The Go-Go household is off to our Pre-Holiday Shopping Event. Let me just say, I heart my new town! Holiday cookies, hot cider, free trolly rides, and (for mommy only) wine-tasting as Poppy, Sweet Pea and I browse through brightly decorated stores for some awesome pre-holiday deals while strolling under twinkling lights tonight - what more can anyone want for a $5.00 donation that goes directly to charity?!
Here is a link to one of this season's hip events. Hope to see you there!
What happened at BlogHer '08?:
Received incredible swag bags (they even look good all piled up and waiting to be distributed) from the awesome sponsors of the Silicon Valley Mom's Blog:
Great drinks (cheers!), food and friends at the Silicon Valley Mom's Blog pre-BlogHer night party at Slide. And yes, I did go down the slide (twice)!
Hanging with hip and cool mommy-blogging friends who I want to be just like when I grow up as a mommy blogger: (Robyn aka Who's the Boss, Lia from Freitas Family Follies, me, and Nicole who is Not Just a Working Mom.)
Getting all set to take notes at my very first BlogHer conference:
My, doesn't the chandelier look pretty?:)
And finally, meeting and making NEW friends: (Don't worry, Poppy and Sweet Pea aren't jealous. They got to meet them too!)
Yes - it's finally here. Yes - I'm actually going! Yes - it helps that it's in my backyard (San Francisco). Yes - I'll have stupid silly photos to post. (As Poppy tells me after watching The Game Plan - we don't say "stupid" mommy because it's a mean word.) And YES - KB is babysitting!
Look out BlogHer, here I come! :)
Two nights ago, I attended a private talk and book-signing with Maria Shriver featuring her new book, "Just Who Will You Be?" I'm sure you'll hear this from every other mom blogger who attended but I'll reiterate just in case: Yes, she is even more beautiful in person. Yes, she is kind, gracious, and witty. And yes, she spoke from her heart and touched all of ours.
Maria Shriver is known for many things; she comes from a famous family, she has a famous husband, she is the First Lady of California, and she was a high-powered journalist - with an emphasis on "was". This became the impetus for her newest book. After she was asked to resign and give up her journalism career when her husband became Governor, she discovered that her twenty-five year career had been the major factor by which she defined herself. And when that vanished, she wasn't sure exactly who "Maria" was.
Sound familiar? How many of us have by choice or otherwise changed paths or are deliberating a change? How many are at a "personal versus professional" crossroad? How many of us define ourselves by our jobs, by our successes? How many of us are trying to find our own voice while we are the caretakers of others: spouse, children, parents, grandparents, etc?
As Maria spoke to our Silicon Valley Moms Blog group, she told us that the "theme" of all of her writing has been to create dialogue. And boy, did she ever with this one! As she spoke, she openly shared her inner struggle between her background where she was raised to constantly make herself useful and be doing something of importance (after all, with a father who founded the Peace Corps and a mother who founded the Special Olympics, she joked that maybe the only thing for her to do to top that would be to run for President like the rest of her family), and finally her realization that just being herself should be enough.
Many more great points came up in her talk and during the Q & A that night: how she takes 10 minutes a day to just be still and let her mind be still; how she struggled with work/life balance with the birth of each child; and how she manages to run her family while she created and is running an incredible volunteer network.
But the point that really resonated with me was when she said that the greatest gift we can give to our children is to let them know that "they are enough." To which I wanted to yell, "Hear, Hear"!
BTW, here's a photo of the thank you card I hand-stitched and gave to Maria for sharing her personal soulful journey. Sorry your "thank you" from Poppy will be delayed, Mom!
Last weekend KB, Poppy, Sweet Pea and I went on a tour of a local fire station with our Parents' Club. The kids had a great time learning about when to dial 9-1-1, what to do if there is a fire at home, how to develop and practice practice practice an emergency plan for leaving the home and meeting outside at a specific location, and even watching one of the firefighters put on all his gear so they wouldn't be afraid of a fully-suited firefighter.
For the kids, the highlight was definitely getting their photo taken in the fire truck.
Hats off to all firefighters and rescue workers for all you do everyday!
For all you bloggers and readers here in Silicon Valley, there is a very important event taking place on April 19th: a bone marrow drive sponsored by the Silicon Valley Moms Blog.
It's a call to action and I hope everyone considers being a part of such an important event. You can check out the National Marrow Donor Program here. For those of you wondering how to donate, it's a simple swab of your saliva. So for those of you who fear needles, none will be in sight that day!
Here are the details:
Date: Saturday, April 19, 2008
Location: 95 Crescent Drive, Palo Alto, CA 94301 (right near highway 101)
Time: 9:00am to 3:30pm
To be eligible to donate, you must be between the ages of 18 to 60.
With 6000 children, women, and men searching for donors everyday, you can make a life-saving decision today. Please consider becoming a donor!
Not quiet your everyday moment - this was a quite a special "everyday." Disneyland came to give the Silicon Valley Mom's Blog team and our families a private party. The incredible part was, while I waited for "the pitch" from Disney, it never came. Instead it was our "everyday moment", albiet a crazy one, with our family and blogging friends.
Poppy had a wonderful time getting her face painted, coloring a picture of Ariel, putting together a "Disney" themed Mr. Potato Head, and best of all... meeting Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Cinderella for the very first time. Here they are lost in a typical girly conversation about Poppy's birthday party...
Of course, Sweet Pea had a great time too. She actually did pick out some potato head pieces of her own. The rest of her time, however, was spent honing her "fast walking" skills as she nimbly slipped in and out of the crowd catching anyone over 5 feet tall off-guard. (Sorry again, everyone, for the little 2 foot firecracker who was on the loose!)
In the midst of all this madness wonderful fun, KB and I split up and spent our entire time "refereeing" our little ones. So, while we didn't get to enjoy yummy hors d'oevers, a delicious spread, and sparkling conversation with my incredible fellow bloggers (I even missed the group photo), we did get to bask in our "everyday" moment of watching two incredible girls light up with wonder as they were introduced to the magic of Disney for the first time. And yes, Disney certainly does know how to make you feel like a kid again!
It looks like Poppy is finally ready - it's time to start planning our roadtrip to Disneyland! Many thanks to you, Disney, for my extra-special "everyday" moment!
My dearest Poppy. Just a note to say "thank you":
Here's a memory that will live forever for me and hopefully, for you too Poppy. Where do I begin? Oh what a fun time we had together last night at your first visit to the ballet to see The Nutcracker at the San Francisco Opera House!
It began as all good "nights out" do - with the preparation of finding the right dress (yours was a beautiful hunter green velvet with a white silk shantung collar and bow that tied at your waist in the back with delicate smocking in the front - thank you Grandma B for providing the perfect outfit!) and buying new black patent dress shoes (these actually had heals on them - another first!).
You were so good while we were getting ready to leave that we even had time to paint our nails a sensible shade of pale shell pink. What we didn't have time for, however, was dinner since it rained earlier in the day. In the Bay Area, even a "little rain" can wreck havoc on the evening commute. So we simply had a quick cookie and milk. And yes, it actually was one cookie each - a shortbread cookie with a chocolote drop on the top that we made the day before.
Thankfully, daddy made it home from work early so he could help you with the final touches (he put on your shoes, brushed your hair, and told you how beautiful you looked), while I finished getting ready. Then, we quickly said "goodbye" to daddy and 'lil sis Sweet Pea and headed off on our adventure. You certainly do love going on adventures!. By the way, daddy was very disappointed that he couldn't join us. Unfortunately, Sweet Pea's babysitter was ill and Sweet Pea had a little fever herself. Daddy wanted to give us our "girl time" and take care of Sweet Pea himself since she is still too little to go to such a grown-up event, but he is definitely looking forward to joining us next year for our (now) traditional Nutcracker outing.
Well I we did it! After, ah let me see, I don't even know how long. KB and I finally secured our favorite sitter and went out to a movie by ourselves. Yeah! And not just any movie. We actually got to participate in a movie premier night for "The Kite Runner" with over 100 other bloggers, neighbors, and friends. Thank you soo much Citymama for arranging all this (and T-shirts, too)!
Okay, I'll admit it. I must be only one of two people who hasn't read the book (KB being the other person) so while I can't compare the two, the movie was extremely moving to me. While it may have run a bit long, it was amazing seeing the contrast of Kabul over the years. Also, the movie evoked many strong feelings about friendship, love, and healing on a variety of levels. Surprisingly, this is a great movie for the hoilday season.
And so even though you are probably so busy with your own lives as you get ready to celebrate or are already celebrating your holidays, I hope you take the time to change your own life in some little way. Whether it's taking time to reconnect with your favorite person over a cup of coffee, a bite to eat or a movie out, or 10 minutes to yourself to read while you soak in the tub, don't forget to honor your inner hipness for a change of pace!
