This has been a very weird week. Who needs a hug? Who needs a drink? Who needs to vent? Who has a bit of good news or a funny story to share?
Let’s re-convene here on Monday and hope for a much, much better week.
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This week I wore open toe shoes and walked around without a jacket — with bare arms, even! — so life is pretty good. I got so much sunshine earlier this week, I feel like my serotonin levels are sky-high. I don’t even mind that today is a rainy Friday. I didn’t even mind yesterday when Jackson’s babysitter had a doctor’s appointment and Drew had to work late and I was Jackson’s sole caregiver for 12 hours straight. It was exhausting though and I was ready for bed at 8 PM. Seriously, if I didn’t feel like such a lame-o, I would have crawled into bed and gone straight to sleep, but Drew had just gotten home and I wanted to spend at least a little time with him before I passed out, so we watched some of “Project Runway” (is anyone else watching this season? Who do you pick to win?) and I fell asleep halfway through.
As I said, it’s a rainy Friday, and I’m actually sort of happy about that. After I write a couple columns for next week, I’m going to start cleaning out my closet, which I know doesn’t sound exciting in the least, but I LOVE cleaning out closets. Especially when it’s rainy/kinda gross out and I don’t feel like I’m missing out by being indoors. The big challenge will be to get Drew to help me over the weekend since half of the closet (we have a big, walk-in closet) is his crap and he needs to be the one to go through it. I’ve already found a few items of clothing that I never wore, that still have tags on them, that I’m gonna post on eBay next week. Maybe I’ll make enough cash to pay for a meal or two on our weekend getaway in a few weeks.
Yes, we decided on a place! We’re going to this beautiful area in the Hudson Valley, just an hour and a half north of the city (we’ll take the train straight there), surrounded by lush gardens and a farm and one of those fancy farm-to-table restaurants where a pile of roasted brussels sprouts cost 12 bucks and the cocktails are all “infused with herbs.” Jackson’s babysitter will stay at our place for the weekend and watch him and Drew and I will have two whole days to ourselves. I’m so excited I can’t even stand it. We’re going to sleep til, I don’t know, like maybe 10. Or 11! And eat whenever we want and not pick up food off the floor after every single meal. We’re going to day drink and walk leisurely through gardens and leave our room without spending 15 minutes making sure the diaper bag is fully stocked and listening to a toddler whine and whine and whine because we aren’t moving quickly enough.
What else? I rode my bike three times this week and found that the third time, after I pumped some more air in the tires, was much more fun than the first two rides around the park when I thought I was going to pass out and die. I’m thinking about taking a pilates mat class — there’s one offered in my neighborhood on Thursday nights and it’s one of those pay-what-you-want deals, which is right in my budget, so I’m kind of excited about that. Also, I found a great tinted moisturizer I started using this week with lovely results. I’m going to tell you all about it in a couple weeks when I do up a list on my Spring Faves. I know you’re all on the edge of your seats. In the mean time, happy spring, and enjoy your weekend.
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“Mad Men” starts up again on Sunday!! This first episode is gonna be two hours! It’s like 60 degrees here and sunny! By Tuesday it’s supposed to be close to 70! I took Jackson to Manhattan this morning to visit Drew at work, take a walk through Central Park, and have lunch with a friend! ZOU BISOU BISOU, life is good.
P.S. I need book recommendations, please. This one is getting lots of buzz. Has anyone read it yet? Any others I should consider?
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I took this picture on Wednesday morning at a play date at our friends’ place and instantly knew it would become a family classic. Jackson is wearing shoes a size too big for him because we left the shoes that are his current size at the Passover Seder we went to Monday night. (Side note: Jackson only has one pair of shoes per size because he outgrows them, on average, every six weeks. Every six weeks! I mean, that’s how often I need new deodorant — which is a lot cheaper than a new pair of Stride Rites, let me tell you). Anyway, Drew went to pick up the shoes at his cousin’s home during his lunch break on Tuesday, but he forgot to actually take the shoes out of his bag when he got home that evening and, thus, they accompanied him to work on Wednesday and poor Jackson was stuck wearing the too-big-for-his-feet shoes an extra day.
That explains the shoes. The outfit is another story. And to spare you all the gory details, I’ll just say that that is the spare outfit I keep in my diaper bag in case of emergency, and it was, indeed, an emergency. Of epic proportions. Which reminds me, I really owe my friend, whose home we were in when said emergency occurred, a new package of baby wipes (for I went through all of mine AND practically all of hers), and a bottle of wine for dealing with us. And the moral of that story is: Parents (especially new parents who haven’t thought of this yet): always have a spare outfit in your bag because you never know when you’ll need it.
Anyway, this photo really encapsulates the life and times of young toddler-hood (Jackson turns one and a half in a few days!). It’s crazy and colorful and messy and fun and every day is a new adventure. Jackson’s vocabulary is exploding (much like other parts of him…), and it’s always exciting to hear what new word he’ll learn next. He has names for a lot of people (and pets) in his life, one of the best of which is how he calls Simone “Ma-Mone.” I need to watch my own mouth though now that Jack has started mimicking us. Last week, he started saying “Dayum!!” which is really funny now, but I suspect there will be times and places it won’t be as amusing. Actually, no, it’s probably always going to be pretty funny. Come on, a little kid saying ” Dayum!”? That’s hilarious. Once he starts saying the F-word, though, I’m in trouble. So mama’s gotta keep a cork in it.
So, what funny things did you say as a kid? Are there any family classics (stories or pictures) involving you (or your kid)?
Also! Happy Easter to those who celebrate it. I get to see my friend Matt again (the one who performs on a cruise ship and docks in Manhattan every nine days) and then am going to an Easter dinner at our friends’ place in the afternoon. Saturday will likely be a day of rest and cooking Passover-friendly fare.
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Six Things:
1. It’s officially been spring for two days and yet it is still so frickin-frackin cold I just don’t know what. Ughhhhhh. I am dying to shed the layers, peel off my socks, slip into some flip-flops, and feel the warm sun on my bare arms like a hug.
2. Have y’all been watching “Top of the Lake,” a miniseries that premiered last Sunday on the Sundance channel? It’s really good, but watch it on iTunes if you can as the quality is way, way better than on Sundance. Basically, it’s the story of detective searching for a missing (and pregnant) 12-year-old girl (and also searching for who got the girl pregnant), but I suspect that that’s just the text and the subtext is where the real story-telling and character-development will happen. It’s shot in New Zealand and is visually stunning. Oh, and Elizabeth Moss (Peggy on “Mad Men”) plays the detective and she has a New Zealand accent, so there’s that.
3. I want to go to New Zealand.
4. I started a sort of diet this week which is really less a diet and more me just not stuffing my face all day. I also don’t eat bread during the week. Or ice cream. God, I love ice cream. And bread. But 5 PM Friday marks the start of the weekend, and I have a pint of ice cream in the freezer with my name on it. Actually, it does not have my name on it. It has the name of the flavor, which is Chocolate Flake, and I cannot wait to bury my face in it. Also, bagels on Sunday before Passover starts and I show my support for Drew by not eating eating bread for eight whole days.
5. I need a vacation. Ideally, to New Zealand, but since that won’t happen any time soon, I will settle on just a weekend getaway upstate. Drew and I have been talking about going away just the two of us. We haven’t had a real family vacation since last June and while we could go somewhere with Jackson for a week like we did last year, we decided that two days away without him would be far more relaxing and “vacation-like,” (if you consider sleeping past 6:30 am and not wiping someone else’s butt five times a day “vacation-like,” which, yes, please), so that’s what we’re gonna do. We haven’t settled on a place yet, so if you have a recommendation, let me know. We’re looking for a place we can get to via a train from NYC (less than three hours), unwind, eat good food, and maybe get a massage or something. And sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep. Oh my God, I cannot wait to sleep.
6. I thought I had more to say, but I just typed the word “sleep” five times and now I want to go take a nap for the 45 minutes or so left until Jackson wakes up from his.
Happy weekend!
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