52 Date Nights, Week five: Look at family photos

We’ve been crazy busy (no date night last weekendL ), so decided to make last night a simple, laid back date night. We Snuggle(d) in Sensuous Sleepwear (#4), while #19 Look(ing) at Family Photos. I recently finished and ordered Paul’s first year book, so we looked at that and also grabbed Meg’s.

Then we pulled out photo albums from when WE were babies.

1985 Jessica is watching you.

For good measure, I propped the life-size Baby Jessica poster on the couch.

(What? You don’t have one of those? I was the first grandchild and my grandpa developed photos in his basement.)

Nothing says sexy like a baby staring at you. Not just any baby, either, but YOU as a baby.




Previous date night posts here.
Free date night ideas PDF download here. (Not sponsored.)

Book review: A Strange Stirring: The Feminine Mystique & American Women at the Dawn of the 1960s

Over the last few weeks, I've read A Strange Stirring: The Feminine Mystique and American Women at the Dawn of the 1960s. (Which I found when Hilary tweeted the link to this article written by the author.) From looking at the Goodreads reviews, it seems those who regularity read feminist theory thought this was too surface-level but other readers enjoyed it more. 

I’m clearly no women’s studies major, given one reason I checked this out is because I didn’t even know what the feminine mystique was and wanted to find out. For some reason, I kind of thought (but wasn’t at all sure) it was ‘that mystical thing that makes women desirable.’ (In a positive way – not an objectifying way.) In this theory, The Feminine Mystiquewould have been an empowering “embrace your mystique!” kind of novel.

Turns out, the feminine mystique is “the mystique that surrounded the roles of housewife and mother, denying women’s need for any other source of personal identity or meaning in their lives.”

So. Sort of different.

Freidan/Coontz says 50s housewives were “misled into thinking that service to their family was the highest and only aspiration women should have.”

“’The female doesn’t really expect a lot from life,’ explained one mother [whom Coontz quotes from a Saturday Evening Post article complied from a Gallup poll in 1962]. ‘She’s here as someone’s keeper – her husband’s or her children’s.’” Those who wanted more were thought to be defective or not appreciative enough of what they had and thought themselves inadequate.

As I read more, it seemed The Feminine Mystique (the book) was to a lot of women what the internet has been for many of those in my blogging circle – a “shock of recognition and an overwhelming sense of relief they were not alone in their feelings.” Even I’ve always bought into the idea marriage and motherhood are these magical wonderful things and when I found out they’re hard and often not wonderful it meant a lot to find out others felt the same. I’m nowhere near as trapped as 50s housewives were – I even have exactly what Betty Freidan said would solve everything: a job (though not the housekeeper she also recommended) – yet I initially thought there was something wrong with me for not being completely fulfilled and blissful as a mother.

At the end of the book, Coontz goes into issues facing women (and men) today. I found the last section, talking about “the career mystique...the idea that a successful career requires people to commit all their time and energy throughout their prime years to their jobs.” especially fascinating.

“The feminine mystique defined the ideal wife as having no interests or obligations outside the home. The career mystique defines the ideal employee – male or female – as having no familial or caregiving obligations that compete with work.”

It's nice to think this could change, much as the role of women in society has changed since the 1950's.

Should it Stay Monday: No hints

As I said last week, this week I’m posting pictures of several things, some of which I want to keep and some of which I think should probably go. I won’t tell you what’s what and am interested to see if you agree with me when you don’t already know what I think. (Although I should probably call it "minimal hints.")

Should it stay: Blue faded

(polls are closed and screen shots are coming soon!)

Should it stay: Green pattern

Should it stay: Purple stripe

Should it stay: Toddler 

Seven Quick Takes, mostly about food

1. It seems I’m the only person on Twitter who doesn’t like the texture of fluffy eggs. WHY must people insist on fluffifying the eggs? Don’t add milk! Don’t cook in butter! (That doesn’t have anything to do with texture, I just don’t like it.)
    
2. I found a jar of Trader Joe’s peanut butter that needed using up and am eating it this week. Living on the edge! (It’s not on the recall list, so I’m hoping for the best.) (After I looked at that recall list, though, I realized I ate a ThinkThin bar that is on it. Oops.)
    



Not sponsored, though
this is an affiliate link.

3. Have you tried BB cream yet? It’s a combination product that often takes the place of several things (foundation included). I’ve tried several and my hands-down favorite is Dr. Jart+ Water Fuse. I think different BB creams are meant to replace different products – right? Some don’t have sunscreen, some do. Some don’t replace moisturizer, some do. Well, the Water Fuse is super moisturizing and my skin has been better hydrated using it instead of moisturizer plus foundation. It’s not cheap and I wouldn’t have randomly picked it up, but I got one in my Birchbox a while ago and fell in love. Make sure you get the WaterFuse, as I tried the Dr. Jart Premium and didn’t like it – it was too thick. It seems most people have a favorite already - what's yours?
    
4. Don’t forget to sign up for the Shutterfly giveaway! You could win a $50 credit to use for anything on their site.
    
5. Someone made the Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls for mom's club today and they were amazing. I'd always heard they were good, but I'm not much of a cinnamon roll person (or a baking with yeast person), so I dismissed them as something I'd never make. I may need to change that.
    
6. At Christmastime I volunteer to bring cookies to everything so I can prep anytime I want and freeze them instead of having to make something right before leaving. I started making batches a few weeks ago to cut down on holiday stress, but they've been slowly disappearing from our freezer. I've made 17 dozen and we have about 4 dozen left. Maybe we need a new freezer.
   (I should mention I'm rather free with cookie gifts when I feel like I have plenty so I've given away 8 dozen so far. They're never going to last until Christmas.)
    
7. I still don't have Halloween costumes for the kids. I'm just not into Halloween at ALL this year and costumes seem like a whole lot of money for some crappy fabric. Meg said cheerfully she'll just wear her costume from last year (love her!), but I'm not sure it will fit. I know Paul's won't. Have you seen any good sales?

52 Date Nights: Week 4, Watch a Sports Game

Week 1. Week 2. Week 3. Date Night Ideas PDF download here. (Not sponsored.)

With Thomas’ beloved St. Louis Cardinals playing for the National League Championship this week, #27 Watch a sports game and eat stadium food seemed like a no-brainer. Luckily, the game went pretty well for the Cardinals so no one got cranky.

We planned to have bratwurst for dinner, then nachos and beer with the game after the kids were in bed. We ended up still recovering a bit from the stomach flu last week, though, so we skipped dinner and just had nachos, which had the bonus of clearing out our fridge. We threw on rotisserie chicken leftover from lunch and vegetarian taco filling (black beans, mushrooms, corn*) from the day before. Plus cheese of course. Lots of cheese. I think cheese + chips should be the default method of eating leftovers.

*When I realized we were eating corn on corn (chips) I obviously thought of Diane. Corn!

Holiday card giveaway!!

This post is sponsored by Shutterfly.

I’m not a Halloween person and Thanksgiving to me is a day, not a season, so I don’t think Christmas planning can ever start too early. I like it better, actually, before winter starts and I start to feel the pressure to get everything done. I’ve already got present lists and decorating plans in my head and am starting to get them organized (which means I’m not really that early on the planning this year – I think Jen has all her presents done and wrapped!)

So far I have:

1.     Ordered fabric to make super-secret presents.

2.     Purchased iTunes gift cards, for stockings (I got them when they were 10% off at Target!)

3.     Speaking of stockings and Target, every time I go (which really isn’t all that often, since we’re not made of money and things just jump into my cart there) I grab a few dollar spot items I think might work well for stockings. (And a whole bunch more I “need” for other things, but we won’t go there.)

4.     A folder on my computer titled “2013 calendar” with pictures named “July” or “September” so ordering calendars will be quick and easy. I wish I could order now, but I try to do it at the last minute so the pictures of the kids are as recent as possible. I am planning to get some staged pictures this year – like the kids in their Christmas outfits, so I have a list.

5.     Along the same lines: a list of pictures I need for various other things – like “M with Grandma for X project.” Maybe I’ll actually get the camera out at Thanksgiving this year!

6.     A list of some of the decorations we're Freecycling this year. I've been waiting 9 months to get rid of a couple mini-trees.

Next on the list: Christmas Cards!

I think I’ve narrowed my decision to these two cards. I prefer stationery cards (which the top one is), but will see what looks best with whatever picture I end up choosing.

If you’d like to order Holiday cards – or anything else – from Shutterfly, leave a comment (saying anything!). For an additional entry, tweet a link to this post and tag me (@JesabesBlog), then come leave a comment saying you did so. The winner will receive a promo code for $50 off their total order (does not include shipping & cannot be combined with any other promos). The contest will be open for one week, ending 12:00 pm central time on October 23^rd, 2012.

For other savings opportunities, check out Shutterfly’s special offers page or follow them on Twitter or Facebook.

Shutterfly is providing me with a promo code for $100 off one total order for this post and sending a $50 promo code to one of my readers.

Should it Stay Monday: Is this detailing lame? Or OK?

I’ve had this shirt for several years. This isn’t one of those “I’ve always had the sneaking suspicion this wasn’t a good choice” dresses/sweaters/etc. I think it looks fairly good on me, I just am not sure if it sends the right message. Does it look a little like “hey! I’m a plus-size shirt!” or maybe “I shop in the old-lady department store”? I don’t think so, but it often looks that way on the hanger. I pass it over in my closet often, but when I do put it on I usually think I look fine.

Crappy cell-phone picture because my real
camera had the nerve to have a dead battery

It’s tagless and has been washed so many times I can’t read the printed-directly-on-the-fabric label, so I’m not sure what the brand is or where I bought it (I’m guessing Younkers.)

Updated: Poll results

Up next week: No hints! I’m going to take pictures of several things, some of which I want to keep and some of which I think should probably go. I won’t tell you what’s what and am interested to see if you agree with me when you don’t already know what I think.