my quick trip down to LA was to gear up for less than two weeks from now, when the Supreme Court hears arguments for the repeal of Prop 8 and DOMA.  the world is changing my friends, and i’m so happy to play a very small role in that.

in addition to a flurry of press releases, action emails and a communication calendar – as well as discovering this website (hello, where have you been all my life!?!?) – we put together materials to distribute for holy week and passover.  i’m pretty inspired by what faith leaders are praying for these days and i think it’s worth sharing in this space.  feel free to use these in your holiday celebrations and to pass them along to others.

i ended my trip to la la land with dinner at STREET.  it’s been on my list too long and it did not disappoint.  highlights included the kaya toast and the bbq jackfruit bao.  i die just thinking about it.  they are also hosting a 2nd night of passover seder…i’m marking my calendar for next year.  also, aspire to be as cool as susan feniger.  and wear as many bracelets.

i’ve always been honest about my love for connie britton. now i’m one step closer.
thank you erica santos for making my hair-fantasy a reality.

#bighairidontcare
#bohopornstarblend

on friday night i finally made it to book club. and i’m so glad i did. it was a blast to sit in a room with smart women and have an interesting conversation about a truly life-changing book. and then to talk about boobs, and disneyland and rent the runway. i can’t believe it took me a year and a half to make it to one of these gatherings. obviously, it’s now a regular thing.

and when i got home, at 12:45am (i know…the last time i was up that late i think i was breast-feeding), i found this:

omg, someone sent me flowers!  i’m like, ABN – someone sent me flowers!  and he’s all, oh yeah, i forgot, they were delivered at like 10:30.  things that are weird about this: 1. who delivers flowers at 10:30pm?  2. how come ABN doesn’t seem to think it’s a big deal that someone sent me flowers – no text, no announcement as soon as i walked in the door?  and 3. the note isn’t signed!! who sent me awesome flowers??

i went to bed thinking about it and then when EBN woke up an hour later with a nasty cold, we cuddled and went through a list of who would have sent the arrangement my way.  there was no doubt, i’d had a tough week, and it made me feel so special that someone thought of me.  *blush*

when i checked my phone in the am there was a message from BUDDY.  i have to say, the flowers, which were so beautiful and sweet and meaningful to begin with, smelled better, bloomed brighter and mattered so much more because they were from her.  if anyone has a real picture into our lives, it’s BUDDY and for her to think of me was really, really special.  good friends are hard to find and i’m lucky to have more than my fair share.

today i’ll begin a new series (let’s use this term lightly) in which i will turn to my pinterest boards for inspiration (that’s the point, right?).  so often i pin something, be it a recipe, gift, diy, toddler activity and then forget about it.  same is true with all the awesome style that i lust after.  so, starting today, i’m going to make a point of turning pin into reality (or attempting to anyway).  no promises on how often all of this will happen but i will be sure to share with you all, when it does.

to kick things off i decided to leave the hammer and nails and hot glue a for another time and simply open my closet!  while i often find myself relying on yoga pants (no shame) it’s fun to step out of the box while still remaining comfortable.

inspiration:

reality:

i think i did pretty okay.  you might be able to tell (need to work on lighting) i went with leg warmers too but mine are dark, so i added a darker scarf to the mix.  it was the perfect outfit to sit in a cold cafe and work for hours on proposals and posts and finally getting my 2013 calendar in order.

there’s a tradition in my family that dates back further than i can remember most likely because it started way before i was a glimmer of an idea.  whenever we go on a vacation, at our very last meal, we create a “best of” list.  best hotel, best activity, best sight seeing, best meal…you get the idea.  it’s a tradition that ABN and i have continued as we’ve gone off on various adventures.  i’m responsible for coming up with the categories.  we then sit apart and fill in the blanks individually and then over our last dinner we compare answers.  it’s a fun way to appreciate all that we have experienced and to review the time that was (in both of our cases, before we forget).

so i thought i’d put into practice a little “best of” over here at freckles in the fog.  it’s been a banner year – full of food, books, crochet, ridiculous toddler antics and so much more.  and so, without further ado

THE BEST OF 2012 – according to LBN:

movie seen in a movie theater: i think i saw 4 movies total (which is probably more than i saw in 2011 – here’s to conintuing the momentum in 2013!) and they were all winners.  but my favorite, without a doubt was MOONRISE KINGDOM.  it helps that i had zero expectation, that i saw it in great company (ABN), that we had a fab babysitter at home to watch EBN (DBN) and that the soundtrack was basically as good as the dialogue as good as the costumes as good as the quirk.

best netflix: we don’t do movies at home because i always fall asleep (fatal flaw) but we love to catch up on all the tv shows that everyone else is constantly talking about that we are late in the game to get to.  best of the best, without a doubt, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS.  we started the series way back in january, finished it in june and there still isn’t a day that goes by that i don’t think about how great that show is.  so great.  i think one of the  reasons i watch parenthood now (another great show) is because basically nothing makes me happier than a FNL guest-star.  i just think it’s cruel that LUKE and VINCE couldn’t have appeared in the same season.  we’re watching THE WIRE now and when VINCE was killed off at the end of season 1…well, it was just too much.

best book: the one goal i set for myself in 2012 was to read more.  fine.  then i went ahead and i set the completely ridiculous goal of reading 35 books.  what the what?  with people, vanity fair and the new yorker as well as, you know, raising a toddler, i quickly realized there was no way that was going to happen.  according to my GOODREADS account, i read 16 books which i am going to take as acceptable.  for 2013 i’ll aim for 20.  looking back over the list there were a number of real winners.  i’m not sure if it was my favorite (i had a run of really good fiction in the first quarter of the year) but AGE OF MIRACLES seems to have had the most lasting impact.  i would give a very strong recommendation for sure.

best get-a-way: BIG SUR

best date night: i can only narrow it down as far as two, one LOCAL one IN THE DESERT

biggest adventure: DUH

best holiday: in the last year it’s become pretty clear that we do holidays pretty big in this house.  from decorations to special menus there is a lot of attention paid to detail and it’s been fun to have EBN fully participate.  whether we’re talking about our weekly lighting of shabbat candles or banging her tamborine at the passover seder, she’s an essential player.  speaking of passover, that shindig holds the top spot.

best recipe night: there were so many good ones.  i realize now that i haven’t updated since we started paleo which is a shame because so many of the recipes have been so delicious – i’ll be sure to get on that in the new year.  but our meal from our backyard was a true highlight for sure.

best place to work: PROGRESSIVE GROUNDS

best discovery: without a doubt, WOODY’S in palm springs.

we just sort of happened upon this hamburger joint (it’s literally the front of an old grey hound station) that has live music every night.  we went twice during our very short trip – the first night we heard jazz and the second time rockabilly.  we can’t wait to go back.  palm springs feels really far away.

best home improvement: my photo wall.

best crochet project: i really love the chunky circle scarves i’ve made.  gotta get on one for myself.

best mama moment: it’s impossible to pick one.  but enjoying FREE TO BE with EBN has been a really really good one.

best family adventure: packing up and heading to sacramento for father’s day was a true highlight of the year.  from the time in the pool to the train museum to the hours spent at barnes and noble it was the perfect little get away.  i think we need to make this an annual event (but maybe we’ll go for mother’s day in hopes that it won’t be 98 degrees!)

 best EBN face: STINK

and finally…

best video of 2012: 

it’s been a truly spectacular year.  thanks for sticking around, seeing us through and taking the ride!

wishing you and yours a very happy, healthy and peaceful 2013

xo,

LBN, ABN and little miss EBN

i wasn’t going to blog today because, well, i’m waiting for my hot tub to be filled with water and truthfully, i can’t really think about anything else.

until i caught this clip traveling around fb and the blogosphere.  omg.  my love for nph knows no bounds.

i needed a break yesterday and ABN literally forced me out of the house.  while i needed the extra push to ge there, i found myself sitting in the second to last row of a big movie theater sipping on a large fountain diet coke and a few too many pieces of sour candy (every now and then with paleo i take a break – and my body HATES me).  while the soda was a mistake for completely different reasons (it’s really hard to find the right time to pee in this movie) the show on the big screen did not disappoint.  it’s been forever since i listened to the music but as the first scene came into focus i was back, sitting in my dad’s classic merecedes convertible learning the songs so i’d be prepared for my 2nd broadway show (interesting choice for sure).

i loved it.  highlights according to LBN: hugh jackman – omg.  sascha baron cohen and helena bonham carter i’m pretty sure were put on this earth to play these roles.  Eponine – who is this chick? [okay so in my research i see that her name is Samantha Barks and that she was part of the 25th anniversary concert).  personally, i thought she was the best (and the bar was pretty high).  and her waist, omg it’s so small!

if you haven’t seen it yet and you’ve got a good chunk of time on your hands, i really think it’s the thing to do.  all the cool kids are.  and then, read this.