our sunday

Matteo and I met up with our friends at the park this morning for the trek across Lake Monona. Angela, Steve and Joe took off on skis and Carrie, her neighbors, their dogs, and Roscoe, Matteo and I followed on snowshoes. We didn't make it very far. After about a half mile (maybe not even that far) Roscoe had huge snowballs stuck on the fur between his toes and was really uncomfortable. I was also getting tired from pulling the baby sled so we decided to walk back. See that icy blue paw print on the map? That's about how far we made it.




See those tiny dots? That's Angela, Steve and Joe.


But it was a beautiful day and it got us outside for more than an hour and I would love to try it again. Soon. Here is a video of us that I took. The woman pulling the sled is Carrie's neighbor whom I had just met. She was kind enough to take a turn and give my arms a break. I already have a very bad feeling about how sore my left arm is going to be tomorrow.

[flickr video=5402015516 secret=7bab6c8baf w=400 h=300]

Matteo loved being outside and didn't complain at all. I think he enjoyed himself as much as I did.



The skiers had a great trip and found all sorts of cool stuff along the way like a circle of Christmas trees out on the ice that people had tied ribbons to that had wishes and prayers written on them and this giant snow cave. Here's Steve and Joe in the snow cave. How sweet is this?

our saturday

It was a great day - cabin fever begone! We tried out the new sled in the backyard, went on a long walk with a stop at the park, met Carrie and Angela at Olbrich to watch a Haitian dance and drum group perform, and then finished off the afternoon with coffee at The Victory. Matt has my camera so all I had was the flip, but I made a little movie of the things we did - want to see?

cabin fever

Since we're all feeling like Matteo looks in this picture, we are in desperate need of a change of scenery this weekend. Matt's getting his by taking off for Minnesota with his team for basketball game in St. Cloud, so Matteo and I are on our own.

I'm still not sure what we'll do tomorrow, but Sunday we're meeting up with friends who are planning to cross-country ski across Lake Monona.



They're leaving from the park right by our house (we live two blocks from the green arrow) so Matteo and I will join them and try to keep up for as long as we can. I may even get to use my snowshoes, depending on how much snow there is. It's 3.5 miles one way, and then they plan to ski back, so there's no way we'll do anything close to the whole trip. But it will be good to get outdoors and Matteo can finally use his new baby sled.



Isn't it snazzy?

summer photos on winter days

It's snowy here today, but isn't it snowy practically everywhere today? A couple of weeks ago our friend Dan sent out his photos from last summer's Green Lake vacation. This was the second year we've done this trip and it's definitely one of my favorite kinds of vacations - 10 adults and six kids hanging out together in a cool, old lake house for a long, summer weekend.

On a day like today, it's nice to take a few moments to think about warm weather, green trees, and swimming.























Matteo's hair has already changed several times since birth. He used to have a crazy dark baby mullet (just like his daddy). Check it:

matteo's room

We have serious cabin fever, folks. Good thing I love Matteo's room so much because we spend A LOT of time in there. I don't think I've posted photos of it before so here you go. (Note the open windows and billowing curtains. ahhh... *dreamy sigh*)

We've moved things around a bit since these photos were taken this summer - the IKEA chair is out and has been replaced by pillows on the floor for more comfortable reading, and there are now lots and lots of toys, for example - but at least you get a sense of where we spend most of our waking hours these days.







Our Expedit has had many incarnations. Bookshelf, room divider, and now baby central. Those red cabinet inserts cost almost as much as the Expedit did, but they're totally worth it for hiding all of the extra randomness that come along with babies. I made the pictures over the changing table in a flurry of nesting activity right before Matteo was born. The panda bear trash can was something I bought on St. Maarten and loved so much I shipped it back to the U.S. when we moved. The Novogratz girls from '9 By Design' have a similar one in their room, but it's a pink pig.





A closer look at a couple of favorite gifts - the Babar and Celeste paintings were from my brother and the four square paintings were done by Carrie.



And finally, the fish has an interesting story behind it. It's made out of a husk from the trunk of a palm tree and I bought it on St. Maarten five years ago from a young Dutch family that made and sold them. For years I've looked at that thing and thought, "what will I ever do with this?" but Matteo loves staring up at the spots and it helps keep him occupied while I change his diapers. It's funny how things that you pick up randomly eventually end up having just the right place in your life.

updates from sundance - #1

Just received this text from Kevin:

"I'm sitting in the middle of an installation piece by james franco based on threes company. The room looks like the set from the show."

with love from athens

Last week Matteo received a really sweet package from our friends Claudia, Jean-Phillipe, Katalina and Max, who are St. Maarten friends now living in Greece. Claudia was the art teacher at the school where Matt and I were also teaching and her daughter, Katalina, was in my first fourth grade class. The slippers are incredibly cozy and sweet (they have little dolphins on the sides and are fleecey on the inside) and the art book is even autographed to Matteo from the author. I love the lessons inside - here's a sample:



I also have to mention that Claudia is an amazing artist herself. For our wedding she painted rocks I collected from a local beach, which we gave to all out-of-town guests who came down for the ceremony. Aren't they beautiful? I still keep one on my desk at home and at work.



Thanks guys! We all miss you and hope to be able to thank you in person sometime soon! Big hugs and kisses!

when????

Can SOMEONE please tell me when this movie is going to be out in wide release?? Or have I totally missed it already? Argh!

sundance

The Sundance Film Festival is in full swing and my brother is headed out to Park City today to visit our dad, go to a bunch of films, and rub elbows with celebrities. Kevin has been six or seven times now and I've been twice, although the years he goes it alone seem to be much more socially fruitful. Case in point: 2009 we were there together and spent our time on the outside looking in, trying to talk our way into parties without a lot of success. Last year I was pregnant so he went by himself and Beach House put him on the guest list for the private party they were playing. Yeah, it's like that.

But I digress. Regardless of which parties you get in, or in my case don't get into, getting to go to the films and stroll around Park City is great. For a celebrity sighting geek like myself it's fun to know at any moment you could literally bump into Ryan Gosling or Amy Poehler or Tilda Swinton, who Kevin saw TWICE last year. (See what I mean?)

Here are some pictures I took in 2008 & 2009, to give you an idea of what it's like:


Old Park City is really charming although only one theater, The Egyptian, is actually on Main Street. The rest are scattered around town in different public buildings. We saw 'Be Kind Rewind' in the city library, for example. You can pre-order tickets in advance for movies but you can also stand in line for them before each show and still have a good chance of getting in.


The Egyptian


I've attended probably 10 films at Sundance now and never do I ever see famous people sitting in the audience in the theater. It's usually people like me who have come out to the festival as a tourist or industry people who all start to look alike after a while. Seriously, I thought I saw Casey Affleck like five times until I realized everyone just looks like him now.








Main Street is a small street that runs through the heart of old Park City. Every store and restaurant is rented out and turned into swag suites or venues for private parties, and most of them have balconies used to film the interviews with celebrities you see on TV. When we're not going to films we spend a lot of time getting coffee at Java Cow, and walking up and down the street people watching.


Here's a typical private party - these girls are trying to spot the celebrities inside who were posing for photos on the other side of the window. (And no, I don't press my nose up against the glass like that. Sheesh! Give me some credit.) There also are a lot of parties at private homes rented in the mountains. If you ever meet my aunt Elaine, ask her about the time she did a shot of Kahlua down a party ice luge at one of those parties. And yes, my aunt Elaine also gets into parties I do not.


When he's not with me, my brother sees people like Justin Timberlake. When he's with me, we see people like Wynonna.


And finally, these credentials were for things like lectures with filmmakers and special exhibits about film. We tried using them to get into the parties. We failed. So instead, we stood outside in front of these banners (because no one else was around, they were all inside at the parties) and posed like the posers we are.

Have fun Kevin and Dad! Hopefully we can join you next year!

baltimore

Here are more photos from our trip last week. Matteo did really well on the plane although he spent the first flight crawling all over the tray tables. (The flights weren't full and we had a whole row to ourselves both ways, thank goodness.) He loved seeing his grandma, uncle Kevin, and his godmother Jen, but I think most of all he loved meeting my mom's dog, Riley, whose fluffy fur proved completely irresistible to Matteo's grabby baby hands.

















We took a series of photos of Matteo and my brother in their matching cable knit sweaters. They look like they should be on the cover of an 80's soft rock album.