happy halloween

ollie carved his first pumpkin today. the pumpkin innards almost made him gag.


my mom gave him this police officer costume for his birthday. it was kind of a hit.


nothing makes me happier than the sound (and sight) of this little boy's laugh.


have a fun, safe halloween!

years ago, way before ollie, way before marriage, we went to target and stocked up on emergency kits. we put them in jumbo suitcases in our garage. they moved with us from one house in the city to another. when we moved to our current house, last october, g picked through them and put all of the stuff that was salvagable into paper bags and shoved them into a closet downstairs. we have nothing set aside for ollie. we have no water, no food, no matches...no wine.

in the past week there've been three earthquakes, all between 3.6 and 4.0, and within miles of our house. earthquakes never used to scare me and now they terrify me. mostly because i worry about ollie. yesterday's earthquake at 5:30 AM jolted the three of us awake. ollie cried and we told him not to worry. my heart though, was pounding. he had to have noticed.

this weekend, in between dinner with friends and halloween parties, i plan on getting those emergency kits in place.

more on the quakes here.
happy weekend.

links

i'm a long time fan of girl's gone child. she had her daughter, fable, right before i had ollie, and i loved reading her blog while i was pregnant. (and before i was pregnant. and after.) anyway, girl's gone child's mom's cooking posts are fantastic. check out this one, about cast iron skillets.

i come from a family of red wine vinaigrette lovers. my nono would make it. my aunt sandi makes a killer avocado-tomato salad that's insanely delicious (and dressed with rwv), and i grew up in a house that either had this or blue cheese nightly on our green salad. i've been trying to duplicate gabrielle's red wine vinaigrette since i visited last month. (for the record, i wasn't adding basil and oregano.) i can't wait 'til dinner tomorrow. it's on!

i went for almost an entire year eating oatmeal every day for breakfast. then one day i couldn't look at oatmeal again. it's been years. this makes me want to revisit oatmeal.

holly, from nothing but bonfires is always a treat to read. she turned me onto birchbox and i signed up tonight.

i was bummed that ollie and i got home tonight at 6:30 and it was practically dark. i'm kind of getting excited about cold weather though, and getting to wear stuff like this cowl. cozy!




this isn't a link, but i'm sharing it anyway because the cuteness is killing me. about a month ago my little brother and his girlfriend had a baby. i want to eat her cheeks.

also, she has my bro's chin dimple and it makes my heart swell with love for her. wish we all lived closer.

header ideas 2

gabe's not digging the flowers so much. i'm not sure...

gift idea

ollie got a bunch of amazing gifts for his recent birthday.

one present that i thought was really special was a painting from his little buddy, that came with a blank canvas and paints, so ollie could make his own.

ian's


ollie's


ollie's room

the weekend started off great. we had a really good saturday. (sunday, not so good. i woke up with a stomach bug or food poisoning.)

almost every morning when he wakes up, ollie asks us, "school today?" on saturday he was thrilled to hear that there was no school.

the weather was gorgeous, with temps hovering around 80 both days. we spent saturday outside. we walked to the bakery, to the coffee shop and then to the playground.


these trees are behind the claremont hotel. ollie thinks the claremont is a big castle.

we like to go to john muir elementary school to play on their playground. we also like to sneak in the back and see the chickens. what a magical school. there's an amphitheather and a garden.


talking to the chickens.



playing at the park


hanging on the patio

links

i'm loving la in bloom's cooking webisodes. check out cooking with bea, here.


i want to see the being elmo documentary via cup of jo

rainbow village via honestly, wtf

totally no judgement from me if you like uggs. to each her own. (for the record, i love clogs, birks and sneakers.) but this made me laugh and i had to share. from here.

a case of the mondays

i have a bracelet for shauna sitting on a shelf by the front door, waiting to be mailed.
(sorry shauna. i drove it around i my car for two weeks and then moved it back into the house.)

i made soup today and didn't eat it. instead i ate a heavily buttered piece of baguette for dinner. by piece i mean three quarters. the night isn't over yet either.

i don't think my kid ate a single vegetable today. and i know he needed a bath before bed, but i let him skip it, dirty nails and sweaty hair.

i have a shit-ton of work to do.

i haven't exercised in almost 4 weeks, i've been eating like shit and it shows.

i promised to send my brother and his girlfriend something they want to borrow for their new baby and it's going on 2 weeks and i still can't find it. to top it off, ollie left something at my brother's 2 weeks ago and my brother mailed it the next day. i feel extra shitty.

it's late and i have to wake up at the butt crack of dawn. g'night!!

it's (more) boring (than usual) blog week around here.











i'm obsessed with clouds like an adolescent high school girl taking a photography class for the first time.

see? told you that was gonna be boring.

after 3 years, it might be time for a new header. some samples:

loving this necklace from rachel loves bob on etsy.



made from recycled book covers.

from here.

Dear Ollie,

I can't believe you're three today.

6 weeks in his onesie from Auntie GG and Uncle C

Gone are your gooey thighs and rubberband wrists.


You're no longer content to sit still at the park.


The car ads in the newspaper don't give you a thrill anymore. Maybe when you're 16 and hoping for a car. (Don't get your hopes up, kid.)



You say you need things, like you need to watch “Thomas the Train.” You need leche. You need to stay up. We always correct you and say you don’t need that—you only want that.
Now you say, “I need-want to watch Thomas the Train,” or “I need-want to go play.”

You always tell Dad and me, “hold you,” which means you want one of us to hold you.

Your favorite movies are “Cars” and “Horton Hears a Who.” You like to watch “Dinosaur Train,” “Curious George” and much to our chagrin, “Thomas.” You always find a toy to go with what you're watching. If it's "Cars," you hold McQueen. If it's "Horton," you find an elephant.

Sometimes you tell me to be “Oviler” and you’ll be “Twacey.” Then you call me honey and ask if I want to go the park.

You hate taking a bath, except if it’s time for bed.


You love, love, love your best friend, Faelan. When you’re at school and I tell you that it’s time to go and to tell your friends goodbye, you say bye to Faelan only. We’re working on this.

Sometimes you ask if we can “have a cuddle” and my heart melts.

You truly love people, particularly kids.

You love your uncles and you show off for them.


All of your grandparents are mad about you -- and you know it.

When we’re driving you talk constantly and you’re a bad backseat driver. Once I didn’t have my seatbelt on and you hounded me until I put it on. (Not because of the seatbelt, but because of the light on the dashboard.) When we sit in traffic you often ask me if I can drive faster.

You sing the ABCs when you’re excited. On our way to a birthday party? You belt it out.
Waiting for a donut at Fellini’s? ABC!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Ollie-pepper, Mr Magoozer, MowMow, Ollie-max, we love you to pieces. Happy birthday, big guy.

Love, Mama

fall

my office is in our old neighborhood in san francisco. once a week i work out of that office and i really look forward to visiting all my old haunts for lunch. it’s the highlight of my day.

we moved from sf to berkeley last october so this summer was our first official summer in berkeley. while i'm nostalgic for our life in sf and our neighborhood, i certainly didn't miss the fog this summer.

and now, fall is upon us. i hate when the time changes. hate.

while i much prefer the heat, there are some things about fall i love, like halloween, cozy weekends, and comfort food.

here are two ladies who inspired me to make soup last night.

Mushroom Soup with Gabrielle.
Cauliflower Mac and Cheese with Frances.

some things i love from need supply co

from here.

back!

excuse the silence over here. i got back from my trip back east wednesday night and i've been going ever since.

the excitement in our house today? ollie started using the toilet. yep, the big boy potty. out of the blue i asked him if he wanted to try it. and then i bribed him -- and i'm not ashamed to admit it. i offered a trip to the store to buy one "cars" toy. and he got up and walked into the bathroom, took off every stitch of clothing but his socks, and sat down and did it. then he did it again tonight.

lots of celebrating and high fiving around our house today. we made a BIG DEAL over his accomplishment.

tomorrow we plan on tackling reading or making the perfect margarita, not sure which yet.

totally unrelated, here's a picture from a walk two weekends ago.