So Shoe Me

This is why we moved to California...

It's January and we spent this weekend, at the park, I got to go on a hike with my girlfriends, and on Sunday we took Amelia to the zoo.  Being able to do this much outdoor activity at this time of the year puts us in the kind of mood where we drive around and just say to each other..."we live HERE."   Mike having grown up in upstate New York (where it's 9 degrees and snowing today ps) and me in Washington (where its likely raining) weekends like this are still a marvel to us.

End of the hike view.

Auburn, California

Here are the photos I took on Sunday after my friends Heather and Jen tried to kill me on a two hour hike.  (yes Heather, the hike takes two hours... not the single hour of fun walking you promised)  It involved much uphill hiking... Jen: "just don't look up and it won't seem so high."  and then an extensive downhill walk which apparenly you are supposed to RUN down.  As most of those who know me and my 9th grade PE teacher will confirm, "I choose not to run."  I just don't care for running.  But after one hour of fast-ish walking down, I did do a little running.  Thanks for making me go girls.  I'm just very very glad I didn't think I could do it with Amelia in my backpack.  Yeeks.

Today we took Amelia to the zoo and met up with her friend Elise.  It was another gorgeous day.  With very little hiking and absolutely level ground.  The girls had a great time at the zoo... only blocks from our home.  Again... we live HERE!

Dueling Ponytails with Flamingos

Riding the Croc

Monique & the Mango Rains

My bookclub & my bookclub shoes.

Friday/ Bookclub Shoes

Book Club this evening was amazing.  I am a founding member of a book club that has been in existence since 1999 when I first moved to California.  Members have come and gone, but we have always remained very heavy on the lawyer participants and around 6-8 members.  Tonight after over 100 books and years of reading, an author joined us for our bookclub. 

The book was "Monique & the Mango Rains" and the author was Kris Holloway.  I have to tell you, I was extremely nervous emailing her to ask her to join us.  ("what if we have no good questions?" "what if we don't like the book?" "what if she's bored by us?" "what if... what if???")  But - we all finished the book ... a testament to the book and our fear of a question/answer period.  We were all on time.  We actually had some good questions and all loved the book.  Highly recommended by all of us.  PLEASE find it in your local bookstore.

Kris, for her part, could not have been more amazing.  First of all, to be someone who goes to Mali and works with a midwife for two years... you have to be a pretty wonderful person, but on the phone, she was engaging, funny, laughed (with us I'm pretty sure), and just talked about her experience in Mali and writing the book.  It was perfect.  We were fairly giddy for hours afterwards and continued to talk about the book for hours.  and drink more wine...

Here we are after the wine with our books:

Bookclub Friday Night

She made me a mix tape!

I got an international birthday package in the mail the other day. (I know I wasn't going to talk about my birthday anymore, but oh well...)  My friend Blythe put together the cutest birthday package of a Cute Litte Birthday Bag she made for me and some yummy international chocolate, and a really cute mix CD for Amelia's upcoming birthday.  It should also be noted that she put together this package days before giving birth.  She's awesome.

She made me a mix tape!

I love this CD.  JCB is great song i'd never heard before - listened to it on the way to work.

Amelia loves dancing to "Upside Down" by Dianna Ross.

Blythe and I have been exchanging "care packages" ever since college when I sent her some necessary supplies to get her though a summer as a camp counselor. 

Her packages to me are always nicer... Thank you Blythe! 

Too cool for me already

Everytime I look at this photo I just think.... "Yeeshk... we are in some trouble ahead." It's pure karma that I had a girl.

We only turned our backs a second...

But apparently that's all it takes.   This is what happens when Mike and I are permitted to watch our child all by ourselves for three whole days without my mother's assistance.

What happens when we are in charge for 3 day weekend.

The last entry about my birthday...

I got a couple honest-to-goodness cards in the mail old fashion-ey style today.  One from one of my best friends from high school who has a birthday 3 days after me, and who I only hear from but once a year around our birthdays.  I miss him.  Another from my college roommate who I email on a daily basis and knows me just about better than anyone. 

 

Happy Birthday Card

Exhibit A:

Pros & Cons

Things you should not say to me on my birthday, some of which I didn't know you shouldn't say until they were said to me*:

1.  You look good FOR YOUR AGE.

2.  Seriously!  Hardly like a mom at all.

3.  C'mon, you should smile for your birthday!

4.  Where's the draft memo I asked for?

 

Things you should say to me on my birthday:

1.  I made the coffee already.

2.  I already wrote the check for the cleaning lady.

3.  Martinis at 5:00.

 

* to be edited throughout the day as people annoy or please me.

These boots are made for birthdays.

Boots at Work

It is Monday, and I did not too much energy for getting dressed.  Pretty standard grey/black outfit with my black boots.  Day before my birthday... where I will be turning the first of my "late" 30's.  Bleh. 

I walked to the car in the morning and my boots began to slide down my legs.  Yanked them up, kept on going.  They slid down again, and then a small piece of them fell off.  Seriously.  It does something bad to my shoe street cred to have saggy boots with bits falling off of them.  Plus, it was almost my birthday.

Convinced a work friend she was not so busy that she could not run across the street to buy black boots with me.  (soooo dangerous to work across the street from a mall).  I left with these ones.  Had to wear them out since boot bits were falling off all the way over to the mall.  And they were 50% off.  Also, I am very proud of my peer pressuring abilities.  Friend left with a pair of black boots too.  

Do you all buy yourself birthday gifts?

 

Happy New Year

After some confusion where Amelia called the snow, "sand" and Lake Tahoe the "ocean," we had a wonderful trip over New Year's weekend.  The went with some fun friends and their little girls, the place we stayed was great, we ate much more than necessary, and played in the snow with our kids and laughed a lot.   I also am considering myself to have won a game of Trivial Pursuit, since Mike and I had more pie pieces than everyone else when we quit as we were getting close to the New Year. 

Here are some photos of Amelia riding her snow car at Soda Springs, all bundled up getting ready for the snow, and next to her first live snowgirl (built by friends Matt & Elena).

First snow ride

My snow angel.

First snow girl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also very important - leopard print boots for Amelia.

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