miss rosie is SIX YEARS OLD today! i cannot emphasize enough how much JOY she has brought to all of our lives. we just cannot imagine our days without her. HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY darling rosie! wishing you a year full of sunny walks, steak snacks, cuddles and naps… we LOVE you so! x0x0x
Read Morepet
the "baby" pine street cottage! x0x
(the baby guest house of my pine street project)
in the spring of 2021 my pine street cottage project was featured on the cover of 5280Home. it was so EXCITING! this darling house has a calm, neutral palette with lots of texture and dimension in the textiles, pillows, throws and wall art. at that time, the family was remodeling the guest house, which i was so happy to furnish. so now there is a baby cottage!
Read More
HAPPY, HAPPY HALLOWEEN! x00x
(halloween hank as a turkey! i think he’s worried that we’ll throw him on the thanksgiving table…)
there are two things i love about halloween: dog costumes and candy. all the scary, bloody, gruesome stuff i could really do without. also the WORRY about whether my kids will make it home alive. this year hank is going as a ROASTED TURKEY! i am beside myself because i think his back legs already look like drumsticks.
Read More
REPOST: plum cake
* i am reposting this story because it includes the recipe for plum cake… a few summers ago the plum tree at our cottage went bananas with fruit. early each morning i went out to harvest (i DO have farming roots) enough to make plum cake. sometimes i gave it to someone, but most days we ate it. they are so DELICOUS! unfortunately, i totally over plum caked lucy and i don’t think she will ever eat one again. that is truly unfortunate. (i also did that to her with scrambled eggs - a big bummer both because i make AMAZING scrambles and because i think they are such a healthy way to breakfast.) today when i popped over to my parents’ house the yummiest smell was wafting around… mom was having her quilt friends over for lunch and had made the coveted cake. i was beside myself so, of course, i stayed for lunch! ENJOY! x0x
Read More
road trip with HANK! x0x0x
(hank likes to ride shotgun!)
due to some poor planning on my part i had to interrupt our california holiday with an expedited road trip back to boulder with hank. usually i make this drive over a minimum of three days but prefer to extend it to a week so i can stop in LA and see friends. this time we powered through in TWO DAYS! we were like true truck drivers. i am proud to say i didn’t get lost once and was super vigilant about refilling the tank whenever it was half empty because last year lu and i came uncomfortably close to running out of gas in the middle of nowhere. so logistically, hank and i did quite well, but it was boring as SHIT! we stopped midway in a town called “wells” on the nevada border. there was literally nothing in this town except our hotel, a mcdonalds and two gas stations. so we had dinner from the chevron shop (across the board, everyone has told me i should have had a big mac instead of a gas station sandwich, which is probably true), holed up in our room and left at the crack of dawn. hank was the perfect companion - we didn’t argue about when to stop or what snacks to get or which podcast to listen to… we were always aligned on that stuff (teriyaki beef jerky and “fly on the wall” with dana carvey and david spade interviewing anyone from SNL). i left hank in boulder with first husband and lu and i am safely back in california now. i MISS my sweetie hanky… i felt teary eating a banana alone this morning (we always share) and haven’t been sleeping as well without his soothing, snorey white noise.
Read More
memorial day blues
(the boulder creek fest)
every memorial day weekend in boulder there is the “creek fest” which features lots of food trucks, bouncy castles, bungee jumping, henna, face painting, artsy vendors and “bossy” vendors who give nutritional, political, environmental, parental, etc advice. every year i think i like the idea of a festival and every year i forget how fucking HOT it gets. this year we were obligated to go because lucy’s awesome dance troop, streetside, was performing.
Read More
our poor popper...
(our sweet bubbie with all of his shaved parts…)
my sweetest baby boy hank had to have BACK SURGERY two wednesdays ago. the tuesday evening prior, at the tail end of our FOUR hours of zoom parent/teacher conferences (for some reason the middle school and the high school scheduled them for the same night) we noticed that something was terribly wrong with hank. he was panting outrageously and shaking like someone just scared the bejeezus out of him. his vet was already closed so we took him to the animal ER, V.E.G.: veterinary emergency group. i have to say, they were so KIND there… they offered us drinks and comfortable chairs and snuggled him up trying to help him calm down. after a physical exam, the doctor predicted that it was his spine. (his reaction to touch was equal on each side and he was doing a weird thing with both of his back feet.) she couldn’t be positive without an MRI so she directed us to another ER (C.A.S.E.: colorado animal specialty and emergency) where they have the MRI machine and a neurologist on call. she said in the past, they would have sent us home with pain meds and instructions to monitor him for a few days, but new research has shown that immediate confirmation is better and that if we waited and it was indeed his spine he could be paralyzed by the weekend. HAY SEUS! they gave him methadone and another sedative and we headed over to C.A.S.E. even with the drugs, hank was still panting HARD. the team at C.A.S.E. was also really wonderful. they gave him FENTANYL (which freaked me out but they said they can give dogs these drugs because there is not a fear of them holding up the corner bodega desperate for cash to feed their addiction because we can control how much they get. i was left wondering if there are people out there who take their dogs’ medication.)
Read More
HAPPY, HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY 2023! x00xx
COLORFUL christmas tree drive
in art, dining room, family, garden, living room, office, pet, residential interior, sofa
we did an extensive remodel on this family home nestled under the flatirons in the chataqua neighborhood of boulder, colorado. originally built in the 80’s, we updated the exterior with earthy wood siding and local stone, in keeping with the home’s mountain setting.
Read More
HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY rosie! x0x0x
darling miss rosie is FIVE tomorrow! in the six months that she has been with my parents she has stolen all of our hearts and given everyone so much JOY. she is just a tiny peapod of sweetness and is definitely the reigning principessa of the house. we’re sending you loads and loads of BIRTHDAY LOVE miss rosie! x0x
2022 holidays x0x
for some reason the holidays feel more hectic than usual this year… possibly because after several years of the pandemic and toning down the celebrations i am totally out of practice. and we didn’t even leave town for thanksgiving. we had a nice, quiet one in boulder with all the grandma turkey plates and glassware and recipes from my mother (i didn’t even make a turkey - i picked up a cooked one up from whole foods… i can roast the crap out of a chicken, but turkeys terrify me) and we watched the macy’s day parade (we just LOVE those rockettes!) while we made pies (blackberry, apple and pumpkin - we need to overdo it so we can have pie for breakfast in the days following.) mariah carey was the grand finale and honestly, no one sings about christmas like that gorgeous diva did in her red mermaid dress and CROWN… the BEST! but the highlight of the day was definitely the national dog show, won by none other than winston, THE FRENCHIE!
Read More
weekend with dad and rosie x0xx
(roșie hanging out with me in the bed… my favorite place to be!)
earlier this month i went home to spend a few days with my dad (and ROSIE)… my mom was on her annual trip with her sorority sisters (they have been friends for over FIFTY years - so sweet.) dad and i like our father/daughter time when mom is away… we turn the heat right up, we eat chocolates at breakfast (after our scrambled eggs), we watch the news, we check the weather and we take a lot of naps. it turns out rosie likes to do all of these things too (except the chocolate - we did NOT give her any scotch mallows.)
we had a very relaxing schedule… i took the first walk shift with rosie because i am a rooster and dad is more of a teenager in terms of waking times. mom left me a hat with a light on it (like a minion) so i would be able to see rosie’s “sticks” and pick them up in the early morning dark. (rosie has PINK poop bags by the way - they match her harness and leash.)
Read More
repost of my mother's WILD RICE STUFFING recipe
(hank LOVES dressing up for thanksgiving!)
* i am reposting this delicious rice stuffing recipe from my mother - HAPPY THANKSGIVING! x0x
Read More
the ROSIE REPORT!
(roșie în one of her donut beds)
i stay in pretty close touch with my parents… i typically call home each morning after dropping the kids at school so we can chat on my ten minute drive home. we do a quick check in on what’s going on with my work or my children or hank or the bananas weather of boulder or what’s happening in the bay area. but for the last month these calls have been dominated by the “rosie report.” i hear about how the night went - did rosie stay in her donut bed or sneak out and rest her head right next to my father’s on his pillow? did she do both kinds of business on her first walk of the day or need to make another potty after breakfast? did she get on her hind legs and dance before dinner the night before or keep all four feet on the floor? which neighbors did my parents run into on her various walks and what are they up to? how many times did she nap during the day and where? (she has her special spots: curled up on the blue upholstered sofa in the living room when my father is reading/napping there, my mother’s lounge chair in her sewing room where rosie waits for mom to come in with her morning coffee, on the cool tiles of the fireplace hearth when it’s super warm, on the fuzzy blanket between my parents on the sofa in the TV room when they watch the news before bed…)
Read More
la vie en ROSE! x0x
i spent a significant portion of my childhood trying to convince my parents to get a dog. i didn’t understand until years later that this was always going to be a fruitless endeavor as my brother has severe allergies to anything furry. probably to deflect my desperate campaign, my father, who grew up in minneapolis and was a HUGE vikings fan, told me that if the vikings won the super bowl we could get a puppy. each fall my heart was full of hope and i cheered and supported and rallied behind those guys in purple and gold and each year i was terribly disappointed. they actually went to the super bowl FOUR times (’70, ’74, ’75 and ’77) and LOST each time. those years were definitely the hardest and i am just realizing might be why i really don’t care for purple or yellow. i don’t know what my father would have done if they had actually pulled it off because there was always the issue of my brother. maybe he understood, after rooting for them for decades that it was never going to happen. to date, it STILL hasn’t!
Read More
thelma and lucy!
(the OG girls road tripping team)
the last couple of summers we have driven to california for our annual visit… first because of the corona and then because hank is no longer allowed to fly as an “emotional support” dog, which is BANANAS because if i hadn’t had him around during this pandemic and all the crazy things that have happened in the world the last few years i don’t know that i would have held onto my sanity at all. we have journeyed in different configurations… sometimes my first husband has accompanied us, sometimes it’s been me and the kids (and hank, of course!) but this is the first time it’s just been us girls, me and lu (AND hank, of course.)
Read More
my tread teacher is PREGNANT! x0x
i think my tread teacher is famous. the other day i came across an article on people.com (which i believe is the gold standard for celebrity news - not too tawdry and pretty well researched - you rarely see a retraction) announcing her pregnancy. it was so exciting to see her in her own home cradling her beautiful bump. i LOVE my tread teacher. i do NOT love exercising, but jess with the one dimple is so encouraging and inspiring that i have managed to make myself do it nearly every day since i finally got on my tread. in addition to clearly explaining what my feet or arms or hips should be doing, she tells lots of stories. i LOVE stories. unfortunately, a few weeks ago i took a class where she shared that her dog, zeus, had died. i still don’t know when that happened because i only do pre-recorded classes, but i have been desperate to find out more about the dog situation. i have now taken ALL of her twenty minute power walks (except the ones with house music which i really do not enjoy) and still don’t know whether she got a new puppy and how it is going. i’ve been so anxious for news that i have now taken TWO of her walk-RUN classes. i don’t like to use the word “hate” in this precarious, fragile, polarized era we are living in, but that is a good approximation of how i feel about running. i guess my curiosity trumped my dislike for moving my legs that fast because i did it. but i did NOT get any more information. AND i learned that “walk-running” for twenty minutes only burns off two and a third scotchmallows (plain walking takes care of two) so it is not a significant benefit. i am not sure how many more of these super challenging classes i can manage so i am hoping that there will be another article on people.com showing her with her new dog.
Read More
the center of our universe
when theo was about three, an old friend of my first husband came to visit us in amsterdam. he was and is quite a character - a serious new yorker who looks like a rockstar but with a sweetie heart. he was hilarious with theo because he talked to him like an adult and by the end of his visit theo was tweaking his outfits and looked like he could be a drummer for guns n’ roses. on the last morning, after watching us dance around theo while serving him breakfast, first’s friend said, “WOW! that kid is front and center…FRONT AND CENTER!” and he was right.
Read More
my tread teacher, jess, with the one big dimple
(baby hank in his first sweater)
so today during my “pop walk” with jess with the one dimple (like lu and my grandma) it came out that jess’ dog, zeus, died earlier in the week and she was missing her walks with him. i am not sure when she recorded this class but i just started bawling. i had to really grab onto the sides of my tread to make sure i didn’t get distracted by my grief and fall off. i have to imagine that she is the the kind of person who would have a frenchie, like hank, and i was pretty gutted.
Read More
the new normal
my parents came to stay with us in amsterdam when my first baby was born. after a few weeks of being woken up constantly at night, regularly getting puked on, never being able to count on any kind of schedule and feeling insanely tired i said, “mom… when is my life going back to NORMAL?” “oh honey,” she said brightly, “this IS your new normal!” and she was right.
Read More