Sleeping in Seattle

I don't know what it is about my birthday, but it always makes me want to get out of town. So, this year, I went to Seattle with my wonderful friend Alison, and it was just about the best birthday trip ever. We chose Seattle because it was the cheapest flight we could get to a place Alison had never been, but it was such a good choice. It had been over 15 years since I had been, and I forgot how much I love it. After my first visit back in the 90's I was ready to move there, and even applied for a few jobs (which didn't pan out), so I guess it just wasn't in the cards. But luckily I can still visit, eat fantastic food, and shop to my heart's content. Check it out.

My birthday breakfast, Eggs Benedict with crab and avocado. Great way to start the celebration.

Signs of fall in the city.

On the ferry to Banbridge Island (a.k.a obligatory tourist shot).

Lunch at the Streamliner Diner.

Wall of gum at the Market Theater in Post Alley.

It had to be done.

Pike Place.

Shopping is F-U-N.

The craziest balloon animal maker I've ever seen. Seriously, click this image to enlarge to see what I mean.

Table of tags from a million past gas station workers. And, amazingly, no Max in the bunch.

Nature's perfect food, falafel. Not quite as good as it was in Paris, but the best I've had in the US.

Happy Birthday to me!

Why I Became A Mother

When I decided to have children, my main motivation wasn't because I had a lot to offer, or that I thought I could raise human beings that could add something to the world.

It was because I wanted to make holiday cookies.

Seriously.

I just love making holiday cookies, and the coming of Halloween welcomes my favorite time of the year. That means lots of get togethers with friends to decorate baked goods. And it started yesterday.

So, maybe I do have a lot (of baked goods) to offer, and who ever said that decorating cookies doesn't make better human beings to add something to the world?

Nothing's Gonna Change My World

I'll admit, I've had a lot on my mind lately. Mostly I've been thinking about how much I love my life and how, right now, it seems absolutely perfect. And I never want anything to change that. And then I heard this song yesterday and realized that nothing ever will:

Curves and Cow Heads

My friend Susannah left for Paris yesterday. She and her family are there while her husband teaches at a University there, and it's brought back a lot of memories, and I think for the first time since we got home I actually am missing Paris. Not that it wasn't a completely amazing experience, but after last year (which, to remind you, included building a house, a bad case of pnemonia, as well as moving my whole family overseas) it's been nice to be home. I'm loving my new labeler and organizing closets.

I know, nothing like life in the fast lane.

But I have to say that it feels good to be nostalgic. I feel like our time in Europe was such a whirlwind, especially the end when we left Paris and then spent ten days in London and two weeks in Amsterdam. It was wonderful, but left me overwhelmed in the blogging department. So, expect a little catch up in the next few weeks, starting with today.

I really did learn a lot about beauty and art in Paris because it surrounds you there, and thinking of this brought me back to one of the most beautiful things I saw during my time there.

I was at a tourist shop with my sister Angela when she visited and I was waiting outside on the corner while she made her selections. I had walked down the street a million times, but I had never stopped on this particular corner and taken a look around. I spied what looked like an building from a movie set at the end of the street and, after my sister was done, we went to check it out.

Turns out it was one of the best examples of Art Nouveau architecture in Paris, so I had to snap some photos:

Every little detail of this building was a piece of art in and of itself. The doorway was so beautiful I could have just studied it's details all day.

One of my favorite parts of Art Nouveau is the weird assymetry and whimsy. Like the oval shaped window thrown in randomly (behind the tree). It just made this example over the top. As I was taking the photos an American tourist couple stopped to see what I was doing. I explained that this was the most stunning example of Art Nouveau architecture I had ever seen. The woman said it reminded her of Gaudi, and then added "And it certainally is GAUDY, isn't it?" Ugly Americans. Even when they're cultured enough to know who Gaudi is, they have to go ruin it by making a stupid comment. Whatever.

I especially loved the color in this building. Next to all the monochromatic gray Haussmann buildings in our neighborhood, it stuck out like a really beautiful sore thumb.

Curves and Cow Heads. Both should be required in all buildings in my opinion.

Even the artist's signature was beautiful. And this guy deserved credit for this masterpiece.

So, I wanted to share. Despite all it's haughtiness, Paris is truly one of the most beautiful places on earth. And I was so lucky to be there, even if it added to the absolute craziness of my year.

And I really am terribly jealous of Susannah.

Is that so wrong?

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

Yes, I have been away for a while. Why, you may ask, well many reasons, so I'll give you a list:

Blogging Burnout: Seriously, you try living in Europe for a few months and blog about ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING, and you'll see what I mean.

Kernel Panic: So, as soon as we got back from Europe, my laptop kept having what, in the computer geek world, they call a kernel panic. It would just shut down for no reason, then not let me start up again and put me in a perpetual loop with this lovely image:

You know when Apple starts giving you warnings in several languages your computer's days are numbered. I took my dear, sweet laptop into the Apple Store a bunch of times (which was no problem, if you remember how I feel about the apple techs), and they finally gave me a shrug and told me it would cost at least $300 to fix. Well, I may have been an English major and no math whiz, but I was able to figure out in no time flat that it was time to upgrade, which leads to the next item on my list...

I Bought An iPad: You know, when these little babies came out I thought it was a great idea, but didn't plan on getting one for a while. I was totally last on the bandwagon with the iPod and iPhone, so I usually take these things slow. But with the threat of having to SIT AT A DESK to check my email looming over me, I decided that now was the time, first generation and all. I have to say, it's great, but not so much for the blogging. I don't have all my photo library at my fingertips all the time, and I often dip into it for my posts. But the good thing about it is that I don't have my photo library at my fingertips all the time, which means that I don't have to stress about losing all my family memories with one tragic click. You remember what that did to me before. I'm still not completely over it.

I Changed My Blog Template: Why, you may ask? Well, it all comes down to bedding. Yes, bedding. While we were in London I decided I had to partake of the Orla Kiely bedding at Heal's. I was all set to buy this one:

but once I got to the store I felt it really was a bit too girly for Steve to have to sleep in every night, so I bought this one instead:

And it felt a little too tech nerdy to be sleeping in my blog template every night, so I did the old switcheroo. You'll have to tell me what you think.

I've Been Re-Evaluating My Life: Okay, totally CHEESEBALL, but true. I've been thinking about a lot of things, many of which I plan to share in future posts, but lets just say for now that I have realized that life is a lot more fun that I was giving it credit for. I'm learning to enjoy it more by spending more time in the sun with my kids, doing more yoga, sleeping more, reading more, and spending more time with friends. It's been good.

We Got A New Cat, Then It Got Shot: Yes, you read that right. After our cat Briscoe died last Fall, we promised the kids that we would get a new cat as soon as we got back from Paris. And believe you me, we kept our promise. The day after we got home (at 3 AM, no less) we were adopting a cute little tabby cat and we named her Yoko. Long story short, she got shot a couple of weeks ago. I'll save the details for another post, but after the boys were done crying their eyes out, they both asked if we could get a new cat, so the next day we did. Here he is, Smoke:

He's an awesome Tabby/Siamese mix with amazing blue eyes, and we love him. Now if he would just stop peeing on our duvets, he would be perfect.

Well, that's all for now. It's good to be back, and while I'm not committing to writing every day (part of the life evaluation thing), I plan to write a lot, and hope you'll all decide my life is interesting enough to check out from time to time.

What French Women Taught Me About Fashion

While I was walking around a market in Amsterdam with my friend Lara, she asked what women were wearing in Paris this year. I gave her a list: black leggings made from shiny, fluid fabric that looks like leather, short denim shorts with tights and tall boots, tall boots with just about anything, crazy, colored tights, and the list goes on and on. There really isn't just one thing. I liked some of it, some of it not so much, but I did learn one very valuable lesson from French women when it comes to style.

I think it hit me one day of the first warm, sunny days we had in Paris when I walked by a busy cafe and a woman was sprawled out on her chair like a cat in a very transparent, very small camisole, enjoying the sun. And she looked amazing. And, you could tell, the last thing on her mind was how she looked.

I started looking around and realized that this epitomized the real edge that French women have on fashion, they are fully committed to it, and more comfortable in their skin than even the most put together American women. Of course there are exceptions, but I feel that it's very rare to see an American woman who is truly comfortable in her own skin, let alone her fashion. I took the above picture of a woman walking down the street near our apartment because she looked so amazing (and had some really amazing shoes) and was wearing pink. Pink! Layers and layers of it with ruffles and flowers. I wouldn't have been caught dead in that outfit, but she looked BEAUTIFUL!

So, I guess what I want to take away from this is to find my own style, wear it well, then commit to it, believe it, and forget about it.

I'm Back!

And almost ready for action.

I realized just now that we've been home from our travels for almost two weeks, and I am just about decompressed. I think I need one more night of catching up on 30 Rock, The Office, and the other goodies saved for us by our thoughtful DVR while we were gone. Then I'm ready to catch you up on all we've done and are doing!

Promise!