There is a Japanese word, mieppari, that means a person hung up on maintaining appearances or caring too much about status and wanting to impress others. Keeping up with the Joneses, if you will. Ah, keeping up with the Joneses...are you immune? I am not. I still vividly remember feeling mortified whenever my dad drove up in our jalopy of a Chevy Nova to pick me up from one middle school event or another. I even asked him to park at least a block away so no one would see me duck into the back ... Read more
Healthier Rice Crispy Treats
On Saturday, we had a mini early birthday celebration for one of our sweet little friends. She is turning five, and treats were in order, but she's lactose-intolerant so I searched for some dessert options that wouldn't involve any dairy. I could have gone for vegan cupcakes, but how could I pass up a chance to make healthier rice crispy treats? And how cute are they stacked high with candles on top? I love that she's trying to blow out the candles from as far away as possible. I used ... Read more
Monday Outfit: Bleu et Bleu
Good morning! We had such a great weekend filled with fun. On Friday, K's school had a "Family Japan Night" which involved getting dressed in kimonos, playing Japanese games like "fish the water balloons", and eating Asian-style hotdogs (they were regular hotdogs with topping options of the fish flakes variety). They even had karaoke in the library, complete with disco lights. We had friends over on Saturday, and I cooked up a storm - I'll be sharing some yummy recipes later this week. Sunday ... Read more
Happy Friday + Randomness
Happy Friday! With daylight savings beginning this weekend, it feels like summer will be rapidly approaching and this, of course, turns my thoughts to vacation planning. We don't actually take very many vacations. Mostly it's because M's work schedule is unpredictable and this makes it tricky to plan trips. One of loveliest family vacations we took was to Roche Harbor on San Juan Island with M's parents a few years ago. We rented a cottage that K called the "trip house", and the atmosphere as a ... Read more
DIY Shelf + Tolerations Update
A couple of summers ago, I found myself with a lot of time and an ever-shrinking budget. I was on a huge home improvement kick, and one of my goals was to corral the explosion of books everywhere in the house. I've always been a bookworm, and as much as I love the library, I love buying books even more. These days I've been really good about not purchasing any, but I still have way too many and I used to have enough to completely fill a room (oh, I dream of having a room I can call a "library", ... Read more