when you’re a mama, sometimes it’s the little things…no?

on friday afternoon i stopped by a friend’s house after a long beach walk with EBN.  while we shared the end of a bottle of wine and chatted about the week that had just passed, she suggested our families get together for an early dinner the next night.  as she mentioned a local dive bar/fresh fish restaurant (honestly, there isn’t much better) my face lit up – “wait, you mean i don’t have to cook!?!)

you see, i’m the family cook (along with the cleaner, the baker, and the candle-stick maker…okay no).  in an effort to be more organized with time and money i’ve even started meal planning – thinking about the week ahead and deciding what we, as a family will be eating each night for dinner.  on busier days i make sure i have something that i can prepare quickly or some type of leftover from earlier in the week or my freezer stash (did i mention we recently acquired an extra freezer for our basement – AMAZING).  i think about what i need from the grocery store and try (it is oh, so hard) to make just one big trip a week – supplementing with a mid-week dash to our farmer’s market for fresh fruit and veggies.  this week is a good example of why meal planning is so important – we leave town on thursday and i don’t want anything leftover to go to waste so – tomorrow we’ll have chicken breast, broccoli and couscous, tuesday tamales (from the farmer’s market by way of our freezer – again, OBSESSED), and wednesday – i’m thinking left over chicken over a salad that includes beets, because i only recently discovered that i love beets and now i roast beets constantly.  sounds good right?

okay, so i like cooking – but everyone needs a break.  and when it came up that we might go out on saturday night – well, i basically started to cry – i was so excited.

ABN and i have never been the partying–staying-out-til-all-hours-spending-lots-of-money-for-no-reason-let’s-see-a-show-and-get-drinks-and-dessert kind of people (surprised much?) but in our past life (ie. before EBN) we were known to pick a place where we were guaranteed a good meal and spend our saturday night sharing a bottle of wine and food prepared by someone who was not me – on really crazy nights, we’d even order that dessert – especially if there was a creme brulee on the menu.  since EBN we’ve found ourselves staying in on saturday night – EBN goes to bed early and it just seems like a lot of work (and money) to hire a baby sitter.  also, i’m pretty sure i’d fall asleep at the dinner table.

enter dinner at 5:45 pm.  BRILLIANT.  go to a restaurant of your choice – doesn’t matter if it’s nice or not so nice – as long as the food is good and the bar is full.  you get seated right away, you eat and drink, your kiddo can make a racket and best of all – you can go home without having to do the dishes.

we had a great meal on saturday night.  i can’t really remember what i ate – all i know is that i didn’t cook it.  my kiddo had the time of her life smiling and waving at the people at surrounding tables and flirting with her dinner date (a preview of our future) and ABN and i had an adult conversation – with each other AND other adults.  we’ll ignore the fact that i was still wearing my EBN-snot-stained halloween costume – i didn’t want to tempt fate by stopping at home to change clothes after a family costume party.

i’ve made a new rule.  from now on, saturday night the kitchen at our house is closed.  we’ll go out to early family dinners, every now and then we’ll treat ourselves to a real date – including a babysitter and once in a blue-moon i’ll agree to open the kitchen for a booze infused recipe night.

i’m already yelping restaurants with full bars and high chairs in our area –  gotta menu plan for next week

it seems like each week there’s more to crave.  here’s what i’m after as we speak:

a place to record your experience with cheese? – yes please!

i’ve been following tamara for quite some time, and as i anxiously await her news, this really is a hysterical distraction

i just started reading kristin’s blog and i’m so glad i did because this quick video was a real highlight to my week

i love bbq chicken pizza but would have no clue where to start if were to make it myself thinking i’m going to need to try out this recipe asap

oh, here’s a fantastic kiddo/daddy halloween costume idea – dreaming of future halloween’s for sure

for the second year in a row, i’m really coveting these boots, i think the olive green is a nice way of mixing things up a bit

i made a yummy root vegetable soup as part of OCTOBER FOLLOWERS FEST.  you can check out my recipe as well as what a ton of other bloggers are up to by following this link

and finally, my friend shared this clip at our weekly mahjong game and it was just too funny not to pass along.  it’s from the british (original?) version of ‘who’s line is it anyway‘ and…eh, never mind, just watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=hhFkFXFr7NM&vq=medium#t=20

hi friends, – it’s me, LBN.  when i heard that JESS, DANIELLE and CASEY were hosting a fall party – i immediately thought, count me in!  over here at freckles in the fog we spend a good bit of time celebrating – from dinner and diys, to raising a small human while getting her to nap and dress in style – there’s always a reason to party.

it started with a trip to our local farmer’s market.  while it’s in the low 70s here in the beautiful bay area, our veggies are starting to reflect a change in the seasons.  seemed like the perfect opportunity to break out my dutch oven.

LBN’s Root Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

• whatever root vegetables you can find at your local farmer’s market – i went with 2 leeks, 2 parsnips, 2 small russet potatoes and a couple of celery stalks.  i also happened to have 1 large carrot and three shallots so used them as well
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 2 1/2 cups half and half
• cooking wine (or a dash of dry alcohol)
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• herbs de provence

note – i broke the cork – major fail.

and wave at your cute kid

yes, she still has a runny nose

as EBN would say…”DELICIOUS!”

okay, real quick like.  i think i’ve cracked the nap code.  i know, i know, now that i’ve said it, she’ll never nap again and all that jazz, but really – it’s been 4 days of good napping and 4 days equals a pattern and a pattern means it’s real…right?  basically, the reason the naps were hit or miss, and why bed time was sometimes hard – was completely my fault.  are we surprised?

i was keeping EBN up too long before her morning nap.  and that was messing up the rest of the day – and night.  if she stayed up too long then she napped too long and then she didn’t want to nap again.  and then she would be MOOOOOOODY.

EBN wakes up between 5-6 (it’s just how it is) and i had been bringing her into our bed and nursing her and praying that she would fall back asleep.  but 90% of the time, she wasn’t sleeping, rather she was biting and scratching and all that…for hours at a time.  so now – we get up.  we go and we sit on the couch and EBN nurses and then we cuddle under a blanket and watch sesame street.  she plays, i check my email and i make her breakfast at 8.  at 9:15ish she nurses again and goes down for her morning nap – and EBN sleeps for an hour and a half.  we spend the next few hours doing what we do – walks, errands, lunch, all of the above and then at about 3 or 3:30, EBN naps again for another hour and a half.

she goes down easily for each nap, she wakes up in a great mood and come bed time at 7:30, she’s ready for sleep again.  i’m not sure why it took me so long to figure out this routine but i’m so glad we’re here now!

also, today i drove to sunnyvale (that’s FAR) to pick up a little something for EBN’s birthday party – yes i’ve added another project to my ever-growing list.  but, oh….it’s a REALLY good one!

with EBN’s 1st birthday just around the corner – we’re talking less than 3 weeks people – i’m getting down and dirty with preparations.  we first said we weren’t going to do a party but then we bought this house and it is just the perfect party house and well, EBN’s 1st was too good an excuse.  the entire family is flying in – all 4 grandparents, EBN’s buncle, EBN’s great grandma and papa are coming up from LA, friends from near and far, BOTH baby groups – the list goes on and on.  everyone is so excited to celebrate our little girl.

but my to-do list is a bit out of control.  aren’t there people you can hire to do this type of thing?  i’ve been so inspired by some of my favorite blogging mamas and the parties that they have put together – i just couldn’t help myself from jumping on board.  it’s a bit of a diy disaster area in my craft room and for every project i complete, i think of about 17 new things that i want to add to my list.  i’m crazy – this is not news.

while EBN’s actual birthday treats won’t be revealed until after the big day, below find some of the projects i’ve spent my nights dreaming about only to decide – not this year.  maybe you can use them at you’re next celebration:

too funny – but also, too much printing for me

this one might be my absolute favorite – but again, we’re trying to do this shin-dig outside. also, i’m pledging to stay away from streamers. nothing against streamers; it’s just that once i start, i find it REALLY difficult to stop. this will for sure make an appearance at a future BN party

a time capsule of memories from your little one’s first year – let’s be honest, i don’t think i can get that sentimental or i’ll just be a bucket of tears all day.

next year, we just might need to have a very hungry caterpillar party!

this would be so handy to use again and again, but, i’ve set a budget for this party and even though this craft would be highly reusable – it’s not in the cards for this year. don’t worry – our treats will be clearly labeled – our guests will know what they are munching on.

now that i’ve shown you all the things i’m not doing, here’s a sneak peak of what’s to come:

but oh, there is so much more!