Christmas...

image from of Camden Rose and Amazon

Here is my thought on Christmas. We have grandparents that love to shower the children with presents (of course!) But I feel like the spirit of Christmas is lost when there is a sea of presents to get through. Instead of a mood of reverence, it becomes a mood of gluttony. "What's next?? What more can I open??"

Christmas Joy

Now who can raise their hand to say that Christmas is truly joyful??

Not me. I find Christmas very stressful. When did Xmas change from joyful to stressful?? Oh yeah, when we became the parents instead of the kids. It's so much more stressful giving the presents than receiving. Especially if you are a procrastinator like me. Hence, it's 1am and I've just finished sewing sixteen dinner napkins, a set of eight for each of our two teachers.

And we get something that looks like this!

I realize I bring this on myself. I could very easily run out and get a gift, but for me, Xmas has always been meaningful. Or at least I try. I try to put a lot of thought into my gifts which is why I insist on making my own gifts if I can. Obviously since I may be the world's slowest seamstress, I'm not making a lot of my Xmas presents. But for the teachers, I think they would appreciate this gift, crooked seams and all.

What fruit is this?

"Go to your room"...or "Time-out"

Yesterday, D and I were playing Hide and Go Seek in the hotel room.  She specifically said that I was not to peer over anything that was white (ie, the bed, the comforter, the pillow).  We played that for a bit.  But then her last hiding place was to the side of bed such that if I were walking toward her from the sliding glass door, I technically would not walk past it to peer because it's white.
What I did was walked past the bed,

When you are born of fire...

When you are born of fire, it's very difficult to be all warm fuzzies all the time.  When D was young, I had a lot of fire and I did not make any attempts to hide it.  I am who I am..though I must admit, there were times when I lost my temper and then regretted it because, after all, she was just a baby doing baby things.

Cleaning house

We recently saw this movie.  Our school arranged for a screening in the South Bay.  While the movie itself was a bit long-winded and the film maker kind of seemed like he was putting in some gratuitous footage of his family, the content really hit home.

Washington Initiative 522

Washington Initiative 522 is being voted on today.  I came across this article on MotherJones.com, a great site, by the way and was so inspired (I think maybe "charged up" would be the more appropriate term).

Initiative 522 is about the labeling of GMO foods.  This would be great for the consumer as there is so much hidden from us already.  Waiting with bated to breath to see what the outcome will be.

But back to the article!  I found this to be an exceptional article on an exceptional man.  I mean, who wouldn't fall in love with a man who (to quote the article)...campaigns to legalize hemp and marijuana, clean up fair trade and organic standards, and combat income inequality. Activism and charitable donations consume about half of the company's healthy profits.

I literally came home and announced, "I want to move to Carlsbad and work for Dr. Bronners!"

My idea was shot down.  Oh well.  In the meantime, I will just support the company by purchasing its products and internet stalk David Bronner.

Witchie poo

Yesterday was Halloween.  I had been pondering and pondering how to make D's witch costume.  I had the fabric and I was going to just make the same simple summer dress that I always make...but then I came across this tutorial from Once Upon a Sewing Machine and thought this would be the perfect pattern for her costume!

Well, it kind of was, but in making this dress

Tawashi update

Remember those acrylic sponges that I was so excited about?  As exhibited in a previous post...

I started to crochet some and here's what they look like!  I made a few to give as thank you gifts to some friends.  I think they could make a great gift for eco-conscious friends.

School Shenanigans

Sometimes, this happens:

And then this happens because of it..

And I'm so swamped with things I have to do that having to pull the broom out of the closet to clean up that mess is just a minor time suck that I wish I didn't have to deal with. Know what I mean??

NOTHING is sacred...

That thought occurred to me today...and it specifically applies to the three year olds and older.  This afternoon I found D rummaging in her dad's t-shirt drawer.  "What are you looking for?"
"A white t-shirt!  I need one of dad's white t-shirts so I can play dress up!"

Food

Food is so important...before I became a mother, I didn't much think about food.  I mean, I did insofar as I am definitely a foodie - I thought about eating food all day long. In fact, one of the reasons why I cannot stand to (nor do I) sleep in is because if you do, you miss breakfast!  Well, breakfast is delicious!

Once I became a mother...

Lined bodice

Holy Spiccoli!  This may have been the hardest thing I've ever done...on a sewing machine.  That is a lined bodice of a dress for D.  That's right, I underlined AND italicized the word "lined" because it was so hard!  Luckily, I found a really good tutorial here.

This.

Is what happens when a four year old gets ahold of your lip liner and a pencil sharpener...

Creativity flows

I just got off the phone with a very dear friend who said something that was so insightful. In my opinion, it should be made into a bigger movement in childhood...

She has three boys. The older one who is probably about six years old now comes home every day and draws for hours. And she is noticing that her two younger twins, three years old are doing the same. She says, she thinks that after bring at school for five hours, learning and being engaged the whole time, creativity and artwork helps them to process the day's learning. That absolutely makes sense!

Unfortunately, today's society hardly allows for that. Children are sent the schools and then shuttled off to another organized activity, then home, the homework and dinner. When do they have time to process? When do our children really have time to breathe?

I am guilty of this on some days. But I also neglect to give my child the tools to create with. After all, she is just a child. I need to remember to always give her access to her paints. Yesterday, we did this and she sat down a painted beautiful pictures of raspberries, strawberries, a rainbow...blueberries on a bush, and my favorite, cherries.

So, somehow we have to work to make this a movement. Giving children uninterrupted time to breathe and be creative. Being strong in our will to not be afraid for our children to just sit and "be" and just be bored.

Boredom is just the pause before creativity flows...

--
917.847.3012

Water Kefir!

I love kombucha..but every time I hear about how it's made, I hesitate to make it because it's made with tea.  I can't drink tea.  I can only drink decaf...but then, I came across this great Water Kefir recipe from Nourishing Kitchen.  I love that she gives you exactly what you need to buy to make the water kefir (Ball jars and beer bottles) and then where to buy the Kefir grains.

 Here are the kefir grains.  Then I loaded up the jar with 6 cups of sugar water.

An untidy room

Sometimes, when I walk into D's room and find it looking like this:

I feel like going all "wire hangers" on her...but I don't because that would be a little extreme and might be considered child abuse.  She might decide to write a book about it when she's all grown up because her therapist suggests it.  Not good.

Griffin Remedy

Came across this brand at Whole Foods in a pinch.  I needed some toxin free hair care and at the time I had not bought Beautycounter hair care and didn't want to wait for it to get shipped.  A quick "google" on the brand and I found that they are based in San Francisco.  I meaaan...I wouldn't want to live in San Francisco, but I gotta give that city props for being so progressive.  I saw this brand was from SF and immediately decided it was good.  I was not wrong.   It's a good product without a high price tag.  Check it out and let me know what you think!

Whoa..who's been slacking?

ME, THAT'S WHO!

Well...not exactly.  I've been so up-to-my-ears running my daughter's school that it leaves very little time for play.  And my blog is play, isn't it?  I would need to play...outside, going to events, shopping, eating, etc to actually have content to post.

All right.  I'm just going to do a little bragging in this post so you all know just what I've been up to.

That's our little Waldorf Early Childhood Education Program. Isn't it sweet? School started on September 3rd so I've been really busy.  Prior to that, the fam and I took a trip to NYC.  I probably could've included some posts from that trip but, again, we were busy!  NYC is the city that never sleeps so neither did we!  More later....

Storytelling

There is magic in storytelling and I don't know about you, but as an adult, I've totally forgotten about that.  Only after I discovered Waldorf education was I reminded of the magic of storytelling.  Stories in the Waldorf classroom are told orally with puppets, not by reading from a book.  There really is a difference in these two storytelling formats (if you can even call the later storytelling).

D is really lucky because she has a grandma (G's mom) that is a wonderful storyteller. Grandma J was visiting a couple weeks ago and were driving around.  All the while, Grandma J was rattling off stories about their old dog, Pierre and made up silly antics.  Even I was getting mesmerized by her stories.

And it is believed that if your child was having any kind of issues, whether social or emotional, you could address it subconsciously through storytelling. Here is a good post from Parenting Passageway about the Importance of Fairy Tales

I'm not sure how in the world Grandma J knew this, but we are in the midst of swimming lessons for D and all of a sudden, Grandma J tells a story about Pierre, the dog meeting a turtle. And the two had a race.  The turtle won and Pierre was very disappointed so he practiced and practiced until he got better and the next time the two raced, Pierre won.

When I heard that story, I was so thankful for my mother-in-law and her infinite wisdom...I hope one day D thinks of me as such - full of wisdom as opposed to full of cr**.  Or maybe just a bit of both cuz full of cr** can be fun.

Actually, one of our Waldorf mothers told me - children LOVE stories.  They especially love when these stories are about you or their father!  But don't start the story with, "Once when I was young.."  Start the story as any story, "Once there was a girl and she..." and then after the story you end with, "...and that little girl was me! (or your mom! or Belinda)"

I tried that once, but the first thing D asked when I started the story was, "What was her name?" Guess that's not going to work so well for me.  Never mind. The point is - Storytelling is so important in childhood.  It's magical.

I'm not there yet. I still read D books every night before she goes to bed.  Maybe I'll try transitioning to storytelling as she gets a bit older??

Why I choose Waldorf education

There are so many reasons why Waldorf education resonates with me.  From the focus on play and storytelling to emphasis on social skills versus rote memorization and academics in the early years to just the overall feel of a Waldorf classroom.  If I had been given the option of a Waldorf education, I'm pretty sure I would've thrived in this environment.

Friends

It's funny...when I drove D to Annie Camp that first day, I prepped her.

"Now D, you are going to Annie Camp today.  It's your first day and you'll be going by yourself."
D: "Is Maddy straight going to be there?"
Me:  "No."
D: "Oh, so I'll make new friends like I did at horse camp." (Even though M did attend horse camp with her.)
Me: "Yes!  Just like that."

She seemed to be fine with that.

Fun places in California!

We went camping this weekend!  We went to Lake Cachuma up by Santa Barbara area.  It's quite large and is surrounded by a beautiful lake - but no swimming allowed!  D and hubs went out on a lovely boat ride though and they got to see deer!  My friend and I missed the boat ride because the general store was having a book sale - great books for just $1.00.  Errr...I might've gone a wee bit crazy at the book sale but I got quite a few great classics for when D grows up.  Plus, I really love books and having a vast library would be my dream for my future home - built in book shelves in the living room, the sitting room and possibly the kids room!

On Sunday, we went into the city of Solvang.  Such a cute "Dutch" town. I was really excited to go because it sounded so quaint and charming, plus they have little Elves' homes hanging over some of the  doors to the stores.  I was excited to see that!  But, shortly the excitement wore away as I started to realize that this town is sort of a tourist trap.  Really nothing to be found here that is so unique given that it is a "Dutch" town so it would seem that actually going to Holland would be a better and richer experience.  They had a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (that can be found in CO)..they had a toy store that had regular run of the mill toys like Legos...Madame Alexander dolls...just housed in a cute little toy store manner.  We had lunch at the Red Viking - I ordered the Smorgasbord (naturally since I love buffets).  Again, a bit disappointed since the food was really not very good.  Then again, I'm told that the food in Holland is not very good either.  Guess I'll have to just go again and see for myself.  Oh yeah, I've been to Holland as a child but was dragged around to do touristy stuff with my parents and had no inkling about being interested in any type of cuisine that was not burgers and fries.  Yea, can you believe it?  I grew up on McDonald's.  Gross.

Highlight of the trip?  The Quicksilver Miniature Horses Ranch located in Santa Ynez.  I mean...serious pocket ponies!!  I really wanted to leave with one.  I can't take it.  If you get a chance, definitely check out this ranch!

Second great place is the Sunny Fields Playground in Solvang.  I wish we had one of these in the South Bay...

Man, I know there is so much great stuff out there beyond the South Bay...we just have to get there.

I see red

Photo from Vogue.com

Look at that picture of Taylor Tomasi Hill.  Doesn't that make you just want to go red??  I used to have red hair like that.  Back when I was in high school and shortly after I experimented with quite a few reds - one time going a purpley red which was not good at all though I didn't know it at the time.  Then there was once when I went cherry red and while I really dug that color, I didn't keep it for long because I felt like I had to change my entire makeup routine and clothing choices to complement that bright cherry color.
Sigh...sometimes I get an inkling that I want to change the color of my hair.  But if I did, I'd want to go BOLD.  Not just a mild change but something radical!  The last time I did that was about two years ago when I had the tips of my hair dyed ombre blonde!  Was really cool.  But, alas...I cannot go so bold because I am the face of our Waldorf school - Seeds of Joy Village and I don't think it would go over so well if I had some crazy hair color...add my tattoos to that and those young moms would think our school was some kind of rebellious alternative school rather than the gentle, loving school that it is.  A school that nourishes your child both inside and out...mentally and emotionally.
But I digress!  I am also obsessed with Taylor Tomasi Hill's style!  She rocks it.  I kinda want to be her.

I am a Waldorf Parent

I am a Waldorf parent which means we are supposed to be a media free household.  I've touched upon this before briefly.  For the most part, D does not partake in any media.  She definitely doesn't watch TV on a daily basis.  When she was younger and she was sick, yes, we would like her watch some Kai Lan or Sound of Music DVDs but only when she is sick.

Sometimes, Daddy will let her watch some funny YouTube videos (though he has not done that in a while).  He does let her watch videos of her as a baby, though.  That can't be too harmful right?

In any case, I am a big fan of the media free!  To quote an article by

Nut tacos!

Well, hello!  Welcome back.  Hahaha!  I've been lax in posting lately.  We went off to San Francisco to visit family and while I was up there, I chose to spend my spare time catching up on Game of Thrones (season 1!) instead of posting.

Now I'm back.  I just made some Nut Tacos = Raw food for my family last night.  D chose to wrap her tacos in red cabbage, and G and I had two tacos.  One with kale leaves as wrap and the other with red cabbage as wrap.  Both are quite delicious.

Ingredients for nut tacos:

1 c. soaked nuts (can use almonds, walnuts or pecans)
1/2 c. raw sunflower or pumpkin seeds
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. turmeric
cracked pepper
1 bunch of cilantro
2 tsp tamari sauce
1 tsp finely chopped jalapeno pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper or chile powder
3 Tbs water (for moisture)

Put all above ingredients in a food processor and blend until good texture.

Then you will need:
1 to 2 heads Romaine or Boston lettuce (or red or green cabbage leaves or spinach leaves or kale leaves or nori sheets)
1 medium chopped tomato
1 diced avocado
1 handful of fresh pea or bean sprouts
1 lime - for its juice

Scoop nut meat onto lettuce leaf, add tomato, avocado and bean sprouts.  Sprinkle with lime juice.

Makes for a very beautiful and delicious meal.  Errrm...I did not have any tomatos or lettuce leaves or pea/bean sprouts so I made a red cabbage slaw to go with our tacos.  We had the red cabbage slaw over the weekend at Yank Sing and it was really good.  Luckily, a search on the internet brought up the recipe!  Again, I loves the Internet!  The recipe linked here does not show lemon zest, but our salad was topped with lemon zest and I think that is what makes the dish extra special and flavorful.

For the nut meat portion, I also did not a) soak my walnuts nor b) have any cilantro.  So, instead I added some chopped red onion to the mix to give it a little bit of kick and moisture.  It turned out quite yummy!!

Whoa...detox

Wait, did I just congratulate myself on Tuesday for a job well done on fasting? Wow, did I have a doozy of an evening Tuesday night.  During the evening I think I drank a little too much water because I was getting up every hour to go to the bathroom.  Zzzzzz...and then when I woke up in the morning, my body was sweating and my hands were shaking.  I was so woozy.  I am told those are symptoms of detox. Which probably is a good sign!  Now, had I planned properly and not gone on my fast on the two days where I actually had client meetings, I may have been able to detox some more or at least handle myself properly. Instead I raced to the kitchen to make myself a very satisfying watermelon smoothie.  Aahh, so delicious - filtered water, juice of one lemon, meat of one small watermelon, a pinch of pink himalayan sea salt and some mint sprigs.  YUM!  And then I just continued to drink green juices and water for the rest of the day.  Whew, I made it.  :o)
Can't wait to do this again...in a few months.

Stiggly Cleanse

I've mentioned in a previous post that I am on a cleanse...today was my fasting day.  I feel pretty proud that I fasted today, went to a meeting at a client's and was perfectly put together despite only having water all day, AND I prepared a lovely meal for our little D and did not take one bite of the deliciousness.

Dinner for D tonight was spelt grains cooked in chicken bone broth and roasted cauliflower and kale.  Yum, right?

Can't wait to get back to food...even just smoothies.  Many other stigglyites fast for more than 24 hours. I don't know how they do it.  It's just rather, how should I put it, b-o-r-i-n-g.  Who wants to just drink plain ole boring water all day when there is so much more to be had out there?  So many appealing flavors?

Right about now, I'm feeling a bit light-headed and really just want to take myself to bed so that tomorrow will come sooner. Tomorrow, I'm going back to said client so hopefully, I will be just as put together as today.  I will come off my cleanse with a glass of watermelon smoothie - filtered water, watermelon, juice of a couple of lemons and some sea salt. I might throw in some mint.  I will be sure to drink this first thing in the morning so as to make sure I don't have any adverse effects before jumping into a car.

Boy, do I feel accomplished!  See ya tomorrow!

And in support of my sugar phobia...

I just learned, thanks to the blog 100 Days of Real Food that stevia, despite what we've read is not a natural form of sugar.  (Are we surprised?)  The plant is, but once they process it into packaged stevia, then it's not natural anymore and is actually quite bad because of the additives.  Not that I was using it...

Acrylic yarn...AHA use!

Having just had dinner at a friend's house, I learned that acrylic yarn crocheted in a circle approximately 5" in diameter can serve as a very eco sponge!  WHAAAT??!  YEAH!  For reals!  She showed me.  She cleans all her dishes with the acrylic disk and it just takes all the grease off.

A google search brings us to the MAKE magazine blog that informs us these disks are called Tawashis and the reason why this "sponge" works - the synthetic fibers act as microfiber and acrylic attracts grease.

I covet

(photo pulled from Lemlem website)

Came across this coverup via Daily Candy (thaaanks!)  I love this coverup and covet it for summer.  Oh wait...maybe it won't look that supple on me since I am not a size 0...do you see how thin that model's legs are?  Yeah, not so much my legs.

Never mind.

Carrot tops

Look at that bunch of yumminess!  Carrot tops should not be overlooked.  They are a delicious green veggie that can add a punch to your dish. I just chopped up a bunch to add to my lentil soup and it was so good!  Gave the soup a fresh "healthy" flavor!

Green Goddess Goodies tells us carrot greens are rich in protein, vitamins and minerals. They contain 6 times the vitamin C of the root and are a great source of potassium and calcium.  The greens are an excellent source of chlorophyll, which has been noted to purify the blood, lymph nodes and adrenal glands...

Try it!

Backyard fun

Ooh, I just came across this entry on Daily Candy. Easy backyard fun. I think I'm going to have to do this one day this summer in our backyard!

These are so HOT!

Saint Laurent Classic Paris Cap-Toe Escarpin Pump In Black Leather And Gold-Toned Metal (see more leather pumps)

I don't know why I get Polyvore newsletters in my inbox.  I'm sure I've signed onto it at some point, but I never use it.  Don't get it and simply don't think I have time for it.

But, sometimes, I click on the newsletters just to see what's going on over there at Polyvore.  And holy heck!! I better stay off of that site!!  Those YSL shoes are so hot! I love them!  Can't stop staring at them!!  Price tag - $745.  Err, a little out of my price range...but if all of sudden I win the lottery, that's the first thing I'm gonna buy!

Going down a rabbit hole...but in a good way

(picture taken from Conscious Skincare website)

In a good way for me, at least! I have long been concerned about D getting into my makeup drawer...I mean, I cannot give up the luxury cosmetics (think lipsticks - still can't get my mind off that Chanel lip rouge in Sentiment) that I love, but I am truly concerned about her getting into all of that.

Ahh Chanel Beaute

In the recent May issue of Vanity Fair - Fanfair Beauty, it features Chanel's new lip line - Collection Avant-Premiere.  Ooh, of course there is a color that I want:

Chanel Rouge Coco in Sentiment.

Sugar...uggh.

I came across this post from www.100daysofrealfood.com the other day and it really resonated with me.  I am, for lack of a better phrase, the "sugar nazi".  I'm not quite sure where I got it from but I am paranoid of my daughter consuming too much sugar!

Dessert, anyone?

Yeah!  I made that!!  That is a pastry box full of burp cloths and two infant car seat canopies.  Like I said, we went to Nashville this weekend to celebrate our friends' baby shower for twins!

I mean, again, I have to say the Internets is just so awesome!

Only in Nashville...

And only in East Nashville...we are back visiting Nashville this weekend for our friends' baby shower.  Our friend's neighbor was out of town so offered us her house to stay.  Upon arriving, and settling into the house and then stepping outside, well, I was a little wistful of the scene that unfolds every day here in East Nasty around 5pm and on.  Families strolling down the street, families hanging out on their porch, kids playing outside, everyone greeting everyone.  It's just such a lovely feeling that I sorely miss.

A little reality TV

I'm not that into reality TV...well, okay.  That's really all I watch, but not the "Jersey Shore" variety (though I've watched it before), but more of the cooking shows.  Specifically all of Gordon Ramsay's stuff.

Hubby and I haven't watched a lot lately, but apparently last Friday's episode of Kitchen Nightmares was a doozy.  And what a doozy it was!!  Here's the episode though I think it only unlocks 8 days after airdate.

Summertiiiime...and the living's easy

Not.  My friend and I have been frantically trying to figure out our summer plan before school ends!  For me (and G), we both work from home.  We have to find camps for D to fill up those summer days.  It's actually a little bit exciting finding the fun things to do for four year olds.  The challenge is just trying to coordinate schedules with D's bestie, M.

For those of you in the South Bay, here's what I found:

Mother's Day, Mother's Day

Here we are...Mother's Day.  As my one gf put it, it's just another ole day - laundry, dishes, cleaning, etc.  Still have to do the same old routine.  :o)

But, naturally, I have some thoughts on Mother's Day...my sister forwarded this feature from Harper's Bazaar - 4 chic celebrity moms share their thoughts.  Which then made me ponder - What was the best lesson my mother gave me?  And, I really had a hard time thinking what that could be.  Rather, I think it was all that she did that made me not want to be so much like her.  She was such a super woman who did everything.  And, everything for her man.  So much so that he couldn't lift a finger to do anything for her, let alone anyone else.  There was a running joke in our family that my father was the sort of helpless man that if you left him for a weekend and hung a loaf of bread around his neck, he'd still die of starvation because no one lifted the bread to his mouth.  Seriously.

That's us...

...pretending to be the anti-Waldorf family. See how we are all engrossed in our personal media devices?  Yes, I was busy FBing and reading up on the day's news before I realized how we looked and had to snap a photo.

Umm, our Waldorf community would be appalled! (I'm actually a bit appalled at myself for having to look up the spelling on that one...tsk!)  If we were at Orange County Waldorf School we may even be asked to leave the school.  But we don't go there so shhhh, don't tell anyone you saw us.

Yes, Waldorf schools have a no media policy

Hello Kitty Pancakes!

We have this Hello Kitty pancake maker...

So we decided to make Hello Kitty pancakes this morning!

What we live for

This weekend we went to G's cousin's wedding. It was a weekend filled with lots of family time which was lovely.  Today at lunch, G and I were rehashing the events of the weekend and we came across a comment that his uncle made about being parents.  He said, "If in the end our children are more successful than we are, if they do good things, then we've done good.  We've done a good job as parents."  Successful in the sense of successful in life as opposed to monetarily..or maybe both.

In any case, G's comment was, "Yeah, I agree.  I mean, isn't that what we live for?  Our children's happiness?"

And my response was, "Really?  I mean, as human beings do we live to have children and work towards their happiness?  Is that what makes us complete?"

I'm not tryin' to judge, but....

We were at Tar-jhay (www.target.com) the other day and a woman strolls up behind me at the checkout counter and starts putting her cart items onto the conveyer belt.
I see that Ella's Kitchen now offers more hearty fare!  Yes, what started out as just fruits and vegetables has now grown to include meat items..

This is only a small sampling of what they offer.  Find out more about Ella's Kitchen here.

I say to the woman, "Whoa, I bet these pouch makers didn't even know how popular these would become!  And now they make them in meat flavors??"

Jimmy Choooooos!

After much consideration and a lot of asking opinions of people who are shoe fanatics, I finally took a leap of faith and purchased a pair of Jimmy Choos.  Here's the backstory - I own a pair of Christian Louboutins, a present from my very wonderful friends (yeah, I do have great friends that gifted me a pair of CL's!! Love you guys...).  And they are sadly not my favorite pair.  I love them, they are black patent leather but they are. not. comfortable.

And, I got together with another friend a while back and we both were discussing how very unwearable our CL's are!!  Disappointing.

Gentle reminders

I came across this excerpt the other day:

.What I’ve come to understand is that the most important work I do to see a child in positive ways is within me. I must continually work to transform my own view of children’s behaviors, see their points of view, and strive to uncover how what I am seeing reveal s the children’s deep desire, eagerness, and capacity for relationships. There is no more important or rewarding work than this."

And it serves as a reminder to me that everything is within me.  What I make of any situation, if I choose to see the glass as half empty or half full, this decision is within me and I need to see the positives MORE.

Bite

What is this new lipstick??  Just came across my inbox today from Lifestyle Mirror...BITE lipstick.  Such a catchy name and a look at Sephora tells us this:

With this unique formula, one swipe leaves a lush velvet finish for hours of moisturizing color. Organic fruit butters create a creamy texture that conditions and nourishes lips with every use, while antioxidant-rich Resveratrol fights free radicals and helps reduce the appearance of lines. This richly pigmented matte wash of color was created using a unique mix of pigments, powders, and oils for a hydrating finish. 

The above description sings to me...organic fruit butters...lush velvet finish. Most importantly, it contains none of the following:  Parabens, sulfates, synthetic fragrances, synthetic dyes, petrochemicals or phthalates (what kind of word is that??)

Uhh, have I mentioned I am the biggest sucker for copy??  The next time I come across a Sephora (which I hope is today), I'm going to have to purchase.  If you can't wait and want to purchase online, go here.  And, then tell me what you think!

Little white lies?

Ohh, the honesty of children...last week my mother finally had the opportunity to watch D for an entire half a day.  My mother is not a consummate mother, quite the opposite rather.  She would rather watch TV than spend time with her granddaughter.  Add that kind of attitude to my own daughter's attitude of not wanting to be with her grandmother for sheer reason stated above - children can sense when someone is not truly into them.  And, D really just would rather just be with her parents.  Her peeps.

But, the two of them had a lovely day...

Slowing down

Southwest Airlines’ Spirit magazine has the best articles. I always take this magazine off the plane with me.

This month, they had an article on Slowing Down ("Not So Fast").  How apropos in today’s times…the author talks about how he and his wife commit to slowing down for 30 days.  Taking the time to cook, walking or biking instead of driving, banning FB and Twitter, which are total time sucks and choosing personal connection over technology.  He then talks about how in his effort to slow down, he then filled up his schedule with “slow” practices which led instead to a “slow frenzy” – just more mellow activities I guess but more of them which of course defeats the purpose.

Praising the child

"Kind words can be powerful motivators, but only if you praise the right things. Praising someone's ability to work hard is more effective than gushing about how brilliant she is...Being praised for effort or other aspects of performance directly under your control leads to resilience, while being praised for being smart or some other innate abilities can lead to feelings of helplessness or self-doubt when a setback occurs. The ideal is to help someone think positively but realistically about achieving goals while praising their hard work. When praised for persistence, those who think the path ahead will be difficult invest more effort." 
- Heidi Grant Halvorson in Psychology Today (March 2013) 

As a parent I will need to remind myself of this.  I don't believe it is actually that pertinent in early childhood but I can see how being praised for effort during grade school years could be a positive motivator.  As I child, I was rarely praised (because my efforts did not produce "A"s) so in being praised only for attaining the highest grade possible and not achieving, I then began to not achieve anything at all.

Dinner inspiration

The internet is my friend when it comes to cooking.  Truly!

Tonight, I decided I wanted to make lentil soup with a bone broth that I had made previously and frozen.

A new lippy!

I just bought this new lip tint from Clark's Botanicals. I love the packaging and the color is very sheer.  I love it because the texture is just right - not too moist such that it disappears within a couple minutes (I hate that) and not too thick where it's goopy or sticky.  It's just right and has just the sheerest tint of color with a nice shine.

A letter to her daughter

A few days ago, there was a post in the Huffington Post Parenting Blog where a mother is writing a letter to her 8 year old daughter explaining why she works.  Apparently, her daughter was giving her the guilt trip.  There was one line from this post that struck me:

I work because this nice house and those gymnastics lessons and those sneakers you need to have are all made possible by two incomes.

See, I wonder if that nice house and new sneakers, etc are more something the mom would want her daughter to have.  It's our materialistic, keeping up with the Joneses mentality...consume, consume...

Setting my girl up for success

My daughter is very strong willed and hates to be "put on the spot" or embarrassed.  Don't tell her what to do...and definitely don't tell her what to do in front of people!  I see that in her and I want to set her up for success too. I don't want to embarrass her in front of people so I know that I need to be proactive when I expect things of her.  For instance, if we are going to meet people and I expect her to greet them, I will prep her beforehand - "D, we are going to meet M and her parents.  Now, it would be polite of you to greet Mr. and Mrs. L when you see them right?"  I do that when my mother is coming over too and D joyfully runs in to greet my mom in Chinese.  And everyone is pleased.

The other night, we didn't prep her and when the friends showed up D was less than eager to greet especially since I jumped in to remind her to greet the adults and I guess that embarrassed her. She was quite grumpy...

It seems like a pain to have to be proactive, but truly, I don't really like being told what to do either and I would rather set her up for success than cut her down.  Sometimes I forget and then I have to remind myself that my opportunity is lost and just to let it go.

Dove moves...

A couple people sent me the link to this very moving video from Dove...http://realbeautysketches.dove.us/

It clearly shows how women's perceptions of themselves can be so off, we tend to be so critical of ourselves and our features that it distorts our own self image. This can absolutely affect the way we present ourselves. Give this video a watch.  It moved me to tears.

Yet I also wonder, how much of our misperceptions stem from childhood? I know I have always thought of myself as having a flat nose and small eyes because that is what my mother had always told me when I was growing up.  Yet, my daughter clearly has my nose and I think it is the cutest nose, especially in profile view.  I always say I have small eyes and my friends all tell me I'm crazy...

Mothers do tend to be quite critical of their daughters.  Or maybe it was just a generational thing.

Pouches

I wonder if the person who invented baby food pouches ever dreamed that this phenomenon would move completely out of the baby years...into toddler and above and now even to adults!

A colleague of mine had recently taken up eating these pouches

Knitting spool, Knitting Nancy...

I consider this a knitting spool.

Gluten Free and then some...

Our little Waldorf school community is so small right now...nine families to be exact. And would you believe that despite being so small, we have a nut-free, a gluten-free and a couple dairy-free children!  At first one might look at that and be exasperated since we are a co-op lunch bunch.

However, it really makes me think "Hmm, maybe we should all be eating less gluten, nuts..dairy?"  Nah.  Just maybe less gluten.  I'm okay with that since I have several friends who aren't necessarily allergic to gluten but have reported feeling better in their body since giving up gluten electively.

Tomorrow I will be making Sesame Cookies

Hellllo Boden!

My Boden catalogue came in the mail yesterday!

I love flipping through this catalogue

Safe cosmetics

My box of goodies just arrived!  Have you heard of Beautycounter?  This brand just launched in February.  A friend of mine turned me onto it as they were outreaching for possible sales consultants for the brand.  Their sales model follows that of Avon so person-to-person.

I ordered the Anytime Eye Cream (since I am always on the lookout for something that will rid me of my wrinkles), the Routine Clean Cream Cleanser (coconut oil base!) and the Every Day AM Hydrating Cream (always need some good hydration in the mornings...which is why I drink a glass of water first thing in the morning).