Some Scenes From The Weekend...

The weekend was filled with all sorts of crazy goodness -- cool, sunny spring-like days, leprechaun traps, sleep-overs, baby cuddling, camel rides, hidden lagoons.

It was a bit magical even.

But now we're back into the grind of the week, and it's not off to the best of starts... (think nasty head-colds and laundry threatening to take over the house). Boo for Monday.

I think Tuesday will be better. I can feel it.

Making Me (Really) Happy... (in no particular order)

The giant bag of grapefruits I bought at the Whole Foods for $6.99... resulting in the luxury of getting to enjoy a (crazy sweet/delicious) grapefruit every. single. day. for the past week and a half. Good stuff.

The two lovely, thoughtful, smart "magazines" that arrived in my mailbox this week: the 3191 Winter Quarterly and the new Anthology.

Man I love print...

Lindt dark chocolate with sea salt. Addicted. It's a bad scene.

image via this tumblr (which, I have to say, sports a pretty hilarious name)

The fact that both girlies told us excitedly over dinner last night that it was Theodor Gisel's birthday today...That they knew that fact and they knew that Dr. Seuss' real name was Theodor Gisel made Bryan and me immensely happy to say the least...

The salad bowl that Bryan's mom bought me for Christmas (that glass number above). I use it all the time, and I have to say it is a perfect salad bowl...it's just the right size for a big salad, and it's wide so all the good bits (like the cheese and the nuts) don't all sink to the bottom.

The musical stylings of Cake (the girlies are obsessed...they especially love the horns and the clever lyrics). But specifically the musical stylings of Cake playing on our iPad in the kitchen.

Music in the kitchen is a total game changer.

The fact that my sister Jennifer and her sweet baby Josie are flying in tonight from California for a visit. This one is making me happiest at all, so I suppose there was a bit of an order to this after all.


What's making you happy today?

A Sneak Peek...

Here's the thing...my number one, numero uno, most tippity top of the list goal for 2011 is to be more laid back, more chill, a little, well...(for lack of a better term) lazier.

And guess what, I think it's working, as it's 8:00 p.m. and I only just now realized today is Monday.

Yikes.

But after almost two full weeks, it's back to work and school and the normal routine tomorrow, so I'll just pretend it's Monday (i.e. I'll do a belated "Scenes from the Weekend" post), cool?

See more chill already...I'm feeling good about 2011 I tell ya.

Four...

Today is Millie is four.

Four.

Which blows me away for any number of reasons, but mostly because she has always been wholly and unequivocally my baby, and all of the sudden, she only wants to play with the "big girls", she's fiercely independent, and she's taller and leaner -- the little dimples on her hands seem to have disappeared...

Overnight she's a kid, and it makes me a bit melancholy.



It's an honor to watch the person she's becoming though -- this fierce, determined, salty, spunky little creature who also manages to be incredibly sensitive and loving and funny.

I am, suffice to say, beyond smitten with her. She melts me. Every. Single. Day.

Since I started this blog just a few months after Millie was born, I've also had the privilege of sharing all of her birthdays with you (one, two, three). Thank you for coming along on this ride with us...You guys make it infinitely lovelier.


And just for fun, here's some of the inspiration for Millie's big celebration this Saturday... After a bit of consulting with the interwebs and lots of amazing advice from you guys (thank you!), I'm feeling a bit more confident about that rainbow cake. Photos of the end result will ensue!


Unicorn by Andy Warhol...

felt garland via Erin Dollar...

rainbow cake (+ excellent instructions) via one charming party...

unicorn pinata via party city...

Getting Ready...

So it occurs to me that I didn't show you any photos from our annual trip to the State Fair (come on, you know you were dying to see them...), which feels a bit wrong, as it's one of our favorite activities of the entire year, and I share lesser outings with you all the time.

I'm sorry fair. It won't happen again.

But the oversight got me thinking how the holiday season has pretty much completely snuck up on me and seems to be blowing by at warp-speed. For us, the fair marks the formal start of fall ...the official (hopefully) adieu to blistering summer days, the preamble to Halloween and Thanksgiving and of course...Christmas. And yet, I can barely remember going this year. And then Halloween came and went in a blink, and now Thanksgiving is knocking at my door.

It's all going by too fast friends. I need a pause.

To that end, I'm setting aside some time this weekend to make a little list with Bryan and the girlies of the things we want to be sure to do during the holiday season. Looking at the calendar now, I worry we'll get so caught up in the obligations and pre-scheduled activities that we won't make time to do the things we really treasure, and I tend to think that when you're more mindful of how you spend your time, well it seems to go by a little more slowly.

I'll try to be (somewhat) democratic when we're pulling the list together so Bryan and girlies don't feel like I'm bossy McChristmasmerson, but here are a few of the things likely to make the cut based on how much fun we had doing them last year.

fondue / the windows at Neimans downtown / fireplace s'mores / a carriage ride + christmas lights / gingerbread house decorating / the nutcracker (although this year we'll go to Audrey's performance) / "adopting" a family from the women's shelter to buy gifts for...

I'd love to add a couple of new traditions to our list. Any ideas? What do you guys love to do to celebrate the holidays?

Party Prep

invite via tiny*prints

Audrey's birthday is just a few weeks away, so we're in full party planning mode around here.

I'm big into the b-day party planning, usually kicking things off by asking the girls what kind of party they want months in advance. (Ok, I might be a little obsessive about party planning...)

Their answers are pretty comical, as they both seem to have a knack for requesting the most specific, multi-theme party possible (the apples didn't fall far from the tree here). Millie has already put in her order for a Rainbow/Unicorn/Princess/Fairy party (even thought her birthday isn't until the end of December), and this year* Audrey wants a French/Madeline/Artist party.

Umm ok...

* Here are a few of Audrey's past birthday parties: alice in wonderland, woodland fairy, princess and frog

images clockwise from top: yellow owl workshop french postcards, berets, striped paper straws, lorina french lemonade, bonjour banner, laduree macaroons

So I pulled together a little inspiration board (see obsessive) and am planning a red, blue and yellow party (my nod to Madeline) with little frenchy touches (fizzy french lemonade, macaroons...) and an art activity. + each guest will get a beret and a neck scarf.

I'm skipping the cigarettes though in an effort to keep the whole enterprise on the up-and-up. Should be quite the bash...I'll keep you posted.

Have a great weekend friends...I'll be back next week with some posts from Germany.

An Ode to The Dads...

My father taught himself how to play the saxophone by listening to David "Fathead" Newman records when he was ten-years-old.

A few years later, he left school to play professionally and help support his family. At 15 he moved to New York City, lived in the attic at a friend’s house and played in clubs around the city. Eventually he would tour around the world with rock bands, play to sold out arenas and bring us home small trinkets from the road – a tiny porcelain tea set from Germany, a little silk kimono from Japan. Now in his 60’s, he still works as a musician full-time. It’s all he’s ever done.


my friend Amy snapped this pic of my dad last night at Jazz by The Bay in Sausalito...

And by the way, he’s a fantastic father.

So much of what I've learned about creativity, work-ethic, integrity, perseverance and commitment came from watching him. He’s a consummate family man, endlessly supportive and, well... a feminist – he was certain my two sisters and I could accomplish anything we wanted in life, his ultimate dream being that one of us would become president (clearly not in the cards, but you can’t blame him for dreaming big.

My husband Bryan is also a fantastic father.

The girlies adore him with every fiber of their beings and for good reason. He’s loving and patient and funny and doting and present. He takes them on adventures, teaches them about science and history and art and how to play the guitar (yes I married a man who also plays music, hmm…)

But most important (and not unlike what my own father taught me) he sets the ultimate example for the type of men I hope they one day choose to marry.

So happy Father’s Day guys. You are loved beyond words.

Have a splendid weekend friends!

Scenes from The Week (+ A Winner)

Some highlights (just a few) from our trip to the beach (in no particular order):

1. Rainbow cake, lots of gelato and Bryan’s ridiculously good fried shrimp (I stopped counting how many I ate…it was a bad scene.)
   
2. Watching Audrey and her dad go out in the sea kayak (my sea kayak experience was not so good…let’s just say I fell out twice, hit my head and lost my sunglasses, so it’s not going on the list.)
   
3. A completely potty trained Millie (YAY!)
   
4. Staying in our swim suits all day
   
5. A picnic dinner followed by wiffle ball and freeze tag.
   
6. A grown-up dance party
   
7. Replacing work shoes with flip flops, TV with books and our car with bikes
   
8. Making drip castles
   
9. Eggs Benedict (my favorite) twice in one week
   
10. Watching Bryan morph into Jacques Cousteau (he and Audrey were completely obsessed with all manner of sea life...)

It was a good trip friends…our best vacation yet. We are refreshed -- I don’t think I realized how much we needed the time away.

Hope your week was fantastic!

And now for the winner for the gorgeous Bosquez necklace… It’s Amelia. Congrats and drop me a line with your contact info!

Thanks for all the lovely comments…such a fun vacation send off ;-)

Plants, Pasta and a Little Q&A...

I thinking this insect poster would be perfect for above Audrey's bed, no?

Audrey is petrified of bugs.

Understandable when it comes to spiders and fire ants and whatnot, but the child is scared of the harmless ones too...the mere sight of a moth or a gnat sends her over the edge. It's really quite something. But her fear is tempered with a sort of fascination. Yesterday Bryan got stung multiple times by a wasp, and after it was dead, she insisted he put it in a jar so she could examine it all day.

They broke the mold with that kid, I'm telling you.

Needless to say, Audrey's bug phobia makes our current efforts to do a little backyard gardening a smidge challenging... One of the things I miss the most from our last house is the little greenhouse we had in the backyard. Our current home is surrounded by rather large trees, which is amazing for all sorts of reasons, but not so good for gardening. There isn't a single perfect (sunny enough) spot for raised beds, so we end up planting a few container "gardens" in strategic bright spots around the yard instead.

This year we have tomatoes, blackberries, blueberries and strawberries, and we're staring to see some progress...the girlies are loving it -- that is when the yard is bug free. So really Millie and Bryan and I are loving it.

Oh and my peonies are getting close to blooming which is awfully fun too!

In other news around the blogosphere, the lovely Jenn asked me to contribute a photo to her "what are you eating" post last week...you can see my orecchiette with sausage, asparagus and spinach* here.

+ the incredibly kind Alisa asked me to contribute my "happy things" over on her fantastic blog a pina colada... in case you want to take a peek ;-)

Thanks for having me ladies!

* p.s. -- orecchiette with sausage, asparagus and spinach recipe here...

Scenes from The Weekend...

I’m not so sure it’s evident from the photos, but it was a doozy of a weekend… We had all sorts of lovely, spring-time, Easter fun planned – a trip to the Nasher Saturday morning, a friend’s birthday party that evening and then hosting Easter lunch for friends on Sunday, but alas we did none of that.

Nope, instead our house was reminiscent of the pie eating contest (the aftermath that is) in Stand by Me (am I dating myself here?) It was stomach virus central…first Audrey, then sweet Millie (who frankly was quite alarmed by the whole enterprise, as it was her first time to be sick like this), and then on Saturday evening Bryan went down.

It was quite an epic scene really... Plans were canceled one after another, and Audrey and I found ourselves watching movies all day Sunday while munching on the candy from her Easter basket and the ham intended for our guests.

lovely cousin erin lifting the girlies' spirits -- she's pretty awesome like that...

Late Sunday afternoon we rallied with a quick visit from Lovely Cousin Erin and boyfriend Ben and a neighborhood Easter egg hunt, so all was not lost…

Oh and I pretty much ate my weight in Reese's peanut butter eggs and gummy rabbits. I just felt the need to confess that to someone, so thanks for being here ;-)

Happy Monday!