A Weekender

When we go away for a weekend Greg and Nate are packed well, 1 bag each, all the necessities tucked away. Me, not so much. I have the right suitcase for flying, I have great purses (way too many I'm afraid) but for weekend trips when we drive, I'm a mess. Years ago I got one of those monogrammed boat and tote bags with a zippered top, which is great but way too small. I end up overstuffing it and not being able to close it and then packing other bags (usually the reusable totes I should leave just for groceries). It's a sad state of affairs and drives Greg CRAZY! Particularly because on our road trip from CA to Chicago he had to shlep my million bags from the car into motels every night.

Today we are going to Cleveland for the long weekend to visit Greg's grandmother, and I finally did it - I bought myself a proper weekend bag. I don't know what I was waiting for, it wasn't expensive, and it's not like it's purchasing something to last forever, in the end it was such an easy decision and I'm happy. I got a Lesportsac weekender bag, that was on sale at Shopbop. The one I got was a black quilted pattern, but they have other colors on sale that might be easier to use - with a big black bag things can disappear on the bottom, never to be found until you unpack completely and turn the bag over and shake it out.

I like this one -

There are other patterns available.

All by myself!

Somehow almost a month has gone by, we haven't gone anywhere and yet life gets in the way. Greg finished his Phd, that was incredibly exciting and such a relief, and then we had a little staycation, very relaxing. And even with all the sales all over the place, no shopping was done by us. Although I did just go to New York all by MYSELF last week. Yup, I left the babe with daddy and grandma and grandpa and flew the coop for the first time. It seems like a great time was had by all. In fact I'm not so convinced Nate noticed I was gone, or I suppose he had to notice but he didn't care too much, which is a good outcome. Now I know I can leave him occasionally and all will be well.

I tried to do a little shopping for myself while I was away, but all I really wanted to do was eat and drink (my first margarita in over 2 years I think! Pumping and dumping was a good thing) although I stopped into an Ann Taylor while waiting for friends and ended up buying a couple of sweaters that were ridiculously on sale - I highly recommend getting over to one those stores and seeing if there is anything you like. I bought a cowlneck sleeveless tunic sweater for $9.99 and I've pretty much worn it every day since I got back, so you know, cost per wear is going to be nothing very soon...I can't rip the photo from their site so click here to see it. It's longer on me than the model (no surprise there) and looks great with skinny or straight leg jeans and I've worn both black and brightly colored long sleeved tees underneath and it looks nice either way.

Aside from my sweater, I've been thinking about kids hats yet again because Nate tossed his out of his stroller the evening before I left and I didn't notice until later, once I went out to look for it it was long gone. I immediately ordered that Hanna Andersson hat I posted recently, and yesterday I found these -

 I found them here.

We Have a Picky One...

Something happened last week. Aside from Nate turning 1 I mean. He also became a picky eater. One day he ate everything I offered, and with gusto. The next he was pursing his lips and turning his head, a big fat "no thank you mama" from a pre-talker. Nice. What's a girl to do with a newly picky eater? I have no experience with this, my sister and I ate everything, including raw garlic (ahem, Erica).

But, Nate had decided he will eat bread and fruit, and some dairy products but only a bit. Awesome. Vegetables? Nope. The lentil soup he used to snarf down as quickly as I could shovel it in? No. Ditto for the spaghetti and meat sauce he used to love. sad. I love to cook and he will no longer eat what I prepare (except for the bread which I make).

Thank goodness for those pouches of organic babyfood. Brands like HappyBaby, Ella's Kitchen, Plum Organics and Sprout. They know how to hide the veggies in a way that even this picky eater will eat them. Broccoli? No problem as long as it's hidden in pears from Happy Baby. When mommy makes it he combs it off his tongue with his fingers. Really, he does that.

So, lucky for me Plum Organics pouches are on sale at Diapers.com, buy one get one free. It's a really good deal for good organic food in pouches that are made without all those scary materials (BPA, Phalates, etc). Use code PLUMGIFT.

Wait, Hanukkah Already?

For years I felt like all the holidays snuck up on me. In California, without real weather changes the High Holidays in the Fall were the worst, meaning a few days beforehand I would slap my forehead and realize we didn't have dinner plans. That was of course before we started going to Greg's aunt and uncle's place every year. Hanukkah isn't a big deal, it's not a religious holiday, and the gift-giving is pretty much for kids (and Nate was born on the last day of the holiday). The only real ritual is lighting the menorah (and eating fried food, yum) and usually I would forget until the day it started and have to run around looking for candles.

Now that we have Nate things are a little different. I plan ahead more, look at the calendar, think about what we are going to do. But I was still shocked to go to Target yesterday to find that almost all the hanukkah decorations were already sold out, and at Michael's they were already on the sale rack. We have more than 10 days people, what do you expect?????

If you are like me and haven't been preparing already, then there are still some things at Target, some very cute menorahs actually. They have subdued traditional ones and wacky ones for the kids (sports theme, ballet theme, etc) and in the store I saw a very nice looking Noah's Ark menorah, although I think it was wood so not sure how that works out with candles. So, if you are putting this off get over there now to get what you need. I probably should have bought my candles yesterday but oops, totally forgot even as I was standing there looking at the display....

Sweet Gift Sets

Time is flying by, sweet baby Nate will be 1 on Friday! I can't believe it. It's also December, almost time for Hanukkah, Christmas...lots of gift giving. I got an email from Splendid about their gift sets which look really lovely, like this scarf set -

You can wear them separately or all together. A nice cozy gift.
They also have adorable sets for kids and babies, like this girls legging set -

and adorable baby rompers -

So much fun!

Rest for the weary bather (or their knees anyway)

I had a few clients a couple of years ago who all complained the knees of their jeans were fading, thinning and then ripping. As adult women who were long past the stage of thinking ripped jeans were cool they were dismayed that this was happening. Since I saw it in a few women all at once I realized it had to be from kneeling while they bathed their kids every night.

In Berkeley I also had to kneel to bathe Nate and it sucks. Mainly because I have bad knees anyway so this didn't really help the situation. Here I'm lucky that our bathtub has a wide enough side that I can sit on it comfortably.

But I did see these bath time kneeling mats that look amazing, I mean what a great idea. No regular bath or tub mat is thick enough to help, but these look really thick and plush, like a tumbling mat almost. These look like a great way to save your jeans, and your knees! Giggle has a couple of options, check them out -

This one is shaped like a whale, how cute!

Here is the top view of it -

That would make me happy I think, and you can hang it up from that loop if  you don't want to keep it on the floor all the time. I share my bathroom with Nate (it's the only bathtub) so I would rather have things that make me smile.


This one folds up so it's more compact for storage or carrying between bathrooms I suppose as well -

Either way, you can't lose. Find them both here -

A Zany Hat that just might stay on!

I have posted hats for kids and babies, it feels like lots of them, but most of them are no match for our little one who will rip it off if it isn't crazy glued to him. My sister suggested a balaklava but I hadn't looked for one and then I saw these from Hanna Andersson -

The Zippity Zany hat from Hanna Andersson, this is what it looks like on a kid -

And the mittens look like they'd be easier to get on, and with that string through our little man's coat, they won't get lost even if he rips them off his hands.



And then there is this too - Save Up to 50% OFF Select Items at Hanna's More the Merrier Sale! Nov 14 - Dec 18