Cozy Living

A New Old-Fashioned Way

I took this picture of a flamingo feeding her little one at the San Diego Zoo last week...I wish we could all latch onto that innate ability to nurture the ones around us each day. Remember that song, 'Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree' where everyone's dancing merrily in a new old-fashioned way? I couldn't get that line out of my head today, and I realized just now why...it fits.

The life I'm striving for is a new old-fashioned life. I live in the crowded suburbs, my husband insists on five million cable channels and a dvr, I'm typing on my Mac and the air-conditioning has been on for most of the day. We have two cars and almost no yard. That's the "new" part of it. But every day I'm working to recapture the "old-fashioned" way of life, which is really what cozy living is all about to me.

Old-fashioned life: take the family time, the reading, the singing, the bonding, the living off the land. Leave the whole days slaving over laundry and hauling water from the well and having no doctor nearby.
Modern day life: take the microwave, the washer, dryer, and dishwasher, the caller i.d. to screen my calls. Leave the hours of meaningless television and video games, the rushing from place to place and only having time for fast food.

The new old-fashioned way is what I want. A life where I use only as much technology as I need to save time for more important things, like living life with the ones I love. I love that thought! Taking the best of both worlds and leaving the rest.

TypePad Intro & a few San Diego pictures

Yes, this is a random combination post about how 1) I was getting so sick of blogger and its inability to upload photos that I'm trying out TypePad for a trial period, and 2) we just got back from our trip to San Diego and I'd love to share some photos (and practice with multiple photo uploading on TypePad!)

So here are some favorites from our trip:

Amy & Tyler coming back from checking out the helicopters on Uncle Rob's base (NASNI Coronado.) I'm not going to get arrested for posting a photo of the base, am I?

a family (foam) sword fight in our condo...love Amy's reaction on the couch!

perhaps one of my favorite eateries in the world: Extraordinary Desserts, where it is not food, but art.

The boys & their sketchpads at the San Diego Zoo; probably my most inspired parenting idea in several years. Bring the sketchpad next time you go to the zoo...it buys at least an extra hour or two, and you'll take home the cutest animal sketches for posterity (ours were all labeled with oh-so-creative names, too, like "Pandy" the Panda.)

My favorite: our last night there, at the zoo, a south american band providing good tunes, musical instruments & hulahoops, the sun setting over the trees, the whole world glowing.

Time for Good Friends

Months fly by, and I realize it's been forever since I've just hung out with good friends and chatted. Does this happen to you?

Today I was lucky enough to spend several hours at the pool and at home just talking with some good friends. (Their nephew and our "daughter" are a new couple, so they were glad to have time to flirt in the other room while entertaining our combined four kids. Nice!)

Talking with adults for more than three uninterrupted minutes is such a luxury these days, and I'm reminded how nice it feels to be a grown up sometimes. Must plan some future double dates for this purpose. Combined babysitting while it lasts would be a nice bonus, too, don't you think?

Do you have a friend who just 'gets' you, no matter how long it's been since you talked? I'm going to make another date with them while I'm thinking about it, okay?

Etsy Shop Opening!

I'm on my way to getting a crafty business going...I just created my etsy shop and can't wait to perfect it and fill it with goodies. I'll post a link to it when there's actually something in it to look at. For now it's just a plain little shop, but it's a step in the right direction!

Cell phones vs. Cozy living

It's tough to keep our focus at home and with our families, isn't it? Today I went to the pool with the boys where I overheard a little boy about four asking his mom to come into the pool with him, and she answered that she was waiting for a phone call and couldn't come in the pool and play. Does that sound sad to you? 

I just couldn't get over the fact that everywhere I go, moms are on their cell phones. We take walks on our neighborhood nature path, and moms are pushing the stroller with one hand and holding their cell with the other. At the pool, where kids used to be able to count on some wonderful undivided parental attention, mom's waiting for a call. And I've been guilty of the cell phone at the park while the kids play, I have to admit. If not a cell phone, I've got a magazine I want to catch up on. 

The thought crossed my mind that there must be nowhere sacred anymore. On our next camping trip will Greg get cell phone service in the campground, creating one more place where uninterrupted family time will now be interrupted? Oh, how I hope not. It makes me feel like mourning.

Perhaps I'm being a little dramatic, but it seems to me that, slowly, sacred family time is disappearing. When will we give our little ones the undivided attention they need and crave? When can we spend just an evening with Ma cleaning up from dinner while Pa plays the fiddle and the little ones laugh and dance under the stars on the prairie? (Hmmm....can you tell that we're reading Little House on the Prairie these days?) Okay, maybe not on the prairie, but I'll settle for at least a technology free evening together as a family at home. Or at least, if technology is involved, I want to make sure we're spending some cozy time focusing on each other. Only.

My goal: turn off the cell phone, let the answering machine pick up the home phone, get off the computer, and play a game with the boys or read books for a whole evening together. I just don't want to be a part of the death of family nights. 

Let's look at the other side of things...I do have the choice to have an evening this way, I just have to determine to do it. I'll let you know how it goes.

July 4th!

photo courtesy of Uncle Rob Bryant...great angle Rob!

We had a peaceful family fourth of July. Spent the morning with Greg and Uncle Rob decorating the boys' bikes for the neighborhood bike parade, then headed over to the park for the parade and July 4th festivities.

The boys LOVED the bike parade, which was basically a million kids riding their bikes around the block together. Little ones in the front (Tyler took this very seriously and booked it when they said go...everyone on the sidewalks was commenting on how fast his little legs could scoot him along!) and bigger ones behind. I loved watching them love it. Does that make sense?

Greg was miffed, of course, that Jake didn't win the bike decorating contest, and I, of course, rolled my eyes about that. I believe my comment was, "I can see what kind of soccer parent you're going to be..." Let's hope not.

After the incredibly hot but fun neighborhood party, we hung out around the house, renting a movie and lying around until a mellow dinner for just the four of us...barbecued ribs, mashed potatoes, and homemade ice cream for dessert. Although several of my homemade items did not come out perfectly, I still felt like we had a very cozy holiday together.

We ended the night with some leftover sparklers in our backyard with a few snakes and strobes thrown in. Usually, I really like getting out and the hustle and bustle of holidays with lots of people, but today this felt just right for our little family.

CSA Day!

I'm so excited! Today I picked up my very first Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) basket! Isn't it beautiful?

Digging into this basket was like opening a Christmas present...every layer revealed a new surprise. Granted, I didn't really know what everything was, but it was exciting nonetheless. While picking up the basket, I traded our basket's fennel in for an extra bunch of beets, since no one around here likes fennel. I guess this week we'll be finding out whether anyone likes turnips or purple kohlrabi, either.

I was a little worried that the basket would only contain strange stuff that my family wouldn't eat, but happily, it contained nectarines, peaches, grapes, cucumbers, zucchini, and other recognizables, too.

My sister, Amy, was here to share the excitement, and we made the most delicious recipe that the CSA recommended for our chard, beets, and onion. Oh, my...delicious!

Can't wait to see what comes next time. I've attached the recipe below for you to enjoy.

swiss chard with beets, goat cheese, and raisins Bon Appétit | December 2005

The slight bitterness of the greens is tempered by the sweetness of the beets and the raisins, while the cheese adds a creamy richness.

ingredients
1 1/2 pounds red beets (about 3 large)

4 pounds Swiss chard

1/4 cup olive oil
1 large red onion, halved lengthwise, cut thinly crosswise
3/4 cup sliced green onions (about 3)
5 garlic cloves, chopped
2 jalapeño chiles, thinly sliced crosswise with seeds
3 14 1/2-ounce cans diced tomatoes in juice, drained
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons golden raisins

1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 51/2-ounce log soft fresh goat cheese, crumbled

2 tablespoons pine nuts
preparation
Preheat oven to 400°F. Wrap beets individually in foil. Roast until beets are tender, about 1 hour. Cool. Peel beets, then cut into 1/2-inch cubes. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover; chill.)

Fold Swiss chard leaves in half lengthwise and cut stalks away from leaves. Cut leaves coarsely into 1-inch pieces. Slice stalks thinly crosswise. Reserve stalks and leaves separately. Cook chopped leaves in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, about 1 minute. Drain and reserve.

Heat oil in heavy large pot over high heat. Add sliced stalks; sauté until starting to soften, about 8 minutes.

Add onion and next 3 ingredients; sauté 3 minutes. Add drained tomatoes and 1 cup raisins. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until vegetables are soft, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.

Add chard leaves to pot; stir to heat through. Remove from heat; add lime juice and stir to blend. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer chard mixture to large platter. Sprinkle with beets, goat cheese, pine nuts, and remaining 2 tablespoons raisins. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Talking about Freedom

I'm so excited that the boys are old enough to talk about the world nowadays. Today I reminded them that the fourth of July was coming (they're so excited!) and we had a great conversation about why we celebrate our country's freedom, and who fights to keep us safe and free, and how thankful we should be to live here in America.

So, Jake immediately wanted to decorate for the fourth of July...why not, we decorate for most other holidays around here. We pulled out some of the bike parade decorations and went to work, coming up with the beauty you see above. Well, anyway, it was beautiful to Jake, and that's beautiful to me.

Fresh Farmers Market Deliciousness

Friday's loot.

Fresh, local, amazingly good produce.  That's what I'm finding these days at our farmers market. Do you recall the first day I tried out the farmers market as our regular place for weekly produce? Well, now I'm an old pro. A regular, as one of the vendors put it last Friday. And doesn't everyone love being a 'regular' somewhere? I'm happy to find such deliciousness at my 'regular' place!

It's been several weeks now, and I'm to the point where I just can't pick up produce at my regular market anymore. It seems so strange to me to be eating tomatoes flown in from who-knows-where, when the most delicious tomatoes are being grown within miles of my house! I love walking through the two aisles at our farmers market with the boys, salivating over the freshest fruits, and Tyler becoming covered with the juice of whatever sample he's found.

Okay, so I know I'm spoiled, produce-wise, by living here in southern California. Yes, you can find most anything locally and there's always something fresh, even in the middle of what others call winter. I wouldn't have really thought much about it until recently when I've started thinking about where our family's food comes from.  And I'm not really sure what kinds of foods are grown around here in December (I'm such a city slicker, as my parents would call it,) but for now, the farmer's market is the best place to be for cherries, carrots, strawberries, just about everything.

Cozy living

I've thought and rethought so many times about what I want to say with this blog. Today it struck me that I'd just like to share my various thoughts about what I think of as "cozy living." 

I'm sure I've shared the story about how we started using the word 'cozy' around here so much, after Jake, at age 1 1/2, kept asking us, "Wan' cozy up wi' me?" How can you resist such a sweet request? Since then, cozy has become my word of choice for something that feels just right. 

And it seems that in all I do, I'm just trying to create a life that feels just right for our family: not too fast or too slow, not too primitive or too modern, not too secluded and sheltered but not too exposed to the craziness of the world...a just right, cozy life.

So for today, anyway, I'm going to start focusing my posts on what I'm doing to build a cozy life for us. And maybe there will be a few thoughts for you to cling onto as well.