KISHI BASHI AT FRIDAY CHEERS AND ITS OFFICIALLY SUMMER

Happy summer! Happy longest day of the year!

 

It is worth noting that it being the first day of summer gets two exclamation point out of this gal this morning, even though I am still half asleep. My babe insists on waking up at 5:15AM each morning and is very bossy these days about being allowed to explore the world on her terms. I am fast sipping my coffee and thanking the good Lord it’s Friday.

 

This past week, it has felt like I am getting to know my daughter all over again.  I’m getting to know her as Sloane the toddler, Sloane the wild-ling, Sloane the explorer, Sloane the tiny ball of will. This process of getting to re-know someone and falling in love with them again and again is a familiar feeling, but now it’s happening with my daughter and it makes me feel more like a mom than ever. It also makes me really feel like a parent to wonder and research about discipline issues/methods/idea/philosophies because we are quickly realizing that is our next frontier.  

 

I am especially glad for summertime because we get more chances to be outside to best channel this recent restless and energetic spirit of hers.  A place like Friday Cheers is so fun for us to go as a family because she is entertained, enthralled and interested in all that is going on around her and we get such a joy out of watching her take it all in.  Kishi Bashi played at last week’s Friday Cheers and I am so glad we got to see him do his thing. We three all came away from this with the great satisfaction and buzz of having been bathed in sunshine and great music. Summer, we love you.

as soon as laid down our blanket, i sat sloane in front of this tupperware full of food (ground turkey, potato, onion, peas & carrots seasoned with garlic and cumin - she love sit) and she hunkered down, feeding herself, enjoying the music....

doing her thing

kishi bashi! 

venturing out after her meal to check out the scene

we went up to as close to the stage as we could, and we stood there for a few minutes, listening and watching. sloane also got face deep into a donut peach that she destroyed. observe: dripping juices

waiting to cross the street 

toddling back home. 

SLOANE AND SIMONE

I spent a significant amount of time untangling knots from my hair this morning. I’m pretty sure that it is the work of tiny hands that weave their fingers through the lengths of my hair each day, sometimes to hold on while in route, sometimes to shove in her mouth, and other times for comfort.  This is all to say, my hair looks like a bushel of wild today.

 

I think we can officially declare that we have entered into a whole new era with this little one. I don’t think I can call her a baby anymore, but I’m still gonna. She is a bundle of energy and she is all about getting her hands on and into everything. She was curious and adventurous before, but now it’s at a whole new level because she can move so quickly on her feet, she is confident of her exploring abilities aaaand JUST this past week, she has been catching on that she has the option to ignore our ‘NO’.  This morning, when I opened the fridge to grab some fruit, she practically ran over from where she was removing (throwing) items from the bench to the floor and happily marching around with a box of popcorn she discovered, in order to grab one of the bottles at her eye level out of the fridge and toddle off with it as quick as she could.  This happened in a blink of an eye. If my reflexes have gotten slower in order to accommodate and appreciate the unhurried ways of an infant, I am going to need to sharpen them up in order to keep up with this whirlwind. Ten and a half months seems way too early to be mourning the end of the baby era, but it’s hard to deny that there have been a shift of sorts as I watch her, packed full of purpose and energy.

 

She is my little wildling, and these photos seem appropriate. We got to spend some relaxing hours catching up with our friends the Robinsons this past weekend and having our little girls run around the house under our feet together while we talked was my enthrallment and joy.

 

A SHOWER FOR LAURA

One of the really helpful things that I had when I got pregnant were the friends around me who encouraged me with their support and enthusiasm. I learned so much from friends who were experienced in the ways of the pregnant/motherhood life, but I also got so much love from ladies like Laura, who wasn’t yet a mama, but had so much love in her heart for all babies and children. Her genuine love for little ones is contagious and I definitely caught some of what she had during my pregnancy by just being around her.  Her encouragement for me and excitement for the baby to come was a huge help in helping me feel at peace, and I am so happy that she was a part of my life when I became pregnant with Sloane. 

We were all obviously thrilled to learn about the news of her little one and we got to celebrate the baby with a shower this past weekend.  I love and respect this lady a ton and I cannot wait to see how all of her wonderfulness is going to translate into motherhood.

Here are some photos from the shower, thrown by the lovely ladies, Martha and Elise:

These ladies inspire me:

We love you Laura!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO KEN

one of the songs that appeases Sloane when she is cranky in the car is "bingo".
you know, "there was a farmer, who had a dog..."

on our way to brunch today, after i dutifully sang a round, i told ken to take it away. and he proceeded with,

"there was a cat who scratched a lot and ...sam was his name-o.
s-a-m....m-m
s-a-m-m-m
s-a-m-m-m
and sammm was his name-o"


ken and i are new at this papa and mama thing, and we are learning as we go, but i have to say that we both love our new roles and we are both, 'hee hee our first mother's/father's day!' because of the novelty of it.  i love having front row seats to see my friend and husband grow in this role, and i'm glad for sloane that she gets to have such a man for a father.

and now, a papa for all seasons (from our brunch today):

a papa to protect her, a papa to have dance parties with

a papa to feed her

a papa to make her laugh

a papa to color with. although, she hasn't quite grasped the concept yet.

 a papa to hold her tight (they look especially alike when they are wearing their serious faces.)

 a papa to look up to. 

A FEW OF MY RECENT FAVORITE THINGS

* The day after the rain. The storm scrubs everything to its shiny-est, even the trees and the clouds, and the air is infused with refreshments.

*Best-of music lists. Check out NPR’s best of 2013, so far.

*Freezing food. It’s an art, and I’m into it. At the least, trying to learn how to do it better.

*Our new deck. Thinking about hanging out with friends on this deck, in the outdoors, hurrahing summer.

*Any excuse for more outdoor activities. Friday Cheers.

*Holding hands with my baby. Giving each other face smooshing hugs.

GALETTE FOR BREAKFAST

i hope it's clear by now how much i love breakfast.

"put an egg on it!"

no, but really, put an egg on it.

i am flouncing around in my love for pie-like things by experimenting with different types of toppings for galettes. it was just a matter of time before i got to an egg and called it breakfast. it's not that difficult putting together a pie crust, but Pepperidge Farm's puff pastry sheets (found in the frozen aisle) is the magician's assistant, especially in a time crunch, and that's me, crunched. it does get pricey though, so i need to get into the mode of making a bunch of pie crust and freezing it in order to feed this frenzy of mine.

but if you take two (thawed) puff pastry sheets and roll them out on a floured surface and top them with a list of things starting with cheese, you cannot go wrong. load up the toppings up until about an inch away from the edge of the dough, and then fold the edges over, making a pleat. exhibit 1 is a sheet topped with ricotta cheese & shredded mozzerella cheese, which went into the oven for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. it was then was taken out after the cheese and pastry had time to bake, to add cooked bacon pieces, egg yolks, and spinach, which doesnt need as much baking time. then thrown back into the oven for about 3 more minutes.  exhibit 2 is a a topping of mixed goat cheese + shredded mozzerella + grated parmesan cheese + olive oil, as well as a asparagus and black forest ham pieces. i minced some garlic, mixed it in some more olive oil and spread that over everything, like a drizzle, after which it was sent into the oven to bake for 25-30 minutes. And if you want the golden sheen, make sure to brush the folded edges with a beaten egg (note: you can bake both galettes in the oven at 400 degrees, for 25-30 minutes, without having to double or increase the length of time, as long as they are on the same level rack.)

this seems like it would be an excellent weekend morning activity, especially if you have things in your refrigerator that need to be used up - throw them on a pie sheet and call it a galette. I suspect that one topped with a ton of ricotta, mozzarella, and a load of tomato slices and basil would be so delicious. i also recommend that you listen to this playlist while you roam about your kitchen putting this together, it's great company.

with the leftover ricotta cheese i have now in my fridge, i'm dreaming of a creamy ricotta cheese + chocolate or nutella combo atop a pastry sheet drizzled with melted dark chocolate....

BABES IN A POOL

When I started noticing the phrase, ‘building our deck’ was popping up frequently in conversations, it made me feel terribly grownup, in that same way you might feel when you have put on your mom's heels as a 8 year old.  I can’t help it, I’ve always associated home owning as something grownups do, and obviously in my mind, I still haven't accepted my entrance into this world. Membership, questionable. Having a baby is wild, but seems natural, and owning a home seems all of wild, a little unnatural, and firmly planted in the universe of grownups. Some may say it’s the opposite, but we each have our backstory. I’m not resisting it, I’m just commenting on how it’s strange.  Until I got married (and specifically until I got married to Ken), I actually never thought about owning a home. I thought about traveling and having babies, but the idea of buying a house never entered my brain, and it took me a while to come around to the idea. One year later, I realized that I have settled into the idea because the home that we have right now allows us to have people over and gives us a space to have community and build relationships. I really like that K. and I are on the same page about this; we previously talked about how we want our home to be a place where people feel like they can comfortably come into and hang out. I learned this past year that I really do like hosting people and I always so grateful that our home provides us a place to do so. 

I guess that’s how I feel about this deck going up? And it seems appropriate that the deck-building was successful through the willing and able-bodied friends who had the experience and/or volunteered the time to make it come together.  It was one of the coolest things to see it getting built, can I say, like magic? I have this fascination with seeing houses getting built from the ground up, so this was similarly amazing. And now we finally have a deck! We adore the fact that we have some outdoor space, the grill can now move out of our garage onto the deck, and it makes me appreciate the trees in our backyard even more.

The inaugural use of the deck lived up to the hype. We picked up a smallish (but it turns out, I can fit in it too!) inflatable kiddie pool ($10) and miniature Adirondack chairs ($5 each) at Walmart and voila, lifestyles of the rich and the famous, baby style.  We had our friends Joe, Alicia, and their little one, Bryson, over for lunch to break in the new deck with us, and really, could I not have gotten to these photos fast enough?