Suburban Homestead

Getting Road Trip Ready

When I woke the kids up at 5:45 this morning, Frijoles put her arms up for a big stretch, smiled and boasted, “I’m so happy today!!!”

We are on day one of a two-week road trip starting with six days in Yellowstone National Park, and ending in Souix Falls, South Dakota.

Along our route, we plan to visit museums that pay tribute to our pioneer roots, and the history of American Indians. My kids will likely lose their minds at the Wyoming State fair, before we head to The Black Hills. I will FINALLY make it to Mount Rushmore (lifelong wish), before driving through The Badlands, heading eastward to visit the homes and graves of my paternal ancestors.

Many months in the making (we booked our Old Faithful Inn accommodations 18 months ago, the day they opened-up AND sold out), the kids are like mini geysers at this point – just ready to explode from all the excitement.

Here is how we got our family *road trip ready*:

I found these two series of highly rated books on Amazon. Both are about families traveling America and visiting its most famous landmarks. They have been a great way to capture the kid’s interests of things still unseen. I really believe that hearing theses stories first will make them appreciate what they are going to see that much more.

We checked out lots of books about Wyoming and South Dakota from our local library.  It never ceases to amaze me, the incredible wealth of free information we all have access to through our public library. 

We LOVE audio books! For all the time we spend in the car, moving from one place to another, audio books have been an excellent way to keep the car calm, while maximizing learning. These five books all tell the stories of pioneer children, and young adults, growing up in the Great Plains at the end of the 19^th century. While we’ve read out loud the first five books of The Little House on the Prairie series, we are making a mad rush to finish the series on audio before our visit to the Wilder homestead in De Smit, SD. 

My mom inspired me to have our kids journal during their travels, as she does during hers. I’m super excited about this gadget (!!!) which I just picked up for our journaling purpose. Instant pics, stickers, colored pencils, pens, and glue sticks for gluing down things like ticket stubs and brochure pictures – we’ve got it all packed in. 

I came across this old book in our collection and I love the old school illustrations. Not quite sure how it came to us, whether it was a hand-me-down, or something from my childhood, but it helped give the kids a general flavor for the life and times of the first people living on the Great Plains.

So much to look forward to! It’s looking like we will have little to no internet access while in the park, so I might go dark here for a while. But trust me when I say I will be AMASSING a gallery of photos to share once we depart the park and get reconnected to the real world. 

Happy 1st Birthday, Oliver!

Our sweet, sweet Oliver turned 1 this week and we celebrated with a sugar-free cake made of oats, pumpkin, yogurt, cinnamon and dog bones. Sadly, neither dog was terribly into the dessert, nor were their human companions. Perhaps we should have dusted it in bacon bits, like we do everything else. 

On a similar note, a friend tipped me off to this adorable BT t-shirt, on sale right now at Target. I made my way there today and found a couple more items in the girls section that could not be passed up.

Happy birthday, Oliver. We love you to pieces! xo

Antiquing in The Foothills - I Struck Gold!

Whenever we are in the mountains, I like to walk through the antique shops in downtown Placerville. Last week, my mom was with us. Over the years, we've shared many afternoons together, stolling in and out of antique shops. It's always been something we've both loved. This time, I had more purpose than normal - I was on the lookout for pieces that could be incorporated into a friend's second home that I'm helping her get set-up. The house is in a rural part of the wine country, and she is going for a sort of modern hunting lodge theme. 

The problem I find in shopping for clients is you can't help but bring your own ideals to the selection process. And so when I find something that I think would be absolutely perfect for their enviornment, and they decide to take a pass on it, I often end up buying it for myself. Note the needlepoint moose art!

I mean, who in their right mind would pass on a giant needlepoint art piece for their hunting lodge themed home?? Not me! I grabbed it the minute the store owner dropped the price in half and hung it under the window next to Tiny Buns' bed. 

My absolute favorite find of the day was a taxidermy chicken nesting in a wine box. Regardless of her passing on the moose, I have to give my gal snaps for getting on board with this lady which will be displayed in her dining area on a bakers rack. Brave my friend, you are very brave! 

This 30" tall state fair themed pinball game will make a great art piece in the kids bunk room, or on a small hallway wall. My daughter cried when she learned it would not be coming home with us. (And then I started crying too.)

Four hand-painted animal plates which will hang on the sides of kitchen cabinets painted kelly green. 

A cute, cute branded stool perfect for kids or as a stepping stool in the kichen.

An impulsive buy for me, I bought a set of six 1960's glasses showcasing all the US presidents from Washington to Kennedy. 

I don't know what this little wagon is all about but I thought it could complete the look of our kitchen windowsill at the cabin. What do you think?

Check-out some of my other antiquing posts here and here. 

Beanie Goes Abroad - Busting Out at Château de Versailles

I've always had a thing for busts. I'm sure there is a clever joke in all this, but I'm actually being quite serious. Hundreds of years ago, these men and women were once significant enough to have had a bust carved of stone and presented in their honor. And yet...and yet...we no longer know their story. With each one I pass, I am silently curious: "What was your story?  Did you live with integrity? Were you good to your children and spouse? How did you like your eggs?" After walking past over a hundred or so busts in the palace that triggered my intrigue, but not my photo-taking action, I decided to start snapping photos of all my favorites going forward. 

This guy is devilishly handsome - I need to know more!

I am completely intriqued again, but for all the wrong reasons. 

Potentially handsome.

Unfortunate hair.

A likeable chap.

Reminds me of my dad in the '70's.

Curls,

curls,

curls!

I'll let the collar speak for itself.

Antiquing - What I Bought

We are up at the cabin with friends and family right now and yesterday, I broke away with the grannies for some antique shopping in town. I wish I had had my phone on me and snapped pics of absolutely everything I found interesting, there was so much!  Regardless, I managed to find some great treasures which I'm planning to use for various purposes. Here's what I scored: 

Hen and Rooter salt + pepper shakers, $15.

Ceramic apple serving bowl and six small bowls to match. $35

Egg carton. Not sure how old this really is but it's in perfect condition and I fell in love with the graphics. The town has a special meaning to me so I grabbed it for $4 and plan to put it in a shadow box...or something along those lines. 

Ceramic sports car from Dartmouth Ceramics in England. Purely decoration. Completely fabulous. $35

Bull mug. So kitchy but I LOVE HIM! He's going on the ledge above the kitchen sink at the cabin. $15

Washington DC - Day 4

The first (and last) time I ever set foot in the National Air and Space Museum, I was ten years old, and we had about an hour to explore. If you've ever been to A+S, you know how ridiculous this sounds. You can literally spend days in any one of the Smithsonians, A+S is no different. Back in 1983, I barely scratched the surface of its collection, but all the incredible machinery hanging overhead left such an impact on me. My dad bought me a pouch of astronaut ice cream from the gift shop, and we dashed-out, deflated we couldn't stay longer. Flash forward thirty years, and I was so eager to get back with the big kid. I had set aside an entire day for us to roam, a full seven hours to just lap it all up. We came early, we launched ourselves in full-throttle, and then we kind of fizzled-out mid-day. Turns out neither the kid, nor I, are terribly interested in machines that fly. Birds of prey, yes, rocket ships, no.

It's not that I didn't find anything interesting, I just found myself gravitating more towards the culture and design of flying, rather than all that technical stuff. And the kid liked everything else.

There were definitely some highlights for the 9yo - an exhibit on the science of flight, which pertained to a block of study he just did and enjoyed. Through that, he had also read about the Wright brothers, so seeing their exhibit also helped to bring everything full circle.

All in all, we probably clocked about four and half hours at A+S, before walking across the mall and finishing the last hour of our museum day at Smithsonian's American History. The absolute highlight of our Thursday though, was dinner at Teddy & the Bully Bar.

Where to begin!? The recently opened sister restaurant to the popular Lincoln (where we ate the following night), Teddy was a spot I thought would be fun for the kid after the president's appearances in this book and this mini series, which we've enjoyed together. We had also heard a funny story at The White House about Teddy and his installing of animal heads in one of the rooms, and how Mrs. Taft had them promptly removed upon her arrival. Having enjoyed these stories about the former president, we were feeling well prepped for our upcoming night out.

When we were walking towards the restaurant I ask the kid to guess what we might see at the new restaurant and he said, "There'll probably be animal heads on the walls." #proudmama

When you first arrive in the Bully bar, there is a textured wall that looks vaguely familiar. You can't quite figure it out so you walk over to get a closer look...

...and then you realize - it's a giant wall filled with mini Mount Rushmores!

As soon as we ordered (Buttermilk Bully Rings, Teddy Clam Chowder and Bacon Wrapped Pork Loin), we were served a basket of warm bread and biscuits with salted butter and BACON JAM. We just about lost ourselves right then and there. The menu was a hoot to read with all its nods to our heritage.

I have to give up total control when I hand over the ordering of dessert to the kid. He's never going to order anything that sounds go to me. He's just not much of a fan of dark desserts. This cheesecake wrapped in phyllo dough had all sorts of weird sounding stuff in it, like rosemary. But it was delicious and so fun to eat with the flaky outer crust.

Rifle sconce.

Last but not least, I always have to check-out what's going on in the ladies room. Sometimes the greatest details are hidden behind bathroom doors.

Model Apartment Remodel - Before + After

A couple months ago, I installed a model apartment for a lovely complex in Denver. I loved this little one bedroom home with its French doors, peaked ceilings and large windows looking out onto a dairy farm. The property was in its original condition but we got to make some great updates to flooring and cabinets that will eventually be rolled out to all the units. I went with a neutral palette of grays and brown, with pops of yellow, gold and blues. Here is a mixed collection of before and after shots.

























The den and bedroom are my favorite spaces in this home. All of the items above were found on flash sale sites and/or West Elm, CB2, etc. I had no idea when I bought the bed's throw pillows that they were my girl Trina Turk's!







With every project, there are those wonderful, unplanned coincidences that just make the finished room that much more satisfying to the designer. In this case it was how the starburst bedding and windmill artwork played off each other in the bedroom. Weeee!!!!







When a model apartment is 95% installed, and I just need the final touches to *pump it up*, Target is my quick-fix friend. (Duh.) Here, a little gold statue and some colorful nail polish in a coordinating dish, brought life to this tiny bathroom for very little cost.

Inside Our Friend's Airstream

Half a lifetime ago, I had an open obsession with the history of Route 66, America's Mother Road. And for just as long, I've yeeeaaarned for a retro trailer to call our own. For years I've vacillated between visions of someday owning a new Airstream to just throwing a couple hundred bucks at a junkyard Aristocrat trailer and fixing it up myself (like this pretty pink lady). This past weekend, our friends Dave and Ann (with baby Wynne) met us up in the mountains, towing their 19' Airstream trailer stocked full of eggs from their farmlet, and something Dave likes to call "hyper-local bacon". In other words, they are living the dream living my dream.

Lil' Wynne was captivating to all, big and small, and yet gracious enough to give me a tour of her home away from home.  She showed me how bouncy the trailer bed was, where she likes to take her cereal while on the road, and the secret spot under the fridge where her toys are kept.

She also mentioned that her mom and dad had done all sorts of modifications to their silver bullet, like sewing new patterned curtains for the windows, adding lights and hooks to walls, and even repainting the face of the fridge with magnetic chalk paint so they could continue their collection of magnets from all their travels as a family. I was drooling!!!

You can follow The Adventures of Dave and Ann for great stories on both farmlet living and life on the road with family and Airstream in tow. Or you can just stare for hours at the picture featured below:

It's a tough call.

Wordless Wednesday

Scottsdale's Antique Trove

Earlier this morning, while grabbing coffees in our hotel's lobby, we got to talking with a pleasant fellow behind the counter. He had lots to share with us about this and that, the hotel, and the town. When he asked us if we liked to go antiquing we got all excited and started chirping in unison: "We do! We do! We do!"  So he told us about the Antique Trove, properly warned us of all the time we would need to make our way through it, and then even drew us a map of how to get there. (I didn't even know people still knew how to draw maps!)

Let me say that I think I could really benefit from some instruction on how to effectively photograph an antique store. These photos do not even begin to do this place justice. From the moment we walked through the front door and saw deep aisle after deep aisle laid out before us, we knew we were in for something spectacular. So we gave each other one last look, confirmed we each had a phone on us for the inevitable, and went our separate ways.

Here are some of the highlights of our visit:

*El Sol* Vintage Medallion

When I first made it to Palm Springs last year, I took an hour or two to myself, wandering through stores housing retro wares. My favorite, out of all of them, was a tiny hole in the wall called Bon Vivant (457 N. Palm Canyon). Small as it was, this gem still managed to pack a large punch with a bunch of vintage items offered at very reasonable prices. The man behind the counter was sweet and chatty, and I left with eight stainless steel tumblers that we use for unbreakable kiddo milk and water cups. Last month, when I returned to Palm Springs for the second time, I made sure to go back to Bon Vivant. This time I fell in love with one of the many vintage medallions on display. I call this guy *El Sol* and I wore him on a bright spring day recently. He reminds me of something Alexander Girard might have created, or something my mother might once have worn, in the decade before I was born. :)

Fabulous Friday

Way back when I was pregnant with number two, and having mad cravings for French bread with butter, fettuccini Alfredo and anything with chocolate, I got a very specific craving for a chocolate and caramel coated apple. I had been introduced to the idea at a friend's wedding not too long before, where every guest left the event with an apple rolled in caramel and M&M's. Madness I tell you. An on-line search for ANYTHING close to the memory led me to the discovery of Mrs. Prindables.

That was six years ago and I've been a big fan of Mrs. P. ever since! Once a year, I order us one of her gift baskets, and I love giving them as gifts too. I recently sent one to my niece and nephew for their birthdays, then went ahead and threw four more into my shopping cart for us and our Friday night dinner.

The best part about this story is that our four petite carmel and chocolate covered apples arrived today, right before I headed out to attend a friend's luncheon where she gifted everyone with - Anyone? Anyone? - a signature Mrs. Prindables apple!!

Favorite Things

Clockwise from top left: We love A World of Food by Carl Warner. Trina Turk's Resin Ball Ring. Love Hasbeen's Peep Toe Super High in Silver. Every morning I take my coffee and cream in a pink mug with Blossom and Bill on the front. Kitchen Aid Stand-Up Mixer in Raspberry Ice. I slather on Verde Olive Oil Body Balm by McEvoy Ranch everyday. Happy Weekend!

Rustic Modern Clubhouse Remodel

Last month, I went back to Denver to install my first clubhouse and leasing office. This project was SO MUCH fun! Heavily driven by a tight budget and time-line, the late 1970's architecture of this large scale apartment complex spoke to me -- and when it did, it told me to not deny it its right to be a little funky. The exterior's mansard roofs, *glory days* rock facades and retro globe lighting fixtures could not be denied. With a tenant base of mostly young families, I suggested we just have fun with what we were given and not try to make it look like something its not.

While new siding and paint is being applied to the exterior (pictures on that later), it still has a fun vibe with some of its original details. I wanted to bring some of that same flavor to the interior spaces when remodeling both the clubhouse and the leasing office.  The complex is also ideally located on the outskirts of Denver, between parkland, farms and other apartment buildings, so bringing in the whole *rustic* vibe was just another no-brainer.

Here it is today:

I missed getting a good shot of the built-in bookshelf and media center I designed, but here is a detail shot. Made from reclaimed wood, we stained this a walnut color and painted the wall behind it to offer a bit more contrast for all the colorful books. This apartment complex is located in an incredible school district and the property just comes to life with kids once school lets out. I wanted to give these kids a place to come and flip through picture books that would give them windows to other areas of our world. I filled the shelves with books on travel, good eating, animal life and American pop culture.

The *before* shot above shows the original kitchen, equipped with a refrigerator, oven, sink and microwave. Because those big appliances rarely got used, I suggested we downsize the kitchen to just a counter area for coffee with a small refrigerator.

I love this little stool with its quilted detail on top. I found them on Overstock for about $80 each. There is one at each end of the table.

You can *kinda* see the built-in above and to the left.

I also redid the leasing office, which is right off the clubhouse. I couldn't get any great pics of it though because there was still a lot of cords and files out when I left. Hopefully on my next visit I can get some better pics of it.

iGrill, therefore iAm

Daddy got a new gadget at the iPhone store.

It’s called the iGrill and it comes with a tiny iProbe that meatsits your dinner while you go off and enjoy your friends and family. When your meal has come to temp, the iProbe tells the iGrill, which tells your iPhone to tell you to come back to the heat and take all the credit for a job well done.

And we thought we had it made with an electrical thermometer fork!! We tried it out last night with friends and it worked great. More importantly, they brought their Boston over and we forced a doggie playdate on the girls. (Although, now that I think of it, there may have been a little teeth gnashing involved.)

Ruby was so flippin' sweet and so INCREDIBLY cute, I wanted to take her for our own.

Here's where we ate our iMeat after we fed the kiddos their iFish:

Happy Easter!

We hope your Easter is filled with sunshine, blooming flowers, and of course, lots of chocolate eggs.

I'm a tad bit sad that we aren't having family and neighbors over for our annual Easter brunch, but we are off on a wild adventure this morning instead. I can't wait to take you all along with us! xo

This day last year: "Egg-ceptional Day In The 'Burbs"

Apple Canister

How cute are these apple canisters? I just picked up a couple at The Container Store ($16) and filled them with new crayons for the kids of some of my garden loving gals. Happy birthday, kiddos!

New Couch Pillows

This weekend, I dusted off my sewing machine, and stitched a bunch of pillows for a girlfriend who was looking to add some color and pop to her living room.

I love sewing. Once you master the invisable zipper, pillows are a relatively quick project that provide big returns. Needless to say, the whole experience opened up a can of worms for me, and now I want to sew all new pillows for my living room couch.

It was so easy and sewing is sooooo therapeutic...

Ooooommm....ooooommm...

I've since delivered these to their new home but am now on a mission to brighten our living room (just a couple notches ;) with some new and colorful, hand-sewn pillows.

It just never ends...

Puerto Vallarta: What I Bought

Whenever I travel internationally, I always have to do a little shopping. For me, it's never been about acquiring, but about discovery, and bringing the taste of a foreign culture back home to always remember a trip by. I love beautiful things and I am happy finding them in the appliance section of a Japanese department store, the seconds room of an Italian manufacturing plant, or off a Mexican cart. There is beauty at every turn.

When my reaction to an object is visceral, I know it's one that needs to come home. Like that funny, winged cupid at top center. I have no intelligent explanation for my feelings, but my heart started to race when I spotted him, and I couldn't stop smiling. The woman photographed here painted all her pieces right there on the street. I wonder what her whole story is, and I wish I could have communicated how much I loved her work beyond just a smile and a "Gracias".

Pretty Little Hen Soap

I have to share the sweetest gift I received from a friend...

...French-milled soaps is the shapes of a hen and her eggs!

I just put them in the hall bathroom, only to remove and shelve them. I've decided these sweet smelling soaps need to save themselves for Easter!

by Gianna Rose Atelier

I Met Trina Turk!!!

My all time favorite name in fashion is Trina Turk. I remember discovering her line fifteen years ago and thinking - "My gawwwd - this woman has been reading my diary!"

Flash forward to 2012 and I still love me some Trina. Honest to goodness, I gave great consideration to naming my daughter (then the dog), Trina, but couldn't get much support from my other half.

She came to speak at the SF Design Center on Tuesday and I was ready-to-go in my vintage Trina Turk dress, equipped with my SLR. This was no occasion for just an iPhone camera.

After the talk, while gathering in front of the meet-and-greet location with my girlfriends, Trina walked by. I'm pretty sure we bum rushed her... at least, I did. She was so sweet, asking all our names, and thanking us sincerely. I got in a verbal vomit, professing my love for her, color and pattern. I want to say there were maybe even tears streaming down my face, but it's really all a blur now.

A big thanks goes out here to some guy named *Donald* who stood nearby with a hand on the Bible, swearing he knew how to use a camera. Oh, Donald, if you only knew how much your arrogance cost me!!!  ;)

(Sniffle, sniffle.)

Homesteader Finds at Anthropology

I stumbled into an Anthropology while in Portland this week and found their shelves stocked full of great finds for the homesteader.

Like this chalkboard jars, $10. Wouldn't you just love for a friend to gift you one of these, filled with his/her homemade jelly?

Crossed Spoons Plate Holder, $20

Owls are everywhere these days. Owl Canister, $68

Beautiful glassware. I love the shape and subtle color.

How fun would it be to give (or receive) one of these candles?! Pollen Arts Nostalgia Jar Candles, $25-60

Country Life Teapot, $248 (Hey, the matching mug is only $98 ;)

Very cute book, Farm Anatomy: The Curious Parts & Pieces Of Country Life, by Julia Rothman. $16.96

I Heart Antiques

On my way into the Petaluma Seed Bank the other day, I was stopped in my tracks while looking into the window of Chelsea Antiques. I have a real soft spot for 20th century Americana and this place has a lot of it. Here's a snippet of what I saw:

21 metal basket bookshelf, $780

I love everything here a little bit, but I love those two wire baskets with handles A LOT! $40/each.

I'm not quite sure what these adorable panels were used for, possibly scenery for a child's play?

This sculptural polar bear bookshelf really caught my eye! It's by the French company ibride and was on sale for $2400, marked down from $3400. Wow! I did some research on it when I got home and discovered it's just a few years old, released in 2009. I also found it new for $1800, if you're interested. ;)

I heart antique produce scales. Would love one in my kitchen!

Donkey and metal arrow sign.

Vintage carnival signs.

Zinc bottle carrier from France.

Not the best picture but I loved this rusted out old automobile grill. Sometimes the strangest things can make really striking and affordable wall art.

Chelsea Antiques

148 Petaluma Blvd N.,

Petaluma, CA

707-763-7686

Petaluma Seed Bank

I love this time of year. Or should I say, since I discovered the Petaluma Seed Bank, I love, LOVE this time of year!!!

Situated in an old corner building, one I can only assume use to actually be *a bank* (duh), is an absolute treasure trove of heirloom seeds from around the world.

Around. The. World!

I’ve seen seeds there from Afghanistan, Northern Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia.

Every year, when the Seed Bank's over-sized, glossy catalog leaps out of my mailbox, and into my little wheelbarrow, my neighbor's words ring in my ear – “That book is like porn for gardeners."

And the store is even better, because unlike the catalog, where there is not room for every plant description to be accompanied by a color photograph, in the store, that’s just not an issue.

Here is what I picked up yesterday when I was in Petaluma:

More beets! I grew all of these last spring with great ease and success. We devoured every last one of them in the form of juice and salad and I can't wait to do it all again!

I wanted to try this Banana Melon SO bad last year that I planted every seed, got all starts going, and then killed them once they were transplanted outside. I have to get some of this exotic looking fruit in my garden this year.

We had surprisingly good luck with watermelon last year even though we had a mild summer. Our garden faces south and no longer has to compete with any shade during the day since we lost all our 150-year-old Oaks last year. (Mixed emotion facial expression goes here.)  It's a recipe for success. However, I only planted exotic varieties of watermelon last year - albino and orangelo - you know, just to be different. Neither had very good flavor until late in the season (October), so this year I decided to go with a sweeter, more tried and true variety - red.

OK - I'm SO excited about this package of 25 Tomato Reisetomate seeds! I have seen this variety in the catalog for two years now but it's always been sold out. I just think it's terribly cool looking. They had it in stock yesterday at the store and so I grabbed one. The man at the store told me they don't taste very good (after all, they are mostly skin) but that they make good decorative pieces (ta-da!!).

And last, but not least, I spotted these great veggie markers. I've tried several different kinds of metal markers in the garden but they always fade, and never hold up. I love how these are just so simple, and a compostable product at the end of their life too. I started to grab a bunch but they didn't have all that I required, and they added up quickly. When I realized they were just simple cuts of wood with names stenciled on in ballpoint pen(!), I vowed to make my own this year.

I should have lots of extra tomato and melon starts this year. So if you are nearby us, and something looks interesting, let me know. I'd be happy to give you some!

I Love This Guy

As I finish packing up the last of the Christmas decorations, there is one item I've decided must stay out all year.

This little incense smoker is too cute to only enjoy one month out of the year. He's staying out here with me.

Light up a little incense cone to fit inside him and watch the smoke rise out of his tiny mouth - just like he's smoking a pipe.

He's made in Germany by Erzgebirgische Volkskunst. Check out their full line of smokers here

Happy New Year!

Happy 2012! How appropriate that my new calendar starts the year off with a chicken!!

My Favorite Gift

All the presents have been opened, and we are now happily doing the things we love: playing, napping and blogging.

This Christmas was egg-ceptional in that the kids initial reactions to seeing the Christmas tree this morning were, for the first time, satisfying and rewarding. In years past, I've always found myself a bit saddened that they never seem as thrilled with their surprises as I'd hoped. "Hey, Mom. Look. It's a pink bike."

Wa-wa-wa-waaaaa.

This year they were great -- thrilled, gleeful, thankful, surprisingly patient.  :)

But what I really, really, really want to share is the most incredibly thoughtful, generous and creative gift my kids received from their Granny.

You may have heard of Heifer International, an organization that provides livestock to families in the third world to help improve nutrition and generate income in sustainable ways.

I've been familiar with this incredible organization for years, and have held onto their catalog as a reminder of a great gift to give.  I just haven't ever done it yet, for reasons I now know to be silly.

See granny gave my kids the gift of a pig - donated to a poor family in need, and did so in their names. And to mark the gesture, she gave them several pig related gifts so that they could "remember all day the pig present" that they gave to another family in a different part of the world.

I have tears in my eyes (again) as I write this. What an incredible Christmas gift for anyone to receive, but to give it to children, in such a fun and creative way, was absolutely heart-warming. I will have to steal this idea and encourage you to as well!

Their piggy gifts included bacon gummy candy, piggy bath scrubs, piggy booties for a baby doll and piggy banks filled with chocolate coins.

Thank you, Granny Alexis!!! You are the absolute BEST!  xoxo

Favorite Gifts to Give

Every year, Daddy receives holiday gift baskets from various business associates. Occasionally, there will be a lovely box of Harry + David fruit and nuts, if we're lucky. But more often than not, the boxes contain mass quantities of not-worth-the-calories dark, chocolate fudge, brownies and cookies. Right now I have a 12" pecan pie, "Made in Texas", that I'm wondering what to do with.

And it always makes me wonder, who is in charge of ordering this stuff?

I'm guessing whoever is in charge of ordering is just sending out the same thing to every client. And I understand why this must be, but at the same time, I just cringe at all the waste.

I have never asked Daddy what his office sent to their clients in the past, half-scared to know the answer. Instead, I offered to take over the ordering this year, in an effort to lighten the world a few more mommies having to dump seven pounds of mediocre dessert food (to their chickens).

Walking through the San Francisco Ferry Building recently, I got the idea to send out gifts from local producers.  Not only would we be sharing our favorite foods from home, but we could keep the money local while supporting small business.

Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la!

Here's what I sent:

If you are a business associate of my husband, and you have 2+ kids, I sent you Miette Bakery's Valencia Hamper.

Gosh - I wish someone would send us one of these! (Anyone? Anyone?!?)  I know it is on the sweet side, but it's Miette, so that makes it OK.

If you are an associate of my husband and you are married with a grown child or two at home, I may have sent you a Cowgirl Creamery Holiday Collection,

or a sampler from our favorite local spot, Rustic Bakery.

For small offices with several people on staff, I sent the Miette Holiday Box.

If you are a single woman, or mom, I sent you a selection of body products from McEvoy Ranch, as well as a bottle of their olive oil.

And if I couldn't figure out much about you, I probably sent you a little taste of California in the form a gift box from my favorite olive oil producer, California Olive Ranch.

On a more personal note, I also wanted to give gifts to all the wonderful service providers in our immediate life: the dog walker, the gardeners, etc. In the past, I have always given them cash but with the introduction of Milly's dog walker, who takes her for an amazing 4-5 hours a day, 2 days a week, and with whom I have more of a personal relationship with, I wanted something a tad more thoughtful. So to all these people I gave $25 gift certificates to Rustic Bakery. I love that I get to share one of our favorite spots while supporting a local business, owned and operated by women supporting our local agriculture.

Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la!

Happy Holidays! 

Pretty Little Boxes

I wanted to share some great *fun food* finds that are out for Christmas and that have found their way into our kitchen.

Peppermint Stick Clif bars for my peppermint obsessed kid. A box of 7 was only $5 at Target - a far cry from the regular $2.50/bar at the grocery store.

Trader Joe's Gingerbread House - $7.99. It's just cute.

As is the Trader Joe's Gingerbread Man for $3.99. Every kid gets their own!

And tucked away in the back of the broom closet is a little something for mom and dad - chocolate covered Oreo cookies in various flavors - like peppermint (for mom) and peanut butter (for dad). This things are so amazing, I just can't be asked to share.

 

The Games We Play

The Thanksgiving Day deadline I set to have our garage converted into a playroom was, for the most part, met. (I'll post the results when it's *fully* met.)

One important component I saw for the playroom, especially on the holiday, was to have a short stack of board games that could be enjoyed by all the cousins, across a ten year age span.

So I purchased It's A Dog's Life, Simon Flash, Scramble and Twister, and considered the job done.

But then my mom had the sweetest idea - to have my dad bring his chess board over in hopes that he could teach his grandsons to play...next to a roaring fire, eating cookies and drinking milk.

No, Dad never taught his grandsons to play chess that night (wha wha wha whaaaa... ;), but he did bring over a STACK of our old family board games, boxes I hadn't seen in years!

Seriously, the man with the pipe, and the woman in pink, to the right of the pizza parlor pendant -- those were my parents!

Little did I know how well received those old school games would be at our house. The seven year old is in love with all things board games right now and we just can't deny his endless requests to play. On Saturday afternoon, I listened to his daddy spend over two hours straight, teaching him everything he wanted to know about the game of chess. It was the sweetest thing - the patience, the enjoyment and the bonding.

(sniff-sniff)