MEETING IN ELLICOTT CITY

Ellicott City is a city 20 minutes outside of Baltimore, and it was this summer's chosen location for our family gathering. I had never heard of it before, but my parents discovered it during their trip last year and was the best candidate for a quick one-night getaway; it had a quaint historic town, it was driving distance from all of us, and it had a hotel with a great indoor and outdoor pool.  I soon learned the town has the oldest train station in America, too, and also a lot of Korean people. Go figure. 

We came in from all over the place. My parents had flown in from Seoul, South Korea the week before, my sister, Sharon and Paul had been in Melbourne, Australia until a few days ago (and then Paul had to travel to Savannah so he wasn't able to join us), my brother-in-law, Val, was coming in off a trip to Romania, and came with my sister, Eunice, from DC. Ken, Sloane and I made the trek up from Richmond, with Sloane happy as a clam in the backseat in her kitty cat dress.

Some background about The Kitty Cat Dress. I found this dress at Target and knew Sloane would go for it, and I was right; she fell for it hard. She didn't want to take it off at the end of the day and only did so after I promised her she could wear it to daycare on Monday.  Last night, Ken's bed time story apparently included a thrilling tale of a puppy going on a walk and meeting a kitty cat, and something something. Sloane was trying to re-tell it to me, eyes wide and arms gesturing and flailing around. I didn't quite follow, but I gathered it was quite the tale, the way she was telling it. 

We all met on Saturday afternoon and did things like try a hot banh-mi spot (according to yelp, but it was just ok), coffee at a cute cafe, a walk up historic Main Street, a stop by a wine shop and recreated home from the 1800s, lots of pool time at the hotel, Korean BBQ for dinner and tennis and church the next morning. It was too short but I loved hanging out with my family uninterrupted at least for that short while and I loved seeing my family interact with Sloane. 

I think somewhere back in the beginning of summer I said something about wanting to be super present this season. I mean, I'm always saying that but i meant it in the sense of acknowledging that summer always goes by so fast and I wanted to be sure to savor every moment. I'd say I'm pleased with my efforts so far; I'm here, I'm thankful, is a mantra I would often say in my head. I put this into practice even more when my parents are here. I miss them a lot during the year and appreciate the trip they make over here so that we can all be together and remind ourselves of our home base: each other.  I can't help but savor these moments. I'm here, I'm thankful. 

THIS AND THAT; COCKTAILS, POOLS AND STORMS

Oh it's on. We've got less than a month of summer left and I'm living these last few weeks with eyes wide open and no regrets. Am I constantly wishing for just one more weekend day? Sure. Could I use more sleep? Always. Is there not enough days for both working out and kicking back with a cocktail? Seemingly never. But all the more reason to charge on, full steam, taking prisoners and making cocktails as I go. And hash tagging #bourboncocktailsallsummerlong on Instagram. Yeah, it's a thing I've been doing. 

For a summer well-lived so far, I'll raise my glass to Helen, the unofficial and loosely designated patron saint of our bar cart. She has been keeping a close eye on all my bourbon cocktail making activities, and she approves. If you're wondering, this particular glass is holding vanilla amaretto ice cream, bourbon and stout. Cheers!

This baby of mine is getting so big. After we got home from Eden's birthday last week, my mom asked her where she had been and Sloane casually responded with, "a party."  I didn't even know she knew that word and no one had told her it was a party we had been at, where did she get that? 

She also asked me how old I was the other day, and gave me the options of, "Two? One?" You know, 'cause those are the ages she knows so far.

How do all the moms out there bear the heartbreak of their babes growing up?!

Lots of giant squeezes and a shower of kisses is probably how. And going on family gyro and gelato dates....which end in quick stops to JCrew where Sloane does things like pick out a necklace ("Mommy, the yellow one!") and prances around the store while I make heart eyes at her.

This post is not quite cohesive, but no matter. You're still with me, right? Stay with me. I'm still trying to get my weekday legs on after a whirlwind of a weekend. A wonderful whirlwind. We were in Maryland with my family and couldn't get enough of the lot of them. More posts and pictures on this later, ohhh don't you worry. 

They're the best. 

After we left the family, we stopped by an outlet mall . It was here that we had Sloane's first public mini meltdown. It only lasted about a minute, but it was real and it was over a pair of shoes she wanted to keep on (yeaaa, shoes. It's her thing apparently). Ken and I gave each other a LOOK like, 'oh, this is happening.' Part of me was all crisis management mode and the other part of me wanted to giggle hysterically. That's the nice thing about doing this parenting thing with your husband, you get to give each other LOOKS and roll your eyes, and then get it done and collapse into each other later while telling funny stories about what happened that day. 

Afterwards, we found ourselves eating sushi that we had picked up and unpacked in the Starbucks cafe of a Target. Our family of three sat huddled over a table, me nursing my hot coffee, Ken nursing his container of wasabi soy sauce and Sloane working on a cup of lo mein which she was expertly forking out and getting into her mouth. When we were done, it was pouring ran, and we ran through the storm to make it back into the car; we were wet, full, tired and happy. 

Hey! While I'm throwing random things out there, let me share some things: 

1- An interview with David Sedaris via Joy the Baker podcast

2- FredEx 3 on Late Night with Seth Meyers via Laura

3- Sylvan Esso is a band I've been listening to, do you know them? The first song of theirs I listened to was 'Coffee'.  The song I'm listening to now is 'Could I Be'. (I can't find a proper audio version of 'Could I Be' on Youtube, so that version will have to do.)

And to round it all off, some family photos from Eden's birthday party last week. Sloane is supremely good at backing up against the wall for a photo. She thinks it's funny and fun to back up and lean against the wall side by side. So here we are, militant but wanting to hold on to mom's finger. Also, mysterious wet spot on Ken's shirt.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EDEN! YOU'RE ONE!

Get ready to see pictures of a seriously adorable one year old. No, really. Are you ready??

Eden has this smile that can light up an entire room - if she happens to be looking at you while she is flashing one of them smiles, you feel like you are the best person on earth. I held this little gem of a baby when she was first born, and that probably has something to do with how thrilling it is to witness her growing from a newborn babe into a little tot who is now walking around, making her opinions known and flashing that one thousand watt smile everywhere she goes.

Eden's mom, Laura, had a little get together last week to hurrah Eden's one year mark, and it was the loveliest afternoon of grownups and kids hanging out in the backyard drinking lemonade, splashing around in the baby pool and soaking in the summer.

DOGWOOD DELL FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS AND THE CITY DANCE THEATRE

This week, I'm thinking about the children that were on the mountain in northern Iraq. I've read a few articles (this article last week, this one and this one as of yesterday) and then the other day I heard a journalist reporting from that area specifically about the children who were hungry and dehydrated. It's a terrible situation. And there are so many more terrible situations happening around the world where children are trapped, hungry, thirsty, cold, or without proper care. I'm not thinking about the political aspects of these situations, at least not this week. This week I'm thinking about how there are children who are born into a situation where they can't get water and how my daughter has been born into a place where clean water is plentiful and where she is so well cared for. I have these thoughts often as I watch my daughter grow - that she is so very lucky. Yes, I use that term tentatively, and also avoid using words like "blessed" for this sort of thing, because by implication does that mean those others aren't? I don't want to assign holier-than-thou descriptors to this, I want to acknowledge what is, and then point to what my reaction should be. In that, I'm not going to be stuck on the why, but the how; as in, how should I respond to this? 

Last weekend, my mom, Sloane and I went to one of the concert series in Dogwood Dell Festival of the Arts (free concerts all summer long!) to watch a performance by Richmond's City Dance Theatre. Taking Sloane to watch a dance performance or a music show or to see paintings by the masters makes me feel like I am handing her magic powers.  I hope she loves these things too and that it fills her up like it does me.  That night, she was entranced by the dancers. Once the show started, she sat there for the next hour, captivated.  I spent just as much time watching her face as I did watching the dances. 

And these girls of the City Dance Theater were so wonderful and earnest in their movements. Their dances and songs told the stories of American slavery, and they portrayed it beautifully, heart-achingly. Sloane obviously can't grasp the gravity of the themes right now, but I was struck by how important it is that she gets to be exposed to an expression of something real and difficult that has happened in our world, communicated in a beautiful way.  In addition to introducing her to the beauty and the magic of this world, I want to walk her through the realities of this place. Slowly, in bits and pieces, but also starkly and truthfully. 

So I'm still thinking about the 'how', especially because I have this beautiful spirit and she is going to face all these things someday too. I'm thinking about what I will tell her, and I think I'll say: Let's give of our resources, and let's stay mindful. Let's get lost in thought and lost in prayer about what is happening in the world. Let's discuss. Let's dance.  Let's enjoy, express and be responsible. I'm still figuring things out too, I will say, but I will tell her that there is a purpose and a joy in clinging to a higher plan.  I will tell her that gratitude helps quell cynicism and bears hope. 

SWEET CORN POLENTA WITH EGGPLANT SAUCE

I had one of those days today where I felt like I was chewed up and spit out. You won, Wednesday, you won! I yelled up into the sky as I walked out of the office.

Do you know what is excellent for a woe-is-me kind of day?

Polenta, apparently. But not just any kind of polenta. Polenta made from scratch, from fresh corn, and made according to Yotam Ottolenghi's instructions.  I have been wanting to make this because one, it sounds delicious and two, I will do anything Yotam tells me to do. Yotam Ottolenghi has this way with vegetables and spices that makes me want to get in it every time (more lauding here), and this was one way to do it.

Polenta made fresh like this is a thing unto its own, so try it, if you're in the least bit interested. Even though it may initially seems like a drawn out process, it's quite doable. The hardest part is scraping the kernels off the corn, and the rest is easy.  Then you end up with warm, creamy, sweet, delicious comfort porridge to stuff into your weary body.

I followed this up with a much needed conversation with my parents, which fills me up in different kind of way, and now I'm sipping on a delicious bourbon & fuji apple cocktail to be lulled into sleep.  So maybe you don't win after all, Wednesday.

And for a bonus behind the scenes look:

Sloane watched me taking photos of the food and decided to follow suit by snapping some pictures of her own. Her camera is a yellow block.