Posts

When a night time scene comes on in Owen's movies, he brings me to the
couch saying, "keep me safe, mama!"

It probably won't come as a shock for those of you who follow my FoodieTots blog that I am completely addicted to Twitter. Some call it "blogging with ADD," which pretty succinctly sums up why it's become so popular with busy moms (is there another kind?). While I am sort of straddling the fence between foodblogging and momblogging, Twitter blends it all together and let's me have (brief) conversations with experts on both sides. If you haven't checked it out yet, here's a great Twitter 101 post to help you get started. Already on? Follow me @foodietot, and let me know your username so I can follow you back!

And then, there's twittermoms. A social network that sprung up in recognition of the fact that there are so many fun and interesting moms on twitter, and grew like wildfire to over 2,000 members in just a couple weeks. (Hooray Megan Calhoun, @twittermoms, for realizing a great opportunity!) There are groups for all the usual mom interests, plus blogging moms, work-at-home moms, momprenuers, etc. Again, discussions here are great when you want to share more than 140 characters but less than a blog post on something. You can find me there as FoodieTots, and in the Green Mamas & Foodie Moms groups. Come check it out...

"e b c d e b g ... next time sing me" - the Alphabet song

"Appy farm!" - apple farm

" 's (name) doin'?" - what's (name) doing? Picked this one up from his cousin who would constantly ask her mom what everyone else was doing because she was too shy to ask them directly. The boy will repeatedly ask us what he's doing, which he finds quite humorous.

Since I'm actually writing on a Tuesday...

Loathing:
*An oven that died just before our trip - after we get back we'll only have 2 days to get it fixed before the boy's birthday festivities.
*Packing. And procrastinating on packing because we weren't leaving till evening, and then getting last minute work assignment.
*Aforementioned work, after I was technically on vacation, but having to do it because I don't get paid vacation (as a contractor).
*The lack of cooperation and appreciation from family members whom we are trying to treat to a beach trip. So much for reducing stress by making arrangements for them.

Loving:
*Actually getting a birthday card from the husband this year ... on my birthday.
*Peaches. A great season at home and we're hitting Sauvie Island (OR) during peak season there.
*Embarking on a vacation that revolves around playtime with cousins, the beach, and good food and wine. And Powell's!
*The remarkably polite, patient and inquisitive toddler sleeping soundly in the (airplane) seat to my left. :)

Mangia is certainly a fitting heading, since all I did for mother's day was eat! The Monkey and husband brought me coffee and breakfast in bed, before heading off to Gymboree while I slept in some more. Then it was out to lunch, and a stroll through the Old Town "Art" Festival. (Not so much art as crafts and gifts, but whatever. Bought baby shower gifts.) Husband took the Monkey home to nap and left me to do a little more shopping. Then we took a quick outing to the pool at the Y, to show husband what we've been learning, and get out of the house since round two of the weekend monsoon had started. What I really wanted was to cook a fancy dinner with all the rhubarb I bought at market (I know, crazy), so I made pork chops with rhubarb barbecue sauce, roasted English peas, rhubarb collins to drink, and strawberry rhubarb goat cheese tart for dessert. And lest you worry that the husband got off too easy, he took me out to dinner tonight, for a "Hot Chefs, Slow Food" dinner fundraiser for Slow Foods USA. Yum.

Hope everyone enjoyed their mother's day!

The weekend: This weekend we bought a new splash pool and hosted our first pool party playdate of the season. The pool - and the garden hose - were a hit.

So remember last week, when I mentioned I needed to join a gym? Well I actually did! The Y actually, and signed the Monkey up for swim lessons. The Saturday class of course was full, so I went with the Mon/Weds morning class. Since his daycare now has music classes on Friday, I figured I'd do half days on Monday and Wednesday instead of taking off Fridays, at least for the next month. Today was lesson 1 and the Monkey was eager to get into the pool, but less excited once he was in. He enjoyed some of it, but was ready to go "buh-bye!" by the end. He loved the pool last summer, trying to run and jump in the second we got there, so I figured it would be good to start learning how to teach him to really swim. We'll see how it goes!

Eating: Favorite new taste of the week -- homemade vanilla bean yogurt and granola with fresh, organic strawberries, at the local coffee shop. Market/local dinner -- grilled chicken, asparagus and goat cheese on lemon pepper linguine. (Recipe at FoodieTots soon.)

In follow up to WorkingTitle's baby book memories... I was born a couple years earlier, so you can see the 70s influence...

Ate sooo much good stuff this weekend, now I need to find the time and energy to write it all up! And maybe join a gym... The short version: cheese bar, pulled pork & ice cream at the dairy farm, crepes, amazing cocktails, wrapped up with great steak, wine, cheese and friends for Sunday dinner.

In other news, sister-in-law left this am, ending the month of non-stop family time. My dad was in town first half of month, then we went to NY last weekend for Passover, and then sis-in-law came down this past weekend. Whew. The monkey is still asking for his Uncle T, so I guess we have to go to NY more than once a year... The road trip did go much more smoothly this time around, though. The main trouble spot was the grandparents' highly un-child friendly apartment. We stayed with Uncle T, so it was only a problem while over for meals.

And now I'm enjoying a quiet, rainy Monday at home ... waiting to hear status on kitty, who conveniently decided to get sick on the day of his previously-scheduled annual check up. He seems to be having a flare-up of a urinary condition that was supposed to be resolved by major surgery he had two years ago ... apparently it was not.

NYC, B.C.: Brunch at Balthazar, walk and shop Little Italy, Soho, ABC Home, Union Square Greenmarket, Chelsea, uptown to Cooper-Hewitt (my favorite museum) ... dinner and drinks at trendy new restaurants.

NYC, W.C.: Bialys, playground, carnival at Queens County Farm, diner for lunch, and home to nap.

Now to be fair, we would have gone into the city and done Central Park yesterday, but decided to stick to the outer boroughs in light of the Pope's visit. And since we're here for Passover, we have to have dinner with the Grandparents. Will arrange babysitting on our next visit so we can go out for a proper evening in NY!

(B.C. = before child, W.C. = with child -- in case it wasn't obvious...!)

I have always been of the opinion that Starbucks' over-roasted espresso beans required copious amounts of sugar to make drinkable, and the caramel macchiato has been my drink of choice. I did enjoy sampling some of their roasts, especially the organics, at their local festival last fall, but I feel spending that much money for a cup of coffee should include a little something extra. I've been trying to cut down on the sugar lately, and recently discovered the Caffe Misto - brewed coffee plus steamed milk. A decent compromise - and it allowed me to get the "new" Pike Place blend this morning. (Previously only available at the original Pike Place Market location.) Also amused to see the switch to the original logo. I remember reading the topless mermaid was deemed too risque for beyond the Pacific NW. I suppose when you reach $500 billion in sales, you can take a few risks.