-My car broke down at 5:55am on Monday morning. What a start to the week!
-I went to the grand opening of the J Crew in my neighborhood – the food was excellent, but everything was $89 or $98. When did sweaters and shirts become so expensive?
-Matt and I tried a new restaurant: Scotch & Sausage. Most of the dogs are $6 – $8 and the fries are amazing – giant and crunchy on the outside. Loved it!
-We also tried a Spanish tapas place, and for the first time in my life, I didn’t like pork belly! It was fried and drizzled with chocolate, but too rich. Sounds enticing, right?
-I led a parent presentation on student success tonight. I was super nervous beforehand, but was surprised at how at-ease I felt once I got started.
-Since I’ve started working in a nut-free environment, I actually think my cravings for peanut butter have decreased. I just ordered Nikiki’s Cake Batter Coconut Butter and can’t wait to try it!
-I think something is biting me at night. Could I have brought home bed bugs from Turkey?
Susan
September 19, 2014 at 5:09 amThey say you can pick up bed bugs even in the fanciest hotels these days. I hope you didn’t though!
Lori
September 19, 2014 at 3:19 pmOh no about the bedbugs! Just an FYI that even the NYC subway has been having issues with bedbugs on the 4, 5, 6 and R and N trains (if not others lines… those are the lines that I ride so I am hyper-aware). It’s really terrible and I try not to think about it too much because it is pretty gross. I hope that you don’t have a bedbug issue!
Laura
September 19, 2014 at 3:57 pmThat’s crazy!
J
September 19, 2014 at 12:45 pmMore likely NYC
Tonya
September 19, 2014 at 1:23 pmYay for cheap eats! and that pork belly must have been TERRIBLE! You love some pork belly!
Laura
September 19, 2014 at 3:56 pmHaha, yeah:)
Karen
September 19, 2014 at 2:08 pmYes, you could have brought home bed bugs! We accidentally did from a beach trip once and it took me way too long to figure it out. Though they cause little physical harm (bites are itchy but they don’t carry disease), they completely destroyed me mentally because ewwww. I would recommend calling an exterminator to look for them – many will do the inspection for free. If they find any, ask them to SHOW you evidence before agreeing to pay for treatment.
Crossing my fingers that it’s not bedbugs!
Laura
September 19, 2014 at 3:57 pmThanks for this tip!
Leann
September 19, 2014 at 3:53 pmWhy assume you got bedbugs in Turkey instead of on a more recent trip? That was so long ago – you would have had a problem since that time that would have only gotten worse over the last couple of months. More likely you might have picked them up in Sonoma, since that was your latest trip…..it doesn’t matter whether it was high-end accommodation or not, some of the most rampant cases of bed bugs recently have been in posher hotels. All it takes is one guest to bring them in, and they spread like wildfire, regardless of the number of stars the hotel has.
Laura
September 19, 2014 at 3:56 pmI assumed that because I’ve periodically had bites on my legs since then and remember bites during the Turkey trip!
Alicia
September 22, 2014 at 5:55 pmNot true at all. You’re going to have bed bugs for a while before you start seeing bites and such. I’m a case manager for a supported living agency and the individuals I serve tend to bring bed bugs home from day programs and work programs (like Goodwill). By the time you see all the bed bugs, you’ve had them for a while.
Laura
September 22, 2014 at 6:06 pmOnce I see bites, will I have them every night? This is only like 1 or 2 bites on my legs a week….
alicia
September 28, 2014 at 11:13 amNot necessarily. It just depends how bad the infestation is. I’ve had clients with them and some of their support staff had bites and others didn’t.
Brandy
September 20, 2014 at 4:05 amEEEEKKKKK. Are the bites large, like a welt, and extremely itchy? I actually MOVED from my last apartment due to this. It was converted at some point to more like hotel apartments so guests from all over the world were coming in and out… surprise, surprise, six months into this change the building had bed bugs. It completely wrecked me mentally (agree with a commenter above). To this day I have special covers on my mattress and pillows because I am so terrified of it ever happening again. They are VERY hard to get rid of so get someone to your home ASAP!!! You will need to wash every piece of clothing and bedding you own in special bags on hot hot hot hot heat. Also I don’t know what the laws are for Texas, but in California you’re obligated to inform the landlord if you do have them as they can spread sooo quickly (hence into my apartment from other apartments in my building!). GOOD LUCK!!!!
Laura
September 21, 2014 at 9:38 amWow, that is scary! They look pretty similar to misquito bites and are only itchy the first day…
Alexa
September 20, 2014 at 11:09 pmWould love to hear what you think of the coconut cake batter. I’ve been thinking about ordering a jar, but the price deturs me.
Laura
September 21, 2014 at 9:38 amLove it! I just drizzled it on pancakes and it was delish.
Kelly Alesso
September 21, 2014 at 11:22 pmFYI I thought I had bed bugs last year due to bites but it turned out it was shingles instead. It’s worth looking up the symptoms to check. When I first went in the doctor swore up and down it was bed bugs but the more I kept track of my symptoms and turned my bed upside down it didn’t seem right. I went to urgent care for a second opinion and that’s when I found out what it actually was. Usually it is uncommon in younger people (I was 30 at the time) but I guess it is becoming less rare. Just throwing it out there because if it is shingles, you usually have to treat pretty quickly for it be effective. Hopefully you have neither. (Oh and FYI, with either I found it was better to go to a doctor than WebMD things, even though the first doc was wrong. So many sites seem to focus on worst case scenarios and it freaked me out.)
Alicia
September 22, 2014 at 5:57 pmBed bug spray is the same as the pet enzyme spray at Petsmart that cleans up urine odors. I’d buy a bottle of that and spray everything in your house (bed, couch, etc) and call an extermination company just to be sure. They’ll do a free inspection. Check the creases of your mattress, nooks of your bedframe, etc. They’re drawn to body heat. Also, I’d do a google image search of bed bug bites to make sure they match what you have.