Is blue still your favorite color?

I love a website that remembers my favorite color, and asks me if my last answer is still true. I love it because it's fun and makes me feel like I'm in first grade every time I visit, and I love it because my favorite color does in fact, change daily. Every time I visit this site and look at the gorgeous works of art my fav hue morphs a bit. The Red Dress painting changes my pick from blue to red every time. And that homepage palette painting: I want it. The placement of the navigation buttons is genius. I don't even care if they go anywhere...but they do and I would suggest clicking on every last one.

It doesn't hurt that I've been watching this amazing artist paint since she was 15 years old, but I'm astounded at what she's become. And just in time for all the mommies out there...she's now got children's portraits that are better than any of the unrealistic, stodgy portraits I've seen hanging around. Imagine one of these in a fun modern gold gilded frame. How can you not smile at it?

I don't usually "review" websites or products but I just had to throw Shana up on here. I'm overwhelmed by her her talent!

Oscar Party

As always, a great time with the gals.

Refreshing Scene

So this morning at 7AM, as I sat wolfing down my eggs and bagel and cream cheese at Borrone, two very pretty high school girls sat down next to me. Prepared to be bored to death by talk of who did what and who is an asshole and which boy is cutest, and prepared to be annoyed by hearing them discuss how fattening their muffins must be and how they just have to have the new Marc Jacobs bag by the holidays, I was pleasantly surprised by their grace.

One was having a birthday today. She told her friend, sitting across from her, how happy she'd been by a joint gift from her mom, dad and brother (a necklace: they told her the chain was from Dad, one charm was from Mom, and the other from her brother, which I thought was very sweet, especially since I grew up with a mom, dad and brother, and I like necklaces). Then she dug into her birthday blueberry scone (my favorite selection at Borrone) and asked the other girl what her favorite gift ever had been (a question I love to ask). I didn't hear that response (I was, after all, trying not to look like the lame older mom at the table nearby who can't help eavesdropping), but soon a third friend rushed in and presented the birthday girl with a gift. Far from the nail polish or cute as a button scarf or tee I probably used to buy my girlfriends in high school, this gift was actually thoughtful.

"I packed your lunch for today!" the friend said. "And I put your favorite fruit snacks in it."

"You are SO nice!" the birthday girl said with sincerity. "That is so thoughtful."

And just from that gesture and response - that one little exchange - my faith in high school girls has been restored. I'm putting out a wish to the universe that these three stay friends for a very long time.

The Ultimate SV Dinner Date

Last night I escaped the home front and hiked up Windy Hill with four of my coolio Mama friends. It was a gorgeous night, albeit windy *duh* and as you can see, we brought things to toast with at the top (ever had alcohol out of a Winnie the Pooh Dixie cup? Very appropriate, but not so satisfying). Usually when we get together, which is only about once every two months, we do the basic go-out-to-local-sushi-restaurant or maybe to Oak City Grill routine (costing at least $40 per person with no view of anything but each other's grown up and go out clothes - which, of course, are fun to wear). Nothing wrong with good sushi or sea-level girl talk, of course. But it stunned me to realize we'd never thought to do what we did last night, before last night. Hike + sunset wine toast + Taqueria in Portola Valley afterwards. Total: $10 each, including a work out, meal and cocktails.

As great as it sounds to me, this date wouldn't work with just any group. I would hasten to bring the lady who is always asking me about the minutiae of potty training along on a 2 hour jaunt (I don't believe in any potty training. Ever seen a High Schooler in diapers?) But these girls...I don't know, I'm just never bored with them. Not only are they fun to talk to about our kids (our sons all met in preschool, and somehow we always end up telling embarrassing stories that involve penises), but we also cover real topics that do not involve children. I treasure these women (and the fifth of our group who met us at the Taqueria afterwards) and am grateful to the preschool we attended for bringing us together. We certainly wouldn't have met at work. Three of us run our own businesses that have NOTHING to do with technology, one is a cracker jack accountant, one a school psychologist, and the other seems to do just about everything from wine making to design to succeeding in looking at least ten years younger than she actually is. Bitch.

We aren't all best friends. But we are very special friends. Together we have begun to raise our kids (twelve kids 5 and under), seen the oldest through preschool and soon *sigh* off to Kindergarten. We have worked hard outside the home and in it, shared those experiences, and bemoaned the fact that we have hardly ever gotten out as a group. As mommies of young kids, it doesn't happen often. Usually we are disciplining a group of wrestling balls of testosterone between partial sentences spoken to one another. But when we do get out on our own, I know I can always count on good old fashioned belly laughing that takes me back to elementary school innocence. You know these kinds of friends. They are never taxing to be with. When I'm with them I don't give a shit about, well, anything but laughing and talking. It's pure. And for the most part, there's no gossip. We have enough to discuss with our own trials and tribulations and events that we don't need to run others through the dirt, and that, in addition to the laughter, makes me feel good and refreshed.

Thanks ladies. Last night was just a little reminder to myself that I love where I live, and who I live near. What else is there (besides family, money, great vacations, work and fame), to life?

Summer at Stinson

The boys and I made a quick overnight trip out to Stinson beach to see my bestest buddy AM and her twin 1.5 year olds yesterday/this morning. We left after I worked until 1 PM yesterday, got there around 3, played on the foggy beach (where we found a deeply dug hole for face-planting into) for a couple of hours, retired to our oceanfront retreat and made dinner (whatever was in the freezer) and drank scrumptious wine (made by said best friend's husband) while being spritzed by summer mist through the screen door. After the twins were in bed, AM and I talked loosely (knowing we didn't have as much time as we'd need to go through everything we wanted to discuss) about work, upcoming vacations and kid milestones while the older kids (mine) watched a movie. Then we went to bed.

I slept in-between my two boys on two twin beds pushed together. Of course they each wanted to flank me so I got to sleep in the crack. W wet his pants but was too tired to be roused by wetness so I slept half the night in a damp circle of his urine. B wanted to sleep cheek to cheek with me so I found myself forced to breath out of only one side of my mouth. I was pretty much as uncomfortable as possible, but so wrapped in love and warmth that I didn't mind. Every time this happens I face a choice between annoyance and remembering how urgently I'll crave it when the boys are too old to beg to be pressed to me all night long (or at least one hopes they'll grow out of that). For now, it's a heart warming thing.

We got up at 6:30 this morning, ate some frozen blueberry waffles and downed a cup of coffee and we were off by 7:30 and home by 9 AM, just in time to get the kids to the next day of "summer camp". I realize that to some mommies this might sound like a hellish trip of rushed travel and cramped (and wet) sleeping conditions. But I thought it was perfect. Nothing fills my soul like a visit with AM and her kiddos, and when you combine that with the ocean air, all night snuggles from my boys, and a good glass of wine you've got a mini vacation that's nearly as good as for me as a trip to Hawaii. Thank goodness for quick beach getaways!

Birthday Beach Weekend

We went south this weekend to visit W's best buddy for his 5th birthday party.

Here are the fun things we did:

competed in whipped cream contest
played musical chairs
participated in pinata beating and candy eating
pinch hit and fielded in tee ball game
swung on the beach
ran in the surf
ate shave ice cones
watched a movie in bed with popcorn
painted our nails (the boys picked shiny blue)
went to get hot chocolate and cinnamon roll breakfast in our jammies

and last but not least...

fell in love (all of us, in familial platonic way of course) with BFriend Mommy's new boyfriend (now moved in) and his daughter when we thought we would never ever get over the break-up of BFriend Mommy and her ex-husband, also our dear friend for the past fifteen years. More on that another time. Let's just say I'm still speechless and in awe of the maturity and caring that my BFriend Mommy and everyone in her life are displaying right now.

Best Friends

Inspired, as I often am, by the Maya's Mom Journal topic of the day, I wrote the following post for my journal, and thought I'd share it here.

AMarie and I met when we were thirteen.

We passed some notes, shared some crushes for boys, went on vacations together and decided that thermal underwear with Goodwill bought boxer shorts over them were the latest fashion while the other girls were carrying Liz Claiborne purses and wearing acrylic nails.

One weekend during our Senior year in High School, my mom got remarried and AMarie and I were the bridesmaids (oh those big puffy peach dresses...mom what were you thinking?). That same weekend AMarie won Homecoming Queen. We'd planned what to do when she won, as I was sure she would. I have a great photo of that moment, much like the one posted here, but with both of us wearing big shiny red dresses on a football field and making false crying-with-joy and surprise faces. (My friend is just as much or more of a ham as I am. Okay more. This woman had an actual following down in LA when she lived there, of folks who would come see her Karaoke.) I shudder when I think of what we had the announcer read as we walked down the makeshift aisle in the auditorium the day before the Homecoming game. "BJ '89!" the unsuspecting Principal read as AMarie walked across the wood floor. Did we really believe no adult understand what BJ stood for?? Bad, dirty girls.

But we weren't as immature as that one incident might suggest. Recently I found a near pristine copy of The Giving Tree tucked away in my pile of books. I pulled it out, wondering where it came from, and inside was a full page of words from AMarie about how much she treasured our friendship. Her inscription was thoughtful, moving, and full of just about the nicest things anyone has ever said about me. And she wrote this on the day of our High School Graduation, when most people were scribbling "URAQT!" and "KIT! Let's party over the summer!". I am thankful every single day that I still have this wonderful woman in my life. We went off to college together, were in each others' weddings, and are now knee deep in family vacations and playdates, as well as the best girls' nights and weekends away I could ask for.

This photo was taken recently on AMarie's 35th birthday. She's still a hottie, obviously--could probably still win Homecoming Queen at any given High School. But now she's got twin babies, and is a school counselor, and has an amazing husband. And she is still my best friend. I am so lucky.

A Good Rising

Last night we had a party, Maya's Mom and I. Here we are, raising the roof for Maya's Mom, MomsRising, and most importantly, for progress toward a more family friendly, and thus more economically and emotionally powerful, United States of America.

We had some good wine, ate some amazing desserts made by Grandmahildi, and took home cupcakes to our kids. We met friends in person we had previously only known through tappings on our keyboards, and we were pleasantly reassured that they truly exist. But even in the presence of all the icing on the M&M topped cupcakes, the strawberry meringue, the alcoholic residual sugars, and the new friends, the sweetest part of the evening by far for me was seeing so many intelligent and powerful people in one room who get it. Some of you are even writing about it already (kudos!).

What do these people get you ask?

I believe that after watching The Motherhood Manifesto most folks understand some pretty powerful things. They understand that the MomsRising.org agenda for a more family friendly America is not what they might have expected.

Let's start at the top. It's not about whether you are a mom or even a parent. It's not about whether you work or stay home. It's not about whether you have health care or not, or whether you are wealthy or poor. It's not, at all, a women's agenda. And it's definitely not about whining. No. We are not whining. We're proving that this country is going down in flames and it better damn well start taking care of its kids and families if it wants to survive in the industrialized world. Forget about the emotional heartbreak of all the families declaring bankruptcy, uninsured children dying, and struggling families working so hard they can't spend a minute with their children. (Okay don't forget about them, but look past the emotions after you stop weeping). And look, really look, at the ECONOMIC sense of making this agenda a reality. Economics is something near and dear to every heart, male or female, rich or poor. It's a hard data thing. A family friendly America just simply makes financial sense. We need to make change if we want to survive.

I wish I had time to lay out the whole agenda, but I don't. I gotta go watch my kids :). But I encourage you to visit MomsRising.org NOW and simply sign up. There you can read chapters of the book, The Motherhood Manifesto, which has more data and info than even the film has. You can order the DVD for next to nothing, and you can DO SOMETHING.

How long will you wait to make a difference? Go!

Ah, The Oscars

B's pneumonia with fever turned into a regular manageable cold just in time for me and one of my two nearest and dearest friends, AM, to get our tushies down south for D's (my other nearest and dearest) yearly women-only oscar bash. D, AM and I have been friends since High School.

AM and I did the three hour drive down to Cambria together. We love the drive. Two blocks of three secluded kid free hours in a car within a 24 hr period is the ideal situation for catching up. Even though we talk almost daily, it's rarely for more than 30 seconds without one kid or the other having an outburst.

Last year when we made the Oscar trip, AM had just had twins. Just. The babies were 8 weeks old and she had fired up and got in a turquoise sequin number (and looked hot) and watched that show with gusto even though she was running on a few hours sleep a night. My hero. This year it was wonderful to drive down and discuss what a year it's been. There she sat, now with two happy healthy one-year-old cutie pies, back at her school couseling job part-time, and in the best physical shape I've ever seen her. She's had such a great year--has managed mothering twins like a frigging pro and has turned into one of my own Mommyidols--and I'm so happy for her.

D has had quite a year too. Six months ago her divorce from the man she'd been with half of her life (they met when she was 18 and married when she was 25. She's now 36.) was announced. Five months ago she met a new man who seems to be the love of her life. She's riding dirt bikes and hangliding. He's cooking gourmet meals. She's on cloud nine. The kids seem fine. The ex, a dear friend of mine as well, has a new beau too and has moved in down the street. All is going smoothly. Sometimes, it seems so far in this case, divorce is not a tragedy.

And there I sat, realizing what a year my immediate family (N and my parents and all our siblings) had had. Cancer, remission, a new baby, Grand Mal seizures, head injuries, brain surgery, a wedding, and running two startup companies. I can't believe all these events ended (or are currently going) well, and we've still got the whole crew (+ new baby E) with us.

I felt lucky about my life, as I often do, and I realized how much more of an event the Oscars are for me than just watching movie stars win awards and getting dressed up (which we DO of course!). It's a blessing that I have such wonderful girlfriends in my life, and that we have annual things we get together for without kids. Getting away with my girls reminds me of where I came from, and how much good life I've lived and (G-d willing), have the opportunity yet to live with them in my life. I am at home with these two girlfriends, wherever we are, and I don't know what my life would be like without them.

Oscar Pics

Fun Oscar Posing