Your life you like it well.

Helllooooo!

2012-01-19T06:14:00.000-08:00

If anybody out there can hear me, I just started something new here. Please come see me!

My First Mommy's Day

2010-05-24T21:04:00.000-07:00

It's important I write about my very first Mother's Day, because for one, I said I would last week but didn't get to it and two, it's exactly the special day that I'd like to read about years from now. Also, I can see myself wanting to mention it next month or something and how stupid would it be to talk about Mother's Day on Father's Day? It was such a sweet day. Guav did a great job making me feel so loved and special the way every mom should on Mother's Day. Way to go, Bot. ::High Five::

It all started with Brixton waking up like he always does: by tossing and turning over about five times until he decides to officially land on his hands and knees and open his big brown eyes. A half second later, he smiles (everytime) and then starts chanting his da-das. They usually start as whispers and slowly progress into loud babbles and variations of "da". I love it. I'm of course awake after the first couple of tosses and am there to smile back and fully greet him with good morning kisses once he gets into his crawl position. He woke up Guav by doing some combination of nudging his face into his back and wacking his head with an open hand.

Once we were up, Guav insisted on making a run to The Cinnamon Snail to get me something delicious for breakfast. He brought back a breakfast burrito, a smokey portabello sandwich, a vegan donut and cinnamon twist. Everything was quite yummy, but the cinnamon twist was exceptional.

Soon after our breakfast, I was given a couple of presents to unwrap. I got The Big Ass Book of Crafts (a book I owned some time ago but managed to misplace), a veggie cook book and an issue of Mothering Magazine. We all cuddled on the couch for the next couple of hours-- I flipped through my books and magazine while Guav and Brixton took a nap.

Guav had plans for a Mother's Day picnic for us, but unfortunately, the weather wasn't awesome enough for it. So when they woke up, we went to the craft store and Marshalls Home Goods. I got a few things at A.C. Moore and a pair of boots at Marshalls. Brixton, for the very first time ever, did not cry one single bit on the way there or on the way back. It was so weird and wonderful.

Once we got home, I was already thinking about food. I asked Guav what he would like me to prepare for dinner, and he said, "I don't even know why you're trying to worry about that. It's Mother's Day. I've got everything under control." And he certainly did. He prepared an amazing dinner for us-- some sort of herbed unchicken, potatoes and veggies with wild rice and a mango and cream popsicle from Trader Joe's for dessert. My husband is the best.We were hoping Brixton would bust out with his first "mama" that day, but that didn't happen. Still, it was such a lovely Mother's Day. Yummy food, crafts, books, shopping, cuddles and kisses all from my two favorite guys ever. I am so lucky.

2010-05-24T20:38:00.000-07:00

Guav pointed out that for the last five or so weeks, the only time I post anything is on Mondays. He's right. It's the only day of the week I feel obligated to post anything, and I think I've done a good job being consistent with it. So good in fact, that I think I'm ready to take the next step and introduce another series later this week so that I'll get to posting at least two times weekly. Yay!

Today I made a list. I'm turning 29 in about three months, and I wanted to write down some things I'd like to accomplish before I meet the final year of my 20's. So here we go...

2010-05-17T21:07:00.000-07:00

As I previously mentioned, my baby boy will be turning one in just under three months, and I've been quite busy planning his birthday party. Let me tell you two things I've decided we must have at this party: balloons and cake. The challenge here is that I can't very well make a cake that Guav can't eat with Brixton on his first birthday, so the cake will have to be vegan. Oh, and I should probably mention that I've never baked a cake before. Well, there's a first time for everything, and today's the day for my very first cake.

I did some internet digging and found some vegan cake recipes I'd like to try out in advance so that I don't ruin his cake the night before his first birthday. I wanted to start with something simple so I decided on this cake recipe and used this for the frosting, because I recognized and had most of the ingredients on hand.

It's amazing how such a straight forward recipe can really be quite complicated to a first time cake baker.

Step one: Preheat at 350.
Did it. Good for me. I'm awesome.

Step two: Line pan with parchment paper. Grease and flour pan.
Umm wait... what?

So after watching a video on how to line a round cake pan with parchment paper and reading tutorials on how to grease and flour a pan and also invert a cake, I made it happen.

I was pretty proud of myself after I inverted the cake and spread the frosting on top. I was like, wow, my first cake and it doesn't look half bad. Then I went to slice a piece for Guav. Resistance. Oh ya. I forgot to remove the parchment paper. Asshole. I blame it on the distractions:
Guav and I laughed about it, I took off the paper and re-iced the cake. Delicious. I can't wait to make another.

I know there are a ton of tried and truly amazing vegan cake recipes out there so if anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them! Happy Makeday people! I think tomorrow I'll post about my very first Mother's Day.
xxoo.

2010-05-10T21:08:00.000-07:00

I guess you can say that I've been kind of obsessed with gathering plans for Brixton's 1st birthday party. Confession: I've actually been planning since his half birthday. I mean, not really planning, just bookmarking my favorite ideas and getting inspired. Well anyway, apparently, I'm not the only one in my family who does this. My sister's been planning my nephew Micah's 3rd birthday party since February-- his actual birthday isn't until July.

So Micah's going to have a superhero party, and my sister wants to make each guest their very own cape. She asked me to search around for a good pattern for her to use, and I stumbled upon a cute tute I decided to use for today's makeday project.

I used an old t-shirt, some felt, scissors and embroidery thread and put it together while Brixton watched Raffi. It took me a little more than half an hour but only because my neighbor Liz came by and distracted me a little. Also, I had to cut the letters and sew each of them on. The cape itself took very little time to cut. It's pretty brilliant actually-- easy and sooo cute. Check out my little superhero.

Being a superhero is serious business which calls for a serious face.

Did anybody else out there make something today?

2010-05-03T15:30:00.000-07:00

Brixton and I are feeling much better this week. Last week, he started forming some sort of rash on his arms and for a minute we were worried he had gotten something called the coxsackie virus (worst name for anything, ever), because his girlfriend who lives next door had it the week before. I took him to his pediatrician, and she assured us it wasn't coxsackie and that it was probably just an allergic reaction. We haven't changed laundry detergents and he still only takes breast milk so I still have no idea what caused it, but it didn't seem to bother him and now it's almost all gone. Anyways, here he is going crazy on the paper they use to cover the benches in the exam room.

And here's a picture from this weekend just because. Aren't my guys so handsome?

Now on to makeday. I love mangoes. Like, really love them. Fresh, dried, freeze dried, pureed, pickled, frozen, whatever. I love it all, but today had me wanting it in ice cream form. Problem with that is that I don't know how to make ice cream. Don't you need an ice cream maker machine of some sort to make ice cream? Whatever. I figured mango popsicles would be easier and satisfy me just the same.

I found a bag of frozen mangoes in my freezer and threw them into the blender with soy milk and mango nectar. This is when I discovered that my Brixton absolutely hates the blender. The sound of it scared him to little pieces, and he cried every time I turned it on. So I picked him up, held him through it and I ended up with a batch of cold mango yumminess that I had every intention of pouring into ice trays to make popsicles. Until of course I realized I'm not that picky. Why wait hours for popsicles when I can have a delicious mango shake right now?

So that's what I did. And that's what I made. It was perfect, and I was very pleased with it. Brixton didn't even try it, but he looks to be pretty pleased as well.

2010-04-26T19:43:00.000-07:00

So I pretty much was ill all weekend long, and I guess I passed whatever bug I had to Brixton. My poor little guy. I was ready to admit that I didn't get to make anything today seeing as I've been attending to my sick baby all day, but then I realized that's not exactly true. Today I was making my baby feel better.

This is pretty much what we did all day long:

Snuggletown. Population: 2

always on the go...

2010-04-21T07:38:00.000-07:00

It's becoming increasingly difficult to photograph my little explorer with him always on the move. Here he is doing his new favorite thing.

He is very proud of himself. As am I.

2010-04-19T13:25:00.000-07:00

It's crazy how time's been flying lately. Brixton turned 8 months last week! He's really grown up a lot in the last two months. He's officially mobile now- started crawling the day after we got back from Texas last month. It all happened so fast. One day he couldn't even turn from his back to his stomach and then three weeks later, he was crawling. One of my favorite things he does right now is after he uses the furniture to pull himself up to a standing position, he looks back at me and smiles really big as if to say, "Yes! I'm amazing!" I should really get it on video.

Anyways, it's no secret I'm terribly inconsistent and suck at posting. I so wish I was better about it and have been gathering ideas of how to improve. I'd bore you with the details about how I came up with a plan, but I think instead I'll just get right to introducing my first step. Make Day Mondays. I love this idea! It's really simple. Every Monday, I'll try to make something. It can be anything-- a batch of cookies, a birthday card, a toy for Brixton or whatever. I'll snap some photos and then write about it here.

I think these Make Days will be good for me for a couple of reasons. For one, it'll get me into the habit of posting more often (I hope). And two, I'll be creating. Making things with my hands is something that really makes me happy and something I don't think I do often enough. Let's give this a try, shall we?

For today, I just did something simple. Guav gave me a little plastic container with small compartments that used to house some screws. We like to repurpose things whenever possible.
I gathered some materials including origami paper, my foam alphabet stamps, an ink pad, mod podge and an exacto knife.

After some cutting, stamping and podging, I ended up with a new little case for some of my jewelry supplies. Easy peasy! I really think I'm going to enjoy these Make Days.

2010-03-01T12:38:00.000-08:00

Brixton and I surprisingly made it to Texas on Thursday even though Liz had to drive through some pretty heavy snow to get us to the airport. All the flights before and after mine were canceled, but mine departed and arrived DFW on time and BRX and I even got our own row! It could've been such a mess, but everything worked out beautifully.

So today we're doing some fun activities with his cousins. He's definitely loving being around the other littles even though he's not quite able to participate just yet. I whipped up a batch of playdough using this recipe, and the kids totally enjoyed shaping it into trees, trampolines and octopuses.

This is Ryan presenting the awesome rock he made out of the yellow dough.

Micah made a fish.

I'm not sure what Brooklyn and Gavin were cooking up when I took these photos, but I'm pretty sure fun was the main ingredient.

When they wake up from their nap, I think we'll make some collages. Happy Monday everyone!

My sweet potato's sweet potato

2010-02-24T11:25:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to feed BRX solids for about a month now and have had very little success. I do enjoy the process though and all the little faces he makes are enough to make my day just that little bit brighter.

just bedazzlin.

2010-02-23T09:56:00.000-08:00

I have many loves, and one of them is jewelry. Wearing it, making it, touching it, whatever... I love it! I've been putting together a few pieces today that I can hopefully sell in my not so distant future Etsy shop. I've been wanting to do this for some time now, and things have really been coming together lately. Here's a little peek at what's to come.

Hello Monday.

2010-02-22T10:57:00.000-08:00

Today so far has been a good start to my week. My neighbor (and friend) Liz just got back from the British Virgin Islands so I spent much of the morning at her place hearing about her fabulous trip and looking at pictures over coffee.
After a few hours I went back to my place and watched Brixton chew on his toes.
Then I had a little lunch at my dining room table and enjoyed the view of the flowers Guav gave me for Valentines Day. It's been more than a week and they're still lively and lovely.
Brixton and I are leaving for Texas this week, and I have quite a few things to get done before we go. It's always mayhem at my mother's house with all the kids running around, and since I think we'll be there a good while, I'll enjoy my mellow Monday while I have it.

where the watermelons grow...

2010-02-21T17:07:00.000-08:00

Last Monday was a very special day. Not just because it was President's Day and Guav had the day off, and not just because it marked the first day of the last year my best friend Rayber will be in his twenties. It was extra special to me because it just so happened to be my little baby's first half birthday. I've never celebrated half birthdays before, but I've also never been so excited about watching someone grow up. So we had a little party to celebrate Brixton's half birthday...

I've been wanting to write a catch up entry, and I think this is really an excellent time to do just that. Here's what's been going on in our little nation of three for the last six months:

So far Brixton has gained 10lbs and has grown 7 inches since the day he was born. He can roll over from his stomach to his back, sit up on his own and has been able to stand on his feet relying on us only for balance since he was three months old. He says Ba, Ga, Da and various H sounds that sound like Hi or Hey. He can reach out for his toys with both hands and occasionally likes to nibble on his own toes. He has two beautiful bottom teeth and the best laugh I've ever heard. He has been exclusively breastfed and has only recently experienced his first tiny bites of sweet potato. I've been making his food using the Beaba baby food maker I scored in my goody bag from Martha Stewart last summer, but he hasn't really been so interested in eating as he has been with pushing his food out of his mouth with his tongue or doing adorable little rasberries until both our faces are covered in puree.

I've been to Texas quite a few times and for a while everyone seemed to think he looked like Guav. Nanay likes to call him "Guav na maliit" which means "Guav that is little" in tagalog. I personally think he looks a lot like me or how I did when I was a baby. Guav stayed neutral and said he looked like the both of us until I did a little side by side comparison and totally won.

Of course one thing Brixton does get from Guav is his bright morning smile. He wakes up in the morning and is ready to dance and play, smiling ear to ear and cooing everywhere. He sleeps in our bed with us mainly because I still nurse him at night but also because he's an awesome little snuggle bug. The entire sleep situation is different from what I thought it would be at this point or what I originally wanted, but I'm happy with it now because it's what works for us. We decided we don't want to "sleep train" him, and I like to be there with him when he wakes up every morning.

The first few months were pretty rough. He was super gassy so our pediatrician suggested holding him upright for thirty minutes after each feeding. This meant I was up for at least 45 minutes three or four times a night. Luckily he slept a lot during the day in those earlier months. Sometimes I would nap with him, but most of the time I would just hold him and watch something on Netflix Watch Instantly. I got through three seasons of 30 Rock, three seasons of Friday Night Lights, a season of Californication and quite a few movies in those first three months.

I do carry him a lot. All day, really. I hold him even while he naps. He doesn't sleep for very long otherwise. A lot of people think or say I carry him too much. Fortunately, I've learned to tune these people out. It's just the two of us most of the day. No cartoons or television. No toys with bright lights or crazy sounds. No toys that require batteries at all. No swings or jumperoos or exersaucers or playpens. He has a movement mat in the living room which is basically a thin mattress surrounded with mirrors for his tummy time, a basket of thoughtfully selected toys, a box of children's 45s that we play for him on his Fisher Price record player, lots of books and lots of homemade mobiles. Some ideas are Montessori, some are attachment parenting, some are both but most are just what makes sense to us. How do I ever get anything done? I don't. Precisely why I haven't posted anything in months.

Up until a month ago actually, I was in my PJs all day long because I just never had the chance to put myself together in the morning. That's when Raffi came to the rescue. I know I said no TV, but I make an exception for the Raffi In Concert DVD. It was taped in the 80's and it's just Raffi, his guitar and his audience singing about baby whales and quacking ducks. Brixton absolutely loves it. Guav and I both like watching his face light up when Raffi starts singing Mr. Golden Sun . Anyway, keeping Raffi around for twenty minutes a day means I can brush my teeth and wash my face before two in the afternoon so, for me, Raffi is not only acceptable, he is indispensable.

There's a short list of things that also fall into that "wouldn't have made it without" category. The list is different for every parent, and I'm always curious to know what's on other people's lists. Here's mine:

Raffi.
The Moby: Definitely my carrier of choice. It's just a long piece of cotton jersey that you can wrap around you in a bunch of different ways to hold your baby. It's so cozy—for both me and Brixton. We have the Baby Bjorn and the Ergo as well, which Guav uses mainly because he thinks the Moby is girly, but I like the Moby and prefer it.
The Bumbo: It's really quite brilliant I think. Guav says he wishes they made Bumbos for adults, because they just look so comfy. I don't disagree. I put him in his Bumbo with a TV tray and some toys when he watches his Raffi DVD or when I just want to clean up the house a little bit. We have the actual tray that goes with the Bumbo, but it's hard to take on and off and its not very big so all his toys end up falling off of it.
Our Carseat: I know this seems obvious, but I don't just use the carseat in the car. We have two—one that lives upstairs in our office area and the other gets moved around downstairs—from the kitchen to the bathroom to my closet to the dining room. It makes setting him down and picking him up easy when I want to cook, eat, get dressed check my email on our desktop computer or use the bathroom.
iPhone: For both entertainment and documentation purposes. Those few months that had me banished to the couch for hours on end were infinitely easier with the iPhone in hand. I could browse online, play games, answer or write emails and text with one hand and minimal movements while he slept. And the camera was great—I can't even count how many pictures and videos I took of him sleeping and smiling and doing the cute things babies do. Actually, I can count ... I believe I've taken about 1,900 photos and videos.
Cloth Diapers: This is where Guav really stepped up. I have to admit that before Brixton was born, I was a bit concerned about getting diaper duty all the time because Guav would run away when I tried to get him to change Judah's diaper. I couldn't have been more wrong. He did a lot of research, joined a livejournal diaper community (so cute), and purchased all of our cloth diapers that should set us up until Brixton's ready to be out of them. He also does the laundry every other day without complaint. This includes washing, drying, stuffing and folding the diapers so that they're ready to use every day. Anyways, Guav's really the one to talk about it, but I do know going the cloth route has really saved us a lot of money. Even better, Brixton hasn't gotten a single diaper rash.
The Itsy Bitsy Spider: By far his favorite song. I don't know what it is about it, but it works like magic. We sing it probably a dozen or more times each day. Runner-ups are Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Guav's Baby Brixton Ducky Butt song, Mr. Golden Sun and Brixton Mackaye Talplacido Gauvin sung to the melody of John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt.

So this is where I post a whole bunch of pictures:

And some videos:

That should bring everything up to date. Let's see if I can manage to post more than a couple of times before his first birthday.

QT with Nanay.

2009-11-22T21:52:00.000-08:00

Brixton and I are in Texas at the moment. He's maxin' with Nanay-- his great grandmother. Not great as in spectacular, although she is that as well, but great as in my grandmother-- his great grandmother.

Nanay is 94 years old. Everyone tries to say they are Nanay's favorite, but they all know the truth deep down. I mean, look at this dimple. I could fit a tiny ocean in that dimple. How could a dimple like that not be your most favorite thing ever?

batman loves mummy.

2009-11-02T10:29:00.000-08:00

For the last six years Halloween has been celebrated with a trip upstate. My best friend Sue and I usually get dressed up as sexy cliches for a night of drinking and dancing while the boys stay home to watch the kids and be edge. When we roll in at 2am, the guys get a kick out of watching us act tipsy and goofy in our heels and knee highs, and then we all retire to our private after parties. Everybody's happy.

This year we couldn't make it up to Syracuse, but the day was beautiful and we made the most of it.

Brixton begged to wear his "I love mummy" shirt.

Our friends Ronen and Starr, who also happen to be our neighbors, invited us to check out the annual dog parade at our neighborhood park. Brixton wanted to get dressed up, and we couldn't possibly deny him a costume on his very first Halloween!

So my two super heroes escorted me to Ronen and Starr's.

Rocky didn't dress up for the dog parade, but I guess he can be exempt since he is made of awesome.

The parade was kinda lame anyways. It was like, ten people standing around with their dogs.
When we got back home, there was a package waiting for us at the door. It was a new friend for Brixton courtesy of a sweet lady named Janet.

How cute is it that they were totally color coordinated? They danced together for a little bit while Guav and I took photos. Then we pretty much napped the rest of the day away.
It was a great Halloween. Hope yours was just as sweet!

And where he goes I'll follow...

2009-10-25T02:14:00.000-07:00

I started reading about the montessori method while I was pregnant. I was just cruising Ohdeedoh for nursery ideas and inspiration one day, and I just so happened upon a tour of Finnian's room. I found it so refreshing to see a room put together with so much purpose and love and was immediately drawn to the idea of the floor bed, the movement mat, the child's eye level artwork and the mobiles. Hanging mobiles are a big thing for the montessori baby, and I took this as a good reason to craft a few mobiles of my own for Brixton.

It took a minute for his eyes to develop enough to see them, but he's definitely LOVING them now. I love to spin them around and watch him stare with such awe and wonder. It's pretty cute to see him yell his little baby words at the mobiles when they slow down or stop moving.

The first one I completed hangs over our bed and is made of black and white paper stars and fishing wire. It's so awesome to wake up and look over to see him already awake, just staring at it, learning.
I purchased some black and white flash cards and also made an assortment of my own to hang in our kikkerland picture mobile, but we haven't really gotten around to trying those out. Instead, we're using these adorable mini stuffed animals from Ikea, and they're totally a hit with Brixton so we haven't bothered to switch them out just yet.
Today I think I'll try to finish the gobbi mobile I started, also inspired by Finn's mom Meg after reading about it in her blog. You will see the other one I made to match his room when I eventually get around to posting his nursery photos-- some day soon I hope. I know I said I would share those a while ago, but it's not like I've been slacking. One handed typing in the dark isn't the easiest thing ever. Luckily and sadly, Brixton does seem to get the teensiest bit less needy everyday.

Love Bug

2009-10-17T11:11:00.000-07:00

Out and about today... Craft store, Trader Joe's then Whole Foods.

dash dot dot dash

2009-09-18T17:11:00.000-07:00

Eat. Poop. Sleep. Repeat. Every now and then he'll throw a smile somewhere in there. He almost always wakes up when I try to set him down, but on the rare occasions I manage to step away quietly, it only takes minutes for him to realize I'm gone. I love how much he needs me. I'm certain that won't last forever so I'm just enjoying it while it lasts.

With so much of the day spent holding him while he sleeps, my iphone has proved to be quite a useful tool for capturing our quiet moments together. His little sleeping face, I realized, looks like two dots between two dashes which just so happens to be an X in morse code. I like this.

2009-09-05T16:02:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to find the time to write up my birth story, but with brand new baby Brixton around, time just isn't something I have a whole lot of nowadays. The little guy is with me all day and night and every purr or grunt that escapes him gets my undivided attention. No, I don't think I'm spoiling him. No, I won't let him cry it out. He's only three weeks old-- he needs love and that's something we have plenty of in this family. We're totally raising this kid on snuggles.

Birth story will come soon enough. I can't wait to share it.

vikings, jeeps, boobs and dew.

2009-09-05T14:04:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite people in the world is my friend, Pigg. Pigg is seriously one of the best dudes I know. I can't think of a single negative thing I could ever say about him. Even if I could, I wouldn't do it today, because today is his birthday.

Anyway, he has this thing for all things viking. That, mountain dew, giant wheels, and a nice big set of headlights are among his interests. So naturally, I thought of him when I saw these amazing plates. They would look lovely stacked high with slices of cheese pizza (another Pigg favorite) or just on display next to his proud flea market find.

Happy Birthday, Piggie. I love you.

mothering the mother

2009-08-12T15:51:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that at the beginning of this pregnancy, I didn't know a damn thing about what to do, where to go, who to see or what to prepare for.

The first doctor I went to see was absolutely terrible, so I did a little bit of research online and found a practice that wasn't bad, but it definitely wasn't the place that was going to help me have the experience I wanted. When I was just under 6 months along, Guav and I interviewed Julie to be our doula. We loved her instantly. She really listened to us and gave us recommendations for books, child birth classes, hospitals and a midwife that we've been very pleased with so far. A lot of the confidence I have right now is due to Julie's guidance through the process. I don't think I would be in one piece without her. And now, with Brixton's birthday being so close, I wanted to make sure I had a present to thank her for everything she's done and for the contributions I know she'll put forth on our big day.

So today I wrapped up the necklace I made for her. I hope she loves it. I also put together a little present for my sister which will go in the mail tomorrow.

[love it & covet]

2009-08-12T14:25:00.000-07:00

Recession plus baby on the way means a need for self control, and self control means not buying everything that makes my eyes widen or my heart race. Maybe posting about them will help the retail lust subside.1. holly gonightly sleep mask / 2. sweet deer planter / 3. russian doll plates / 4. oliver / 5. hemline stationary set / 6. USB tulip hub / 7. playthings pushcart / 8. b&w wall hook

booze vs. baker's twine.

2009-08-10T11:30:00.001-07:00

Every year at around this time, there's normally just one thing that occupies my mind -- The Virgo Bash.

My friend Jack and I started it some years ago when we realized that we, along with so many of our close friends, were virgos. In fact, each day in the entire last week of August and the first week of September is a birthday of someone we know. When I lived in Texas, the festivities were simple and usually consisted of an in-town celebration of bar hopping or concert-going. Eventually Jack and I both left Texas and brought our tradition with us. We had a bash in Florida, a couple in New York and one in San Francisco. It's always a good time, and I look forward to it every year.

This year is a big one, because not only is it Jackie's 30th birthday... It's also her golden birthday. The plan was to go to Jamaica, but with D-day falling right at the end of August, this year's bash was just going to have to happen without me. I have to say at first, I was really bummed about not being able to make it. Luckily, eight months and a big ripe belly was just enough to help me realize that I'm okay with it. I'm sure Jack can hold it down without me-- I've got someone else's birthday on the brain this year.

But just because birthday booze gets bumped, I think I'm still entitled to a wishlist of sorts, right? Considering last year's consisted of lots of Chanel and a chaise lounge for my hot pink closet, I think this year's list has my feet a little closer to the ground.
Just For You by Pablo Correa found via graphicexchange

Handmade Home via soulemama because nesting is now my new favorite pastime.
Letter press recipe cards by 1canoe2 because very soon I will have a small little family to make delicious meals for, and I will need a way to keep track of my favorite recipes.

Olivetti Typewriter from UO because for some reason, I actually think having a functional typewriter around would inspire me to write beautiful notes to send via snail mail to my dearest friends.

And a Gocco to take my crafting to a whole new level! I totally admit I wouldn't know what to do with the thing but stumbling across mintdesignblog makes me want to learn, wrap presents all pretty and make thank you cards all day.

And if I had to, I could probably show you some shoes I've been wanting or some of the Fall outfits I hope I'll fit into before the season's over. I haven't completely forgotten about Fashion, but swollen feet and an unpredictable waistline pretty much just puts it in the backseat for now.

perfect iloveyouversary.

2009-08-08T08:38:00.000-07:00

let's go have a crepe.
via Oh, hey there by icanread

2009-08-06T10:52:00.000-07:00

I've been turning our place upside down the last hour looking for a little gift box I thought I had kept. When I do this and make a mess of the place, Guav calls it "tornadoing", and he hates it. The place is still in once piece (no worries, baby), but I'd really like to wrap the thank you gifts I made last night for our midwife and doula. I guess I will just have to stop by the craft store later!

Lovely photo of the day that I didn't take but thought I would share because it rules:
This photo of Zooey Deschanel makes me want to do one of two things:

1. Eat a nice juicy watermelon sprinkled with salt.
and/or 2. Eat kettle corn from a perfectly precious package.
Either way, I think I'm hungry. I will have to have a snack before I leave the house. That means I should stop. typing. now.

a little welcome wagon of aminals.

2009-08-04T11:24:00.000-07:00

Both Guav and I are designers, and I'd say one of the most important things to us is to make sure we expose Brixton to a creative environment that he can grow from and be inspired by. Fortunately, I think we're on top of that thanks to all the artistic people that have already begun to surround him with lovely, handmade gifts.

Our friend Chloe made us this little guy we named Grob. That's Guav's name through the filter of my adorable Grandmother's accent.

This here is the top shelf of the bookcase in Brix's nursery.
On the far left next to the clock, the little orange furry dude was made by friend Danielle. In front of him is another Chloe masterpiece, the sad little blood cell. I'm not sure why he's so sad. He is surrounded with good company like the octopus, created with love by our friend Jen. Next to him is the soft little cuddly sheep Guav's mom crocheted for him. She also made him a couple of great blankets you'll see when I post more pictures of his room soon!

Butterfly in the sky, I can go twice as high.

2009-07-31T13:47:00.000-07:00

My shelter porn obsession started last year when Guav and I purchased our first home. I just couldn't get enough of all the blogs and magazines that I'd read for countless hours. Next week, it will be a year since we closed on our place, and I can proudly say we've gotten a pretty good amount of renovations and decorating done.

Something I've discovered through my blog and periodical perusings is that one of my favorite things to have in a home is a reading nook. At first, I didn't really think we'd have the space for it, but one day of furniture shuffling in our living room and dining area proved me wrong.

The vinyl records are selected favorites from our collection. I love the Old 97's. I haven't been able to find my favorite record of theirs on vinyl, but this one will do. The cover is pretty dope, I must say.

A few of them are Brixton's. Our baby shower invitation included little book plates that encouraged our guests to help build his library of books & records.

Our kid is going to listen to some really good music.

His Uncle Beggs gave him an unopened Dead Kennedys record that includes the infamous H.R. Geiger poster.

This is really only a fraction of his library so far. He got a ridiculous amount of books that he'll enjoy for many years as he grows to be an imaginative and well read boy. Well, we can only hope.

Lesson of the day: Skittles are an excellent vegan source of Vitamin C.

2009-07-31T10:56:00.000-07:00

I definitely thought that eating during pregnancy would be more fun than it has been. I think I'm a pretty adventurous eater even while staying within the confines of a pescatarian diet. Guav seems always amused with my sweet & salty snack pairings (peanuts in my orange soda), my sweet & sweet pairings (rocky road icecream & cocoa pebbles) and my filipino pairings (sour mangos with sauteed shrimp paste). Before I got pregnant, I always envisioned pregnancy inspiring me to come up with the greatest snack ideas that I would continue to eat even afterwards. Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case.

As soon as I found out I was pregnant back in December, I became totally obsessed with eating healthy. I started reading all these books, one in particular being Skinny Bitch, Bun in the Oven. It terrified me into a vegan diet for the first six months and had me sharing with everyone my new found knowledge of dairy puss and how casein promotes all three stages of cancer. I'd say the first three months of this vegan diet was a success. I ate three or more nutritious meals a day, totally cut out processed sugars and ate all organic whenever possible (our grocery bill was not awesome). Then I don't know what happened, but I started becoming completely uninterested in food and started skipping meals. It would be 6pm and Guav would ask me what I had eaten and all I could tell him was the bagel we had for breakfast. We tried this for another two months before Guav reminded me that the reason I went vegan in the first place was because I wanted to provide the best possible diet for our growing baby, and my diet was definitely not accommodating his needs. I realized he was right and started eating dairy and seafood again. This helped my appetite a bit, although it definitely hasn't been what it was pre-pregnancy.

So now it's 1:50 and the freezer fish sticks I tried to have for lunch are terribly unsatisfactory.

I think I'll make a salad, and then indulge in a snack I have found pleases me a good deal.

I like it too well to forget it.

2009-07-28T14:14:00.000-07:00

There are too many things that have happened in the last six years that I wish I could recall in better detail than my memory allows me, and the reason I can't is my own fault. I used to write more. About everything. And even though I love so much that I can look back to things that happened before I moved to New York and remember just how I felt when they happened, I'm really quite disappointed that I allowed all the forks and turning points in my more recent years to fade away behind them.

So I've decided to start writing again, and there are a couple of reasons why. One is because I miss it. I miss translating all my jumbled thoughts into words that make sense outside of my head. I miss over-thinking and backspacing, and I miss the satisfaction of finding the perfect word. The other reason, the more important one, is that quite soon I'm expecting to be the mother of a baby boy named Brixton. I'm a little over eight months pregnant and have found that I'm really quite different from who I was just eight months ago. The food I eat, the things that annoy me, the people I confide in and what I care about most have all changed in the matter of months. I have never been more excited and anxious about anything in my entire life, and I can't wait to remember that six years from now.