3 generations go Dutch

While Mama and Auntie Nancy went to Sardinia and Paris, Papa, Levi and I took advantage of 5 days together and headed to the Netherlands.

First stop was Utrecht for 2 nights. It is a lovely, quaint Dutch town with beautiful canals and hundreds of bikers!

The highlight was definitely the Miffy Museum. The simple drawings and stories of a white bunny by Dick Bruna that have become famous all around the world and are now favorites in our flat. While Levi loved the museum, dad and I coveted the gift shop.

Following Utrecht, we caught the train 40 min South to Amsterdam, where we checked into a darling, very kid-friendly apartment in the Jordaan neighborhood.

We walked everywhere, enjoyed some local beers, did the canal ride, and even hired a sitter one evening so we could hit the town sans Levi.

We also just hung out in the apartment, shopped at our local market, & cooked yummy meals. It was so nice to have time together and no agenda.

Our highlight in Amsterdam was definitely getting together with my Babyccino partner and having breakfast with her beautiful family in their home.

Sara & Pim were so sweet to Levi, showering him with attention and toys. He loved it!

This trip will definitely make my "Top 5 experiences while living abroad" list. I always knew my Papa was something special, but this trip confirmed it even more. Levi has no idea how lucky he is...

Love Affair with NYC

As most of you know, I've had a deep love affair with NYC for quite sometime (pre sabatical from Amazon to take art classes at Parsons New School). When I heard my dear friend, Noah, and his now lovely wife were getting married, there was no way I could miss it (especially given it was going to be in NYC).

To top it off, I absolutely love Hillary and can't wait for JWG & I to spend more time with the two of them when we're all back on the west coast (if we can persuade Hill to leave the east).

Of course, I squeezed in some quality time with my dear girlfriends Vashali and Dani and was able to send my fellow 'Twin Tower' off to San Diego. She's making the couragous move to San Diego to be with her boyfriend Chris (who couldn't be more darling, sincere and handsome). It's such a treat to see dear friends partnering up with people you instantly love.

I couldn't be more excited for Dani. I'll miss seeing her on my NYC visits, but know she'll be back... she, nor I can stay away.

The Ultimate Birthday for Papa Bear

My Papa bear celebrated his birthday yesterday beginning from sun up to sun down. We kicked off the morning with 4 hour cooking class at Caldesi in Marleybone (great gift Mama). It was amazing...


We cooked Ravioli stuffed with beetroot and ricotta with walnut pesto (even made our raviolis)...

I perfected my pasta making skills, while we also made roast partridege "Arrosto Morto" risotto con funghi e zafferano and tiramisu.

From there, we went to Saddler's Wells and Saw a hip hop version of 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' by the Swedish dance troup Bounce.

It was the most creative and unique performance any of have seen. We still can't stop talking about it...

After the performance, we headed to Moro (our new favorite restaurant in London) and unfortunately they were closed. Oops! We ended up at this little French restaurant called 'ClosMaggiore ' and it was heavenly. Highly recommend it for all our English friends. All in all, Papa had an incredible birthday as did we celebrating it all together.

Surf, Mexican food & a wedding!

Our West Coast tour began with an immediate stop at So Cal Holmes. Unfortunately MK was out of town, but John and I were able to get some good snuggles in with our favorite ladies Hazel and Sadie. We were privy to a sneak preview of this year's Halloween costumes and treated to Mexican dinner by Brian. We were in heaven, despite being jet lagged.

Hazel 5, Sadie 3 are growing up way to quickly. They even have nightly homework and have moved into proper movie viewing such as Annie and Sound of Music. These girls couldn't be sweeter and are as funny as their mom and dad (seriously, it's incredible).

I also was able to meet my dear friend Amy's new baby Georgia, but unfortunately don't have any pictures to share. She's beautiful and I LOVE the name (they're are good friends who live in Dubai, but are currently in LA for a few months).


Off to Hawaii...7 days of bliss. We stayed in the Northshore the first couple of nights and then moved into the wedding party house (Chris & Megan) in Kailua.


Having time just with my JWG was such a treat...it was just like the old days. No responsibility and no where to be.

John and Michael were in heaven fitting in several surf outings in the early am and afternoon.

Chris even joined them on his long board and made it look very easy...I was super impressed because I found surfing to be a very humbling experience.

We shared a house with Meg & Chris, Naho (Meg's bestfriend who also lives in Tokyo) Tom (Naho's husband) and Sarah Goodwin (Michael's wife) and spent many hours soaking up the sun. By the end of the week, it feel like summer camp where you're swamping phone numbers, hugging goodbye multiple times and already planning your next get together. John and I are jumping at the chance to visit Meg, Chris, Naho and her husband Tom in Tokyo (and we've already planned New Years with Sar and Michael in Mammoth). Chris and Meg's good friends Jake and his girlfriend Nicole also joined us in the party house and wowed us with their incredible fish tales and humor (Jake's a professional fishing guide).

Awe, the wedding. It was incredibly intimate, classy and fun. Chris looked as handsome as ever, and Meg was stunning. Meg's constant, genuine smile and approachable nature made you want to cling to her all night (well actually all week). Chris impressed us all by delivering part of his speech in the formal Japanese language since Meg's family doesn't speak English. We dined on delicious food and danced the night away (even JWG). Congrats you two...we love you. Hopefully we'll all be back in the states sooner than later!

Celebrating 10 months with Mumsey and Papa

John and I just returned from a very relaxing, sun filled 11 days in LA and Hawaii to see our friends Chris and Meg get married (pics to follow shortly). Meanwhile, mom and dad held down the fort and kept a very close eye on our babies...accompanying Levi to swim class, Tumble Tots, Monkey Music and cuddling him all day long. Hanky enjoyed even more attention then normal and as usual never left dad's side. We're so thankful for their help and the very much needed holiday sans Levi.

We returned home today just in time to celebrate Levi's 10th month bday...(while his hair does look red in this picture, it's more a sandy brown).

The Simple Life

Even though Levi's nearly 10 months, he still spends a good portion of the morning napping (no complaints here). As it turns out, Hanky has found his niche and every morning joins Levi (we use to shoo him off the bed, but have given up). They're becoming best of friends...

Awe the bikes. They far surpass any noise making, block building or cumbersome plastic toy. Levi spends any given moment climbing under them, pushing pedals, touching spokes and wiggling in-between both of them. While they do require a bit of supervision, there's no ignoring them as they are a definite highlight of the day!

Catch & Release

Together again, but only for 36 hrs. We swam with Levi, we bbq'd and we laughed. Then we put them on the train to Paris and off they went for a week. It was a bit of a tease, so we're anxious for them to return!