Lately

This post brought to you by Arby's. All opinions are 100% mine.

(You know what's annoying? That I HAVE to have that little disclosure thing up at the top, which you'll see and go, "ugh, sponsored post, pass!", when my plan is to try and make it as normal of a post as possible with just a sponsored blip at the end. The trials of blogging. Read it anyway, my friends, I'll make it as painless as possible!)

Lately around here, there has been:

- Last-minute crocheting! From a pair of adorable baby booties (of which I have only completed one bootie, which I promptly lost and cannot for the life of me find anywhere in the house--it can't have walked away on its own, but its unexplainable disappearance sure does point to it becoming sentient and making a break for it, which sounds crazy, I know, but what other explanation can there be, really?) to a not-totally-necessary last-minute baby blanket (not necessary in that I have already crocheted 3 baby blankets for the little miss but my hormonal brain convinced me that a fourth smaller and more portable blanket was an absolute necessity), I've really enjoyed crocheting for this baby. And since she will be here in just a matter of days (!!!!!!), I guess this would be a good time to also finish up the other 1 or 2 hats I wanted to make for her. Sadly, time is never on the crocheter's side. 

- Nursery prep! Remember how I was full of all sorts of big talk quite a few months ago about how I was going to get the nursery completed far in advance of the baby's birth so I didn't have to spend my last few weeks/days of pregnancy stressing over an unfinished nursery? Feel free to point and laugh at me for my big talk, because here we are just days away from bringing a new baby home, and I am just now, just barely, beginning--middling--and finishing the nursery. It might be finished before the baby is born? Maybe? If not, I guess the baby won't notice or care. And if it is finished in time, it will be due 100% to the selfless and gracious efforts of my mom, who volunteered to do basically ALL the hard stuff to get it ready. She is an angel, I tell you. The nursery will get its own full post later once all the last little elements are completed (we're almost there!), but in the meantime, here's a picture of the fabrics I chose for the nursery, as well as an adoooorable quilt made by baby girl's grandpa, my father-in-law, who is so creative, and talented at everything he touches. He did a beautiful job on it (it is hand-quilted, folks!), and matches the nursery colors and my fabric choices perfectly.

- Speaking of in-laws, Forrest enjoyed a visit from his grandparents a few weeks ago! My husband and his family are from Pennsylvania, and I'm sorry to say we don't make it out there terribly often, so we were really excited to have Grandma and Grandpa fly out for a visit recently. I was slightly worried Forrest might snub them or be confused about who they were since he hasn't had the chance to get to know them as well as he has gotten to know my parents (who live a whopping 20 minutes away), but he was madly in love within minutes of re-meeting them. And it was so nice to have them here at this time in particular . . . they were so, so, so helpful not only with Forrest, but also with housework and baby prep (they helped stock the freezer with some goodies to enjoy after the baby is born, entertained Forrest nonstop for a week, and Jeff's mom even cleaned out the fridge for me--so sweet). We loved having them here. Some of the highlights of the trip were taking a drive through a scenic mountain pass to enjoy the fall leaves, and visiting the Salt Lake Library, where Forrest loved this neat outdoor water wall thingie. 

One other fun event from Grandma and Grandpa's visit was eating out . . . every day. Seriously. Every single day, we picked a new spot for lunch, and it was so fun to try so many different places (not to mention not have to cook as much--hallelujah). One of our visits was to Arby's, where we tried out their new Smokehouse Brisket (a sandwich featuring slow-smoked beef brisket [smoked for 13 hours!] with Gouda, crispy onions, and BBQ sauce/mayo, on a toasted bun). 

(Um, is it weird that the only 'professional'-looking photo in this post so far is of an Arby's sandwich? I clearly need to bust out the DSLR a little more frequently and not rely on my cell phone so much for pictures. Anyway, it sure looks pretty, eh?)

Jeff and Grandpa loved this sandwich, and pointed out that it had all the tasty flavor of a brisket without being greasy the way brisket often is. I thought it was pretty good . . . but my one true love is the fries at Arby's. I could eat them every day. It is sometimes hard not to. Whether for fries or the Smokehouse Brisket, you should Find an Arby’s near you and make a visit sometimes soon. 

And since I had my real camera with me that day to make sure I got a good shot of the sandwich, we ended up with two nice-looking family pictures from our lunch out that day. Maybe I should make Arby's our next professional family photo shoot spot. Mark my words, this will be the next big thing in photography. Move on from your railroad track family pictures, your poses in front of chippy barns or graffitied brick walls. Restaurant family photos are going to be huge. Keep your eye out on Pinterest--I'm calling it now.

Now enjoy this little video while pondering your love of Arby's (friiiiieeesssss . . . mmmmm) and tell me what you like best there?