My Brief Stint at Stay-at-Home-Mommyhood & what lies ahead...

Heelllllllloooooooo!


Well, needless to say, it's been much, much, MUCH too long since my last blog post. And there's really been no excuse for it. In my last post (...way back in April...) I was just about to become a stay-at-home mom and we were getting ready to leave for Budapest with the family - both were extremely exciting, fun, and times which I will never forget. The trip to Budapest was beyond amazing... I can't even believe I didn't post after coming back (although it was already so long ago, I honestly kind of thought that I had!), it just doesn't seem to do it justice to mention it now, four months later, but here are some highlights: did lots of sightseeing, saw lots of distant family that fed us lots of delicious Hungarian food, drank A LOT of wine, and even survived a halfway-around-the-world-and-back flight with a 10-month old. Nora did amazingly well and was surprisingly extremely easy to travel with - unfortunately she will not have any recollection of the trip, but we came back with well over a thousand pictures collectively and hopefully we'll be able to make the trip again someday when she's older.

The beginning of one long plane ride... I've never been more thankful for Nora's excellent sleeping habits.

N-n-n-n-n-Nora the explorer.

Nick and Nora enjoying the leisurely walk across the Szechenyi Bridge toward Buda.

The quaint and windy streets of the castle district in Buda.

Breakfast of champions.

View from the Citadel, the highest point in Budapest.

Happily looking like tourists on the very-touristy Vaci Utca, making our way to the market.

I definitely recalled some very fond memories of my four months abroad while I was lucky enough to live in this beautiful city. I retraced the steps I took nearly five years ago (how has it really been that long?) around the city, down Andrassy Ut, around City Park and the fabulous Szecheny Baths, remembering without hesitation the correct stops on the metro lines and which streets to turn down in order to conveniently pass by my favorite places to eat and drink. Since we've gotten back from this trip, Nick and I have said countless times... I want to go back. But the real reason this trip was so special was because of the company we shared while there, in particular, my grandmother - Oma - to those of you who know our family. I can't describe how amazing it was to travel to her and my grandfather's hometown, to stay with family that she hasn't seen in decades and watch them reminisce and joke and sing like they had never been apart all these years... to see the small rural town which has been modernized (and by modernized, I mean some people now have running water and electricity, and some even have internet and satellite TV - ironically, however, many of those with satellite TV do not also have running water...) but still seems, in so many ways, frozen in a much simpler time where most people make homemade wine and many have not even been to the capital city of Budapest, 2 hours away. Oma was the very best tourguide we could have asked for, and when back in Budapest, I took over and happily helped my family to discover this beautiful and unique city on the Danube.

My grandfather's family's old street in the middle of Duschau/Duzs.

Our Duschau family... halfway around the world, yet so much like being at home.

My great-great grandmother's house, where Oma spent many happy days as a child. 

My mom, aunt Maria and uncle Norman taking in the view from my grandfather's family's former vineyard.

The best little traveler you know.

It was also very exciting and relieving knowing that once I returned from the trip, I would officially be a stay-at-home mom. While it was short-lived, I enjoyed each and every second that I was able to spend with Nora and wish it could have lasted a little longer before returning to work, but alas, I've learned since I've entered adulthood that unfortunately there's this silly thing called money and these other annoying things called bills and apparently, you need the former in order to get rid of the latter. I don't really like being an adult sometimes.

So, I am now once again a working employed-outside-the-home-and-getting-paid-for-it mom... and so far, even though it is not easy leaving Nora every morning, I'm actually really enjoying my new job. I'm extremely grateful for the fact that everyone I've met is genuinely nice and welcoming, making for an easy transition back into office-life. AND, everyone tells me there's a good chunk of downtime most days, which will hopefully allow me to get back to my blog on a much more regular basis. I figured that it was a good sign when on my second day, I looked in my file drawer and found this:

It was clearly left by the girl that used to sit at my cubicle. But the question was, did she accidentally leave it behind? Or, did she very purposefully leave it behind, because maybe she received it as a gift in a secret santa yankee swap gift exchange, when really what she wanted was the iPod? (...unfortunately it was the first assumption, and yes, I had to give it back.)

I’m so excited… and I just can’t hide it…

Excitement is in the air. It has once again been much too long since my last post, and for that I do apologize…I'll be making up for it with a super long post this time. 

It’s been a very busy last few weeks and this week has been no exception. We spent this past weekend with my sister and her boyfriend at his family’s cabin, along with my brother and his girlfriend. The trip was mine and Nick’s birthday present from my sister, and we had a great weekend – and Nora seemed to enjoy her first snow trip, although she didn’t really come in contact too much with the actual snow… I think she was much more excited about the toy boats in the bathtub and her new-found crush in my sister’s boyfriend. I’ve never seen a 9-month old so smitten with an ‘older’ man.

The snow trip was a nice and relaxing finish to a busy and hectic week. On Monday of last week, I officially put in my two weeks notice for my job and have since been working non-stop to tie up any loose ends before my last day. This was both extremely exciting (if you know me then you know that this is a day I’ve been looking forward to for a while) and very nerve-wracking as I’ve been doing my best to assure myself that it’s the right move to make right now. I’ve been wanting a change for a while now, and this decision would have been made a year ago had it not been for a little bundle of joy surprising us and entering our lives (of course, an immense blessing which I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world, but a bit of a surprise, nonetheless). So, the time has now come to officially cut my ties with the job I was never really thrilled to have in the first place, but was very fortunate to have at a time when thousands of people were (are) still out of work. After this week, I will officially be a full-time momma (who is still looking for a part-time job… so if you know of anything, let me know!).

Part of the reason I chose to put in notice at this particular time was because of the other reason this last week and the current week have been so busy – we’re headed to Budapest in only 5 DAYS!!! We began planning this trip two years ago and for the longest time it seemed so far away, and was looking like only a few of us would be able to go. The group has now grown to include me, Nick and Nora, my brother and sister, aunt Kathy and uncle Norman (these were the original travelers), as well as my mom, my Oma, and my aunt Maria and uncle Paul. I don’t think I ever imagined we’d ever have the opportunity for a trip like this, and I’m so amazingly grateful and excited at the idea that we’re all actually going, especially when I think about how amazing it will be to be able to travel with my grandmother to the town where she and my grandfather grew up, in a little town in Southern Hungary. I know that there will also be some sad and bittersweet times on this trip, as we will all constantly be reminded of my grandfather and the fact that we’re making this trip without him, as we remember his memories and stories that we all grew up hearing. It will be the trip of a lifetime, and I plan to have lots of stories of my own and pictures to share when we return.

I’m hoping that no more than one or two of those stories will involve Nora being a pain in the butt during a ten hour flight, or of us missing our connecting flight in London during a 90-minute layover due to a diaper catastrophe. One can hope.

And the rain rain rain came down down down…

Holy guacamole. It’s raining not only dogs and cats, but I think lions and tigers and bears, too. And that ferocious rain is accompanied by such lovely up-to-60mph-winds.

And thank you, CalTrans, for informing me of this with your roadside signs saying ‘Caution: High Wind’. Because that didn’t occur to me while I was struggling to keep my car on the freeway this morning and running my windshield wipers at ludicrous speed in an attempt to see through the sheets of rain being thrown against my windshield. I’m so grateful that sign was there to give me the news.

I would have felt much more informed had I seen this sign instead. At least it would have been news.

Am I The Biggest Loser?

Every season we I seem to get addicted to a new reality show. A couple of years ago it wasJersey Shore (…which we’re still addicted to, I’m sad to say… we love celebrating T-shirt time on Thursday nights), at one point it was More to Love (the fat girls’ version of The Bachelor, for those millions of you who did not watch it – I don’t really feel bad calling it that either, since that was literally the entire premise of the show and the point they constantly drilled into you), last year it was Ocho Cinco’s Ultimate Catch (I still can’t get over how big of a b**** Tara was – how did she manage to make it so far?!?).

This season, it’s The Biggest Loser. And it’s pretty pathetic how excited I get every Tuesday knowing that a new episode will be on that night – and tonight’s the night, and oh my god, they might bring Arthur back! How exciting… he sooo needs this, everyone knows it… how did they kick him off in the first place?

Yes, I’m really that excited. Not so much about Arthur, which they keep hyping up on the previews without actually saying that’s who’s coming back but still making it really obvious to the point that it’s not even a question, but about a new episode. Nick was actually the one that suggested we start watching it, and I thought, ‘hmm, this might be good – maybe watching this will encourage us to eat healthier and exercise more, and maybe consider getting a gym membership again or at least go on walks in the park which is literally in our backyard.’ Alas, no. Instead, we usually end up opening up a package of oreos about ten minutes into the show and drinking an entire bottle of wine… which is totally reasonable when you think about the fact that we’re eating oreos during the show which is TWO HOURS every week (is that really necessary? I’m really not complaining though…) and that’s quite a long time to be eating cookies without having something to wash them down with. And if we’ve learned anything fromThe Biggest Loser, it’s that milk is fattening and packs a lot of calories, ergo, wine is clearly the healthier choice.

Sunday Morning in the Seevers House

A morning of relaxing before I start getting ready for church... watching some cartoons (Nora couldn't care less... so pretty much just me watching Spongebob), checking email... as well as:


Nora taking bites out of magazines - 

...and the dog drinking an entire cup of coffee while I change a diaper... my fault for leaving it sitting on the coffee table (what kind of dummie leaves a coffee cup on the coffee table?). 


At least it's a better start to the day than yesterday, when we woke up and realized we had no power and hadn't had power since the middle of the night... and wouldn't be getting power back until 2:00 in the afternoon. Not having power kind of sucks. I reminded myself every so often as I eagerly awaited the electricity to return that there are thousands and thousands of people in other parts of the world right now - Japan, New Zealand - that are in MUCH worse shape and would be thrilled to only have to worry about not having power for 12 hours. I, however, could only think about the fact that my head would be killing me by about 11am if I didn't find a way to make coffee. And that I had a 3lb tri tip in the refrigerator marinating for dinner that night with Nick's family, with a death sentence as it got less and less cold in there and I wondered about a plan B for Nana's birthday dinner. And that I really needed to vacuum the rugs and run the washing machine to wash the bathroom rugs and towels before they came over at 6pm. Obviously, these were very trivial concerns in the grand scheme of things, but when the power's out and you can't watch TV or use the internet, you have time to dwell on silly thoughts like this.  Of course, everything turned out fine - the power came back on suddenly a little after 2pm, and we had plenty of time to finish cleaning and get the food ready before everyone came over (...early, of course... I'm so used to my family that shows up about a half hour late to everything, so arriving early is quite a foreign idea). We had a great time visiting with Nick's mom, uncle, Nana, and Nana's best friend Bertha. Enjoyed some champagne, ate a good dinner, shared in some birthday cake. Happy 85th Birthday, Nana!

Feeling a little old… but not minding it so much.

I’m officially another year older, and I have to say, I’m okay with it. (How do you feel about it, Jon Hamm? Don’t worry, you’ll always be a young and dapper dreamboat in my eyes…) I know that I’m still by no means old… some of my older more distinguished friends and family members would not be very pleased with me if I said that 26 was old.

I think it’s the fact that 25 was such a nice round number… only a quarter of a century, still only halfway to 50, old enough to rent a car (…who really cares, right?), and by definition, in the “mid” twenties. Even though it’s only a year’s difference, 26 just seems like a big jump… it could even be argued that I’ve now entered “late” twenties. Arguably.

But to be honest, I don’t really care what my age is; I just really appreciate the fact that I have so many great friends and family to be incredibly grateful for – there’s nothing like a million 'Happy Birthdays!' on facebook to remind you how much you’re loved. Or at least to remind you how many people are on facebook often enough to see that it’s your birthday. Either way, it makes me happy.

Here’s to an even more fantastic year ahead - Cheers!

p.s.: that's my way of saying that I'm drinking a bottle of wine at my desk right now... just kidding. 

p.p.s.: am I kidding? I wish I wasn't. It would make the afternoon go by so much faster.

A Birthday Feast

Today is my husband's birthday... Happy Birthday, my dear - I do love you soooo much, and wish you many many happy birthday wishes. 


We went to Mehran with a discount gift certificate from restaurant.com (check this site out if you haven't... really great deals for only a few bucks...) for a delicious and extremely filling dinner of Indian food. The gift certificate we had was $25 off a bill of $35 or more, so we went a little overboard to ensure we got to the $35 minimum. We clearly weren't keeping track of the dollar amounts as we were ordering, and ended up just pretty much ordering everything that sounded good. We were still able to keep it under $30 out of pocket including the tip (which was happily handed over since the waiter/manager/possible owner let us use the gift certificate even though they apparently aren't valid there anymore, which we didn't know). For the three of us, we ordered vegetable samosas, a mixed grill special (with shrimp, lamb, and two different kinds of chicken), chicken tikka masala, rice, aloo palak, plain naan and garlic naan, and a mango lassi. And really all that was just for the two of us, since Nora had about two bird-sized bites of naan. She clearly needs to step up her game.