A DAY IN THE LIFE

Warning, long post ahead!
But this is a blog about my life, so.

I had the day off of work today, and I resolved to use it as a catch-up, errand-running, baby-lovin' kind of day.  Spoiler alert, I only got about half-way through my to-do list, but it was a grand day nonetheless. I'm going to do this thing here where I detail and document our schedule today and give you a peek into a day in the life of a mama bear and her baby bear.

My day usually starts around 6AM every morning (including weekends...) but Sloane let me sleep until 7:00 AM, bless her soul.

7:00 AM: Good morning Sloane! Nurse baby, play with baby

8:00 AM: Breakfast. Tofu and avocado for baby. Sauteed vegetables and a fried egg for mama.

8:30 AM: Play time

9:00 AM: Nurse baby, baby goes down for a nap

9:30 AM:  Catch up on e-mails and skim headlines with a cup of coffee. I also had a piece of a lemon pie I made last night - I'll tell you more about that later.




10:00 AM: Prepare food for Sloane. I love this Babycook machine.

Also, wash dishes, fold laundry, get diaper bag and self ready to go out.

10:45 AM: Wake Sloane, change diaper, head out!

11:00 AM: Visit a thrift store. I visited Class and Trash for the first time and it kept our eyeballs fully occupied. Sloane was in awe.

12:15 PM: Return home, nurse baby.

12:30 PM: Lunch.  Sweet potato sticks and peas for baby,  chicken sweet potato curry (leftovers from dinner lat night) for mama.

1:30 PM: Clean baby up, playtime in the nursey

2:15PM: Outside time

2:30 PM: Wash dishes while Sloane whined at me from her exersaucer. She has been less and less happy about being confined in there. After I finished the dishes, we went back up to the nursery to play.

3:00 PM: Nurse baby, then baby goes down for her afternoon nap.

3:30 PM: More laundry, cleaning, some work.

5:00 PM: Baby wakes

5:30 PM: Papa comes home!

5:45 PM: Nurse baby.

6:00 PM: Cook dinner.

6:30 PM: Dinner.  Mango and brown rice cereal for baby. Bacon fried rice for mama and papa (inspired by Shutterbean)

7:00 PM: Playtime and night time activities with baby.

8:00 PM: Baby's bedtime.

8:30 PM: A myriad of things, including spending some time with this book that I got in the mail today that I am really excited about. It's about the daily rituals of writers, composers, painters, poets, sculptors, filmmakers, scientists, etc. and "how they create (and avoid creating) their creations."

And there we are!

HUNT.GATHER

There's a part of my brain that buzzes and hums whenever I can get in the mode of creating or being creative. It is fulfilling in of itself, but the buzz also helps to stimulate all of the rest of brain, and helps me to stay engaged in both the lofty and everyday life.  There's many things I love about pursuing the creative life, but one of my favorite things is when it forms or begets community. So obviously when I heard about the newly formed Hunt.Gather retreat for women, I was all 'where do I sign up?'

The beginning of such retreats happened last weekend. It was a two day, three session affair, and it offered classes such as photography, writing, cooking, drawing and knitting.  Its intention is to draw out and form community - Redemption Hill's community, the Richmond community, our community - of ladies who are participants and purveyors of the creative life, and provide a space to retreat, make, and conversate. The preparation was simple - you picked a session or two of your interest, paid just $5 per class, and then showed up. I signed up for a figure drawing class because it had been oh so long since I sketched with a pencil and pad and I was excited for the set aside time to just revel in moving my hand across a page. It was a much needed break from the busy life and it was refreshing - there was humming, buzzing, zoning, relaxing. Our teacher, Michaela, was fun, relaxed, and knowledgeable about guiding the small group through each person's attempts, and her insights and the experience of those few hours reminded me of how enjoyable I find this particular mode of creating.

I know that Megan - the force behind this retreat - is looking to make this a recurring event, possibly the next one to come in the fall, so keep your eye out. If you like their Facebook page, you will probably be alerted when the dates for the next one go up. You can find the Facebook here, see more pictures there, and the blog here.

TWO ARMS TO HOLD AS MUCH AS I NEED

I am zone out queen these days. It's not that I am thinking about nothing; it's that I have so many things to think on that I leave reality for a minute in order to address that other thought and then it's all, 'where DID i put those keys?'  I explain this to my husband by saying that I have more important things to use my brain power for, i.e. making sure I do my best to take care of a baby, and yes it IS unfortunate that I can't remember if I've turned the stove off, but I'm trying, and things seem to be going okay so far, don't they? i know it drives K. sometimes - it drives ME crazy almost all the time, but patience, patience, while I get the hang of this.

I call it the octopus mode. It's a necessary skill that is thrust upon a mother, and if you're a newbie, there's some fumbling around and dropping of balls. But then I think (I hope) what happens is that you start to become better at the juggling and become the sort of octopus that knows how to utilize all eight arms like a champ. Sometimes I really do wish I had about six more arms, but then, would it feel as complete, as filling, and all-encompassing as it does when I hold my baby close and tight with my two arms?

For now, (I tell myself), it's okay that I drop a ball or two, as long as I can use these two arms that I do have to wrap them around my baby each night.

COLOR ME RAD

My sis-in-law and her bf came up to RVA this past weekend so that we could all run a 5K together wherein we donned white shirts to get pumped and colorbombed.  It was so much fun - for people watching, feeling like a part of a big community, being splattered with colors, and getting some exercise on a crispy Saturday morning.  It was totally my kind of party/exercise.

All photos taken with a Kodak disposable camera.

FIG JAM, BACON, AND BRIE 'WHICH

On one hand, I have been really into eating sautéed broccoli for breakfast every morning. On the other hand, I still daydream about bagels smothered in cream cheese. It is what it is. I know summer is just around the corner and I am aware that there are cute bathing suits popping up in stores, soo I apologize in advance if you are a total sucker for the sweet, savory and salty combo like I am, because I may or may not have had four of these sandwiches in the past two days. When a food hits those three elements in perfect harmony, it’s like I have a black hole inside my body for consuming that food. I made a sweet potato, onion, bacon and apple hash a few weeks ago, and I swear the fork-to-mouth movement was on autopilot, I could have eaten it for days.

My rad friend Elizabeth knows about such delectable combinations and she is the one who introduced me to this little number the other day for breakfast. I think part of the appeal is its simplicity and how easy it is to put it together; it’s simple but then when you combine them together, it’s like a flavor explosion in your mouth. The construction consists of fig jam spread on an English muffin, topped with brie and bacon. Done and you're welcome! I have also tried it with goat cheese instead of brie and that provides yet another of flavor due to the tang of goat cheese. I think a camembert would also work really well.

Incidentally, the day I had one of these for dinner and took these photos, was also the first time Sloane tried strawberries. These days she’s all about eating foods that she can pick up herself and put in her mouth, and she went to town on the little pieces of strawberries.

THE INVISIBLE MADE VISIBLE

i hope you all are having the kind of thanksgiving that let's you sleep in, wake up to loved ones, eat good food with those loved ones, that allows you time to reflect on all your blessings and bounty, and spurs your heart to burst with gratitude!

During such a day and the long weekend if you are hankering to relax and watch a good show, check out 'the invisible made visible' put on by the awesome, and one of my favorite radio shows, This American Life. I think the entire thing is about 2 hours long and you can download it for just $5. Thats the preview for it up there and you can download the whole thing here.

THAT HAPPY FEELING OF STANDING IN LINE FOR SOME ICE CREAM ON A HOT DAY WITH MY LITTLE FAMILY

New rule: the family must go on an ice cream run on those days that scream summer and then enjoy every ray of sunshine and daylight available...bonus points if it happens on a weekday. We got it together to make such an outing happen last week on that weekday when it hit 90 degrees (yes, 90 degrees!) We happened to not have anything planned that night, our batteries hadn’t been drained by the end of the work day, dinner was made and eaten in under an hour (which almost never happens!), and we had about 1.5 hours before Sloane’s bedtime.  Ice cream run it is! Due to all the aforementioned things, it felt like such a novelty to roar out together. We also fit in a quick stop at Target, which meant more things crossed off my to-do list, and came home with some extra pints of ice cream to boot.

Sloane didn’t actually get any ice cream, but she watched us eat it, bounced on the bench outside, and sported a lovely romper with ice cream cones on it, so she was a full and satisfied participant.