05.10.10
Posted in Family at 1:49 pm by rachel
A couple of weeks ago Seth started a new endeavor to blog about Google for Fortune Magazine’s online tech section. Although he is still working around the clock on his original brainchild, 9to5mac.com, ironically he’s now spending most of the 9-5 time slot in midtown Manhattan covering Apple’s formidable competitor. {Thankfully, he is a much more prolific blogger than yours truly.}
To launch the new blog, Fortune is featuring him on the Fortune.com page of the current print issue of the magazine.
What’s that you say? You’d like a closer look? In case you live in a city where one of my family members has bought every last copy of the magazine, here’s a close-up of the Q&A, so that you, too, can enjoy Seth’s comments on Google, Apple, and blogging.
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05.09.10
Posted in Family at 9:44 am by rachel
Happy mother’s day to you, Mom! I didn’t get your gift to you on time (and I know you don’t even expect anything, which is why you deserve it even more) but I *can* give you this list of lessons I’ve been remembering as I continue my adventure of motherhood as well. I love you!
~Rachel
Things I learned from my mom:
1. Singing “Oh what a beautiful morning” when you wake up really does make any morning beautiful.
2. You also have really fun hairdos first thing in the morning.
3. People who stutter need to be patiently listened to, not spoken for.
4. Don’t bring chips, sugary cereals, or store-bought sweets into the house on a day-to-day basis, but never host a party without home-made chocolate chip cookies or carrot cake.
5. Let kids slather onto vegetables as much butter or ketchup as they please, and they’ll develop a liking for the vegetables themselves.
6. When conflicts arise, deal with them immediately and head-on, hug to make up, and never, ever hold a grudge.
7. The smaller the child, the larger art space they need.
8.Give kids only primary colors to work with and they’ll have fun discovering for themselves how to mix all the colors of the rainbow.
9. Everyone should know how to sew on a button (bonus if you know how to make a wedding dress.)
10. As ye sew, so shall ye rip.
11. Class has nothing to do with money or stuff.
12. To give means to take pleasure in knowing the receiver will do as they please with the gift, no matter what that may be.
13. To receive is to remember that first and foremost, it is the thought that counts. Be grateful for the people who care about you.
14. Candlestick salad is a fun treat: take a round of pineapple, stick a half banana in the middle, and put a dollop of peanut butter on the top.
15. You are precious.
16. Laugh lines are infinitely better than the alternative of taking yourself – and life – too seriously.
17. Some situations require the presence of a whoopie cushion.
18. Being a part of your children’s activities is one of the most important things you can do.
19. Choose water or unsweetened iced tea with lemon.
20. Tackle home repairs yourself first. You’d be surprised at how easy some projects (like painting or resurfacing a driveway) can be.
21. Don’t act like a prima donna (but know that you are immensely important to this world).
22. Who are you saving the good china for? You and your family are worth it: bring out the porcelain for everyday use.
23. Go outside.
24. Stand up for what and who you believe in.
25. Say “I love you.”
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04.08.10
Posted in Baby, Family at 7:23 am by rachel
I’m an aunt! Leif Charles was born April 5 at 4:36pm.
8 pounds 5 ounces (3.78 kilos), 20.5 inches (52 cm)
Look at his hair – so blond! I love his little ‘do.
How about a little flashback to what Leif’s sweet parents looked like as babies?
Baby Jeff
Baby Monica just days old, which looks like Leif in this picture:
Leif Charles is named after my dad, Charles. The musician of the family, my dad is teaching Monica all about the recorder.
We are all so excited to meet Leif at the end of the month, when we’ll travel to Minnesota to visit.
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04.04.10
Posted in Cuisine, Family at 2:25 pm by rachel
Hope you are having a wonderful spring weekend! We hosted an Easter brunch this morning with friends. On the menu:
~ Broccoli quiche
~ Asparagus in a delicious vinaigrette (brought by friends Amanda + Jon)
~ Fig + goat cheese crostini (also brought by A + J)
~ Salad
~ Coconut bird’s nest cookies
~ Sugar cookie eggs to decorate yourself
Bunny finger puppets greeted each diner.
We filled Jax’s eggs with fruity bunnies (by Annie’s) to distract him from the chocolates. Not that cereal that is basically fruit loops is that much better, no matter how organic the whole grains it’s made with! Jax got his hands on some candy anyway, and would not have any of the other real food – and he only picked at the special bunny-shaped macaroni and cheese! *But* it turns out, he is a huge fan of goat cheese. I’m constantly surprised by his taste in strong cheeses. He’s napping now so I hope some of that protein is sustaining him through his sugar high and inevitable crash.
Jax’s cookie egg creation. We didn’t dye eggs, but I thought this was a more age-appropriate egg decorating project anyway.
We walked to the playground after eating to burn off some of those chocolate-peanut-butter eggs Jax got his hands on (and chewed like crazy, foil and all – fun times fishing that out).
He now goes down the big slide all by himself!
Back home: time to water the plants
I’m proud of the flower box I put together yesterday (I found the box in the garbage last fall – you know how I can’t resist wooden trash!).
I put new geraniums into the hanging basket by the door. Geraniums survive the winter in Paris, but apparently do not in New York.
Even the yard is perky these days.
Happy Spring!
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03.30.10
Posted in Family, Kids at 7:52 am by rachel
Last Wednesday Jax was 18 months old! He is really becoming a little boy now, with more words than I can count and a little big personality that loves to joke around.
We wanted to celebrate the occasion at our favorite baby- and kid-friendly restaurant, Wobble Café, but alas, they are closed Wednesday evenings. After bouncing off their door, we thought we’d head up to an Indian restaurant we had been wanting to try. A couple wrong turns later and we remembered a diner we have also wanted to check out. We have been lovingly calling it the “Nuclear Diner” since it’s just down the road from Indian Point, a nuclear power plant we are in denial about living so close to. What a pleasant surprise inside, though: a really friendly staff, great prices (even as far as diners go), and best of all, a big toy train! running around the middle. Perfect.
The all-important coloring placemat
Noodles and Meatballs: I can eat by myself!
This is my favorite: Jax makes this silly face to get huge laughs from us.
A new favorite pastime at the table is playing with ice.
The train! Choo choo!
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03.21.10
Posted in Family at 6:52 pm by rachel
Happy 30th birthday to my favorite second-youngest sister.
Love you!
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03.20.10
Posted in Family at 9:28 pm by rachel
Today we had a special delivery, all the way from Akron, Ohio.
Ta-dah!
This is the Colby player piano from the early 1900s that Seth’s paternal grandfather and grandmother had. Seth has a really good memory of it from his childhood.
Seth’s parents and extended family thought it would find a good home with us, and we agree! We love objects with history (in the picture above, that’s a family photograph of Seth’s father and parents in the top right), and are looking forward to taking special care of the piano.
It seems to just need minor repair work on some of the hammers, as well as a tuning, after which we’ll be ready to play.
Having grown up with a piano but not one that also had the player mechanism, I was intrigued with the mechanics of it. Jax and I checked out the pedals you push to make it play.
Thank you so much, Ron and Carol, for entrusting us with this special family heirloom. I know Jax will have fun learning to play the piano on it, and I’m thrilled to get back into playing myself. Merci!
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03.19.10
Posted in Family, New York Life at 10:02 am by rachel
Between daylight saving’s and temperatures reaching 70, suddenly in a week’s time we have found ourselves into spring. Every time we thaw out and have sunny weather well into dinner time I have a new outlook on everything: yesterday was an amazingly productive day for my work, and we fell in love once again with our little village on the Hudson. Taking a walk yesterday evening along the river felt like such a treat. To think, we’ll have months and months of these walks to come! This is why we moved 40 minutes north of our beloved Manhattan.
Half Moon Bay
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