I love the tradition of enjoying flowers on the first beautiful day of May. Spring is blooming and everything is green and fresh. My little girls love flowers just as much, so they'll be wearing flowers today... affixed to a ribbon and tied around their hair...
Happy May Day!
Ohhh, what a beautiful and busy week! I need to take my own advice sometimes, because the schedule has been crrraaazzzyyy... In a good way that requires little doses of "chill" in the afternoons, and not getting on the computer much.
When I was a kid and teenager, I generally thought that if people were wearing shorts in San Francisco, they weren't from around here... clearly tourists, you know? In 2013, I think I've worn shorts more than any year in my memory. It has been SO.NICE.OUT. It's scheduled to be 70's & 80's again this week, which- as my husband says- pretty much guarantees that when my in-laws come to town the following week, it'll be 50's & 60's again. ;) Hopefully we're setting ourselves up to be wrong on that one.
Today we took a long adventure to Huntington Park in Nob Hill. It was just supposed to be a little Tuesday bus ride to a new-to-us park, maybe a slice of pizza in the area, then a ride home, but the girls and I weren't done with our adventure after the park... actually Maggie was (she fell asleep almost immediately), but Sophie & I still had a bit of energy and wanted to keep exploring. So we did. More about the exploring on Friday... today, just a little bit about the park.
So here's my take: the REALLY good things about it were that it was surrounded by gorgeous buildings, is in a totally prime area for visitors and tourists- (but strangely was almost all locals- prob because tourist season hasn't quite started), had tons of bench space, and the structures had like a 70's Sesame street vibe. The colors, the treacherous gaps between stairs... that sort of thing were not quite as ideal, and there wasn't a fence around the playground, which always docks a couple points for me. All in all, we liked it, but Sophie says she likes "the other new park better even though this one is pretty good." Spoken like a diplomatic professional, right? Anyway, we're going to try to hit up new parks around the city once every week because a) it's fun and b) we'll always know the best spots for kids to play!
On another note, thanks SO much to Tea Collection for Sophie's perfect shirt. It twirls like a princess dress but can be paired with the practicality of a pair of jeans (her Gap ones are my favorite!) for playing, so everyone wins.
There's this stigma on Tuesdays around here, because they're not Monday where you get caught up on everything, but they're still so far from the weekend, so they really have nothing going for them... Today, I realized that maybe Tuesdays don't have to be so bad after all... right?
xo,
Kate
On Sophie: "Pretoria Tunic" (click Tea Collection banner below), Jeans, Sandals, Sunglasses On Maggie: Romper, Boots
Tea Collection provided Sophie's tank for review, but all opinons are my own.
Playing with food can be a good thing sometimes... check my post on Honest this week for more! xoxo.
I put flowers in a little vase and set it on the table. I went to the other room for two minutes, came back, and found the flowers IN the bottle vase, and the stems and water all over the table. And I took a picture.
It was a mess. BUT... a beautiful mess. The petals were still vibrant, stems were beside them and the water had spilled just so.
It is so indicative of our lives in this little stage: that beautiful, messy chaos.. Paints on the table, keys are who-knows-where (quite possibly in the garbage, shout-out to Maggie), the crayons all over the floor... oops, forgot to grab a gift for the birthday party, and forgot to put that dinner plan in the calendar... total chaos.
Sometimes, when the girls are sleeping, I clean a whole room and then I very deliberately "style" a surface to perfect prettiness. I say to myself, "I think that's beautiful," and wish it could stay like that for awhile... but it doesn't.
When I saw that mess, it struck me as so beautiful... It would need to be corrected, of course. I couldn't leave the water sitting and the petals inside that vase, but it was a beautiful moment. And I needed to recognize the beauty.
This chaotic mess we call life around here- that far from immaculately organized home we share, that calendar with all its accidental gaps, those belated birthday gifts... that mess of life is beautiful. It will all be sorted, and our kids will correct their own messes and head off to school and grow up.
I will not feel so scattered that day, and all my surfaces may look perfectly styled and pretty like they do for those nap times... but I know- I just know- that I will look back to this day and say,
"wow, what a beautiful moment of life THAT was."
So I'll be relishing in the chaos of today...
...and believe me... there IS chaos today. :)
xoxo
Pictured: Cookbook || Earrings || Bag || Watch || Teas || Linen Napkins || Bracelet
Giveaway is closed! Congratulations to our winner: Lorin Baker. We will also contact you by email! (please get back to us within 48 hours, thanks so much!)
Mothers are WORTH celebrating (if I do say so myself), so Delighted Magazine, Pocket Stylist, and I decided to get together and create one great, big giveaway for a lucky mother or reader! EVERYONE can enter, whether you ARE a mother, have a mother, have a mother-figure, have a daughter... etc etc. just go ahead & ENTER! The more the merrier!! There are plenty of fun items to take care of your mother, yourself, and your daughter (if you have one!)... SO- here's what you'll win TOTAL VALUE $275:
AND... because this blog is all about life with little girls, we're going to celebrate our little ones by throwing in a couple goodies for them, too! First off: Sophie recently got the absolute CUTEST skirt from Hemmed In, and the winner of this giant giveaway gets to pick one for a little girl in your life! They have maxis and party skirts, but I'm partial to this stretchy mini maxi... so is Sophie. ;) (and YES, she was climbing trees and walls with it, just like normal).
The other thing one lucky little girl gets if you win is my favorite Rufflewood Gingham Tablecloth. It's 36" square, which is perfect for a standard children's table like ours, and it totally gives your kids the full "tea time" or snack time experience. The gingham is SO ideal for summer, and it comes in three bright color options for ya.
Any girl would want that little skirt & tablecloth... wishing both came in my size!
SO, enough reading! Just follow the directions below on our Punchtab raffle and follow us and share about us, and enjoy the whole week of wishing & hoping and wishing & hoping that the winner will be YOU.
That, AND enjoying the beauties of your other new favorite bloggers: Delighted Magazine & Pocket Stylist.
xoxoxo, Kate!
We're using this new program for the giveaway called Punchtab.
1. Sign up for the giveaway by email OR through Facebook using the icons (It says we may contact you in the future, but we WON'T... and we won't share your email address, don't worry!)...
2. Follow us & share on all the social channels! You can SKIP any step you'd like, or use every step and get as many entries as possible!
3. I'd love to have you leave a comment letting me know what you're most excited about winning!
Open to U.S. residents only. Contest ends next Friday- May 3!! Tell your friends and friends friends. OH, and the girls' skirt & tablecloth were provided to us and you so kindly, and all opinions of them are my own, of course.
I'm not big on salads.
That said, if it's covered in cheese, sour cream, chicken, etc., by all means: bring it on. My favorite one is taco salad (big surprise there! spoken like any good part-Mexican girl) I used to make taco salads constantly, got out of the habit, then brought it back today.
Make it. It's way too delicious, and feels pretty healthy, if you don't account for the sour cream.
Mix all the good stuff together, and enjoy. It's crazy good.
XOXO,
Kate
