family, woodworking, photography, K-pop
So Mimi, while continuing to be totally adorable and easygoing during the day, has been waking up two or three times during the night for about the past 6 weeks.
And it is WRECKING me.
I have some fun posts planned but first I need to clear this fog from my head.
My brother-in-law’s new book is coming out next Tuesday! Right now I’m reading an advance copy and I’m really enjoying it.
If you, like me, you tend to read more fiction than nonfiction don’t let that scare you off. Maphead,
So yeah, you should probably pick up a copy. Amazon has Maphead for preorder at $15
*This is an affiliate link. I was not compensated in any way for this review beyond the warm fuzzy feeling I get from sharing something I like with my readers and getting to brag a bit about my family.
Here’s a photo I took from the Ferris Wheel and ran through a tilt-shift effects generator. This year I had a plastic Diana lens on my DSLR so the starting photo wasn’t tack-sharp to begin with and so the overall effect isn’t as strong as last year’s photos (here). But it’s still fun to play around like this 🙂
We like to visit the state fair every year and so on Saturday we packed the kids into the car and drove up to Salt Lake. Since we were so close by we first stopped for lunch at Red Iguana 2.
This second location is just blocks away from the original and has the same fantastic food but is less crowded and more kid-friendly. After a lunch of the best Mexican food around (Seriously, if you haven’t been, you need to go and try one of the moles!) we drove over a couple of blocks, parked for free on the little street where we usually park and went to the fair.
We looked at the folk art (check out that amazing Dear Jane quilt in the middle photo), pet the livestock, rode some rides, got E some cotton candy and a balloon animal, and left ten minutes before the little guy reached his limit and melted down. And during all of that Mimi chilled in her stroller like a champ.
The fair runs through September 18th and you can buy discount tickets at Smith’s or online.
Fall always makes me a little wistful for those square pieces of pizza we used to get in elementary school. They were totally the shiz.
20×200 and Tiny Showcase are two of my favorite places online to browse for affordable art. I’ve bought a few prints from Tiny Showcase over the last few years, mostly work by Scott C and Jen Corace, but I haven’t bought anything from 20×200–yet.
I have a voucher to 20×200 that I bought on one of those deal-of-the-day sites burning a hole in my pocket and these are some prints that have caught my eye.
28 Camera Drawings by Christine Berrie
Memories of Festivals by Tatsuro Kiuchi
Squeeze by Gary Petersen
What do you think? Do any of these (or anything else on 20×200) strike your fancy?
Dear Mimi,
We had some fun adventures this summer. I took you on your first plane ride. You and your brother and I flew to Seattle to visit my parents. Because they’ve been in poor health this last year and unable to travel this was the first time they met you in person. They loved you like I knew they would and it made me happy to see you together.
Then your dad and the rest of my family came to town and then we all went to Ocean Shores, WA for a family reunion. Even though your nap schedule got shuffled around you were a trooper during all the chaos. You loved being around all the kids and your cousins Ivy and Clara doted on you ridiculously.
It would be fun if I could say that you loved the ocean at first sight, that you felt a primal oneness with that great force which settled over you as a mystical calm. But mostly you were just upset about the wind blowing in your face.
After the Ocean Shores the four of us (I love saying “the four of us”) drove down the the coast to Rockaway Beach, OR. It was a leisurely drive along the winding Pacific Coast highway, through the sort of lush green gray scenery that never fails to make me feel at home. For the most part you were content to nap or be entertained by your brother’s clowning. It was a lovely, lovely drive.
And then we were in Oregon. Our beach house there was right on the beach, so close that instead of plugging in the white noise machine we run at home to help you sleep I could open the windows and let the sound of the waves fill the room. As soon as you heard them you felt at home and your eyes would immediately start fluttering shut. (Because your first teeth were coming in your eyes had trouble STAYING shut, but whatever.)
You loved watching all your cousins run around from the safety of our arms. With all aunts and grandma around you had plenty of people willing to hold and snuggle you. Fortunately you weren’t clingy and went to whoever wanted to hold you.
During these last two months you did a slew of things for the first time: you rolled from your back onto your tummy, you got your first tooth (bottom front right), you started giving kisses (e.g. opening your drooling mouth as wide as you can and mashing it on my face while humming–let’s just say I’m looking forward to your form improving a bit), and you learned to sit up on your own.
There were ups-and-downs but this summer was wonderful. Some things are more complicated now (e.g. it’s harder to leave the house on time or work on my reports or get dinner on the table as planned) but it’s just so satisfying to have you around. Your sweet presence is like a balm that soothes an itch I didn’t know existed until it was gone.
Not much has going on around here. I’ve been spending most of my free time dithering over paint colors.
This is for the kid bathroom so right now I’m leaning third from the left, middle card. What do you think–too bright?
Baby beets!Do you like beets? When I was a kid my dad liked the canned pickled variety which never interested me. But over the last few years I’ve had beets in various dishes at one of my favorite local restaurants and I’ve fallen hard for them, particularly when they’re roasted. Roasted baby beets taste so fresh and sweetly earthy.
Since the greens were kind of scabby (see: 4 weeks of neglect) I didn’t use them. After I cut off the tops (leaving behind about 2 inches of the stems so the beets wouldn’t bleed their juices out) I wrapped the beets in foil and roasted them in the oven for about an hour. Once they cooled I peeled off their skins, sliced them, and then added them to a variation of this salad.
I added chunks of avocado and served it with fresh greens instead of cooked ones. It was delicious AND I got the added bonus of feeling virtuous since beets are so good for you. Win-win!
Lately Mimi has been going gaga over N. Her personality is really starting to shine and she is quickly wrapping him around her little finger.
Yesterday after church I walked into the family room and saw this:
I couldn’t help exclaiming “Awww!” which promptly woke her up. Oops.
And then there’s also this:
