Would You Know What to do During a Shooting Incident?

This past week has been especially heartbreaking for Americans as we all try to make sense of the shootings in both an Oregon mall and Sandy Hook Elementary School. My heart absolutely goes out to these victims and their families. As we prepare our home for little Baby H, I can't even begin to imagine the heartbreak that those parents are experiencing.

Without a doubt, the scariest aspect of these events is the randomness factor. It is frightening to think that you or your loved ones could be trapped in a such a dangerous situation while going about your daily business.

So far, there has been lots of talk in the media about gun control, but absolutely zero attention on public safety. So with a little research, I put together a few safety tips that I sincerely hope you NEVER, EVER, EVER have to use.........

The Five Worst Christmas Gifts for My Future Kid

We're starting to get ready for Christmas around here, which means that Mr. Officer and I have had quite a few conversations about how much fun it's going to be when little baby H is around next year. In turn, that has prompted many discussions about Christmas toys.

Now if the stories from Mr. Officer's childhood are to be believed, we are gearing up for a very imaginative little pint-sized prankster. From all sonogram accounts, baby H is very active, which is also in keeping with Mr. Officer's childhood personality.

As our kid grows, the name of the game is going to be getting the energy out, without giving him any ideas for future mischief. With that in mind, I bring you my picks for the worst possible Christmas gifts to give our future little one.

1. Trampoline

We've all seen America's Funniest Home Videos, come on people, why are backyard trampolines even still on the market?! Mr. Officer and I decided that this was on the no list way before we even talked about marriage or kids.

I realize that many trampolines come with safety nets these days, but I feel pretty confident that baby H and his future friends will still find some way to foil my best safety measures. Plus I really don't want to encourage any sort of jumping activity, since a bed is just basically a giant, indoor trampoline. No thanks...pass!

2. Mischievous Elf on the Shelf 

Okay, I actually love the Elf on the Shelf, and I think he's adorable. In fact, I can't wait to do this with our kid. However, Mr. Officer and I are going to have to be very careful about the elf scenarios. I'm fine with the elf taking Barbie out to the movies, or making mini donuts out of Cheerios, but I'm going to have to draw the line at the elf tp'ing the living room. Kids love to reenact things, so I don't need baby H fishing for, and then potentially eating, goldfish crackers from our toilet. Yuck.....

3. What's in Ned's Head?  

This is another in the series of possible reenactments gone horribly awry. I'm sure we'll do a fair amount of fishing cereal and other random kid accoutrement from baby H's various orifices, so I don't need Ned to give him any ideas. Enough said about that one....

4. Don't Wake Daddy

 Mr. Officer works nights, so I'm expecting that "Don't wake Daddy" will already be a popular phrase in our house. Did I mention that Mr. Officer is not a morning person, and does not like to be woken up? It would not work out well if this toy jumped off the game board and into real life.....I'm sure there would be tears on all sides. Therefore, it's for baby H's own emotional protection that this "game" is banned from our household.

5. Stuffies

This toy perplexes me every time I see the commercial on TV. I understand the attraction for little kids, but I'm just picturing opening up stuffies' mouth to discover that our kid has been feeding his brussel sprouts to his stuffy for the past week.....or that he put some chocolate milk in there for safe keeping...or that he forgot about the flashlight he put in there before clocking an innocent neighborhood kid over the head during a sleepover pillow fight. A stuffed animal with hidden compartments, that's a skip....

So, have I missed anything? What seemingly innocent toys are banned in your household?

{Book Review} Yes, Chef: A Memoir by Marcus Samuelsson

So I've decided that I need to share my book reviews with the world, because frankly, I think Mr. Officer is sick of hearing me yammer on about whatever random book I happen to be reading. As a disclaimer, it should be noted that my method for picking books is kind of hit or miss. Basically I just use Live-library.com, and search for available books with three or more stars.  Speaking of which, sidebar,  OMG borrowing ebooks from the library has been completely life (and pocketbook) changing.

Okay, I'm back from my sidebar now, and really excited to bring you my very first book review blog post - Yes, Chef: A Memoir by Marcus Samuelsson. I had high expectations for this one, because it had five stars on live-library. I've also seen Marcus Samuelsson on the Food Network a few times, and I was intrigued by his life story.

The Great Diaper Debate!

There is a disturbance in the force, dear readers, and that disturbance revolves around baby poop. Or more specifically, baby poop containment devices. The issue of cloth vs. disposable diapers has quickly turned into the most contentious decision of our baby prep. For the first time, Mr. Officer and I actually found ourselves on opposite sides of a parenting decision.

Through lots of research and conversations with experienced parents, we discovered that people have some STRONG opinions on this particular topic. Parents of cloth diapered babies are excited to tell you that modern cloth diapers are the greatest things since sliced bread. Parents that use disposables, are quick to tell you that diapering can be extremely overwhelming, and stress that convenience is king where diapers are concerned. Realistically, the truth is probably somewhere in between.

Now before you go making a final decision, let me tell you that modern cloth diapers are not your mama's diapers. They're closer to disposables in overall design (i.e. no more diaper pins), but there still are lots of pros and cons on both sides. However, after lots of in-depth consideration (including some arm twisting and pleading from my end), we have decided that cloth diapers are worth a shot. Hooray!

If you're considering cloth diapers for your new addition, there's a lot to learn. Below, I've summarized some of the arguments that I've used to browbeat Mr. Officer into cloth diaper submission; organized from least important for our lifestyle (#10) to most important for our lifestyle (#1):

Top Five Ways to Annoy a Pregnant Woman

Since I've spilled the beans on our baby news, I've been on the receiving end of more than a little bit of parenting advice. Some of it has been great and supportive, but a surprising amount falls into a much more unhelpful category.

So, as a public service for my fellow sisters-in-arms, I've put together a brief reference of comments that are usually not well received by ladies that are in the family way:

1. That's great that you enjoy your spouse's company, but he/she is going to change dramatically, so enjoy his/her company before you're overwhelmed by the urge to stab him/her in the eye with the nearest available toddler spork.

2. Labor is incredibly painful, you may think you know what you're in for, but really you have nooooo idea how much it's going to hurt. Here, you have to watch this youtube video of a woman in labor screaming bloody murder, I've already queued it up on my iPhone for you!

3. Are you sure you want to register for that particular baby item? It's not what we chose for our child, so allow me to present you with a brief dissertation on all the ways in which the one we chose is better.

4. Kids are really expensive, have you thought about that? Are you sure you will be able to manage the financial responsiblity of a new child?

5. Have you heard about the study that came out recently stating that it might be okay to drink a glass of wine while pregnant? You can totally have wine now! Here, I'll pour you a glass of merlot and bring you a plate of coldcuts.

The truth is that most pregnant women spend a ridiculous amount of time obsessively researching every little detail of pregnancy and childbirth. We're painfully aware of the cost involved, and totally freaked out about all the unknowable changes that are coming our way.

We're all really nervous about making the right choices for our families, so we just want a little reassurance that we're not screwing it up royally.  Sure, we're happy to learn from your experience, but we know that what worked for you might not always be the best choice for our families. In short, please don't make a federal case out of it if we decide not to take your advice!

And p.s. please check your scare tactics at the door. We really don't want to hear about your friend's cousin's neighbor who was in labor for an entire week, and ended up wearing adult diapers for the rest of her life. Likewise, your story about the friend that got a divorce as a result of the stress of raising children, is so not helpful.

Thank you for listening to this pregnant lady PSA, you may now carry on with your regularly scheduled activities.

Exciting News!

It's kind of an understatement to say that it's been a big year for NYCitified.

First we did this:

Then we did this:

And now we're preparing ourselves for this:

Aww, look at that little waving hand! Hello baby!

Yup, it's been a big year here at NYCitified. We're simultaneously super excited and crapping our pants in preparation of baby's arrival at the end of March. Hold onto your hats, it's going to be a wild couple of months.

So, in honor of all these exciting changes, I decided it was time to update the blog design. Please excuse my super amateur design skills. I won't even tell you how long it took me to figure it all out, but I'm feeling pretty smug about the whole thing tonight!

How to Uninstall a Temporary Wall

Ugh, I've been struggling to write this post for ages. Soo much to say on the topic, soooo much life getting in the way. The wedding is only 3 weeks away, and I've been blogging over on the Broke-Ass Bride. Oh yeah, and we're all moved into our new house. But now I'm back, baby....and ready to talk about a big, pressurized, thorn in my side!

If you've ever lived in a NYC apartment, you're probably familiar with the concept of a temporary wall (also know as a pressurized wall). To the uninitiated, a temporary wall is essentially a wall constructed without screwing into the floor, existing walls, or ceiling. The whole idea is to make a ridiculously expensive NYC rental apartment more affordable by adding an extra room without doing any damage to the apartment (or your security deposit). I've done it in three apartments, including my most recent place.

Love, thy name is Polyvore!

Isn't it just great being a girl? We get glitter pedicures while simultaneously reading Hollywood gossip and drinking free cosmos (fyi - Dashing Diva in Brooklyn offers free cosmos on Thursday and Friday nights).   Meanwhile the guys just get some stinky cigars and a hot shave...LAME.

OMG jumpy claps and now I've found Polyvore! I am not cool enough to actually be endorsed by Polyvore, I'm just over excited and wanted to share. It's like the most amazeballs, fantasy, shopping trip ever with all the fun of old timey paperdolls. Side note: I loved paperdolls so much as a kid that I made Civil War Era paperdolls for a 7th grade history project. Yup, it was kind of an awkward nerd-diva phase, but I worked it.

Anywho, I'm crazy proud of my new creations, so without further ado I present you my fantasy closet. Click on the pictures below to see a larger image with price/brand details. Eeee, so excited.
 

Meeting vendors with Mom via Polyvore



Totally would hit the yoga studio if I had this cute ensemble via Polyvore



Glammed out bridal shower outfit va Polyvore





Shopping with the bridesmaids outfit via Polyvore



PS - Is it too late to change my bridal registry to include some cute outfits? I mean a bride has to look adorable throughout the entire process, right?



Merry New Year!



photo via Living in Cinema

Happy New Year everyone! I know I've been away for a while, but I promise that I have some very good reasons.

First of all, I'm happy to report that I finished my Professional Writing Certificate at Hunter College in December. Yay! I hope this means that I'll be kicking the writing level up a notch here, but more likely it just means that my mom will continue to call me with grammar corrections. (Hi Mom! Love ya anyway).

Second bit of news - NYCitified will soon become Long Islandified. That's right, after almost ten years in NYC, this city girl is about to become a suburbanite. We're super excited to have a whole house to prance around in, and I promise to post lots of details about our adventures in homeownership.

As a final bit of news, we're still chugging along with our wedding plans and I'll have some very exciting wedding related blogging news to share soon. Stay tuned for all the details, because 2012 is going to be a fantastic year!