I ♥ Faces - Week 36 - Contemplative Faces

This week's I ♥ Faces challenge is for "contemplative" faces. As soon as I saw that, I knew which picture I wanted to post.



I took about 30 different pictures of my cousin's son Jack devouring his little cake at his first birthday party last month. Looking back through the pictures was so fun. Some of the pictures showed pure joy, some showed nothing but his face stuck in the cake, and a few, like this one, look contemplative.

Why's everybody staring at me - can't a man just eat his cake in peace?

Why are the making me wear this stupid hat? Is this a punishment? Hmm, what have I done wrong lately?

I wonder if this cake is going to give me a tummyache...

How am I going to get that icing out of my ears and nose?

Oh, to be able to listen to the thoughts of small children!

Big birthday weekend

Happy Monday everyone! This past weekend was pretty crazy, because my mother's birthday was on Friday (yes, September 11th) and my mother-in-law's birthday was on Thursday. So, we had to try to figure out how to see everyone to celebrate. And the fact that my husband had Phillies tickets for Friday night didn't help.

So Friday night consisted of me and him sitting in raincoats and under ponchos at the Phillies game, a game that they luckily won. On a side note, the guy who has the season tickets next to ours wrote a book about the 2008 Phillies and included a picture of us after they won the World Series last year. Can't wait to see the book, but I hope this doesn't count as my 15 minutes of fame.


(Here's us at a much sunnier game, since I didn't take pictures on Friday.)

On Saturday morning, we drove out to Jersey to spend the day with my family for my mom's birthday. There was good food, lots of laughter, a serious game of Taboo, and of course presents. Then my poor husband had to sit (read: fall asleep on the couch) through yet another round of "Who's the latest high school classmate that's pregnant/in jail/married/still living at home." It's a game that my mom and I seem to play quite a bit. There is no question where my love of gossip comes from!

We headed back on Sunday morning so that Geoff could get back for his first softball game of the season. Being a delinquent wife, I stayed at home and took up residence on the couch since I was tired from being up so late chatting with my parents the night before, while Geoff snoozed on the couch. I caught bits and pieces of the Eagles' game, and then topped off the weekend with a fabulous dinner at Legal Sea Foods to celebrate Geoff's mom's birthday. Wine, seafood casserole and chocolate mousse all in one meal = a happy Jessica whose pants are a bit too tight.

Good times, but once again it's Monday, and I'm exhausted. On the bright side, fall TV is back in full force, and tonight I get to indulge my inner 14 year-old girl with Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill! It's the small things that get me through the day...

My thoughts on office birthday parties

My birthday is on Sunday, which is extremely exciting because I love birthdays. So, today was the day for the celebration of June birthdays at my office. We used to have individual celebrations, but then it got to the point where we were gathering every other day, so now we consolidate. It was very nice - we got the good cupcakes, everyone signed a card...and they sang.

Have you ever heard people sing Happy Birthday to multiple people at the same time? "Happy Birthday, dear JessicaTheresaJoeNicole.....Happy Birthday to you!" just doesn't come out so smoothly. And then we birthday people are sitting there wondering whether we're supposed to sing for the other birthday people, or just sit there smiling stupidly while we're serenaded (consensus seems to be the latter). However, despite the awkward singing, it's not too terribly painful.

And then there is the office next to ours.

I share a wall with the conference room of this other company we share offices with. Which means that I hear their arguments, their laughter, their throat clearing and sneezing, and the SURPRISE!!!!!! that comes along with every birthday celebration.

Yes, every single birthday is a "surprise" party next door.

1. It's not a surprise when you do it for every birthday.

2. You are all over the age of 16, and thus surprise parties should be saved for significant birthdays that end in a "5" or "0" and even then, sparingly.

3. SHUT THE HELL UP I'M TRYING TO WORK OVER HERE.

Moral of the story: Cupcakes and cards are nice. Fake surprises when your walls are thin, not so much.