Rep your state

I do. With a little help from Maya Brenner. I got one for each of my sisters one Christmas, and I think it makes a good gift/ buy. It comes in gold too, with a diamond stud denoting state capitals. Loves it.

(mayabrenner.com)

Life is a jungle (gym)

I've had cause to think about my life a lot this year. At my low points, I conceded it sucked. Except for my family. Right there, mama won the golden ticket. On my good days, I thought my life was pretty fab - but the best parts always revolved around my three little munchkins.

I'm a working mother of three so I have mom guilt times three. And that's okay- I wouldn't be a good mom, if I didn't feel I could spend more time with my kids. So I'll take my heaped plate of 'mom guilt soup' with a smile, and when I do get the occasional day off, I'll run with it. No migraine or TV show or gym class is gonna deprive me of my dessert of mommy brownie (points). Last week was the Principessa's time out with Mama. Her brothers are old enough to do the gymnastics, swimming, karate etc etc, and sister can't even get into a ballet class.

Thank goodness for 'my(little) gym- like gymboree, but better.:). No fake i.d needed, we got our par-tay on, you hear me?

                                                                 She bounced

She pouted (ofcourse)

                                                   She preened

...and primped

                                                       We vogued and gave face

I nuzzled a baby and was fulfilled

Quid pro quo, we're even.

'twas a good day, pp

The Fair ain't fair, and other gripes

I was pretty excited to go to my first ( yup, my first!) county fair this weekend.
Maybe even more psyched than the kids- definitely more hyped than the the hubby. But who knew that a la carte it cost like $14 million? Times five?  I was like 'whaaa'? I'm pretty sure my mouth hung open for a good five minutes.

Nothing is free. Or fair. Not even the fair. But we forked over dollars reluctantly and made the best of it. I put my foot down at the 'pay $10 to take a picture with a bull' scam. I mean, stand.  It's a fair, people!!And if I pay $30 for bull pictures, I am taking the bull home. Please believe.

So we milked a free fake cow.

And became one with the roosters (free).

And rode on (not free) rides, because while thrifty, I'm not cruel enough ( OR tough enough) to bring the brood to the fair and not let em do the rides! Come on. ;)

I do love me a good ferris wheel. And yes, je taime me some instagram. Tres tres, much.

Maryland state fair is next week. Any takers? :)

Yours in 'fairness' and justice for all, pp

Vacation = bueno

Vacation with three kids just might be a contradiction in terms. But I still LOVE it. And recommend it. Sand for my toes, food for my soul.

 

And my principessa seems to acquire a new skill each vacay.  Last year, at Disney World, she started standing, albeit with a death grip on Número Uno's pants leg, but standing, nonetheless.

Principessa shorts leg jack circa June 2011 - Disney

This year, she all but blossomed before our eyes. Her hesitant two word phrases grew each day. From "beach, please?" and "swimswim"? to "I love beach!", "Hooray for beach- beach saved the day!" I kid you not.

My point is, we all need a vacation , sometime, no?

Yours in blissful rest, pp :)

Re-entry into blogging.

I started blogging because I needed a creative outlet during my maternity hiatus from the working world. I stayed with it - through dry spells and periods of artistic gushes - because I loved the idea of documenting my growing family for posterity.

And I am glad I did.  Because they grow up way too fast.  When I started blogging, my second ( Monkey Boy) was still in my belly.  By my last post, my third (La Principessa) was barely a year old.  Today, I have the six and a half year old Numero Uno, a four and a half year old and an almost two year old. Wow.

So I've decided not to wait until I have something profound to say, because let's face it, that moment hardly ever comes around.  And I'll just celebrate my family, my life and those little moments that are uniquely mine - that I would not trade for anything. Like this, right here. Curl power. Girl power. Pout power. Loves her.

Still got 'it", pp :)

The little things

Sometimes all you need is the little things. Not a whole lot of muss and fuss. Not a lot of words, or a mish-mash of metaphors, none of the bells and whistles, special effects or elaborate plans.
When was the last time your kids told you they could not have fun if you didn't take them on an expensive, pre-packaged vacation?



Or "No mama, we don't wanna go outside today." I didn't think so. :)

A picture is worth a thousand words.



A blog post with two words is better than holding out for the perfect alignment of pictures, writing flow and camera-ready moments, cause as we all know, when do those really happen? I mean really.

Sometimes, you just gotta let the little ones drive the boat.



Then one day a miracle will happen. They will say "I don't wanna watch T.V today. Wanna do work on the 'puter." And pigs ain't flyin' either.

Next thing you know, they're doing laundry. Unprompted. :)

Some days, all it takes is an old blanket and 4 cupcakes on your lawn for the perfect picnic.



The little things.

Frugal Foodie

I used to be that girl. You know, the one that ate out every other night. Just because, hey, why not? '1789' for anniversaries, 'The Charleston' for lobster bisque (yummers), 'Cafe de Paris' for crepes and duck, 'Bob Evans' for banana bread etc etc etc. And some days, I'm not even gonna lie - I wanna be that girl again.

But, I don't know if you've heard of this little here thing called, ahem, the recession? Well, yeah. These days, the whole eating out thing? Well, not so much. I mean for special occasions, yes. And some occasions, we have to defer to life and 'da billz', yo.

So, this is where we get creative. It's all about using the formal dining room, whipping out the 'good china', splitting a bottle of great tasting muscato, and splurging on a good cut of meat. Cooked at home. By a man I love. Whom, I might add, just happens to love me.

I'd rather be this girl, methinks.

And so, I daresay, would she. (principessa with daddy on his birthday @ Chez Prada)

Can I say that the wine was $9, the beef wellington prepared by my hunnybunny was priceless, and the occasion was - you guessed it - 'just because'. Mmm hmm, we're living it up, peeps. :)

Egusi, garri and bud lite with lime. Don't sleep on it, people.

Bon Apetit,pp