California dreamin'

We've been back from California for a week now, and have finally re acclimated to life in China. Thankfully, we do better with the time change and jetlag coming west, better than when we fly east. One or two nights of waking and we were all sleeping like babies again.

We had a great visit home, although I admit, it was my most exhausting trip thus far. I blame pregnancy, jetlag and a non-napping toddler. Exhaustion aside, trips home are always just what the doctor ordered.

Some highlights included:

Dinner with longtime friends and their kids. Sal got to sit at the big kid table for the first time with Maverick and Makayla. We look forward to many more good dinners and play dates with these two and their parents.

Breakfast at grandma Sandy and grandpa Bob's house. Fresh picked oranges (although I think the fruit pictured was a lemon) and cherry tomatoes. Isn't that what every kid begs for at breakfast? 

Decorating Halloween cookies with Auntie Stephanie. My sister made cookies and flooded them with white royal icing. She then drew Halloween themed designs on them and gave Sal edible ink markers to decorate them. It's been reported that he taste tested each cookie--nick and I took the opportunity to get away to the surf shops while Auntie Steph kept Sal entertained.

Shopping with auntie Steph and grandma Sandy. 

Feeding grandpa Jet's doggies. Sal even pronounced their names "Tess" and "Kate" and took an instant liking to them. Since our visit home, Sal thinks he is a doggie. He often puts his snack on the floor and eats it like a dog and hides out in our pet kennel.

The beach! We spent so many mornings at the beach. 

High school football. We got to watch Sal's future high school (his dad's alma mater) play a game. Who knows, someday maybe I'll be sitting in these stands cheering this little guy on. 

We had many more good times with family and friends that didn't get pictured. Our two weeks flew by, as always, and before we knew it, we were faced with packing up all our stuff and heading out again.

Until next time, California!

A day at the farm

Hello from sunny Southern California! 

It's currently 83 sunny, breezy degrees here and p-e-r-f-e-c-t autumn weather. 

Go ahead and hate me now ( I would too).

We wanted to give Sal a break from our on-the-go shopping/visiting/appointment schedule and do something just for him. A few years back when my friends Liz and John visited, we took them to Underwood farms and their daughter really liked it so I have been looking forward to taking Sal. 

Today was the day.

He was slow to warm up, but quickly fell in love with the animals and really really enjoyed feeding them carrots with his dad. He especially liked when the sheep would "baaaaa" and the pygmy goats would use their horns to knock on the feed chute to ask for more. We tried to get him to ride the miniature horses but he wasn't having it. He stuck his lower lip out and started doing his "how-can-you-do-this-to-me"?! face so we backed off and opted for the train ride instead.

 There were play structures and hay bales and tractor slides....and we did them all. On our way out, Sal got to select his very own pumpkin. He tried to pick it up himself but still needed some back-up from dad. He picked a winner!

From CA, with love

Isn't this cool?

I had fallen in love with a similar pillow from Kitson, but wasn't willing to pay upwards of $100 for a pillow that would inevitably get covered in snot and goldfish crackers. I sent the link to my sister, who I am crafting vicariously through until we return to home of the brave, land of the free and its multitude of craft stores. She in turn, painted white muslin fabric and put our favorite California landmarks on it, including out home (Newbury Park) and the town Nick and I fell in love (Davis). 

It now lives on our sofa (as opposed to Sal's room which was my original idea) and I'm smitten.

California Kid

I finally found paints!

And canvases!

And brushes!

Here's a peek at my first project for Sal's room.

Those of you familar with state flags might recognize this as the California Republic flag.




California kid

I found it fitting for a "name plate" for Sal's wall, so I replaced California Republic with his name, and voila.

I'm just so darn excited to have found something that lets me be creative again.

California: weeee're baaaack

Here's a what-we-did-while-we-skipped-town-during-Golden-Week post full of photographs.

 

We went to the park and watched dad play softball.



swingin

heyyy batter batter

We hit the beach.

 

 

We saw a Dodger game (they won).

my boys in blue

We went to the zoo while dad went fishing.

 

at the zoo with grama Sandy & grampa Bob

We saw family. Lots of family.

 

grandma Valorie..those earrings look so---- grab-able. May I?



grama Sandy

great grandma Pat

meeting my great aunt Cindy for the 1st time

Sal started standing.

 

look mah!  I can stand!

We ate sushi. More times than I like to admit.

 

And mama shopped her heart out.

 

Target didn't know what hit it when I came through.

 

Puffs , candy and anchovies--priorities.

Sal's stash of formula

clothes from Auntie, grama and great grandma...

 

California, we'll miss you.

 



West Coast Nursery

So, now that our move is getting closer ( we don't have an exact date yet--but sometime within the next month and a half), I'm getting antsy to just.get.there.already! Having never been to China myself, I am a bit apeshitcrazy nervous about what it's going to be like. Will I have extreme culture shock, or be pleasantly surprised at how westernized the area we will live in has become? NZ assures me the latter, although he doesn't sugarcoat things at all, and totally admits that we will run into some aspects of dealing with cultural differences that will just.plain.suck.

My goal is to not stick out any more than one white girl can. Neither of us speak Mandarin, but in all of NZ's travels and business dealings over there, MOST people seem eager attempt to speak practice English with Americans. I've made NZ take pictures inside of a Chinese Walmart, just so I know that there is some familiarity and continutiny amongst the big box stores over there--I figure all is well so long as there is a Walmart close by. LOL. And yes, Walmart China is much like Walmart America...except for the Crocodiles on ice, Frogs in the food section, and motorbikes in the entry. I'm sure one day I will totally overlook the crocodiles, and even miss them once we're back on US soil.

Or not.

Knowing that we would be moving shortly after Salvatore's arrival, we put together a make-shift nursery. It's bare bones and everything serves a purpose. Other than the frame I repurposed into a chalkboard to announce his arrival, there isn't anything else that signifies that this-is-Sal's-room.

One thing that I have been looking forward to doing once we arrive in China, is getting Sal's nursery together. Like, a REAL nursery, that says, this is Sal's room. Not knowing exactly what we will find while shopping for his nursery, I started brainstorming ideas on pinterest. I came up with a not-so-babyish idea, which pays homage to his roots of being a California kid.



photos from pinterest

The apartment comes furnished, and since we will be there first inhabitants, we were able to suggest furniture color and style to the landlord, and he will do his best to match it. The furniture selected for the nursery is white. I think we selected a long dresser in white and a bookshelf. We will hopefully make it to IKEA to add a rocking chair, crib and rug to the space. (Yes, China even has IKEA!)



photos from pinterest and IKEA

And these are the fabrics that I plan on making crib sheets and changing pad covers out of.

fabric photos from fabricworm.com & pinterest

We will see how much of this I am able to re-create abroad. Most of the artwork can be purchased or printed and framed, so I think I can get close!