terrace love

We met some friends at the Terrace last week to celebrate our friend Adam, who officially completed his PhD program on Wednesday. Congratulations Dr. Adam!

The weather was perfect, there were tons of people out, and there were burgers, beer and babies out the wazoo. If someone came to Madison for just one day and wanted to get a glimpse of what the city was like by going to just one place, I would send them to the Terrace. (In warm weather, of course.)

Have you ever seen the movie The Last Kiss with Zach Braff and Rachel Bilson?



It's set in Madison and there is a scene where Zach Braff is creeping around in the bushes at the Terrace spying on Rachel Bilson with her friends. It's fun to watch for spotting local landmarks and I've recommended it to friends who want to know what Madison is like.

Another movie set in Madison (although I don't think it was really filmed here) is Away We Go. A couple of weeks ago I told someone I lived in Madison and they replied, "Kook Town!" That's an accurate stereotype and Maggie Gyllenhaal's character in this movie is certifiably from Kook Town, Wisconsin - population = A LOT.



When it comes to the reality, I'm happy to say that most of the women I know here are way more like Jacinda Barrett in 'The Last Kiss' - sweet, warm, and totally grounded.



But I won't lie. There's definitely a little Kook Town in all of us too.



In all of the best ways, of course.

it was another great summer

Yep, school starts tomorrow.

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(Matteo at the pool on Friday afternoon)

connecticut

My brain still feels like it's on vacation even though we've been back for more than two weeks. Here are photos from the second part of our east coast trip - visiting family in Connecticut and introducing Matteo to his great-grandmother.

how a baby eats a popsicle

(full disclaimer - I actually did most of the eating. he did most of the sucking/mess making. and yes, his hands stayed blue all night long.)

stacking up

When I was pregnant, I signed up for all sorts of emails that would get sent to me each week telling me what was happening with the baby - how big he was, what he was doing in there...helpful stuff like that. What I didn't know was that the emails would continue after the baby was born and slowly but surely start to drive me absolutely, freaking crazy.

"Your house should be babyproofed tighter than Fort Knox!" (Er...not quite but we're getting there.) "Your baby should say 15 words!" (Hmmm...nope.) "Your baby should be drawing with crayons!" (Uh...absolutely not. I actually bought him some crayons after I got that email and he immediately ripped them out of my hands and simultaneously started eating them and snapping them in half like a wild animal.)

Last week's email was about stacking toys. "Your baby should be able to stack rings and blocks!" Oh, okay sure, that one shouldn't be too hard. Ha! We sat down with his stacking toy but no matter how I tried to show him, he would not put the rings on the stick. He threw the rings, he banged the stick, he banged the rings against the stick and then threw them when they wouldn't go on. He just didn't get it. He must not be ready for such a complicated toy, right?

Ummm...yeah. You know where this is going, don't you? The next day I told Matt about our failed ring stacking experiment and he suggested we try again. We all sat down together and I watched as Matt taught Matteo how to properly stack the rings himself in, literally, two minutes.

Ding ding! Lightbulb moment for mama. It wasn't that Matteo didn't get how to stack rings, it was that I didn't get how to teach him the right way. I had totally done something as a parent that I swore I would never do - I got so caught up in 'milestones' that I stressed over something stupid and let something totally fun - teaching him how to do something new - be frustrating and, ultimately, unsuccessful.

Matt and I were talking this weekend about what have been the most surprising parts of parenthood so far, and this is a new one for my list. It's not the big events that teach you the best lessons, it's the little things. Another lesson I learned? It's a great thing to have a teacher for a husband, not just for teaching children, but for having the patience to also teach stressed out mamas who have read one too many 'helpful' parenting emails.

matteo - photos by carrie

Is there anything better than friends who come over at the last minute to babysit for free? How about friends who come over at the last minute to babysit for free and take amazing photos of your kiddo? Big thanks to Carrie (and her fine photography skills) for watching Matteo last night while we were out jorting, and surpising us this morning with these beautiful photos!

good jorting!

Last night was the first game of our softball team's fall season (yes, you heard right. fall already! blech.) and to celebrate we all wore jorts. We ended up losing the game, but a jorting good time was had by all.

Close-ups:









Group shots - courtesy of Alicia:




And, a post game doozy of three of our best jorters - courtesy of Carrie:

five years

(This is the scene that greeted me in the office kitchen this morning.)

This week marks my five-year anniversary with The Nature Conservancy. This is the longest stretch of time I've worked in the same place and I don't intend on going anywhere anytime soon. I love what I do for a living and working for a non-profit that is highly supportive of work-life balance is a dream.

Weird story - I spent the summer of 2003 living with friends back in Anchorage, trying to figure out what to do and where to go next. Did I want someplace new or somewhere familiar? And which place would that be, exactly? During that time a job opened up in The Nature Conservancy's Anchorage office and I decided to apply. I went through two rounds of interviews (later I learned I was the top candidate) but ultimately decided I wasn't going to stay in Alaska. I took myself out of contention and ended up moving back to St. Maarten to teach.

Fast forward three years to spring 2006 - Matt and I decided we were moving to Wisconsin so I started browsing job openings for environmental jobs in Madison. The exact same job I interviewed for in Anchorage in 2003 was available in the Madison office. I applied, had a couple of crazy interviews via an international cell phone connection, had one more in-person interview when we arrived in Wisconsin, and got it! Right place, right time and I'm so, so happy it all worked out the way it did.

being

“Your children will become what you are; so be what you want them to be.” - David Bly

appreciating the patina

This came in the mail yesterday and boy am I all over that room. Now this is vintage modern, people. I love the high ceilings and the leather banquette and the beautiful architectural details (those windows! arrrgh...so amazing). I love the fancy yet well-worn feel of it all. But the real wow factor comes from the mix of all that goodness living in harmony with the Saarinen table, the Enzo Mari prints, and the industrial stools.

There's a great quote from the homeowner (who is the Martha Stewart Living Editor-in-Chief, naturally) inside the magazine.

"If you're going to have nice things and kids, you have to appreciate patina."

I totally subscribe to that. If you're in our house and you can see beyond the IKEA, you may notice we actually have some nice furniture mixed in here and there. When I first got the nice things, I used to cringe when I'd discover dings from the stroller or scratches from the cat in the wood. But it can all be fixed, one day, when children and cats are gone and it's just us again.

For now, our furniture tells a story. It says, "I am loved, I am cherished, and I live in a busy home with cats and dogs and tiny children who like to push toy lawnmowers into my sides."

maryland, my maryland

It was so good to be home and I loved introducing Matteo to some of my favorite places. My mom is talking about moving to Madison in a few years and while I'm really, really excited for her to be closer to us, I'm selfishly a tiny bit sad because we won't be able to go to Maryland as easily. Because of that, when I'm back I try to really appreciate and enjoy the things about Baltimore I miss most.

15 months *

*technically 15 months and 12 days - vacation sort of threw us off track this month

carrie + joe

Our friends Carrie and Joe got married last weekend! It was one of the best weddings I've ever been to. It was so special, and so unique, and had their love and personality all over every inch of it.

Even though they now live in Wisconsin, they are down home kind of people in the best of ways. Carrie grew up in Lubbock, Texas and affectionately refers to her friends as "darlin'!". Joe is from Greensboro, North Carolina and spends most of his free time attached to a guitar. Their wedding featured party guests in dresses with cowboy boots, bluegrass music throughout the ceremony, and lots and lots of pie. It was just about the most charming thing I've ever experienced.


the venue - the freethinkers hall in sauk city


the program


waiting for the ceremony to begin


everyone got their own mug for the night. mine was pretty much constantly filled with this amazing green tea/lime/gin concoction brewed by the local farmer who catered the meal.


dinner was downstairs. my contributions to the wedding were the strands of paper puff balls that hung from the ceiling.


dinner


the tables were named after famous free thinkers. carrie's mom sewed all the table lines and napkins. all china and glassware was thrifted in lubbock and then donated back to the freethinkers.


carrie and friends made all the flowers out of paper


dessert table with desserts also made by friends


robbie fulks played the reception! have you heard of him? he was amazing.


dancing


looking in from the back of the building

There aren't any photos from ceremony because Carrie and Joe wanted it to be unplugged, that is, they wanted only the official photographer to be taking pictures. They wrote the entire service themselves and wanted people to remember it by how it made you feel listening to what they said to each other, not by looking back on a photograph. She was quoted about it in this story, and made some great points. Their wedding made me laugh and cry throughout, and I may not have been as deeply engaged with what they were saying if I had been focusing on trying to take pictures.

Congratulations Carrie and Joe! Thank you for letting us be part of such a perfect evening! We love you and wish you a lifetime of love and happiness!