Tuesday, May 29, 2007

SB Saturday: I Madonnari 2007




This year's Street Painting Festival was just as good as all the rest. It was a big more challenging this year than the others b/c little man is 2...and wild. We had to bribe, threaten and beat. Well...not beat but you get what I mean. I love this festival. It's probably our favorite of all the millions of festivals in Santa Barbara. Just the creativity and beauty of it all. This year my mom was here for it. My dad has been a couple of times in years past and last year Kevin's whole family was here during it. Oh, and Cara's first visit to SB was during this time. Weird. The past six years worth of I Madonnaris was marked by visits with loved ones!


Here are a few of our favorites. The tiger is amazing. Like you want to pet the thing! It's crazy.


Personally, I can't touch chalk. The fact that most these artists were literally covered in chalk dust gave me the heebie-geebies. Personal chalk predjuce aside, I am always so inspired by this event. I feel my creative juices flowing! Maybe I'll bust out the old scrapbook :)


One of our favorite artist is the man who created this masterpiece. Every year he chalks photos of his children. This year his plot had three columns each containing individual photos of three of his children. It's always a crowd favorite. So great!

You may have missed it this year but mark your calendar for next year! It's always Memorial Day weekend and totally kid friendly. http://www.imadonnarifestival.com/im.html


Sunday, May 27, 2007

Grandmama


Brody doesn't get it yet but he will soon. She adores him. She spoils him. She hangs on his every word. She loves him way more than she does the rest of us! He's pretty taken with her too. This morning she was the first one he called "Graaaaandmaaamaaa!". He doesn't get the magnitude of her love yet and probably wont for a while. But he will. The adoration of a Grandmama. Huge. I love this picture. He's consumed with whatever he's playing with while she looks at him with a distant smile. Probably thinking how smart he is. And he is.
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Honey Toes

I love Kevin's feet. Is there any wonder why?! Just look at them!
Yes, the outside toes tend to turn in...slightly. And yes, the toe nails tend to get slightly out of control. And there are times that Kevin cuts his big toe nail in an agonizingly sharp way (in a V shape!). But what you can't tell from the photo is that his feet are like silk. They are the softest, tastiest, most touchable feet on earth - with Brody's coming in a close second. Also, what you don't know is that the "pads" of his feet and toes are quite literally SQUISHY! Squishy in a good way. Not in an extra terrestrial-like way. But in a baby skin kind of way. Is that gross? It's not. It's fascinating and worthy of my obsession and I'll fight anyone who challenges me.

Love you, Honey Feet!
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My Litas...my loves...

A tribute to my Litas: The beauties of my life.

I had the very good fortune of spending some time with my Lita Girls the other weekend. There were highs and there were lows but I at the end of the day I just love these girls with all of my heart. And they love me too! We've been friends for a long time...oh my gosh...so long. Our 'remember whens' could go on for days and days. And we can laugh together like it's nobodies business. Here are some things that you should know about these amazing women. Some things have been true of them our whole lives and some have developed with age and time. I adore everything about them and look forward to all the Lita Weekends to come. Even when we're 90 and our weekends turn into meeting in each other's room at the retirement home.

Tessalita con Mantiquilla de la Playa....truly my funniest friend. She can do impressions, she can time jokes perfectly, she can spin a mundane story into a 10 minute stand-up comedy routine. A voracious reader and amazing mother she constantly has a bag of stories in her hip pocket that make me double over in laughter. She is a design genius. She's a domestic goddess though step back if you dare to call her this to her face. She's a master organizer and a passionate instructor. She's never wrong. She makes a mean stuffed mushroom. She's tiny. She has a glorious hair - always perfect. She's one of the very few women I know who is able to look just as pretty without a stitch of make-up on her face as she does full blown done up. She is ferociously loyal. She's easily frustrated and yet remarkable patient. She loves with all of her. She's very popular. She's a talented choreographer (I still want to see the Devo act! YouTube?). She makes absolutely gorgeous babies. She's extremely independent and opinionated. She loves babies. She freaking builds houses. She has an amazing eye for color. She gets along with everyone...that she wants to.

Rachaelita con Naranja de la Manana....even today the most beautiful person I've ever known in real life. It's just true, people. She has an ridiculous body. And she works hard for it ("Do you think this just happens, Sophie?"]. She's a guys girl and a girls girl too. She's committed. She has an awesome sense of humor. And she can be funny too. She's down to earth. She's come to believe that she's almost as pretty as people have always told her she is. She's a tortured soul. She's incredibly driven. She's a wicked smart business woman. She's girlie. She loves hard core. She's a devoted friend, wife, mother and daughter. She just wants to be happy. She digs deep. She studies what she believes. She's secure with who she's become. She's MUCH more intelligent than some people give her credit for being. She too has magnificent hairs. She is really tall. She has a pretty enviable looking life but doesn't take it for granted. She knows her limitations. She's a bit of an overachiever...uh, twin girls!?! She wants to take care of people (and she secretly wants to be a nurse). She's vocal about her beliefs and philosophies. She shops at Target just like the rest of us. She has so much to offer this world. She's a force, for sure. She encourages those she loves. She's the definition of 'great friend'.

With out them, I could be considered attractive. Among them, I'm sheep dung. But whatever. They tell me I'm great so I'll keep them around as long as I can. We used to daydream about being neighbors and raising our children together and growing old together. The reality is that we're hundreds of miles apart from each other and our kids hardly know each other. But who knows what the future holds? So, until we can holler at each other from our kitchen windows...we'll have to just keep looking forward to our Lita Weekends! And no...I wont tell you where the "Lita" nickname came from.



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Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Mommia!

My Funny Little Man has given us nicknames. After nap, he can be heard calling "Mooooommia!" or "Daaaaadddddia!" and sometimes even "Raaaah Rahhhhia". [Side note: he just woke up from nap and in addition to the nicknames he just yelled "Miss Heather!"] I am a big "nicknamer". Everyone special to me has at least one nickname. Bubba has about 50. It really warms my hear that my little funny man has created his own nicknames for us. And in Italian of all things! Oh, Bubbia. I love you.

Monday, May 14, 2007

Birthday Girl...er...Old Lady!

Exactly how did I become 34 years old? I was 27 like....a couple of years ago. Right? I like to think that I'm still young. Especially when I look at the media and see women over 40 having babies and looking amazing and starting businesses and saving the world! And then I think that when my mom was my age she had a 6 year old and a 16 year old and....WOW! But I feel young - except for my aching back, strained neck and ever-failing memory.

The exciting thing is that we have SO MUCH life left to live! We laugh about the thought of taking Brody to Six-Flags one day and having to ride roller coasters which make us both want to vomit. But we'll do it. Because we're young. Very young. Believe dat, yo!
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Friday, May 04, 2007

Santa Barbara Saturdays: HIT THE BEACH!


We don't go often enough but when we do it's always wonderful. Over Easter weekend we had such a blast hanging out at East Beach with Grandmama, MorMor, PaPa, Aunt Tammy, Uncle Jon and Cousin "Lena". Brody was much more adventurous this time around. Our little Beach Baby has always been a tad skittish around the ocean waters but this time was different. He let his feet get wet and let the waves chase him up the beach. And he had a blast running around with Daddy! It was a special time and as my in-laws would say: a "very special memory" (I love that).

East Beach is our favorite beach in town. There is a great little toddler playground and lots and lots of open beach. Also, East Beach Grill is here located in the Cabrillo Arts Center. It's for sure our favorite beach eatery.



Other SB Beaches include:
* West Beach -- busier beach with lots of activity
* Ledbetter Beach -- great beach to spend the entire day enjoying
* Hendry's Beach -- gorgeous, more secluded beach
* Butterfly Beach -- across from the Biltmore this beach is great for 'celebrity watching' (we saw Mr. Miaggi at this beach once)



There are a ton more nearby beaches but these are a few of our favorite local spots. So, grab your sunblock, beach blanket and a playkit and HIT THE BEACH!!

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