Doin' the pigeon

I love Sesame Street and the Muppets. In fact, I think I may have been a Muppet in a previous life.

Jim Henson was a genius.

All of this said, if I had to pick a Sesame Street/Muppet song to have stuck in my head all day, this is not the song I would pick (even though it is funny):

It's true, organic is better

Last Sunday, the Times on Sunday ran a story about a 4 year study funded by the European Union has found that organic food is better. It found that organic foods generally have a higher nutritional content than their non-organic counterparts. For instance, organic milk was found to have higher levels of vitamin E than non-organic.

At last, evidence that supports why I've been so insistent on buying organic whenever possible!

Eat your words, all who scoff at organic food

Official: organic really is better

Next step, I want to finally sign up for a box delivery scheme that will deliver local, in season (and mostly organic) produce to me on a weekly basis. I've been wanting to sign up for this for ages, but I just haven't gotten around to doing the research to figure out which company I want to use. It seems that there two companies that offer this service for my area, but I haven't figured out what the major difference between the companies is. Interestingly enough, I think the prices are reasonable -- I think I spend a similar amount at my local grocery store. Plus, for me it is a benefit not to have to go to the store because I find that I often purchase things on impulse that just end up going to waste. Having my fresh food delivered to me (I can also order milk and meat through this service), I avoid being suckered into purchases that I wouldn't have otherwise made.

Friends

I'm a very lucky person.

I have made some really good friends here in London, and I also made some good friends during my short stay in New Haven.

Then I have good friends from my law firm days (friends who made that experience infinitely more bearable), and I have good friends from my law school days (in fact, one of them introduced me to Carlos). Luck was in my corner at McGill, too -- I made some very good friends during my four years in Montreal.

However, Lady Luck really outdid herself with my oldest friends -- the "Ladies" (aka, Alice, Alison, Joanne and Liz). We have all known each since kindergarten, except Liz, the newcomer, who we've known since 3rd grade. These women are an incredibly special part of my life, and I value our friendship immensely. We may not see each other very often since it is hard to coordinate schedules and since we live all over the place (Seattle, NY, Boston, DC & London), but as soon as I hear one of their voices or see their lovely faces, I feel like no time has passed. In fact, as I'm sure they would readily attest, I often feel rather juvenile when I'm with them.

Last weekend I had my first weekend away from la familia. Solo. Alone. I had forgotten how easy it is to travel when you are only responsible for yourself. It was nice. I missed the girls and Carlos (I missed the girls a bit more than I missed the hubby), but it was nice to get away. It was especially nice to get away to see the Ladies (minus Joanne ... sadness). Alice, Alison and I descended upon Liz's house in the Boston suburbs, and basically behaved like complete nerds the whole weekend. Poor Joanne was feeling icky and couldn't join. So, we phoned her a lot and pestered her to the point that she probably was glad not to see us! It was really wonderful to get to hang out and just talk about everything and anything.



I hope Lady Luck is as generous with my girls as she has been with me.



Here we are at the end of the weekend (all a little squinty because we were looking directly into the sun).


(from L to R: me, Alice, Liz, Alison)

Nose knowledge

Elsa definitely knows her nose.

If you ask her: "Elsa, where is your nose?" She will smile, point at her nose and say "nose".

If you ask her: "Elsa, where are you eyes?" She will smile, point at her nose and say "nose".

If you ask her: "Elsa, where is your mouth?" She will smile, point at her nose and say "nose".

I think you get the picture. Despite the nose obsession, Elsa is starting to say a lot of words and some short phrases. For instance, one morning when Carlos left for work very early, Elsa was looking around asking "Where Papa?" She seemed mystified that he had disappeared before she could give him her early morning snuggle.

birthday

Happy birthday to Carlos!!

Picky picky picky = Picky picky picky DNA

Here's the New York Times weighing in on the picky eater debate: Picky Eaters? They Get It From You.

No willpower

I know Halloween is a few weeks away, but I couldn't resist putting their costumes on for a test run. I totally caved on the "no more Disney princess" stance. Anna got a Snow White outfit from Marks and Spencer. I have to say, the reason I changed my mind was that the M&S costume was really good quality -- especially when you compare it to the quality of the outfits from the Disney store (which I think disintegrate as soon as they make epidermal contact). Anna LOVES this outfit. I think she would wear it all day every day and all night every night if I would let her. Unfortunately, due to some unbelievable tantrums and bad behavior, the Snow White oufit is now locked up, waiting for Anna to earn it back (and boy, does she want it back)!

Here's my little snow fairy. Poor Elsa only gets hand-me-downs from Anna. So I got her a dressing up outfit all of her own. She was in heaven! Elsa paraded around the house in her fairy outfit telling anyone who would listen how nice she looked. Doesn't she have the most mischevious eyes you have ever seen?!?!
Here's the dynamic duo - ready for action!

Did you know?

Naan bread makes an excellent pizza base for homemade pizzas. Thanks to Nigella Lawson, now I know. We made naan bread pizzas for dinner over the weekend and they were delicious (especially the ones made with garlic & coriander naan).

Carlos just bought Nigella's new book (Nigella Express) for me, and we've been working our way through a bunch of the recipes. I have to say that so far all of them have turned out pretty well.

I've been on a bit of a recipe book kick lately. I've been taking out various popular recipe books from the library to see if I can find any new recipes that the girls will eat. I feel like I am in such a rut with them, always feeding them the same old stuff (especially in the veg department -- cucumbers and baby plum tomatoes are the only things that go down with no fuss). So far, I haven't really hit on any winners with the girls. However, I found out that I quite like turkey meatballs (out of the Dinner Lady cookbook) (but making them wasn't so much fun - I don't like the texture of ground turkey). Anyone have any recipes out there that their kids love???

What would you do with a corn kernel?

The answer, if you are Anna, is: stare at it, push it around your plate, bargain with Mamma as to what you can get for eating one kernel of corn, and shove it to the side of your plate and leave it.

The answer, if you are Elsa, is: pick it up, play with it, figure out that it is roughly the same size as your nostril, pop it into your nostril, stick your finger in there to make sure that you get the corn kernel sufficiently far up the nasal cavity to cause you discomfort, sneeze 8 times in a row, and sneeze a 9th time causing a corn kernel to come flying out of your nostril (missing Mamma by mere millimeters).

Yikes. Is Elsa going to be one of those kids that I'm going to be taking to the doctor's on a regular basis to get things extracted out of her nose?!?!

Two good reads

Two excellent things that I read over the weekend. Worth having a look.

NY Times Op-Ed by Thomas L. Friedman: 9/11 is Over.

Sunday Observer Magazine column by Barbara Ellen: A 21st Century Problem: The Too-Smart Woman [I love her column]

Making Anna laugh

Step One: At approximately 7:30 pm, lean as far back as possible (idealy while wearing super cute yellow pyjamas).

Step Two: Fall down on your bottom and emit a delicious belly laugh.

Step Three: Go to Step One.

This is practically becoming a nightly routine with Anna and Elsa. Of course, Anna eggs Elsa on because Anna thinks this is incredibly funny. Elsa continues to do it because she loves to make Anna (or anyone for that matter) laugh. It is wonderful, and makes me laugh too, but I would have to say that it is not the most conducive activity to getting the girls relaxed and ready for bed!

This is why I love autumn:

I love the color the leaves as they start changing. Plus, the blueness of the sky on a clear, crisp September afternoon is stunning. Put the two together, and voila - you have my perfect day.

The Body Shop

I was sad to hear that Anita Roddick, founder of the Body Shop, died this past Monday. Here's an article from the Guardian about her. She was only 64.

I think she was really inspiring and forward-thinking. I wish more businesses would be built on her Body Shop model (even though she did say that the Body Shop moved forward, really, through a series of fortunate accidents).

18 months

Elsa turned 18 months yesterday. She is such a bundle of energy, despite the fact that all 4 canine teeth are coming in at the same time.

Here are some pictures taken in the garden.

Berlin & Barcelona

Just photos right now. We went to Berlin for the weekend of the last UK Bank Holiday weekend (last weekend in August), and from there we went to Barcelona to finish out the month. More to come. In a nutshell, Berlin was great - definitely need to go back with more time. Barcelona was way too hot and humid pour moi. I was a cranky sweaty mess there.

This is the view from our hotel - you can see where the Berlin wall used to be -- it marked on the pavement in the light colored stone.

Anna at the Barcelona aquarium.
More aquarium and funny faces.
Aquarium.
Anna and her godmother, Merce, at the aquarium.
Anna and I at Checkpoint Charlie.

Anna enjoying a huge mango smoothie in Berlin.
Anna and Papa at the Brandenburg Gate.
The ladies at the Berlin zoo.
Elsa trying to escape.

Yum ... and not so yum

Mmmmmmmm. I just got back from having a deeeeeeeelish dinner with Carlos at the Glasshouse restaurant in Kew. Wow, it was good. So good, in fact, I've just had to unbutton my trousers as I sat down at the computer. I know, sorry, that may have been too much information.

I had a heavenly main course -- grilled sirloin (perfectly medium rare, closer to the rare side) topped with tallegio cheese (if you've never had this cheese, try it at your earliest opportunity - it is divine) and served with potatoes and a red wine sauce. Very very yummy. Of course, I went over the top and ordered a crazy, completely decadent dessert - hot chocolate mousse with milk chocolate ice cream. It was so good, but really rich. I might, possibly, have been better off with a fruity dessert, but that wouldn't have been as much fun. Top marks for the Glasshouse!!!

In the not so yum category -- Knowing that we were going out to dinner tonight and lamenting the fact that I'm turning into a pudgy pudge pudge, I went for a run during my lunch break today. I'm turning over a new leaf. My plan is to go for a run during lunch on the days that I work and then aim to do one run over the weekend. Modest aims, hopefully do-able. Today I ran a little loop from my house to the river and back. There are strange people that hang out along that stretch of the Thames at midday. In fact, I ran past a pair that reminded me of Lou and Andy from Little Britain (complete with sweatpants and wheelchair). Thank god for my iPod because they said something to me that I didn't hear as I flew (ha ha) past them. I looked back (later wishing I hadn't) to see one wiping the other's bottom. Ick. Although, it was a good incentive to keep running . . . fast.

Garbo in the house

Anna seems to be modeling herself on Greta Garbo (of "I want to be left alone" fame) these days. Today, after we had made little muffins and after she had received her quota of muffins, I put the baked treats in a plastic container and placed it on one of the highest shelves in our kitchen cupboards. Anna was observing intently. Then, she says to me: "Mamma, can you leave me alone please?" I thought this was very strange since, normally, she only says this to me when she's on the toilet. So, I asked her why she needed to be left alone. The response was simply a reiteration of her initial request. Hmmm, I smell some Anna sneakiness afoot! So, I left her alone for about 60 seconds, and then returned to the kitchen to see her climbing onto the kitchen counter in order to try and reach the box of muffins. Aha! Gotcha! I ask her what she's doing. Anna's response: "I don't know. Can you leave me alone please?"

What is it??

Can you tell? Anna latest drawing: a mushroom wearing sunglasses! I love it.

One of my biggest wishes for Anna is for her incredibly fertile imagination to continue growing as she gets older. (At the moment, I'm listening to her coach her Ariel doll in gymnastics. Ariel, after much encouragement from Anna, has mastered the handstand.)

Sif: Version XXXVI

Ouch. That feels old.

My birthday is getting better after a rather rough start this morning. Elsa had a terrible night (she seems to be having a tough time adjusting to being back in London), and she ended up in our bed by 3:30 am because I just gave up. Then just before 6:00 am, Anna came to our room and told me: "Mamma, my tummy hurts." About 30 seconds later, it became clear why her tummy was hurting. She vomited all over the bed. Poor thing. Anna had one more vomiting episode this morning, and then she was fine for the rest of the day. Alas, after a rather groggy day that involved letting the girls watch way too many DVDs, the little ladies are both asleep.

Carlos had to fly to Switzerland today for work, and he should be back soon. We actually celebrated my birthday in Iceland at the beginning of the month. We went to Reykjavik and had dinner at a great restaurant called Við Tjörnina. Afterwards, we spent the night at Hotel Saga and the next morning went to the Blue Lagoon. It was really fun. On Thursday, we're going to celebrate some more with dinner and a movie.

By the way, did you know that I share my birthday with Fidel Castro and the Berlin Wall?!?

New fave

Anna's well developed sweet tooth has found something new to sink into - gummi bears. She loves "gumbly bears".