new address

1052 berkeley avenue

menlo park, california

94025
come visit! 

first ballet lesson

ivy had her first dance lesson last week and it was so sweet 

and one of those milestone kinda things that i just won't forget. 

i took ballet too and i can see myself in ivy so much it's kinda weird. 

 well, we went to the dance store a few weeks ago to get all her gear 

and even that had her giddy. 

ballet leotards, one pink, one white, pink ballet skirt, ballet slippers and tap shoes. 

she asks me all day long if she can put her tap shoes on. 

we've had to create rules. 

not before 8AM, 

not during eli's nap, 

never outside, and not after baths. 

(am i mean?)
she loooves them!

 last tuesday we loaded up, found the dance studio which is so close, 

(i love this little town)

and wandered inside. 

me and eli sat down, 

and ivy just walked out on the dance floor 

and found a spot in the circle with the other girls, 

with an expression on her face like she had done this before.
this pleased me so much for some reason!

so funny to watch your kid in these environments.

 her teacher, mrs. nicole is amazing and ivy just loved it. 

the first half is ballet, second half is tap 

with a few minutes at the end for "tumble bumble".  

ivy would periodically look over her shoulder 

and wave to me in a style she's never done before. 

i can't explain it but it was hilarious.

aside from me forgetting her socks and skirt, it was perfect.

(at least she's got it more together than the chick in front of her). 

she wakes up every morning asking me if it's tuesday. 

this week, papa even got to sit in and of course ives was loving it. 

it was basically impossible to get a good picture with eli all over the place. 

maybe next time.....

and i just have to say, she is 10x cuter with the skirt on!! :)

blackberry-oat bran muffins

recipe from everyday food mag
(thanks to kathryn)

1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup oat bran
2 t baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
6 T butter, room temp
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups chopped blackberries

preheat oven to 375 and line muffin tin with paper liners.
whisk together flour, oat bran, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

in a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. beat in the eggs and vanilla. with the mixer on low, add flour in 2 additions, alternating with the buttermilk. fold in the berries.

divide batter among muffin cups and sprinkle with sugar.
bake 20-25 minutes.

we ate ours warm, then froze the rest for breakfast  last week.

ivy picked around the blackberries, but eli devoured the whole thing. such a mess afterwards, but i guess he's worth it :)

(note: made these again without berries, more sugar on top, baked for 20 minutes, and added flax.)

swing of things

 yes, we are still alive!  

time has just been eaten up by getting settled in and finding a little routine. 

moms looove themselves a routine. 

i don't really think of myself as a "routine kind of mom" 

(especially compared to friends, i'm pretty chill)

 but i definitely function 100x better when there's a shape and purpose to the day. 

so i guess you could say i'm super laid back within my routine :)  

well who cares!

a routine is being found and we're the better for it.

 anyway, i don't do well with describing big changes

 like moving across the country to california 

and everything different and new (at least not on the blog), 

so i guess that's why i called this short & sweet in the first place.

 so i'll try to keep it that way by just saying we are so happy here, 

kevin is enjoying his job, working long hours,

 i love my tiny house although we live outside, 

the kids love everything and life is feeling sweet. 

 of course it's still exhausting

 (does anyone have a friend/cousin/grandma/friend's cousin's grandma around here 

who remotely likes children?) 

but that's motherhood

and i feel more in my element here than i ever did in cambridge (that's for sure), 

even though it was a great experience. 

that was a really long sentence. 

so here's to cali and hopefully catching some of it on the blog!