My New Baby

As per usual I have disappeared for a while...been busy (and managed to smash my camera) but this is what I have been busy with....this picture up above. Fellow Brooklyn Mom (and friend) is opening a store and classroom space for babies and parents and I am designing it. It's taking up most of my time right now.  See some more pictures of the interior, and read more about it at the Caribou Baby blog.

Uncle M

When B was little my friend M would take us out to eat,  just B and M and I.  The hostess would invariably look in confusion at my blonde, blue-eyed boy and then at my dining companion and ask M if he would like a highchair for his son?  always with the question mark.  I got a good laugh out of it.  On the day these photos were taken my parents were visiting and we were around the corner from M's house so I called him up and asked him if he wanted to grab lunch with us.  He showed up in a matching outfit to little B.  Well, I do aspire for B to get his Uncle M's style sense, so I guess we we are on the right track.

Baby Boy School of Karate

More video goodness from my sister's library.  This is from our vacation on the North Fork over the summer. (PS we go from sweet kisses to karate chops and throwing sand....this is what boys grow into.  I can only hope that I teach my boy that both his exuberance and his kisses are important.)

BB and BFF...LIVE!

Working from my sister's house today, and got distracted by her photo library.  Sheesh, she has done a way better job of recording my son's life than I have (I think I've been too busy trying to keep him alive!) Found these videos and couldn't resist posting. 
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I LOVE these boys!

Reincarnation.

RB_Makers_Santigo_7
Originally uploaded by Adam Aleksander Presents

I used to be a bartender, (and a waitress, and a bar manager, and a busser, and even a dishwasher) I have worked in restaurants most of my life....in fact I loved it in a lot of ways. It is a mini-economy of beautiful simplicity, it is social, you meet incredible people, and you don't have to take your work home with you (though for years my anxiety dreams were always about a dining room full of people who's orders I couldn't take fast enough!) I also hated it, there is not a lot of respect from your managers, no matter how experienced you are, it is hard on your body, the lifestyle can consume you....too many drugs....too much drinking....(hey mom! just to clarify, I never did any drugs, they are just all over the scene, but def drank enough for 3 lifetimes)

I miss it though, sometimes. I was good at it, especially once I began to move into management. It kept me on my toes, required quick thinking, excellent people skills, it was fast-paced, with something new everyday, plus I got to do the bookkeeping and inventory, which, though I know it is weird, I love!

I have this amazing friend of 17 years, he is a lawyer, a home chef extraordinaire, one of the best friend's you could ever hope for, plus handsome and smart and kind...oh and he can knit! Well he and his equally amazing girlfriend recently started a cocktail club called EVOE! to shine a light on the history and deliciousness of the cocktail! They have been invited to create the cocktail menus for some amazing events, and every now and again I come out of retirement to work with them.

Here I am tending bar at the Red Bull/Makers Faire event (put on by Adam Aleksander Presents) and at the Michelin NY 2010 release party (from their facebook page). Thank you M and N for a few great evenings of fun and the reincarnation of previous self!

Been Gone...

I'll post some new stuff soon...have a camera full of abandoned shoes, houses i'm obsessed with, B's birthday and school and lunches and BFF.....business has conspired with technical difficulty and blog has been temporarily abandoned....will come back.

Dear Aunt S......

Besides being one of the smartest and most stylish people I know, you are wise and kind, empathetic and entertaining, loving and lovable.  You are amazing, one of those people that everyone wants to know and talk to.  I can't believe how much I lucked out being your sister.  You are my most dear friend, my most dependable ally, and the best Aunt I could hope for to my little B.

Just thought I would take a minute tonight and tell you how much I  love you and appreciate all that you do for us and are to us, to me.

Love you sister.

Happy Fourth Birthday Baby Boy!

You have filled my life with such joy. I remember the day you were born...I knew you would come that day and I waited, so eager to meet you.  You were late, past your due date, but as with most things, once you decided to come out you were quick about it.  Dr. David delivered you to me (a million thank yous Dr. David) and he set you in my arms and you were beautiful, sort of pink and yellow all at the same time, with such tiny perfect limbs and fingers.  I couldn't bear to be away from you after you were born, I took you with me everywhere, cuddled up next to me in your carrier.  As you got bigger we would chat.  You always liked people and would smile and coo at everyone we met, they always smiled back at you.  You were such a beautiful, round ball of a delight as a baby.  Babies grow into toddlers, and eventually you did too.  You took a long time getting around to walking too, but one day you just walked, but you still liked me to carry you.  You would walk everywhere in the park though, and still you liked to talk to people.  Eventually you started to speak in sentences, with your little lisp.  You would say "otay" whenever I asked you to do something....bigger still you would kiss me and tell me that you loved me.  I love you to my boy.  You are good at puzzles, and you like to play games.  You love superheros, and I love your theories.  Maybe superheros did live with the dinasours....they are all extinct now.  You are in school now, and I miss you while you are gone, even though I rush about trying to work.  My favorite time of day is 3 o'clock, when I pick you up and you run to me.  You were so tired tonight..it was a long day of birthday...you fell asleep before we got to your third book.  I finished Little Bear all by myself.  I love you my sweet four year old!  Such a big boy you are, and so handsome and clever.  Sweet too, we keep talking about plans for your birthday party next week, but you just keep telling me about all the gifts you want to get for your friends.  I can't wait to see what you grow up to be, but I hope you take a long time getting there, because I love every day I spend with you now.

You are the most dear and best thing that has ever happened to me.  Happy Birthday my sweet sweet boy.

I love my son

Just sayin'.  He is the sweetest, most beautiful, delicious boy thing that has ever existed.  I didn't get to spend much time with him today and he is asleep now.  Asleep in his own bed...lately he has been wanting to sleep there.  I worked for months to get him to sleep there and give us some room back in our bed, but now I miss his warm little body, I miss hearing his breath.  I still have to get up in the night to make sure he is breathing....I used to check like a 100 times per night, but now just a couple.


I love my son. So inadequate for this feeling.

Daily Lunch Box

This is actually a lunch from last week, before my camera died and I couldn't find the charger.

Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, on pumpernickel bread, with a drizzle of olive oil
Raisins
Snap Pea crisps
Tomatoes (they are in season, and all of their deliciousness is to be found at the Farmer's Market! I am thinking of some gazpacho I want to make!)
Edamame

This lunch was a bit of an experiment...and one that didn't really go well.  B has decided that he does not like tomatoes!  Alas! Alack!  Who is this son of mine?  Surely this is only a phase and he will come to his senses soon!  He also didn't eat the edamame or the cheese!  The edamame I can understand, but why my son refuses delicious Mozzarella cheese I could not tell you, especially since he eats every other kind of cheese imaginable!  He did eat the bread though.

Pea & Basil Soup and Thunderstorms

I had the most delicious (and healthy) dinner tonight.  Pea & Basil Soup over some quinoa, with a swirl of basil pesto....mmmmmm...I want more just thinking of it.  It was actually very simple to make...some onion and garlic in olive oil for about a minute, added the peas (I used frozen ones that I wanted to get rid of, but would be even better if they were fresh...) cooked for a few minutes, until the peas were bright green, added about 2 cups of water and some salt and pepper then covered and let it simmer for about 5 or 6 minutes.  Blended in a handful of fresh basil with the immersion blender, poured it over the quinoa and added a spoonful of some delicious pesto I made this weekend (also very easy to do, something I did not realize until very recently) 

I would have taken a picture of it, but the charger for my camera has been missing for about a week now, instead here is another picture from our vacation.  My Mom and Baby Boy were watching a thunderstorm out the window of her house.  There was actually a tornado warning in the city this week!, but I didn't even realize it until the next day. Obviously we are all okay! In Kentucky, where I grew up, tornados are common, and every spring you have to watch the weather carefully.  I used to love the storms, the sky would go from bright to dark in minutes and then the rain would start coming down in sheets.  Our whole family would sit on the front porch, watching the rain, ready with blankets and food to dash down to the basement should the storm get dangerous... it was nice in the basement too, we would play card games and wait for the storm to blow over.  I'm glad B got to watch a storm with his Grandma.

PS  Happy Birthday Grampa!  I was going to post a picture of you and B from our visit, but you seemed to avoid my camera all week.  Love you though!

I love these boys!

Was going to post about our vacations, but after a morning of laundry, a full day of fun with BFF, and dinner with Aunt S, I'm too tired.  So here are some pics of the boys hanging out.  Really what is there not to love?  and they love each other so much....nothing sweeter!

Where have we been?

Well first we were on vacation: Tennesse to visit my parents, then the Northfork with BFF and family...and then my sister bought a place and had 10 days to move, and 12 days before my Dad and Step-mom got here...and in the midst of all of that I put together a kid's room for a client...and have another project in construction.  Baby Boy liked the vacations, but has been less fond of his distracted Mother.  Yesterday we played in the sprinklers after school and then his Daddy brought home Sorry (the board game)  so today we sat in the air-conditioning (mostly)  and cleaned his room and played Sorry....oh and I took an hour long nap while Bowie played Batman (he was supposed to be napping with me, but only I fell asleep)

OIL SPILL

Okay, okay, I shouldn't follow up that last post with this....I try to keep my personal blog on a lighter note and also things like the oil spill make me feel not just sad, but helpless.  I don't own a car (which is not to say I never drive, and I live in NY which makes it easier for me, I realize this is not a choice everyone can make)  I try to buy local and vintage, both for myself and my clients (though I definitely have a little bit of an IKEA addiction) and I avoid petroleum based products (did you know crayolas are made with petroleum?) but I can't clean up the gulf.  I am a decorator not an engineer.  I am a mother not a politician, and over the last several years, though of course I continue to vote, I feel like the system is so corrupt that means very little.  So I just feel helpless.  I sign petitions and read and try to educate myself and my son, but seriously, there are dead dolphins and they are cleaning it up with paper towels.  Thanks? Mother Jones reporter Mac Mccleeland for kayaking into the oil-filled gulf to get some truth on camera.

Thoughts on Food While In TN

No photo here.  I am down south visiting my parents, both of whom have type 2 diabetes.  For all of my thoughts on food and pictures of what I serve my son, I live in a place where most of the parents and children I hang with take it as a matter of course not to feed their children fast food and high-fructose corn syrup.  You would probably be ostracized from the play-group if you gave your child a sip of soda, but here all of those things are a way of life for children and adults alike.  I am not making a blanket, biased statement, I am saying this based on very unscientific observation and a lot of reading.  I don't think there are any parents who set out to feed their children (and themselves) poison, but they (all of us really) are victims of not just un-education, but actual mis-education, an under-funded, under-staffed FDA put up against companies with massive ad budgets.  Even the companies serving organic are part of the system.  They just discovered lead in juice, in brands running the gamut from organic to big company, and no one knows how it got there!  What chance do our children have of growing up to be healthy in this environment?  To borrow the words of Jamie Oliver, we need a revolution!

Also, I just found this blog, a lot of interesting articles.

Daily Lunch Box

Banana
Broccoli
Snappea Crisps
Cheese Tortellini with olive oil and Parmesan cheese

This was another popular lunch...though B did not eat the broccoli.  The  banana is a lot, and I usually try to avoid sending them with his lunch.  Though nanas do have some good stuff in them (and they are delicious!) they also have a lot of sugar! which makes B a little crazy.

Peacock Butt

 

I couldn't resist one last picture from our trip to the Bronx Zoo last week. I don't think I have ever noticed the back of a peacock's tail....I find the structure amazing! Not as technicolor as the front, but certainly as beautiful. Not many animals that are as beautiful from the ass as they are from the front, but because peacocks are so beautiful from the front here is that pic also:

Daily Lunch Box

Sliced Jack Cheese
Broccoli
Sesame Bread Sticks (these were an experiment, B keeps begging for those gross, little, chemical-laden Snackables, the ones with the fake cheese spread and bread sticks, which the grocery store displays at kid eye-level. Anyhoo, before I let my rant go to far, I tried to make him his own, and made a sort of pimento-esque cheese spread for him, but he, of course, refused to eat it.  The breadsticks I bought to go in his fake lunchables he likes however.)
Blackberries

This was super easy to throw together, the only thing that even took a tiny bit of doing was steaming up the frozen broccoli.  Successful as well.  B ate almost everything.

Vintage Table

I like this table, spotted at the sidewalk cafe of Five Leaves.  The picture really doesn't do it justice (man I need a better camera!) but it has a great patina of age, under the green you can see spots of mustard-yellow, and deep red.
I really like this restaurant in general, beautiful, amazing decor and I could eat their home-made ricotta cheese every night.

Daily Lunch Box

Jack Cheese
Hard-Boiled Egg
Strawberries (now at the Farmer's Market!)
Red Grapes
Snap Pea Crisps (oh my god, if you have never had these, go out and buy a bag right now, delicious for children and adults alike)

This lunch was a little heavy on the fruit and nary a grain in sight, but B ate almost all of it...except for the egg yolk, came back perfectly intact minus the white.  How did he do that?