I am having a surgery on Monday … Not a fun one at all; it’s a D & C due to a miscarriage, not something I want to be awake for - and lucky for me, the doctor says they normally knock people out. I’m seriously okay with that. I’m worried about the pain factor after the surgery - I mean, will this be like labor? Will I be able to walk afterwards or will I need like, a walk in tub or something because I can’t life my legs. Yes of course I’m kind of making a joke here - because otherwise I think I’d go crazy.

Well … as of right now I believe I’m in the middle of a miscarriage. I’ve accepted it and I plan on trying again in a couple months. But as of right now, the work of rearranging the guestroom to turn it into a babyroom/guestroom (ie. moving all the craft and office supplies out and up to the loft) can wait for now. I just don’t want to work on that. I’d rather sit and mope I think.

I’m working on a couple build/craft projects though right now. One is a small lingerie type dresser for the kid room which is being built semi-like a bookcase and then drawers will be added. It will serve as a place for my 3 year old to plan his daily outfits. Just one of those “responsibility” things we’re working on with him. I need to purchase more underwear for him; he’s potty training and goes through a lot of them. Those will go in his “daily” drawers also.

I’m literally DROOLING over pregnancy fashion lately! I’ve got some favorites of course - but I’m no movie star; so I’m trying to duplicate the styles without the super high price tag.

Let’s take a few of my favorite baby-making celebrities; Angelina Jolie, Gwen Stefani, Tori Spelling and yes, even Britney Spears. They wore clothes (and are wearing clothes) that looked classy & cute, showed off their blooming bellies and still looked comfortable. Most of their outfits are duplicateable for way less than the “celeb” price tag.

(Image from Wire Image)

Angelina Jolie (will this woman ever need top wrinkle cream?!) - My absolute favorite dress she’s worn has got to be the beautiful Max Azria Atelier gown that she wore to Cannes. The cut was beautiful, the color was amazing and BOY did it look comfortable! Too bad the dress probably cost upwards of $10,000 and $50,000 (I dunno because of course I can’t find the dress online!). The dress has a “twin” though - The Laundry by Design Crinkled Chiffon Long Dress can be found at Bloomies for much less; (originally) $325.00 currently $227.50!!

(Image from People Magazine)

Gwen Stefani - Mrs. Rossdale rocked out her style as usual all the way through her pregnancy with son Kingston and is still rocking it while pregnant with her new edition (due this summer). A lot of the stuff she wears is not “maternity” clothing though, and just seems to be bigger sizes of shifty dresses and non-fitted shirts. She wore a beautiful off the shoulder shifty dress in leopard print to the Grammys in 2006 (I can’t find the information on it though) and looked very chic and comfy in a Mira pullover tunic in grey (find something similar at Old Navy!) on a day out in Beverly Hills. The tunic is priced at $128 which isn’t really that expensive when you think of “celebrity style” you know. You can find a black tube top (maternity) at Old Navy for $20 (but Old Navy is ALWAYS having sales!) It seems to be all about comfort with Gwen’s pregnancy style.

(Image from OK Magazine)

Tori Spelling - Tori went back and forth between fitted tummy-showing outfits and flowy, shifty dresses. One really nice shirt I noticed was the Chiarakruza’s Dallas Top (Denise Richards also wore this shirt). It looks great both during pregnancy and after baby. PLUS - it’s low cut enough where you could totally pop out one of the “twins” and nurse the baby! And at $88 it can fit into a “non-celebrity” budget. Another great dress (shown in photo above) looks super comfy! I have no idea what it is (designer-wise) but it’s “twin” the “Smocked Scoopneck Dress” - the can be found at BabyStyle for $78!

Britney Spears - My all time favorite baby shirt (in terms of “How Freakin’ Cute”) is the “I’ve Got the Golden Ticket” she wore to the “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” premier. I have zero clue where she bought it originally; but this one is super easy to duplicate. Go get yourself a maternity tank top from say, Motherhood (I know they have a dark teal) or a strappy cami from Old Navy and get some iron ons and make it! Super easy and super cheap.

Got any fashion duplicating tips to share? Please send them along!

I had a very boring day - so I spent it playing on the internet looking up celebrity gossip (what else?). Here’s a few interesting tidbits:

Mario Lopez is “crowned” People Magazine’s Hottest Batchelor: Yes ladies and gents; the dimpled wonder once known as AC Slater is now this years hottest free dude. I can agree with that I think; although some people aren’t so happy because he (allegedly) cheated on his last girlfriend Katarina Smirnoff. Hey, just because he’s a player doesn’t mean he’s not hot you know.

Yet Another Remake: Seriously, can Hollywood come up with anything original? Now, according to the BBC Sienna Miller (that chick who was with Jude Law for awhile) will play Maid Marion in an upcoming remake of “Robin Hood” along with Russell Crow as the Sheriff of Nottingham. Wasn’t Robin Hood made only around 15 years or so ago with Kevin Costner? I can see “remaking” old movies, but movies made in the past decade should be off limits. Unless it’s a spoof - because you know; “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” rocked my socks.

Firefox 3 Breaks A Record (Hopefully): Internet browser Firefox 3 (that would be the third generation of Firefox) came out yesterday. They were trying to break the world record of downloads in one day and now they are just waiting for Guinness to give their results. More than 8-Million people downloaded the browser! I’ve been hearing nothing but awesome reviews for it - so get rid of your old buggy crappy IE and get yourself some Firefox

(Had to throw some “Geek” in you know!)

And there you have it!

That “pregnant glow” you think you see might just be the millions of products that I’ve been using to clean my face during this pregnancy. I think it’s starting to form radiation … because my face still hasn’t cleared up. It’s not just acne; it’s shine where there shouldn’t be, it’s dry where it used to be oily … and we won’t even discuss the weird redness and blackheads. Pregnancy hormones wreak HAVOC on your skin, and believe me - the face isn’t the only place getting hit.

I found a new place online, however, that has a TON of products meant to help you get your skin back to “perfect.” It’s called iDerma and they have everything from anti-aging products, moisturizing creams, cleansers and sunscreens, to mineral makeup and more.

I’ve heard personally that Mineral Makeup is ESPECIALLY great for pregnant women. It’s gentle and won’t make your face break out as much as tradition off the rack makeup (I find myself wearing WAY less makeup now that I am pregnant). I’d love to check out the mineral stuff! As far as mineral makeups go - at iDerma you will find bronzing powders (yeah for fake bakes!!), dusting powders, a base powder (complete with spf 20), mascara, gloss and concealer! They even have every makeup brush you could possibly want!

You will also find products for people with hyper pigmentation and also supplements to help with everything from pre/post surgery nutrition to supplements for helping your skin

Even better? They even have a 115% price match guarantee AND free shipping over $75! Awesome!!

We’re in an age of information … it can literally be found EVERYWHERE (be it good info. or bad info.). When you are pregnant for the first time (and maybe even subsequent times) you look online (and in books) for information: what will my body go through, what is my baby doing, where has my mind gone). I won’t say that the internet has replaced information from doctors completely; but I see a lot of questions being asked in message boards and livejournal that really should be asked of a doctor. Yes it’s fine to get opinions from those who have “been there - done that” but it’s no replacement for your health care professional.

Baby/Pregnancy message boards drive me nuts. I used to troll them literally all day when I was pregnant with my son three years ago (gosh, almost four now!). I think the information I found on them made me even more crazy! Not to mention the debates! OH the debates!! Cloth diapers vs. disposables; circ vs. anti-circ; breast vs. bottle; crib vs. family bed …. People get RUDE a lot of times with their opinions, and it’s really best to stay away from that drama. It will just totally STRESS YOU OUT!

This time around? I’ve got a nice birth group on LiveJournal (so far, no drama) and I only occasionally visit a couple other ones. I’m avoiding the DRAMA this time around. I know what to do with a baby now; whatever *I* decide.

I was shopping around the other day for no reason other than boredom for computer things (like laptop memory - because Alan would like his lappy to run faster). I realized that since hubby no longer gets his Maximum PC magazine I no longer know diddly about new computer stuff. I’m pretty lame. I’m pretty sure his laptop isn’t going to run “Teh Best” games though, because it’s over a year old now (omg, no, over two years old now!). My laptop needed new memory because it’s running Vista (draaagggg) so I could run Sims2. I’m not a “TEH GAME” gamer, so running “Fear” or something on here isn’t a concern to me. My laptop was purchased last October and is a Vaio. It’s a NICE laptop and it runs just fine now that up upgraded the memory.

We’ve been talking about rebuilding the desktop also. The desktop (nicknamed “The Beast”) was built by hubby almost 4 years ago now (I think). It still screams, but there are some issues and it basically just needs an upgrade. Well, and a smaller case which we’ve already bought.

I’ve been working on cleaning the house and I just can’t believe just how much military crap is laying around!! My hubby was issued so much gear and it’s just EVERYWHERE!! I tried to put it in boxes and have him put it in the attic but I guess the message was intercepted; because the gear was never put into the attic. Thankfully, a good chunk of it went with him on his last “business trip” and some of it went to the storage unit in his office .. but, there’s a sleeping bag, uniforms, wrist-top computers, Sector watches (or something), flashlights (which aren’t bad to have around), and oh MRE’s. I have my hurricane pack all ready I guess! Sheesh!

I’m trying to figure out where to store all this crap. Anyone have any grand ideas?

I finally decided that I would upgrade and get a new phone. My old one was wonderful while it lasted - but the speaker was going and it just didn’t have the capabilities that I wanted (full keyboard, internet, sync with my laptop). So, off the the AT&T website I went to figure out what I wanted. I’ve been literally sitting on it for a couple weeks now debating and checking prices. I finally decided on a sexy red Pantech Duo. The phone kicks some serious butt and has everything I want. Yes, it’s more a month now that I’ve added internet, but whatever. It’s nice though - hubby played with it all the way to dinner and halfway though dinner. He’s such a gear guy …

I don’t think it’s tri-band though so I can’t take it to any St. Thomas villa rentals .. but, after what I paid for it - I can’t AFFORD rentals anyway!

While I was in high school our chorus group took a trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee via Atlanta, Georgia … We hit up the Coke Museum and of course Underground Atlanta. The underground was literally across a lot from the Coke place so it was cool for us high-schoolers to visit (in groups of course!). Some of the kids were telling other kids about the “history” of the underground, saying that the tunnels were built in order to be an “underground railroad” for slaves and also such things like the “original” Atlanta (like, before General Sherman burned his way though) was burned so badly that they didn’t have the money to repair so they just built OVER it - hence, the underground! Um, wow … nothing like a few high school “urban legends” huh? They make me laugh now, but I really believed them back then.

According to Wikipedia:

The buildings were built during Atlanta’s post-Civil War boom, between 1866 and 1871, when the city’s population doubled from 11,000 to 22,000 residents. In 1869, the Georgia Railroad Freight Depot was constructed to replace the one destroyed by Sherman’s troops in 1864. The depot, which stands at the entrance of Underground Atlanta, remains the oldest extant building in downtown Atlanta. Besides the train station, the bustling district included hotels, banks, law offices and saloons.

By 1910, several iron bridges had been built to cross the railroad tracks at Union Street. At the suggestion of Atlanta architect Haralson Bleckley, the bridges were rebuilt in concrete and connected by a linear mall between them. Eventually, Bleckley envisioned public plazas between the bridges, but only one, Plaza Park [later Peachtree Fountains Plaza], was ever built.

As the construction took place in the 1920s, merchants began to move their operations to the second floor of their buildings, and turned the original ground floors storefronts into basements for storage and service. Some of the basements became natural sites of speakeasys and juke joints, with music and illegal drinking a common occurrence.

By the end of the 1920s, the street level had been raised up by one-and-a-half stories and a five-block area was completely covered up. For the next forty years, as Atlanta continued to grow, the 12 acre area was effectively abandoned and forgotten.

In 1968 the original storefronts were rediscovered and the district was declared a historic site. Many architectural features from a century earlier had survived intact including decorative brickwork, granite archways, ornate marble, cast-iron pilasters, hand-carved wooden posts and gas streetlamps.

Plans were made to restore and reopen “the city beneath the city” as a retail and enterainment district. On April 8, 1969, “Underground Atlanta” officially opened with new restaurants, bars, nightclubs and music venues installed in the old individual storefronts.

Underground sat mostly dormant for most of the 1980s. Vagrants occupied several of the historic buildings, some of which were destroyed by fires. In 1982, newly-elected Mayor Andrew Young vowed to reopen Underground as part of his plan to reinvent downtown Atlanta.

On June 15, 1989, Underground Atlanta reopened a second time as more of a modern shopping mall than an entertainment district. Its 140 tenants included the retail outlets Sam Goody and Olivia Newton-John’s Koala Blue as well as a reopened Dante’s Down the Hatch in the Kenny’s Alley area. Although the historic buildings and architecture remained a major draw, some critics felt that the now-sanitized district has lost its original charm and lively atmosphere.

It’s a super neat shopping area with lots of charm and old buildings (which I am obsessed with). So, if you are in Atlanta be sure to visit! Also, if you live in Atlanta - be sure to get in your Atlanta resumes - maybe you can get a cool job at this historic place!