Slow Down and Blog

December 4, 2012 by Mom on the Make 3 Comments

Blogging takes the mundane happenings of every day life, and makes them special.

It is through sharing our stories and photos that the beauty of our lives shine. Before my blog, I was not clear on the significance of journaling and writing in our daily quest to stay sane as Moms.

Now, it is crystal clear.

The truth is, as Moms, we are crafty, resourceful, good cooks, multi-taskers, nurses, playdate organizers, party planners, therapists, chauffeurs, and the list goes on. We have a lot on our plates, and sometimes it is difficult to appreciate the little moments each day. Blogging makes it much easier for me to slow down and enjoy, because I’m paying attention to the details so that I can share them in a post.

I’m finding out there’s quite a bit of joy and beauty in the every day to record on my blog.

For example, when I wrote a post about our visit to the zoo back in April, I was so inspired by my own photos and stories from that day, that I wanted to visit the zoo again, soon. Now, I have been to the zoo plenty of times since having kids, but I had never felt the need to hurry back for a repeat visit. I felt differently this time because I slowed down to thoroughly enjoy the animals and their habitats.

While slowing down, I took photos of the sleeping lions, kooky anteaters, swimming sea lions, cool polar bears, and waddling penguins, to name a few. I captured our moment there, and recorded our memories. In the past, before my blogging days, I would wander through the zoo aimlessly, glancing at the animals, and maybe taking a snapshot of my three kids standing by a marble lion. And, that was it. I was never really present in that moment.

Now, when I go to the zoo, I get into the cages of the animals with my zoom lens and capture their personalities, look them in their eyes, watch their movements, and click my camera at just the right time. The right time could be a lion’s yawn, the first moment the anteater finally emerges from his very long nap, or the moment the bengal tiger stands up and shows off his glorious orange and black fur, while taking a big tiger stretch. Thoroughly enjoying and being in the moment, is when you will notice the beauty of the life that surrounds us. Knowing that I will record my outing through writing and photography motivates me to notice more.

Cooking is another every day event that offers many beautiful details.

Food is gorgeous. I am not an expert photographer by any means, but I have never seen my meals and desserts look so appetizing since I started recording their beauty through photos on my blog. I mean, seriously, I have made my great Grandmother’s recipe for Rocky Road Brownies a hundred times, but did I ever stop to snap a photo of this decadent delight that’s been in the family for 60+ years? No.

I’m finding out now that I should have slowed down a long time ago to capture the beauty of this dessert. The layers of chocolate brownie, marshmallows, walnuts, and milk chocolate topping are tantalizing when seen up close with my zoom lens. I also didn’t know my tamale pie recipe was so pretty, or that peanut butter cookies could look like a work of art when photographed right out of the oven.

You can even find beauty and humor during run ins with your kids, if you take the time to reflect on them. Hectic school mornings are a mainstay in most Mom’s lives. Who knew that by sitting down and writing about a particularly unruly “getting ready for school” morning that I could feel better almost immediately?

After a particularly hectic morning, my feathers were ruffled and I was not a happy camper after finally getting my third child off to school on this nutty morning. When I sat down at my laptop to discuss how messy the morning routine turned out to be, I was chuckling out loud to myself. This was just a few minutes after the morning routine ended. Quick recovery, I’d say.

Before blogging, I would have been set on a low simmer of anger all day due to the horrendous morning. However, by writing my post, my spirits were not only uplifted, but I was cured of the anger bubble forming in the pit of my stomach. The cure was simply writing about the morning. In my writing, I recounted what my three little ones said and did that morning that made it so messy. By writing about my kids and the roles they each played in my hectic morning, the personalities of each of my little ones shined through, and I smiled. Yes, there can be beauty even in times when your storage tank is running empty on patience.

I’m so glad I found a place to maintain my sense of humor on this roller coaster ride of Motherhood. That place is my blog.

Sounds from my Backyard

September 12, 2012 by Mom on the Make 6 Comments

Ornamental Plum Tree

My backyard is such a peaceful spot to grab some “me time” while the little ones are off at school.

There is a gentle breeze flowing through this outdoor space, creating a wonderful display of leaves falling from the trees. Fall is in the air, and I love it.

I am sitting on my wrought iron chair, with my laptop perched on the matching wrought iron table in front of me. A large dark green umbrella with a wooden base is providing shade for me on this sunny morning.

Our table is on the back patio, accessible through our beautiful sliding glass door with white trim.

The sliding door is on the east side of our kitchen. We typically leave this door open during the day to let the fresh outside breezes into our home. The scents of flowers and fresh cut grass permeate our home through this door.

I see several fallen leaves blowing beneath my feet on the colorful rock/cement patio design below.

I can hear birds from all directions. There are chirps from my side yard, both of my neighbor’s yards, and high up on the crabapple tree next to my table.

There is a bluejay hopping on the grass to my left. The blue color on his head and back is beautiful and reminds me of the blues of deep ocean waters. We see this particular bluejay almost every day, and we named him Arthur.

A plane just rumbled overhead, and reminded me of the sounds created by the lion stretching and yawning at the San Francisco zoo we visited this summer.

I can hear, in the distance, a neighbor trimming his hedges, and I can smell the scent of fresh cut grass. He must be doing some yard work this morning.

On one of the wrought iron chairs to my left, an aqua and white striped towel is flung over the top of the chair. The towel is faded from being exposed to large doses of chlorine over the summer. This towel was used heavily by all three of my kids during this past summer for their swim workouts and pool outings.

On the south side of our yard, we have four large ornamental plum trees lining our fence. They provide great privacy to our backyard and add a beautiful reddish purple color to the medley of greens and yellows in our landscape.

Ornamental Plum Tree with rays of sunlight shining through

I can hear the soft rumble of cars going by, and stopping at the stop sign perched at the southwest end of our front lawn.

There is a woodpecker up on the crabapple tree pecking away at the trunk.

The sprinklers for the northwest section of our backyard just went on, and I can see the water left on the blades of grass glistening in the sun.

We painted our house last Fall with a color called “Elemental Green”, and I’m enjoying seeing the morning shadows from the crabapple tree reflected on the side of my house.

Crabapple Tree Shadows

I should really come out to my backyard more often and listen to this medley of various sounds from the birds to the hedge trimmer to the sprinklers. Its a soothing medley that creates a calming atmosphere.

Seeing leaves fall, and watching as tree shadows dance on the side of my house is also very peaceful and serene.

Its these simple sounds of life that have the ability to create a spa like atmosphere, if we just slow down to enjoy them.

Yes, I will visit my backyard again very soon.

This post topic was written for Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop

I chose prompt #2: Listen to the sounds in your house for 5 or 10 minutes. Write about what you hear. (inspired by The Aums)

Just for Fun

August 28, 2012 by Mom on the Make Leave a Comment

I was just reading a July post by Alice Bradley at Finslippy, where she shares about a watercolor class she is currently taking at a local museum.

She is taking this class purely for fun. Imagine that, signing up for a class that is for YOU, not the kids, that is just solely for pure enjoyment.

You are not planning on using your new skills from your class for a job, or to make better dinners or to learn how to be more fitness oriented – just FUN stuff.

She asks her readers at the end of the post, if you could do something for fun, what would it be??

What a great question.

As I always like to go with my first thought on these types of questions, “learn to surf”, popped immediately into my noggin.

I swam competitively from the age of 8-22, and have always LOVED the water. I mean absolutely relish being in it, love pools, love oceans, love lakes etc..

Oceans are particularly exciting to me what with the waves, the cute fish, the fish with teeth, the salt water, the smell of the ocean in the air, the surfing opportunities, parasailing, bodyboarding, jumping off rocks into the ocean, becoming entwined in kelp, and doing crazy swims like jumping off a boat at Alcatraz Island and swimming back to Aquatic Park beach in San Francisco.

I relish all of it.

The idea that I have only surfed once in my life, 5 1/2 years ago in Hanalei, is just not right. The feeling of riding the few small waves that I caught was amazing, and quite the workout, I must say.

So, I will probably look more like this at the beginning of my lessons:

Ouch!

But can aspire to this :):

Me after a few lessons. 🙂

So, there you have it, I would take surfing lessons.

If you could do something purely for fun, what would it be?

Kokkari is THE spot for Exquisite Greek Food

June 27, 2012 by Mom on the Make 2 Comments

Kokkari: Best Greek Food I’ve ever experienced

Wow. Greek Food has never tasted so extraordinary.

Mountain Man and I went out on a date night tonight to “Kokkari”, a very popular Greek restaurant in the Embarcadero area of San Francisco. I knew it was going to be good based on what I had heard through the grapevine, but had no idea that it would be THIS good. Seriously.

Our Dishes at Kokkari

The menu is chock full of delicious sounding appetizers and main courses, so it was a little daunting making a decision. I had a feeling though that it would not be possible to go wrong.

We knew we wanted lamb and at least one appetizer. Watching all of the amazing dishes walk by us to other tables was making us want to try everything. The dishes were so well presented and aromatic, I felt like I was in a cafe in Greece. Note to reader: I haven’t actually been to Greece yet, but it is what I would imagine a hip, delicious smelling cafe to be resemble. 🙂

Side Note: Greece is near the top of my list of places I most want to visit. I want to see the magical white hotel showcased in “Mamma Mia”. I also want to jump off the dock into the clear blue waters as they did in the movie. I’ll get there some day. I’m sure of it.

So, anyway, back to the review. After some debate, Mountain Man and I decided on the following:

1. Garides sto Furno– wood oven roasted prawns with tomato and feta

Wood-oven roasted prawns with Tomato and Feta

2. Taramosalata – with housemade grilled pita

3. Moussaka – traditional baked casserole of spiced lamb, eggplant, potato and yogurt bechamel.

4. Kokinisto me Manestra – aromatic braised lamb shank with orzo and myzithra cheese

5. Two Glasses of Wine – Boeckel Riesling for me and Morgan, Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands for Mountain Man. These were both perfect to complement our dishes. I wrote the names down in my evernote app to ensure I will not forget them in the future. Really, really good and very smooth.

6. Filo Dough filled with custard and fried slightly with apricots drizzled on top. We also requested a scoop of the baklava ice cream. Good choice. 🙂

The prawn appetizer was a unique mixture of tomato and feta on top of wood-oven roasted prawns.

I’m not sure that I have ever had oven roasted prawns before, and certainly not with the perfect mixture of tomatoes and feta adorning them. YUM.

Grilled Pita Bread and Taramosalata

The Taramosalata with Grilled Pita was to die for. I just cannot think of a better way to describe it. Simply heavenly. It was the creamiest dip I have ever tasted in my life.

If that wasn’t enough, the dip was paired with the best pita bread in the universe. I know, I know, it sounds like I’m overstating its excellence….trust me, I’m not. 🙂 It is housemade and grilled to perfection.

I typically think of pita bread as a bit on the dry side and not delicious on its own. This pita bread would have been a treat by itself, but with the taramosalata, out of this world.

As you can tell, the meal was off to a great start with our appys. Then it was time for the Moussaka and Lamb Shank.

I could tell that Mountain Man was so pleased with his lamb shank order when it

Braised Lamb Shank – Delish!

arrived just from the looks of it. When he started to cut, the meat just fell off the bone. It was the moistest, most aromatic lamb I have ever encountered. It was served on a bed of orzo. The orzo tasted housemade, like they had just made it from scratch in the kitchen that night and then placed it on the plate immediately with the lamb while still piping hot.

Moussaka

The Moussaka was good as well with spiced lamb and eggplant layers, mixed with a potato and yogurt mixture. This was a very rich dish. Delicious, but very filling, very quickly. I made it halfway through the casserole, then had to stop. If I hadn’t indulged in the dip and pita and prawns, it probably would have been fine, but we just had to try as much as we could. 🙂

Luckily for me, I will get to enjoy the rest of the casserole for lunch tomorrow. So looking forward to it. It will be a nice change from my typical frozen tamales or turkey sandwiches I’ve become addicted to over the past year.

Last, but not least, was our delectable dessert. If you can believe it, I forgot to take a picture. 🙁 I was so excited to taste it, we both just dug in. The dessert was a lightly fried filo dough filled with custard and on top were small slices of apricots in a light syrup drizzled over it. To the side of the filo dough creations was a scoop of baklava ice cream.

I don’t know about you, but I have never had baklava ice cream before, and I can tell you this is DEFINITELY a GREAT idea. It was like eating a smashed piece of baklava that had been mixed into extremely creamy vanilla ice cream. So, so, good. A perfect ending to an absolutely scrumptious meal.

Kokkari’s Atmosphere

When you walk into Kokkari’s, you smell captivating aromas and see many full tables of smiling people enjoying incredible food. There are large windows surrounding the south and west facing sides of the restaurant that are wide open on most days to let the wonderful San Francisco Bay breezes whip through the restaurant, creating an outdoor European cafe feel. I just loved it.

Its the perfect place for a date night or a night out with friends and family. There were clearly also many groups of co-workers enjoying an after work dinner and social hour.

There is such a friendly feel to the restaurant that you find yourself making plans for your next visit while you’re enjoying your meal.

Kokkari is a wonderful oasis where you can enjoy getting away from the hustle and bustle of life, while being treated to perfectly executed dishes.

I highly, highly recommend Kottari. I will be back very soon.

Variety is the Spice of Life

May 23, 2012 by Mom on the Make Leave a Comment

Cool Crisp Water Ready for Early Morning Swimmers

At my swim workouttoday in the wee early hours of the morning, we did one of my favorite sets: 8 x 75s (odds were free, back, free and evens were IM Roll Thru). I love workouts where there is variety, with all the strokes and the evens are different than the odds, etc.. The IM Roll Thru is what really inspired me to write this post. With this type of set, you start by swimming Fly Back Breast, then the next 75 is Back Breast Free, then Breast Free Fly, then Free Fly Back. At that point, you have completed the full roll thru.

I should explain, for non-swimmer types, that the IM stands for Individual Medley where you swim one lap of each stroke: Butterfly, Backstroke, Breastroke, and Freestyle. With the IM Roll Thru, by changing up the strokes and the order with each new swim, you stay engaged, your brain has to stay alert to be on top of the set, and its just SO much more fun than a distance Freestyle set. Distance Freestyle has always been such as snoozer for me. In the 6am hour, I have a difficult time counting past 4.

Luckily, we will typically never do more than a 300 yards at a time, except for a 400 yard warmup, which is fairly haphazard anyway, with people still arriving in their barely awake state.

Trying to make each week like an IM Roll Thru

All Moms with young children know that one week can seem really similar to the next week, and the week following that one feels similar as well and so on. I have found that if I have something on the calendar that I can look forward to that is different than what I did last week, I am in such a better mood, I’m a happier Mom, and everyone wins in my household. 🙂 Date nights, walking tours, girl’s night out, getaways, family trips to a special park we haven’t visited in a while and a trip to the beach for the day all come to mind as something to look forward to that doesn’t happen every week. Now, that we are getting closer to summer, adding variety to each week will be somewhat easier, since our time is more wide open. My three little ones are all on a summer swim team, so we have swim meets each week, movie night, trip to the waterpark, buddy night, pancake breakfast day, and more.

A little Me Time is Important Too

A few months ago, I was really tired of the whole routine of being a chauffeur and a sherpa for my kids, so I declared to my friends that every Tuesday night, after Mountain Man came home from work, I would leave the house at 7pm and come back at 9:00pm when the kids were asleep in bed. Well, that plan lasted one week. Mountain Man came home late the next week, then was out of town the next, and you get the picture. The scheduled “me time” was just not going to work, so I learned my lesson to be flexible. I still think going out at 7pm, in the precarious time before bedtime, and not coming back until 9pm, after the hubby has guaranteed all is quiet on the homefront, is something every Mom deserves at least once or twice a month. Don’t you agree?

Summing Up

So, in a nutshell, I want my life to be more like an IM Roll Thru, rather than a Distance Freestyle Set. In order to achieve this goal, I will continue to try to add in fun outings and special getaways with friends and family into our routine schedules to keep everyone in my family balanced, and in great moods all the time. 🙂 Wish me Luck! Will keep you posted with our different expeditions during these next few summer months that are coming up here very soon.

Mom on the Make

Finding fun amidst the chaos of Motherhood