brownies, Brer Rabbit Ginger Bread, Baked Alaska, Bourbon Beans, Hello Dolly Cookies, Roast Chicken Smetane, Clafouti, Gum Drop Nut Bread, Chinese Noodle Cookie, Magic Window Cookie, Diet Cupcakes, Julia Child’s Gateau de Crepes a la Florentine from page 193 of her cookbook, Pearl’s Carrot Cake, Creole Chiffon Cake, Mrs. Hoeffer’s Chocolate Cake, Viennese Cheesecake, My Fair Lady Cake, Egypt Cake, Milk Chocolate Delight Cake, Praline Ice Cream Cake, Cappelini Maria Luisa, Fire Station Casserole, Layered Rhubarb Strawberry Dessert, Baked Applesauce Donuts, Green Goddess Dip, Golden Door Fettucini, Grape Fizz, Butterscotch Sundae Cake, Wheat Germ Spicy Fruit Drops, Orange Glaze for Squash, Baked Orange Ham with Mustard Fruits, Ikra, Panettone, Petticoat Tails, Jello Calvo & Lime, Matzo Kugel, Ice Cream Crunchies, Spectacular Pie, Diled Lamb Ragout, Tuh’u (Babylonian Beer and Lamb Stew– the oldest recipe the LA Times has ever published), Mount Vernon Dessert, Jellied Meat Loaf, Sauerbraten Meat Balls, Lime Maxim, Dampf Noodles, Baby Okra and Meat, Panamanian Coconut Rice, Cheesy Pups, New Zealand Queen of Puddings, Prune Crystal Balls, Cheese Pinwheels, Zwieback Pie, Grasshopper Pie, Pink Peppermint Pie, Chili Rellenos, Beef Short Ribs Jardeniere, Risotto, Jellied Gazpacho Salad, Lawry’s Cartwheel Salad, Singapore Chicken Salad, Tunna Bombay Salad, Fagioli Toscanelli Cono Tonno, Serviettenknodel (Dumpling in a Napkin), Shrimp Cocoktail Brasilenne Supreme, Chinese Slaw, Arthur’s Souffle, Canasta Club Dessert, Jo’s Corn Stuffing, Trote Con Funghi, Velveeta Tuna Shortcakes, Chicken Makapuno, Date Torte Waffles, Zabaglione

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Preggy Update! Almost 16 Weeks – 169 Days To Go

by Kayla Posted on March 19, 2012

It is time to start documenting. :) On Wednesday I will be 16 weeks pregnant! This post is my huge update, the rest will probably be a lot shorter. I just have a lot of info to cover at first.

Last week was my best week ever because my energy started coming back finally! I still have bouts of tiredness and grumpiness. The grumpiness only comes at times like last night when a headache transformed into a full force, throbbing migraine. When I walked it felt like my brain was pounding with each step. As always Daniel made me feel better and brought me food in bed :) and we watched Tears of the Sun.. it was a good movie actually. I somehow made it through the movie and fell asleep. I managed to sleep the migraine off but today I am still sore and achy in my head, neck and shoulders. It is hard to be happy and energetic when you feel like this! :( But I am one that likes to stay positive and keep on trucking. Here we go…

So my energy is coming back but I am still going through crazy episodes of sneezing and coughing. It strikes when I wake up, settles down, and then it happens again a few more times before night comes. There are tissues all over the place and often I can’t even breathe through my nose (which makes sleeping difficult because I am trying to fall asleep but feel like a little pig with my mouth open, it’s just not comfortable). So far that is probably the only real unattractive thing so far in my second trimester, haha! My skin is doing well but I think it is because I started a new regimen. I know some women experience breakouts during pregnancy but luckily I am having that “glowing” skin and it’s actually so much better than before I was pregnant. I have only been using Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel:

A skin care system researched and developed by the International Dermal Institute. Special Cleansing Gel. Recommended for all skin conditions. A soap-free, foaming gel designed to thoroughly remove impurities without disturbing the skin’s natural moisture balance. Calming Balm Mint and Lavender extracts soothe the skin while natural Quillaja Saponaria gently foams away toxins and debris.

… and I put it on with Dermalogica’s little exfoliating facial brush. I was using the electric Clarisonic brush for the past few years but I don’t feel like spending money on the replacement brushes anymore – it’s silly! Since I have been using the Dermalogica brush it has been giving me the same results. Because my skin is doing so well I am wondering if my skin will continue to be really clear for.. well, forever! One can hope. :) Since I became pregnant I really wanted to figure out a new skin care regimen and that’s why this whole Dermalogica switchover happened. Before that I used a bunch of random stuff and now I only use one brand. This is probably the best for me!

That is just one part of why I think pregnancy is bringing out the best in me. I am also eating healthier meals (mostly) because sometimes I just do not feel hungry and have to make myself eat. I think my body knows that I am already overweight and to not go overboard. Just a few weeks ago I weighed 191 and I am up to 194 now. By the time I am full term I am only supposed to reach up to 215 pounds – this is what I’ve researched and also what my doctors have told me. Most of that weight is just the baby and other “stuff” leaving a small amount of pounds designated for just me. There is no reason I need to gain an insane amount of weight from eating cookies and ice cream. I am not going to go crazy – I am just going to be sensible. But who knows, I might turn into a blimp naturally just because I am pregnant. I don’t really know what will happen – we’ll just have to wait and see. :-O

Speaking of food – I am starting to want to eat meat again. Ever since the beginning of January meat has just turned me off. I have craved fruit, fruit juice, cereal, pasta and bread. I guess just things that are “safe” because I have been afraid of getting sick or having food poisoning. I had food poisoning or some kind of stomach virus the very first week I found out I was pregnant (Daniel had it about two days after me, so it must have been a virus). I was so upset about it because for three or four days, well you know what happens during that time, I was a wreck and couldn’t stay hydrated. It made me worry about the baby, but my doctor, in her no-nonsense glory, told me that it would be fine because women have had babies in war and famine. Thumbs up. :) Food poisoning doesn’t compare to that. It has taken me until March though to not fear food as much and I am proud to say that I made dinner last night with a ton of beef, and I ate it. :) Two months ago I didn’t even want to smell meat cooking. Or even cook at all! But I am getting back into it now.

With my food intake getting on the right track, I am also proud to say that I am finally drinking water on a daily basis. It’s something I tried to do all of my life but always failed at. Water is just not appealing to me. I know it is so silly to say that – I mean, just drink it! And that is exactly how I feel now. I have a blue water bottle that goes everywhere with me and I constantly refill it from the filtered water in the fridge. Even after pregnancy I will be sticking with this because it’s just the best thing you can do, period. You’ve got to stay hydrated.

Back to the “looks” side of things, I am experiencing a lot of hair falling out. My doctor said as long as I am taking my vitamins (and because my blood tests and thyroid check were all fine) that this will subside at some point – every person is different. My hair mostly falls out during a shower, that is when it’s most noticeable. But sometimes I’ll run my fingers through my hair and just get five or six strands. I am surprised I have any hair left. I hope this stops soon. I wanted my hair to be pregnant: stronger and thicker. Haha! But it looks like there are other plans for me and I might have to cut my hair a bit if it gets too thin. I think it would help to get trims more often. There’s a lot of time left to see what happens though. Maybe the vitamins will kick in soon!

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A Tangy Sunday

by Kayla Posted on March 18, 2012

Well first, these two are photos I took about two weeks ago. It was the day that Daniel and I went out and he took my first bump photos.

This is a lamp that I scored from Tuesday Morning. It was actually hidden behind a hideous looking lamp almost as if someone stuck it back there to get it later. Sorry if that was the case! :) I just love the style of it with the tiny holes which make patterns on the wall. It was a steal considering how much these kinds of things are on Etsy for example.

These are hyacinths that my mother-in-law brought me today. We hadn’t seen each other for a few weeks and she came over this evening. She was here just in time for dinner too.

This was taken after we devoured dinner.. which they loved. :) I made some Peruvian style stuff for the second time. It’s based on lomo saltado but without the potatoes.

These were the leftovers.. it’s basically really tender beef, onions and tomatoes in a vinegar sauce, served over fluffy white rice.

I make a sauce to go on top of it all which is made of mayo, sour cream, green onions and garlic. I didn’t finish this one myself though.. Daniel did. :) By the time he got home and his mom pulled up, I didn’t feel like adding more onions and garlic so he perfected the sauce while I sat down. Ahh.

The best part of today was how they all cleaned the kitchen and put everything away. Even Kaiser helped.. I guess. :) I love trading dinner for cleaning.

I’ve also been addicted to Kool-aid lately. This is a really pretty blue pitcher I got at Home Goods recently. I guess I should get blue Kool-aid to match it…

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Loving Twitter… Again?

by Kayla Posted on March 9, 2012

There was a time when I was Twitter crazy. At one point though, I was so done with it. Annoyed even. I reset my account to zero. With that, all of my followers and tweets were gone.

Fast forward a couple of years later and I am having fun with Twitter again. The key was drastically cutting down the list of accounts I follow. (I recently did the same with Facebook, but that’s another story.) The human brain can only handle keeping up with a certain amount of people at once. I like being able to actually keep up with a small group of people. It feels human. It’s nice. Forget trying to have thousands of followers again – I want real connections.

Screen cap of my current Twittering. Just for the memories.

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