Reader Christmas Party

On Wednesday night I went to the San Diego Reader Christmas party. It was pretty amazing to be surrounded by such creative and talented people.

Amelia in November

Thank You Rebecca Kiperts

I was starting to feel out of sorts when my Reader article didn’t accumulate any hate mail. Luckily, someone wrote a scathing letter to the editor. It is in this week’s letter section of the San Diego Reader. This is what they had to say:

Career Counselor

I believe Siobhan Braun needs a reality check (“For My Birthday, My Husband Bought Me a House,” Cover Story, November 17). You should be on your knees every night thanking God for a husband who loves you and three healthy (I assume, since you hardly mentioned them) children, as well as your house. If you got off your tush and got a job, you might realize how hard it is to earn a dollar these days, rather than whining that employers only want to look at your body. Go take a couple of classes at a community college so you can use their counseling office to see what you might be interested in learning to become good at: something besides housework and picking up dog poop. I’m not belittling those activities, they can be very rewarding and a blessing to your family, but once kids are in school, they don’t need you quite as much. Marriage is a partnership, and your husband is asking for your help (in a sort of roundabout, male way) — renegotiate! Have you saved for your retirement? Your children’s college education? Made a living trust in case, God forbid, he gets hit by a truck? Do you have enough life insurance? All these things cost money, just like those windows he researched so carefully, so as not to waste money. Sure, it’s easy to criticize when you’re not earning those dollars.

You write quite well; perhaps you could be an editor — maybe the Reader could use your skills — be a school bus driver — they’ll teach you how to discipline all kinds of kids — be a nurse (although you sound a bit too selfish for that), be a dog trainer (who doesn’t like golden retrievers?), just do something! It will be a good example to your kids that Mom worked hard to find a job. And your husband will be so grateful he might pick up his socks or learn to do laundry himself — do your kids do chores? Their future spouses will be grateful if they have skills as well!

Rebecca Kiperts
Mission Village

I read it to Aaron and he got a big huge chuckle. I think I will print it out and affix it to the fridge, that way any time I am feeling too pleased with myself I can read it and be reminded that I am seen as a poop picker-upper and as an individual far too selfish for nursing. Love it!

Midweek Adventure

Last Tuesday a friend of mine invited me to a film opening in LA.  At first I declined the invitation.  It was a school night and I would need to secure a babysitter for the kids because Aaron was out of town.  It seemed like too much work to make it happen.  But then she told me that she was actually in the film and would be part of a Q and A afterward.

 "It's a documentary and kind of controversial. I'm wearing a wig in it to hide my identity. If you don't come I'll never tell you what it's about it."

By nature I am nosey, so I made it happen.  It was a fun midweek adventure.  We stayed later than we should and had drinks with the producers and a few other documentary film makers.  It was fun chatting with a group of highly creative minds.  It was the most interesting Tuesday night I have had in a really long time. I'm glad I went.

I was going to attach the trailer for the film but I think a few of my regular blog readers would recognize my friend.  So I won't.  In case you're wondering it  had nothing to do with porn. It's not really controversial as much as an oxymoron if that makes sense.

Favorite Places

Slowly but surely our house is starting to come together.  We still have a few major projects left (a new fence, new garage doors, exterior paint, and wood floors). It's starting to feel more and more like us everyday. 

I love our house.  Each time I drive down the tree lined streets leading to home, I smile because I am so glad that we waited as long as we did to find the perfect home for us.  I love that we have set down our roots.  Our home is where we will stay into old age.  It will be the place that our children have the fondest memories in and where they will return with their own children.

Here are a few of my favorite spots in our house:

In our upstairs hallway we have a really cool vintage dresser that holds our linens.  On top of it is one of my most beloved material possessions, my typewriter.  I found it at an antique fair in La Mesa a few months after we moved here.  Another woman was haggling with the seller over the price and angrily stomped off when she didn't get her way.  I swooped in and purchased it.  It makes me happy.

Above the typewriter are last years family portraits.  A friend and I took photos together.  She took ours and I took theirs.  We plan to do the same this year.  So soon those photos will be replaced with our new ones soon.

I have been struggling with how to decorate this area in our living room since moving in.  I am finally happy with the results.  The chalkboard doesn't photograph well but it looks cool in real life.  It's a pottery barn piece that I scored at the thrift store for $3.99!  I change the quote weekly.  Currently it has  1 Peter 4:8 on it : Above all Love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude of sin.

We have numerous bookshelves in our home.  They are everywhere.  I decided to get those hand bookends so we could feature our favorite books.  More importantly it is where we keep our library books so we don't have to search everywhere when it is time to return them. We are obsessed with the library so it comes in handy to have a special spot for these books.

My two other favorite items are the vintage San Francisco trolley music box and the volcano rock.  Both represent our annual family trip where we drive up the 101 stopping in San Fran to visit my brother.  I look forward to the trip every year and believe that Northern California is the closest place to heaven i have ever seen.  It is shockingly beautiful. 

Poofed or Pooped

Before Amelia goes to bed we take turns making up stories.  Here is one she made up last night:

Decided

Since I have a bizarre aversion to birds, I have decided to celebrate that fact by being a bird attack victim for Halloween.  While googling photos for my costume I came across one of the greatest photos I have ever seen:

In the presence of winged creatures, I am totally this lady.

I Thought I Would Share

Last year I stumbled upon a really great San Diego Reader article.  When I set out to write something publishable I often find myself rereading this article. It is well written and touching while at the same time holds intimate pieces of knowledge.  Even though I never met Judith Moore I feel like, through the reading of this cover story, I have been mentored by her which is pretty cool.  She Hated Adverbs

The Theme Party

Last night Aaron and I went to a MadMen inspired theme party for our friend Drew's Birthday. I am one of those people that would be thrilled if every party had a theme.  I played the part of a disgruntled housewife in a pale blue dress coupled with perfectly hot-rolled hair.

When we arrived, we easily spotted the party thanks to the dozens of minivans parked out front.  It's a clear sign that we are lame when all of our friends drive grocery-getters.

Drew makes Aaron feel uncomfortable because he is toucher.  Neither of them like one another very much but force politeness in each other's company.  As soon as we walked in the door Drew hugged Aaron.  I was inwardly cracking up as Aaron squirmed and Drew fake smiled.

Tipsy people make me feel uncomfortable.  I never realized this before last night.  Their farnk honesty freaks me out.  My friend Heather poured Aaron a hefty amount of whiskey as soon as we entered the party.  That left me with the responsibility of remaining stone-cold sober all evening. It's alarming how quickly people's inhibitions  go as soon as they drink one stiff cocktail. 

Against Aaron's better judgment he drank two large glasses of whiskey and started talking in what he believed to be a normal tone but was actually at an extremely high pitch. When Aaron started talking politics I decided it was time for us to go. 

"Am I embarassing you?" he wanted tto know.

"No, but you may cause me ot lose partial hearing in my left ear." I told him.

I let Aaron sneak out without saying bye to Drew so that he would not have to suffer through another hug. 

I dropped our babysitter at home by ten o'clock.  I am becoming old and sensible. Sigh.

I

Boo

Last night our house was booed.

It was around 8pm when we heard a loud thud at the door.  It startled us. I thought it sounded like the thud of a Jehovahs Witness attempting to spread their good news. Aaron believed it might be a needy knock coming from someone that was bleeding out on our doorstep desperately searching for a ride to the hospital. We tend to jump to conclusions.

When Aaron opened the door we were relieved to find a large basket filled with Halloween candy and crafts on our welcome matt. Buried inside were instructions on how to continue the boo cycle. We were to place a sign on our door stating that we had already been booed. Within the following two days we had to boo two other families.

Tonight we set out to boo the neighbors. Jacob had a Grim Reaper mask on as a spooky disguise. Amelia wore her fastest tennis shoes. Andrew, of course, stayed home because booing is beneath him. I told him he was boring.  He shrugged his shoulders while retrieving a popsicle from the freezer before heading back downstairs to his man cave to finish reading What is the What for the 2nd time. 

We hit Brielle and Alexander’s house first. Jacob pounded on the door and we all took off running. Amelia tripped over her own feet and laughed so hard that she peed her pants. wehad to make a pit stop at home so she could change.  Next we hit up Anna and Olivia’s house. Our cover was blown when we ran across the street back home and the kids slammed the door loudly behind us.

A few hours later we heard the sound of laughter and running legs outside. Some neighbor kids stopped at our door saw our sign and continued on to Anna’s. I could hear Olivia shout out “Mom! We got booed AGAIN!” followed by the screeching tires of a minivan fleeing the scene.

And that is why I absolutely adore our neighborhood!

You can download this boo sign here in case you want to start it up in your hood:

Summer Sales

The ony good thing about the end of summer is the sales.

Here are my recent scores:

J.crew dress that I have been eyeballing for months I maanged to score it on clearance with an additional 40% off.  It makes me irrationally giddy.  I adore a well made dress

I saw these cute little shorts in the Anthropologie catalog back in April for $49! I became obssessed with trying to find something simailar at a cheaper price.  Luckily for me I scored them on the clearance rack. The best feature are the cute wooden buttons near each leg opening.

I lost a decent amount of stomach weight this summer. I owe my weight lose entirely on the ten minuite hula hoop excercise on Wii fit. I'm not kidding, I'm lazy enough to resort to using a video game to get in shape. In my search for a flattering bikini that would mask my problem areas I found this Kenneth Cole one at Macy's.  The skirted bottom draws attention away from the stomach and it has great mom butt coverage.  At it's sale price for $21.99 for the top and additional $21.99 for the bottom I had to pass on it until I saw marked down to nearly nothing a month later ($9 for top and bottom).  Mine is Teal and I will need to do a lot more than wii fit to look as good in it as the model does.

 

Redlands, Ca

At the Pocket, Ocean Beach: California

I took the kids to the beach yesterday for what to me felt like thirty minutes. After dusting the sand off their feet and piling all our ocean going gear into the back of my truck I noticed that my clock read 2pm. We were there for three hours! That’s what ocean Beach does to people—distorts time.


Pocket beach is my favorite local beach because it’s beautiful but more importantly it’s always empty. However, the few people we do share the beach with are always unique. For instance there was a woman frolicking in the water that appeared to be wearing an adult diaper inside her bikini bottom. Behind where our beach towel was laid out, a man in moon boots had a hoodie zipped over his face and was sound asleep. Also I may or may not have witnessed a teenage drug exchange. But hey, that’s the price we have to pay for the luxury of hanging out at a nearly deserted, beautiful beach.

Sweet, Sweet, Summer

Bela, our little old lady, happy as can be at Mission trails

Nick, our neighbor, and Andrew, aka Tom and Huck

Our new rope swing that it is getting a ton of use by our family and all the kids in the neighborhood.

Andrew being Andrew

Amelia adores Andrew and he loves her right back

I Wish

That my kitchen looked like this

that my entry way resembled this

That my kids had a cool reading nook like this

this were my yard

I had these hanging in my kitchen windows

Wannabe Mormons

Tonight Andrew had his bud Jackson spend the night. While playing ping pong the boys lobbed a ball over our neighbor's fence.  It didn't appear to be a big deal.  We have a zillion more.  Apparently they thought it was a bigger deal than I did.

A few minutes later Andrew came inside wanting to know if we had a Mormon bible.  Despite the fact that we are not Mormon, randomly, we do.  A short time later Amelia and Jackson came down the stairs dressed like this:

After nearly dying of laughter I got them to explain why they looked like Mormon missionaries.  Apparently they hatched an elaborate scheme to distract our neighbor by knocking on his door and pretending to be Mormon missionaries.  Meanwhile Andrew would sneak into their backyard and retrieve the ping pong ball. 

I suggested that it may be easier if they just asked for it back

 "That wouldn't be as fun."

In case anyone is wondering, I didn't let them go through with it.

Last days of school

After moving to La Mesa, Aaron and I thought about enrolling the kids in our local school but after much thought we couldn't do it.  We love their school. 

I love that I know the name of every single kid I see on the playground.  I love that the 5th grade girls have the tendency to braid Amelia's hair and tell me who their crushes are.  I love that Jacob was allowed to get half way through the 5th grade math book when his teacher realized that the 4th grade one was too easy and that Andrew's teacher gave his grade lots of projects to do this year because he realized that is where their strength is, and that Amelia woke up everyday excited to go to school. I like that if I don't feel like driving all the way back home to La Mesa after dropping the kids off at school I can stop by our principals house to have a midday margarita with his wife who is the most hilarious and inappropriate woman I have ever met. 

My kids school is like a little bubble--a fifties time warp of good manners, morals, and old fashion community love.  Last weekend was the 8th grade graduation ceremony and I actually cried because I will miss those kids and I have loved seeing them mature and grow.  My favorite 8th grader whose is moving to Arizona, stopped Andrew and Jacob when we were leaving a graduation party to give them a hug and to tell them how much he was going to miss them.   It's moments like those where I realize how lucky we are to have them in such a tiny school.  As much as I complain about having to pay tution and the traffic we sit in to get there, in the end I know that it is worth it and I know that they will look back on there elementary school days with some pretty awesome memories.

P.S.  My camera got wet during the end of school water ballon toss.  That is why the pics are hazy.

Studs

I wrote this week's San Diego Reader cover.  This story was the bane of my existence for nearly two months because I got so caught up in trying to make it perfect.  I awkwardly interviewed numerous western world enthusiasts and pretended to be professional.  I loved/hated every minute of it.  I am super proud of this article because it was way out of my comfort zone.  It was the most challenging article I have ever written. I learned so much.  The best part--I got paid to do something I enjoy. 

Giddy up

American Pickers

 I think I have mentioned on here before that instant Netflix is the greatest invention EVER! It makes my world a million times brighter.
Currently I have fallen in love with the show American pickers. The show is phenomenal.
It follows around two dudes who have been friends since childhood while they attempt to score cool stuff. They go into the backwoods of America to find really cool vintage treasures to resell. It combines everything I love--vintage stuff, quirky people, and road trips. It's amazing!

The Dreary months

The kids plus the dog during winter: