belated birthday

I turned 32 last Monday, and I celebrated with all my favorite people.  It was a quiet birthday (as they are now with kids in the picture), and I prefer it that way.  I just love having the chance to enjoy the people that fill my life up with so much love and light.

We kicked off the festivities with dinner for two at AOC Wine Bar in Beverly Hills.

Then there was tea with my girl friends.

And ice cream cake with my favorite girl.

And waking up to this face.  Best gift a baby boy can give his mom?  The gift of 12 hours of sleep.

portlandia

I just returned from a wonderful (and calorie-filled) trip to Portland, OR to visit my good friend and college roommate, Grace.  Our other college friend happened to be visiting from the East Coast also, so I took the opportunity to take a kid-free mommy trip (my first since E was born) to catch up with girl friends and indulge in many a delicious meal.  I mean, seriously, we ate the whole time.  Shopping and a hike accounted for exercise to help burn off some of the food, but we just really based our day on all the amazing restaurants Portland had to offer.

First meal after getting off the plane: the Sausage du Jour from Chef Paley's restaurant.  Grace knows how to treat a girl right.

E has a strange fascination with mule deer (thanks to "Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See?") so I snapped this photo for her.  Can't say that's an actual mule deer, but it's in the same family.

You know it's Portland by the Prius cabs.

No sales tax = waaaay to much shopping.

Had to get these for G so he can cheer on the Seahawks in style.

My bed buddy.  I adore this dog.

Evidence that there was some effort given to burning off the calories. 

The Fruit Loop.  Made me want to move to a farm, grow my own produce and make jam and bake pies.

My favorite meal might have been the buiscuit sandwich from Pine State Buiscuits.  Fried chicken, cheese, bacon and a fried eggs sandwiched between two fluffy buiscuits and drenched in (amazing) sausage gravy.  We had some collared greens to make sure we had the vegetable component.  This was followed by lavender honey and IPA upside down cake ice cream.  All consumed before noon.

We walked off our lunch with a tour of the rose garden overlooking the city.  Very pretty, and I now want to grow these.

It was a really good trip and a nice break from being a mom (though I still had to pump throughout the day).  It was tough letting go of the responsibility of taking care of lots of little beings, but I enjoyed being able to just take my time with things and not worry about naps and meals and nursing.  It was also nice for Adam to spend some special time with the kids, and he was an awesome stay-at-home Dad while I was gone (though he still had to work a lot).  And I know I couldn't have taken this trip without the help of Donna and Ashley.  So I am very grateful to my village for an amazing early birthday gift.  We will definitely have to visit Portland again.  There is still just so much more to be eaten!  

in the news

A couple important things happened this past week:

I dyed my hair purple in honor of my good friend, Denise, getting married this weekend.  Yep, because she is known for her purple hair, I added a few streaks to my hair to complete the bridesmaid look.  I'm looking forward to celebrating with her in Hawaii! :)

And... Adam sold his motorcycle a few days ago.  I'm so grateful that he did this.  After many years of riding, he came through on his promise to me that he'd sell it once we have kids.  I know he'll miss it (he loved his long motorcycle rides through the canyons), but I feel better knowing that he's thismuch safer on the road.

Once last ride.

mani-pedi party

Last weekend I threw my good friend, Denise, a bridal shower in honor of her getting married next month.  As a new mom, she wanted something relaxing that she could share with her girl friends.  So we had a mani-pedi spa party, followed by dinner at a nearby restaurant, and a bachelorette evening at her place.  It was wonderfully relaxing for all of us, as we got to catch up with old friends and get a little pampering in.  It's multi-tasking at its finest.

We love this nail salon, which was ideally set up for events like these. The favors for everyone included a Voluspa candle, dry body oil (very Denise) and Essie nail polish (in colors named after wedding themes).

Some chocolates, strawberries and champagne to snack on while we got pampered.  Denise's sister, Alora, thoughtfully got all the girls flip flops.

namaste

Once upon a time (in 2009), I fell in love with yoga.  Then I got pregnant.  And I got pregnant again.  And I lost my practice in the process of having babies and becoming a very busy mom.  But now that things have settled into somewhat of a routine around here (and with the support of Adam and Donna), I've returned to the mat.  This week I started up lessons again, and I have to say, it's the best gift I can give myself.  Even though I have to work to get my strength and flexibility back, I already feel the positive affect yoga has on me.  My mood is improved, my energy levels are up, and I just feel more rejuvenated.  I've definitely rediscovered why I love yoga so much to begin with.  It's the perfect balance between the physical and the mental.  It's the best therapy when things feel overwhelming sometimes.  Plus, I can't wait for Ella to join me in doing yoga when she gets a bit older.  She already does several poses for fun, so I'm excited to see if she takes an interest in it.  It would be so nice for us to be able to share this together.

"Bakasana" (crow pose) with my sisters-in-law during a Mother's Day trip to Santa Barbara in 2010.

I know it will take time to reacquaint myself with all the poses and to do the things I was doing at the peak of my practice, and there's also the fact that my body is so different now, but it really is amazing to breathe deeply again and take an hour and a half out of my day to just focus on the present moment and allow the good in my life to seep in.

Namaste.

My Magic Mornings

Gavin wanted to hang out this morning.  He was sweet enough to still give me my alone time by lounging in the Rock 'n Play and look outside.

Now that Gavin sleeps longer stretches at night, I've been able to reclaim my mornings.  I've been making a concerted effort to wake up before the kids just so I can have some time to myself without a little body clinging to me.  It's been refreshing to just have some quiet time and the luxury of getting ready for the day all by myself.  I look forward to when Gavin moves into his own room, but I'm grateful for this new routine that's giving me some sanity back.

pin it

I tried so hard to stay away from it... but alas, I couldn't.  I joined Pinterest, an online site that lets you create design boards (AMAZING), and my new addiction has begun.  Now I'm constantly perusing websites for ideas to pin to my boards.  My current favs?  Finding ideas for my good friend's bridal shower (Hi, Kelly!), and items for our new guest bedroom and Ella's playroom.  SO OBSESSED.  I can literally spend hours pinning away.  If you haven't already discovered it, I'd recommend Pinterest.  Just be forewarned that it's completely and utterly addictive.  Adam thinks I'm crazy because I get so excited by things like this.  Apparently, he still doesn't understand my type-A, Virgo tendencies.

Ladies Who Read

I love my book club.  It's probably the only one where we don't actually read.  Well, we read, just not all the time.  Ha!  The whole premise of our book club is that we read a book that is also a movie, and when we meet up we watch the film and have discussion.  Usually, it ends up with about 50% of us reading the book, and us catching up on our lives while squeezing in a movie together.  All around a lot of fun!

Our last one was the Twilight Saga's Breaking Dawn.  We watched it in the theaters and cringed/laughed/ogled at the bad acting/cheesiness/and unnecessary shirtless scenes.  Before we parted ways, we snapped a picture.  We're missing a couple members in the shot, but at least I remembered to take a picture this time!

Adam watched Ella while we watched the movie.  Then they joined us for lunch.  She's definitely looking forward to reading with us in the future.