My Brain

When my brain likes an idea it tends to run with it. I can't stop obsessing about mid-century modern decorating. I want to read every blog about it and I comb through craigslist enjoying each Eames chair that passes my retinas. Thank goodness I will really be busy in a couple of weeks with more important things!

Our dining room reinvented:


Andrew snapping Blake in the office chair:


A faux mid-century modern corner:


Company is coming so I am going to allow myself ten minutes of craigslist perusing and then off to clean the bathrooms!

Spa Day

Today was Andrew's day. It was his last weekend on-call before he switches teams at work. After paternity leave, he will say goodbye to the great SRE's of Google and head towards Gmail. Typical on-call weekends bind Andrew to the house because he has to be within three minutes of a reliable internet connection so he can respond to his pages. Sometimes we all hang out around the house and sometimes I just up and leave Andrew in charge of Blake for big chunks of the day so I can get some things done. Here are some goodies from his day with Blake:

Picking our sad, sad carrots from my garden. I responded, "I have a garden?" when Andrew told me he was going to take Blake out back and start cleaning up the backyard (Andrew has had enough of the rain and wishes it was summer already):


Then while I was gone, the two of them baked brownies together. My grandmother and mother always made such a fuss about not licking batters because of the chance of death related to raw eggs. Andrew has always laughed at my fear, but I still won't eat batter! Thank goodness for daddies because otherwise, Blake would never have any fun.

Blake's First Haircut

Due to peer pressure we decided to give Blake his first haircut. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

Here is video footage:


My favorite whispy saved for the baby book:


You are going to do what?:


He thought it would hurt:


All done:


Time for a bath to wash away the itchy hair:


Too bad these do's don't make it past the bathtub:

Who's Going To Buy Me This?

What lucky family member or friend is going to be generous enough to buy me this?



It only carries a $17,000 price tag.

Ridiculous!

Find it here: http://www.babywit.com/DIAMONDPACIFIER-p-ABABY.html


By the way, we gave Blake his first haircut. We have video footage and awesome pics, but Andrew is having a hard time figuring out how to upload it to Youtube. I hope the puzzle gets solved soon so you can share in the fun.

Home Again

It feels good to be home. I just got back from taking Blake to Sacramento to pick up our dogs and see my parents. I am looking forward to getting back into our daily routine around here. My body is screaming at me to slow down and relax so I am going to listen and heed its advice. Can I really do that though? We will see.

Now for some quiet activities. I am encouraging everyone to slow life down and focus on one thing a day that brings you some peace and quiet.

My Nana showed me some of her knitting/crocheting books and I quickly took some home for immediate projects to make for baby #2. Isn't this book great:


I have chosen the "fancy pants" as my first project from this book. I think they will be a great diaper cover for the new baby's diaper:

(these)


Here is the wool and the back of the "fancy pants." Oh, how I love saying that name:


Now to calm my cranky, first child. If only peace and quiet was a real thing around here.

Last L.A. Memories

On our last day of our L.A. trip we met up with Jessica in Culver City for a tour of her neighborhood. We started out driving by the Sony Pictures studio. There was a thrift store around the corner I wanted to stop at:


Here we are at the thrift store:


Andrew always talks about eating at Koo-Koo-Roo restaurants. I thought it was something special, but come to find out it is like a Boston Market (gross):


Heading up to the La Brea Tarpits:


Viewing the Lake Pit:


I just can't believe this place is in the middle of town:


Going in for some history lessons:


Andrew feeding Blake to the wooly mammoth:


Oh good, they are safe:


Time to measure up:








I love how they have so many examples of one type of bone:


Jessica introduced us to taco truck lane. Andrew and Ellen went to the Green taco truck for organic food and Jessica and I got breakfast burritos:


A trip to the Los Angeles Farmer's Market:


Driving back to Jessica's:


Rodeo drive. I loved the handbags in bird cages:


Goodbye L.A.:


We are packing up and about to hit the road. Time to get back to the real world.

Break Day

We needed to slow our pace down so we headed into Balboa Island for a morning stroll.

At the ferry (a six minute walk from our condo):


Waiting for departure:


Our ride. The ferry takes three cars at a time and a limited number of passengers. There are always parents with kids on bikes or in strollers going back and forth. It is $2 for auto and driver plus $1 for passengers. I think we paid $3 for being pedestrians:


Once on the island we walked down the Main Canal to Main street where there was plenty of window shopping to lightly entertain us:


I stopped at the fire department to ask a question regarding second story safety ladders. They emphasized how smoke detectors are the main element to protecting yourself in the event of a fire. They recommended putting one in every room (minus bathrooms/kitchens). Blake enjoyed talking with the fireman and received a souvenir fire hat:


What a great sign:


On the ferry home:


We decided to stop for a Balboa bar and hit the arcade for a family portrait in the photo booth. I got caught enjoying the Balboa bar:


I hope this is the only military training Blake receives:


I interpret this as "don't skate like a surfer":


Ellen finished her consulting appointments and met up with us for a trip to the beach. We went to the Newport Beach pier and enjoyed the calm waves:


Blake still ran around like a crazy guy even though the weather has turned a bit chilly:


We saw a Korean film crew filming a pilot for a Korean sitcom. They had been on Balboa island in the morning and were at Newport beach by the evening. I guess it was a long day for them because the director? was super cranky when I walked by them and was yelling at the cast. Got to love the entertainment industry: