Monthly Archives: March 2010

Remembering the babymoon.

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Almost exactly a year ago we went on a “babymoon” to Palm Springs, California for a week and did a whole lot of nothing. It was a blast! Because we’re not venturing anywhere warm and sunny this winter, I thought we all could live vicariously through last year’s trip… grab a fruity beverage and dive in!

We stayed at the Desert Riviera Hotel, which is just a hop, skip and a jump (or quick bike ride) from lovely downtown Palm Springs. The boutique hotel is–in a word–amazing. Service is over the top and the wonderful owners (Larry, Patty and Judy) treat you like they’ve known you forever, in a good way.

Every day, we’d wake up and I’d wobble or waddle (I was pretty darn pregnant then) outside, grab a table and read the LA Times and surf the Internet until we felt like jumping in the pool. Then we proceeded to spend most of the day right there, in the pool. When we shriveled up too much, we’d get out and play a few rounds of Bananagrams (love that game!) Bliss!

This was our second visit to Palm Springs so we didn’t feel pressure to do too much exploring this trip. When we felt like venturing out, we went to our favorite places in and around Palm Springs. Yummy sushi and Mexican eats… long scenic neighborhood walks to enjoy mid-century modern architecture and funky desert landscaping…

a visit to Moorten Botanical Gardens for a succulent fix… this place is FUNKY and only three blocks from the hotel. Love it!

and of course, a visit to the Shield Date Farm for date shakes and the funny “Romance & Sex Life of the Date” film. mmmmmmmmm.

It was a wonderful, relaxing, memorable babymoon. We even got to watch the Oscars on LA time, which meant I didn’t have to stay up too late to see the end. Bonus! Especially for a pregnant lady who nods off around 8:30 this was indeed a special treat. Speaking of Oscars, are you going to an Oscar party, dear readers? Are you hosting one? What’s up with so many nominees anyway? Argghhh.

Hope you enjoyed your Cyber-trip to Palm Springs. I sure did!

hopscotch!

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Don’t you love the game hopscotch? Pretty soon the sidewalks in our neighborhood will be clear of snow and impromptu games of hopscotch will commence. Yahoo!

Fun facts about hopscotch… for when you’re on Jeopardy. When you win because of your amazing hopscotch knowledge, will you please give me $50?

  • I had no idea there was such deep meaning to such a simple game. According to the French Canadians… “The player hops along, pushing a marker that represents the soul. If he wobbles, it is because his soul is weak and he must work at purifying himself to get to heaven. After avoiding hell, and earning different merits, the player reaches heaven, picks up the marker (his soul) and places it under his arm or on his head, symbolizing the re-merging of soul and body. The aim of the game is to avoid stepping on the lines dividing the boxes, symbolic of keeping one’s life free of uncertainty.”  YIKES!
  • According to Wikipedia, “there are apocryphal stories of hopscotch being invented by Romans or Chinese,[2] but the first recorded reference to hopscotch dates back to 1677. In an entry of Poor Robin’s Almanack for that year, the game is referred to as “Scotch-hoppers.” The entry states, “The time when schoolboys should play at Scotch-hoppers.” The 1707 edition of Poor Robin’s Almanack includes the following phrase… “Lawyers and Physicians have little to do this month, so they may (if they will) play at Scotch-hoppers.”[3]
  • Hopscotch was/is called Potsy in New York City. Potsy? Now that’s funny!
  • Those crazy French. A French variant of hopscotch is known as Escargot (snail) or “La Marelle Ronde” (round hopscotch). It is played on a spiral course. Players must hop on one foot to the center of the spiral and back out again. A player marks one square with his or her initials, and from then on may place two feet in that square, while all other players must hop over it. The game ends when all squares are marked or no one can reach the center, and the winner is the player who “owns” the most squares.

When’s the last time you played hopscotch, dear readers? I love it when we go for walks in our neighborhood and come across several different hopscotch games. I can’t help but join in. You?

Until then (it IS still mid-winter after all)… for all the kids and all the kids at heart, enjoy this great hopscotch rug!

eat food. grow food.

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Have you read Michael Pollan’s new(ish) book Food Rules? I read it out loud in the car on the way back from Chicago and I can’t stop thinking about it. Although the critics say it’s just Pollan distilled down into bite-sized bits for the masses, that’s what I like about it and that’s exactly why I’m going to buy a few copies to give to friends for them to read. And pass on. And for them to pass on. And on. It’s one of those. And it’s only $5 through Amazon so I declare that you really can’t lose with this one.

The book pushed me even closer to placing my seed order for my ambitious raised bed garden that I’d like to have this year. Earlier this winter I looked through catalogs and then filed them away in my “to do in March” brain folder–still don’t have the office set up yet and my brain folders are getting full, but we really ARE working on it, thank you very much. Lo and behold, it IS March so here we go! I usually dislike March with its promise of spring and its reality of brownish winter, but somehow I’ve managed not to be down on it just yet. Give me a few more weeks… Maybe it’s April that’ll push me over the proverbial edge this year with its promise of spring and its reality of brownish winter. Why do we live in northern Michigan again? For me, it’s because of mid-May through snowy February, but I digress. Whew. Good thing I stopped that tangent early, eh?

Moving on.

A great kids book that pairs well with Food Rules is Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert. A friend told me about it and the very next day Wren received it as a gift from Aunt Becky. How very serendipitous was that?

I love the colorful illustrations of the plants (especially the ferns-very cool!) and of course, the story of growing a garden is timeless and timely. This is one of those books I will also order several of at a time and give to several friends. A must-have book in your kids book library if you don’t already own it!

Confessions.

  • Don’t try to kill me, but I was rooting for Canada in the Canada vs. USA hockey game. Go, Canada! Except those closing ceremonies were really cheesy. Huge inflatable beavers? Are you kidding me?
  • Still loving orange things, especially my new orange scarf.
  • Wren is getting feisty. She now realizes that there are things that she DOES NOT want to do and she lets us know. It’s pretty funny. Until she had a meltdown in the locker room after baby swim. Half-naked with a screaming baby is not really the best look for me I’ve decided.

best!