Posts by frozenangler87

So, I was just walking by and this total stranger—random girl, really—just blurted out, "Jesus, look at the size of that stomach!" right at me 🤣

My sister-in-law and her endless advice (honestly, she gets on my nerves even when I'm not pregnant, so I don't know if that even counts)😬

My vote goes to Next Online too, I guess 🙂

Charles Gomez4 said:Totally reliable, go ahead and order. They'll have it at your door in 3 days. 👍

I totally am. I already grabbed mine and wore the dress out. It was lovely. Seriously, one of my favorite pieces so far.
As for sizing, there weren't any reviews on our US site, but I saw a review on the UK site saying you should probably size down. So I went with a smaller size, and honestly? It fits perfectly—like, length and width, just spot on.
Highly recommend.

Hey, what's up!

Anyone here ever picked anything up from Next? I was wondering what their numbers are looking like lately... just curious if they're actually legit or what.
There's no metric system here, just standard numbers... and I honestly have no clue how to convert them. I guess I'm just stuck.

Carol Anderson8 said:Alright, so I’ve basically scrolled through almost every single page in this thread, so now I’m throwing my own question into the ring to see how everyone would handle a specific situation. I’d love to hear all perspectives—especially from any professors or teachers hanging out on this forum.

Here’s the deal: my kid is in 6th grade. She isn't some straight-A genius, but she’s holding steady with solid Bs. At the start of school, she had a massive struggle with focus and concentration, but thank God, that’s actually improved over the years.
I’m not some drill sergeant pushing for perfect grades or anything like that. All I want is for her to give it her best shot. She’s killing it in certain subjects—like history and geography—but then she hits a wall with others, specifically math and English.
But here’s the kicker—as we all know, when it comes to getting into any high school, the grades that actually count for admissions are English, math, and that third core subject, and those are exactly the areas where she’s struggling the most. (And just to be clear: I'm not talking about some elite prep academy, just any decent high school, like a medical vocational program which is what she actually wants to do).

When she’s doing math at home, she works totally independently. She gets the concepts—she can connect the dots and follow the logic. But man, she makes these ridiculous, "facepalm" mistakes. Like, she’ll write a minus sign instead of a plus, or completely forget a set of parentheses. And obviously, the whole answer ends up being wrong because of it. If I point out a slip-up—like, "Hey, check if you copied that right"—she catches it immediately and solves it perfectly.
But on actual tests? It’s the same stupid mistakes every single time. It kills me because she’s sitting there with a D in math even though she genuinely understands the material and knows how to apply it. It’s not lack of knowledge; it’s just pure, unadulterated sloppiness. I’m wondering if anyone has any ideas on how I can help her get past this?

On top of that, she’s got a D in English. She just doesn't have a handle on grammar or literature, which are the absolute foundations for a good grade. She pulls As and Bs in spelling, reading assignments, and essays, but when it comes to the final grade, none of that matters if the grammar and lit components are a mess. It’s gotten to the point where I’m literally re-learning grammar myself just so I can explain things to her. I know the American English curriculum is packed, but honestly, one sentence in a notebook under the heading "personal pronoun" that says, "She asked him about the problem," isn't nearly enough for a kid to grasp how pronouns actually work.
Does anyone have advice on how to tackle this with her? Where can I find decent practice materials?
I’ve found a ton of worksheets online, but unfortunately, none of them come with an answer key, so I’m stuck having to study the material myself, solve everything, and then try to teach it to her.

Is anyone else dealing with something similar?

Well, speaking as a math guy, I guess the only thing that really works is practice.
Like, grab a workbook and have her just rewrite the problems and solve them over and over. That's pretty much the only way, I think.
My rule is that if a kid copies a problem down wrong but still solves that incorrect version correctly, I'll still give them the points and count it as right.
But, uh, if they write a plus where there should be a minus during the actual solving part, I can't really give credit for that. It depends on where the mistake happened, so maybe they get half credit, I guess.

It's definitely not just your kid; I see this all the time. It's mostly just a focus thing. They get nervous, or kids around them are whispering or whatever, and it throws them off.
That's why, when parents tell me about this, I usually suggest that when they're practicing at home, don't force them to sit in total silence. It's not always like that in an American classroom anyway. They might be taking a test while the class next door is listening to music or something.
Another thing that might help is having her start a new line after every equals sign, just so she can clearly see what she wrote in the step before. For example, like this:

13 + 4*(118 - 40)=
= 13 + 4*78 =
= 13 + 312 =
= 325

and so on.

So, I don't have a mother-in-law, but instead, I've got a father-in-law who really speaks for himself. Honestly? Not a pleasant guy at all. He hasn't asked me how I'm doing even once, but he sure loves dumping useless, pointless chores on me—as if being pregnant is just some tiny little thing!
One day, when he saw how swollen my legs were getting, he actually had the nerve to comment that they wouldn't be so puffy if I didn't lie down so much and actually walked more. And then, to top it off, he mentioned I’ve put on weight! 🙂
But oh yeah, he always makes sure to ask if the little guy is still a boy and what we're naming him... like, maybe we should name the kid after him? Yeah, right, like my foot!!! 🙂

Oh my God, there are just so many clueless people out there!!!!!!!
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

Honestly, it drives me crazy even when I'm not pregnant!

Waking up in the middle of the night because of these freaking magpies!!!! I’m actually gonna die..............

James Cox6 said:There's an old saying that girls make their moms look ugly, while boys make them glow...
Out of my three pregnancies, I was actually pretty too during the first one... with my first, I dealt with hemorrhoids, and this time I'm breaking out in spots everywhere🙂
it's honestly pretty gross

Well, an older lady at my job once told me, "Hmm... you're carrying a boy and don't even have any breakouts on your face! I'm starting to doubt if the doctor even checked you right!" 😁

P.S. During my next break, she asked me if maybe it was because I was wearing foundation (which basically means she spent 45 minutes trying to figure out why I didn't have acne)!

It honestly bugs me how everyone acts so shocked that I’m still working away in my 29th week, or that I’m even driving around... like, uh, how much longer am I supposed to just sit still? 🙂
It’s like they think I’m totally incapacitated just because I’m pregnant!
There isn't a single day where someone doesn't make a comment, instead of just being happy that the baby is healthy and I'm doing well, and that I actually enjoy what I do at work! 🙂 🙂

I try to just tune out all that noise, I really do, but then there are those days where everything just hits the boiling point. Maybe it's just my hormones acting up, or maybe not... I don't know...
Look, I’ll listen to whatever advice people throw my way, no biggie, but at the end of the day, I’m gonna do what feels right to me. I haven't been out here meddling in anyone else's business, and I've voiced my own opinion a hundred times already—and I'll probably do it again—but if someone wants to go a different route, hey, more power to them. They do them, not me.

That's why you should just take it slow, kind of like how I do... We can just vent and blow off some steam right here! 😉

Nancy Stewart38 said:So... here’s my first big blunder. My mother-in-law—oh boy—she goes, "What if the baby doesn't wake up?!" 😲 Honestly, I just felt this massive lump form in my throat—it was physical—and then my husband jumped in to insist the baby was perfectly fine. Then came the excuses... Look, I'm sure she didn't mean to be malicious, but seriously? Some things you just don't say out loud.

I just had to chime in because I totally had my own crazy moment during pregnancy! That exact same comment!
So, I’m sitting at my father-in-law’s place, and his sister-in-law—who’s only 20 and already has a one-year-old, so she thinks she’s an expert on everything—asks me if the baby has "come back to life" yet. Honestly, I was just so confused. Like, what is she even talking about? I mean, obviously my baby has been alive from day one, it’s just too small for me to feel movement yet. I told her I had no clue what she meant and asked her to explain herself. Then I just gave her my side of things and, yeah, I was out of there!

And honestly, they drive me absolutely nuts with how they act. First off, I can't stand how they're acting about us having a boy, especially since they have this precious little girl. They’re all worried our son is going to steal all my father-in-law's attention since he'll be the first grandson! Not to mention how my brother-in-law tried to convince me one day that our ultrasound looked "off" and that there was no way it could be a boy. The scan was crystal clear! Just a jealous idiot, I guess!
Then, seeing how they feed that little one... I almost burst into tears from pure frustration. She's only nine months old, but they were feeding her beef stew with pasta when she was four months old! And sausages, ham, deli meats, Coke, chocolate milk when she was five... mostly because they thought the healthy stuff was too expensive, I guess... And then there was that recent comment about strollers. Ours came out a little after the $1333 3-in-1 model. But they spent a fortune on their $667 2-in-1. So now we’re basically throwing money away buying the extra bassinet attachment, but hey, whatever, we can afford it.

Aaaaaaaaaaa, it drives me insane!
And yeah, hello? I didn't get married at nineteen right when I started college. I’m not even in school anymore, I’ve got my car, and I have my license. I worked for all of it because I’m 28 and I actually had priorities. It wasn't easy balancing work and classes, but I guess it paid off. I finished my degree, paid for my license, bought a new car in cash, and even started a savings account when I was 20 that’s helping us out so much now... and everything else.
But sure, it's easy for them to say we just had everything handed to us without working for a single thing!

Seriously, stop complaining about the belly!
I’m actually like 9 pounds lighter than when I first found out I was pregnant, but honestly? I can't even squeeze into a single pair of jeans because this bump is just massive. Plus, I’m heading to Victoria's Secret this Monday because, I don't know, everything is basically overflowing right now! 🙂 🙂 🙂

casualbear14 said:Hey there! I've been lurking here for a little while now, just soaking everything in, so I figured it was finally time to jump in and join the conversation... My wedding is set for May 12th—I've already got the venue, the photographer, and the music all locked in—so right now I'm just sort of... exhaling? Taking a breather? But honestly, I'm stuck on what to tackle next. Is it way too early to start hunting for a wedding dress? Or maybe I should be thinking about the cake menu? I guess I'm just feeling a bit adrift!

If you ask me, you should probably lock in those desserts ASAP! You don't really need to pick out the specific cake or all those tiny details right this second—you can save that for closer to the big day—but I guess it's smart to get on a baker's schedule before they fill up!

Ethan Wilson94 said:So, when's the big day? Got any photos? I've been scouring the web but can't find much besides a few random cake shots. A friend of mine just got married and had their pastries—man, I ate so much. They were laid out so neatly, too. But then again, I didn't try the actual cakes, and they didn't look like anything special to me. Maybe I was just stuffed from all the other sweets xD Thanks for the tip! 🙂

It's happening in less than 3 weeks! 😁

Maybe those wedding cakes weren't even theirs. I guess it just depends on the local traditions! For us, we ordered a bunch of pastries and then a wedding cake. Around here, the tradition is that close family brings over baskets of treats (since people used to make everything at home back in the day), but things have modernized a bit. Now, instead of baskets, people usually just order a cake from wherever they got the pastries.

The pastries are gorgeous. Like, really beautiful to look at and to eat!
I had a couple of cakes from Catherine and they were just as amazing. You can pretty much negotiate whatever you want for the design.
Here are some photos of wedding cakes they've done: http://www.facebook.com/#!/media/alb...00001732006393

This is what my cake is gonna look like:



But I asked them not to use fondant; I want it decorated with whipped cream instead. I'm thinking a brown ribbon and more flowers.
Basically, everything is negotiable.
For the cakes, I told them I didn't want any bright red ribbons or weird artificial colors like green—just something simple and chill.

I mean, I've known them for a while now. But it makes such a difference when you actually go to order the pastries and get to see how they do it—seeing who's making them and what the whole kitchen setup looks like.

As for getting the treats delivered, it's totally up to you. We're having them delivered to three different spots: my fiancé's house, my place, and the venue. You just decide if you want them in plastic trays or wrapped in cellophane, tell them how many you need for each, and they pack it all up and drop it off wherever you need.

Ethan Wilson94 said:Anyone got recommendations for good desserts? I’ve heard about Babin Greda, but their stuff is a bit light for my taste—though they were solid at weddings I went to. I also heard Ivankov makes great treats, but I haven't tried their cakes yet, and honestly, they didn't look like much.

So, I actually have some dessert recommendations from Catherine in Ivankov. I ended up getting them mostly because I saw how they work, and they're just so careful about cleanliness and everything.
And if you ask me, they’re easily the best wedding sweets I've ever had. Definitely better than the ones from Babin Greda. At least, for my taste!
Whenever I went to a big party, I’d always grab their cakes, and they really are flawless. Same goes for the pastries—they’re seriously loaded with poppy seeds or walnuts, depending on what you pick.

Price: $0.67 per piece, cake is $50, and a typical wedding cake usually runs around 700!
Definitely my top pick!

Rebecca Gray4 said:Hey ladies, I have a quick question for you—where in Washington, D.C. or Columbus can I find some decent wedding shoes? I’m specifically looking for a shop that actually specializes in bridal footwear rather than just general heels. Where did you all end up going to shop for yours?

Honestly, we don't really have any specialized bridal shoe boutiques around here. You basically just hit up regular shoe stores and hope you find something in their "massive" selection.
I haven't even heard of a dedicated bridal shop in Washington, D.C., let alone in places like Indianapolis or Columbus!

I haven't checked out anything in Columbus yet, but my little trek through Indianapolis? Yeah, I'd give that experience a solid zero out of ten!

Ronald Jones11 said:Where in Indianapolis can I find a high-quality Soak Off?

The girls over at that Elite studio near Times Square do such a great job. I actually went in for a standard French tip and some gel, and honestly, I was super happy with it. I really can't stand it when they make them look way too thick, you know? But this turned out just right!
I didn't get a Soak Off myself, but I'm pretty sure they offer it there.

copperheron47 said:Help me out here!

Does anyone know where I can pick up those water beads—you know, those little gel balls that swell up when you soak them and look great in vases for decor😁?

I'm looking around Memphis, Nashville, or if I really have to, maybe even Indianapolis
.
Thanks!

I think I saw them at some discount stores near the border a few days ago! They had pretty big packs and they were only like $2.75. I think they only had the clear ones, but I'm not totally sure!