Antiquing & Tanning, All in the Same Place

I just got back from getting my first air-brushed tan at what is probably the most unusual little shop I've ever been.  Like this Washington Post article mentions, it's probably the only place in the world that houses both a tanning salon AND an antique store.  For me, it was a nice little coincidence.  I'm planning to call the owner later this afternoon and ask if I can offer him a few of my own antiques.  Thinking about the vintage milk crate and the steel sausage press.  He has a certain galvanized steel-industrial bent to his collection, and these two items might be perfect for him. 

Loving the path I'm on!! 

Cape May

 

I'm getting so excited about our upcoming Cape May beach vacation!!  I'm hoping to spend most of our time at the pool and beach, but I've also made plans for day outings to keep my busy and active babies from getting restless.  Apparently there's an old boardwalk nearby with an Arcade which will be perfect for us Skee Ball fanatics (thank you, Chuck E Cheese!):

 

A miniature golf course & ice cream parlor:

And an old-fashioned carriage ride service for seeing the town:

As for myself, all I'm packing is a bathing suit, a couple of sundresses, and a good vampire book.  It will be a vacation for me too!  I wonder if there's any antiquing in the area...

Portrait, 1928

I have an ongoing interest in anything that is both gothic & glamorous, all at the same time, especially as portrayed in art and photography.  I want to add a thread on the subject in my blog.  This is one of the photographs that I've come across lately, which falls into this category.  I just love the composition of how she's seated on the stone wall with the little statuary as a companion and place to rest her arm.  It's a glamorous, stylish, and elegant picture - and yet because of the haunting and direct gaze of her eyes into the camera and the absence of a smile, which would be expected in a traditional portrait, there's also a feeling here of something unsettling and dark.

From one of my favorite blogs, The Sartorialist, filed under Vintage Photos. 

Smores!

The kids are attending Summer camp at one of the better private schools in the city.  I say that only because it's proven to be true.  They've offered the children (ages 4-7) drama, dance, archeological "digs", sculpture/art classes, cooking, science, weekly field trips to museums, and regular "water days" with an enormous water slide set up on the football field.  As much as I've wanted to keep them home with me (and I have on many occasions) I can't help but be grateful for their experience.  Both Jack & Maddie have loved it, fighting their way out of the car at drop-off and scurrying up the front stairs as fast as they can.  They barely say goodbye to me in their excitement and haste, which I find amusing and also a little bittersweet.

Cooking class has turned out to be one of Jack's favorites, which makes me giggle because his first impression was that it "smelled funny" - so funny that it made him not want to attend.  Well, he kept attending and in a few weeks he had changed his mind about the class.  I think the smores helped!  They baked them in the oven one morning, and later in the afternoon he came home chatting nonstop about how delicious they were and asking me if I could make them too.

After a trip to the grocery store later in the week, and now stocked with big bars of Hershey chocolate, extra large marshmellows, and Honey Golden Graham crackers, I was prepared to recreate the magic.  Jack and Maddie both helped, while also consuming a large amount of chocolate on the side.  After 5 minutes in the oven they were ready to eat and they were delicious!  Inspiration hit pretty quickly and before I knew it, I was sticking a marshmellow on a stainless steel chopstick and roasting it over my gas stove top.  It was a nice moment with my son, whose eyes light up when he saw it catch on fire moments before I blew it out and ate it.  I'm sure he's never seen that before.  And needless to say, the smell didn't agree with him and he stuck to the smores.  All in all, it was a sticky & fun afternoon for us, with Maddie in the background (the sugar now kicking in) running around squealing and singing - Rocky barking and chasing after her - while Jack and I sat together at the table, cuddling and talking about his day. 

We'll definitely do this again.

Bedtime with Maddie

"Mama, I can't sleep. When I close my eyes, my nose wiggles" she tells me as she scampers down the long hallway toward my room, her pink blanket in hand.  She looks at me with her big blue eyes, long, wavy blonde hair cascading down her shoulders.  How can I resist?  I giggle and kiss her nose, and send her back to her room.  I tell her that I believe in her, and that she can do it. 

Sleep Training, Night # 4.

I've avoided this week for about three years.  I just couldn't get myself to close her door and let her cry it out, despite the suggestions and direct advice from her pediatrician and our family therapist.  I didn't want to instill in her the sense of abandonment that I had as a little girl.  Then I learned that by staying in her room every night until she fell asleep, I was teaching her that she wasn't equipped to be alone - a lesson that would be as emotionally crippling to her as an adult as my experience was to me. 

So it was time to bit the bullet and show her that she can be independent & able to go to sleep without me.  And she's doing it with flying colors - there hasn't been a single tear.  Her door has been kept open - wide open as far as it can go - so that she can see me in my room down the hall as she lays in bed.  Our connection is still in tact, it's just gotten a little more flexible.

Still, it's a bittersweet moment for me.  I want to go cuddle and snuggle with her, and at the same time I know that she's happier - and with increased self-esteem - for the experience she's had.

Other questions she asked me tonight before I left the room:

"When will I be a grandma?" and "In the morning, I need to get my Sleeping Beauty doll from the basement so that I can put her dress back on - this other doll is wearing it now but it doesn't belong to her" and "When I'm a mama one day I want a baby kitty and a medium-sized kitty and three babies" and "When is my birthday?" and finally, "Why is this flower missing an orange light?" as she turns and stares at her Lite Brite.  What a swirl of thoughts emanating from the busy mind of my 4 year old daughter.

Sweet dreams, my baby.

Hydrangeas in July

I've always loved mid-July in my back garden - it's when the fireflies appear for the first time, I can hear the cicadas in the forest behind us, and our hydrangeas begin to bloom.  This year has been just like the others, although my blooms are not as bold as in years past.  Maybe it was the mild winter?  Or maybe it's time to focus more on pruning and feeding them in the Spring.

Here is a picture of my favorite spot in the garden:

 and some others that inspire me to keep growing them!

The Mama Diaries

I'm adding a new thread to my blog about my "diaries" of being a mama.  This one I wrote a few months ago but didn't post it here:

~~~~~

The kids are asleep, the house is quiet, and even the dog has gone to bed instead of chewing on his bone for the next hour, as he usually does, while I write.  It has been an insanely busy day...

7am: Showered, dressed & preparing first cup of coffee.  Received text message from ex: "Our son is having a meltdown because he left his favorite pair of shoes at the birthday party yesterday.  Meet me at school drop-off ASAP.  He needs you to give him a hug and figure out how to get his shoes back *before* recess." (Sigh).

8am: Arrived at school, gave son much needed hug, and reassured him that I'd get his shoes before recess.

9am: Arrived at PQ for breakfast with G, her newborn, and my daughter.  Spent the next hour juggling crayons, coloring books, my soy cappuccino, wheatgrass spritzer, incoming phone calls, and attempts to tell friend about my recent break-up with long-term partner (my first since the divorce). 

10:30am: Drove back across town, picked up shoes from the front porch of the birthday party host's house, delivered shoes to school just in time for recess.  Steered daughter away from the playground where she wanted to join her brother at said recess.

11:45am: Lunch with daughter followed by a quick but necessary stop at Starbucks for additional coffee.

1:00pm: Arrived at our favorite neighborhood playground. Returned phone calls while simultaneously playing "secret gumball spies" with daughter from our perch atop the slide.  Ran after Good Humor truck and bought ice cream cones.  Later returned to the car to find that our dog had eaten an entire bag of frog food that I had just purchased for my son's pet frog.  Cleaned car, called the vet to ensure that dog would be okay after consuming food for a different species, and added "trip to the toy store" to my to-do list to purchase new food for frogs.

3:00pm: Picked up son from school.  Spent 20 minutes chatting with his best friend's nanny while the two boys ran through the playground, my daughter chasing them and screaming like a "monster" as per their request.

3:20pm: Corralled son into the car, drove to karate class and parked in the parking lot.  Helped him get dressed in his karate uniform while sitting family-style in the back of my SUV.  Fed him juice box, granola bar, and gave him motivational speech about getting through the next hour (as he gets nervous before class).  Used slogan "You Can Do It" which he appreciated.

4:00pm: Karate class.  Daughter steals my iPhone so she can play Angry Birds while we sit & wait.  I grow tired.

5:00pm: Drove home, and broke the news to my son about the frog food.

5:30pm: Arrived at home, and was promptly met with a full-fledged screaming tantrum by daughter over absolutely nothing.  Time-Out.  Prepared dinner, which consisted of leftover brisket, cous-cous, and stir-fried broccoli.  I am now tired, exhausted from tantrum, and growing sentimental as the brisket is my former mother-in-law's recipe and I miss her.

6:30pm: Kids are showered and bathed.  Discovered that my son's favorite stuffed animal is missing.  Hunt for stuffed animal commences, and the outcome is good - it was sitting in the living room.  Also discovered that our dog is missing.  "You Can Do It" I said to myself repeatedly while I commenced hunt for the dog.  Found him 15 minutes later in our neighbor's front yard across the street, eating the lawn.

7:30pm: Read "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory" to my son in bed, after which he fell asleep and I wish I could too.

8:30pm: Daughter is finally sleepy, and I hold her while she falls asleep.  Debated whether or not it's time to let her fall asleep by herself, as our family therapist has suggested, and decided (for the millionth time) that I would rather not.

9:15pm: At my laptop.  Dog asleep.  Time to breathe.  I did it.