Mother's Day

Mother's Day is always a day where I do a lot of reflecting on the mothers I've known and my own journey to motherhood. It's a celebration of the joy and inexplicable gratitude of being a mama to Miles; it's also a little bit of sadness for the pregnancies that didn't make it. One thing's for sure: being a mama has changed me. I look at other mothers who do things differently and my first inclination is no longer to judge, but to be open to ways different than my own. When I'm judged, I still freak out a little (after all, who wants to be told that you aren't doing something right, especially when it comes to your own child?) but quickly realize that what I'm doing is what's best for my boy and my family, and I have peace in that. 

Mothers come in all forms. Some of the women I've learned from the most don't have any children of their own. But they've mothered me, influenced me, and I look to them for inspiration. I'm thankful for my own mom, grandmothers, aunts, in-laws, and friends who all mean so much me and who now mean so much to Miles. I don't know what I'd do without you all.

Happy Mother's Day!

Park Hoppin'

Miles and I have been loving the park lately. I usually drive to Starbucks, get my drink and a slice of pumpkin bread for Miles, and then head over to the park where we spend lots of time laughing and playing together. I think my favorite part about going to the park is that normally there isn't a time limit to how long we can stay. It's just a time where everything else fades and it's just me and my boy (although lately we've been bringing my sisters along or meeting friends for playdates). He is growing so much- now he climbs the play structure and can go down the slides all by himself! I love him. Here are some pictures of our recent park outings:

Biting the Big Apple, Part II

I'm finishing this semester in the next couple of weeks so I've been up to my eyeballs in homework! I've been looking for a chance to finish writing about our New York trip so let's pick up where I left off.

We arrived at our hotel a little after 2 a.m. on Friday and woke up a few hours later to find it pouring rain. Our breakfast reservation was at Balthazar so we hailed our first taxi and enjoyed a delicious first meal in New York- Parker had their doughnuts and I enjoyed eggs (they were the best eggs I've ever had) and a chocolate croissant. (There's a couple things I should probably mention at this point. Firstly, hailing taxis was probably my favorite "New York" thing to do in the city- enjoying all the amazing food was a very close second.)

photo credit

After breakfast we still were feeling a little tired from all our travels, so we headed back to the hotel. After a little snooze I got a text from my best blogger friend, Chrystal, and we decided to try out DreamDry, Rachel Zoe's blow dry bar. I took a peek out of the window as I was putting on my coat and it didn't look like it was raining so I didn't grab my umbrella. Mistake. As soon as I stepped out onto Madison Avenue, the sky opened and it started absolutely pouring! Of course, all the taxis were taken so I had the craziest time running around trying to find a car but eventually I found one and was soon on my way. I was pretty excited to meet Chrystal (yes, we've been friends since before Miles was born but had never met) and get our hair done! Our experience at the salon was mixed. I had a great stylist, Ian, who gave my hair volume that initially felt more like Toddlers and Tiaras volume than fab volume but it did settle into a great look by the evening. Chrystal's stylist, on the other hand, looked like she was completely over it and was irritable from the get-go. Chrystal wound up finishing up her own hair! As we were leaving I realized that I was about to walk out into the rain with freshly styled hair, so Chrystal and I huddled under her umbrella and rushed over to Mario Batali's Eataly where we enjoyed some fantastic lunch and wine in the upstairs restaurant. It was so nice to finally chat together not just online but in person over some great food. 

The Crosby Hotel (photo credit)

I could go on and on in detail about all the wonderful restaurants we enjoyed so I'll list them all and spend a moment on the places that truly stood out.

Restaurants:

Prime BLT Bistro- Chrystal was so right when she suggested the potato au gratin as a side. It was life-changing.

Serafina- besides the bumping club music at 11 a.m., not bad but not great.

Poco- no...just no. We wondered what took so long for our food to arrive, and it wasn't worth the wait.

L'Artusi- a must-visit; try the potato gnocchi with lamb shank ragu. We loved it so much we ordered a second serving!

Rubirosa- I had their vodka sauce pizza- beyond delicious.

photo credit

Drinks and Snacks:

Pegu- nice atmosphere for drinks with friends; tasty drinks.

The Crosby- delicious small plates to pair with an afternoon drink; Chrystal and I spent all afternoon here chatting and snacking. If you visit, try the goat cheese and pumpkin croquettes or the lamb kebabs. Note: beware of the $25 cocktail!

Soho Grand- after snacks at The Crosby, Chrystal and I snagged a comfortable sofa and enjoyed some chocolate lava cake while we people watched and rested from all our retail therapy.

Russ & Daughters- Best. Bagel (and Lox). Ever! It was delicious and we even met the owner, who stopped to talk with us and asked us if we had any Santa Barbara golfing connections (we don't). 

Parker and I visited the Met and the Museum of Natural History and loved both. We could have walked around for days just absorbing all the beautiful pieces of art and looking up at the dinosaur fossils in amazement. Sadly, we didn't get to visit any other art museums but that's just something to look forward to on our next trip.

photo credit

Leaving New York was bittersweet, but the memories of our trip will be a happy reminder of all the fun that was had. Many, many thanks to Chrystal for showing me off the touristy path. If you've visited New York, leave a comment with your favorite spot so I can keep a little list for next time!

Interlude

credit: Demetri Martin

While I'm finishing up my second post on our New York weekend, I thought I'd post a brief interlude on my thoughts lately. Demetri Martin's "success chart" at right sums it up; Joanna from A Cup of Jo wrote such a well-timed post about the many paths to success. Truthfully, though, it wasn't the post that brought a sense of relief- it was the comments! So many different readers contributed with their own stories of jumbled beginnings, years spent doing other things because they were afraid to really go for it (love, turning their passion into a career, etc), and an eventual "Aha!" moment. I felt such a metaphorical cloud lift when I read all these journeys! In a world of people looking to stand out from the crowd, sometimes the biggest relief is to know you're not exempt from a human condition- of not being able to see the road ahead with sparkling clarity. Because while there are people who've got it all figured out, there are just as many people who haven't. Thank goodness.

I hope you're all having a great weekend.

Biting the Big Apple, Part I

Whew. I'm finally getting a chance to really sit down and write about our long weekend in NYC. Miles and I have been pretty inseparable since I got home (I not-so-secretly love it), and I have just been wanting to soak up time with him since we got back. But, just like I kept thinking about Miles while we were away, I now keep thinking about New York.

Let's start at the beginning. Parker had been in San Diego for a conference, so we met in the middle and stayed at the Custom Hotel near LAX on Thursday night. I had booked the Park and Fly package so we could leave our car, but somehow the reservation got mixed up and there was an issue with parking- the main reason we booked the room there! Everything worked out fine, though, because the customer service team there was super helpful in making sure that we not only got a spot for our car but also were upgraded to a huge suite. Parker arrived at the hotel first and called to let me know just how great our room was (actually, it was more like, "What did you say to make them upgrade us to a room like this?" and I can tell you that honestly they were just great about making sure we were happy after the mix-up. I used to be on the receiving end of customer service phone calls so I always try to keep that in mind when things don't go according to plan). Anyway, the room was wonderful and was the size of a small apartment- two full bathrooms, a bedroom, and a living room! At night we could see the airplanes making their returns to LAX and enjoyed watching the line of other planes in the sky waiting for their turn to land.

We woke up Friday ready to go. We didn't really have anything else to do but just head to the airport and wait for our flight, so we hopped on the hotel shuttle and arrived at LAX with hours to spare. Our flight was actually delayed, so we decided to buy day passes to the Virgin America lounge. I am so glad we did that! WiFi, comfortable chairs, TV, air conditioning, snacks, and an open bar were all included in the price of the pass. (Side note: I highly recommend the Virgintini if you want to try a drink before you fly!)

Fast forward a few hours and we were finally on the plane. Parker isn't a fan of flying (I don't mind it at all), but thankfully Virgin America has live TV available to watch and WiFi (for a high price). I was pleasantly occupied by reading a new issue of The New Yorker and keeping my TV on Bravo.

 Fast forward another few hours and we had arrived safe and sound at JFK. We grabbed our luggage from baggage claim and met our driver, who no doubt was up past his bedtime (our flight didn't get in until a little before 2 a.m.!). We started driving into the city and as the buildings got closer and closer I felt the excitement building in my chest and creeping up to my throat- I could not stop smiling. I was finally here, in this city I've wanted to see all my life!

The driver pulled up to Morgans Hotel New York, where we were going to be staying for the next four nights. The staff was so courteous and welcoming- even at two in the morning- and gave us our keys. We took the elevator up to the ninth floor and walked into our suite. It was love at first sight! I have to tell you, I had high expectations for this hotel and Morgans exceeded every one. We had a huge window that looked down onto Madison Avenue and looked up to the Empire State building. As I looked out the window, it really hit me that I was in New York! Both Parker and I slept so well (you never know what to expect with hotel beds) and in the morning it was nice to sit at the window and plan what we were going to do that day. I never went up to the Penthouse for breakfast until the morning we were leaving, and I regret that because it was delicious! My only criticism (and it's really more of a suggestion than a criticism), is that the mirrors in the bathroom are really high! I had to stand in front of the full-length mirror in the closet to do my makeup and the lighting wasn't as good. All vanity aside, it was one of my favorite places we've ever stayed and I would definitely stay at another Morgans hotel.

Stay tuned for part two!

We're Here!

Actually, we've been here since the wee hours of Friday morning and we're leaving today! I'm going to write a post of our trip as soon as I can. It's been amazing!

Yikes (A PSA to the Blogosphere)

Every once in a while I "clean house" in the comments section of my Blogger account to get rid of spam that sometimes wiggles its way into being published here on the blog. Today, I was surprised to see that mixed in with the spam were two surprises: one delightful... and one nasty. I'm not used to even seeing comments like that on my blog; this one came totally out of left field and made me wonder, "Now, what exactly did I do to this person?" (Answer: nothing.) That got me thinking about times I've seen other bloggers get harassed in the comments of their posts- sometimes it's because they asked for it (there's only so much whining a reader can take...speaking of which, I'm wrapping this post up in a second- promise), and other times it's completely unwarranted. I just want to give a little reminder to all the bloggers and readers out there that even though we're communicating through the Internet, we're all human. If you have a sincere concern, feel free to send me an email. There's no need to get testy- and if you really feel the need to lash out at someone, at least have some cojones and don't hide behind the name Anonymous. It's not a good look.