This Monday Night is All Right

We have been lucky enough to have M.’s dad stay with us. He’s fabulous with Baby A. And in addition, he generous of his time, which allows me to get some work done. He also goes to bed early.

We live in a two-bedroom apartment and so our guest room is our living room. When grandpa goes to bed, M., Moo, Pumpkin and I retreat to the master bedroom. (A is sleeping in his room, of course.) While M. misses the DVR and television (only one, located in living/guest room), I enjoy times like right now. M. is reading, I’m writing and we are surrounded by cuddling kitties. Not a bad way to end the first day of the week.

All Hail Social Media!

When it came to Twitter, I was the first to scoff. Why on earth would anyone want to know what I am doing? But eventually as I blogged less frequently, I found that tweets linked to this blog allowed me to be short and sweet. My life still isn’t exciting but it’s the following that I love.

Without social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, I wouldn’t know about the immigration protest at the Federal Building near my house today. I wouldn’t necessarily know where to donate my haircut clippings to clean up the oil spill in the Gulf. I wouldn’t know the goings-on of friends from high school and college. And I know when my favorite blogs have new postings. It’s these bite-size bits of knowledge that allow me to not retreat in a cocoon of Baby A, M., kitties and email. (So easy to do.)

The bottom line: before you knock it, try it. From one convert, this may streamline your information feed and at the end of the day, don’t we all want things to be easier.

Magic Pants?

Years ago I read “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.” My book group and I were amazed and in disbelief that a pair of pants could make each of the four girls look amazing. I now believe that there is such a magical pair of pants…

The J Brand Houlihan Skinny Cargo: Could they be magic? Photo by Piperlime

Honestly, I’ve been hesitant about J Brand Jeans because they are so skinny (and I have athletic legs). But after reading on Cindy Whitehead’s Blog how much she adored hers I had to give them a try-on.

They were amazing! I felt thin, I could move, and I was comfortable. However, at the $231 price tag, they’re going on my wish list or better called my lust list.

An Office Everywhere

It was too quiet in my friend ML’s house. After spending two days in Manhattan, the silence of her neighborhood was almost unsettling. I needed to hear conversations, music…many things at one time. I needed to find a Starbucks.

Luckily, there is one close to her house even though I took the long way to get there. Any coffee house would have done, but when I go into Starbucks it is familiar with electrical outlets, music, and food. Just like going to an office…anywhere you are.

Produce-Lined Streets

I have a dream that every city had fruit and vegetable carts on every corner. Well, every other corner would do. Right now, I’m living in it.

As I rush from appointment to appointment in New York, carts of fruits and vegetables nourish me— basket of blueberries sold for $2 and a pear for 25 cents. Yesterday was the first time in a long while that I ate my seven servings of fruits and vegetable without strategic planning.

By having these purveyors out on the street where traffic is flowing makes it easy to associate whole foods with satisfying the hunger that is occurring. And those hunger pangs aren’t the crazy, ravenous kind either since noshing on these natural fibrous fillers has kept my blood sugar steady.

Imagine a world where each city had the same availability of fruits and vegetables. My hope that it would mean a healthier population.

Today Begins Five Days of…

No Baby A. No M. No Kitties. No diapers. No tugging.

It’s just me on the East Coast. For five days I get to step out of my mommy role and back into my professional one. Today is day one and I already I feel like the pre-baby me.

It isn’t that I have changed (too much), but my circumstances have. Because my days are filled with child-caring and working, I’m in survival mode. The business-minded, go-getter in me gets muted, which has made me feel lost. Strange.

It only took me one day of talking with editors and walking through New York to make the business brain reemerge. Everyone needs some time alone to put things in perspective, whether it is a vacation, a business trip or a mixture of both.

So today begins five days of girl time. Sure, I’ll miss sharing my adventures; I know that when I return, I’ll be a better wife, mother…me.

It’s the Windex of Beauty

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blahflowers/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

If you ever saw the movie, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” you may remember that the father used Windex for cleaning everything—wounds, carpet, clothes. I grew up in a Greek family and we did the same. In fact, I refurbished an old lamp with just Windex and a towel. There’s another go to product that is the same type of multitasker—petroleum jelly.

A tube or a jar of this lube has been in my bathroom since I was an infant. When I travel I bring it to serve as a moisturizer, cuticle cream, makeup remover, mascara, lip gloss, wound healer, and frizz tamer.  I don’t think it will give me a full makeover or rid me of wrinkles but when I use it I do feel pretty.

What’s your favorite multitasking product? How do you use it?

Ten Blogs I Can’t Stop Reading

I read in snippets. Between running after, trying to feed and entertaining Baby A, I read blogs. Here are the 10 that I frequent the most. I have written about some of these before, but since they entertain me weekly they warrant mentioning again.

Cindy Whitehead, Sports Stylist: It isn’t because she’s a friend, or that she preaches and lives girl power, I love Cindy’s blog because she has an awesome, pretty-but-not-to0-girly-eye on fashion. She points out the art in design and photography. It’s addictive to check in daily and see what she deems important to highlight.

Confessions of a Mean Mommy: Denise Schipani has a great voice and a straight-forward style. All the things I hope to achieve as a writer. In addition, I love her parenting point-of-view. Most of the time I agree with her, but I always learn something from her.

ELLE Street Chic Daily: There is something about this daily snapshot that brings out the fashion critic in me. I personally think they should send  photographers to Westwood since I see some students that have amazing style.

LA Stylist Mom: She’s a stylist and a mother of boys. I’ve found amazing fashion sites and pieces just  by checking in. Without her, I wouldn’t have consider going into H&M for summer dresses. Just isn’t my thing usually.

Mr. Magazine: As a life-long lover and student of magazines, this blog written by Samir Husni, the director of the Magazine Innovation Center at the University of Mississippi, School of Journalism, is a must read.

Sammitt: Even though I couldn’t eat most of his “what’s for dinner” recipes, this blog is a favorite because of the smart, witty writing about music, fashion and all things pop culture. Sam is one of the best things that came from M. and I living in Phoenix—a  friend with mad writing skills and excellent taste in music and fashion.

Saving Ace: This is M.’s blog and while I’m living this climb-out-of-debt chronicle, I enjoy reading about it.

Sea of Shoes: Her photographs are always beautiful. But most of all, I have closet envy. The red-head who writes this blog has incredible style. I wish I could dress this way and still take care of Baby A.

Style and Inspiration: For ideas and inspiration, I have a red notebook of things—photos, articles, essays, etc. This blog is the online equivalent. It isn’t necessarily my inspiration, but most of what she posts I agree with and would add to my red notebook.

The Daily Snark: My friend Mo says all the things I can’t say on my blog. In addition, her life is way more exciting than mine.

My Mother’s Day Card

Today I received a card addressed to: “My Beautiful Wife.” Inside the pink envelope was this sentiment:

The most important job in the world doesn’t offer an hourly wage or days off or paid vacations. But it does offer real feelings, shining faces, bedtime stories, small victories, priceless memories, and many wonderful moments of joy…

Always remember, there’s no more important job in this world than the one you do every day will all your heart. Have a Very Happy Mother’s Day.

For M., this was a sappy card. But as he always does, he chose a card that was perfect to lift my spirits. Lately I have had a difficult time with being a working mommy and there are times when I feel that I’m failing as a worker or as a mommy. This card reminded me that everyday, whether I am at my computer or not, I am working and the end product is a happy child.

The Symphony of The City

Nick Jr. is running a video called, “City Symphony.” It points out how the everyday noises of the city create a beautiful song.  You can see it here.

Each time I see it, I agree with the sentiment that the city is a vibrant, energetic and musical place. Every day when Baby A and I stroll around Westwood Village, we take in all the things presented. There are times when I wish he had a quieter place to live, but this two-minute story-poem makes me happy that he doesn’t.