Even though I have been on leave from work for six months now, weekends still feel like separate entities that warrant activities. Coming from Staten Island, New York I would describe myself similarly to my borough: just on the outskirts of hip. Not to say that good ol' Shaolin doesn't have its charm, I just honestly think that Brooklyn does it all better. If it weren't totally impractical of me, I would tote myself and child back on over the bridge...but to live well in BK is a bit out of my league...so for now we just visit and covet a cooler life. (Naturally I forgot my camera at a friend's house, so iphone to the rescue!)
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7/17/11: Addison sports one of the many teams she is told
she is a fan of by respective family members. |
On Friday we visited our lovely new friend and mama-to-be Laura out in Williamsburg with our beautiful mama-to-be Bridgette. I'll admit that sometimes I feel disdain for the Burg because there is an oversaturation of cool and now I'm plain jelly (jealous without the edge) because there are so many fun things for mamas, and SO much to walk to. I miss that aspect of living in Bay Ridge too.
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| 7/15/11: Alright Williamsburg, you're not really the enemy... |
Us ladies had a gorgeous lunch at Laura's baby-ready apartment (some nicely spiced black beans, rice and avocado; a salad with B's yummy dressing; hummus and carrots; fresh fruit salad) then ventured to the cutest shop/meet up spot for a new-mama's group.
Caribou Baby is where I want to cozy up and live now. My pictures show very little (now that I'm blogging again I will be motivated to take shots of things other than Addison) but the place is designed like it should be a staple in a town like Ithaca. There were mid-century furniture pieces mixed with art, nature, the cutest and softest baby bear rugs, and tons of eco-friendly merchandise. Hip mama haven. Thus Addy got to have her biggest play date to date.
Mind the fact that my iphone hipstamatic app was on random shake and all my pics were (unbeknownst to me) take in B&W.
1. Addison scopes out baby central 2. She shimmies around to stake out her first friend 3. She eyes a blankey and covertly makes her way to put it in her mouth 4. When cutie baby boy notices her she coyly turns away 5. They make contact! 6. Babies have short attention spans!
I loved the design of the whole place and the huge back room (with sweet vintage details) for classes and meet up groups. My dream is to have something like this on the island, full of handmade details, that catered also to arts/crafts and local wares...but I honestly don't think it would be able to thrive in a sustainable way. Who knows....Back to CB....There were many thoughtful accoutrements like a changing area, a baby scale, birth balls, a backyard (rare to find in BK) and a massage room/family/private meeting room. Pure love.
We finished up our girls date by having some bubble tea and sorbies at
Saint's Alp Teahouse: a cutie place with bold colors, retro chairs, and yumminess. I had the double chocolate sorbie and got to taste the latte sorbie and mint-chocolate bubble tea-- WOW, all rich in flavor and super light.
On Saturday we spent time with our friends Vivienne and Morgan (the coolest mama daughter duo I know) and Addison showed off every aspect of her personality and baby tricks. She knows how to charm! I ate steak for the first time in about a year and admit it was super good. Addison tried to lunge at some, showing her first sign of understanding that food goes in one's mouth. She loved grabbing at everything in sight, showing off her ability to sit up and 'walk' in place, vocalize, smile big big big, imitate, and put things in her mouth. I was in mama glory all day.
Today was a strange day that seems to be dragging. It was one of those Sundays that felt somewhat empty inside, a day of relative loneliness. I know I'm never technically alone, but sometimes I do in fact feel lonely--like I am missing a piece. The fact that I felt ravenously hungry all weekend could be the culprit behind the empty feeling, or maybe a symptom. Either way I decided we ladies needed to get out of the house so we ventured intp Brooklyn for the Food Truck Rally at Grand Army Plaza. Our friends' band the
Wahoo Skiffle Crazies were playing and mama was craving some sweetness. I missed the island 'festival' this week which I heard would include the
Treats Truck, so I was super happy that I got to sample some of their goods--sadly I ate them up before pictures could be taken. I ordered a coconut chocolate chip cookie and what looked like a homemade oreo which was butter cookie fabulousness. Drools.
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| I went with the carrier since I forgot my beloved wrap at home. |
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| At least there was a nice breeze...but mama got some fierce sweatiness after an hour of this. |
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Staten Island's premiere (and only) jug band! The last band I saw before Addison was born!
I think she liked them even more outside of the womb! |
The day was pretty hot, but not unbearable like a lot of New York summers of late. I'm not a fan of the heat and have been pleasantly surprised with how well we've been treated by mother nature this year. Yay Earth! I wonder how toxic having a food truck is. According to the site, the Treats Truck runs on "Compressed Natural Gas" so I hope that this is a common new practice since the
Food Truck fad is hardcore in NYC. Outside of the potential of harmful gasses I am ALL FOR this revolution and was excited to see the unique selections available. What I have pictured is only most of the trucks! I can't wait for next month and hopefully testing even more!
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| Yay yay yay! |
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| I <3 so many of the clever design elements! |
I wasn't sure what to expect since the Staten Island rally was relatively lame, so I ate lunch at home and hoped for some sweets. I was so pleasantly surprised and had a delectable ice cream cookie sandwich from the Cool Haus truck.
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Red Velvet Cookies with Oreo Ice Cream! I'm lucky Addison only
eats food through me so I didn't have to share now! |
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| Kimchi Taco seemed to be one of the most popular--I do love Korean BBQ! |
One great thing about this part of Prospect Park is that there were plenty of areas to sneak some shade to eat, plenty of cycling around, and a lot of families. This whole weekend, between seeing so many families and having two friends ready to have little girls I kept realizing that one day I will not just have a baby but a child. I am both excited as heck and anxious. I want to savor every moment of her sweetness and bask in the blessings of mamahood for as long as I can.
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| I would say this little social butterfly was pretty happy about our weekend! |
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