She's Crafty

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I just returned from snow town--Minneapolis--where I spent a glorious 2.5 days in the company of friends, family, art and good food. I had the distinct pleasure of showing my Truly Fine wares at The Gale Mansion with other artists whose work I've grown up admiring. I also spent some quality BFF time shopping at Patina and Paper Source, and dining at Lucia's. The surprise hit of my weekend followed the Gale show, at the VFW in Uptown. "The Handmaiden's Present: Craftsmas" featured rockin' indie crafters with quirky humor and perky presentations. I'm so thrilled to have met Detroit's Queen Craftin' Bee, Stephanie of Phantom Limb and the Handmade Detroit collective. She introduced me to another cool chick, Angela, a co-founder of I Like You, a Minneapolis brick & morter featuring local artists. Our weekend culminated with great conversation and burgers at Bryant Lake Bowl, an MSP institution.

The Max & Beck Lexicon

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I realize this blog can and should chronicle as much as I have NOT included in the lovely baby books still sitting politely on my shelf. Reflecting my own obsession for words, I'm going to document bits of their inventive vocabulary or oft used phrases.

Vol.1.0
Mugger or Nugget: A bad guy or someone who really makes you mad.
JuJu: Something super big. Usually in context of a big bear hug. Also can be for a kiss and currently reserved for Mommy.
Xixi (shee-shee): Portuguese for pee. Often abbreviated "I have to go (sheesh)".
Coco (coh-coh): Portuguese for #2. Recently abbreviated to "I have to go (coke)".
Real Magic: Anything particularly special or extraordinary. A term used BROADLY at age 5.

***

Smell the Dairy Air

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While I grew up in Minnesota, I lived in Wisconsin for nearly a decade. The years I spent there were some of the best--my 20s. The new golden age right? I have great pride in this state, home of the Friday Fish Fry, Ancora Coffee, Farmer's Market, Isthmus, weekend road trips, and of course, the Badgers. My Big 10 Alma Mater. Home to my husband. As much as I love California I get quite nostalgic for memories of Madison . It would both thrill me and send me to the poor house if the boys someday chose UW-Madison. If not that, I'll settle for Berkeley. Go Wisco.

Super Random

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Here's a few to remember...

Beck (with a tight spring clip attached to his middle finger): Mommy, this feels awfully good.

Max: I want to stay 5 forever.

Beck: When I grow up I am not going to marry my brother, because that just doesn't work.

Max: When I grow up I'm going to be a police artist. And live with a police girl. And buy a police truck, and a police motorcycle.

Beck: When I grow up I'm going to be a guy who takes pictures.

Max: When I grow up I'm going to live in London.

Beck: When I grow up I'm going to live with my wife. In San Diego.

Duck for President

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Phew. I was beginning to get quite elitist in thinking that "real" America was just a bunch of morons.

Such a process is difficult to explain to 5 year olds. To give perspective to the situation, we settled on a book that's been in our collection for a while...Duck for President. It's by the same author as Click Clack Moo. Long story short, the Duck ousts the Farmer, then moves up the civic ladder--seeking easier jobs-- finally winning the Presidency. In the end, Duck bails on the Presidency and goes back to his work on the farm. On election day, we tried to explain the voting process. Jarrod broke it down real quick: You're voting for the Donkey or the Elephant. Which one?

Long Pause...

Max: The Donkey.

Mom: Yesssss. That is correct.

Later in the car, Beck informed me that they will vote for the Donkey now, but when he's a grown up he's voting for the Duck. Max put in his vote for the Cow.

Top Disappointment

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Okay, last blog for the day. Just finished Top Design, (warning...spoiler ahead) and while my vote lies with Nathan, I was so disappointed to hear the desperate whining from Andrea, married to Silver Spoons hearthrob Rick Schroeder. She made it to the top 5 but kept bitching and moaning about missing her family, blah blah blah. Finally, they gave her the option of staying or going. She was like "Oh...I don't know...Ondine, what do you think?" Ondine is probably thinking "quit your whining and go home, because if YOU don't go then it's ME!" Her last words, through tears were "I'm really a mom first." No, really you are YOU first. You are an individual, a human being, who can be a wife, a mom, and still be a great ________ (fill in the blank). Follow your dream dammit!

You Must Be So Proud

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On the Beck note...just here to report that he has successfully managed to work "shit" into his everyday vocabulary. As in "Oh shit, I forgot to..." or "Oh shit, what was I..." Well done sir. Just waiting for Max to bust out the F-bomb...or better yet! Repeat "Christ on a stick" which came out in my recent string of curses upon learning that all 8 of the very due library books were removed from the foyer and placed randomly into 4 book storage locations. Awesome.

Workin' It

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So I signed up for the Work From Home gig today because Beck was rockin' a runny nose. (P.S. WFH-is that an official acronym now?). Jarrod came home and asked if I'd actually gotten work done, and I really DID. We marveled that 10 years ago that never would have happened...shared documents, servers, emails, teleconference (TC?). Anyway, it was good. I'm glad I could make it work. My office is clean right now, so it's a joy. Well, I won't go that far. I was doing my "real" work, not the fun stuff for Truly Fine.

This does remind me though, of a recent story on NPR about the negative effects of multitasking. Recent scientific studies assert that we are not actually doing several things at once, but that we are just extremely quick to switch our attention from one thing to the next. Hmmmm...Does that mean that I cannot email and talk on the phone at the same time anymore? Oprah told me that was rude anyway...but what if you are emailing the person you are talking to? Trust, me there are times this is absolutely necessary.

Eco-Living


OMG and Double Yikes. I'm not not talking about being green or environmental impact, I'm talking about The Economy. I have my own form of eco-friendly changes I'm making, which will hopefully make an impact on the bottom line of our budget.
Here goes...
#1 Make-up
In my quest for affordable mascara I tried out this futuristic tube of LASH BLAST Volume Blasting Mascara by Cover Girl. I love the orange and silver packaging and the high tech wand. Best of all, it works! And it's less than half the price of my total favorite Too faced Lash Injection mascara. Still love Jo Malone scents and haven't found a decent replacement for Nars bronzer...
#2 Food
Did you know that two packs of extra firm tofu costs a total of 3 bucks? AWESOME. So much cheaper than organic chicken. Jarrod said he'd eat it at least once, maybe twice a week at that price. Bring on the ginger broccoli stir fry!
#3 Library
I have a book weakness. I love to buy the boys new books. Me too, actually, but I try to only buy them at thrift stores. This month we got a library card. I'm not sure why it took me this long...we only read three of the 8 books. Still, it felt right.
#4 Thrifting
This is not new for me. I love it. In fact it's like Eco x 2. Anyway, I buy a lot of the boys clothes at thrift stores...of course this gets balanced out by their bi-annual Nordstrom shoe trip. Can't have it all I guess...
#5 Cancel Stuff
We really don't use the Y, except for swim lessons 3 times/year. In fact working out there made me depressed and everytime we took the boys there for recreational swim someone had pooped or vomited in the pool. DONE, and more DONE.

Sigh.

Material Girl

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So I hate to confess the moments when I am shallow and obsessed, but here goes...I really, really, really miss my iPhone. It was stolen (along with my I.D. and other key elements) on Saturday night. I had become so attached to it's chic little body. Bright, shiny, white plastic. Muffie von Phone. I waited in LINE to purchase this little device. Even giving blog time to a phone seems ridiculous. The boys have offered to help the police find the bad guys. They suggested I write them a letter and that we follow clues for it the next time we go to the Children's Museum (it went missing at their gala...). Uggh.