Even though I see rain and fog out my hotel window right now, everyone assures me that yes, I am in Texas. I left Oregon a few days ago for a business trip without kids—all on my own! (Cue the happy dance/tears.)
I’m spending most of the week in Austin for business during a regrettably cold and wet stretch (while Portland is enjoying sun and temps in the high 60s—argh!). This also marks the longest I’ve ever been away from Peeper.
I went on one business trip without kids before, and we both did fine—a fact that definitely helped me click “buy” on my plane ticket here. Peeper and I are both a little more independent now, so I figured we’d do even better this go around.
That has been mostly true. My mom is staying at our house and watches Peeper while Eric is at work. They spend a ton of time together even when I’m not hunting for vegetarian BBQ in the country’s most meat-centric state, so my absence wasn’t an enormous transition.
Still, my mom tells me that Peeper asks for me when she wakes up and calls, “Where Mama go?” when looking around my bedroom. The fact that she misses me both breaks my heart and feels like a tiny hug. (Is that weird?)
This business trip without kids has armed me with a few techniques for traveling without my sweet toddler. For parents leaving their littles at home, then, I have a few pieces of advice. Read more →
When we were growing up, my siblings and I sometimes had to go to Carma’s. Looking back, the day care surely wasn’t legal—it entailed dozens of kids and one grumpy woman more concerned about her soaps and her dogs than the children under her care, it seemed.
I vividly remember the vinyl couch and carpet covers that protected against spills. I remember one time when a queue of little kids stared at me as I sat on the toilet—a mortifying experience that told me I was holding up their pre-nap pee. I remember Carma once fixed me an egg salad sandwich instead of my usual PB&J and I sat at the table, horrified, deciding between eating a hated food or getting scolded.
Most of all, though, I remember that each child was allowed only one piece of paper to color. I would plan out my artistic vision, carefully choose my crayons and cover every inch of white—on both sides, of course.
Looking back, my heart breaks for 5-year-old me. There I was, stuck in a miserable day care I hated, with my one escape—Crayolas and art—arbitrarily limited.
Peeper, thankfully, is blissfully unaware that a limit on paper could actually exist. When she paints, she does so with a gleeful abandon, mashing her palms in the paint and clapping her rainbow-hued hands together. “Another one!” she says as she fills each page with smears of color. Before long, art covers the table, counters and even the stove.
Ever since we went to Zoo Lights, Peeper has been talking about the zoo. It’s a good thing we have a ton of favorite children’s books about the zoo on regular rotation!
Peeper is all zoo, all the time. When I say we’re taking Finn for a walk, she says, “Zoo!” When I buckle her into her car seat, she says, “Zoo!” When we brush our teeth, she points to the picture of the rhino in the bathroom and says, “Zoo!” (Yes, we have a photo of a rhino in the bathroom. Don’t you?)
We’ve hit up the zoo a few times since then, and she continues to talk about the otters, tiger, rhino and fish she saw there. (She’s staying mostly mum on the hippos, though, after the recorded hippo calls the zoo plays completely terrified her.)
Peeper visits the giraffes at the Brookfield Zoo in Illinois during Christmas.
Luckily, we have a membership, but we just don’t have the time to trot over to see the animals every. single. day. So Peeper gets her zoo fix on my lap in the rocking chair during storytime (which, in our home, is pretty much all the time).
Here, then, are our favorite children’s books about the zoo. Read more →
Eric and I stood in the bare living room, grinning at each other. We had just received the keys to our new home, the first property either of us has owned. We were saying good-bye to cramped apartment living, chain-smoking neighbors and car alarms that consistently blared in the middle of the night.
We had ordered pizza because that’s what you do the first night in your new place. Finn and Edie had been sprinting in circles, taking advantage of all the space and complete lack of furniture.
We weren’t going to spend the night; we had hardly begun packing, in fact. We were just about to head back to the apartment when we changed Peeper’s diaper.
If you’re a billionaire who brought the world Tic Tacs, Ferrero-Rocher and—even better—Nutella, what better day to die than Valentine’s Day?
Michele Ferrero, who invented the delicious chocolate-hazelnut spread, passed away over the weekend, leaving a world that much more delicious thanks to his sweets empire.
A while back, I made a batch of Nutella pielettes—basically, tiny tart-pies—for a friend’s pie-off party. Alas, they didn’t win, but I think they turned out pretty phenomenal.
In honor of Ferrero and his mouthwatering legacy, here’s the recipe. Don’t forget to toast to the late real-life Willy Wonka when you pop one of these morsels into your mouth.
Chances are, if you’ve seen me in the last, oh, four or five months, I haven’t been wearing pants. I have officially embraced the no-pants revolution and am rocking leggings just about erry day of the week.
Unfortunately, my new way of life is being attacked on all sides. First, there was the blog post heard ’round the world—you know the one I’m talking about, in which the writer vowed to abandon all stretchy fabric to avoid inspiring lustful gazes.
(Is it just me, or does that justification fall dangerously close to the she-deserved-it argument that says a woman’s outfit triggered her rape?)
Now, lawmakers in Montana want to ban yoga pants in public—at least flesh-covered ones (which, insanely, would make that transcendent video of Sergei Polunin dancing to Hozier illegal). I hesitate to call upon the Right’s go-to argument of the slippery slope, but HB 365 would pave the way to legislating my sartorial choices and comfort, regardless of the color of my leggings. After all, Republican David Moore added that yoga pants “should be illegal in public anyway.”
Perhaps women should go back to wearing floor-length skirts at all time—heck, they should just stay in the kitchen, where they definitely won’t risk giving any men-folk impure thoughts. Maybe that’ll be the next bill.
In the meantime, though, I’ll continue wearing leggings because I damn well want to.
I’ll wear leggings because they allow me to chase after my daughter and because they don’t have belt buckles that dig into her back when she sits on my lap.
I’ll wear leggings because they’re comfortable and they feel good. Even if pants and skirts aren’t exactly corsets/Spanx/Chinese foot binding, they’re not always the most comfortable thing to slip on, and I reserve the right to pass on them.
I’ll wear leggings because I want to show my daughter that women should wear whatever the eff we want. We are responsible for ourselves; we are not responsible for others’ feelings and thoughts. We do not have to restrict what we wear to moderate what someone else might think.
I’ll wear leggings because sometimes it’s all I can do to brush my teeth and hair, and getting dressed in an actual outfit is just too much.
I’ll wear leggings because politicians and prudes don’t want me to.
Join me—or not—but let’s all call out ridiculous attempts to legislate women’s bodies and what we decide to put on them.
Viva la leggings!
PS – I loved “How Accepting Leggings as Pants Made Me a Better Feminist.” (To wit: “My leggings epiphany has shown me that I need to tell my Creepy Subconscious Slut-Shaming Cave Dweller to shut up. Judging a person based on what they wear is weird and wrong. And in the case of women, it furthers sexual objectification and the idea that appearance is a woman’s most important characteristic.”) Yes, yes, yes!
Valentine’s Day gets a bad rap—It’s a Hallmark holiday, it makes singles feel like crap, etc.—but at its most pure, the day is all about telling those you adore how they light up your life. What’s not to love about that?
But as many of us know (you haters included, I’d bet), it can feel downright awful when your mailbox is empty of heart-shaped doilies and amorous puns.
At a recent playdate Peeper and I attended, we did our best to alleviate some of the pink blues for a few folks.
We helped the toddlers craft handmade Valentine’s Day cards that our friend delivered to seniors in a memory care facility. Peeper’s friends really got into the craft, too!
We simply cut heart shapes out of painter’s tape, stuck them to cards let the kiddos at ’em. One piece of advice: Wait until the paint is fully dry before peeling off the tape; otherwise, the tape doesn’t come up clean.
Our friend later told us that the seniors loved the cards: They showed them to each other at dinner, smiling. Some of the memory care patients might not remember what year it is, but pretty much everyone likes feeling remembered.
Has there ever been a time when a valentine—or any other thoughtful gesture—surprised you and made you feel special?
I was happy to see the other day that Raising Alex The Great nominated me for a Real Neat Blog Award. (I’ll send you my address so you can send me the check/plaque/gold-plated statue. K?) She writes about motherhood and the unique challenges—and joys—of having a premature baby. Check out the blog!
She posted a few questions I answered, below. Beyond that, I’ve nominated 7 blogs that I love—take a look for some phenomenal reading.
What’s your go-to dish to make when you know you’ve got important company coming over?
I tend to make black bean-sweet potato enchiladas. (I made them last night, in fact, though we didn’t have anyone over. They’re just so good!)
Do you believe in the 5 second rule?
Abso-freakin-lutely. I know that science says that food on the floor picks up germs, but I’m with the 87% of people who give dropped food the thumbs up. I’m just not germ-phobic.
What is your favorite online shop?
I don’t like to shop, either in person or online, but when it’s someone’s birthday, I head to Etsy. I like that I’m supporting independent creators and that my friends and family get unique gifts.
What is your favorite joke?
I’m not a good joke-teller—I tend to laugh before I get to the punchline—but I like the corny ones.
To wit:Where did the king keep his armies?
In his sleevies!
*crickets, crickets*
What is one thing that has made you smile today?
Peeper, as usual! She loves walking into our bedroom closet and sticking her head out the other end. “Peek!” she says. It makes me laugh every time.
Peeper is an equal opportunity peek-a-booer.
What makes your house a home?
An open door. Our place is always a mess, especially now that Peeper can pull her own books and toys off the shelves, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting friends or family to come over.Growing up, our house was in a permanent state of disarray. I was rarely embarrassed, though, and my parents were always more than happy to set the table with an additional plate for a friend who stopped by—or even throw down an extra mattress for someone who needed a place to crash for months.
Home is a welcome mat.
What’s for breakfast?
Lately, I’ve been eating Life cereal. Peeper’s breakfast requests have been getting very specific, though (“Hot dog! Avocado! Fork! Bib!” was her demand request the other day), so her tastes keep mornings interesting.
I nominate the following blogs:
Urban Bliss Life is a down to earth but stylish lifestyle blog with posts about recipes, kids’ parties and actually easy DIY.
The Monster In Your Closet tells it like it is, hold the BS. She writes about work, raising two sons and the balance of immersing yourself in the present moment without abandoning the past.
Loni Found Herself chronicles the adventures of raising a toddler in LA. I admire her openness in goal-setting and reflecting on how becoming a mom has changed her.
Little Fall Creek is a mama-homesteader who mixes posts about wrangling free-range chickens with photos of her daughter getting muddy in the yard.
A Tiny Rocket posts about motherhood and art. I can’t figure out how she finds the time to create her gorgeous paintings daily (follow her on Instagram, too!), but I find her dedication inspiring.
West Metro Mommy reads more than I thought humanly possible and publishes honest reviews of each book. This is where I go before heading to the library; I get most of my recommendations from her.
Snapshots & My Thoughts is a style and family blog out of Austin. I love her photographs, inspiring style posts and—ahem—giveaways!
Here are my questions for you bloggers to answer!
1. What do you do if you have writer’s/painter’s/photographer’s/creator’s block?
2. What’s your food guilty pleasure?
3. If you could magic yourself into an alternate career, what would it be?
4. What was your favorite childhood book?
5. What’s one thing you love about yourself?
6. Dogs or cats?
7. Any upcoming travel plans? Where?
I was happy to see the other day that Raising Alex The Great nominated me for a Real Neat Blog Award. (I’ll send you my address so you can send me the check/plaque/gold-plated statue. K?) She writes about motherhood and the unique challenges—and joys—of having a premature baby. Check out the blog!
She posted a few questions I answered, below. Beyond that, I’ve nominated 7 blogs that I love—take a look for some phenomenal reading.
What’s your go-to dish to make when you know you’ve got important company coming over?
I tend to make black bean-sweet potato enchiladas. (I made them last night, in fact, though we didn’t have anyone over. They’re just so good!)
Do you believe in the 5 second rule?
Abso-freakin-lutely. I know that science says that food on the floor picks up germs, but I’m with the 87% of people who give dropped food the thumbs up. I’m just not germ-phobic.
What is your favorite online shop?
I don’t like to shop, either in person or online, but when it’s someone’s birthday, I head to Etsy. I like that I’m supporting independent creators and that my friends and family get unique gifts.
What is your favorite joke?
I’m not a good joke-teller—I tend to laugh before I get to the punchline—but I like the corny ones.
To wit:Where did the king keep his armies?
In his sleevies!
*crickets, crickets*
What is one thing that has made you smile today?
Peeper, as usual! She loves walking into our bedroom closet and sticking her head out the other end. “Peek!” she says. It makes me laugh every time.
Peeper is an equal opportunity peek-a-booer.
What makes your house a home?
An open door. Our place is always a mess, especially now that Peeper can pull her own books and toys off the shelves, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting friends or family to come over.Growing up, our house was in a permanent state of disarray. I was rarely embarrassed, though, and my parents were always more than happy to set the table with an additional plate for a friend who stopped by—or even throw down an extra mattress for someone who needed a place to crash for months.
Home is a welcome mat.
What’s for breakfast?
Lately, I’ve been eating Life cereal. Peeper’s breakfast requests have been getting very specific, though (“Hot dog! Avocado! Fork! Bib!” was her demand request the other day), so her tastes keep mornings interesting.
I nominate the following blogs:
Urban Bliss Life is a down to earth but stylish lifestyle blog with posts about recipes, kids’ parties and actually easy DIY.
The Monster In Your Closet tells it like it is, hold the BS. She writes about work, raising two sons and the balance of immersing yourself in the present moment without abandoning the past.
Loni Found Herself chronicles the adventures of raising a toddler in LA. I admire her openness in goal-setting and reflecting on how becoming a mom has changed her.
Little Fall Creek is a mama-homesteader who mixes posts about wrangling free-range chickens with photos of her daughter getting muddy in the yard.
A Tiny Rocket posts about motherhood and art. I can’t figure out how she finds the time to create her gorgeous paintings daily (follow her on Instagram, too!), but I find her dedication inspiring.
West Metro Mommy reads more than I thought humanly possible and publishes honest reviews of each book. This is where I go before heading to the library; I get most of my recommendations from her.
Snapshots & My Thoughts is a style and family blog out of Austin. I love her photographs, inspiring style posts and—ahem—giveaways!
Here are my questions for you bloggers to answer!
1. What do you do if you have writer’s/painter’s/photographer’s/creator’s block?
2. What’s your food guilty pleasure?
3. If you could magic yourself into an alternate career, what would it be?
4. What was your favorite childhood book?
5. What’s one thing you love about yourself?
6. Dogs or cats?
7. Any upcoming travel plans? Where?
Unless you’ve been taking a social media/news/talking to people cleanse, you’re all too aware that much of the country is dealing with the fallout from a major blizzard. Much of the Northeast is buried under two feet of snow, but here in Oregon, we’ve been enjoying our signature mellow weather.
Whether you’re digging out from under the blizzard or just bemoaning winter’s grey skies, here’s a little dose of sunshine to brighten your day, courtesy of Peeper and me.
