One of the more unusual things on my bucket list — and I’d say it’s right up there with wanting to learn how to play the accordion — is to go to a concert, or any really big event, and have thousands of balloons rain down from the ceiling/sky, and I blame this on David Bowie’s Modern Love video.
Have you seen it? There’s a giant crescent moon thingy suspended over the crowd, and all of a sudden it starts pouring out thousands of shiny gold foil balloons.
I thought this was extremely amazing where I was a kid (and still do).
The song, by the way, LOVE. IT. And thanks to YouTube for finally clearing something up for me. In the song, I always thought that David Bowie was singing, “It’s not really work; it’s just the power to talk,” but he’s not really saying that, OMG! He’s actually saying, “It’s not really work; it’s just the power to charm.”
Who freaking knew? I would be so lost without you, Interwebz…
Speaking of modern love, Valentine’s Day 
is quickly approaching, which also means that Valentine’s Day gift sets are coming, too.
If you like lovely scents, here are two new sets by Viktor & Rolf.
The first is the Valentine’s Day Flowerbomb gift set for $120…
And the other is the $115 Spicebomb set for the dudes.
The Flowerbomb one comes with one full-size 1.7-oz. bottle of the Eau De Parfum (which usually goes for $115 on its own) and travel-sized tubes of Flowerbomb Shower Gel and Body Cream.
And the Spicebomb set comes with a full-sized 3-oz. bottle of Spicebomb Eau de Toilette (normally $110) and travel-sized tubes of Spicebomb After Shave and Shower Gel.
I looove both of these scents, and I never noticed this before, but Flowerbomb must be one of the most popular items OF ALL at Sephora, because it has 60,000 likes, 2300 reviews and 4.5 stars! Wow. The official fragrance notes are Sambac Jasmine, Centifolia Rose, Cattleya Orchid, Ballerina Freesia, Patchouli, and I love that it lasts all day and well into the night. I think it’s femine, spicy and light, and the bottle is flat-out gorgeous.
And Spicebomb? Crisp, powdery and spicy… Smells like handsome shirtless dudes. 🙂 It also has a really cool bottle that’s shaped kinda like a hefty glass grenade. There’s even a plastic pin thingy. You have to pull the pin to push the spritzer. Neat.
OK, in baby news, you’re probably gonna think I’m cheesy, but here goes… I’m about 99.9% sure I have a name for Baby Girl, but I don’t want to commit to it and share it quite yet because I want to meet her first and get her tacit approval. But lately I’ve been thinking about names that I remember talking about back in the day, and I’d be like, “One day, if I ever have a daughter, I wonder what I’ll name her…” and one of the names that came up was Valentine, which I got from Ender’s Game.
No, BG’s name won’t be Valentine, because I’ve been talking to her, ya know, for eight months (no, she hasn’t answered back, LOL!), and I haven’t gotten a Valentine vibe. I do, however, get the feeling that she’s going to be a certain tabby’s future protege, though…
And I’m not going to talk about being tired today because, as of this moment, I’m actually not (small victories). I’m sure I will be in a little while though…
I do want to talk about this weird belly belt. See, this morning I put on a stretchy dress because I didn’t want to wear anything too binding, but then I started walking around and realized that my tummy felt like it was sorta flapping around in the wind, so I had change into some pants and this belly belt that El Hub got me.
Some unsolicited life advice: if you can, marry a man who’ll buy you a pregnancy belly belt.
It’s a Velcro wrap-around belt to support your lower tum and keep pressure off your lower back, and OOH! — there goes baby girl… She just kicked me. Actually, I think that was a karate chop.
Anywho, the belt lifts your tum, and I didn’t realize this until right now, but it feels really good to have your tum enveloped in something and sort of swaddled, I guess. When it’s wrapped up, mummy style, it feels great. I can’t explain it.
I can’t believe it’s already Friday! Do you have any plans for the weekend?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Zack likes Spicebomb a lot, but it’s definitely something you have to watch the amount you use, it’s a bit strong! The bottle is definitely all cool and manly.
I like that you’re going to meet BG before the naming 🙂 Gotta make sure it suits her! So nice of el Hub to buy you some belly support! Like a bra for the tum, but more comfortable – maybe Tabs needs one! LOL
Aww I can’t wait to hear the name you have picked for Baby Girl!! So exciting! It is crazy to see how time has flown. I feel like it wasn’t very long ago that you first announced your pregnancy on the blog!
So thrilled you have a baby name intuition! and ooh that belt looks lovely, wish I’d had one. I’m in love with D&G, Chanel, Prada, and Bulgari perfumes. Didn’t love Flowerbomb, but it rocks it for lots of folks!
This might sound like crazy cat lady territory, but have you looked into how Tabs will accept Baby Girl once she arrives home? I remember reading somewhere that you should allow the family cat to “discover” the new baby and that is exactly what we did. The day we returned home from the hospital, while my daughter was laying in her crib, our cat Rambo instantly went over and sniffed her out (with me close by of course). I remember him looking over her crib for a long time, just sniffing the air. They’ve been inseparable since…11 years best friends. I remember one night she woke up crying (still a baby) and while I tried consoling her, he bit me on my leg. Annabelle (my daughter) loves that story.
A potential name…how exciting!
I’ve mentioned my kids are on the autistic spectrum. One of the thing that helps calm them are weight/compression, such as a weighted blanket or vest, or a heavy coat. The slight pressure on the body helps “reset” the nervous system. I have heard the corsets can have that effect. I wonder if the belly band might be giving you a little of that effect.
OMG I got a 15 lb weighted blanket for Christmas this year… amazing. It helps with my anxiety and puts me to sleep in half the time it normally takes!
That’s great that it’s working so well for you!
I have thought about using something similar to help with back pain, but even when I wear my maternity pants with the stretchy part up on my belly, Peanut acts like crazy inside, all kicking and turning.
Modern Love was the fist David Bowie song I remember as a kid…
My daughter is almost 19 now & I don’t remember belly belts being avail when I was pregnant with her but I did wear maternity nylons for most of the pregnancy because of the support they gave my bump!
Also when I brought my daughter home our elderly cat licked her on the forehead before giving her a gentle love bite. Like he was welcoming her into the pack. And he was her guard cat!
No matter what I did to keep him out I was constantly finding him snuggled up with her in her crib or playpen. We still have lots of pictures of them sleeping together.
I’m a big Bowie fan!
I have a love hate relationship with Flowerbomb. I LOVE Spicebomb though and I wear it all the time.
I have a bit of belly pooch, maybe I need one of those.
Hi Karen, just wanted to say that I am loving these new posts – love this format! Please keep it up, it’s so great to get to know you a bit better.
Aw, I’m glad to hear that the tummy belt is making you more comfortable. ‘Can’t wait to learn the baby’s name!
Right side of my brain: do you need Flowerbomb? Nope
Left side of my brain: do you want Flowerbomb? Yep
That settles it. I’m getting Flowerbomb. Thanks, Karen! Lol. Happy your pregnancy is coming along nicely. And, nope, it’s not weird that you’re waiting ’til baby girl gets here to name her. She’ll let you know. Enjoy not being tired at the moment. And may your brows be wonderful today. A good brow day equals a good day, indeed ?
Flowerbomb smells sooooo good! Wouldn’t mind getting that set for V-day, that’s for sure.
P.S.: I lolled so hard at Tabs just sitting there in the background peeking out all ninja-like, hahaha.
JESSICA!!
Her name is JESSICA!!
🙂 <3
What a good husband you have to buy you a belt for your tum! It sounds so nice and cozy. And I’m sure post-baby, Tabs will find some way to appropriate it for himself.
I was really superstitious about Michael’s name. I picked a name really early and I told my parents what the name was, well, and my husband, of course. But I didn’t tell anyone else and I called him baby–never, ever by the name I had chosen until he was removed from mah belly.
How is that I haven’t smelled Viktor & Rolf? Or maybe I just don’t remember smelling it. But I think I probably would because it sounds like it smells divine. I’m all about florals and spice. But, I’ve been absolutely married to Elizabeth and James’ Nirvana in white for over a year now.
Speaking of scents, there’s a dish soap that I still cannot use 13 years later, because I used it when I had terrible morning sickness with Michael. The smell still makes me queasy. I wonder if you’ll have anything like that.
Sad to say I have no exciting weekend plans. I have a lot of reading to do. And my kitchen, oy vey, it is a nightmare and must be scrubbed within an inch of its life.
But, when I was at Sephora yesterday, the gals were working with a boatload of clearance stickers. They told me to come back this weekend and I think that was an order. 🙂
I can not wait to hear her name!!!
Karen, I was the same way about naming my son — 99.9% sure, but still needed to look him in the eye and be sure he really was a Benjamin called ‘Ben’. The doctor thought I was nuts, lol!
I love the character Valentine from ‘Ender’s Game’. But I agree with you, not the best name for baby girl.
That belly belt looks super-comfortable!
That is an adorable photo of Tabs and his future protege! I hope you enjoy your weekend! We will enjoy ours as Monday is our 24th anniversary and we are spending 2 nights at Disney’s Grand Californian! YAY! I am super excited!!
I had Modern Love playing at our wedding, right before the ceremony started. 🙂
Can’t wait to learn baby girl’s name! I was similarly guarded about Alex’s name; our parents were the only ones who knew it before he was born. As soon as he popped out I remember the nurse asking, “what’s his name?” and it felt SO AWESOME to blurt it out — I knew right then that we had made the perfect choice for him!
Bowie – so bittersweet!!
Hi Karen, just wanted to say that I am loving these new posts – love this format! Please keep it up, it’s so great to get to know you a bit better.
I’ll be honest, pregnancy both fascinates me and also totally freaks me out! And I’m 31! Anyway, I got Flowerbomb in my first Sephora Play box back in December and I liked it! I’ve sniffed it but never tried it before. The more I’ve worn it, the more I like it.
Weekend plans currently consist of me waiting for my Thai food delivery and also waiting for Dateline’s Making a Murderer update/special show. I’m also going to use this weekend to catch up on work with my real life job because I’m running a bit behind on a couple of deadlines.
My parents picked a name for me/my brother before we were born, and it didn’t turn out at all. (It was a boy name, I turned out to be a girl, so they tried to re-use it for my brother.) In the hallway after my brother was born, they said, “You know, I am not sure about the name we picked. How about [another name] with [name we picked] as his middle name? We can still call him [name we picked].”
20 years later, the name they decided in the hallway as his first name is STILL stuck, even though it’s a little weird…
That was supposed to be a story of why it’s RIGHT to wait until you look in the baby’s eyes before being certain of the name. I got sidetracked somehow.
SO excited to hear your name! I’m also name stalking 😉 I’ve had names picked out for YEARS so mine are pretty decided but also a secret. We are team green so we have name for each sex picked out 🙂
Do I need that band??!!
Congrats on narrowing down name options! I’m a procrastinator about most things but I had names picked very early. In the final month, the Hubs was like “How about (something) for a name?”. I thought he’d lost his mind and said “um, we decided on names months ago – why on earth would you still be thinking about that?”. HAHA! That said, I think it’s awesome when people wait until their child is born to make a final decision. I think I was so worried about messing up every aspect of being a parent that I wanted to actually make some easy (for me) decisions early on and feel like I’d done something right. Which is ironic because one of my boys despises his middle name. Like, hates it with the heat of 1000 suns. 🙂