july little things

a little bit of life from my phone because i just don't have the time or patience to process my real photos these days! july has been slow and wonderful and busy all in one.

i have such happy childhood memories of reading everything e.b. white. we finished stuart little last month and finished charlotte's web this month. try reading the last few paragraphs of charlotte without tearing up. it's just so good. sage has requested a second reading.

we took the kids to the newly renovated sf moma. sage was so into taking photos and talking about all the art. nora...wanted to touch everything or beg for a snack. her cute personality makes up for the trickiness of this age about 90% of the time.

^^ sagie took this one! 

as much as i'd love to hibernate with the baby and have quiet days, i've got to entertain the two bigs! we've been back at it with outings. we met friends in the park for the sf botanical garden's special installation of pianos all throughout the gardens. it's so idyllic to be romping through the great meadow picking daisies while listening to beethoven. the girls loved stopping at each piano to play, but there were some musical treats with ahhmazing pianists playing that day.

found a new little beach park 14 minutes from our house, met up with the dials at the los altos farmer's market, and still are into snapchat (sage especially). 

we celebrated sagie's cute friend's birthday with a circus party on a beautiful day in the city. had to stop by a favorite place, zero zero, for avocado bruschetta and fresh panzanella on the way home.

and we snuggle this baby as much as possible. 

i laid him down next to me and he slowly wiggled over and nuzzled his face into mine. 

i could stay here all day...

the little things of january

my girls are growing up so quickly, but our days are slow and quiet more often than not as my pregnancy continues to be...not easy. they love to play together, and i love watching them. it still feels so foreign to me that we'll be adding a boy to these tea parties.

i ran out of diapers and decided to just go for it and potty train nora. she's slowly catching on. we reenacted a tea party from a pinkalicious book, and sage held a coronation for our unicorn.

dress ups come out first thing each morning, but i'm pretty strict on wearing real clothes outside of our house. nora only chooses to be snow white or the cowardly (hilarious/sassy) lion. most of our costumes are handmade by my mom–amazing.

we adore books in this house. my library hold list is usually maxed out, and that's the way i like it.

while i took a rare nap one afternoon, sage left love notes under everyone's door. she's very into writing letters and notes, and we've started journaling every day with a different prompt. she's just such a good girl, and always looks out for me and for nora.

at a recent doctor appointment, i was asked if i stay home with my children. "you're so lucky. i wish i could stay home with my daughter!" was the tech's reply. and it's true...i can't imagine not being here for these little things that will make up their childhood.

sf + napa + michelin stars

i'm so behind on documenting that i need to just jump in and start somewhere! and this somewhere is a pretty great place to start. the annual girls' trip with some of my favorites from our chicago days was close to home this year (and we just so happened to MOVE the same day...busy!). we stayed in the city, but drove out to wine country on saturday for natural mud baths, michelin-starred restaurants, and vineyard upon vineyard of exquisite color. i thought we'd missed the fall colors, but all the vineyards were a mix of red, orange, and yellow. not bad, napa.

i was simultaneously grossed out and completely relaxed during my first mud bath. we literally climbed into concrete tubs of thick, gooey mud, then had more mud gently dumped on us, followed by a clean bath, a steam, and a nap bundled in blankets with cucumbers over our eyes. my skin did feel silky when we were done though (could this be the placebo effect?). we chilled in the natural hot spring pool that felt like a giant hot tub before dining in nearby yountville that night.

meals at the ferry building, foreign cinema, solbar, ad hoc, and of course bob's donuts didn't disappoint. these weekends go by way too fast, especially when you come home to a disaster zone afterward. i always leave feeling refreshed and so grateful for these girls. until next fall!

home sweet new home

we made it to san francisco! 

three months of suitcase living down, and three months of half suitcase living to go! i’ve been poring over maps of this city and trying to memorize where things like dog patch and duboce triangle are located, plus i’ve been adding bullets to my bay area bucket list like a maniac. sometimes i’m tiger mom with a dash of mary poppins–i force my children to go on outings with me. i’m hoping to instill a sense of adventure in them, but often i just ruin naps and we resort to ice cream when everyone is in tears. carry on!

nothing ever goes as smoothly as you think when it comes to moving. we've had a few issues with our corporate apartment, but the view of the bay bridge from our balcony is pretty stellar.

we've jumped right into things with a visit to the sea lions. i don't love fisherman's wharf, but those sea lions make sage so happy. we got quite the show from them today. right when i was feeling at my parenting limit (before noon...), both the girls conked out on our long walk home and the clouds broke. it was such a beautiful day! i meandered past the farmer's market and stopped to taste all the samples, conveniently during lunch time. i've never tasted better pluots than the juicy ones sold at the ferry building. 

i'd been dreading moving to san francisco only because it meant the end of our carefree summer. also, it meant that i now have to be a real adult who makes decisions about things like health insurance, cars, and budgeting. but here we are, and i haven't keeled over yet. one day at a time. i don't know why new beginnings are so hard for me, but they are. we are insanely blessed to be here, and i'm excited to get in a groove and enjoy more of this city i already love so much (plus so many fun friends in the area!). 

down the coast

after nate's summer internship, we rented a mini van to fit our heaps of stuff and drove down california on the pacific coast highway. wow! if you really want to fall in love with california, this is how. i couldn't even contain myself with all that beauty. i think nate heard me exclaim, "wow! wait! i have to capture this!" ninety-seven times.

on the agenda...
monterey
carmel
pebble beach & 17 mile drive
point lobos
bixby bridge
mcway falls
big sur
piedras blancas beach
hearst castle
san luis obispo
santa barbara
agoura hills
and ending in...aliso viejo at my brother's house.

our timing couldn't have been better. as we drove down the coast, our friends were driving up the coast, and we met in monterey/carmel for two days. thanks to a killer upgrade (nate is convinced nora's smiling at the front desk did the trick), we landed in the biggest suite at our hotel, complete with a huge deck overlooking the bay. gorgeous!

we ate seafood right on the pier and walked through downtown monterey.

the boys golfed the next morning while the girls hit the aquarium.

 ahhh, this view. sign me up for the bay area.

 sage loved the giant kelp forest (sharks!). we spent a good hour here, so i had to throw this photo in.


as usual, nora was happily along for the ride. this baby! i can't get enough.

we explored the carmel mission while our babies snoozed in the stroller. i regret not busting out my real camera. i love a good spanish mission.


 we stumbled upon the huge car show going on in carmel the day we were there. i'm no car lover, but these restored cars were impressive. mostly, i was dying over the quaint neighborhoods where every house has a name and style. we had to park 10 blocks away from main street because of the crowds, so we got a nice little tour of the surrounding neighborhoods.
we walked main street and stopped for fudge at the cutest candy shop. every walkway, shop, house, and restaurant was cute.

 
 
 
 our mini vacation with this fun crew ended in lunch on the patio of casanova. our six little GIRLS were quite the scene, but the homemade spinach gnocci was worth the chaos.

we drove the 17 mile drive at dusk.

we had a mix of fog and soft purple skies as our backdrop on the road that winds through golf courses and along the ocean. we stopped at pebble beach for a check on nate's bucket list: walking the 18th hole. obviously, playing the 18th hole is probably higher on the list, but hey, we'll get there.

sage cracked us up with her fake phone. "hang on mom, let me just take a picture of the sunset!" as she held her phone in the air. i always marvel at what a different world our girls will grow up in.

the next day, we stopped briefly at a few lookout points in point lobos, then came to the bixby bridge, built in 1932.

next up was a hike (walk?) to mcway falls, a beautiful blue lagoon with a waterfall trickling into it.

 i feel incredibly lucky hanging out with my people. i love them so!

we really started getting into the forested mountains as we drove deeper into big sur. with no cell service, we were determined to find big sur bakery since it came so highly recommended. and we did! and it was perfection! i always wish my dad were with me when i find a good bakery. there is no one who appreciates the fine art of the chocolate chip cookie more than my father.

we quickly ran to the railing at piedras blancas beach to peek at the massive elephant seals covering the beach, then drove on to hearst castle. we ultimately decided to skip the actual castle tour since we didn't have time and we were guessing sage and nora weren't dying to walk quietly through an old mansion. we'll save that for another day.
as we drove past the grounds, i did a double take. a herd of zebras roamed by the side of the road. we spent the next half hour reading everything on wikipedia about william randolph hearst's life (zebras have roamed the grounds for years). i also read french parents don't give in to nate while we drove, so in addition to appreciation for beautiful ocean views, we came away from this trip armed with french parenting tactics and random facts about hearst himself.

santa barbara holds memories for nate.
his mom used to bring her kids to the art museum and library often. nate appreciates it now, but his eight year-old self would have rather been playing soccer.

we ordered gigantic burritos at freebird, then spent the night with nate's grandparents just north of los angeles. after a brief visit, we made it to my brother's house in southern california at last.

in case i didn't take enough ocean photos, one last view of this stunning coastline.