Momma's Got a New Gig

I know what you’re thinking… Lauren decided to be a stay-at-home mommy but all the Baby Einstein songs and playdates made her lose her mind. No, not at all! I absolutely adore staying at home with Connor. I mean, I wouldn’t say that I really “stay at home” all that much, but do adore my time with him. I don’t regret my decision at all. Besides, I burned all my dress pants so there’s really no going back now, is there?

Well, there kind of is. I got a job, y’all!

I’m the new Social Media Manager at ProjectNursery.com. Project Nursery is an online design resource for baby nursery inspiration. Anyone can share their nurseries, birthday parties or toddler/next step rooms on the site, peruse the project galleries or read the blog for inspiration. I've actually been a huge fan of Project Nursery since I was beginning to plan for Connor’s nursery. And if you've pinned any nurseries on Pinterest, well, there’s a really good chance you’ve pinned a PN nursery!

Here are just a few to give you an idea:

(source: Project Nursery)

(source: Project Nursery)

(source: Project Nursery)

I’m managing their Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram and Google+. The best part is that it’s only about 10 or so hours/week and I can do it all from home (read: no dress pants), so I get to enjoy the best of both worlds – being at home with my little guy and still doing something that I’m good at (or at least something that they think I’m good at!)

So, if you’d like to follow along, please give us a like or follow!

www.facebook.com/projectnursery

www.pinterest.com/projectnursery

www.twitter.com/projectnursery

www.instagram.com/projectnursery

plus.google.com/+ProjectNursery/

Pregnancy: Week 38-39 in Review

Well, we've come to the end, folks. This is the last "Pregnancy Review" blog post! The exciting news is that Connor will be arriving on Wednesday morning and WE. CAN'T. WAIT. He'll be here just one day before his actual due date.

Feeling? Excited, scared, anxious and totally joyful! Physically? Errrr, fairly uncomfortable. We're definitely ready.

Sleeping? Meh. I sleep OK some nights, not so great others.

Weight Gain? A little over 25 pounds.

Baby Size? As of week 38, they estimated his weight at 7 lbs, 5 oz. But really, who knows? My weight guess at birth is 8 lb, 3 oz. And we'll know soon enough!

Maternity Clothes? Oh lord, I'm so over maternity clothes. When I'm shopping (usually for something really awesome like extra nursing pads or a diaper genie), I always stare longingly at the non-maternity clothes...

Cravings? Same as before... but I'm still on a bit of a kick with sweets. I'm literally drooling as I scan Pinterest dessert boards. And I may or may not be eating a pint of ice cream as we speak. This can neither be confirmed or denied.

Baby Position? Well after weeks of effort, hours of tilts/being upside down and hundreds of dollars worth of acupuncture and chiropractor, unfortunately the little guy is still head-up, so he needs a little help coming out. So, we'll be going in for a c-section on Wednesday morning. At first, I was extremely upset and it's certainly not what I wanted for my birth experience, but I've had several weeks to let the idea soak in and I've found the positive in it. The main thing is that we get a healthy baby, which is all we want!

What I Miss? I do miss walking like a regular person. In the past two weeks, I've definitely gotten the token "pregnant person" waddle down pretty pat.

What I'm Looking Forward To? Meeting my baby boy, of course!


Best Moment? Lots! I finally got over my sickness, we finished up the nursery (well, except for that blasted glider that we're still waiting for. Little Castle Gilder Company and BuyBuyBaby are about to get on my shit list, if I don't get a call this week that it's arrived!) and Greg delivered my "push" present early! 

Belly Button Status? Outie. I could probably poke an eye out with that thing...

Once we get the glider in, I'll definitely do a belated blog post to share all the nursery photos. It's so precious! And I'll be sure to share photos at some point after he arrives.

Last bump pic at week 39 and a sneak peak at the nursery!

 Wish us luck! ;-)

Pregnancy: Week 36-37 in Review

Or rather what this post should be titled: "Pity Party For One."

Well, I'm reporting live from my living room couch - essentially the same place I've been since last Thursday. I've been sick and finally went to the doctor today and have an upper respiratory infection. NOT fun for this about-to-be 38 weeks pregnant lady. I'm taking some medication that my doctor OK'd and hope to be better in the next couple of days. In the meantime, you might consider avoiding me altogether until I get over this bout of sickness and accompanying pity party.
Feeling? Terrible, but I think 90% of it is related to my sickness.

Sleeping? Normally, I sleep alright. My cough is definitely keeping me up at night, which is really interrupting all the sleep/rest that people keep telling me I should be trying to get. 

Weight Gain? A little over 25 pounds.

Baby Size? No idea... They should give us an estimate at our appointment tomorrow, though! My guess is that he will be an 8 lb baby, though, by the time he arrives. Just a hunch! :-)

Maternity Clothes? I kind of don't even want to talk about it. But please don't judge if you see me wearing the same thing multiple times in the next two weeks. All I care about is being comfy and looking (relatively) presentable.

Cravings? Same as before... but I'm on a bit of a kick with sweets. I just got some Girl Scout Cookies last weekend and ummm, they are rocking my world. And my hubby picked me up a sugar cookie from Potbelly the other day and it literally made my entire day. Granted, I'd been home sick, alone all day, so it was a rather lame day, but still. (It's the little things.)

Baby Position? I'm pretty sure he's still breech. He's had some pretty violent movement over the past week or so, but don't think he's flipped. So we're scheduling a c-section.

What I Miss? Honestly, the only thing I really miss is just feeling good. Which I expect to return as soon as I get rid of this sickness.

What I'm Looking Forward To? We're putting a few finishing touches on the nursery and doing some major organization, so we're excited to get that done so I can begin to wait impatiently for our little one to arrive.

Best Moment? We've made a ton of progress on the nursery. I called in reinforcements (i.e. a few friends to help me with the gallery wall and my Mom to help me with some projects) and things are starting to look really good!

Belly Button Status? Outie. And it doesn't even bother me anymore!

Breaking my cardinal rule of "No cell phone pics in the bathroom mirror" but the hubby has been working late so had to get creative...

Pregnancy: Week 34-35 in Review

There have been lots of changes over the past two weeks. My sweet little baby kicks have turned into moments of "Excuse me, can you just stop what you're saying for a minute as my baby is moving my insides around and it's rather hard to concentrate." Nothing painful, just errrr...uncomfortable? Distracting? I originally had a feeling this would be an easy, low-key, laid-back baby, but now I'm not so sure. What do you know? He's not even here yet and I already can't control my own child. ;-) But on to the recap...


Feeling? I feel alright. I really do. Things are getting a little harder. I get tired more quickly, my ankles swell at the end of the day and I just don't have the energy or motivation to exercise like I did before (Sorry, Summer Sanders pregnancy DVD. Not today!) But overall, I'm still relatively comfortable.

Sleeping? Normally, I sleep alright. I wake up several times a night to go to the bathroom or flip over (which is a task in itself), but I think the real loser on the sleeping end is my poor hubby. I have what I'm just going to call "pregnancy congestion," which means I've started snoring. I've given him full permission to move to the guest bedroom on nights where it gets too bad.

Weight Gain? I've gained nearly 25 pounds. Whatevs. I'm growing a human.

Baby Size? At of the end of week 35, he was 6 lbs (or so they say). There's really no way for them to tell the exact weight

Maternity Clothes? My maternity wardrobe is quite narrow now as I've outgrown a few items... But aside from one tunic I bought from Target, I refuse to buy anything else!

Cravings? Same as before... Sweet pickles, chips, pineapples, apples. But I'm into a new thing where I let myself indulge in one naughty craving a week. Week 34 was chili dogs (no judging) and Week 35 was a ginormous box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch... because, I mean really... how great is that cereal?!

What I Miss? Being able to lean over and easily get on and off of our big chair in our living room.

What I'm Looking Forward To? Now that all of our showers are done, I'm just ready to finish the nursery and hang out with my hubby the last few weeks before baby arrives.

Best Moment? Getting to visit friends and family at our baby showers! Also, pretty much anytime anyone says, "You look so great! I can't even tell your pregnant until I see your belly." What people don't realize is that no matter how small or not swollen you still are, you definitely don't FEEL that way. So it's such a self-esteem booster!

Belly Button Status? Outie. And. Owning. It.

Baby Position? {new category} He's still breech (head up). But by the time it's time for me to have this baby (one way or another), I will literally have tried every (safe) option to get him to flip. So, if he decides not to flip, I think I'll be at peace. :-)

Other fun happenings:

We got to see our littlest love on Valentine's Day!

Fun with trying to flip the baby - this is my ironing board "breech tilt"

Baby Nursery: Slowly, but Surely

So, I told you - ummm..... - about two months ago that we painted our nursery, but then went AWOL on the nursery progress. Well, after we celebrated a wonderful Christmas in Houston with family, we headed back to Funkytown (or "Frisco" as the locals call it) and got busy on the nursery.

The crib was a bit of an adventure in itself. We had this huge-ass box holding our crib in the baby's room for a good 5-6 weeks, but never opened it. So, of course the day we decided to put it together (with the help of my brother- and sister-in-law, who were in town), we opened the box to find a chunk of wood missing from the front piece of the crib. After a conversation with Babies 'R' Us customer service, they told us we'd likely need to send it back, then they'd send us a new one. It was at this point in time that I started to drift slowly into a depression with thoughts of my poor little baby coming home from the hospital with no crib.

I was all like...

But then my sister-in-law was all like...

So, I called a couple of local stores and somehow (I still don't know how) one store had one crib in our style and color in-stock and they were willing to swap us out front pieces. So off we went and here's the final product:

Baby Benson's crib (Note: the walls look blue, but they are actually gray)

Greg got the crib put together in less than an hour with help from Uncle Rob & Aunt Taylor!

Second, we ordered a glider for the nursery (thanks to Greg's parents)! The bad news? It takes 8-12 weeks to deliver, so they gave us a delivery timeframe of Feb 15-March 15, which just happens to be one day before my due date. Fingers are crossed it's on the shorter side of that estimate... But here she is (except we ordered it in navy and minus the pillow and blanket):

And then my hubby has been working VERY hard on the changing table. I wanted something painted a bright green color with a high gloss that will really stand out in the nursery. As a reminder, this is what it looked like before:

Before

And here's a little sneak peek (more to come on the dresser later!):

(Excuse the terrible lighting. It's currently living in our garage.)

So, we've at least got all the big pieces together and now it's just wall art, decorating, getting a rug and a new light. Can't wait to share how it looks once we get a little further along!

The Real Deal Behind Pre-Natal Yoga

I started a prenatal yoga class about 3 weeks ago - the main reason was simply because I wanted to stay (somewhat) active during pregnancy, but I also thought it would be a good way to relax, prepare for labor and maybe meet a preggo friend in the 'burbs. Well, fast-forward 3 weeks and I've learned a few things.

 
1. No giggling out loud.
On my first visit to yoga, I really had no expectations. My only previous experience with yoga was about 25 minutes of a 90 minute hot yoga session. So let me back up - I guess I would say that I did have the expectation that it wouldn't be 100+ degrees in the studio, it wouldn't smell like the bottom of the ball pit at McDonald's play place and I wouldn't almost faint. Lucky for me, hot yoga is nothing like prenatal yoga. But what I didn't expect... was the giggles. While we had one hand over our heart and the other "hugging" our baby and my instructor uttered the words "Clear your mind. You are a strong, confident, peaceful warrior mama..." Sorry, now, can we back up? I'm a WHAT?! I opened my eyes to peek at the other "warrior mamas" in my class to see if anyone else found this at all hilarious. Um, they did not. So now my rule is no giggling in class.

2. It's allllll about "all natural."
Maybe this isn't news to anyone else, but it was news to me. Turns out many, many women take prenatal yoga classes to help prepare themselves for childbirth. Natural childbirth. While I don't knock anyone who wants to go the au-natural route, I'm just more of a "keep-the-epidural-on-ice-I'm-on-the-way" kinda gal. In fact, it appears that I'm the only one in my class who isn't trying for a natural birth. One gal even previously had a *shudders* water birth. The instructor makes many comments about doing things the natural way, eating only organic foods (as I quickly stash my Cool Ranch Doritos in my purse) and even how we sit, stand and sleep.

3. Clothing choice can be important.
The first two classes, I carefully picked out my yoga outfits, but by week 3 I just kind of threw on what I found in my drawer. Well, I didn't really think about it until I walked into the class, but what I found in my drawer was actually a t-shirt that says "Pizza Hut is for Lovers" - I got it for free somewhere and it's super-soft but I definitely got a few looks when I walked in. (See #2)

4. "Time to do more kegels!"
One thing I was not expecting during the class was to get in a crouching position and be instructed to "practice your kegels." Say wha?

Yes, these are the same things you read about in your smuggled Cosmopolitan Magazine in high school - apparently they help in childbirth and afterward. I swear, of the one hour class, we easily spend 10 minutes doing kegels. I mean, geez, I could prop my ass in the air and practice those in the comfort of my own home. There's something about doing them in a class setting that is just a little odd.


So, while it's a pretty different experience than what I expected, here I am, ready for next week's class. It may be weird, but I sort of enjoy the classes each week and if nothing else, it's an hour of peace and quiet where I can totally relax. I just told the hubby that if I start getting brain-washed and start talking about an all-natural childbirth, to kindly yank me from that class. I do know my limits.
 
Ohmmmmm...

Announcing Baby Benson + Baby Q&A

As most of you know, the hubby and I are so excited to be having a baby! We're due March 16 and truly couldn't be more excited.

We've gotten a ton of questions, so I thought it might be good to share those in an easy-to-digest Q&A format. I'm all about blog-reading convenience, after all. :-)


1. How are you feeling?
I'm working really hard to not complain publicly about symptoms of pregnancy, partly because no one likes a complainer and partly because I'm so grateful for this blessing and I don't want anyone to think that I'm not. But, hey, you asked. Well, maybe not you, but people have. I've had a bit of a rough first trimester. I've had bouts of nausea that were on and off but mostly just all day long. My doctor got me some awesome anti-nausea medicine and as the weeks went on, I'm finally starting to feel much better.

I've definitely had my fair share of moments at work where my eyes glaze over as someone's talking in a meeting and I just have to focus on not throwing up. I've got some crazy smell aversions going on, too. I almost freaked out on someone at work one morning who was heating up a breakfast sandwich in the microwave. I think I gave that person that person the most murderous glance and literally sprinted out of the break room. I've also been tired but other than those two symptoms, just happy and grateful to be carrying this little one.

2. Was this planned/unexpected?

Well, both. The hubby and I have known since last fall we'd start trying this summer. So, while YES we were trying, we did not expect it to happen so fast. But we couldn't be more full of joy about it.

3. Are you going to find out the sex of the baby?

Are you crazy? Yes, of course. I know that this is truly one of the best surprises in the world, but let's be practical. I've quickly realized that there's already so much I can't control, I want this to be one thing we can. Plus, you KNOW I'm ready to start nursery decorating!

4. How did this happen?

Ummm... 

5. But I saw you drinking...?

No. You didn't. I've been, as the hubby calls it, "living a life of lies." If I've seen you in the past 2 months, there's a good chance I've probably lied to you. (Sorry, friends and fam. We just didn't want to jinx anything!) I've actually really mastered the art of fake drinking. I had a bachelorette party the evening of the day I found out I was pregnant! I managed two glasses of wine without actually drinking anything, if you can imagine that.

6. Are you going to do weekly bump pictures?

Maybe not weekly, but yes! I really want to remember all the fun details of this exciting time, so I'm going to do bump pictures and chronicle the little things for a keepsake book I'm going to have made. Honestly, I haven't had the energy to think through all of it, but I'm getting it figured out. :-)

7. Are you going to do a gender reveal party? (Behind question #1, this has definitely been the most-asked question!)

The answer is I'm really not sure. Both of our families live out of town and it really just kind of depends on when we find out. My doctor won't do the ultrasound until 18-20 weeks, so it all kind of depends on if the timing works out.

So that's all the baby deets I have for now. But we so appreciate all the kind words, congratulations and love from our fam and friends.

P.S. We've gotten lots of compliments on our pregnancy announcement photo (thank you!) but thought this "out-take" from it best explained how excited Greg was to take them. He's a good sport, though! :-)

Beach Bag Must-Haves

In the midst of a crazy work week  month  three-months, I've hardly had time to think about all the fun coming up this month. We have a super-fun weekend ahead as my sweet brother-in-law is getting married in Tulsa. We're so pumped for all the wedding fun and of course, we're excited to gain a new sister!

And in exactly one week, Greg and I will be on vacay in Key West, which we've been thinking about/planning/waiting for since December! In preparation for our upcoming beach vacay, I thought I'd share some of my favorite items I keep in my beach/pool bag.



1.  Obsessed with this beach bag
2. Extra-long beach towel
3. Coppertone Faces Sunscreen
4. Sunglasses (these seem to give minimal tan lines on the face)
5. Beach Towel Clips (they keep your towel attached to your lounge chair without slipping)
6. Fresh Sugar Lipcare (Mine was a Birchbox treat!)
7. Cute Coverup
8. Mindless Reading Material

Any other beach bag must-haves? Has anyone ever used these chair clips? Ah-mazing!

Happy Summer!

Day Drinking Edition

The hubby and I had been looking forward to the Memorial Day weekend for weeks. Our spring has been so crazy busy that this was the first weekend that we had literally no plans. So, with the kick off of my summer Fridays and Greg having a 4-day weekend, we decided to start the weekend in style beginning on Friday at about 1:30 with a little day drinking. Throw in a pool and you've got me interested.

So the weekend before, my pal Whit introduced me to a delicious mixed drink that I want to share with all of you. Here's what you need:

• Lime Cucumber Gatorade/Sports Drink
• Vodka
• Club Soda (optional)
• Party Panties (required)

 

Mix 1 part vodka, 2 parts lime cucumber sports drink and a splash of club soda if you like. Or if you're making in bulk, two 32 oz bottles of Gatorade, nearly one full bottle of vodka (we used about 5/6 of a 750 ml bottle) and about 1 cup of club soda. It's not super-sweet, it's refreshing and it does a good job masking the vodka kick.

So, the hubby and I made a pitcher of this and brought it down to the pool, where we proceeded to drink the entire thing. The rest of the evening/night is still pretty fuzzy. Let's be honest, I can hardly remember taking this:

But I distinctly remember us spending a good 30 minutes trying to think of a name for this glorious drink. After about 1/2 the pitcher, we thought Li-Cu Dranky-Drank was perfect - and totally hilarious, right? (Let's face it, everything was  pretty hilarious at that exact point in time.) The next day, we decided it was a bit ghetto. Like calling grape soda "Purple Stuff." So, for now we're sticking with Vodka Lime Cucumber. Original, right?

But the best part of this drink (besides the fact that the hubby likes it as much as I do, which has pretty much never happened) is that the hangover isn't so bad. Maybe it's because you're getting electrolytes from the sports drink, maybe it's because it has a refreshing cucumber after-taste or maybe it's because I was really down to party on my first Summer Friday, but regardless - this is totally worth a try. It will likely make a triumphant return on our Key West trip.

Cheers and Happy Summer!

The Big 2 {Gulp} 7

So, remember when you turned 22 and you felt, ugh, so OLD?! Being in college, 22 was ancient. But then you enter the workforce and you're suddenly the youngest one. You're hip, you're stylish, you're cool, you're young (but in a good way). Then, five years past (*tear) and you're suddenly in this weird place where you're not super-young, but not super-old. You still enthusiastically sing along to songs like "So Call Me Maybe" but the idea of going out to the bars is absolutely exhausting. Well that's where I am right now. Twenty-freakin-seven.

So nothing crazy or new to report that I didn't address in last year's birthday post. For my birthday weekend, the hubby was out of town for his brother's bachelor party. I'm still waiting on my "Wife of the Year" award to be delivered. ;-) So, it was a rather quiet weekend. Friday, I picked up some sushi and stayed in to catch up on my DVR. I also finally put my house back together after the baby shower (I mean, as cute as those tissue poufs were, it seemed a bit extreme for everyday dining)

Saturday, I got my hair-did (it was time to go "summer blonde"), laid out by the pool with a few of my besties and later took myself shopping. I got myself some new items (well, actually it was really a group effort thanks to money and gift cards from my parents/in-laws/grandma) - new shoes and some beach stuff to prepare for our upcoming Key West trip (or Summer Fridays at the pool - either way).

Once the hubby got back in town on Sunday, we went and picked out my birthday present and took me to dinner. He treated me (I mean, how much do you really treat someone if you have a joint checking account, but still!) to a new pair of sunglasses and some new make-up.

Oh, I also FINALLY finished the Harry Potter series *sob* so was looking for *sob* a new book and, ummmmm, *bow-chicka-wow-wow* I picked up this little guy:

Oh get off your high horse and stop judging. Or judge me. Whatever. I'm kind of judging myself.

So overall, nothing too wild to report for the birthday. Although, I did discover the most fantastically wonderful mixed drink over the weekend. Will share soon.

Have a wonderful week!

Books, Bow Ties & Baby Showers

This past weekend, the day we've been planning for months was finally here: my sister's baby shower and it could not have gone better! As I've mentioned, we had a pretty clear idea of what we wanted to do - no "theme" per se, but for our sweet little Eli, we asked everyone to bring a book in the place of a card to help build his library. So with that in mind, we wanted to decorate with books and bow ties and we followed the color scheme of the invitation: teal and orange with gray and navy accents. You can see my baby shower inspiration board on Pinterest here.

Here's  how everything looked:

Baby pics of the mom and dad-to-be mixed with some of Heather's favorite books from when she was little. :-)

Me and the Momma-to-be

We decorated with all of our old Dr Seuss/children's books that my Mom dug out of storage. Such a cute, easy and no-cost way to decorate and got me feeling so nostalgic. Pretty sure Greg and I had to read a Berenstein Bears book or two when we were unpacking the books...

 

DIY'd tie wreath

This DIY tie wreath, which I originally saw on Pinterest, was actually quite easy to do. I got the collared shirt and the J Crew tie from a thrift store for less than $6. I had some assistance from the hubby as I have no clue how to tie a tie. Love, love this simple look for a baby boy. It can be re-purposed for the door of the baby's room and/or the hospital door (apparently decorating hospital doors is a big thing...)
 
For the "clothespin game," we hot-glued little bow ties on some of the clothespins. (You'll notice bow tie "pins" they are wearing below!) My mom is a super-crafty bitch and sewed all the bow ties herself; while I'm giving shout-outs, she also made that super-cute chevron table runner!

Now, we just have to wait for little Baby Eli to get here - and we're just a little over 8 weeks away!

March-ing

Is time not FLYING? Geez, I feel like I was just saying, "Oh my gosh, how it February already?!" and now it's already March. I'm super-pumped about the new month, though. Here's why:

1. Wedding Season kicks off. I love wedding season. Who doesn't? I mean, I do have to put away a larger percentage of my salary to cover all the bridal shower/bachelorette/wedding gifts, traveling to weddings, etc. BUT I don't mind it. While our first wedding of the year is actually next month, the showers and fun start this month. So begins the season of random lunchtime trips to Pottery Barn and Bed Bath & Beyond. Well, I say bring it on.

(here)

2. Hunger Games Movie Premieres. Enough said. Wait, no. I take that back, not enough said. I've been looking forward to this movie ever since I read the first book back in 2009 (oh yes, I was a HG early-adopter). I've already got my movie ticket purchased and me and my pals are ready to squeal with the rest of the tweens who will - no doubt - be in the audience with us! #TeamPeeta

 

3. St Patty's - Best day of the year in Dallas? Maybe. Excited for round 5!

 

4. That's a Wrap. I should finally (for the most part) wrap up my re-do of our master bedroom. I'll be putting some finishing touches on in the coming two weeks. It looks so great - can't wait to share!

5. Busy Season is O-vuh. (Yes, that's over.) Lucky me, my husband's busy season wrapped up early so I've been spending lots of time with him, which explains the lack of blogging. 

6. Almost there... And last, but certainly not least, March just means one step closer to... Summer Fridays (the most glorious time of the year.)



Is it just me or is this the best time of the year?!

Wizarding World

I have a new love in my life. Have I told you yet? It's OK, Greg knows all about him. His name is Harry. Or as some might call him 'Arry Pottuh.

So, I'm about 9 years late. I get it. There are those people who wonder why I'm a 26-year-old just now reading Harry Potter and those that are jealous that I'm getting to experience it for the first time. (My hubby falls in the latter category.) Before last summer, I had never read the books or even seen the movies.

Here are a few observations I've gathered along my Harry Potter journey:
1. I should have read this series at a much younger age. I keep reading about these awkward moments between Ron and Hermione and I really want them to start making out. Can we take this PG-13? Um, I know that's highly inappropriate - this is a children's book. I know what you're all silently judging me. I accept it.

2. I love Dumbledore. I think of him like a grandpa. He's so sweet, he literally makes me want to cry.

(source)

3. I could create a whole board on Pinterest devoted to Harry Potter quotes and whatnot.

(source)

(source)

4. Don't ask me to compare them to other series I've loved (Twilight, Hunger Games, etc.). I just can't. They're like my children - I love them all differently. Twilight is like my sexually promiscuous daughter, Hunger Games is like my headstrong, determined-to-a-fault daughter and Harry Potter is like my nerdy son. But they're all so wonderful and I love them in their own way.

5. I am constantly trying to find a way to tell a "muggles" joke, but have yet to find the opportunity. Just wait, though. It's going to be really good.

I'm about 80% through book 5 and can't wait to see what else is in store, although I kind of don't want it to end.

Any other grown-up Harry Potter fans?