Grateful For......

The magical thing that is a boy and his dog. And maybe even more so, for the opportunity to have a boy and his dog!

Thankful for puppies who have stopped chewing on everything and EVERYONE. And a boy who has now formed a special friendship and bond with said puppy. After she stopped trying to chew him ...... (Their current obsession: watching Full House reruns together.)

Grateful for the discovery that when puppies continue to wake up at 6:00am, even on weekends- after a quick potty trip, you can get them to go back to sleep if you snuggle on the couch.

And I'm happy for early birthday presents! The homemade kind. This time it was a "BMO" scarf made from a tutorial found on Red & Rosy! BMO, for those of you who don't know, is the adorable, little:
" living video game console, portable electrical outlet, music player, roommate, camera, alarm clock, toaster, flashlight, strobe light, skateboarder, friend, soccer player, video editor, video player, tape player and Chef."

From the cartoon "Adventure Time." One of Noah's favorites!

Speaking of birthdays!!!! I'm grateful for TEN wonderful years with this guy! :) And for the early birthday morning present opening party. And REALLY grateful that when he woke up the first time at 4:30am, he knew on his own that it was TOO EARLY to wake us up. 6:00 am was a much more human time on a Sunday morning! (Not really, but I'll take what I can get.)

I'm very lucky to be able to capture that look of childhood thrill when opening the present that you wanted so badly.  And HOW did that wrapping paper fly up like that!? Weird!

And honestly, what is truly more wonderful than having one's Grandparents gathered around him to help celebrate?

 \(^-^)/ Isn't that nice!? We walked to lunch, a restaurant that Noah picked. He specifically went for the fire roasted asparagus and truffle pizza. That was YUM! 

And finally on the Noah birthday front, I am grateful that these three guys blew out the candles together and I was able to get a shot in time! I hope his wish came true...... :)

Moving on! Although to some people this might be a bit nerdy, or a small thing, I can't tell you how thankful I am for the bird watching in my backyard. I thought I'd have to stop for good, now that we have Josie. It was bitter sweet for me. I was feeling sad as fall began, thinking about all of the migrating and wintering birds I'd miss. Then though, I came up with a plan. First I took down all of my feeders out in the yard, under the pergola. I was going to try "controlled"small-scale bird feeding.  I'd only have a few feeders, close to the house, gated off below so that Josie couldn't get to the feeders or any of the shells that might drop. Jon bought me this great bird feeder pole! It's PERFECT! We also purchased some wire garden fence and fenced off a large rectangle below the feeders. So far, so good! Even the squirrels have steered clear because they can't climb the pole. I haven't seen a single squirrel in this area.

I could not believe my luck, when in just a few days, one of my favorite birds, the Red-Bellied Woodpecker showed up at my suet feeder! Isn't she pretty?

We've had Black Capped Chickadees, White-Breasted Nuthatches, Dark-Eyed Junkos, Cardinals, Tufted Titmice, Sparrows, A House Finch, lots of Goldfinches, Mourning Doves, Bluejays, Downey Woodpeckers, and a Hairy Woodpecker.

What, WHAT is more beautiful than a bright Cardinal in the snow? It makes me so happy. :)

One great thing about the bird feeding and the bird watching, is that it's live television for Willow and Josie too! They love to "bird watch!"

Or..... maybe it's the other way around.... the birds like to watch them.........

I am grateful for cute dog coats and the willing dogs that wear them. (Really, seriously, it's COLD here. Cold enough for a dog coat. Tomorrow's HIGH is 27 degrees Fahrenheit/ -2 Celsius.)

Which brings me to something else that I am very happy for - the SNOW!!!! I know that in public, I make small talk, and nod my head when other people say how much they hate the snow. I nod my head because I understand their frustrations, but truthfully, I happen to LOVE the snow! Sure, I agree that driving is treacherous (heck, I have a Mini!) and icy sidewalks are scary and shoveling is big job, but the beauty of snow, it's unmatched.

Every single morning that we can, which is most, Josie and I go out for our big walk. We do a 1.3 mile loop down into the neighborhood and up into town, which might not sound like a lot, but when your inseam is 4", it's a lot! Also, there is a big, long hill and lots of stops at every tree and fence and wall, so it takes us about 50 minutes. But anyway, it's always so wonderful. Yesterday we even saw a red fox with a white tail off in the distance in a park. And with the snow now, it's even more fantastic! Crisp, clean, morning air to start the day. It's definitely one of the best parts of my day, and I am really glad I get to do it!

These photos are not in chronological order, but I was VERY thankful for a lovely fall, with fantastic fall foliage and gorgeous days so we could all go to the park. <3 p="">

While since becoming a puppy parent, I haven't had as much time as usual to cook, once in a while you get in a nice dish. This was my take on the freshest Greek Salad I could come up with. Cucumbers, red onion, cherry tomatoes, olives, croutons, beets and feta. (Now I'm hungry just typing this!)

Ah! I was super grateful to have the right to VOTE! WOO HOO! Get out and vote! I don't know, every time, the exciting feeling never gets old.

Another birthday! Actually, this was Jon's birthday, and his was a couple of weeks before Noah's. (These pictures are really out of order.) I am thankful for another birthday together with Jon. I remember him when he had just turned 19! I remember Jon's 24th birthday when we felt so OLD.... Lol. (We went to karaoke with friends. He was on crutches and sang Mack the Knife on stage.

This was an "invention cake." Meaning, I invented it. The cake was kind of lope-sided. It was a vanilla cake with coconut buttercream and chocolate chip filled raspberries for decoration.
We didn't do much for his mid-week birthday (Jon is not the biggest fan of making a fuss over his special day), but I did get to take him out for dinner over the following weekend.

Times like these. I know they don't last forever.  Homework after dinner, together. So nice.

Ah, the BMO scarf makes it's return! I'm thankful that I have a kid who is still willing to wear my handy-craft. This is a picture of the TODDLER hat that he found this weekend and declared it to be an "awesome beanie hat!" It was a prototype that I made ten years ago or more, for a craft fair. Those are puffball snowmen with goggly eyes and sparkly snowflakes on it.

I am happy that for two more years, I get to experience the "school birthday treat." This year it was Rice Krispie treats with sprinkles on top! He looks proud. :)

And last but not least, I'm thankful for YOU! \(^-^)/

Until next time, stay warm!

xoxoxoxoxo,

Lauren 

Brief Home Buying Insanity, Anxiety & the Clothing of Annie Hall. Plus Birds and Cats and Crafting of Course.

Dear Internet, 

I know that the format of most of my recent posts have all been the same lately - mainly boring photos and their equally mundane descriptions. But, it's summer, so I plead your forgiveness. 

There's just so much going on in summer you see. At least in these northern parts. When it gets cold, it stays cold, for a long long time. When warmer weather rolls around, everybody just kind of packs in all of the outdoor adventures and and visiting that they can. 

I am hoping though, with fall's arrival, that I'll get back on a better writing schedule. 

In the meantime, here is some more of what we've been up to.

Last week, for about 24 hours, I went into a state of compete home buying insanity. I am....ashamed.  Although I love our current house, and I feel strong attachment and responsibility to her, for one, brief day, I was unfaithful. I lusted after another house in a nearby village. 

It started innocently enough. I was searching for a link for last week's post on the Village of Franklin. Franklin is the smallest, most quaint and lovely little village around. A place that I've wanted to live in for years and years. We're talking decades. I've always been enamored with the old time-y sweetness of the place. It's even called: "The Town that Time Forgot." Which says to me: "Perfect, let's move there."

Jon and I settled on living in our our current city, which is not Franklin, because Franklin was a bit too slow for Jon's tastes, and I'm sure that my years of enthusiastic Franklin pushing must have been annoying. Being the super nice guy that he is, I known that Jon would have humored me and would have moved to Franklin had we not found a great house where we are now, but I felt it was important to live somewhere that we BOTH could feel good about. So, Franklin was taken off the tables during our last move.

While searching for the Franklin link last week, one of the results that came back was from Zillow on current Franklin homes for sale. Naturally, just for fun, I clicked through! And there it was... a beautiful, beautiful, HISTORIC home in my tiny, little dream neighborhood. Which, the neighborhood only happens to be just about three streets big, so it's not often that you find a house for sale in just the right place and just the right perfect. It was light and bright and from 1840 (WOW!). Also, it had the handful of things that our beloved current house does not have, that we would really like.... ie.) a bit more space, a two-car garage, a finished basement, formal dining room, more than two bedrooms, several bathrooms, and presumably more than just the two interior temperatures of burning hot and freezing cold. 

(Photo: Zillow.com)

Don't get me wrong, let me re-iterate how much we adore our current humble abode, it's just that sometimes the prospect of having somewhere to put your second car inside during the icy winter, or the thought hosting Thanksgiving not in your kitchen is just so enticing!!!!

We looked at the house's photos, read the description, talked about it. Did some math. Then I convinced Jon to take us over after dinner for a wee look. We first stopped at an old farmhouse in Franklin that was converted in to a coffee/ice cream shop. It's just a street away from the house for sale. Noah had an ice cream cone and I coffee. Then we walked. We walked down the quiet dream neighborhood street, admiring the large trees and cute, old houses. I was so excited. I imagined Noah riding his bike up and down the block, and me, happily living in this peaceful, secluded neighborhood.  Hanging seasonal garland along the house's white picket fence. Wearing more flannel, and almost never leaving the house. I might even give up my cell phone! It would be so old-school New England. Just.the.way. I. want. it.

My eyes were welling up with tears when we saw the beautiful, yellow house up ahead. Both because I thought, Ah! IT WOULD BE SO WONDERFUL TO LIVE HERE! and also because I felt, Ah! I feel so terribly guilty thinking about any house other than my own! 

By the way, just to explain the attachment to our present home - I feel a true and deep sense of obligation to our house to both appreciate it and keep her safe! She is sitting on a downtown lot, and there are not many residential lots in our downtown. It's sadly popular here to tear down small, old houses and build giant new ones on the lot. Our house is historically registered, so technically, you can not tear it down, at least the original front portion. The last owner fought the city and tried to get plans approved to remove the house and build something bigger. They were rejected. Then he brought forth a plan to turn our house, the front portion into a GARAGE and then to build a big foot house in the back. Those plans were not approved either, thankfully!  Fast forward about ten years.... I have heard that once in a while, a historic designation can be removed, and a home can be torn down. So, my fear is that one day, if we ever moved, somebody would not want our little home, but our lot, and would fight to take her down. That would break my heart. So, that is why, we feel like we're her protectors. That and the fact that when we got her, our little house was leaking and tattered and empty. She needed major TLC and we'd hate for anybody to neglect her again. But who can we trust? Also, it was a miracle that we got this house. It's a long story, but so many things from numbers to timing to selling our old home to the construction work aligned in perfect synchronicity.  So, I am still to this day amazed and in awe and thankful that it all happened.

* I just stopped and hugged my house.

ANYWAY, we walked past the Franklin house and I was so excited and giddy and then as soon as we passed, completely feeling guilt-ridden and suddenly homesick for our little home. It had been a trying week where our upstairs, despite our A/C, was incredibly hot and humid and our downstairs like an icebox. There were just a bunch of other small things breaking or needing repair. And sometimes when issues pile up, it causes you to MOMENTARILY lose sight of how you truly feel.

Long story (kind of) short, we were quick to realize that our house was home, and that we'd be crazy to give up on her. Even more so, as we pulled up in our driveway after coming home from Franklin, it was immediately apparent just how sad we'd be not to live in our little, yellow house. She's part of the family! 

(After walking past the Franklin house, we walked over to the most famous spot in all of the village, THE CIDER MILL!!!! One, month! Just ONE month before she open again!!! I can't wait. All my life I've been coming to the Franklin Cider Mill in the fall. From September through November, for decades they've been serving hot cider donuts and crisp apple cider. It's the BEST!)

(This is the little stream at the cider mill that spins the big water wheel that used to power the mill.)

Other things that have been going on is seeing friends and having visitors. Lots of socializing! In the past eight weeks, I've counted NINE, little visits from friends and family that live out of town. And this doesn't include the local get togethers we've been doing. I love seeing people that I care about and appreciate their effort and interest in visiting us too. I always have such a nice time talking and catching up. The only thing is, is that I'm completely, 100% an introvert.  A few hours of socializing and I'm totally exhausted. It was funny, my cousins were in town and came to visit from 10:00am - 5:00pm. That evening, I sat down on my bed at 7:00pm, fell asleep and didn't wake up until the next morning! It's really that bad.

My friend Laura, who visited me from London this past spring, and knows me so well, posted this illustration of "A Map of the Introvert's Heart" to my personal Facebook page. It's by one of my favorite illustrators, Gemma Correll, and sums up an introvert's heart quite well I should say!

(Photos link to Gemma's art on sale at Society6.com)

It's so much fun because seriously everything that Gemma comes out with, (web site HERE)  I can relate to! She's funny and honest, talented and.....just understands.... :)

I want to share a couple more of my favorites. Please stop by her blog too,  it's really great and cracks me up!

(Here is Gemma's hilarious and relatable piece entitled: 

"i broke a promise to myself to never make one of these posters." 

Ha! Um....yeeeahhh.......

Also:

"If I was a Wrestler (it's probably for the best that I'm not)."

For the record, Gemma also makes art on being a crazy cat lady and pugs among many things. 

Speaking of crazy! So I have this little rule, for anything in life, if two or three people randomly, in a completely unrelated way, mention the same book, movie, store, product, etc. to me in the span of a fairly short time, I owe it to myself to investigate said mentions. I've never regretted this. I believe in synchronicity and maybe even "signs" from the universe! 

Recently, I've come across several mentions of the 1969 classic book  "Hope and Help for Your Nerves" by Dr. Claire Weekes.  Ann Landers touted it as a "Revolutionary new method for over coming fear and tension" on the cover.  I've heard several people mention this book as one of the top publications on anxiety, even 45 years later! 

Then, this week while reading one of my favorite blogs, Anxiety Guru, the author of the blog, Paul Dooley, listed Hope and Help as the first book on his list of Seven Essential Books that Will Transform Your Anxious Life." (By the way, please check out Paul's podcast the Anxiety Guru on iTunes. It really is super informative and great.)

After reading about Paul's recommendation, I felt like I had to investigate this book once and for all. It was available on Amazon for just $5, plus I had free shipping, so there was not much to lose!

It arrived today, and I can't wait to start reading. I've skimmed the book a bit, and love how anxiety is referred to as "nerves" and "tension" in such an old-school way. Without the modern psychology of our current times and without all of the research and new understandings, we'd be nowhere. Sometimes though, I feel like simplifying large, complex issues like anxiety, and boiling them down to the basics like "nerves" and "tension", it just makes everything easier to face head on sometimes. I want to know about my nerves and just start there. Do you know what I mean?

For example, I know without a doubt that my anxiety is triggered more than anything by feeling stressed and too busy. That's a simple understanding. It's usually fairly easy to cut back on stress and commitments and therefore help keep my worrying more manageable. Simple concept can sometimes be the most helpful!

Also, along the lines of "nerves", I've been watching some Woody Allen movies lately. My favorite movie of all time is Annie Hall. Hands down. Woody Allen movies are nice because they remind you that you're not the only one needing an analyst.

For those of you interested, I've started an "Annie Hall Style" board on Pinterest. I'm challenging myself to recreate a couple of  the iconic Annie Hall outfits. I will never look as good as Annie Hall did, but it'll still be a fun project. Did you know many of the "costumes" that Diane Keaton wore in the movie, were actually not costumes at all! They were outfits that Diane put together herself, from her own closet! Pretty cool! Diane has always been one of my style heroes. She's so original and unique!

By the way, for my birding friends, I'm sitting here on my couch, typing and overlooking our backyard. We have a family of robins living in our trees. Their "teenager" birds are adorable, and I've enjoyed watching them grow this summer. I just looked out and saw the mother Robin on our lawn with several of her babies hopping and flying around her, checking out the grass and eating berries from a nearby tree. The mother bird sat in the grass in the sun, outstretched her wings and began "sunning" herself! It was a great site to see! The funny part was, down came two baby Starlings then, looked at the mother Robin, and then one of the Starling chicks began to copy her! Outstretching HIS wings too!  It was SO CUTE!!! She just looked at the Starling like: "Huh!?" :)

Lately I've been craving some creative time. I miss that I don't "make" as many things as I used to. For whatever reason, I haven't been crocheting as much, or making as many window decorations. I used to sew and create all kinds of things! I'd really like to get back to it. Much of my spare time is spent on the blog these days. I intend to find more time for creating too.

I'm not very good at Perler (a.k.a Fuse) beads. Noah loves playing with them. This week I tried my hand at making a hanging Perler bead heart ornament. They're really fun to use!

It's been months and months since I've made paper decorations for our front windows. I used to make and change them each month! Because I start from scratch, no pattern or template, it usually takes one to three days to design, cut, glue, decorate and hang five windows worth or more of these little paper decorations. I know that they look simple enough, but I have to cut out things like watermelon seeds and sunglass frames and sunglass lenses one by one with scissors. It's a lot of fun. Next month, for September, I vow to make an apple-y school theme! Ooooh. Maybe I should do a cider mill theme too!

This month the decorations were quite simple. When you stand back and see them in all the windows though, it looks kind of cute. :)

By the way, while we're on the subject of decorating the front of the house.......  I came across this idea for a wreath made out of extra yarn on Pinterest. Isn't it cute!? I'd love to make one of these for January or February. After the Christmas decorations come down, I'm always needing to come up with some "wintery" decoration themes.  Anyway, just wanted to share!

Hector REALLY likes Noah's small slot car set. He naps o the tracks. It's kind of funny.

Well, until next time! Sending lots of love and summer cheer. I hope your start to August has been great!

xoxoxoxoxo, 

Lauren 

A Quickie Hair Product Review and then Some!

Hi friends!

In the honor of my repeated attempts to write SHORTER posts, here is a quickie hair product review!

I wasn't in anyway contacted or compensated by the maker of the following product. I simply just walked into a store, purchased it, tried this hair serum out and liked it. Now I want to share with you!

One thing that's been bothering me lately is the ends of my hair. I don't know the proper way to describe them, but my ends are a little "scraggly", a little fly-way. I get regular trims, so they're not split ends, but because I don't have a "blunt cut", so my varied layered ends can have the tendency to look thinner.

I went into my local Plum Market. I love this place! They're a specialty grocer with a lovely eco-based apothecary. If I need to find a more natural beauty product and I don't feel like going over to Whole Foods or shopping online, my first stop is Plum Market.

I walked in and talked with the sweetest saleswomen. She's always helped me, and has been so positive and supportive about my gray hair. (See, surround yourself with positivity!) I described my problem: frizzy hair, fly-away, dry ends. The nice women showed me a few products, but her favorite was this "Ultra-Moisture Super Potion" by Giovanni Eco Chic Cosmetics.

Giovanni touts it's self as one of the first "natural" line of salon products. They are cruelty and animal testing- free. They do not use any parabens, sodium lauryl sulfate or animal bi-products. Instead, Giovanni chooses vitamins, minerals, herbs and oils whenever possible. 

I always go back and forth in my head as to whether I over-worry about using more natural beauty products. Sometimes I feel like maybe this is just me being anxious and making life harder and more expensive, but then I come across things like THIS!

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics: 

"An FDA study found lead in 400 lipsticks tested, with higher lead levels than ever reported in some of the most popular brands. The worst offender was L'Oreal USA, whose Maybelline Color Sensation and L’Oreal Color Riche lipsticks were #1 and #2 on the list. In fact, L'Oreal USA, which owns Maybelline, makes five of the 10 most contaminated brands in the FDA study."

It's not a huge surprise that there is lead in our lipsticks. I've heard this before, but...wow.  So ANYWAY, I think when there are easy ways to cut some of the chemicals and dangerous metals out, why not!

Back to the " Super Potion." So, I really like this product. I would call it a "serum."  Although it contains avocado and olive oils, it's not greasy at all, and is actually very light! My hair is fairly thick, so if you have fine hair, you might want to try just a little bit at a time, but really there was no left over residue or weight. I absolutely love the light scent by the way. I know this sounds strange, but it smells like dyer sheets, in a GOOD WAY! It's faint and disappears. I just like it. 

I put some Super Potion in my damp hair before blow drying, for heat protection. Then, after drying my hair and after then using large hot rollers, I put some more on to smooth everything out. This is where I saw the most improvement. My hair became less poofy, more smooth, and my ends became less fly-away.  Here's an "after" picture of my hair on a typical day. I wish I could style it like my hairstylist does, by this is just an idea of what "Super Potion" can do on a regular day. :)

I feel like this product really helps to calm everything down. And, at just under $8 a bottle, and only needing a few drops each time, this eco-friendly product is totally worth the price and will last a long time!

If you have any favorite hair products that you feel work particularly well on gray hair, please let me know. I'm always excited to learn more from YOU dear readers! :)

Other than hair, nothing else is too new. I've made a little bit of progress on my crocheted laptop cozy. Here's what I have so far:

And today, I saw a Hummingbird come up to our feeders three times! The sad thing was, we didn't have a Hummingbird feeder out. It was in the garage. I raced to make some sugar water, and then I put the feeder out. Hopefully some little guys will come back again tomorrow!

I've been slowly working my way through the documentary:  "Birders: The Central Park Effect."

It's been great so far. I am amazed at how many migratory birds stop off in Central Park, and the footage for each season, oh it's just gorgeous! Did you know, out of everything in all of NYC, my very favorite part is Central Park? It really is. 

My favorite part so of the movie so far, has been the birder Chris Cooper's list of " The Seven Pleasure of Birding." Chris has explained the draw exactly. It's incredible. Here is a passage from a letter that he wrote to MarieWinn of the blog "Marie Winn's Central Park Nature News."

"As promised, here are the Seven Pleasures of Birding, at least as I've determined them:

1. The beauty of the birds
2. The beauty of being in a natural setting
3. The joys of hunting, without the bloodshed
4. The joy of collecting (in that the practice of keeping lists -- life lists, day lists, etc.-- appeals to the same impulse as, say, stamp collecting)
5. The joy of puzzle-solving (in making those tough identifications)
6. The pleasure of scientific discovery (new observations about behavior, etc.)

and saving the best for last,
7. The Unicorn Effect--After you've been birding for even a little while, there are birds you've heard of or seen in books that capture your imagination, but you've never seen for yourself...and then one day, there it is in front of you, as if some mythical creature has stepped out of a storybook and come to life. There's no thrill quite like it." - Chris Cooper - "Marie Winn's Central Park Nature News."

Isn't that fantastic!? If you are a birder, you will understand! It's true though. Now I have a renewed spirit and enthusiasm. I think I'll go down to the little pond at the bottom of our hill tomorrow, and I'll bring my binoculars. I've seen some Red Winged Blackbirds down there recently, and you never know what else will be in that marshy patch.

Here is what else. Suddenly it's all: "SURPRISE! It's SUMMER!" Although,  really, it's only spring. After days and days of cold temperatures and rain, and even SNOW just a month ago, today it was suddenly in the mid-80's! Everything is finally starting to bloom. I looked outside into our backyard and for the first time, it looked like spring! I feel so happy. I actually prefer fall and winter - heat and humidity aren't my favorite, but I have to say, the sunshine is so nice. I'm really glad it's here. :)

And this was me tonight. I took it for my Instagram account because I see all of these other Mom's posting motivational exercise pictures. I didn't take this to motivate anyone else, just to remind myself not to give up. Today I went out and walked up and down and up and down our big, long, steep hill in 85 degree heat for a half-hour. It was hard, but I did it, and I was glad. I walk first and foremost to be fit, not to be a smaller size. Don't get me wrong, I would be THRILLED to no end to lose weight, but I finally realized that I need to start with doing this for myself, not for a number on my jeans. August will mark one year of 20-30 minutes of aerobic activity most days, plus additional activities that I try to fit in, like bike riding. I stopped weighing myself because depending on whether the number was up or down, I'd feel happy or devastated. Now I go by how I feel. My clothes aren't that much loser from what I can tell, but I'm more toned, a lot stronger, and I can power up hills and stairs with no problem! So, I guess that's something. ANYWAY, life....yeah....just doing the best that I can.

So that's the scoop!

Hey! wasn't this supposed to be a SHORT post!? ;)

Until next time!

xoxoxoxo,

Lauren 

Book Sales, Matzo Balls, Bike Rides and a Product to Make Your Hair As Soft As a Snowflake!

Today I was thinking about writing, and how if I could write about anything in the world on this blog, what might it be?  And all of the topics that immediately came to mind were the polar opposite of gray hair and cooking and parenting. I think if I wrote about the things that popped into my head, I might lose a reader or two. Or three. (Or would I? Maybe I'm wrong!) Things like my opinions on politics and organized religion, and how backward and damaging I find that our American culture has become. 

Its feels strange to have one half of myself honestly and genuinely the happy homemaker, cooking and crafting and crocheting and birdwatching - while the other half of who I am is just as truly concerned with progressive thinking and questioning and of worldly things far beyond the picket fence.

Can a woman REALLY be a traditional mother and wife, and also active and absorbed into a liberal or radical world? "Feed your family, then feed your mind?" I don't even know what that really implies. Maybe take care of your family first, before your intellectual and social needs. Or maybe we can have both concurrently.

As I became a wife and mother and stumbled through my mid-20's to my mid-30's, I felt that I learned an enormous amount about myself. Much much more than in the previous two decades. But now, as Noah becomes a bit older and I find myself statistically closer to 40 than 30, I'm questioning all over again, WHO am I? And what matters to me? What is the best use of my human life, for my family and for the larger world? Am I selling myself short by focusing so  much so on my micro-environment? There's so much to think about. I never stop thinking........

My mother is one of those women who went out into the world. I can not think of a time that she hasn't been involved in one project or another. Whether running her own business when were were young, or later doing things that she truly enjoyed like oil painting. (That's one of her unfinished paintings in the background).

Her latest adventure is partnering up to illustrate a new book called: "The Small Sports Take the Field."

The Small Sports are a cute little group of children who's stories help to teach the value of good sportsmanship and corporation on the field and throughout life.  My mother dropped a copy off on Saturday and Noah LOVED the book. He sat there read the whole thing, cover to cover, and then grinned a big grin when he read his Grandmother's bio in the back. It was really cute. If you have a young, active person in your life, "The Small Sports Take the Field" is a wonderful little read with valuable lessons often over-looked in all of the excitement and competitiveness of today's sports. 

On Saturday morning, as I do twice a year when our library holds their book sales, I was up and out before the 9:30am opening. I absolutely love, love, love a good book sale, especially this one. On the first day, depending on which section you are in, books are generally anywhere from $2 to 50 cents. (Where is the "cent" key!?) The following day everything is half-price, and by the third day for $5 dollars you get to fill a large bag that they provide with as many books as you can fit in! I think it's such a great thing. And....it helps the library!

Most of the time I go for two or three of the days, but for one reason or another, I only made it over on day one. Here is what we found: I was able to get a perfect copy of "The Dangerous Book for Boys" for only $1! I'd say that's quite a deal! Noah came home with some strange book about Santa Claus that he chose, that now in retrospect does not seem like a children's book. It's the "totally unauthorized biography of Santa." (Hmmmmm.)  Also, seven million Garfield books for fifty cents a piece. And because I am a total dork, I found a big, old book called: "American Country: A Style Guide & Source Book". It's from 1981. I'm in love.

I now repeatedly drag my family to my favorite coffee shop on the weekends. Then, I pretend to order "us" one of their delicious muffins or sweet treats, and then eat it myself while my family isn't looking.

NO. I'm just kidding. I'd share! It's just that they're way too intense and say that they can not eat during a game of chess. Which is fabulously now becoming our "thing".....Saturday chess and hot chocolate. It's a win-win for all of us.

Not only did Noah win because he beat Jon at chess, TWICE, but he won because he was drinking by far, the best hot chocolate in town.

Here's what I do - a mocha, the fake-out muffin, and a Japanese design magazine. At least there was one thing that I learned in college. Too bad I'm forgetting everything because there's nobody to regularly speak Japanese with.  At least  I look "cool".  Or at least I think I look cool. Wait, who am I kidding?

One thing that we learned this weekend is that Noah can sit on the book rack on the back of my bike while I ride. Maybe this isn't the best thing for my bike, but now he doesn't fit in the retro baby seat that I installed a few years back.

So now he just sits on the book rack above the fender, puts his feet on one of the bars and holds on! Noah wants me to ride with him everyday. It's too crowded in town, so we ride down the hill and into the neighborhood. Then it's a straight shot to the old cemetery which is both pretty and has lots and lots of primarily car-free "roads" to cruise on. It's really fun, but we must look crazy. I wonder if I should just get an extracycle or something like that?

We had to stop and take photos of the fall colors. I feel a bit awkward, riding and photographing in a cemetery, but it really is a nice place to ride. 

Look at that those colors!

And this red. Nature made this red! WOW!

Ohhhhhhh.... one of the best things to come home to on a blustery fall day is a pot of homemade matzo ball soup. This time around Jon made the soup, and it was delicious! They were "sinkers", heavy, dense matzo balls. You can also make "floaters".  I think the key to floaters, as told to me by Jon's Bubby, is using a bit of seltzer water in the mix. Jon used THIS matzo ball recipe from the Carnegie Deli in New York. Check it out, I'm linking to the fun video.

I'm very glad that I went on a walk this morning. Something that I haven't done in a while. (I'm still on the treadmill though. Every.single.UGH! day.) I'm glad that I went outside to walk because........

Now it's SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!

Yes! I'm sooooooo HAPPY! I love snow! I feel like more people prefer spring and summer, but those seasons just depress me. When fall and winter roll back around, I feel so EXCITED and UP! Don't you just think the fall colors and the gorgeous, white snow, and the sweaters and mittens and warm fires and hot chocolates, are the best? I really do. Not to mention the good string of holidays.

I thought that I saw a snowflake or two late last week, but was a little unsure. Today though, this was official snow. November 11th, 2013, the first day of snow this year! Noah was so excited, we stood outside in the wet snowy-rain after school as he tried to catch it on his tongue.

The strangest thing is, you get your first snow and BAM! The Cardinals are all back! We have Cardinals at our feeders throughout the year, but in the wintertime, most Cardinals flock and roost together. Then we start getting many many more birds visiting. In fact, two winters ago, I could not believe my eyes when I counted 18 breathtakingly gorgeous Cardinals in my yard! 

Their bright red color is just so beautiful against the backdrop of white snow.

I tried to take a photo of the snow coming down, but it's not showing up so well. What you might be able to see are the three male Cardinals sitting beneath my feeders, and I think there were three males and two females! One is off to the side of the picture. A half hour later everything has a dusting of snow. It was so pretty. :)

All of this snow talk is reminding me - we need to get our storm windows up! Have you ever seen old-fashioned storm windows? I know that I've mentioned this before, but we had to have reproductions made of the old storm windows. This is because many of the windows on our house, at least from the old portion, date from circa. 1860! Nothing modern really fits them. Our storm windows weigh a ton. They're made of wood with one long pane of glass. I want to say a few are about as tall as I am, 5', but maybe they're a bit less. At any rate, getting the storms up a ladder to the second floor, and securing them in with the old iron knobs is no small feat! 

Speaking of snow. I'm sorry, I FULLY realize that this is the CHEESIEST picture I have ever made, but I wanted to say something about soft hair, and the "winter theme" popped up on my photo editing site. I wanted to play around with snow flakes. Pardon the embarrassing tag line: "For Hair As Soft As a Snowflake!" LOL

What? What's that you say? OHHHHHH! You mean  you want to know the secret to super soft hair too!? Oh, ok! So, for starters, just so you know, I am not being compensated in any way for this product review. It's 100% me. I just came across this styling "milk," (Eeeeeeewww) and loved it so much that I wanted to share. This is "Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus: Curl & Style Milk". I bought mine at Target, but you can also find it on Amazon. I don't remember what my bottle cost, but I do remember it was on sale. Amazon prices theirs at $16.50 for 8oz. I have to say though, I feel like my bottle is going to last forever. All you need is a tiny bit!

So what does "Style Milk" do? Well, at least for me, after applying it to clean, damp hair, it helps my hair to dry super soft. It's almost like a miracle! When I use the hair dryer, style milk or not, my hair is always left less soft, than if I let it air dry, but that takes time. With Style milk, even when using the dryer, my hair is a lot softer in the end. Lately I've been air-drying 80%, followed by the dryer and my hair has come out SUPER soft. Also, it helps to cut down on frizz. 

This is a great product for those of us with grays, because gray hair can sometimes be coarse! My only word of caution, for many, a little of this style "milk" (Eeeeeewwww) goes a long way. I'd say that I have medium thick/medium coarse hair. When I used more than a penny sized amount, my hair felt heavy. A dab will do ya! As a bonus, like always, Shea Moisture products are completely natural. No parables, no synthetics, no sulfates, etc..etc...

Oh! I should note that I'm using their Coconut & Hibiscus shampoo and Raw Shea Butter Restorative Conditioner. So, I'm sure that helps with softness too!

OK, I'm off to hop on the treadmill. Even though I don't love it, I keep hearing all of these good things about exercise.  Like it's good for your body, your brain, and even your anxiety. I'm too afraid to stop! (Just kidding. Well, not really.)  Also, I'm finally feeling less self-conscious about myself in jeans for probably some delusional reason, but exercise give you senseless confidence. 

Until next time!

xoxoxoxo,

Lauren