Words To Live By

We should all follow this advice, don't you think?

~From my new playroom wall - more on that soon!~

Where I am

Howdy, folks!  It's been a while, but I'm very pleased to be posting again.  The truth is I've really missed blogging.  I'm not entirely sure why it's been so hard to get back to it.  At first I felt pressure to catch up by blogging about all the things that had happened during my absence.  Then I felt like I had nothing to say at all.  Then of course there was the period when I had a newborn (and a not-so-new-born), and I just couldn't find the time.  And finally I felt like the momentum was gone and I probably would never to get back to blogging regularly.  Still, I always knew how much I enjoyed and missed blogging.

Despite all of those worries, here I am.  I finally pulled the trigger.  And I'm here because I want to be here.  Writing my thoughts down.  As they are right now.

So why blog after all this time?  Blogging is a creative outlet for me.  I have several creative outlets, but blogging feels far more concrete.  It's something I can build upon should I choose to do so.  And it's an activity that leads to other types of creativity ~ like improving my photography, unusual outings, party-planning, or especially fun (okay, I mean messy) activities with the kids.  We all need a little creative in our lives, right?  Plus, Blogging is my form of journaling.

So this is where I've been.

And this is where I am now.



I hope we can talk again soon.

When You Wish Upon a Star

My daughter's 6th birthday is coming up.  I like this time of year because anytime my daughter sees something that she wants I can tell her to put it on her birthday wishlist.  When I say this, my daughter seems to know that I mean it.  We don't negotiate back and forth about the fact that she really wants it now.  My daughter generally accepts that it's on her to remember to write it down if she really wants it.

Yesterday my daughter sat down and actually started her wishlist.  I got a phone call, so I didn't really pay attention to what she wrote.  This morning I found the list she had made, and my hubby and I had a really good laugh.  This list is like a little window into her 5-year old outlook on the world.  I'll leave it to you to interpret what on earth my big munchkin was thinking!

Any thoughts?

Swallow-ing

Did you have a nice weekend?  I hope so.  My weekend included several unusual adventures.  Most notably, a pair of barn swallows moved into one of the eaves on our front porch.  A pair visited us a couple of years ago and built a nest in the exact same spot ~ perched in the corner above our front door.  It was fascinating to watch them assemble their mud nest, keep watch over their eggs, and then feed their babies. 

This weekend the current pair of swallows laid a mud foundation for the nest they were planning to construct over our front door.  While I was pleased to see the swallows back again, discovering their blueprints for our front porch was bitter-sweet.  I'm all for experiencing nature close to home, but these things are messy!   I'm pretty sure that regularly cleaning bird droppings from our front door is NOT a hobby I want to re-visit in my current condition.  So I made an executive decision.  The birds can stay, but not directly over our front door.  The only problem is how to explain that to our new avian friends.

I read online that swallows will sometimes take up residence in a location you select.  All you have to do is build a little next box and place the prime real estate in a prime location at the same time you knock down the old nest.  My resourceful hubby got to work.

He sawed.  He measured.  And finally, he glued the nest together with wood glue.

The nest box is now sitting in another, much more desirable, corner of our porch.  We left it a bit dusty so the birds would find the barn-i-ness they are looking for. Then I spread some bird seed on the nearby ledges.  I wanted to be neighborly, afterall.

I hope the darling swallows aren't too terribly offended that we disassembled the start of their first nest.  The spot we've made for them really does have a lot to offer.  Now that everything is in position  and our For Rent sign has officially been hung, all we can do is wait.

Munchkin Talk

It happened.  I don't know how it happened, but it happened.  My baby is no longer a baby.  She's no longer a toddler, or even a preschooler.  She's now a full-grown little lady.

I really miss her baby years, when I spent hours cuddling and rocking her in my arms.  And I confess, I kept that going absolutely as long as I possibly could.  We would have brief, but regular, mini cuddle sessions every morning before I scooted her off to preschool and me off to school or work.

So this morning I did my best to re-create that.  Lucky for me, my munchkin is always up for a hug or a cuddle.   Here's how it went down:

Me:  Morning, sweet-girl.  What are you doing awake already?
Munchkin:  Hi Mommy.  I was just playing.
Me:  Hey, I missed putting you to bed last night.  Wanna cuddle for a minute?
Munchkin:  Sure.
Me:  Here, climb in my lap.

[She tries, she really does.  I grunt and groan, then re-position.  Still, she can't quite make it onto my lap.  My daughter was probably thinking "awk-ward," which is her new favorite word.] 

Munchkin:  Mommy, there's no room.  How about if I just sit next to you and lean my head on your shoulder?
Me:  OK, I guess that'll work.

[We cuddle for a minute.]

Munchkin:  The baby's really big now, Mommy, isn't she?

[What she really means is, "Your belly looks gi-normous!"]

Me:  Yep, she keeps growing.

My munchkin is so excited to meet her baby sister, who is set to arrive in August.  I am too, of course.

In the meantime, I'm trying to soak up as much time with her as I can.  Soon I'll have a big munchkin and a little munchkin to share stories about.

Meatless Mondays: Le Menu

I have been a vegetarian for many, many years. As a young teenager I endured my fair share of teasing, and I encountered many situations where my only food option was to remove sausage or pepperoni from pizza and simply ignore the traces that stayed behind. Even in law school where I was surrounded by large numbers of vegetarians, the veggie-friendly options frequently ran out at school events or wasn't up-to-snuff to begin with.

As a result of countless bad experiences, I am always so grateful when an event is veggie-friendly and when it is done well. Last Friday I attended one such event ~ an evening garden party. There was a live band and a full bar, and the the party was all-around great.

There is no question that the meat-eaters dominated at this party. And, as far as I could tell, the meat-eaters were well taken care of. There were giant prawns, chicken satay, and lamb, all of which appeared to be accompanied by a scrumptious sauce and other appropriate adornments.

My expectations were low for the veggie fare, but it turned out to be both abundant and great. The veggie-friendly menu included:

• Mango salad rolls
• Pizza with blue cheese and pear
• Pizza with onions, tomatoes, and feta
• Heirloom tomato bruschetta (garden-fresh tomatoes, with top-notch olive oil ~ yum!)

Add some amazing chocolate cupcakes, butter cookies, truffles, and brownies, and it made for a great edible evening. It is so wonderful when a menu gives veggie fare the attention is deserves, and I know that the meat-eaters probably appreciated the variety, too!

Babies!

I'm not sure why, but the last few months have been loaded with "life events" ~ baby showers, bridal showers, graduations, bachelorette parties, birthday parties, and then more baby showers. These are some of my favorite things in life ~ I adore celebrations of any kind, but especially celebrations of such wonderful milestones.


Two weekends ago (I'm still catching up on my posting!) I helped plan a baby shower at the home of my lovely friend Nina. The parents-to-be are expecting a boy, and we went with a jungle animal and Noah's Ark theme. We served brunch foods, which was one reason that I was worried about serving so many egg dishes smack dab in the middle of an egg food poisoning scare. Fortunately nobody complained and nobody got sick! It turned out to be a wonderful shower and a wonderful day all around.


I was in charge of getting a cake that went with our theme. The cake turned out pretty well, but it was harder to draw the animals from the partyware than I expected. With chocolate cake and fudge filling, at least I can say it tasted great!


These are flowers from my yard:


Favor boxes filled with Godiva chocolates:


I'll share more pictures and recipes in the next few days. Happy Long Weekend!

Maui Bargains

I can't believe it's been almost two weeks since we got back from our Maui trip. Oh, how time flies!

We have so many fond memories of the trip. Last Thursday I visited my daughter's preschool and shared some of the pictures from Maui. I showed the kids a couple of videos from the hula show we went to, and the preschoolers even tried a little hula themselves! It was super cute, and the kids seemed to love it.


The hula show we saw in Maui was really pretty special. For one thing, it was free. That's right ~ FREE! It was put on by a local hula school at the Lahaina Cannery Mall, and all of the dancers were children. The smallest child looked like she was not more than four. These girls are talented!


They did several dances using a variety of traditional instruments. Here's a video of them getting started with their first dance:




If you're ever in Maui you should definitely check out this show.

Meatless Mondays: Oh, the Kiddies!

My husband and I are raising our daughter vegetarian. We figure that at some point she'll be old enough to decide for herself whether she wants to continue being vegetarian, but for now it makes sense for her to eat like us.

I realize that raising a vegetarian child could become complicated at times. Nevertheless, I continue to be surprised at the ways in which it's complicated. Now that our daughter is four years old, we've started talking to her about what the word "vegetarian" means. We mostly do this so she won't accidentally trade her cheese ravioli for somebody else's ham sandwich at preschool. These discussions have made an impact, and we're happy that she seems to understand what we're telling her. Still, our talks have led to some. . . well. . . side effects.

Let me explain. On our trip to Maui we stayed in a condo complex with a really nice grill area right next to one of the pools. We frequently swam in the late afternoon, just us many of our neighbors fired up the grills for their evening meal. One night the grill area was particularly crowded because a tour group was eating together. All of a sudden our daughter turned towards the group munching on hot dogs and hamburgers, pointed her adorable little finger at them in the most accusatory manner possible, and then loudly announced, "Look, Mommy. They're eating MEAT....ooooooooooooooh! We don't eat meat, do we?"

I'm sure I blushed. Then my hubby and I chuckled a little, and we quickly lured our daughter back to the other side of the pool. As usual, we're going to have to make some adjustments to how we explain this topic. It's not that eating meat is gross, it's just that we don't do it. So how do you teach this to a four-year-old? How do you explain that it's us that are the weird ones, not the rest of the world? Afterall, most of our friends and family are meat-eaters.

I guess this is a work in progress. If you know any secrets to tackling this little problem, please share!

Dear World

I was just looking over my latest blog posts, and it dawned on me that my recent interest in blogging about eggs, like here and here, is about as untimely as it could possibly be. Plus, I'm helping to host a baby shower this weekend that will include a menu of no fewer than 4 dishes containing eggs.

Dear World, I promise that I'm not trying to poison you! I swear the salmonella outbreak is just really bad luck. You believe me, right? Right?

It started with nail polish . . .

A few nights ago my hubby and I decided to go out for a fancy dinner with our daughter in tow. It was a huge success. The secret was a little nail polish, capturing our daughter's interest by calling it a "princess feast," and ending the dinner with some really, really good ice cream. I can't wait to share more from our Maui adventure! We just got back, so I'm very jetlagged right now. . .

Playing Tourist

My mother-in-law is in town visiting, and yesterday we headed to San Francisco to play "tourists." We only went to a handful of places, but San Francisco is always so much fun!

I thought I'd share a few of my hubby's pictures. Our first stop was the Golden Gate Bridge.


San Francisco was pretty wintry yesterday ~ fog, wind, and no warmer than about 60 degrees.


We walked under the Golden Gate Bridge. It was an exciting experience because the floor rattled underneath us along with the traffic, and the ceiling above us boomed as the larger trucks passed overhead.


The sea lions at Pier 39 are so entertaining! My daughter could have stayed there all day long watching. She brought home a stuffed sea lion to cuddle with, and we found out later that the sea lion has a button to make it bark. My hubby and I could do without that noisy feature!



We were surprised to find this little nature oasis in the middle of the mall at Pier 39. My mother-in-law fell in love with this fountain area and little bird, and she's actually planning to recreate it in her backyard in Florida.

It was an all around fun day, and it's so fantastic to finally be enjoying summer. Hope you are too!

I'm Baaaack!

I finished the California Bar Exam on Thursday, and I am so happy to be free again! Now I have two months before I start my job, and I plan to be blown by the wind just like this adorable pinwheel in my backyard.


Will the wind blow me back into the kitchen? I hope so. And maybe to Hawaii? That's the plan. It should be an exciting few months, and I can't wait to share it with you.

Now I think I better do a little spring cleaning around here ~ in late July, no less!

Bye, Mom!

"Bye, Mom! I'm off to the grocery store. . ."

Rocky

What a day! I am currently studying for the California bar exam, so pretty much every day is the same. I go to class, then I come home and study. Usually. Today was a little different.

First, class let out early. Very early. I decided to use the extra time to study so that I would have more family time this evening. Around 1:00 I got a call from my daughter's preschool teacher. She launched into a story about what they had been doing today. They were outside, then they came inside, then the kids laid down to rest, then. . . blah, blah, blah. . . and then my daughter walked over to the teachers and announced that she had a rock in her nose. That's right, a rock. In her nose. Deep inside her tiny, beautiful nose. A ROCK!!!

I was stunned.

It was clear that the teachers had no idea what to do, so I headed over to pick her up. She wasn't bleeding. She didn't seem to be in pain. Her only symptoms were that her voice sounded slightly funny and her nose was bulging a bit. Oh, and when you looked up her nose there sat the rock. (Still stunned, by the way!)

I made one feeble attempt to get it out with tweezers, but this mission was clearly way beyond me. Since she couldn't seem to blow it out, we headed to the doctor's office. My daughter seemed downright excited to visit the doctor. As I checked her in, she hopped about from one toy basket to another in the waiting room. Eventually I warned her to settle down so that she didn't knock the rock any deeper. Then I looked. The bouncing had actually knocked the rock a little lower. I ran for a tissue, and then had my daughter blow her nose as hard as she could. Once, and then again.

Suddenly my daughter took a big breath. Her expression changed. We both looked down, and there in the tissue was a giant black rock. This thing was enormous ~ a mini-boulder of sorts. OK, so really it was about the size of a marble. But it felt enormous in my hand. I remained stunned.

The doctor gave her a quick check and sent us on our way. Since then we've talked about NOT putting rocks, wood chips, bugs, or sticks anywhere they shouldn't go. We've discussed why my daughter decided to try it today. (She says she was playing. Sounds like fun, right?) We've even lectured the cat about why she shouldn't put things in her nose either. Once my hubby got home, he's been referring to our daughter as "Rocky" and humming the Rocky theme song under his breath.

One way or another I think she's gotten the message. And I'm still stunned.

Go Aunt B!

Now that all the parties have ended, reality is setting in. Unfortunately reality isn't so great at the moment. My aunt has been diagnosed with breast cancer and she goes to surgery this afternoon. We've lost a lot of family members to cancer over the years, so we're all trying hard not to overreact. Afterall, the doctors did catch the cancer early. We hope.

In any event, I'll be spending the afternoon and evening at the hospital. I just pumped myself up with some hot, nourishing oatmeal. I wish I was just meeting my aunt for lunch instead. Still, my aunt has been so brave. The way she looks at it, it's not as bad as losing an arm. Thank goodness us humans have the ability to put some perspective on things. Thank goodness!

The Shower Effect

I don't know about you, but I love weddings and I adore babies. The last two weekends I had the good fortune to participate in not one but TWO showers ~ the first was the bridal shower that I co-hosted and the second was a baby shower. Both were splendid.


And both involved an elegant tea service at my favorite new discovery in town ~ Tea List.


So now I'm sold on the idea of having tea, sandwiches, and a reason to get together for a little party every weekend.


Honestly, almost nothing makes me feel more positive or more hopeful than the thought of two people in love or a precious baby being born. This is especially true when a dear friend is involved.


I left these parties feeling a true high. (Although maybe it was just a buzz from all that tea!)



I also left with a whole new appreciation for the sandwich.


Those tea sandwiches were great! My favorite was simple and classic ~ cucumber, mint, cream cheese, and yogurt on white bread.


The flowers weren't bad either. I always love an excuse to visit a florist!


So let me leave you with one question ~ any chance you have a baby or bridal shower I could plan?


I promise to take lots of pictures!

Why I Love Spring

~The swish of pretty spring dresses~

~The sunny flowers my hubby brings home~

~The tea parties~

So Much to Say, So Little Time!

I can't wait to tell you about the trip I went on with my hubby and toddler last week. As soon as I get a break, I promise I'll be back! Stay tuned. . .

A Little Tea Etiquette

In a few weeks I will be co-hosting a bridal tea for a dear friend. I've finalized most of the details at this point, and boy has it been interesting. We probably all know that afternoon teas can be very "proper" affairs, but I was still fascinated by how many tea-related things are floating around out there.

{available here}

Did you know that there's a proper way to hold a tea cup? There is. "One's fingers are placed to the front and back of the handle with the pinkie finger tilted slightly up for balance. It is rude to loop fingers through the handle or to hold the body of the cup with the palm of the hand."

Another important tip on stirring (of all things!): "It is considered rude to stir one's tea in wide circular motions. Proper etiquette requires the teaspoon to be held at the six o'clock position to begin. Then, any added liquid is folded lightly towards the twelve o'clock position two or three times." Whew, I better be careful of that one! More tea-sipping etiquette found here.

I found so many little things designated specifically for teas. There's the teaspoon, of course:

{available here}

And, according to Crane, tea affairs have their own style of invitation. The "tea length invitation" is tall and narrow like this one in the middle:

{available here}

There are also tea length programs for weddings:

{available here}

You may already be familiar with the tea length dress:

{available here}

The official word is that modernly "if a dress falls above the ankle and below the knee, it may be properly considered a tea length dress. Anything longer may be considered 'ballerina length' or 'maxi length.'" Historically, a tea length dress was quite different:

{image from here}

Quirky etiquette tidbits ~ maybe not all that relevant, but still fun!