weekend plus

A few late pictures from the weekend:

Giant milkweed seed pods:




Purple beans from the garden:




Turned into marinated bean salad a la J. Oliver:




We've been roasting peppers a lot too:




And we took Dashiell to the beach and let him roll around semi-neked on the blanket:



Here he is, all 5 months of him:



Man, it really does go by fast. He's just recently found the lower register of his voice. Which means he spends all day going, "heh. heh. heh. heh. heh. heh. heh. heh."

It's hilarious. And to his mama, pretty much the cutest thing ever.

Yummy Tummy baby food

Saw this at the Venice farmer's market on Friday:



Super fresh organic baby food! This is really only a good post if you live here because as far as I can tell, you can't buy it anywhere else so far. But I was mostly inspired by her pretty jars full of bright food. Her site has a list of some of her flavors, which might good to reference if you're into making your own.

I cannot WAIT to make baby food in all sorts of delicious combinations. We're getting close, but I have to say I'm not sure if I'm ready, weirdly. That will mean my baby is so big! Of course the lure of better sleep with baby cereal is tempting.

Also learned one v. interesting bit of information. She makes young coconut baby food, which is totally delicious. I tasted it. But more importantly it has a nutrient (I forget what it is) that is only found in young coconuts and breast milk. Isn't that cool? So if you are feeding your baby formula for one reason or another, you could supplement them with a bit of pureed coconut too.

My friend Ami recommended Super Baby Food as a good reference for making your own. So far it seems to have lots of great info. Ami, btw, makes insanely delicious sounding food for her daughter Lila. Like sweet potatoes with cumin and ginger. I would totally eat that.

Rifle does a recipe box

Which I very badly need. Want is not the appropriate word. Need.



And she of course makes pretty recipe cards too. I already sent the link to Brock. Like, um, dear husband? If you were perchance looking to buy me a gift in the the near future? This would be the one.

some things for Friday

After a solid hour or so of internet surfing yesterday. Oopsies! Haven't done that in a while. Sometimes I miss those days of tireless trolling of the internets.

But look what I found:

These cute fabrics from Umbrella Prints on Etsy:




This cute honeycomb teething toy from Asher Jasper... also, shockingly on Etsy:




Wait one more from etsy, cute city prints would make nice decor in a kids room:




Pretty cake plates from Ninainvorm (etsy):




This very studly track jacket on super sale at Polarn O. Pyret (am currently resisting):




And then there's this book I spotted in the new Martha. Pretty sure I need it.



I'm not going to count how many times I said cute in this post.

Hope you all have a hot hot weekend, with lots of delicious cocktails to cool you down. I'm hoping to scratch around a bit in the garden and give my baby 1mm kisses. He is getting to be pretty unbearably cute, if I do say so myself.

Bugaboo vs. BOB - a stroller review

I think it's safe to say that when you're excited about a stroller comparison for your blog, you are officially moving into mommy blogging territory. Whoops! When did that happen?

But I'm so beside myself with joy now that we have a BOB that I had to share. Mostly because for other pregnant ladies out there, I thought you might enjoy a comparison.



I shall begin by saying that I am coming from a v. biased place at the moment. We got our BOB on Friday and I haven't so much as sniffed in the direction of the Bugaboo since then. But I will also say that the Bugaboo is a great stroller. It's gorgeous and smooth and fun to drive and served as Dashiell's bed for his first 4 months. Which is why I thought this post might be helpful for moms to be who are pondering the great stroller debate.


Bugaboo

Love it because it's convertible. We used the bassinet as a bed for 4 months and snapped the carseat on the wheels when we needed a stroller. I felt so smug about not buying a separate bassinet for the house, especially since our house is tiny and we don't need anymore furniture. I highly recommend this option if you plan to buy a Bugaboo or any of the other stroller systems out there. It's also great for walking around town, shopping, and light strolling. But it's a big stroller. And when you attach the cup holder (which is essential), beware of door frames and people's pockets. Seriously. the first day I had it on the stroller, I was walking into the post office and snagged a man's pocket on the way in. He's all, "OH, hey hey!" as I dragged him along with me. AWKWARD.

The downside is that it's expensive. And it's not GREAT for legit walking. It's fine, but you get held up by rough road and cracks and such. And I'm afraid it's going to spend many a month packed up in the garage until Melanie and Sky have a baby. At which point I am forcing them to use it as their first stroller because making it the family Bugaboo is the only way I can feel okay with abandoning it until our next baby. Plus, if you're an active person and intend to get a BOB anyway, you might consider going straight for the jogger. Also, it's two pieces and kind of annoying to collapse.


BOB

Words cannot express how much I love our BOB. It's so smooth and agile and takes cracks in sidewalks like a champ. It has a massive sunshade and the storage basket is open, which makes it WAY easier to use. (The Bugaboo storage has a drawstring top that is always getting in the way). It collapses like a dream and is just one piece, which makes wrestling with it in the car so much more manageable. It's half the price of a Bugaboo and of course you can run with it, which is awesome. Plus it loves the beach. Because I can't resist posting a photo of Judah and his little headband, here he is on the beach with our BOB in the background:



On top of all of that, it just feels more like me. I think that's maybe the most important part. Finding a stroller that feels like you, because let's face it, it becomes part of your identity. In my heart, I'm an active camping running kind of girl who is happy sitting around in sweaty running clothes all day on the weekend.

If I would have known this before we had a baby, I think I would have opted to skip the Bugaboo altogether and get the carseat attachment for the BOB. But this first go, we are learning on the fly.

If you do get a BOB, I would also highly recommend the warm fuzzy seat liner and the cup holder. Even when it's warm out, the faux sheepskin is supposed to keep baby cooler than the regular seat. But we'll see about that now that summer has set upon us with a vengeance.

Last week it was 64 and overcast and now it's bright and sunny and 80. Yessss.

That wasn't the greatest comparison, was it? Bottom line, figure out what kind of stroller you need. But if you're going to get a jogger/walker anyway and you don't have endless money to spend on baby things, consider going straight for the BOB.

m•o•m

We stumbled on the most cutest little garage shop in Encinitas over the weekend, just next to the Hansen's ski treadmill (those of you north county folks will know what I mean). It's called M•O•M and it's full of little handmade clothes and toys and buntings and such, styled perfectly with vintage toys and tables. It's exactly what I thought I'd be doing after I had a baby... sewing bloomers and the like. Turns out, NOT! Maybe some day sooner than later I will finish the crib bumpers I started?

But at least there is one mom out there making things I'd like to make one day:



See, it's a tiny little shop, but just the perfect size for what it is.



Cute bunting from vintage hankies.





Little bow ties.



And sunsuits from a vintage pattern.



And ties.



Standing there I had the perfect "I'm sad and glad I don't have a girl" moment. Sad because I couldn't buy vintage sunsuits and dresses and aprons and buntings. Glad for the same reason. Instead I bought a little set of bean bags, which are the perfect size and weight for little hands learning to grab and carry and other important life skills.

Of course I didn't have my real camera, but iPhone is surprisingly good in a pinch.

Love MOM. LOVE.

dreaming of camping

This photo in the recent Patagonia catalog makes me desperate to plan a camping trip with my children who are older than 4.5 months. The majority of our vacations involved tents and coleman stoves when we were young, and now that I'm the mama I can't wait to take my babies to the dirt too.



It was always so exciting, making pancakes outside in the morning and sitting around the fire at night.

We're contemplating a weekend at El Capitan Canyon this fall. It's sissy camping, but probably all we'll be able to manage this first year of parenthood. Or if we get really adventurous we might try for a night at Sycamore Canyon, up past Malibu, but that might be advanced for our current state.

Most likely the closest we'll get to camping is a week in Yosemite with my family this August. In a house... but a house in Yosemite which surely smells like fallen pine needles and campfire all the same.

Little Winter

Of course this cute handmade market is in Portland... the land of all things crafty and hip and pretty. I spotted it on Unruly Things yesterday when I was checking up on our guest post we did for Alyson while she's off getting married.





I would love to take a little vacation up that way this year, but we have so many things on the calendar that it's probably wishful thinking. Maybe summer 2011? That's when things free up a little. Which is scary considering how exhausting it is to travel with a baby. I assume it gets easier as baby gets older? And conceivably sleeps more?

holiday weekend... sans summer

Can someone please tell me what happened to our budding summer? It was mostly grey and sad all weekend and this morning it's raining. Come on! This is July, universe. Pls send warm weather soon.

Some things we did:



Plucked radishes for salad




Took the baby to First Friday's on Abbot Kinney, where we attempted to get a drink at The Tasting Kitchen. They have delicious drinks, btw, with all sorts of yummy ingredients.




We ended up enjoying our libations in the entry, while Dashiell played in the corks.




Walked to our local farmer's market for dinner supplies... this is why you have a stroller apparently.






And had 4th of July dinner with Melanie and Sky in the backyard. Tequila cocktails and quinoa burgers. I can't drink tequila due to an old drinking injury from college and my quinoa burger recipe needs work. But it was delicious and fun any way.

Need sunshine now. Need.

Milk & Paper shop

Of course it's French and everything is in Euros and she probably doesn't ship to the US. But it's still nice to look at, no?



Lots more pretty things in the Milk & Paper shop.

WAIT, she does ship internationally. It looks as though you can send her an email with the products you want and she'll bill you through paypal. Or something like that. This is all based on my ability to read French via my command of Spanish, mind you.

Very tempting...