more day-seizing

Something I am trying to do for Project Spring is to be more adventurous. It has a lot to do with Bria's haircut and trying to be a project finisher instead of an avid project starter.
I come up with ideas of fun things to do all. the. time. But I never do them. Kind of like a line from Mamma Mia! when Meryl Streep sings about planning so many things to do and places to go with her daughter, and they didn't end up doing most of things, and why? (she just doesn't know!) (we watch that movie a lot around here.)
But I am trying to enjoy having one child right now-- when it's relatively easy to pick up and go somewhere and have a great time. Sam and I certainly didn't take advantage of that before we had Bria, so I am learning from my mistakes.



So the weather has been absolutely gorgeous out here for over a week now, and I am pleased to say we have been totally enjoying it. Last week, after talking for ages about having a lunch picnic at gravelly point, Bria and I picked up and went. All by ourselves. I usually talk myself out of these things, but I seized the day-- and why not? We had an awesome time.


We picked up lunch at Whole Foods on the way. I didn't realize until we got there that, for Bria's lunch, I had bought her strawberries, strawberry yogurt, and strawberry milk. Good thing she loves strawberries. I filled a box from their salad bar, and it was this perfect, healthy, scrumptious meal. I had been eating junk for, like, a week solid before this, so having a lunch full of greens and peppers and some mysterious superfood thing that looked intriguing (and tasted mostly good), was like heaven.


Since it was the middle of a week day, almost no one was there. Bria was a little afraid of the plane noise

But it was just a glorious morning.


(even if, because of traffic, it took us an hour to get home.)

illegitimate post

When I started Project Spring and I said I would "post at least three times a week," I really meant that I would post twice a week or something. This spring weather makes me want to be outside playing-- not sitting on my computer. And I'm ok with that. But I do have some things to share from last week (once I bring camera in from the car) (note to self: BRING YOUR CAMERA IN FROM THE CAR) (especially because it was over ninety degrees today = not good for electronics. yowza).

Anyway.

We went to an Easter Egg Hunt last week for our playgroup, and Bria was delighted to eat so much candy. This is how she smiles for pictures/ shows her excitement these days:
But the other thing is that I cut her hair! And the reason this is post-worthy is that I have the tendency to be all talk. I plan things, talk about things, intend to do things, etc. and I never follow through. So, I had thought about cutting Bria's hair for months, and I finally bit the bullet and did it. Hooray! I'm counting it as a Project Spring Triumph. It is incredibly uneven, so thank goodness she has curly hair to cover that. Although, the curly hair also made it so that, when I got it wet and combed it out, I cut it a little shorter than I intended. When it started to dry, I freaked out a little bit as it got shorter and shorter. Oh well, I think/hope it turned out darling.
Also, lets talk about how one of my Easter projects was to create some kind of beautiful Easter basket for Bria, and then I didn't get around to it, so I just used a purse. I figured that was better than her Halloween pumpkin bucket.

Okay, legitimate Project Spring posts are forthcoming-- including one about trifle. (commence drooling.)

Secret to Happiness

I've had this saved on my computer for a couple months (it came through on my google reader a while ago). I think I am going to get it printed so I can frame it and hang it above my desk.

Pizza, pressure, and projects

It's no news that Pioneer Woman is wonderful, but this pizza. Oh, this pizza. It transcends into new levels of wonder and delicious glory. I made it twice in the last week. And it's my new favorite pizza dough.

And I took a picture of it, but blogger won't upload my picture right now (even though it said it did), so I think there's no picture in this post. Or there could be two. Who knows? Anyway. Go make that pizza. It's delicious.

On that note, no. I did not finish my spring cleaning. I'm not going to lie, I didn't even really start it. I work well under pressure and deadlines, but, unfortunately, I think my own self-made deadlines don't create the pressure I thought they did. That's one hard thing about staying at home. There aren't the kind of deadlines you get at work or in school. It's good and bad, really, to have such little structure-- good if you can figure out how to create your own structure and motivate yourself with invisible deadlines, and bad if you can't.
When Bria was first born, and I was trying to carve my own niche, I said to myself over and over, "I can do whatever I want with my time!" but my tone of voice went back and forth between excitement and dread. I've gotten a lot better at creating structure and purpose to my days, but that doesn't mean I always get things done (like spring cleaning) the way I want to.
For my next project (though I'm not giving up on spring cleaning) I am going to take a smaller bite, I think. I tend to dream big and overwhelm myself, so I am going to try something more manageable this week. This week will be more enjoyable too-- I am going to make this Easter Week-- with lots of small, fun projects like dyeing eggs and things. Oh, that is so much better than spring cleaning.

Courting and Cupcakes

Thanks to my friend Sarah, today Sam and I went on our first, real-live date since we moved here almost six months ago. I dropped Bria off to play and then went straight to the metro to pick up Sam. We spent the next hour wandering around Old Town Alexandria, mourning the sudden disappearance of spring, and enjoying our freedom. It's amazing how just a short time of un-child-interrupted talking and walking can be so rejuvenating. Plus, sometimes it's fun to pretend that Sam and I just started dating.

A picture of warmer times. Like on Wednesday:After dinner at King Street Blues, we headed back to pick up our full and happy Bria, played hide-and-seek at home (Bria loves to be scared), then sent her off to bed. We turned on a movie and then opened our treat. While walking through Old Town, we stumbled across Alexandria Cupcake and decided to pick up some dessert. They were nearing the end of their day, so they only had three kinds of cupcakes left: almond, vanilla bean with cocoa frosting, and coconut. We opted for the first two, and, I have to say, I think they were the best cupcakes I have ever had. That might sound dramatic, but I'm not kidding. I have been craving cupcakes lately (I even had one last week at a church activity, but it was dry and bland), but I haven't been able to justify making an entire batch for no reason. I often find the trouble with cupcakes to be that they all taste the same-- a tasty same, but same nonetheless. I was so happy when our respective cupcakes were full of unique flavor. And there was just the perfect amount of frosting. I am afraid this could become a new addiction.

A bad picture of the tasties:

Project Spring Week One

When I was planning out the weekly projects for Project Spring, I knew the first week had to be a deep spring cleaning of our tiny apartment. Because, let's face it-- the top of my fridge,

this bookcase,

and this desk

are no longer acceptable.

I made long, lengthy, overly-ambitious lists, dividing our apartment into five zones. I delegated each zone to one week day, then wrote down every. single. thing. I wanted to do to get this apartment all clean and ready for spring.

Um. Yeah.

Haven't done a single thing.

I've actually been a little busy lately. We have our weekly play group and music group. I "played volleyball" on Tuesday (now THAT was a joke!), and Sam started a new work schedule where gets home early in the day. Plus, we've been enjoying the spring weather by going to gravelly point to watch the planes land

and running around Old Town with my dear old friend amanda. (I was trying so hard to keep my eyes open. this was the best I could do.)

But one point of Project Spring is to learn a little balance in my life. I go through busy spurts, but then when things settle back down, I forget how to be a real human sometimes. So I need to work on still getting the cleaning and other projects done even when I'm busy. (I'm hoping Project Spring helps a little with my addiction to procrastination.) So, off I go to conquer my spring cleaning. I will get it done this week so I am all ready for next week's project-- I just might be scrubbing the bathroom floor at 11:59 pm on Saturday.

Project Spring!

Today I cut my hair.
And it is a fresh start, because today is the first day of spring.

And today is also the first day of Project Spring.

I am going to spend the entire season working on this project as a way of making my life the one I want it to be. I've had several realizations lately that this is my one life, and I better be living the way I want to be. So that haircut is the first of many steps. Project Spring is another step.

Project Spring will be broken down into three main components: Food, Literature, and Lifestyle. I will blog three times a week (at least!) about something from each of these categories. Project Spring will run from the first day of spring (today) until the last day of spring, at which point I will determine if I even like projects.

Food: I still love to cook, and I love that this blog started as a food blog. I will continue to cook and bake my little heart out. I will try one new recipe every week and blog about it. I will blog about kitchen fails or hot dogs or grocery store woes-- all the things I currently blog about-- but more consistently, because I will at least be trying one new recipe a week.

Literature-- I always imagined my days as a stay-at-home mom would be full of books and nothing else (oh, and kids) but, in reality, I surprisingly never read. I am going to start. I will write book, story, and essay reviews. Also, I will document some of my efforts in writing (the non-blog kind).

Lifestyle -- This is the big category. Each week I will focus on one lifestyle task, goal, change, etc. This could be anything from beginning an exercise regimen to establishing household organization techniques to decorating Bria's room or going on adventurous and exciting excursions. But I will find something each week that brings new insight, focus, and excitement to my life (and, ultimately, this blog).

Commence, Project Spring!