THE MOMENTS IN BETWEEN

The weeks tick by, one by one, and my babies grow.  My youngest fattens up, learns to smile, then laugh, and is suddenly a full fledged baby, a newborn no more.  My eldest sheds the last traces of infant-hood from her face, her body, her mannerisms, and her wardrobe. She emerges one day as the completely independent spirit that we've always known her to be.  And meanwhile, the toils of life must go on; the songs must be sung and the laundry must be hung and the bills must be paid and the trains must be caught.  It recently occurred to me that the days were flying by far too quickly for my liking, and then one day I realized that it was not only the days, but the weeks, months, and seasons too.  And now is nearly summer.

Sometimes it feels that life, in all of it's glorious maddening magic, condenses itself into a cascade of events big and small, filling each day to the brim and spilling over into the next.  Things to do, people to meet, places to go and see, and schedules to keep. It's all well and good, and fulfilling as could be, but it can grow at times to feel a bit sharp around the edges- a little too predictable.

To remedy the situation- the situation of a full life that's only bound to grow fuller, I've learned to live in between.  In between sunrise and sunset, in between naps and bedtimes, in between leaving one place and arriving at the next.  It's these moments in between, as we're briskly walking to the subway to make our way to the next meeting, where Biet and I chat and make up a new song and dance.  It is in the handful of hours in between lunch and dinner when we bond with new friends over our mutual love of green smoothies, or discover a new amazing chocolatier around the corner.  In between a reading at the Bookstore with Naomi and a party in Williamsburg, the Union Square Farmers Market becomes our grocery store, restaurant, and playground. In between point A and point B is where, just maybe, much of life happens.  I am beginning to realize this more and more, and trying my best to appreciate these hidden moments.  Because when I do, the whole world opens up, and I don't miss a second of it.

BIET'S SECOND BIRTHDAY PARTY

In celebration of my little firecracker’s second birthday (I CANNOT believe it has been two years), we gathered some friends together in our very favorite of all parks, good old Tompkins Square (although I must say that it's nearly tied with Washington Square as far as favorite parks go). I laid out a couple of blankets, threw down a dozen balls for the kids to play with, arranged the straws in their mason jars and the paper plates in their pretty wire holders, stacked the party hats, iced the cupcakes, strung the decorations, and set out the food (a giant tub of bagels and cream cheese, apples, oranges, bananas, and seltzer).  And then the toddlers arrived.  And with them came mayhem.  In my head, I had envisioned a laid back picnic with everyone lounging on the grass playing music and snacking.  In reality. the decorations flew everywhere, the bagels were stepped on, the balls landed on the cupcakes (and the ice, and our faces), and pieces of half eaten banana ended up in my purse.  There were a couple of costume changes involved, we never actually got around to lighting the birthday candles, there were multiple toddler escape attempts through the fence- it was madness.  And of course I accidentally scheduled the party on the exact same day that the park hosts the Howl Festival, so performance art and music and characters of all sorts surrounded us.  We were right in front of the bandshell where “Men in Skirts” drag performers rolled out the hits, and over on the street giant canvases were stretched for artists to paint throughout the day.  A man dressed as a bug (?) robot (?) randomly joined the party.   Then a couple of hoola hoops showed up and made the rounds.  Good times, I tell you- good times. 


Biet's party was loud, messy, totally not what I had expected (I’m still learning the ropes of this whole toddler thing), and... utterly perfect.  I couldn’t have planned a more fitting day for my wild little pearl of a girl.  She was born in the East Village, after all.  :) 

Baby girl, I can't wait to make this year as fantastically adventuresome and lively as that day in the park. xx

(and thank you LaTonya & Leigh & Karolina & Christine & KRISTIN! for making it out!)

... and these invitations that I designed a couple of weeks ago ended up being kind of perfect too..

BIG GAY TURKEY DAY!

Joe and Scott hosted a fabulous Thanksgiving (once again!)

with Martha-Stewart-worthy food

which we happily devoured

and my vegan pumpkin pie was a hit

but not as big of a hit as Biet

who flirted with everyone

and ate an entire bowl of peanuts

and even joined in for a game of charades.

And then Scott's drag wigs came out

and the party really got started..

Thanksgiving this year was a blast.

We love our friends so much. 

xx

MILES + BIET

Biet headed up to Astoria for the day to celebrate the second birthday of her baby friend Miles.  I wondered how she would play with a more developed little one (because the difference between 16 months and 24 months looks, to me, to be night and day), but she kept right up. They were so cute together, playing ball and watching tv (a big treat for Biet since we don't usually watch shows at home) and feeding one another snacks.  She seems to like older men.  Gaby and I have know Miles' parents since way back in our days of working on Ludlow Street. These two babies turned out to be the products us four Lower East Side friends... we used to dance into the wee hours together, then coupled up, then became families.  Its amazing to see our little ones playing together now, so many years later.

Happy Birthday Miles!

DOING THE TOURIST THING (AND LOVING IT)

We took a few days off from regular life to spend time with our dear friends who were visiting from Canada.  They had quite a long wish list of places to see in NYC- Bryant Park, Times Square, the giant Toys R' Us with the carousel inside, the Disney Store, Central Park- and we did them all.  And as we journeyed through midtown, pushing a stroller, party of seven, the funniest thing happened.  This feat that usually makes me want to pull my hair out- navigating through the most crowded, most insane, more touristy part of the city- suddenly became the most fun I'd had in a while. I guess good friends can do that.  The bright lights, the excitement, the magnificent buildings of midtown- it all brought back that  enlivening and humbling feeling of being brand new in the big city. And the kids, with their eyes full of wonder and big city dreams, had a blast. They forged bonds and memories that will last a lifetime. By the end of the trip, Biet had inherited a dark-haired "big sister" (because, as our friends put it, "some people are family by blood, and some people are family by love") who played with her and laughed with her and even held her hand as she walked, for the very first time, down a busy Manhattan street. We had a truly thrilling and exhausting time with our guests and can't wait for them to come back.  Maybe next time we'll show them around our neck of the woods- downtown.

BBQ IN THE BACKYARD

We invited some friends over on the weekend to have our very first BBQ in the backyard of our Brooklyn apartment.  I toiled away throughout the morning making basil-dill potato salad, herbed vegetable kabobs, strawberry brown sugar lemonade, and chopped fruit salad. Our guests arrived, we put on music, the weather was perfect, the meat went on the grill, and... I had to leave. Sunday night work at the restaurant.  I was sure that I'd at least get to enjoy one bite of steak before my shift, but, alas, time would not allow.  So I kissed my loves goodbye and headed to the train, giving firm instruction before I left to "take photos, take photos, take photos!".. I wanted to see how it all turned out.

The restaurant was packed that night, so I worked like a madwoman and made crazy tips, which is always a blessing as the end of the month rolls around and rent is due.  Although the late-night hours seem to be getting harder and harder to swing as my baby grows into a child, I am ever so grateful for the amount of work that has come my way lately.  I'm setting the wheels in motion for some alternative, creative-based work in the future, but for now my tried and true restaurant job is just fine.  Except of course on BBQ evenings, when I would love to be able to stay home with the family..

I returned home late that night, exhausted and ready to turn in.  Biet was sound asleep and  Gaby was watching a movie.  He jumped up to welcome me home, took my bag, and told me to look in the freezer.  I tiredly opened it up to find a little surprise- two (!) pints of delicious ice cream just waiting for a tired Mama to come home and devour them.  As we looked over photos (Gaby and his friends had listened well and taken lots and lots of photos for me) and enjoyed our late night dessert, I counted my blessings.  Enough work to get by, a healthy and ridiculously happy baby girl, and a husband who stays up to welcome his wife home in the sweetest way- I think I have it pretty good, even if I do sometimes miss out on family BBQ's.

And from the looks of these photos, the day was a laughter-filled success..