nj at eight months

this kid is so. happy. 

nate experimented once by saying random words like "cheese" and "baseball" to nora since she laughs so easily. sure enough, she laughed at every word he said. anyway, sage thinks it's a hilarious game and constantly shouts random words at nora to see if she'll laugh.

nora has fomo (fear of missing out). 

she hates to miss any action with petty things like naps or bedtime. she is happiest when we're all nearby.

when nate learned that some kids skip crawling and go straight to walking, his eyes lit up..."perfect! nora can go straight to walking!" or so we thought. she has not been the least bit interested in moving until today, when i set her down and she just began scooting out of nowhere. she's a pretty determined baby despite getting a pacifier shoved in her mouth from a smothering sister.

nora jane, you light up this little family of ours.

le weekend

you know you're old when a 10 pm dinner reservation feels super late. but tired or not, our dinner date with k + r at state bird provisions was noteworthy to say the least. 

the food is presented on dim sum carts rolled around the restaurant, and dessert included concoctions like olive oil ice cream sandwiches. san francisco food is winning on all levels.

we spent saturday exploring palo alto with the dials. breakfast on university street, a peek at stanford campus and the cute homes in their neighborhood, and tasting tin pot ice cream. sage adores these two.

we didn't even bring coats. night and day weather difference from the city!

we ended our "peninsula day" in sunnyvale. it was so fun to see these duke friends! barbecuing on the back deck while the kids happily played in the grass felt like a perfect summer night. 

our time in the bay is dwindling, sadly. i think i need about twenty weekends to see everything on my list. 

the love affair continues

most days, we pick an activity and a food to try from my master bucket list. we're going strong so far, and i'm still stoked on the bay this week.

at the last minute, i went to the musical once with my sweet friend. the music! the talent! i've been listening to the songs nonstop since.

free day at the zoo was more like "dodge the field trippers" day, but i loved the scenery of this zoo. we got an up close and personal view of a hippo, something i'd never had. nate's sister is spending the summer working in the city, so we get to see her often. my girls adore their aunt madi, and i love having an adventuring buddy.
 

thanks to the goog, we had a little date night at the cheese school of san francisco for lessons in cheese tasting. my favorite pairing was kunik cheese served with roasted beef and beets, and my least favorite was the ameribella cheese served with spam musubi. just to round things out, we introduced some new friends to ricanelas (cinnamon + snickerdoodle) ice cream at bi-rite after our class.

when i asked sage what she wanted to do one morning, she sighed, "stay home." we tried that for a few hours, but we all get stir crazy if we're inside too long, so i packed them up and we read books at the library. can't beat free reading!

we joined nate for lunch at work and our children pulled off impeccable behavior for that critical hour. nora loves being around people and rarely stops smiling. she is such a happy babe.

sage finally, finally got her cast off! the last few weeks have been frustrating for both of us. my back has been hurting from constantly carting around two kids, and sagie has been itching to walk and have her independence back. we can't wait to hit up the beach, take real baths, and run around at the park now. she is still not fully walking on her leg, but it's an improvement from forced army crawling.

friday night we went to off the grid, the food truck round-up in the city. i love that madi gets excited to try new food with us. nate was obviously full of good poses that night...

my favorite was a waffle sandwich filled with fried chicken, vietnamese slaw, and drizzled with teriyaki sauce. we also loved the ice cream, chocolate-dipped tacos from rocko's tacos.

^^^our summer uniform: jackets!

we introduced nate to our neighborhood carousel this weekend. surprise! it was free that day, so we went multiple times. amazing how happy fake animals moving up and down make our little sage. her eyes light up and she grins the whole time.

j + b come to town

it's always a party when jordan and britton come to town. we packed in a lot, starting off with an hour and half wait to eat breakfast at mama's, and ending with a scenic drive to muir woods.

i had a moment when we were driving through the sun-dappled hills of marin with the scent of pine and ocean breezing through our open windows. this place is incredible! 

 we did some classic things, like a drive down lombard street

 twirl and dip...our favorite san francisco treat

 

happy independence day! we hiked the foggy land's end trail out to the rock labyrinth, and i made my poor little girls sit out in the wind and cold pretending like it was summer so we could remember their cute matching outfits from my mom. we saw half fireworks that night--the fog hung thick and low.

 nate rowed us around stow lake and got his arm workout in for the month

we cruised on the cable car for a bit after checking out the official cable car museum

 the ferry building farmer's market is my fave. 

nate convinced a few brave souls to down some fresh oysters with him. i think they taste like the ocean, something i'd rather not slurp down, thank you.

the view from twin peaks never disappoints

sage really took to brit this trip. i'd offer to carry her and she'd quickly reply, "no, brit." if i tried to put her shoes on, "no, brit." he is very loved by this little girl!

  from the redwood forest to the gulf stream waters, this land was made for you and me.

 thanks for coming to play with us j + b!

lindsay

i begged my dear friend lindsay to extend her layover in san francisco so we could play, despite the fact she's seven months pregnant, jet-lagged, and was moving from singapore! we spent hours catching up, and sage remembered quickly how much she loves "win-zee". 

linds is a chef, so we definitely tasted good food in the city...tartine, bi-rite, sweet maple, el farolito, and twirl and dip to name a few. we met up with a few singapore friends one night at slanted door for delicious vietnamese food right on the bay. it's amazing how strong that singapore tie is. i loved reminiscing about all those things we loved (and don't miss) about living in asia. 

i'm hopelessly in love with this baby, dirty rental life jacket and all.

 nora's celeb look alike: buddha

i'm also hopelessly in love with dolores park.

friends you can talk to for hours and hours about anything are precious. 

i'm missing lindsay again already. 

this is important

and every day, the world will drag you by the hand, yelling, "this is important! and this is important! and this is important! you need to worry about this! and this! and this!" and each day, it's up to you to yank your hand back, put it in your heart and say, "no, this is what's important."

so many "important" things i think i have to get done, or read, or respond to.

my girls have been waking up early since our loft floods with light in the morning and there are no doors to shut out noise or light. i decided we might as well take advantage and hit all the brunch places on my list at the exact hour they open to avoid horrendous lines. it worked! we happily sat in the morning sun at zazie, chatting about the passing dogs, trolleys, buses, and people. sage and i shared gingerbread pancakes with poached pear and lemon curd. 

a mom pushing a double stroller with crying kids passed by and said, "you sure have it together, mama! look at your peaceful dining out experience!" true, my girls were in top form for that one peaceful breakfast hour this morning, but i had to laugh. i rarely "have it together"! i have to remind myself of what is the most important far too often. 

this is important

this is important

this is important

this. is. important.