reasoning

for the most part, i'm a big fan of reason. facts. being right. you know, all the usual things an opinionated first born is drawn too. but every now and then, that gut sneaks right in. you know the one? yeah, that one you can't explain, you just know. right in your gut. that's how i felt when i first discovered orangette. i liked. plain and simple. i couldn't stop reading it, not to mention the cooking. because if i mention it, i'll go on and on about how great the recipes are. some of my favorites being the most simple, delicious ideas in the world. really though, it was the storytelling that just kicked me in the back of the knees. i like a good story. i love food. a good story involving food, well just forget it. since then, i've been lucky enough to get to know molly, to call her my friend, to meet her even! completely adorable. seriously. even more lucky, she asked me if i would want to be a recipe tester for her book. what?? you mean cook and then tell you what i think about it? sign me right up. in some ways for me this book has been a long time coming, not nearly as long as for molly, but still a long time. so when it showed up on my doorstep last weekend i was ready to dig right in. oh my word. i mean, i could give you a long long list of reason why i love this book so much (and of course i love me some reasons) but my gut tells me you need this book. need it. molly, you did it. congratulations my friend.

ffffff....

whew. i don't know about you, but for me this is my first truly free weekend since thanksgiving. crazy yes? i know. obviously the thanksgiving/christmas/new years time suck makes sense. and then for us we get hit up with two birthdays weeks apart. so today. this friday. i am done with commitments. and it feels good good good. never mind that pesky stack of tax papers that threatens to topple over every time i walk past the desk. you are for monday evening. ok? not for the weekend, so just deal with it. the weekend is for pizza and dinner with friends. rummikub and twizzlers. that's what the weekend is for. so there. also for the weekend, internet eye candy. i have some for you. this set of photos of a lovely apartment in barcelona makes me want to hop on a plane in an instant (actually all her other collections are lovely). i have become (belatedly) obsessed with alix and her blog. oh my. i have parisian dreams nightly and i am ok with this. and pudding. i've been thinking about pudding a lot lately. why i am not sure. i know it started with this recipe in last months gourmet magzine. i don't even like butterschotch, but i can't stop thinking about it. and shari pointed me to a chocolate pudding recipe just this morning. coincidence? i think not. happy friday peoples.

happy three

three. it's such a big number. it really is. when we found out we were having three kids, well our whole world flipped upside down. that may seem a little silly. i mean, it's just one, two and three right? oh no. three changes everything. and now. today. our sweet little baby is three. and here we are. on the cusp. no longer are we a family with babies. we are a family with kids. three of them. three! a year where we shed things like diapers, and sippy cups and tiny socks. a year where tears come in buckets because navy leggings are not pretty. a year when we talk about likes and dislikes, and that for now red sauces falls firmly in the dislike category, and heaven forbid if you remind someone that it used to be in the like category. no no no. three is a year of opinions, voiced in a clear sweet voice, whether you want to hear them or not. but lucky for me, in my sappy inner life, three is still full of braids, and messy pony tails, pink party hats and tiny bunnies, rosy cheeks and sloppy kisses. it's true. it's entirely and completely true. i don't care in the slightest miss arlo jane, no matter if you are three or thirty three or seventy three, you are still my baby. forever and ever. and if i were to divide my heart into thirds, i would give you 0.3333333333333334 because you are you. besides nobody wants to see 0.3 repeating into infinity.

the most lovely

happy weekend ahead starting with the reception for my show tonight. valentine's day tomorrow. we are taking things low key, the kids will be out and david will be making dinner. a combination that i like very very much. and sunday, sweet arlo's birthday. yay! pink party hats for everyone.

some more lovely for you:
-a lovely lady
-lovely joanna & alex
-lovely chocolates
-a lovely pola

1000 words

it's up. have a look.

we've been up to something

and by we, i mean david and myself. we are collaborating on a new blog, 1000 words, and we are pretty excited to share it with you tomorrow. cliche? perhaps. fun? absolutely. this will be an interesting project for the both of us. forcing us to both think about what we like to do in a bit of a different way. we hope to post once a month on the 10th. let's get started shall we? see you tomorrow.