subUrban girl (and her soundtrack)

I meant to write this post right after I saw the movie “Suburban Girl” starring Sarah Michelle Gellar. It’s a movie based on the novel “The Girl’s Guide to Hunting and Fishing” –a book that I happen to love. In a nutshell, Sarah Michelle plays an Associate Editor in a publishing company, reads books for a living, lives and plays in NYC, and is dating a distinguished older man. Watching it made me reflect on my life as it is right now. In my early twenties, I never thought I’d be married, have kids, own a house, and live outside NYC by the time I was 30.

In college, my goal was to be a writer or journalist or editor and viewed myself writing for a magazine or publishing house while working on the Great American novel. I also fancied myself to be living in an airy loft in Tribeca (before I knew how much real estate cost in Manhattan), going out with my friends at ecclectic restaurants and lounges, and trying my hand at dating. I was never those girls who dreamed about their perfect wedding nor did I have a goal to be married at a certain age. So it’s funny that I ended up far removed from what I thought my “ideal life” would be.

In reality, I hated the singles scene and was always a serial monogamist. I did try my hand at dating and did the bar scene and I always felt so skeeved out by the scene. I met the hubs and in less than two years of dating, got engaged and married. When I got married, we moved to NJ. I remember telling the hubs that we had to live near public transportation so my friends can visit. Well we do but only a rare few have come to visit on their own volition.

I also abandoned my idea of becoming a professional writer since I was so intimidated by all the other much more talented people in my school and I didn’t really have a plan career-wise. What I did do was go out with girl friends and had fun eating out, drinking, and dancing. The hubs and I also continued to do that for the first five years of our marriage. We lived our life much like our single counterparts and life didn’t really change so much.

Then we had rockstar baby. Kids really do change the course of your life. I think that with having one kid, you can still keep up some sort of semblance of life pre-baby. But with two kids, that’s definitely out the window (until they are both of school-age at least).

The whole point of this entry is that I think the life we imagine for ourselves isn’t always the life we end up living –which is not a bad thing. You definitely keep your old goals (for me, that would be writing as a hobby, etc.), but you outgrow stuff (for me, that would be doing the hipster club scene, etc). I’ve always strived to live a life less ordinary, and I didn’t think I was the type to become a domestic goddess, but here I am! Because really, as much as I think it would be cool to live life like Carrie from Sex in the City, I can’t imagine life without my rockstar baby, lil’ C, and the hubs. They are my life and they make me who and what I am today. They definitely make this suburban girl’s life extraordinary.

* * * * *

Now for the soundtrack! I feel so honored! I was lucky enough to be tagged by the lovely Ms. Jet who gave me the following instructions:

1. Choose 19 of the songs you like best, regardless of artist or genre.
2. Put them all together in a CD.
3. Make 5 other copies.
4. Post your playlist on your blog.
5. Choose 5 people and send them a copy of your CD each. Send the first copy you made to the one who tagged you.

Sorry this took a while; I can’t believe I could only choose 19 songs. In any case, here goes (and your CD will be in the mail shortly! Please be patient since I have to track some of these songs down.)

My 19 songs (in no particular order):

1. Lovesong by The Cure
2. Jacqueline by Franz Ferdinand
3. Rock the Casbah by The Clash
4. Shadowplay by Joy Division
5. PDA by Interpol
6. Narc by Interpol
7. No Quarter by Led Zeppelin
8. Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix
9. Inaction by We Are Scientists
10. Atomic by Blondie
11. Cities in Dust by Siouxsie and the Banshees
12. There, There by Radiohead
13. Same Deep Water as You by The Cure
14. A Forest by The Cure
15. This One Goes Out to One I Love by R.E.M.
16. New Year’s Day by U2
17. New Hampshire by Sonic Youth
18. Titanium Expose by Sonic Youth
19. Shadowboxin’ by Wu-Tang Clan

I am tagging Tesco

how to pick up a mom part 2, and other stories

So I’m back on the prowl and trying to find mom to hang out with. As I wrote in my previous post “How to Pick Up a Mom,” I think it’s hard to find a fellow mom that’s in the same situation as you. Most of my friends are definitely not in the same boat as me. I only know about 4 other moms my age and we’re all in different stages (i.e., single mom, mom of three, etc). It also doesn’t help that some of them don’t live near me.

So I joined a “Mom’s Group” on a whim just to see how it was like. I didn’t even look for this group; a representative from the hospital I gave birth in called me and told me there was an upcoming meeting and that there would be refreshments, and was I interested in attending? For those who know me, “free food” is always a draw for me! LOL. They meet on Wednesdays and I was able to go because rockstar baby is in school on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. So I went last week and met three other moms –two of whom were in the same boat as moi: they recently gave birth to a new baby and dealing with a toddler at home. Score! It was fun to talk another live person about how they dealt with certain parenting issues. I think I’ll go to a few more meetings just to get to know these other moms. I especially liked this one mom who was a dead-ringer for Elle McPherson (except she had strawberry blonde hair and a European accent I just can’t place). She also had the body of Elle McPherson despite having a 3-month old and a 4-year old boy at home. Then again, she did have a nanny so maybe she has time to work out? There was this other mom who was Asian like me, has a 4-week old, and a 2-year old at home. Again, stick-skinny, but at least she and I had a lot of things in common.

Speaking of skinny –I have decided to start working out. It’s been about 6 weeks since I gave birth and I can’t fit into any of my pre-pregnancy jeans. Not that I’m panicking. I know I can still use the “I-just-gave-birth” excuse, and I remember being able to wear my old clothes around the 3-month mark. But I really didn’t think I look or felt fat until I tried about 8 pairs of jeans and realized I could only fit into my elastic-waist maternity ones. Egads. I know I’ve lost weight without even trying courtesy of breastfeeding, but my existing fat has been redistributed all to my thighs and arms! Hence the fact that I can’t even pull my jeans past my kneecaps. Oh well.

I have to take it day-by-day. Wanting to work out + reality = not having a regular work out schedule and zero energy. There are days when I wake up having only 5 hours of non-consecutive sleep and it takes sheer willpower just to go through the day without crashing. But there are also days when I wake up just fine because Lil’ C only woke up twice during the night. So I’ll work out on a case-by-case basis for now until she starts sleeping through the night.

As a motivation tool, I’m posting a “before” pic of me! Avert your eyes folks if you don’t want to be alarmed! Beware of the flab and muffin top!

My Before Pic: 1 month after giving birth

My goal is to post a kick-arse “after” pic right next to this by July (my birthday month)! Of course, it doesn’t help that I just consumed a grande Iced Decaf Mocha and three butterscotch haystacks (thanks Girlie) as I typed this.