Have a Warm and Cozy Weekend!

We came upstate Wednesday night. Valentino worked like a dog when we were in Florida... think 8am-10pm, 7 days a week--I know, crazy right! He took two days off this week so we could spend a long four days together. Things were going well until this morning,  when we woke up to no heat! Luckily the heating company came out early and fixed things, apparently the oil was thickening like  molasses from the cold,  and wasn't reaching the furnace...yikes!

Yesterday, we made a wonderful chicken noodle soup (broth from scratch), ate delicious brie and prosciutto from Cheese Louise (best name ever),  and watched Nebraska (which is up for Best Picture at the Oscar's this weekend) will you be watching? Today Valentino is taking Isabel skiing and I plan on updating Stella and Isabel's baby books...long overdue.

Stay warm and cozy!

Our Masterpiece!

What Will They Think of Next?

A funny thing happened while I was away in Florida...I came home to a freshly bearded man. Valentino, a usual proponent of the five o' clock shadow, had opted to go with the current trend of full- on Brooklyn beard. Not quite sure what to make of this newly uncoiffed look,  I had to laugh when the headlines spelled it out all too clear yesterday! Take a look and see what I am talking about...

The Golden Years!

Hi there! Miss me? We arrived late Monday night,  and while glad to be back in Brooklyn...we miss Grandma and the warm weather so much already!

Florida was great! We went to the beach nearly everyday and visited the pool a few days as well. My Mom lives in a 55+ community so the whole experience (especially the pool) reminded me of the movie Cocoon...remember that one? Where a group of senior citizens swim in a pool that contains alien cocoons and invigorates them with youth. There weren't cocoons in the pool per se, but the community was so happy and carefree ("Welcome to Paradise" was the sign hanging in many yards) that a youthful attitude was felt throughout -- even though many were pushing 80! Overall,  I learned a positive life lesson...that the 'golden years' might just be the best years yet to come!

More photos and highlights of our trip after the jump...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Card Image taken from my favorite spot Greenwich Letterpress

Happy Valentine's Day! What do you have planned? Valentino and I have a babysitter tonight but no firm plans yet. I would like to get oysters, so maybe here...

With the Nor'easter that pounded the area,  I am happy to announce that we will be leaving this frozen tundra and visiting my Mom in Florida tomorrow! Yes! It's sunny and 70 degrees there... I cannot wait to pack dresses for the girls and shorts for me and leave the coats in the car as we make way for the airport! I will be taking the week off from blogging while in Florida... and return sunned and refreshed and ready for a four week count-down to spring! Have a great Valentine's Day and Weekend!

My Valentines... Isabel and Stella... taken by my dear friend Jacqueline...Isabel is around 2.5 yrs old in this photo and Stella is 17 months.

Be Mine, Valentine!

One of my favorite parts about having kids is getting to do all of the fun stuff I loved to do as a kid...again! Remember the feeling of excitement around getting and receiving Valentine Cards? I remember decorating a shoebox with my name, tin foil, and hearts, putting a slit on top,  and using that as a mailbox. Then all of the classmates would walk around and dispense some version of a boxed valentine inside. 

Isabel's class is doing a Valentine Exchange tomorrow. I was ambitious and bought blank cards and envelopes, stickers, and these markers (now that was a trip down memory lane the smells haven't changed in 30 years)! After five cards she was bored (we had 14 to do)...we did a few each night and are finally finished. Next years it's the boxed version for us!

Welcome to the Neighborhood!

In NYC, the phrase,"Keeping up with the Joneses" can be taken quite literally ...as many times I can hear entire conversations coming from the apartment next door. In fact, I can tell you exactly when my neighbor above me decides it's time to exercise his dog (in the house), when my neighbor below decides to bring the club back to his place, and when my other next door neighbor David...hey actually I never hear from that guy...as matter of fact I hear him so infrequently that I didn't even notice he moved out! Wait! What? We're getting new neighbors?

I am a little concerned about this...you know all the noise I mentioned about my neighbors... well...take all of that noise and multiply it by 200 and that's how much noise we make in this apartment! Baby wake-up call at 5am, coffee grinder, My Little Ponies and NPR competing for the same airspace at 6am, Wooden toys on wooden floors all day long, pots and pans doubling as musical instruments, mother screaming gently encouraging children to get dressed and eat their breakfast, father screaming at mother to not scream at children...you get the idea! So needless to say David has been a blessing as he did not complain once. Now we are going to get new neighbors who are going to get to know us intimately without knowing us at all...let's just hope they have kids!

Our Apartment...on a quiet day. 

NY Fashion Week

NY Fashion Week is in full swing, and what better way to celebrate than highlight some of the more original questionable (um it's winter girls)...looks that have debuted off of the runways!

Nice Abs...now go put a shirt on!

Despite the bare legs...I chose this one for the bright colors which I have been coveting lately...I might just buy this hat today!

Almost covered... 

No words...

Photos taken by Tommy Ton for Style.com

Jury Duty!

I have jury duty selection today! While most would be complaining... I am thrilled to have an excuse to hire a babysitter for the day. I plan on taking a book, magazine, and a few snacks, and having myself a relaxing afternoon! Now I just need to figure out how to get selected for a trial...maybe even one that puts you up in a hotel for a few weeks...as long as there is a spa of course! Wish me luck!

P.S. How to get out of jury duty.

Have a Great Weekend!

Shh...don't tell Valentino but I broke the car! Not in an it won't run kind of way but in a the windshield wipers are broken...kind of way. Windshield wipers seem trivial on a dry day (who needs 'em)...but with the amount of snow, slush, and mush we have outside...they are as essential as the engine. 

So yesterday...on our way to New Jersey, to visit  Renee and Leora, ...we discovered we weren't going to be visiting our friends but were going to visit Junior, our local mechanic instead (who informed me that the wiper mechanism would need to be disassembled to investigate the damage...I am sure I did from not de-icing them properly ...this is the part we won't tell Valentino). Still waiting to hear back...keeping our fingers crossed that the car will be ready for our upstate journey tonight!

*Update* Car will be ready at 3pm today!

Have a Great Weekend!

What a great way to kill time yesterday...self-indulgent selfies! 

Simply Stunning!

Have you heard of the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival? Me neither...the closest I have been to gorgeous ice sculptures were those at the local Holiday Inn Buffet!  This magical ice festival is located in Norteast China close to Siberia...where the winters can get as cold as -40 degrees! It runs from Janruary 5th until February 5th,  so If you want to go you'd have to plan for next year...until then you can read all about it here...and make sure to check out the images taken at night! Breathtaking!

photo by Massismo Vitali for The New York Times

Snow Ice Cream!

Isabel and Leora enjoying ice cream (of the regular version)...on a hot sunny day back in 2011!

When life gives you lemons make lemonade...but what if life gives you snow? Well...make ice cream of course! My friend Renee told me about this genius idea on Monday. Stuck inside on a snowday...she sent the kids outside to collect a bucket of freshly fallen snow... a little sugar and vanilla...and they had themselves a delicious treat! Some recipes call for using condensed milk...but I think the key here is to improvise making sure to use fresh (read: not yellow) snow!

Ingredients

8 cups of snow
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Place collected snow in a large bowl...(duh). Pour condensed milk over and add vanilla. Mix. Enjoy!

That's All I Got Today...

Via here

Wovenplay.

Little girls are so much fun...if we ever had a third child (which we will not be having) I would almost wish for another little girl. One thing I am quickly learning ,as the mother of two girls, is their favorite past-time is playing dress-up. This became clearly apparent over the weekend when at a friends house upstate the little girls (all five of them!) were completely knee- deep in costume changes. Of course the nurse and doctor costumes are fun but the dresses and tutus are always top pick...Isabel and Stella have a basket with a few essentials (tutus, wings, and gowns) but we could definitely afford to add a few new pieces. I wish I could add the entire Wovenplay collection. Everything they make is like a sweet dream...take a look and see for yourself!

I have my eye on this Crystal Tutu...on sale now...Grandma...are you reading?