forty-two roads

Made by Lara

2012-01-10T18:26:00.004-05:00

There's been a lot of creative energy reverberating around the house recently. Not very much of it from me, but the kids are unstoppable makers. I am always amazed at the endless production - and I try not to get frustrated at the fact that it's usually about the process, not the product. When does the shift happen when we start to fixate on the end result?

Here are some recent favorites:

Ceramic school bus. I really want to get a plate hanger and put this up on the wall.

Ceramic pinch pot - love that pattern detail. And, no, we don't have our own kiln - we are lucky enough that Lara has a clay studio in her school.

Drawing of the school's winter concert. All that red? It's the kids all wearing their school t-shirts, looking like heads in a sea of color.

And finally, something we built together - Lego horse and hippo. It was fun to try to figure out doing round 3-D out of the mostly squared off pieces!

Holiday Blitz (2)

2012-01-02T07:53:00.003-05:00

Hanukkah in the night was followed by Hanukkah in the day. At this point, the presents-and-clues extravaganza has been replaced by a more sedate Secret Santa, but the one clue we did put together was pretty fun (check it out at the bottom of the post).

One kid was the star of the show...

...but the other one was still way too sick to do much more than sleep.

They did both get cute a couple of cute animal hats!

Lara and Em share a secret.

Jakey stays asleep, battling his fever.

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The clue for our present was this:

With a B it crawls
With a T it trawls

With a P it barks
With SM it snarks

With SL it leaves a trail
With TH it goes to jail

With CH it’s for beers
With an H it soothes tears

With DR it’s a cure
With an L it’s a boor

With SN it’s cuddle and
With a J it’s a band

With PL it’s a cork
With an R it’s knot work

With an M it’s for you…
If you can guess this clue!

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Hint: the idea is that each of the letters or letter combinations is a prefix for the same suffix.

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The answer? It's "mug". We took a couple of Lara's awesome drawings and had them printed in a pattern on some CafePress mugs. They came out awesome!

Holiday Blitz (1)

2012-01-01T21:20:00.005-05:00

Happy New Year!

Our holidays were joyous and full of friends and family - the best possible way to celebrate. Even though in reality each of us managed to go through some kind of viral thingie or another, all that remains in my memory is the fun and the warmth of the last two weeks.

Here is a little taste of the Hanukkah party we threw last weekend.

I busted out the old latke recipe (potatoes, eggs, salt, pepper, no onions):

And of course no Hanukkah party would be complete without the traditional dreidel-shaped pinata. Oh, you haven't heard of that one? Yeah, me neither, but that didn't stop me from whipping one up from two boxes, a paper towel roll, and some crepe paper. I decided to go with the pull-the-string style rather than having a bunch of kids try to whack something with a heavy stick indoors. (The secret to tricking a bunch of little kids? Use the really boring, plain ribbon for the the one that opens the trap door. Why, yes, I am very proud of outwitting small children.)

Inside? Well-earned chocolate bounty...

...which temporarily made a super-sick little guy a little happy.

Living Room Do-over

2011-12-24T09:33:00.005-05:00

We have more exciting things to share on the home redo front! The living room has been transformed quite a bit and is now just waiting for a rug... but I couldn't wait to show you guys.

So, this is how the previous owners had it:

The first thing we did just before moving in was have the floors sanded and stained so they would lose that yellow cast, and so that the nails used to hold down the planks weren't so highly visible:

But still, the room was sort of dark and cave-like, and felt smaller than it really was. Can you guess what we decided to do?

Besides painting the fireplace - which, honestly, came out so good that I still can't get over it a month later! - I updated the hardware on the built-in cabinets, spray painted the fireplace accessories a textured nickel color so they wouldn't be as sharply contrasting with the white, painted the windowsills white to match the rest of the house (why were they that odd brown color to begin with?), mounted the TV lower, and removed that very bulky and oversized mantle. I'm thinking a narrow (like 5-6 inches tops) square-edged white mantle might look good in the future... although I like it without one also? Thoughts?

Brighter, airier, bigger, better lit - we're totally thrilled.

My Sick Baby

2011-12-23T15:20:00.006-05:00

Fever, cough, sniffles, upset tummy. So beautiful.

Hanukkah Night

2011-12-23T12:23:00.000-05:00

Star of David out of branches (idea from here)...

Lit up birch branches...

Hanukkah Day

2011-12-22T16:01:00.004-05:00

Days of hanukkah advent...

Dreidels to contrast and compare...

Happy Holidays!

Winter Bouquet

2011-12-07T11:46:00.003-05:00

To welcome winter, we made this bouquet from some fallen branches we found in the horticulture garden. There are flowers from Lara, Jakey, and a few from some visiting friends. Maybe we should ask everyone who comes by to contribute one?

It's interesting - we made one of these last year, and this year Lara was suddenly self-conscious about how her flowers would look, to the point that she asked me to draw some flower outlines for her to color in before she would draw her own. It seems so, so early for self-criticism to already be rearing its powerful head...

Deep Thoughts

2011-12-06T12:38:00.004-05:00

Cosmology according to Jakey, walking to school with Misha:
J: Where's the moon?
M: Behind the clouds, and on the other side of the globe of earth.
J: Where's the globe?
M: We live on it, it's all of this!
J: No, Guyguy* lives in the globe, daddy.

Philosophizing with Lara:
What if we were people who lived in a coloring book and had to wait for someone to color us in?
What if octopi had bones?

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* Guyguy is a Jakey-ism for Gaia, the earth from Greek mythology. He loves the picture of her in the D'Aulaires book.

Cooking Dinner

2011-12-03T19:24:00.003-05:00

Cooking dinner in the kitchen means...

... a drum circle

... a rocking out duet

... and silliness!

Last Perfect Breakfast

2011-11-27T08:55:00.005-05:00

I just found this snap of my ideal breakfast in my phone. Plain omelet, toast with cream cheese and smoked salmon, heirloom tomatoes, some Earl Grey tea... and a long lovely conversation with my mom. Have a great trip, mommy, and come back soon!

Homeownerhood

2011-11-25T14:45:00.003-05:00

I think after the last couple of weeks, I am safe in rephrasing the old saw: into every home, a little rain must fall. Yes, that's right - we have now joined the proud ranks of those whose basements have flooded in the midst of seasonable weather. And while this was happening? Our fridge died a noble, but not nearly drawn-out enough death (I, for one, would have really appreciated months of very slow decline rather than a sudden episode of kaput.)

The new fridge is now finally in, the food that went bad is gone, and the basement... well, no one has yet actually figured out what exactly is wrong, but all signs point to the need to dig up our whole street to investigate the drain pipes, which still might be the susceptible, terracotta kind from the days of yore. Still, we are now newly aware of the dangers of falling leaves, and the kids enjoyed sweeping and bagging as a novel backyard game.

Daily Candy

2011-11-22T15:54:00.000-05:00

Thanks so much to Daily Candy for featuring the Little Cardboard Toys in their roundup of Playhouses and Dollhouses!

Cool, Dark, and Serene

2011-11-21T15:33:00.007-05:00

The guest bathroom recently underwent a complete overhaul, complete with floor demolition and plumbing updates. The old drain pipes were still made out of lead and the old cabinet was some seriously deteriorating MDF-vinyl affair!

From our other small bathroom, I had already learned the completely counter-intuitive trick that tiny, well-lit spaces do really well with dark wall colors. The dark walls recede and actually make the space feel bigger - a very strange optical illusion that I think is heightened in this case by the sharp contrast with all the white tile and fixtures. We went from this:

to this:

Here is a shot of the other side, with the fun tree curtain I found for the bathtub. Before:

after:

Parents.com Hanukkah Crafts

2011-10-24T19:49:00.002-04:00

Thanks so much to Parents Magazine for featuring one of my Hanukkah crafts in their roundup of fun things to create for this holiday! Check out all the awesomeness here.

Heroes of the Emerald Vale

2011-10-23T21:21:00.004-04:00

And, lo, there came a day when the valiant Lady Lionheart knew that her next adventure would require the aid of her most trusted cohort. So she sent word far and wide, for who could know where in the known world her ally wandered?

At last the message found its way, and at once brave Sir Sharksbane ended his peregrinations to meet his oldest companion.

Their reunion was joyous for as they looked each other full in the face, they recalled many a campaign past where their staunch friendship oft saved the day.

It did not take long for the two to agree to set forth together.

Though the journey was arduous, they did not lose spirit. On foot, they traversed the land, marveling at bounty of nature around them and the many wild and monstrous animals in their path.

Still, they could not persevere unmounted for even their travel-hardened limbs at long last grew weary. With luck, they found an able squire to tend to their dusty armor...

... and an experienced groom whose stabled creatures would gladly bear their weight. Onward to the next part of the journey!

In the Park

2011-10-11T22:58:00.003-04:00

We spent a peaceful Columbus Day in Arlington with my mom, basking in the most glorious late-summer weather by passing as much time outside as possible. What a lovely way to end an otherwise very wet and overcast season.

I realized recently that summers are probably ipso facto less crafty. Every available second is dedicated to the outdoors, and there is no energy left at the end of running, jumping, climbing days. But of course, nature provides for those who think on their feet. Lara and I did a little weaving with grass and sticks in between bursts of action and it was a wonderful stolen moment. I need to try to remember to keep looking for the make-able all around.

Getting a Head Start on Halloween Decor

2011-10-04T11:13:00.002-04:00

Thanks so much to Parents Magazine for featuring my work!

Check out all of their wonderful Halloween-themed projects, including my own spooky-face garland here.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Comme ci, comme ca

2011-10-02T13:43:00.004-04:00

On the one hand...

On the other hand...

Shana Tova!

2011-09-29T21:14:00.000-04:00

A lovely, quiet, special dinner yesterday.

Apples, pears, raspberries, challah, jam, and honey - most from our CSA farmer.

Twinkle lights, candles, flowers, and a dressed up table.

Sweet food, sweet words of love, sweet family, sweet wishes for the next year.

Art Displays

2011-09-28T13:30:00.007-04:00

It's amazing how quickly you get used to living in a space as-is. The grand plans are still there, reassuringly hovering in the imagination, but in the meantime you just go about the daily routine. And it's not that you're making do, resentfully eyeing your unfinished space. No, quite the opposite - your eyes just grow accustomed to what is in front of them and the surface thoughts of your brain are undisturbed by what is now familiar.

All of which is to say, I finally put up the art! After a careful selection process, in which we basically decided to weed out everything that was a reproduction and keep only the originals, I spent a day laying the arrangement out on the floor, carefully measuring the whole thing, and slowly putting them up gallery-style in our dining room.

The dining room before - yellow, with green toile curtains and a very heavy dark wood curtain rod:

After:

One of the best parts? Somehow the art makes the room feel much bigger - maybe because it somehow gives that wall a sense of dimension?

At the same time, I finally created a display place for the kids' art around their little table in the living room. This time around I went with the pants-hanger approach - easy to swap pieces out, but still looks very clean and tailored, which is a good thing for this public-ish space.

The living room before - the column was the same yellow as the dining room, and
there was a very heavy dark wood border under the stairs:

After:

Next on the project list? The bathroom remodel is going splendidly and should be finished Friday, and after that we'll tackle the office!

Transitions

2011-09-11T20:35:00.004-04:00

It's sometimes harder for me to try to imagine the whole sibling thing from Jakey's point of view. I'm an only child with a few younger cousins - it's just a slightly less imagination-reliant leap to get at least some part of what Lara's experience is like. But what does it feel like to never have been the only kid in a family? To have always existed near another like you, but not quite you, but certainly more like you than anyone else you'll meet for a long time?

Last week, on the second day of kindergarten, Lara and I dropped off Jakey first. We walked him out to his little daycare playground, I said good-bye, and he toddled off to play... until he turned around and realized that she was leaving with me and not staying there with him. He was not happy. "Where's Wawa going? But I miss 'er!"

All of which is to abruptly say, changing suddenly both the tone and subject, which of these pictures do you like best? Because I am not sure this kind of happiness at seeing each other at the end of the school day is necessarily going to repeat itself forever.

First Day

2011-09-07T21:31:00.002-04:00

This talented, beautiful, happy girl is now officially a kindergartener!

One small step for her, one giant leap for our emotions.

She is thrilled, excited, and very self-satisfied.

We are grateful and in awe.

Stormy Weathered

2011-08-30T21:01:00.000-04:00

How did you all make out after Irene? I am happy to report that we suffered nothing more than slightly bored and stir-crazy children. Well, that, and the achy joints Mr. Forty-two Roads and I sustained after I insisted that the tornado warnings meant we had to all sleep downstairs on full-size the blowup mattress (translation: the kids slept on it while we tried to doze around them... that thing is definitely too small to sleep four). We didn't even lose power. I had to resort to showing the kids online pics of submerged cars to show what a hurricane could theoretically have done to explain what all the fuss was about.

And now, it's back to the old routine. Phew and yay all around.

As we walked around the city surveying the hurricane damage, we managed to annoy Lara into the following conversation:

L: If you do that one more time, I'm going to call someone to take me into a different family!
A: (trying really hard not to laugh) Really? What family would you go to?
L: I'd go to a family in China.
A: But you don't speak Chinese.
L: I'd learn it - they'd teach me.
A: But daddy and I would be so sad if you weren't with us... We'd miss you!
L: (thinks about this for a couple of seconds) Oh, I was just joking.

New Portrait

2011-08-29T20:55:00.002-04:00

Posed portraits don't always work, but this one came out wonderfully! I think it's because Ashley's parents are so relaxed and natural in their pose.

Color Correction

2011-08-20T21:23:00.003-04:00

My new favorite tool? A paintbrush. Slowly, slowly, but surely, I've been redoing the walls in our little house, and I'm here to show you the master bedroom and bathroom redos. No paintings on the walls yet, no final decor decisions, but still - that paint change makes a HUGE difference. It's just crazy how transformative it is. Oh, and also, these pics will show the newly redone floor - we took it from a faded yellow to a medium brown that came out fantastic.

So - the bedroom before:

Bedroom now:

Master bath before (that yellow was on the walls and the ceiling too):

Master bath now (with wall shelves I installed):

And, in unrelated news, the kids:

Dispatches from the Crazy Hat Parade

2011-08-10T19:18:00.005-04:00

Last year's hat parade was an entirely school-run affair, where the kids made rather identical-looking (and thus not particularly crazy when viewed en masse) hats. This year? It was changed into a family challenge, which rocks, because while I love doing art projects with the kids, I love it even more when I don't have to come up with every tiny detail of each project. Some parameters are always nice, is what I'm saying.

Anyhoo, after discussing various potential shapes and forms, and settling on a crown-like effect, we stopped mincing words and got down to business. Or rather, Lara got down to business, as she basically put this whole thing together by herself:

What's that equal?

Jakey isn't the art-projectiest toddler out there. (No, seriously, he actively avoids participating in the school art stuff. I'm just happy the teachers are low-key about it.) Still, hat day is hat day, so we whipped him up a little takeoff on one of those folded newspaper boat hats:

The end result of his look (Project Runway, here I come):

Crazy hat kids, striking a pose:

Rocking Out

2011-08-04T22:31:00.003-04:00

To the delight of all, the arboretum is yet again doing its annual series of kid music concerts! We had a total blast as we joined the crowd of... well, dozens, I guess... to boogie to the fun sounds of the most instruction-oriented band I've ever seen. Seriously, they had every single bar of every song choreographed, and kept aggressively urging for everyone to dance in a very specific way.

Were Lara and Jakey feeling the aggressive instruction? Not so much. It's not like we're raising them to be such huge iconoclasts or anything, but both of them have always had a healthy skepticism of groupthink. Here, Lara dances to a song in which it was imperative to "Get up! Everyone up! Now jump three times! Clap four times! Hands on your head! Jump two times!":

And here is Jakey before and after the band leader demanded for everyone to form groups of "one, two, or more family groups! Come on, hold hands!". He mostly danced at a safe distance of at least 10 feet from his core family group.

But still, when the guy yelled out, "Anyone with babies, hold them tight!", Lara happily exclaimed, "I have a baby!" and ran over to hug him. Love it.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU HAVEN'T POSTED IN A MONTH?!?!

2011-08-01T21:09:00.003-04:00

You guys, I know, I know. I totally disappeared, and honestly? There's not really a particularly trenchant reason for it. Just - summer stuff. Lots of playing outside with water, which doesn't always mix with camera equipment in a relaxing way. But I have definitely been missing this space... so yeah, let's get on that, shall we, little miss forty-two roads?

Oh, that face up top? That's Jakey's "Angry Bad Guy" face. Usually made while loudly declaiming, "Ang'y! Bad! Guy!" and punching any nearby surface for emphasis. (Partial disclosure - sometimes that surface is a parent. Full disclosure - we should probably sternly say "no hitting" or something in response, but we usually just laugh at the hilarity. Mixed signals, shmixed shmignals.) Incidentally, the favorite bad guy of the moment is the little apoplectic chef from "Ratatouille", which Jakey calls "the bad guy movie".

On another front, project "BFF siblings" is progressing nicely. Is it odd to be trying to socially engineer this rather than just letting nature take whatever course it will? Well, maybe it's because I'm an only child, so my approach to this is necessarily from an outsider perspective, but my sense is that fake-it-till-you-make-it works for all sorts of situations in life. So if, say, sharing with your sibling isn't your strong suit, mommy institutes mandatory sharing of treats. Sure, there'll eventually be two cookies for two kids, but you'll get them one at a time and will have to break each in half and give half away. Or, for example, if you constantly demand that only mommy fetch you things on long car trips, you will instead ask your sibling for them nicely or not get to play with them at all. So far, a little bit of this kind of armchair psychological trickery seems to really have created a baseline of cooperative, affectionate, concerned, and helpful behavior... but of course all baselines are made to be overstepped.

So, how's your summer been going? Any social programming going on at your house?

Outside In

2011-06-30T20:50:00.003-04:00

Slowly, slowly, we are making our home. The vibe is there - a pleasant, relaxing feel that the house somehow wraps around us as we lounge and cook and eat and sleep. I'm not exaggerating - the kids have each been sleeping an hour longer here in the mornings (and I have to say that 6:30 is a more pleasant wake-up time than 5:30). I love it here. It just feels good to be inside.

A few days ago, we made our way to Terrain at Styer's, a beautiful nursery, cafe, and garden shop owned by Anthropologie. There, we saw these:

And we bought these:

Our windowsills are happy.

Jakey-isms

2011-06-29T19:42:00.004-04:00

It's a little hard to believe it's only been a month since Jakey turned 2. I know the general cliche is that childhood flies by if you're watching from a parental height, but what I experience instead is the daily shock of realizing just how little he actually is. It feels like he has been here, with me, in my thoughts and memories and heart forever - for my whole life. How could it have only been two years? I do not exaggerate when I say that every time I think about, I am struck anew.

He is a laughing, demanding, impish, affectionate, warm, mischievous, loving, and cranky delight. Usually all at the same time.

Some recent moments:

Jakey watches TV on the couch with Misha.
Misha: Ok, I think it's about time to turn it off.
Jakey: No! I want to watch for a while!
Misha: Well, how about a little while?
Jakey: [in an ominous voice] I. Want. To. Watch. For. A. While.

Jakey sees a younger boy with a pacifier in the park.
Jakey: What's that?
Me: It's a pacifier.
Jakey: But why?
Me: Well, I think it's making that little boy happy.
Jakey: Why? Because it's for a fire!
[Took me a second - sound out "pacifier" in your head.]

Jakey sees a convertible driving down the street.
Jakey: Look! That's a broken car!

In the Back Yard

2011-06-25T08:08:00.005-04:00

Part of the reason we fell in love with this house is the glorious outdoor space. It's not as giant as in our rental last year, but it's adorable and cozy, just like the rest of this place. Every day now involves a hearty dose of "back-ard" as Jakey calls it.

Curious what's up the stairs?

Oh, and - no post would be complete without a craft! Yes, that's right, I guess that means most of my posts are incomplete. But behold - I built the kids a water play table by screwing a couple of under-bed drawers to a plastic kids table from IKEA (it's key to get drawers with lids so you can close up shop after playing - otherwise these things are mosquito heaven). This came after a failed attempt to glue the drawers on with Epoxy, which failed to adhere. I then caulked around the screws to avoid rust. So fun in the heat!

Benched

2011-06-15T14:17:00.005-04:00

First project of our very first house? Redoing an extant bench to become the seating part of our entry. The house doesn't have an entryway - you just walk right into the living room - which means that one has to be created by artificial means. So far, this is the element that we have:

As you can from the "before" inset, this used to be painted blue and faux-distressed, kind of a shabby-chic thing. We weren't huge fans and kept it in our bedroom, so I decided to sand off the paint and stain it a dark color to match our coffee table. It was great to find that under the paint was a really nice wood grain (I think it's maple, but don't quote me) that came alive beautifully with the walnut stain. Three coats of water-based sealer later, it's a combination seat and shoe containment field!

2011-06-15T14:03:00.002-04:00

Laptop charger to the left of me
Clean laundry to the right
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you... popping the bubble wrap left over from packing for our move!

That's right, folks - we are now the proud owners of a tiny adorable house in the city. We moved on Thursday, which means that by today the major life areas (bedrooms, kitchen, bathrooms) are semi-done, and everything else is still boxed up all around us. Just for the record? I love - LOVE - this house. The rooms still need to be painted, and there are things we'll be updating/changing/redoing, of course, but... well, I'm sitting in the living room now while the kids are napping upstairs, and as I look around, I am filled with calm and happiness. It feels like us in here, you know?

The Newest Graduate

2011-06-04T22:02:00.003-04:00

So I have to admit, if you told the me of 10 years ago that some day I would be beaming with near-excessive pride at a pre-K graduation? But just look at that beautiful kid!

Lara's class prize was for Creativity and the Performing Arts, which is very appropriate for our tiny dramactress. When she walked up the steps to get her diploma, Jakey called out from the audience, "Yay Wawa!" totally uncoached.

Girls, girls, girls. They were giggly and serious, and mostly just very, very excited.

Then we went outside, and I got to take a few shots of the fam. Ah, my three loves!

Magnet Tablets How-To

2011-05-24T22:21:00.003-04:00

As promised, here is a quick tutorial for making a magnetic board and figurines (like these) for story time.

Step 1: Marry a crazily talented guy who can whip up adorable drawings of anything at all at the drop of a hat. Barring that, pick some backgrounds and figures to go on them and draw some yourself, or even download some free clip art from the interwebs.

Step 2: Digitize and colorize your drawings, in whatever order works better. Then print all of this out on some magnetic ink jet printer paper (I used Avery brand, which worked quite well). Then paint a thin layer of Mod Podge to seal the printer ink.

Step 3: Cut out the figurines. In my excitement over Misha's supercute animals, I actually cut them out before the Mod Podge and it was a mistake. Trust me and don't make my mistake. No matter how cute cute cute your little friends come out.

Step 4: Use some tin snips to cut a piece of sheet metal to size. I bought a 12"x26" sheet of 26 gauge steel from Lowe's and cut two 12"x9.5" pieces from it to go with my 11"x8.5" backgrounds.

Step 5: Cut out a piece of fleece with about a 1/4" allowance on each side. Cut out whatever backing fabric you'd like to use for the lap side of the magnet board, with about an 1" allowance on each side.

Step 6: The edges of the sheet metal are sharp enough to cut through the fabric, so you have to tape them with thin strips of duct tape (or electrical tape would probably work as well).

Step 7: Center the fabric and the metal on top of each other. Fold the outer fabric over to the edge of the metal and then over again onto the metal.

Step 8: Use hot glue (or any glue that will bond to metal) to glue the fabric down.

Step 9: Fold up and sew down the corner.

Step 10: Keep going around, gluing down each remaining side and sewing down the corners. And now you're done! Throw on your magnets and let the kids have at it!

And Now We Are Two

2011-05-23T14:41:00.005-04:00

A perfect day for our perfect boy - and a wonderful celebration of our family, our life, and our last few weeks in this house. It couldn't have been any better.

Lara picked the party theme: dinosaurs ("Well, Mommy, Jakey likes dinosaurs and I do too, so I think that would be a good theme since it'll make both of us happy.") She was then on tenterhooks for a whole week before the party. I've never seen her so excited in anticipation. We prepared by trying to get Jakey to say "I'm two years old" in response to "How old are you?"... with mixed results.

The dinosaurs delivered - and how. Check out this inflatable red monster - a big hit all around. Except with Jakey who, while not completely terrified of it, still kept a respectful distance. He did wish it good-night before going to bed, so maybe he's not quite sure whether it's actually alive or not.

No worries though - the birthday boy quickly zeroed in on some dinos more his speed. We had a whole pack of smaller inflatables, which were cool enough, but paled in comparison to their giant friend.

Eventually, Lara rounded them all up and constructed some kind of throne for herself!

The cupcakes were topped with teeny tiny plastic dinos, which went over gangbusters as well. Jakey wasn't entirely clear on what the deal was with the fire coming at him, but he did spend the rest of the party singing "Happy Birthday to You" to himself while dancing around.

Family, friends, love, laughter, sun, warmth, and lots and lots of adorable and hilarious kids. Just a completely amazing day.

For the Birthday Boy!

2011-05-18T14:34:00.008-04:00

The birthday book making continues unabated! Although we stretched the word book a little bit in this case, I think. Still, it came out fantabulous, if I do say so myself. Presenting two magnetic animal sets:

Everything except the boat and seaweed is separate on that one - and you can see the always awesome sight of a killer whale eating a giant squid.

Here, everything except the river and mountains is separate - keep your eye on that mountain-scaling turtle. I hear those suckers are fast.

This one is just to show that even the scene itself is separate from the board, so in theory we could make even more backdrops in the future.

All the underwater animals we made, and the barebones background.

And now, all the safari animals and their background.

Stay tuned - a tutorial is totally coming up next!

The Darndest Things

2011-05-14T21:11:00.003-04:00

We just realized that now would be a good time for a compendium of the latest kidspeak, lest we forget the hilarity in three months, as we always do.

Some recent gems from Jakey:

- Jakey is banging on a metal railing with a rock for a satisfying clang. Then he drops rock, bangs on the metal with his hand, looks at me and says, "It's not workin'. It's broken."

- On being moved from the Ben Franklin statue to the Button on Penn's campus, Jakey squints up his face and whimpers. Then he smiles and says, "I petendin' cryin', mommy."

- With a briefcase in hand, Jakey wanders out of the room, "Bye-bye I see you 'ater, mommy, I goin' woohk."

- Jakey's various wants and desires: "I waht sunnin ehse" (I want something else - any time offered food is not to his liking); "I needa kahkin" (I need a napkin - any time anything accidentally ends up on his fingers. But if he's the one who stuck them into dirt? No problem, no kahkin required.)

Meanwhile, pretty much on her own, Lara has been really getting into math, surprising us by doing arithmetic in her head:

- During our bank's Sesame Street money video (it's some kind of collaboration. Kind of cute, actually), Lara watches Elmo try to save 5 bucks for a cool ball. When he has two, I ask her how much more he needs. Without blinking an eye, completely matter-of-factly, she goes, "3". Later, when Elmo decides to share some of his savings, she instantly calculates that 4 minus 2 is 2.

- Looking outside on a rainy day, Lara declares, "There are infinity raindrops."

- Inspired by the awesome paleontology song on They Might Be Giant's "Here Comes Science" DVD, Lara has now figured out her future career. "Can we watch the "paleontologist" song again so I know what I want to be when I grow up and remember to get the right job and go to the right school to be a paleontologist?"

Mother's Day Calm

2011-05-12T12:00:00.000-04:00

Sometimes photos exaggerate slightly, but in this case? It really was this peaceful and happy that day.

Completism

2011-05-08T21:11:00.003-04:00

On another mother's day a few years ago, I made these family doodle pillows in reversed colors - one for my mom, one for Misha's mom. On this mother's day, there was a slight amendment made. See if you can spot the difference:

Happy Mother's Day! Oh, and stay tuned for photos of our fabulous, sun-drenched, perfect weather DC weekend.

Cozy Quilt

2011-05-05T20:11:00.002-04:00

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I realized that I never shared the finished quilt with you guys! I really like how the top part was changed by the ties - it looks all cute and lumpy and cozy. For the binding I used leftovers from the white and brown polka-dot flannel from the quilt's B-side. We've been sleeping under it for a week now, and it's been judged a win. Whoo-hoo!

Weekend, Lovely Weekend

2011-05-01T20:14:00.004-04:00

New York Weekend

2011-04-25T21:43:00.003-04:00

Lunch at the Kimmel

2011-04-22T20:43:00.005-04:00

We had a totally great little visit to the Kimmel Center for their International Festival lunchtime concert series. The Eiffel Tower looks really great - even though we didn't get to see it lit up - and the moving trains, blimps, and airplanes were a huge hit with the small people, even if they remained unconvinced that the old-timey biplanes were actually planes and not helicopters (but what about that giant propeller!). Added bonus - we managed to sneakily evade a well-meaning but strict docent and make our way to the rooftop garden to check out the suspended vehicles from up close - definitely worth it.

During the concert, Jakey plopped himself down on a patch of carpet, clapped avidly in between songs, and talked loudly during the actual music.

Lara, meanwhile, was so embarrassed about his uncouth conduct that she went off by herself to listen in peace. She has a really high threshold for the proper amount of respect that needs to be shown to performers. It's kind of great, actually - we just went to see "Mary Poppins", and she shushed my whispered, "Do you like it?"

Back at home, there was a new sheriff in town, however. Oh, and the open mouth? He's yelling "Lara! Laraaaaaa!"

Quilt Bottom

2011-04-16T18:40:00.004-04:00

Thanks so much for the quilt-back explanations, guys! I never would have thought of how the quilting seams need to line up. But I do have a follow-up question - it feels like a lot of quilts these days are quilted freehand, with those loopy random swirls and whirls. That kind of pattern doesn't really need a plain back, does it? Anyway, in my case, I probably should have mentioned that I'm not planning to quilt this thing - the inside is going to be an old down comforter and I'm guessing those feathers would make for way more broken needles than I want to deal with (how many do I want to deal with, you ask? Um, zero.). So instead I'm taking the lazy coward's way out - I'm going to tie this baby.

Oh, and no, I totally didn't prewash - again, for laziness reasons. Last time I prewashed, the fabric went totally out of square and added an extra layer of annoying to the cutting out. I like to take the easy way out and use the fabric hems as guides. Also, since a lot of these flannels are polka dotted, I was basically cutting along the dotted lines much of the time, rather than laboriously measuring everything out. In my defense, I am still somewhat traumatized by the amount of time this thing took.

Newest Art

2011-04-15T17:07:00.003-04:00

Lara's become a drawing fiend all of a sudden - which is completely wonderful, since she will sit and draw perfectly happily entertained for quite a while. Which... well, we all need a parenting break every now and again and this way I don't have TV guilt. What's even better is that Jakey, who only wants to do whatever his big sister is doing, will equally happily scribble next to her for almost as long as she is drawing. Two kids playing together! Without me as entertainment! And it's good for the old noodle, too! Boom. Winning.

Anyway, here are some recent favorites:

This is Arthur riding a surfboard in the ocean (which is complete with sand, seaweed, and rocks on the ocean floor), while an alligator is coming to eat him. I hope he gets away!

And this is a lovely house with some hammocks in the yard. Mmmm... Vacation...

Humming Along

2011-04-13T12:37:00.002-04:00

Voila - a new quilt is half-done, now that the top is assembled. It's all flannels, and I'm going to do a design something similar, but in different colors, for the back. I've discovered that I like having the ability to flip the thing over and change the decor of the room - and also that there's not really any reason to have a quilt back just be one solid color or pattern (or is there? Is there some secret reason for the fact that that's how most of them are made?).

I'm doubly excited for this one, because I'm going to use it to cover our existing drab-gray hideous comforter. Yay bed!

Spring Has Sprung

2011-04-10T21:21:00.001-04:00

It's been really awesome to watch Lara go from sort of going along with craft projects to suggesting and executing her own ones. I guess it makes sense - you kind of have to know what the possibilities of materials and tools are before you can figure out ways to use them in some creative fashion. Nevertheless, awesome.

We've been looking at the blooms and buds on the trees a lot around here, mostly because I find this specific sign of spring endlessly delightful and keep pointing it out every time we see a tree. Which is often. I may be somewhat annoying. But on the walk home from school the other day, Lara and I started picking up interesting branches. I was just imagining a stick bouquet, but she came up with the cute idea of making our own blossoms to decorate them! How cute are these flowers? I love that she made different sizes, and also how well she spaced them out, aesthetics-wise. Man, I just love that amazing kid.

Short Pants

2011-04-08T17:56:00.003-04:00

Short pants because they fall mid-calf on Jakey... and short pants because they were made from a pair of women's shorts! Oh, I am a clever one indeed .

Seriously, though, I always feel like I can never have enough tiny Jakey pants. Even though I'm already planning to cut the ones he's been wearing this winter shorter for spring/summer weather (well, at least the lighter weight ones, or the ones where I can cut out the lining as well), I wanted to make some new ones too.

This was a fairly easy recon. I basically just cut out the middle of the shorts (because I wanted to save the pocket detail), and used the existing hem as the hem. Then I re-cut the middle into little-kid-pant-pattern, just eyeballing it and comparing with a pair of existing pants.

Tank Girl

2011-04-07T21:37:00.000-04:00

So, this is apropos of nothing, but when I was in high school, the movie version of the comic book "Tank Girl" came out. Do you remember it? It apparently bombed big time, and probably killed off Lori Petty's career. But I saw it in the theater and LOVED IT. I had no idea it was based on anything (and really, that wouldn't have helped - I recently checked out the books and... um... it's a slightly different vision, shall we say). I just loved the devil-may-care 'tude, the wackadoo clothes, the raunchy wise-cracks. What can I say? I was a really obedient, good kid, and this was probably just about much vicarious rebellion as I could handle.

Oh, were you expecting a point to this story? Sorry, this one just has a beginning and a middle.

But hey, speaking of tanks, I reconned one a blingy one from my mom for Lara the other day. I don't have a before picture, so just picture a normal, no frills tank - and then feast your eyes on this baby!

And here is the girl herself, modeling up a storm:

Love it!

While I Was Out...

2011-04-06T21:32:00.000-04:00

... I was lucky enough to be featured in a page of cool kid kitchens in the New York Daily News!

I love the punny "Tot Chef" title, especially since I was glued to this past season like I have been to every other one. Thanks, Daily News!

You Guys!!!

2011-04-05T21:21:00.003-04:00

I'm totally still here! Thank you so much for the comments of concern!

Ok, so I could probably offer up excuses and explanations - we were traveling, and then were sequentially felled by some kind of beastly stomach flu from the depths of the ninth circle of hell (you know, the level reserved for acts of treachery, which this thing certainly was totally guilty of, what with its randomly changing incubation period and symptom order and duration. Overdramatic much? Maybe, but I earned it with our 2-time ER visit week.)

Anyhoodle, luckily the kids got off comparatively lightly and were back in the saddle in no time.

And by the saddle, I of course mean, the big mommy-and-daddy bed, which is perfect for some sibling bouncing action.

Twirly Girly

2011-03-10T09:37:00.003-05:00

A new skirt recon from a favorite, but now outgrown, hoodie:

I had to wrestle some snaps off of it in order to add that width-expanding front section. The white buttons are hiding the unhappy under-snap fabric.

I drew up a little diagram for how one goes about making a top into a skirt:

Cut on the orange lines, and then sew the green piece in place to widen, if necessary. Fold over the top to make a casing for an elastic - and there you are. Easy-peasy.

Any suggestions for what to do with the hood?

Lara Art

2011-03-09T03:26:00.000-05:00

Hi web.
I always feel like I have to say right up front in any post that this is "Mr. Forty-two roads" writing, so that any phrasing, typographical errors, or nonsensical ramblings are appropriately credited.

There's a lot going on, and more every day, as the little ones grow up. Jakey is just ridiculously and adorably verbal (samplings: hagubuh = hamburger, sequedilla = quesedilla, sammup = stand up, moa-ata-peas = more water please [he says it all running together as if it's one word, though he can say each of the words just fine on their own; it's really adorable], baxetbaah = basketball [he busted out "daddy. watch. baxetbaah" after we took them to their first basketball game, Princeton vs. Penn women's bball... Princeton dominated. Our loyalties lay divided, now, however]) and Lara is doing new and impressive things at a fierce rate.

Here is a sampling of some absolutely amazing art from her recent creative explosion:

"Lara eating spaghetti and meatballs."
Her perspective is great, and watching how she adds to her repertoire, and how her style resolves, is just joyous. She has this coloring book-ish collection of pictures, and today she colored all the various arms/legs/face of one of the figures the same color for the first time, and really basically her finished work looked ... like a grown-up kid's!
(words I checked and stressed over the spelling: spaghetti, repertoire, and placement of kid's apostrophe. And now apostrophe.)

Here's a fantastic piece she drew:

(totally on her own, unsupervised, during "nap time," with no influences. And she's never been to a Warhol exhibit...)

And finally, the piece de resistance (or the piece de renaissance, I should say, given it's style):

"Lara: mixed media self portrait, on black, circa last Sunday."
She composed this at this great thing they do at the Philadelphia art museum, where on Sundays they have a set up for kids to do art projects; so after seeing some portraits, Lara crafted her own Renaissance style portrait... I think she did great, and it's so interesting how different her portrait looks than her normal pictures of faces.

Anyway, craft-ness seems to run in the genes, as she's always whipping up some art or other; it's great, and keeps our house well-decorated. Thanks for reading!

Sweater Do

2011-03-08T12:30:00.002-05:00

I tend to have a hard time finding warm winter clothes because my skin is really sensitive to animal fibers. So wool? Nope, not even merino. Angora? No way. Worn over another shirt? Strike three. Even most blends are too itchy for my weak-sauce constitution. But my go-to option, cotton, doesn't really always cut it for the weather. So I was totally thrilled when I realized a few years ago that I can now tolerate cashmere, if I layer it. In a giddy moment, dazed by a massive sale and dreams of not feeling like frostbite is about to set in, I bought this blue sweater:

It's quite large and boxy, and has a really weird giant turtleneck thing that is much longer than a normal human neck but too bulky with the zipper to fold over in any attractive fashion. But still - warm! Sort of soft! Last night, after years of wearing this thing, something finally snapped, and I went to work. The result:

I took off the neck piece and zipper, and took the sleeves and body in a good two inches. What's fun is that this took an hour, tops, involved relatively minor alterations, but now fits and looks so, so, so much better! When I finished, I was reminded of a great thing Tom Ford said in his interview with Terry Gross about "A Single Man" (which, if you haven't seen it, is awesome). He was talking about how people on TV always look good in their clothes, and explained that it's not that they have perfect bodies - it's that every single thing they wear is altered and tailored to them. Even t-shirts. For some reason that's really stuck with me.

Then...and Now

2011-03-06T12:25:00.002-05:00

April 2007:

March 2011:

Jakey's Alphabetical Doings

2011-02-25T14:16:00.006-05:00

Lara is Bob Ross

2011-02-25T14:16:00.005-05:00

Here is the finished work:

The story says, "Once upon a time there was a family and we were in their house. Jakey was already born but then a baby sister was in mommy's tummy. And then she came out and we played together and I played with her and tickled her for a long time. Jakey is born but he is at the grocery store. He is at the grocery store with Nancy in New York. He ate a big dinner with her and then he crawled into his bed and he slept. The end."

I love that this is apparently what my hair looks like "when you need a haircut, mommy," and that Jakey's absence from the picture is explained by his jaunt to New York to do some shopping.

(Oh, and no worries, I'm not actually pregnant. This is all wishful thinking on Lara's part!)

Mosaic Mosey

2011-02-18T22:50:00.003-05:00

So, first of all, it was 70 degrees in Philly today. To which I have two things to say: 1) YAY!!!! and 2) wow, I guess we'll have to start paying a little more attention to the groundhog from now on, huh.

We went to Isaiah Zagar's Magic Gardens this afternoon (and incidentally, if you are anywhere near Philly and you haven't been there yet? Dude, go.). It's an overwhelming place - crazy and wonderful and so, so, so perfect for experiencing through the eyes of little kids.

We actually caught a glimpse of Mr. Zagar himself today. He was working on a section of the gardens, and gave a chuckle at seeing Jakey pointing at each and every cemented bottle, saying "Boo botta waya. Yewow botta waya. G'een botta waya. Wed botta waya."

There was something really enjoyable about being in the space while knowing that the artist was there too. The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that the most impressive part of this project isn't the fact that it took 14 years to construct, or the array of symbols and poems and phrases and random bric-a-brac that somehow coheres, but that this man made this huge artwork and then happily let random kids prowl around and touch the thing. I mean, I felt a pang of annoyance when I saw that the patches I put on Lara's jeans were already torn up themselves, and that was the work of a hour or so - and certainly not anything that would be called art!

But I guess the evolution of the mosaic is part of the point of the mosaic, since parts of it must get knocked off or broken all the time. Case in point: one of my very own darling children smashed one of the plates embedded in the ground. And felt terrible, terrible, terrible about it, even as a clearly well-practiced staff member came out and calmly swept the debris into a little dustpan. Sorry, Mr. Zagar!

On an unrelated note, I love that Lara's outfit was perfectly coordinated to the surroundings.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-16T19:59:00.002-05:00

We heartily embraced the day (see what I did there?), and I can now safely say that there's nothing a cookie cutter can't make cute!

Three Posts in One!

2011-02-11T21:30:00.003-05:00

I haven't been posting much, but we've been having a ball around here! With my much needed recent kick in the pants, I've started to slowly make things - or at least to patch and mend things where needed. I'd say creativity is still on the wane, but at least I'm doing some handwork! I think it'll all come back to me in due time...

Last week, Lara and I got cracking on our ever-changing seasonal dining room display. Good-bye New Year's tree, hello Valentine's Day garland! As modeled by the lovely girl herself:

Also modeled by the lovely girl is a Mardi Gras mask picked out by Mr. Forty-two Roads on a recent New Orleans business trip, which she now refuses to take off and has worn to school two days in a row.

And the third thing the lovely girl is modeling is a pair of ripped up jeans with patches courtesy of yours truly. A butterfly on one knee and two hearts on the other earned me the following comment: "Oh, mom, I love this butterfly! You made a pink swirl on it just for me! But maybe you could put more patches, maybe more butterflies and flowers here too? Like Lucy has on her pants at school? And look, you made hearts - I love hearts!" So, as you can see, Lara is already a master of the compliment sandwich - a crucial management technique. Look for her next in the big chair at the board of directors meeting.

Another sign of the future? She has dropped "Mommy" and "Daddy" and has adopted "Mom" and "Dad." Why? "Because that's what big girls do, mom." Her scandalized father said, "If you call me Dad, I'm going to call you Lar." Her response? "Ok, dad." Wow!

Anyhoodle. Hey, would you like to know how we made these garlands? It was a fun, kid-friendly-ish project. And certainly a good way to use up broken crayons.

1. Gather up said crayons and sort them by color:

2. Lay out a long (twice the length of the garland you're hoping to have) piece of wax paper. Fold it in half, unfold it, and start working from the crease out.

3. Get out a blade or sharp implement of some kind and start crumbling up the crayons, with some kind of color scheme in mind (trust me, it comes out better-looking than just a random smattering of colors - that just ends up doing the swamp-brown-mud thing). Try as hard as you can to get the crumbles onto the wax paper and not all over the floor.

4. Turn your iron on the lowest setting and make sure the steam feature is off.

5. Fold the wax paper over the crayon crumbles, thus sandwiching them between the two wax paper layers.

6. Start slowly ironing the wax paper. You'll see the crayon crumbles inside start melting and puddling. You can chase the puddles around with your iron until you get pleasing results.

7. After you finish the whole thing, cut out your garland in whatever shape you want!

Sidestepping Salad Dressing

2011-02-01T12:23:00.001-05:00

This may well be a time-tested trick, but I just discovered this yummy way of avoiding salad dressing and wanted to share. I threw a pretty generous amount of olive oil on a pan, good amount of salt and pepper, and a bunch of cherry tomatoes (the bigger ones halved, the smaller ones left alone). About ten minutes later, you've got what I guess ends up being a kind of oil and vinegar-ish mix - since the tomatoes are so acidic - as well as some sauteed tomatoes to throw on top of spinach leaves, broccoli, feta cheese, pine nuts - or, you know, anything else you might want to throw on there. Scrape the pan over the salad to get all the oil, tomato juice, salt, and pepper out, and then enjoy!

World of Snowcraft

2011-01-31T22:39:00.007-05:00

Hi all.
Anna has clearly re-discovered the creative spirit; motivated by you guys (thanks), she's posting up a storm. Speaking of storms, it's been literally one after another here in Philly. (Aside: Anna and I had an uneducated debate about whether this counts as a sign of global warming, or a random variance blip; I'm going with random variance blip - Anna countered with "global warming means more evaporation, so more moisture in the air, so more precipitation." That's some hard-to-refuse pseudoscience hand-waving. (Note: this is not a political blog, and I won't hijack it, but there is no actual debate here about global warming - it's pretty clear.))

Now, back to storms - it's been so snowy! I was talking to some people at work, and said that I remember being a kid, and just hoping and praying for a snow day, and not having to go to school. And then I remember being older, and having to go do things regardless, and really hoping for no snow. And now, things cycled back again - the kids really like the snow, and it's so much fun to play with them!

On Sunday, Anna was away, and I was left alone manning the fort. And what a fort!

This is step 2. Step 1 was convincing Lara that a snow fort would be fun to build (she has a natural tendency to "con" just about anything new. She gets that from somewhere, I guess. Ahem. Moving on.) Actually, step 1 was convincing Lara, and step 1.5 was finding something Jakey liked better than breaking the in-progress snow fort. He loved breaking the walls. "Sow-baaahl!" as he lifted brick after brick of snow and flopped it on the ground with glee.

Yeah, so we made that awesome snow fort - but then Jakey wanted to go in! ("Indaaaah" - aka, 'in there,' chanted regularly, until I acquiesced and dumped him in with his sister... note the joy on Lara's face. Joy, I tell you.)

This is NYC-style - 2 people in a 3x3 foot space. These two clearly grew up in Philly, and couldn't hack the close quarters. "Daddy, Jakey's pushing me!" "Nopush Nopush!" And neither would tolerate being removed from the frosty studio.

So, we smashed down a wall and expanded into a duplex - and this time, everyone helped!

Finally, Lara's glove fell off, and she got snow in her arm, and inconsolable crankiness ensued. From her, at being wet and cold, and from Jakey, at being forced to leave the snow. I promised them food at home; as a sign of what "daddytime" means, the minute I said "Let's go home and get food," Jakey said "No pipa! No pipa! que-deeah!" meaning he not only knew that "food with Daddy = pizza," he decided he didn't want that and requested a quesedilla.

So not only did we indulge that request, but then Lara and I whipped up these fantabulous chocolate chip cookies! (no recipe included: this is Daddy-style blogging)

One of the best things about these cookies? Totally awesome, but too hard for Lara and Anna to eat, and Jakey doesn't know they're there... thus, more for me.

And so everyone had a happy snow day!

(Also, my own Jakey language addendum - Anna's blog post-with-video is awesome and totally captures his budding little language, but one of the funniest things is him using his 2- and 3-word phrases to make sentences. One morning last week, he woke up at around 5, and so I took him downstairs to watch Sesame Street, which in Jakey-tongue is "watchy-ehmo" (watch-y elmo). So I fell asleep, and then I woke up to getting whacked in the head with the remote while Jakey says the following: "Daddy no seep! Kakey 'mote! Watchy-ehmo moah." (Daddy no sleep, Jakey remote, Watch Elmo more).

Last tidbit - Jakey has a joke! "Kakey watchy ehmo. Shish watchy ehmo?" then you say "Fish can't watch elmo!" and he laughs uproariously. Because, see, our fish are not near the TV. Trust me, it's funny. He's so cute!)

Jakey Reading his Book

2011-01-31T16:53:00.003-05:00

It's pretty much a truism that watching language develop is beyond fascinating. Jakey's words have been emerging by threes and fours, as every day brings some new tidbit and expands his ability to make phrases. By now, he's mastered nouns - check out the video - and is experimenting with transitive verbs, even though he doesn't yet use prepositions. We watch him with delight, cobbling his stock of speech into communication, applying the still limited tools at his disposal to explain, demand, choose, and show affection. Who would ever think that a tiny 20 month old would have so many desires, would one moment want to tuck in quietly ("Kakey cudd' mommy") and the next be raring to go ("Kakey do'n. No uppies mommy! Kakey walk.")? Who could imagine that he would have preferences ("No 'ogut. Kakey eat quesa-ka-di'a. Kakey eat Z-bah. Kakey eat wheat. No soup. Kakey wan' beans.")? Who could predict that he would already play out his life through his stuffed animals ("Beah wachee E'mo. Beah wachee Bird. Beah run! Beah run mommy eye. Beah sit. Beah eat. Kakey beah eat.")? Extraordinary and wondrous days.

forty-two roads in Print!

2011-01-27T19:20:00.001-05:00

I would like to send a hearty thank you to Narelle Yabuka at Gingko Press for publishing the Cardboard Book - and for including my work in it!

It was beyond flattering when they asked, and now that I see the finished product, I am thrilled to be associated with the amazing artists and designers that are also featured!

Check out more page views at the Gingko link above - and, you know, run out and buy yourself a copy today!*

----------------------------
*No, I don't get a cut of the proceeds - it's just a beautiful coffee table book.

A Spoonful of Yummy

2011-01-26T19:34:00.004-05:00

You guys, you are awesome. Thanks for the creativity pep talks. I feel like just the act of writing about not having the motivation to make things pushed me to get past the hump a little. I guess that whole first-identify-the-problem step really is important. So far, the creativity has been of the cooking variety - which makes sense, seasonally, right? In this cold dark teatime of the soul, thoughts naturally turn to the comfort of food.

And nothing is more comforting than hot soup, especially when you - like all of us here - are nursing the dregs of a cold, especially when the soup is thick and rich and so spicy it clears your sinuses with the first bite, and even more especially when the soup turns out to be a delicious solution to the CSA parsnip problem. Topped with a bit of yogurt and some green onions, it rocks. Of course, the kids won't eat it, claiming spice-aversion.

I used the turmeric parsnip soup recipe from Jane Spice, a blog I only just discovered and already totally love. I used cayenne pepper powder instead of chili powder, which worked out just fine, and I used olive oil instead of sunflower oil, also without any problems.

A New Little Kitchen

2011-01-26T11:45:00.000-05:00

Joyce's daughter-in-law made this awesome kitchen after getting the instructions as a Christmas present. So excellent - I'm loving the stripes and the multi-generational project!

These Cold Cold Days

2011-01-25T17:51:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I know that 20 degrees is probably a warm spring day for some of you (Hi, Dad!), but we're notorious wimps around here, so we've mostly been hiding out from the freezing weather, despite seizing a brief 40 degree respite to walk out to Jakey's favorite hangout spot.

Staying indoors is a mix of successes and failures as we first make and then immediately break lofty resolutions of no TV and all kid-centered awesomeness.

The former can be seen here in my amazing rhetorical feat of convincing Lara that a knight-king costume could trump her knee-jerk princess go-to getup:

The latter is exhibited here, as we all fell victim to mighty daycare germs of doom and ended up Daddy-pillow-vegging with Sesame Street:

Super Extra Banana Muffins

2011-01-24T12:51:00.000-05:00

I opened the refrigerator yesterday to put three overripe bananas away to wait for conversion into bread when I saw... four way, WAY overripe bananas that had been sitting there for two weeks already. Yeah, I know. So I decided to defy the recipe and just put all of these bananas into one batch of muffin batter.

And guess what? Apparently where muffins are concerned, the more bananas the merrier. These are probably the best banana muffins I've ever made! Around here, everyone agrees. The highest indirect praise of all came when Lara, after trying a bite, declined to share her muffin with me.

So, here you go!

Preheat over to 350. Butter the muffin tin.

In one bowl mix together:

1 cup regular flour
1 cup whole wheat flower
1/2 cup raw cane sugar (for some reason this tastes better than more finely milled sugar)
1 tsp salt
1.5 tsp baking powder

In another bowl blend together:

8 tbsp melted butter
2 eggs
7 mashed bananas
1 tsp vanilla extract

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, stir to combine.
Distribute into muffin cups. Don't worry about overfilling - the bananas are so heavy that the muffins won't rise very much.
Bake for 25-30 mins, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Whither Creativity?

2011-01-23T12:41:00.002-05:00

It has occurred to me that the creativity has kind of fallen off on this blog in the last months. Fewer and fewer projects, more and more cute pictures of cute small people. Which isn't to say that I don't enjoy chronicling the little underfoot humans around here, but still - why? Some of it is probably the normal ebbs and flows of business, but I think most of it has to do with the season. It's cold and mostly dark, and when the warm throws beckon from the couch it's easier to just curl up and watch TV than produce something.

What do you guys think? Do you have Seasonal Craft-affected Disorder? How do you snap out it?

Snow Bud

2011-01-13T19:44:00.000-05:00

For a few minutes, I wandered away from the squeals of the small people and noticed this tiny, perfect little scoop of snow nested in a dry leaf. This would be a really great way to serve dessert at one of the molecular gastronomy places where the snow would actually be crystallized custard and the tree some kind of extruded petrified blackberry relish. I'm looking at you, WD-50 - make it so.

Snowed In...

2011-01-12T11:03:00.008-05:00

... and loving it!

The newest family outdoorsman is Jakey, whose despite it being his debut appearance, is now seeded first on our extremely extremely intramural winter sports team. He is obsessed with the snow and refuses to go back in the house once outside. Even when totally exhausted from running through the thick powder, he just sits down on the ground and starts narrating, "S'ow. S'ow cah. S'ow t'ee. Wok s'ow. Kakey wok s'ow. Daddy wok s'ow. Hi! Hi gohl. Bye-bye gohl. Gohl s'ow."* (Yes, that's right, he already finds time in his busy snow schedule to chat up the college girls in the apartment building next door.)

Lara is in that preschooler-going-on-teenager phase where she's way too cool to express too much overt excitement for something as mundane as snow. But still, when the imagination is rolling, there's no end to the awesomeness. Cars buried under 8 inches? "Snow eggs." And of course, snow is endlessly awesome science. "Water is on the ground. Then it turns into air and goes into the sky. Then it collects into clouds. When the clouds are too heavy they make rain. But if it's too cold then the rain turns into snow and falls down." Also, she's not above a sword fight or two with dear old dad!

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* For those who don't speak toddler: "Snow. Snow car. Snow tree. Walk snow. Jakey walk snow. Daddy walk snow. Hi! Hi girl! Bye-bye girl. Girl snow."

Some Great Little Kitchens

2011-01-11T06:48:00.002-05:00

Sarah built this lovely lavender number:

Check out that brilliant sink faucet made out of a soap pump! Genius.

Here is the one Anne made:

I love that splash of red on the fabric - and the modern faucet placement off to the side. Super swanky!

Super Snow Sunday

2011-01-05T22:33:00.003-05:00

Lara loves the snow and couldn't be pulled away from making snow fairies, trying to pack the powder into snowballs, and generally having a glorious time. Later, she described the water cycle to me in detail, having extrapolated correctly the whole rain-in-cold-weather-turns-to-snow phenomenon. She's all about science these days. Go ahead, ask her, "What are you made out of?" You know what she'll say? "Elements."

Jakey enjoyed the snow for a dazed half-hour, but then looked around like a man just waking from a dream, and we couldn't help but see the sudden disillusion in his eyes. "It's cold? And wet? Why on earth are we out here?" Since then, sure, he'll point at the stuff and say "soooow", but every offer to touch it is met with a resounding, "NO!"

New Year's Vacation

2011-01-03T17:20:00.008-05:00

We spent a wonderful week with my mom over New Year's. My cousin and uncle came down also, the weather was gorgeous, the kids were hilarious, the food was amazing, and we even stayed up till 12:03 and watched the ball drop!

Check out this picture:

I think every single person in the shot has been photoshopped together.
This one really happened, though:

My mom bought the kids this super-cute tent.

Oh, sure, they look all cute and cooperative in these pictures, but here's what happened in reality: every chance she got, Lara would either go inside and then flip the thing upside down or else barricade the entrance with a piece of furniture - or, if all else failed, simply put the entrance against a wall. Why, you ask? To keep her brother from getting in.

The upshot? There was much policing of tent accessibility.

We checked out the crazy-awesome National Building Museum.

First, the big block room, where the main goal of every project that any kid was doing was to create a giant encasing box for another kid. Seriously, some boxes were tall - standing room only - and some were just for squatters, but all were human containers.

Then, Lara built this ridiculous ur-Jenga contraption that threatened to reach the very ceiling of the place... except she ran out of pieces. We deemed it to be pretty spectacular.

Jakey, meanwhile, spent the week growing up. One new accomplishment? The word "no" - and with that his tantrum-throwing arsenal is nearly complete. Let's see... Grunting growl of rage (+10 sonic attack rating)? Check. Balled up fists (-5 to effectiveness from chubby cuteness)? Check. Repeating "No! NO! NOOO!" (+20 bonus for wearing down parental defenses)? Check. All he needs now is the final piece of the puzzle - the stamina bluff making it seem like he could keep it up indefinitely.

But then again, he also says all sorts of other things, usually in little two or three word grouping. "Yeah, yeah, wan foo!" comes the cry of the hungry boy. Or the similar, "Yeah, yeah, pipa!" whenever pizza is on offer. Or the ever popular "beeeee" which stands for Jakey's favorite food - black beans with cheese. Like his sister before him, Jakey expands his vocabulary mainly in the direction of yum.

And what did Lara do besides playing lord of the tent? My uncle taught her how to work a tripod, which she totally loved - and with which she took some totally great pictures... on his camera.

Time much enjoyed by all.

The First Annual Tree

2010-12-22T20:47:00.003-05:00

(That's fun with the long exposure time, right?)

Last week we bought our first seasonal fir tree. I am totally thrilled. I've written about it before, but as a recap - I grew up having a tree every New Year's (the Russian nonreligious winter lights + gift exchange holiday), and although my nostalgia for it waxed and mostly waned through the I'm-too-cool years, ever since Lara was born I have been feeling like she is being deprived.

Deprived of what, exactly? I have only vague memories of the ceiling-scraping trees my parents put up and decorated every year. Mainly, I remember staying up past my bedtime, spying on the tree, and then proudly debunking the myth of Ded Moroz, the kindly old man who supposedly rode around on a sleigh behind a troika of horses and brought presents to all the boys and girls. Spoiler alert - the presents actually came from my parents.

On the other hand, I do have intense memories of the tiny, artificial tree that one of my grandmothers would set up every year. The memories are strange: not very visual, and instead almost entirely sensual. I wouldn't actually be able to describe what any of the miniature ornaments on it. But I strongly remember a kind of gut feeling of awe, magic, and delight - and a slight sense of taboo, probably because I wasn't allowed to handle any of the little hanging things.

Why was this the tree that made such an indelible impression? I have no idea. Maybe because it was one of the very few ways that our usually non-materialistic family expressed the specialness of objects. Or maybe simply because I loved small versions of everyday things. Either, way this year I am happy that we started what I hope will be an annual tradition - and maybe even a way to leave a little bit of magic in Lara and Jakey's memories.

Our Reindeer Friend

2010-12-22T14:20:00.000-05:00

Hanukkah Gifts and Clues

2010-12-21T20:59:00.000-05:00

Yes, that's right, it was that time of year again - time for the annual clue-la-palooza! This time we went for haiku, which are fun, easy, and fast. For those playing along at home, ready, get set, go!

1:
Cooking tasty dish?
Still needs pungent allium…
Hands too tired to chop.

2:
Cousin with lame clothes?
You helped, bought mozzareppa.
Now you get one too.

3:
Going on a trip?
Off to see the fourth planet?
Tips on what to bring.

4:
Too cold on the couch,
But winter TV beckons.
Snuggle under this!

5:
Slender swaying reeds
Delicate and feminine
Captured on a strand

6:
Now you won’t have trouble
With those pesky princesses –
It’ll guard their tower.

7:
Chicken noodle? Borscht?
Latte? Cappuccino? Tea?
Serve them nice and hot!

8:
Long before striped canes,
Seeing-eye dogs or brail type,
One man sailed the world

9:
Cliff Lee ‘s a Phillie
Jakey may become a fan
Show him the Yankees

10:
If straight copying
Is praise, then what is artful
Mockery? Tough love.

11:
Butterflies are cute
But everybody thinks that
Only we like these

12:
Currently empty
But meant to hold pretty things
Don’t forget water

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Answers: 1) gadgety garlic mincer from Williams-Sonoma, 2) an impossible clue about an inside joke... but if you are dying to know, the answer is a shirt from Urban Outfitters, 3) "Packing for Mars", 4) super-soft fuzzy throw, 5) clay necklace from a local artist, 6) a dragon, aka one of the amazing shrinky-dink key chains Lara made for everyone, 7) soup/coffee mugs from Anthropologie, 8) biography of a blind 19th century explorer, aka "A Sense of the World" 9) tickets to Yankee stadium, 10) "The Oxford Book of Parodies", 11) photos of creepy-crawlies, aka "100 Centipedes", 12) Anthropologie vase

A Boy and His Rocket Car

2010-12-20T19:42:00.007-05:00

Warm Sleepies for Naaiii

2010-12-12T21:39:00.000-05:00

I was half-heartedly looking around for some flannel sheets for Jakey's crib when it dawned on me - um, it's a fabric rectangle with folded-in edges and some elastic. Hey, me, I said, you could probably whip one of those up and then you could also skip the mandatory boy-related prints. Jakey came with me to the fabric store to help pick out the fabric. Ok, I dragged him along by letting him push the shopping cart around and quickly grabbed what jumped out at me as we ran by it at top 18-month old speed. A few hours later (don't judge, I'm slow with the machine), I ended up with this:

I have the rest of the fabric pieces to make a reverse-coordinating set of sheet and pillowcase whenever I get around to it.

Whenever Jakey points to his crib he says appreciatively, "Naaaiii," alluding with great wisdom to the Good-Night song we sing to him before bed every day.

Oils Portrait

2010-12-11T20:52:00.001-05:00

A lovely lilac background for this great image of Danielle's son. It's a huge piece, 18" x 24", and the slightly-larger-than-life proportions look totally great.

Collage Portrait

2010-12-10T20:41:00.002-05:00

I am loving this portrait of Sharon and Bill - it really came out just how I wanted it to. It's interesting that in theory the stencil technique is the same as with the oils, but the element of the found ephemera transforms into almost a different genre.

Little language

2010-12-09T23:39:00.002-05:00

Hi.
I never really know how to start these, maybe because I post less frequently and it's hard to know exactly what voice to use, or to whom these posts should be addressed or directed. Sometimes I think it'd be cute if Jakey and Lara were reading this, years from now (yes, life revolves around those two, constantly, in all 4 dimensions); often I figure it's friends and family, and the kind people who follow along. That's quite a varied group. So I'm just going to launch in, with this as the only preamble.

Jake is starting to make more and more sounds, and it's the best. The funniest, though, is his interest: entirely boy things. I still remember before Lara was born Anna and I got all sorts of gender-neutral stuff, colors, decor, toys, books, everything was green and yellow, geared towards both genders. And Lara ended up a pink and purple, sparkle and glitter princess, and it's the best. And yet, surrounded by that, Jakey is all boy. I was holding him the other day, and their toys (by "their" I mean "almost entirely Lara's") were strewn over the floor of their room, and he started reaching for one, "ep, ep" (help, help) - in the middle of a pile of frilly princessy things, there it lay... the solitary car--calling his name; he had no interest in anything else, except the most vehicular object within the pile. And that is just one example; this guy is car ca-razy.
He has extended "caaaaa" (car) to "caaaa-busssh" (bus, or, truly, "car bus," but really he means bus). Some other relatively new Jake-isms:

"I!" (it's hard to write phoenetically - regardless, he says "hi" like "eye" and it's cute)
"Pipa!" (pizza... Jakey's a fan)
"Ci-kah!" (chocolate. Jakey's more of a fan. In fact, for the days of Hannukah, it only took two nights of candles for Jakey to learn that the order of events is: dinner, candles, chocolate -so as he tired of dinner he'd point to the candles, blabber a bit, and say "mooye" (more; as in, "enough of this dinner facade, get down to the good stuff, I want more chocolate)
"Aaahm" (arm)
"Buzsh" (Buzz, as in Buzz-comma-Lightyear)
"Ga" (go - and this may not sound cute, but when imperiously commanded by a one-foot-nuthin' chubby curly cherub, it's pretty cute)
"Bah-sh" (Bath - Jakey's favorite place on Earth)

Both help and up sound similar, "ehp," usually repeated rapid-fire until the correct result is rendered. "ehp ehp ehp ehp ehp ehp," if said while tugging on pants and looking upwards with big puppy dog eyes, that one translates into "up" pretty reliably. "ehp ehp ehp ehp ehp" if trying to unscrew something, or reach a fallen toy (fallen car, Jakey only plays with cars), translates as "help" pretty reliably.

I'm sure I'm leaving out a billion - he's enjoying the pre-verbal thing and is getting very good at communicating. He's a cuddly little guy and we love him!

Lara is ridiculously awesome and totally amazing, but stories aren't the same - she speaks perfectly, and complicatedly, and if I were to tell a story it'd probably be about yet another way she outsmarted or outmaneuvered or outnegotiated me.

Good night!

Something Blue

2010-12-09T22:38:00.002-05:00

For my dad and Linda, with wishes, hopes, dreams for a long and happy life together!

Brothers and Sisters

2010-12-07T11:44:00.003-05:00

Mmm... beans.... cheese.... apples....

2010-11-23T19:06:00.000-05:00

Giving Pre-Thanks

2010-11-22T18:46:00.002-05:00

We had a mini-pre-Thanksgiving party with our dear friends on Saturday. It was super fun and delightful in every way! I love having people over.

This party rocked at least in part because I got to vicariously relive the glory of the kids' table. Do you guys remember sitting at the kids' table? It was easily the highlight of every boring adult party I went to. And I was so, so deeply thrilled that most of the kiddos were old enough to sit at their own little table. Really, way more thrilled than they were. We set it up under our fall decor - the Kraft paper and fabric tree:

I gave each little place setting a teeny pumpkin and some markers for drawing on it. That went over like gangbusters and I felt all warm and hostessy inside.

The grownups sat here:

All stops were pulled out - turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, butternut squash soup, Olivier (a Russian potato salad), cabbage slaw, and of course, some cookies. Alas, no evidence of said food is extant because of course in the hubbub of four kids running to and fro, I didn't bust out the camera. But here's Jakey enjoying a post-dinner apple:

Yellow

2010-11-16T08:39:00.002-05:00

It is so beautiful outside right now. In front of our door is a massive maple that each night carpets our steps and street with a uniformly golden yellow mass of leaves. It's kind of magical, this moment before the leaves dry up, turn beige, and crunch underfoot. Every time I look at them I have the irresistible urge to collect them, armfuls of them, and spread them inside the house like runners and garlands. Sometimes, I do just that, and it is amazing to me that to this day, even though I know full well that one or two days later they will lose that soft malleability and turn brittle and crumbly in my fingers, I am still so, so disappointed every time it happens.

The children, of course, have the opposite response. The love the crash and hiss and crackle of dessicated leaf piles, running through at top speed to get the full effect. In a few days, I will take the camera outside again, this time to try to capture the boundless glee on their faces as they smash their way through yet another bank of noise.

Lara & Jakey

2010-11-11T12:14:00.000-05:00

New hat for Jakey

2010-11-10T12:36:00.002-05:00

Made from the neck of a turtleneck and a gray knit cord. Handsewn because I cannot figure out how to machine-sew knits without getting a lettuce leaf edge (any tips?). I love it so much I'm making myself a matching one from the body of the same turtleneck!

Birthday Sweets

2010-11-09T18:45:00.004-05:00

Lara's party was a moon bounce extravaganza, and we farmed out most of the parts and labor (hey, listen, we're human - and BounceU is fantastic at doing this kind of 20-kid blowout). There were a few handmade touches though that I thought I'd share!

Lara and I baked, frosted, and sprinkled some mini vanilla and chocolate cupcakes for her to bring to school:

The vanilla ones are from a Martha Stewart iPhone app recipe. They were super-easy and came out great. The chocolate ones are actually a Trader Joe's brownie mix that I spooned into the tiny cupcake cups. Delicious.

The frosting is also from Martha, but at 1 stick of butter to 3.5 cups of sugar was way, way oversweet! Not that the kids complained, of course. Next time, I'm going to try 2.5 cups of sugar and see that how goes.

I put the frosting into a Ziplock freezer bag and cut a tiny piece off of one of its corners... et voila, an improvised cake decorator. I have to say I have a newfound respect for bakers - doing the frosting in some kind of premeditated design is crazy hard!

I also made a poster of Lara through the ages. Each picture is six months older than the next. I love being able to see how she's grown! It's amazing!

Lara with her professional cake. She requested rainbow flowers, and was totally thrilled with the beautiful multi-color roses. Sometimes it pays to get a pro to do the job right.

Our Birthday Girl

2010-11-08T20:51:00.004-05:00

On Sunday we celebrated a magical 5th birthday... more details to come.

Cute, cute, cute!

2010-11-03T13:06:00.002-04:00

Check out this adorable Little Kitchen from Heather:

I love that green! And that industrial-chic PVC pipe faucet totally rocks!

Fall Morning

2010-11-02T13:42:00.003-04:00

The morning light was amazing yesterday.

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-01T16:29:00.003-04:00

During the day, as always, the kids raided a couple of offices near their school for the annual candy distribution... ahem, trick or treat fest.

One office goes all out for the decor. Not only do they turn out all the lights and deck out the whole space with a witch zone, a skeleton zone, a pirate zone, and a creepy critters zone - but many of the people who work dress up in costume too! Totally awesome.

But, on the other hand, with each passing year, the treats they hand out are less and less treat-y. Yes, obesity, yes, child-onset diabetes, I know, I know... but somewhere in the core of my being I can't help thinking that stickers do not a Halloween treat make.

No, worries, though, because the second office is all business. All lights on, no decor, no costumes - just straight up candy, candy, CANDY!!! The funniest part? The first office does exterior and interior architecture and design. The second office - accounting. Way to live up to stereotype, dudes!

At night, we walked around the neighborhood. Lara was a little freaked out by the walking-up-to-strangers aspect of the thing, but I think seeing the candy results helped steel her nerves. She was ever so carefully inspecting her haul... which Misha and I raided later that night.

And what greeted visitors to our door while we were out and about? The replacements:

Second children

2010-10-31T16:38:00.004-04:00

I know it's something everyone acknowledges, but when you scroll back and see all the photos, logs, journals, and documentation of every little accomplishment Lara had as a baby-turning-toddler, and compare that to the lack thereof for Jakey, it makes me feel a little guilty.

He's awesome, and is just the nicest little guy - Jakey is 17 months old, and can say:
"Da-deeeee" (when I call as I'm coming home from work, or in pictures, or definitely in person... but the best is when I walk in the door at the end of the day and he weeble-wobbles over chanting it again and again as he runs up for an after-work hug!)
"Mom-meeee," (no commentary, because this is a sore point; he says this a lot, but Anna is not convinced that he says it specifically for her. No commentary from me.)
"Wah-wuh" (Lara),
"Bauuuu" (Ball... you'll notice Jakey drags out the ends of words often)
"Caaaaah" (Car, a la Boston)
"Uh-oh" (probably his most used phrase, and usually followed by "Owww" whether there was an injury or not... he seems to realize those words frequently go together)
"Bye-bye"
"Hi"
"Naaaaan" (I thought this was naan, as in, the Indian bread, which Jakey likes, but Anna and Jakey have convinced me that he is saying "no")
Jakey's version of yes/affirmative/definitely is an excited "yayayayayayayaah" until he gets what he's clamoring for. It works.
"Naaaaai" (Good night, usually as part of the little song we sing to put him to bed.)
One of the best is: "Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmooooaah" - a very slow, drawn out, "more." That one is inescapable, and sounds like it's from an inescapable little monster. He's the best!

He says a ton of other things, too - he can repeat just about anything, and often "gets it," whether it's words or other - he has been seen getting his cup and toddling up to the refrigerator and pushing it against the water filter dispenser, often with some "Uh-oh, owwww" to follow. He says boy and girl, blue.... I'm sure I'm forgetting many. He also recognizes a ridiculous amount of things, like nearly all his body parts, and knows what nearly every animal says. He can't say "horse," but Jakey has "neigh" down pat, for instance. In fact, this afternoon we were in the kitchen and Jakey started going "meow, meow, meow" insistently, so we glanced around, and sure enough, in the backyard was a cat! As it bolted away at the ensuing attention, Jakey waved and gave it a dutiful "bye byeeeee!" Plus he's incredibly responsible. We can be across the house and say "Jakey, take your shoes and put them away," and he'll go carry them all the way to the shoe rack, find some spots for them, and slot them in just how they belong. He's very good at "put it back," and helps clean up. He's clearly in love with his sister, and he's very huggy and affectionate.

Oops, we just got trick-or-treaters, and now there are tears that we're giving away - and not receiving - candy yet. Gotta get into costume and take them out!

Oh, and Jakey loves dancing, but much like his dad he's got one move. His is cuter.
Jakey we love you!

The Annual Birthday Book

2010-10-25T11:30:00.007-04:00

I love that we've really committed to this a-book-a-birthday tradition for the kids! True, it's a bit hardcore, but we have so much fun putting them together, and they'll eventually appreciate the effort, right? In any case, here is Lara's 5th Birthday Book, "Sparkles and Glitter at the Art Museum". (Oh, and, Lara actually made up Sparkles and Glitter herself, and they currently star in many before-bed stories.)

Sparkles and Glitter at the Art Museum by Mommy & Daddy | Make Your Own Book

Tip: use the bottom right button (the square with arrows pointing into the corners) to make this widget full-screen - you can see more of the book and read the text better that way!

Oodles of Thanks...

2010-10-21T20:13:00.003-04:00

... to Blurb.com which just featured all the forty-two roads cardboard creations on their site. Awww, I love getting virtual warm fuzzies!

Oh, and, it's a totally awesome site even when it's not featuring me, so check it out.

Lunch

2010-10-20T11:50:00.003-04:00

Toast with heirloom tomato slices and scrumptious Brussels sprouts with garlic and lemon.

This is my favorite way to make Brussels sprouts so far, I think. Heat a half-inch of water in a pan. When it's boiling, add halved Brussels sprouts and cook until the water has evaporated (5-8 minutes?). Add 4-5 minced garlic cloves, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Saute until the garlic and sprouts start to brown. Turn off heat source, and squeeze juice from half a lemon over the pan. Toss, eat.