I'd Rather Stay Home

I have a number of friends and family members who travel during the summer. And, as I catch up with different people on the phone or in person, the inevitable question arises: “What are you doing? Are you planning to go anywhere with the kids?” My response is always the same, “We’re just sticking close to home this summer. Vacationing with our kids is a ton of fun, but we thought we’d do something different this year and enroll them in a few local activities.”

In other words, I lie.

How we define a vacation has changed drastically for my husband and me since we had kids. The lovely trips from our past, where vacations were spent reclining on a beach with a drink in one hand and a book in another are no more. Instead, these delightful visions have been replaced with the realities of what it means to be adequately prepared and flexible during a trip with two young toddlers...

To read the rest of my adventure with my young two-some and the security gate at the San Francisco Airport, head over to Laura's blog at Under the Sheets-shhh. She is currently visiting her family in Toronto and asked me to write about a post about travel.

I chose to explain why I no longer fly with my kids.

-Francesca

(Comments off.)

Bathroom Occupied

My poor blog partners have been stepping in for me, because, frankly, I've been a bit occupied. For over three weeks, my mind have been focused on nothing but grout, grout color, tile pattern, and toilet and fixture selection. Remodeling when you're trying to be your own designer is exhausting, especially when I lack style or worse yet, confidence in my choices. I get easily paralyzed by all the choices out there. That's why I turn to Costco.com for some of my stuff, including this fabulous sink.

First, I have to tell you, our house is 102 years old, but the previous owners remodeled it in the early 80s and removed all the charm of homes of that era. Since we've moved in, we have been trying to restore a bit of that charm to our house, as well as modernize it along the way. Here's a peak into one of the dirtiest/cleanest room in our house. :)

Before: Ugly vanity and narrow bathtub

Before: The slippery tile and no room for dirty laundry

We were trying to empty our bathroom contents when we took this picture. That's why it's so messy. Yep, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

After: The bathroom looks so much bigger

After: A place to throw the dirty laundry in

Every remodeling project from, the kitchen to our new bathroom, involve copious amounts of subway tile. I love them, can't you tell?!

One funny thing about this bathroom remodel was that I was at the plumbing store A LOT. Seriously, almost every weekend. It took us a bit of time to shop for a toilet because I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do at the plumbing store. There was a row of 30 toilets and aside from assessing them for aesthetics and water conservation, how was I supposed to pick a toilet? I wanted to sit on the porcelain throne and try out the seat...you know...for comfort, but no one else seemed to be doing it that way. When I did finally try to test out a few of them, the salespeople gave me a weird look and a few people smiled politely and looked away, as if they were interrupting me. (You know you want to test it too, people!) I finally just picked a dual flush Toto toilet (I highly recommend the dual flush) and when it arrived, I again immediately tested the seat in the privacy of my own home. Much to my relief, the seat proved durable, clean, and comfortable. Whew!

I hope you enjoy the little tour of little bathroom. Happy 4th of July to you and your family!

-Thuy

Craigslist in Pictures

I love a good bargain and, in our area, the first and foremost place for such deals is the venerable Craigslist. Where else can one swap things, search for a job, find an apartment, potentially meet their future spouse, and sell their old baby toys, all in one URL? Also, did I mention I sometimes go on to read all the missed connections? Some are really sweet messages of yearning and some are just plain creepy, but it's fun to casually browse...just don't get sucked into reading them all.

Lately I've been on Craigslist because I've been searching for the perfect desk/play table for M and, though I keep searching with the mentality of, "I'll know it when I see it...", I quickly became frustrated at having to click on every post just to see the posted picture. Well, it looks like I found a site that only shows me the pictures within the category I'm looking at. It's called Listpic, and it's been a simple solution to filter out only the posts that have pictures.

I admit it's not a very robust search tool, but it does the job for a quick browse in the morning. A picture is indeed worth a thousand words.

-Thuy

The Wheels on the Bus

I used to be a non-believer; one of those people who would scoff at spending time on the computer “for fun.” What was there to do on-line other than to quickly Google where I needed to go or what time a movie was playing?

My life today has taken a much unexpected turn. Thuy’s effort to get the three of us to stay in touch by starting a blog introduced all of us to a world that we didn’t even realized existed; a place where a laugh is shared, a story is told, and friendships are formed.

And what’s not to love? The friendships that I have formed through blogging, with people I have never seen nor met, mean the world to mean. As I go about my day, I will catch myself thinking, “Pooba would totally think this is funny” or “I know I am not alone. Helene is facing the same challenges I am.” Even as I sat in front of my computer on Saturday night, eating my Ben & Jerry’s and chatting with one of my lovely blogosphere buddies on Facebook, no less, I had to laugh. I had become one of “them”…those people who meet others on the Internet and enjoy it.

Over the last few years, as I made my weekly trek to and from school, my thoughts were on Meg. For quite a while, her blog chronicled her adventures riding the Triangle Transit system somewhere in the South. Her encounters with the bus drivers and the wacky passengers always made me smile. As I sat in traffic and stared out my car window for the past few years, I often wondered what Meg would think of the area that I live in...

Passing the “massage parlor” was always a highpoint during my trip. I’d try not to make eye contact with the patrons. After almost a year of driving by this place, it finally dawned on me that maybe the “X” was a part of business name for a reason.


On the days that I had to take Giancarlo with me, driving by the liquor store would usually evoke some type of reaction from him. “Look, Mama! It’s the ABC store. Let’s go there.” Sadly for my son, my response was always the same. “Not today, baby. I think it is closed.”


Finally, my favorite shop, the Ice House of Grillz and Custom Jewelry. I was endlessly fascinated by this place. First and foremost, there was the picture on the wall of a child with a set of grillz.


Good times! What mother wouldn’t want this for her little one?

There were also rows upon rows of options pictured for adults. After carefully considering my choices for at least a year, I finally settled on:


I think it is important to “represent” wherever I go.

I’d like to believe that Meg would think so too.

-Francesca

Fashionably Independent

Earlier this month I attended the Capsule Design festival here in San Francisco. It’s an annual event with lots of talented independent designers. I’m a big advocate and supporter of local talent. The economy has been especially hard on them and it always feels good to throw some love their way.

One of the first designers I came across was Wendy from Who Made it. Wendy and her sister Andrea have created the most eye catching jewelry stands. They mix and match new and used antique plates from around the country to make very eye catching, one of a kind stands. They are simply gorgeous!

In addition to these jewelry stands, the designer, Wendy, and her sister, Andrea, also make some great jewelry.

Lala Lu’s adorable shirts were very popular at the festival and it’s easy to see why.

All of the shirts are organic and I love that the alphabet represents some of the culturally rich food that is so abundant here in the Bay. Besides Emi is guaranteed to wear anything with food on it.

Just for our readers, Lala Lu has agreed to a special price of $18 for their tee-shirts! They have also graciously offered free shipping when ordering 3 or more shirts. Please enter the code iLOVElalalu at checkout or you can email them and say that you you read about Lala Lu on our site.

Happy Summer Friends!

-Kacey

P.S: Tomorrow I am officially on summer vacation. Yipee!

Going Postal

One of my fondest memories as a child was receiving teeny, tiny letters from the tooth fairy. Every time one of my teeth fell out I’d write the fairy a letter sharing the dramatic story of what happened. Much to my delight, she would always leave me a silver dollar coin and a lovely letter. The best part of my letter was not the content (although I’m sure it was pleasant) but the size. I loved how teeny, tiny the letter was. These letters probably ignited my love of miniature anything. Isn’t everything better, if not cuter, when it’s smaller?

Although I have a few years before the tooth fairy visits our house I was thinking about how hard it would be for me to write those very tiny letters. Then I came across The World’s Smallest Postal Service.

The Postmaster made an appearance at the Amy Krouse Rosenthal book signing a few weeks back and showed us her teeny tiny letters. Click here to see a video of the crafty postmaster at work.

Lea Redmond, the Postmaster, will replicate a letter for you and send it to the recipient. Each letter is written in the tiniest print and then sealed with a minuscule wax seal with the sender's initial pressed into it. Then the letter is placed inside a coin case, packaged up with a magnifying glass in a glassine envelope, and finished off with a large wax seal. In addition to wedding invitations, birth announcements, love letters, and graduation cards, Lee Redmond also does tooth fairy cards with fairy dust sprinkled inside. Perfect!

As an added bonus, if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, the postmaster is available to hand deliver the little letter!

It is nice to know that if Emi chooses to write the tooth fairy she'll be guaranteed a little letter. This mom may also have to write a letter to her personal tooth fairy and see if she is still in business. Perhaps she has more of those silver dollars lying around?

-Kacey

What's the Dealio?

I fell off the wagon today. For the past couple of months, I've been very good about refraining from shopping. Our current economic crisis means shoring up the emergency fund and exercising major restraint even when the sales are so tempting. Well, this week, I caved. I caved BIG.

I really do have an excuse, though. I am starting a new job next Monday and, this week, I felt like I needed to do some back to school shopping. Perfectly justifiably, right? (Like Kacey, I can justify any purchase.) The good news is that I rarely buy anything unless it's on sale. Somhow, the price of an item can dictate how cute it is. You know, a cute top suddenly becomes a whole lot cuter with an additional 30% off.

Alas, here are some places that have excellent sales going on. Go ahead and shop; you never have to justify your purchases to me.

1. Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy: 30% off through Sunday.


2. JCrew.com: 20% off everything through today, Friday, March 13th. Promotion code: Secret.

3. Crazy 8: 20% off everything + free shipping through March 22, 2009. Promotion Code: SAVE20.

4. Tea Collection
Tea Collection Sample Sale: March 21, 2009 from 9am - 1pm.
1 Arkansas Street (@ 16th), Suite B, San Francisco, CA
COST: $10 admission fee to be donated to The Global Fund for Children! Bring your own bag and get $5 off.

We love Tea Collection clothes and if you do too, you could win a $200 gift certificate to use at teacollection.com by submitting your kiddies' pictures by the last day of each month on Facebook. Winners are chosen monthly.

With so many sales, how could I possibly cover them all? I can't. Instead, I check out Bradsdeals, a great site that I found recently that does a wonderful job of listing all the sales. I love that he has the printable Michaels 40% off coupon or Joanne's coupon on his site. No need to dig through the newspapers when you can print directly from this website. So useful for when you are suddenly feeling crafty!

If you have any deals to share, please do!! I love to hear about other sales out there.

Happy Savings, everyone!

-Thuy

Crafting Clips

My new year’s resolution for 2009 is to become a crafty lady. Last year, I wrote about some of my crafty friends. I have two girlfriends who are annoyingly crafty, Wendy and Keri. They have that je ne se qua and the ablility to make stuff whenever they want, usually without directions. Keri sells her Lovey Dovey Clips through Etsy and, in addition, makes the cutest cakes ever. Wendy is an all around artist with gallery showings in NYC and LA. She most recently was written up in Elle magazine. On the side, Wendy whips up little plush robots and birds, takes amazing photographs, and cooks her own jam. To top it off, both these ladies make it seem like what they do is no big deal. Everyone makes handmade goods, right? Like I said, annoying. In fact, my last conversation with Wendy went something like this:

Wendy: “So, I’m making Jasper a cape for his first birthday. Do you think Emi would want one too?”

Me: “Sure, but only if you have time. I don’t want to put you out. Where did you find the pattern?”

Wendy: “Oh, there is no pattern. I just figured it out. It seems pretty easy! I figure while I’m making Jasper’s, I can just make one for Emi.”

Me: “Uh, okay. Um, maybe I’ll be able to return the favor and make Jasper something one day. Thanks, friend”

(Cookies count as something, right?)

This year, I’m turning over a new leaf and attempting to be crafty. So far, I’ve only conquered one craft, but I’m pretty happy with the results. My first craft of the year was felt clips for Miss Emi. I love felt - all things felt. But I cannot, for the life of me, understand why things made with felt are so expensive.

When I found out I was having a girl, I ran out and purchased clips from my favorite company, Giddy Giddy. Giddy Giddy is a local company that makes THE most adorable clips. I’ve seen many people try to imitate their designs, but you can’t beat their craftsmanship.

I love these clips, so much so, that I later purchased about 8 more of them. EEK! Justifying purchases is my special gift. Yes, I’m quite blessed in that department. I figured they are handmade and would last a long time. My next daughter could potentially wear them, right?

What I was not anticipating was Emi losing them almost as soon as they touched her head. I’d put one in her hair and the next thing I’d know, it would disappear. I’m sure there are felt clips littered all over San Francisco, thanks to my little one. Needless to say, of the 8 clips that I originally purchased, we are now down to 3. When my husband recently asked why I was making clips, I did not dare tell him it was because his daughter had lost about $50 worth of hair clips.

Here is a shot of my most recent clips:

All in all, the clips were pretty to easy to make. I had anticipated them to be much more difficult then they actually were. I did have to search around the Internet a bit and find some tutorials, but mostly I found my way by trial and error. Good thing felt and clips are so inexpensive! It also didn't hurt that Keri is a pro at making her clips and gave me some great tips.

This is the perfect craft for anyone who is not good at finishing daunting projects. You can make these clips easily in under an hour. I was going to give you a step by step instruction guide on how to make your own felt clips, but my bed time has approached (a.k.a “The City” & “Gossip Girl” are on.) However, if you are interested in the instructions, I'd be happy to write about it next week. Just let me know in the comments.

Next Tuesday, I’m very excited to share with you my secret resource for all things crafty. I know you’ll be on pins and needles all week awaiting the post. Oh, the anticipation!

-Kacey

Oops! I Forgot the Link

Many of you are have voiced interest in purchasing the iBend, but I completely forgot to give you the link. You cannot buy it at an Apple store, only online. Get yours here by clicking on the picture.

Enjoy!

-Kacey

iBend Diet

It’s been said that purpose is the natural expression of who you are, utilizing all your gifts and talents. If this is true, then Emi’s purpose in life is to become a competitive eater. She has a natural talent of shoving food into her face, one urgent fist full immediately after the other, like a neurotic chipmunk on cocaine. Usually, as relatively responsible parents, we try to limit her attempts to inhale her meals. But sometimes you just have to sit back and watch the majesty of it all. It’s what I imagine it would be like to go back in time and watch Jordan play basketball as a child.



Being half Japanese, she does have roll models that she can aspire to:

When we bring Emi to restaurants and allow her to eat what a normal child would eat in an abnormal amount of time, the only way we can discontinue her ingestion and avoid a meltdown is to distract her with her favorite show – The Backyardigans.

We download episodes onto my iPhone (reason #305 that I love this phone) and play them while we eat our meal. This tactic has worked beautifully. The only problem was that Emi kept waving my phone around and I was afraid it might break. I tried propping the phone up against a glass, but it would not stay in place. Agh!

Enter the iBend, my good friend Dara’s husband’s genius invention.


It allows my iPhone to be propped up so that Emi can watch her show and I can eat in peace.

I love the fact that it’s slim enough to fit in my wallet, comes with two in a pack, is childproof, and cost less than $5 bucks. In addition, I use it at home to prop up my phone with the nightstand application. In all seriousness, this little gadget has changed our life, and fingers crossed, will also have an impact on Emi's waistline.

-Kacey

I'm a Winner

My thoughts have been consumed with the benefits of blogging this week. In addition to the perks that both our wonderful commenters and I came up with, I realized that I left one out...the opportunity to win, win, win. On any day of the week, there are a countless number of blogs hosting give-aways. All joking aside, what is not to love about a free Starbuck's card, blog make-over, Kate Spade bag, or fancy camera?

I am continually entering give-aways, trying different strategies to get my hands on the "big pay-off." However, nothing I do seems to be working. Entering first, last, or crafting witty and creative comments have all led to zilch.

Today, I am taking a different approach. I am hosting a photo caption contest, similar to others I have seen on the web. You may enter my contest, but know that you won't win. In an attempt to bolster my self-confidence, I am declaring myself the winner.

I'll even share my winning captions with you...

Thuy and I took the kids to the Oakland Zoo a few weekends ago. She thought it would be super funny to have her husband snap a photo of my very stylish up-do.

Caption: Yes, I am a Fred Flintstones' long lost daughter, Pebbles, but I must conceal my celebrity-like status with dark sunglasses for fear that I will be recognized.

Caption: Nooo, paparazzi, nooo. Out of my face with your flashing lights.

Caption: Gawd! Why won't this woman just put me down already? I am so over her.

Since I have already declared myself the winner of my contest, I decided not to come up with a caption for this photo. It is simply a lovely shot of Thuy and little M.


This is a picture that I took last night after dinner. Giancarlo took it upon himself to bandage a mysterious cut that neither Geoff nor I could see. As he was showing off his Bandaid, he flipped up his middle finger at me and actually said, "See, Mama, see? I will have to show everybody this finger now."

It feels good to be a winner. Now all I need is for Kacey and Thuy to decide on my prize.

-Francesca

Girl's Gone Google

I'm a bit geeky. Alright, very geeky. I like techie toys, put virtually anything I can in a spreadsheet, and can't make sense of a world without Tivo or a universal remote. Most geeky of all, I can't do anything without consulting with Google. I even checked M's name on Google to make sure I wasn't naming him after a serial killer or something. That's why I call it the Google. It's everywhere.

Hello, my name is Thuy and I'm a Google Addict. Seriously, is there such a support group? Lately, my love for Google has spanned beyond the computer screen. I now use my cell phone to Google when I'm out and about.

I use the Google SMS Text feature (# 466453) to answer all sorts of questions. If you can send and receive text messages, you can use this feature, and since I have unlimited text capabilities on my phone, I use this feature constantly. It responds quickly, sometimes almost immediately after you send your question. I've used Google SMS Text to get directions (directions to oakland ca 94107), check my flight status (SWA 112), find restaurants in my area (sushi 94618), get weather forecasts (weather Oakland), and find word definitions (define addict). All this without having to talk to anyone or call the husband to ask for directions.

Check out this cool video from the Google folks demonstrating how it works:

You can try out this feature and learn about other queries at Google SMS Text.

Warning, though, once you start using Google SMS Text, I might be seeing you at my Girl's Gone Google support group meeting.

-Thuy

Words Take Wing

I am the oldest of three children. Growing up, my Mom was determined that all of us mature into "well-balanced" individuals.

This was a difficult task for my parents, especially during the 1980's. There were plenty of birthdays that I begged and pleaded for...

...anything remotely Barbie related. (I would have even settled for the Great Shape girls.) Nope. As a testament to my mother's commitment to gender neutrality, she instead chose:


Christmas, circa 1984? What little girl wasn't hoping to find a Cabbage Patch doll under the tree?

I know I certainly was. However, Santa decided to instead tote this down the chimney...

A soft sculpture doll, which came with "adoption papers."

Through it all, my Mom remained steadfast. Each birthday and Christmas brought not only gifts that none of my friends were jealous of, but also books, many, many books.

Today, my Mom works as a lecturer for the UC Davis School of Education. She has managed to turn her lifetime commitment to children's books and reading into an annual event: Words Take Wing: Honoring Diversity in Children's Literacy.

The Words Take Wing series invites notable children's authors and illustrators to share a glimpse into their art of crafting words and images. This year, the series will feature Francisco Alarcón, a Chicano poet, children’s author, and professor at UC Davis, and Maya Christina Gonzalez, a children’s book illustrator, who has collaborated frequently with Alarcón.

I have attended the lecture at the UC Davis Modavi Center for the past several years. The event is geared towards kids and allows both adults and children to interact with the author during the book signing, which takes place after the talk in the lobby of the Mondavi Center.

It is a great way to introduce your kids to the authors and illustrators behind the books that you read together each day.

-Francesca

Event Details:
Date: Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Time: 10:30 am and 7:00 pm
General admission: $10.00; students and children: $7.00

Tickets are available through the Mondavi Center. For information on tickets, visit the Web at mondaviarts.org or phone (866) 754-ARTS.

Battle of the Bento Box

While walking my first grade class down to the cafeteria last week, I took the time to see what was being served. Three words for you: is it edible? Seriously, the food looked horrible. All the way back to my classroom, I couldn’t help but wonder if my student's parents knew what their kids are eating. I realize that it’s much more convenient to give your child lunch money, rather than to assemble something yourself. Truth be told, I can barely make my own lunch most days.

Seeing the food in my school's cafeteria got me thinking about my time living in Japan and the amazing lunches the children brought to school each day. I was always, always amazed at my student’s lunches (a.k.a obentos) in Japan. I would often ask, “What time did your Mom get up to make this piece of art? Is that octopus made out of a hot dog? No really, what time did she wake up?”

The funny thing is that the students never thought it was a big deal. They just assumed everyone ate lunches like this:

These are typical photos of lunches made in Japan. (No, I am not joking.) It is assumed that if you’re a Mom, you’ll wake up at 5AM (or earlier) and make your family these oh-so-simple lunches.

Here is a photo of a traditional bento box lunch:


Here are some photos from lazy, slacker Moms:

I have to admit that I did try my hand at making my own obento during my two year stay in Osaka. Sadly, I wasn’t very successful. (Shocking, I know!) For starters, it took me about 2 hours to make my lunch. Second, every time I would bring my lunch to school my co-workers took note and seemed to critique my feeble attempts. I heard a lot of “hmmmmm" and "interesting”, which translates into “you suck” in English.

One of my frivolous New Years resolutions (they’re all frivolous) is to once again try to conquer this cultural art form of food assembly. Luckily, I have another four years to master it before Emi goes to school. Tyler advised me to keep things in perspective, and not to shoot for the moon. “Kacey, you shouldn’t try to be a bento master. Just make it good enough for Emi to be the envy of her classmates without them thinking you're crazy." Always thinking that husband of mine. Until then, I’ve found some websites that offer tips and videos on making the perfect bento box. There are also plenty of stores that sell bento goods. One of the best sites I've found so far is this site. They are a one stop shop for everything bento.

Interestingly, the websites and Flickr pictures in this post are all from businesses and people in the U.S.

It looks like the battle for the best bento box has already begun. Rats!

-Kacey