Yesterday

I basically have nothing to say about today, because my weak stomach has come down with another flu {apparently it's my three month cleanse?}. I'm on the upswing now, but allow me to remind you that the taste of gatorade is terrible, and nothing great has come from this sort of sickness. I think if someone in my slightest vicinity has been exposed to a flu, chances are that I'll catch it. Hopefully Sophie has the healthiest kindergarten class of all time next year! 

Anyway, yesterday was fantastic, and I have some pictures from our day, and then I'll probably uhhh, go back to bed? I've only been up about two hours total today, {if the couch counts as being up, ha}! It's time to go rest more, if that's even possible. ;)

Munchkin was hosting a little event at this adorable store called Aldea Ninos, on Valencia. The kiddos were thrilled to stop in and grab cupcakes, then grab for every toy and game they had, and I was thrilled to have a little preview of a new favorite baby shower gift. 

These girls are two peas in a pod. They're joy. They were singing and laughing and entertaining people everywhere we went, and I am so thankful for them in my life. I miss them since I've quarantined myself here. Can't wait to wake up perfectly healthy tomorrow. So thankful for most days being healthy. 

xoxo.

NYC

I'm not entirely sure how to summarize a million miles of walking, cabs, and one subway ride all over NYC for four days, so I'll just jump in with pictures. Pictures literally do say 1000 words. If you click on the picture and they have a website, I've done the work for you and linked to it. Just lookin' out here, in case you're on your way that direction and would like to see some pretty spots! 

On our last trip {see it HERE}, we navigated upper manhattan and a bit of union square. Basically I stalked the You've Got Mail scenes in the upper west side with Brian, and ate a lot of bagels in a tiny 24 hour period. 

This trip, we covered lower manhattan: Meatpacking, Chelsea, Flatiron, Soho, Noho, Tribeca, Wall Street, and little bits in between. We got a great last-minute deal on The Standard Hotel for one night, and never wanted to leave! Floor to ceiling city & hudson!! YES. 

Williamsburg, Brooklyn:

NYC is massive, a tiny bit overwhelming to attempt to conquer, filled with treasures and shops and dreams and we absolutely love it. I love traveling. Experiencing life in different places, watching other people's day-to-day, seeing friends in real life and visiting them in their own home is such a treat.

Now we're home sweet home, with a lovely little heat wave sending us to the beach yesterday {with bathing suits! such a rarity in San Francisco!}, and now circulating a bout of flus and fevers to round out the week.

More soon! I have so much to say since my real life is going lightspeeds ahead, and my screen time has been totally depleted in order to keep up!  

xoxox,

Kate

Maggie

It's been awhile since I wrote all the lovely things about these girls on their very own days every other month, and I'll try to get back in the habit of highlighting some of their "right nows" as we maneuver through the days and months the best we know how. This is my time capsule for me to share with my girls when they're grown... let's not think too hard about when they're grown though, because they're such dear littles and I am not wishing this away anytime soon.

Maggie is a great napper and terrible at going to bed at night. She would probably sleep until dinnertime every day if I didn't wake her. It's the opposite at night: she wants to chatter in her bed and sing "God is bigger than the boogyman" and "Jesus loves me" and "Little Einsteins" until 10pm every night. She's decided she wants to wear dresses every day, just like her big sister... but a couple of her tanks that are loose-fitting are considered dresses in her world. Her "favorite dress" changes daily so she can keep me guessing. She laughs hysterically if anyone in the room is laughing. She also has a scowl that is not to be messed with... she's conquered the eyebrow furrow, concerned eyes, and pout lip like none I've ever seen. She rarely yells, but is not afraid to repeat herself at loud volumes until she's heard... like a record skipping "May I please have some water," breath, "may I please have some water..." "may I please..." etc. 

She wants everything for her birthday. Her birthday is in August, but if she wants a purple scooter, she will say "mommy I'm getting a purple scooter for my birthday." Same with purple everything else. Her birthday wish list is three pages long by now and we have -mmmm- about four months to go. Cha- ching! {No, we're not actually getting anything yet}.

I love our little blonde free-spirited pixie with a shining smile. I love her little heart, her little shenanigans, her exuberance, hugs, and her chatter. They all add up to one beautiful little human. I'm so thankful I get to see her and love her and be her doting mama. 

xoxo

Sometimes I wish I was a Food Blogger...

Food doesn't move. It stays still and looks pretty unless {tiny} people come and trip over it. Some days I would like to be a food blogger whose subjects are immobile and are just fine with switching out this for that. Kids have so many opinions, you know? Switch out a skirt for jeans on a normal morning and the world falls down. Never mind that it's 50 degrees outside and it's for their own good. Sometimes I like the idea of taking photographs or having my friends from Pictilio take photographs of subjects that sit still, and who don't tear up when I tell them no tutus today.

I don't love cooking or making food though {cooking is about survival, you know}, so it would never work. I would post once per month on the day that everything I made tasted just right and had all the proper ingredients for a beautiful picture. 

The above picture was a moment that I got to style a food post for my friends with this smoothie recipe they created that was total deliciousness. Who knew that dates could taste good? Not me, certainly. Peanut butter basically makes everything just right in the world, so in the right context, dates are delicious. The smoothie is delicious. Try it.

In other news, Brian and I went to wine country last weekend to celebrate a friend turning 32. Thirty-two is a big number in some cultures, you know. I'm kidding... this was just an excuse for all of us to get out of town and away from real life for a bit and visit a castle and enjoy the beauty of the great outdoors.

Side note: did you know that when I was a child, I loved getting covered in mud and touching bugs and such? Camping was my cup of tea and I wondered why my parents didn't think it was amazing. Now, the closest I come to nature is getting to the country and staying indoors with a real bed and shower. I think when you spend a lot of your days being a total mess of fingerprints on jeans and fighting the battle of sandy-everything from parks and such, it's a welcome thing to get away and NOT be dirty for a change. 

The weekend was beautiful and sunny and just what we needed. There's a reason people take spring breaks. Refreshers are such sweet luxury for this time of year. Took me a full day to get out of chill-mode when I got home, and my poor home is wrought with laundry pileups, but it was thoroughly enjoyable, and I will recommend St. Helena and Castello di Amorosa to any and everyone. ps. This is not sponsored- because in blogland I need to clarify that sort of thing. ;)

xo.

Perfectly Imperfect

Approximately once per month, I tell Brian that I'm going to quit blogging and shut down the Internet for good... go back to the life of a pioneer woman, and get out of dodge. I won't, of course, but I definitely take advantage of the fact that I'm my own "boss" and can take a few days off any time that I want, whenever I need time to clear my head. 

I was in a foul mood the end of last week. I can't exactly pinpoint why a Thursday and Friday would feel so terrible... Bad moods are generally reserved entirely for Mondays.

It may have had something to do with the fact that I went to Pilates both days at 6:30am and I need my beauty sleep... or the fact that I had a Luna bar for breakfast one of those days, and that's just starting things on the wrong foot to begin. A real breakfast is necessary in my world.

Really though?

My children were melting down left and right, and disobeying and crying soooo much... we haven't seen a week like this in ages. ALL children have these weeks, but when you're in them? Perspective gets skewed. I began thinking how terrible a mother I must be that my children wouldn't listen to me. How terrible I am that our field trip to the park was unpleasant. How I must sound saying "no thank you!" to my children left and right... I was telling myself how many ways I was failing, and believing it. 

When our children are amazing and say beautiful things and are kind to their peers, do we pat ourselves on the back and tell ourselves that we're amazing too? Or do we look around at our life & home and say, ohhh, I could do better with this or that? I tend to do the latter. Why then when they have a tough week do we blame our imperfections and get down about it all? 

I love new weeks, new chances for improvement, new chances to show love. I love God's grace, I love new chances to make the most of a day, week, moment. I love that I don't have to be a perfect mother for my children to thrive and succeed... I just need to do my best, and pray my hardest. ;) 

Apparently This is a Thing Now

Looks like we're taking dress-up a step further around here.

Too much, I tell you. Too much. Five is a gem of an age thus far. She's endlessly imaginative, and our conversations are comprised of random hilarity and pensive musings.

The 'todays' are prime living. That they are.

xo.