greetingarts

baby mine

Rest your head close to my heart, never to part, baby of mine.

Five years ago, one of my dreams came true. 

Happy birthday, Rebecca.

Love, Mommy

numbers

6. 29. 1997

10 years.

4 office locations.

3 major vacations.

2 amazing little girls.

1 life.

purple

March, 2006.  Walking down the runway at the Fancy Nancy party at a local bookstore.  Fifteen months later, she still loves getting all dressed up,  and we're preparing for her Posh Petite Party for her fifth birthday next weekend.  It's going to be a combination of Fancy Nancy dress-up stuff and miniature food and goodie bags.  Lots of work in the days ahead...!

random & food

I got tagged once.  Then again.  And then a third time, with a different tag, but, still.  I can't go on ignoring people any longer, lest they get peeved with me.  So here goes, feel free to click on something else if you'd like.  Just don't tell me, or my feelings might be hurt.

1.  My tastes changed quite a bit after my pregnancies.  I used to loathe avocado, but now I think guacamole is pretty yummy, and have even been known to make it on occasion.

2.  I had a traumatic avocado experience as a child.  A friend of my mom's had made avocado ice cream, and at a dinner party decided it would be a good idea to feed it to the kids for dessert.  I, thinking it was green tea ice cream, a favorite, dove right in and... well, ended up hating avocado for approximately 2 decades.

2.  I haven't read a non-craft book in five years.  My oldest child is five years old.  Strange coincidence...?

3.  I used to make a mean banana bread, but then I stopped using shortening and now it's not worth making anymore.  Sigh.

4.  One of my favorite authors is Ernest Hemingway.  I think Hills Like White Elephants is just absolutely brilliant.

5.  I sing at least three songs to my daughters every night before bed.  There can be others, but the "Winnie the Pooh Theme Song," "It's a Small World," and "Baby Mine" must be sung, in that order (yes, Rebecca is *very* into her routines).  Wow, can we say Disney?  Although, in my defense, the version of "Baby Mine" that I always think of is from Bette Midler in the movie Beaches.

6.  I can probably go through a 2-liter bottle of Diet Cherry Coke in a day and a half.  Sad, I know.  But I said, "I can," that doesn't mean that I do.

7.  I have 71 craft blogs bookmarked.

And my favorite food places?  Hmmm.

1.  Zachary's pizza.  Ain't nothin' like it.  Yum yum yum.

2.  Todai.  All-you-can-eat-sushi.  Freshly made fruit crepes, udon made to order, salmon skin hand rolls. 

3.  Pho 79.  Vietnamese noodle soup.  I've tried a lot of different pho restaurants, and no one, not one single restaurant out of dozens and dozens, has even come close to making pho and imperial rolls as tasty as theirs.

4.  Honeybaked Ham.  Always my go-to place for holiday meals.  I always know it will turn out delicious, and the hardest part for me is standing in line to pick it up.

 

5.  Benita's Frites, in Santa Monica on the Third Street Promenade.  All they served was French fries.  But not just any old French fries.  These were the crunchiest, tastiest, most amazing creations, served in a paper cone, with dipping sauces like garlic mayonnaise, Thai peanut sauce, or spicy catsup.  Sadly, they've closed down, and I miss them!

So, there you have it.  Now I'm going to go get a late night snack.  Suddenly I've gotten very hungry.

heaps of love

Pile on Daddy!  Happy Father's Day.

asparagus

I'm exhausted.  This is all I've got this week.

Sticky, grubby little Jessie hand, reaching for her Cherry Chocolate Chip ice cream in a 25 cent green apple candy shot glass.  Oh, man, please don't touch me!

(what's so funny 'bout) peace love and understanding?

Do you remember that Elvis Costello song?  Anyway, I had the best laugh the other day, when the girls and I went for a little walk with the camera.

As usual, Rebecca was running way up ahead, and when she saw this she stopped to take a photo ( I love the way the focal point is so high, it's easy for me to forget that she has a much lower vantage point than I do).  As she waited for me and Jess to catch up, she pointed and shouted over her shoulder, "Hey, momma, look!  Vehicle... loves... you!" 

Oh. my. goodness.  Vehicle loves you?  So here's the score.  Mercedes-Benz - 1, Peace - 0.  Sorry, peace.  I think you need a better advertising agency.

love that rick rack

I received my beautiful tea towel from the swap from blogless Wylie, who must have known how happy rick rack makes me.

Very cute placement of the buttons, can you spot them?  And though it's decorative and pretty, it's still utterly useful and the embellishments don't get in the way.   Not sure I can say the same about Becky's eggs, but Wylie liked it and that's all that matters, right?  All in all, a very fun swap! 

got the groove

Yesterday we went to Baby Loves Disco, and had a very nice time, thanks to Robert of Mahar Drygoods.  He very kindly put me and my family on the guest list, and although the music was not a big hit with Rebecca (too loud!),

we drank (no, not that, silly!)

and ate pita rolls, veggies with dip, Goldfish and animal crackers, and fresh fruit. 

Oh, yeah, and a Chupa Chups.

We hung out in the area full of pillows, tepees, books, rocking horses (zebras and giraffes, actually), hula hoops and egg-shakers, and the girls got goody buckets filled with things to take home.

But the biggest hit by far was getting the hair and nails done.  I couldn't believe even Jessie sat still for it.  I had my first manicure at the age of 25, for my wedding.  The girls?  Ages 2 and 4.  Crazy!

"I may be little, but I still got the groove!" 

Do 4 year olds really talk like that?

burnt orange

Back in February, we found out about the Home Depot's Kids' Workshop, held the first Saturday of every month at all of their stores.

Even though Jessie wasn't even 2 years old at the time, they had no qualms about giving her an apron and letting her participate.

Even back then, she actually had quite a fair amount of control, and these days she's doing even better.

Ta-da!  A planter.  Easy peasy.

And big sister chose a rocket as her first project.  My husband and I each take a kid and start the nail, setting it in about halfway (three quarters of the way for Jess).  Then we relinquish the hammer and they go to town, pounding it down the rest of the way.   They do all the glue, the decals if there are any, and when we get home I let Becca sand hers with an emery board.

Since then, we've made butterfly houses, roller coaster cars, mini herb gardens, and this month's was the hardest by far - a biplane, with about a gazillion (or eighteen) pieces... 

Loads of fun, a great self-esteem builder, and even my husband gets into it.  I highly recommend checking it out!