A Weekend in San Diego

We flew down to San Diego this past weekend to visit my baby sister for Ava's first family vacation. 

(We told you we would come see you soon, Chelsea!)

Here is a recap of the amazing long weekend in pictures:

Excited for take-off!

Celebrating Chelsea's birthday at Nick's. 

An absolutely perfect San Diego beach day.

Fighting Dad for the shades.

Walking in the sand.

Running from the waves and loving the sunset.

All the girls dressed up for a fancy dinner out.

Our Sweet Little Strawberry

We racked our brains trying to think of the perfect family Halloween costumes, but in the end we didn't end up dressing up together anyway, so it worked out that Ava was a strawberry (costume available here) and we wore random costumes from the Bag of Halloweens Past (not pictured).

And she was the sweetest little strawberry you'll ever meet...

Craigslist Find: Kitchen Table Makeover

When Alex insisted on buying this table and bench set on Craigslist to put in our kitchen, I was not enthused. It looked like something from Hansel and Gretel or a little girls' doll house, not the Provencial look I was trying to create in my ranch-style country kitchen. (I always love to hear the story behind a Craigslist find: This set came from a couple who received it as a wedding gift from the bride's grandmother ten years ago; they are finally switching it out as part of a kitchen renovation.)

While I was reluctant at first, today's project changed my mind about it.

Alex started out with a coat of primerless, high-gloss paint in Swiss Coffee.

Then I added the detail work.

***Update: It probably would have been helpful if we had read this first.***

Ava Walks!

I know, the title of this post is a little misleading. She's not really walking physically quite yet (although I have a feeling she's close). But Ava participated in her very first fundraiser Walk for the Cure today at the Oakland Zoo.

Here she is in her official t-shirt. (She spit up all over her track suit on the way there and I didn't have a spare outfit for her -- How many times does this have to happen before I learn that lesson? -- but luckily there were plenty of free t-shirts.)

I thought it was so awesome that the course took you on a tour right through the zoo. You wouldn't tell from her face in this picture, but she really was excited to see all the animals ("woo-woos" as she calls them, after Nonno's dog).

The Pumpkin Farm

We took Ava on a little excursion to a pumpkin patch in Half Moon Bay on Saturday. She was a little too young to appreciate all the activities they have there for kids, like the petting zoo and the train ride, but at least we took some good pictures of our little farm girl.

Ava with her buddy, Baby James.

 The winery next door, La Neppia, also had a nice velvety cab (2004) that I wouldn't mind coming back for.

Maternal Instincts

Is it just me or does having a baby make a woman so much more compassionate? I was thinking about this as I was stuffed into an over-crowded commuter train on my way home from the office last night. Beads of sweat dripped down the faces of the tired passengers as they fanned themselves and stripped off layer after layer of defeated jacket or sweater. Several of the lucky seated passengers napped with their heads tilted back. That's when I started to see each one, one passenger after the other, as a newborn babe cradled in a mother's arms. With some of the puffier people it was easier to see the chubby baby cheeks and big round eyes, but even the most defined features melted and transformed them before my eyes into the miniature fuss-buckets they must have once been. I wanted to reach out and console them collectively, as I would my sweet Ava if she were having a rough time. I missed my Ava more than anything and couldn't wait to hold her close as her innocent whimpers faded with the calm, steady beating of my heart.

Now that I'm hallucinating in public, I think it's safe to say I am deliriously sleep-deprived.

Cool Neighbors

NBC's new show Up All Night hits home with where I am in my life on so many levels. Besides the obvious first-time parenting theme, I love Reagan and Chris's easy-going comedic exchange, especially the "ironic" jokes, which had Alex and I both rolling and have brought a little more wit and humor back into our own relationship (because we like to think of ourselves as pretty funny when we want to be).

Speaking of new neighbors, we just hosted ours for a BBQ on Saturday. We've been promising and planning since we moved in over two and a half years ago, so it was long overdue. We wanted to finish landscaping before we showcased the yard, but since it seems that day may never come, we went ahead and settled for a mowed lawn and chemically-balanced, algae-free pool.

It wasn't the rager that kept baby Amy up all night in the Up All Night episode titled Cool Neighbors on Wednesday, but it was nice to bring everyone together, and many neighbors who hadn't met in all the years living within a one-block radius were grateful we gave them the opportunity.