infatuation

My love for elephants started at a young age. My aunt gave me this elephant penny bank when I was little, so little in fact that I don't ever remember receiving it. I don't even know if she painted it herself (in the 70s, they were big on ceramics ya know) or if she bought it this way. All I know is that I've just always had it.

Being that my first name starts with an E and just about everything involving stickers with letters and alphabet cards, etc for kids has a picture of an elephant to help with letter/sound recognition. So really without even trying, my collection sort of just grew. I'm not totally overboard with it however, although I have little trinkets here and there. Little reminders of my fondness for the gentle giants. I admire their sense of community and family in the wild.

I love to give anything elephant related as gifts too. Just ask my niece whose first name starts with an E too. By the time she is 8, she'll ask me to stop I'm sure.

new tunes

I'm loving Sara Bareilles and Nicole Atkins right now!

yael naim

I love this song but it's not avaible for my Zune. . . . maybe because she cut a deal wtih Apple.

bag it

Because of my love for Etsy I had been searching for little, cute drawstring bags for Baby Love's little toys. I thought it would be cute for her to have a little something to carry around. She loves to put things in bags and take things out of bags. So I thought it would be fun for her to have a little bag of her own to carry her little "peep-pals" around in. I found these at Seabreeze Studio. And of course I couldn't resist the little elephants. Adorable!!

(Just right for Baby Love's little people!)

thanks much

Isn't this so flipping great!?!? My friend dropped it off this afternoon. My two favorite things on a shirt: an elephant and Horton. What's not to love I ask you?

Thank you Wendy!! It's perfect and I love it!

its a paczki

For those of you who don't know or can't tell from this grainy picture, this is a paczki, a polish pastry traditionally made for and eaten on Fat Thursday, the last Thursday before Lent not to be confused with Fat Tuesday and the French festival Mardi Gras. I know, I was confused too at first. This year, Fat Thursday is tomorrow January 31st. In my neck of the woods this tradition of doughnut gluttony isn't overly known or celebrated if you aren't Polish. So last year when I flew by myself (without three kids or hubster I might add) to Michigan to see my friend, Kelly, she introduced me to this cute little Polish bakery and this cute little "too many calories" tradition. Unbeknownst to me (until today that is) I had no idea that tomorrow was indeed Fat Thursday until this picture was sent to my cell phone from my favorite Michigander. As soon as I saw it, I smiled and missed her.

Kelly and I met about 13 years ago as co-workers for a retail establishment long gone now. Her husband was in the military and I was working my way through college and living with J. I don't really remember how we actually met or what it was that brought us together. But I do remember I liked her from the moment I knew her. She is the kind of person who makes "fun" where ever she is. Whether you are grocery shopping, hanging around the house, getting pedicures, sweating through a kick boxing class, or picking up paczkis. She moved back to Michigan about 8 years ago now and until last year, I hadn't seen her since she moved back home.

Over a year ago, I decided I wanted to fly out to see her. And at first I don't think she believed I would. I think the thought of seeing each other again after four kids and 7 years caused us both to be a little nervous that we wouldn't know what to say or do with each other. Once I departed that plane, however, and we caught site of each other, our anxiety quickly disappeared for it was like we had never been apart and we picked up as if we were in our early 20s once again.

On her second pregnancy now, I have a huge urge to jump a plane to visit her again. I often wish we lived closer for pure selfish reasons. I don't want to have to fly across three time zones to soak up her friendship and fun. Once a year, let alone 7 or 8, is too long to go without a dose of Kelly.

Today, upon seeing that picture of a Polish doughnut I realized just how much I love her. Her friendship is the kind you take to your grave wishing you had more time together and relishing the time you spent in each others company. "Like that one time, you fell out of my mom's car!!! Do you remember??" (Wink, wink! I love ya Kelly! Good luck with baby Lily. Your in the home stretch now. I'll drink a f*@#!*g caaaaazzzzzmo in your honor. Thanks for being my friend!)

sleep nazi

Last night as we were going to bed, Baby Love woke up like it was nine o'clock in the morning all chipper and bright. She wouldn't go back to sleep in her own bed no matter how many attempts and tricks I used. Being it was almost midnight and I was pooped, I just brought into bed with me thinking it would be sort of fun to snuggle up and snooze with my almost two year old. Oh my gawd! It was like sleeping with a 34 inch tall Sleep Nazi. (NO SLEEP FOR YOU MOMMY!!) She was all over the bed while J and I hung on the sides of the bed for dear life. I was roused awake every 20 minutes or so with a baby body part in one uncomfortable place after another. 1:13 am - foot in my face. 1:52am - head lodged into the small of my back. 2:09 am - no blankets. 2:41 - all the blankets. 3:22 am - hand slap right across my nose. 4:18 am - snoring like a logger! (Okay, that wasn't Baby Love, it was J.) I would wake up in the most horrible positions teetering on the edge of our king size bed wondering how I was going to move Baby Love back into the middle without waking her. Minutes would pass not moving an inch, pondering my pain and if it was worth it to chance waking her up just to get comfortable only to fall back to sleep. At 7:30 am I rolled out of bed with a Baby Love sideways hogging my pillow feeling like I had just sparred three rounds with Mike Tyson not actually throwing any punches but rather running around the ring trying to avoid getting punched. . . . . . or bit, whatever the case may be.

(Sleep Nazi resting up after a long night of depriving Mommy of sleep)

need vs. want

I so want this! It is flippin' adorable and I know the kids would love it. I've been trying to turn the downstairs of our tri-level home into a semi play area for the kids. If only money grew on trees . . . .

little mister

Congratulations goes out to my brother and sister-in-law on their newest arrival. Say hello to little mister!

It's me, Little Irish.

Two days after my hot power yoga class I feel like I'm living straight out of the pages of Judy Blume's Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. I'm so sore!!! Mostly I hurt just above and behind my kneecaps and shoulder blades. But this morning my Pectoralis muscles are killing me. I can barely lift my arms above my head. I keep hearing the words "We must, we must, we must increase our busts!" running through my brain. (Ladies! Are you feeling me?) Oh Margaret, if you only felt what I am feeling right now you wouldn't be trying to increase anything, anytime too soon.

This pain and the lack of use of my arms at the moment hasn't deterred me from going to yoga next week however. You know when you do something and it's clear from the start "this is your thing!" That's how I felt about this class. I'm not great at sports and I lack the desire to really get good at any one particular. I don't really like to exercise using the treadmill or such machines. I count the minutes which as we all know, makes time go by at the most painful pace ever. I like going for walks, but I have to have a buddy to walk with, because like the exercise equipment I get bored and tired of doing it. You know, putting one foot in front of the other over and over and over again and again isn't the most entertaining activity no matter how many times you tell yourself "this is for your own good." But this hot yoga thing, is my thing. I love it!! I don't get bored during it. The pace is quick and I lose track of time. My most favorite part? When you walk out of the hot room into the sweet, cool air. The feeling is invigorating! Yup, I found my thing!

observation day

Today was observation day at The Divine Miss O's dance class. She has a blast there and it's always fun to share in her excitement and observe.


*First position* *Plie*

pretty things

from the heat of fire and grains of sand, beauty emerged and cooled into glass . . . .

I received my new pendant yesterday from Jenifer Eadington. I love it!

*Close up*

I also picked out these two pendants for my two sweeties, The Divine Miss O and Baby Love, for Valentine's Day. I plan on picking out something equally lovely for Wonder Boy as well.

I'm all about getting little trinkets and special treasures for the kids these days. I'm overwhelmed by the amount of 'stuff' the kids acquire so I vowed not to buy more unnecessary toys just because for every single holiday.

Aren't they sweet?!?! I just need to find chains and they'll be set for cuteness.

hot yoga

I went to a new hot yoga class last night. I haven't been in a while and J just switched our gym membership over to a gym closer to our house. The hot yoga classes I have been to before were good but very inconvenient location wise. Plus, they kept their rooms way too hot for me. I would spend most of my time trying not to pass out or feel dizzy. The class last night was awesome! The room was bigger so we had more room to spread out and it was only 90-95ish degrees so I didn't feel dizzy or faint once. I LOVED it! I'm feeling it today though, especially in my shoulder blades and hamstrings but I can't wait to go again next week. I'm hooked!

all aboard

In one word, today was gorgeous!!! Very, very cold but really pretty none the less. After school, we took a drive to the mountain. Well sort of . . . . We drove to Snoqualmie where the train museum is. We explored the big locomotives and toured the little museum area and bookstore.






Cool steamer trunks!

We made squished pennies in a machine in the bookstore. Fun! Wonder Boy loves doing it. In fact, every time we are somewhere new and different, we make squished pennies to remember our visit.

We walked across the street and headed for the Snoqualmie Falls Candy and Cafe. The kids picked out a bit of candy. The cafe reminded me of a soda shop. Wonder Boy observed that everything in Snoqualmie looks old and old fashion.

Then we walked to KoKo Beans coffee shop so I could get a coffee!!

It was a lovely afternoon.

bonjour