lellow yellow
bumbrella umbrella
poncuter computer
wed red

today he was thrilled to be able to use the bumbrella he got for his birthday. (and i'm thrilled that there were no injuries or damage as a result of the bumbrella!)


it's really hard to correct someone when they say bumbrella. so sometimes i don't. i really want to call it a bumbrella myself, but i don't.

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.

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

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.

my very first self made margarita! i'm obsessed--they are SO good.


if i am not stepping on a cheerio, i see a spider. it's an either or thing in this house.


ollie, in his backpack, collecting "leafwiches." leafwiches are courtesy of dinosaur trian. backpack is courtesy of our dear friends. please note the backpack was not able to be removed for lunch or movie watching. he's hardcore.

Yesterday I told Ollie that if he went potty like a big boy, I’d buy him a Lightning McQueen car. Gabe and I had talked about a bribe, briefly, but this came out of nowhere. I'd been thinking about M&Ms and out of my mouth comes McQueen. A year ago, I never thought I’d even let him see Cars, let alone offer to buy it for him if he'd pee in his froggy toilet.

We’d been planning on heading out to run errands and pick up dinner w/ G. First stop was Amoeba. Gabe jumped out while we circled the block.

Mama, can we just go get my McQueen now?

No Ollie, sweetie. I’m sorry you misunderstood. Mama said we could buy a McQueen if you go potty in the big boy potty.

No, I don’t want to.

Later we go to the grocery store.

Can I go find McQueen?

No sweetie. They don’t have any McQueen here.

So now I feel bad, like I’ve confused him, or that he's not going to believe me anymore. He’s not three yet and they say boys are slower to potty train than girls. And I know that every kid is different. A couple of his teachers have told me they think he’s ready and I do think he gets it. I’m not in any particular hurry at this point.

I did ask him if he wanted to wear his Thomas underwear tomorrow and he said, no his Percy underwear.

i'm busy

video by dad

monday was day 13 (of good, fun things). ollie woke up really sick and we ended up spening the day in the ER.






i'm too tired to write about it but the good news: he's on the mend. as much as monday sucked, i was just glad to have my guy home last night. i was glad to be home with both my guys last night. and, another good thing--the folks who work at oakland children's hospital are incredible. what they do every day is important.

after a very restless night, today (day 14 for those counting) i had to work. it was a busy day. it was wonderful to come home and see my guys. and tonight we read a really cute, funny book, called Bongo Larry.



as much as i've enjoyed the good, fun day stuff, i'm kind of bored of trying to find good in everything. (sort of kidding here.) we'll see if i continue or not.

fun link, from lost at e minor. artist, sacha goldberger took pictures of joggers after a sprint, and then asked them to come to his studio a week later.




pics by sacha goldberger, via lost in e minor.

good fun thing(s) day(s) 10, 11 and 12

pretty sunset

friday

+ g had a show with the orange peels at the make-out room in sf. one of the teachers from ollie's school watched him. i raced home, made them dinner, made myself something to eat, paid my fastrak bill (since my debit card was hacked i had to get a new card, which meant that fastrak freaked out), washed my face, changed and bolted out the door. of course, i had no gas, so i stopped for gas. and i tried to get money out to pay the sitter and i forgot my new pin number. i was a little frantic. by this time gabe was 10 minutes away from playing. i raced to the freeway and got off in emeryville like a dork. then i circled the mission for EVER looking for parking. i finally made it and saw three songs. they sounded great!

+ after the show we joined john and suzie for dinner at dosa. dinner number two for me. i couldn't help myself.

saturday

- in the middle of the night ollie woke up and i went in to get him and bring him back to our room. he was burning up. we went back to sleep for a while and when we woke up, he was still warm. we played for a while and then, at around 10, he fell asleep on the couch. this is very unlike ollie. we tried to move him to the bedroom and it didn't work. i took his temp and it was 101.3. we would not be joining daddy in the city for lunch. ollie and i spent the day in front of the tv. we napped in my bed for a couple of hours and watched a shit-ton of thomas the train. daddy and i loathe thomas the train.

+ by the time gabe got home, ollie's temp was gone and he was asking to eat at "the restaurant." we went to tacubaya. i'm in LOVE with their tortilla soup. LOVE.



little boy feels better

sunday

+ today was all about hanging at home, chores, and naps. i went and got my hair cut and then we went to little star for kyle's birthday. i think they're better than zachary's. their pizza and their salads are both so GOOD!



little star, i love your cornmeal crust.



i love summer. i love long days, lots of daylight and sandle weather. don't end summer.



happy boy, purple horse.

+ my youngest brother's girlfriend is having a baby in september. we're throwing the shower next saturday. i asked ollie if he wanted to come see uncle chris. he said he did. "and his baby?" he asked. i told him that the baby would come a few weeks before his birthday. he said, "dadda, uncle chris is having a baby for my birthday." yeah ollie, something like that. i asked him what kind of birthday party he wanted this year. ollie said, "a pink one." whatever you say little guy.

good fun thing(s) day 5

people's donuts are insanely amazingly delicious. i could eat 3 in a sitting.




i could write an entire post about the jewelry i've lost. it would probably be too painful for me. my baby ring. my brother's baby ring. (what?) the jade earrings my grandmother gave me for my 16th birthday. the list goes on. and on.

at one point my parents gave me a ring like the one below, but it was two bands, knotted together. the other day, at the temescal street faire, i bought a ring like the one pictured. today my 12-year old cousin bought one from a vendor on telegraph avenue. we have matching rings.

good fun thing(s) days 3 and 4

driving down 280 is a good thing. there's never too much traffic and the scenery is pretty. yesterday i went down to palo alto with leonard cohen cranked up high. sometimes i really love driving. the clouds were so amazingly beautiful, i pulled over to photograph them.

maybe i went to too many dead shows as a teenager. i love fluffy, marshmallowy clouds and the way the light plays off of them.

i love the still quiet of libraries. and the way books smell. today i explored the uc berkeley campus with my cousins and aunt. one of my cousins is considering ucb for college next year. (she was born when i was a freshman in college. really, i don't think anything has ever made me feel so OLD.)


cousins and aunts (as mentioned above) came to visit. they spent the night and today i took the day off to hang out. ollie tried to boss the cousins around (he called them his friends.) we ate and talked and laughed. my aunt is amazing and the cousins, aged 12, 14 and 16 are the cutest. last night, before bedtime, gabe put on an ella fitzgerald album and we sat around and listened to music and talked. i made the girls licorice tea. my 12-year old cousin updated her facebook status: "sitting around, listening to ella fitzgerald, drinking licorice tea and looking at the sf bay. it's delovely." cute.

if you haven't noticed i'm a big fan of mighty girl. i'm pretty sure i'd be a bumbling idiot if i ran into her in public.

maggie has started a project, which involves making time to do something fun each day. i'm going to do my best to play along.

here are some fun things since friday:

getting my guy aguas frescas. he finished it in under a minute. (i should tell you about the train in the picture. ollie loves it. gabe and me, not so much. oy, the tantrums this train has caused. but this post is supposed to be about good things.)


pretty sky over the uc berkeley campus.


my mom watched ollie on saturday night so gabe and i could have a night out. i drove ollie down to my folks while gabe stayed home and did chores. here's ollie sitting in my folks' backyard, eating strawberries. i love how much he loves my mom and how much she loves him. da, as he calls my mom, can do no wrong and he'll do anything she tells him to do. also, strawberries have been delicious lately. another good thing!


dinner and drinks with g. we went to gather for dinner. it was fun. i highly recommend the bee sting. and the vegan charcuterie. also, i don't have a picture but i also got to sleep in until 10 the next day. that's a good 4 hours later than usual.


my handsome husband, me and my eyebrows. they desperately need some attention. (ugh.)


little man sleeping in his tuxedo t. 'nough said.


beers, bbq, birthday, loved ones, gorgeous weather, and time outside. so relaxing!

ollie lately

i was chasing him around the car, trying to keep him from climbing in. anytime we're near a car he tries to open the door and climb in.

anytime anyone comes to the house he asks to see their car. he'll walk around and around the car, as if he works for a rental car agency and the car is being inspected upon return.

we lock our car doors in front of our house because of him.


making himself comfortable at my aunt's house.


riding the carousel at vasona. still a bit unsure.


popsicles with nono.


train with mom at vasona.


playing drums on the back deck.


walking at garber park with dad, looking for "leafwiches."


swimming with uncle a.


playing in his pool on the back deck.

i wrote an entire post about my lovely husband last night, and blogger all the sudden flashed an error message. too much love for blogger i guess. so i give you the brief version:

4 years ago today, i married this man.


isn't he a looker? this was on our honeymoon. we were on the island of hvar, eating dinner looking out over the beautiful ocean. gabe had 8 kinds of mussels. i didn't have a single mussel.

i couldn't ask for a better father for my son. i couldn't ask for a better best friend. you make me want to be a better person every single day.

i love you, gabriel.

summer, day 1

on the way to pick up o from school, i stopped and bought him a pool. he loved it though he never went in past his knees. he watered my toes while i sat in the early evening sun.

and yeah, i made this count as his bath tonight.

we ate popsicles, too.

and ollie had a picnic outside for dinner. while he was eating his dinner, the mosquitos were eating me for dinner.

as much as i miss san francisco, i'm loving the warm weather. i don't miss the fog.

thursday i took ollie to the farmers market. we didn't get around to buying any veggies because he was more into exploring. there was a lady sitting in the middle of the grass playing guitar. no one else was really paying attention, but ollie sure loved her. he got his groove on. i bought o a guitar -- a purple guitar, his choice of course.



friday we had a wonderful dinner at lococo's with my cousin katie, her husband, brian and my cousin megan and her bf, matt. katie's mom is my dad's sister and megan's dad is my dad's brother. we laughed a lot.


saturday we took ollie to the lawrence hall of science to see the dinosaur exhibit. he loved it. i couldn't tell who was more excited, gabe or ollie.



and last night, our friends maegan and ella who are visiting from nyc came and had dinner. FUN! ollie cried when it was time for ella to leave and asked to see her this morning before school and tonight after school.

a list of lately

1. two months ago, when we moved to our new house, we had a security system installed. (we also got two ferocious guard dogs. killer guard dogs actually. any potential robbers reading this should watch out.) last night, i noticed there was a piece missing from one of our walls. the door is still able to be armed, but, since it's only been two months, i called the company tonight to see if they could send someone out to replace the missing piece. i think the part that's missing is cosmetic--because, like i mentioned, the system still works. anyway, i was told that, sure, someone could come out. it would cost $77 for the 1st 15 minutes and $16 for each additional 15 minutes the service person was out. so, i asked to speak to a supervisor. he told me he was unable to waive any fees because we'd not signed up for a service warranty. in all fairness, he was really nice. he told me i could call the local office tomorrow, and perhaps they would waive the fees. i (nicely, i swear) told him i'd cancel the service if they charge us to fix it. so annoying. it feels like a huge scam to me.

2. it's busy 'round these parts. a flurry (heh heh) of christmas parties and birthdays and events. bad news is, we don't have a reliable babysitter, besides my brothers and folks and all of them live an hour away.

3. can we talk for a second about how lucky i feel to have two brothers who're such great uncles to my little boy? they love him so much and they're so good to him. and, he loves both of them. he calls them "an-knee" and "quiss," for anthony and chris.

4. speaking of ollie-talk, i wanted to make a list of his vocabulary right now because it kills me:

christmas lights = cream lites

yellow= yellyow

purple= people

right there= right dare

cheerios= chews

sumic=music

5. and, yesterday he said, "i love you," for the first time. each time he says it, he actually says, "i love you, too," even if he says it first.

6. a family member who was ill for a long time is doing better. for this i'm so grateful. each time i think about this, it makes me happy.

7. good night!

ollie lately

we've been enjoying the sunshine.



and trying new foods. like dad's chili. 2 helpings of dad's chili to be exact.



grammy came to visit.





and, we got a fish. ollie calls it fishy and waves to it when he walks by.