tuesday tunes: sandro perri - "family tree"

happy mamas day!

we didn't make any plans for today. then we had all kinds of plans, but we didn't even end up doing what we planned...

this morning when sofia got up from bed, she tells me, "mommy i'll be back. i have a surprise for you. paper and drawing." she then went to the living room, but completely forgot about it. it was a sweet gesture though and that was enough. i don't think she had any idea what mothers day is all about, but i'm sure she had intuited something special about today. she's seriously intuitive like that. when she was only 8 months old and meeting her new jersey family for the first time, she didn't cry. but if it was a person who was not family, she would immediately cry. she's really good with the vibes.

so today adrienne, baby leila and audrey spent the day with us. we initially planned to have a picnic. couldn't decide what to eat though. then decided it was too hot. so i said, let's go to the beach, half joking. then adrienne suggested coney island! so here we are driving towards coney island and thought, man, that's kind of far. so we switched it up to the aquarium instead. turns out the aquarium is located in coney island. so we continued on our merry way. then, sofia said her stomach was hurting, so we decide to take the first exit we see. we didn't know where to find a bathroom though and we kept seeing signs to the staten island zoo. so we ended up at the zoo.

sorry for the tmi. i just thought it was kind of funny. the zoo turned out to be pretty awesome. i saw a lot of animals i haven't seen before, most especially a llama! and they were sooo adorable. there were peacocks just roaming about and we got to feed donkeys, goats, sheep, ponies and the llamas. even though the zoo was small and didn't have lions and bears and tigers, i really liked that people were allowed to interact with most of the animals there.

oh, hello may day

my mind is like an orchard
clustered in frozen portraits
blossoms that blooms so fine
just to drop from the vine
i've seen it all tonight.

spring always looks so nice with all the blooming flowers and greens and warmth of the sunshine.
i wish it felt as good as it looks. but lately i've just been feeling so weary and tired and can't do much but watch movies. i was under the impression that spring was supposed to give you that jolt of energy and make you feel rejuvenated, all young and fresh like the flowers. so while wondering what was wrong with me, i decided to look up spring fever. lo and behold, there it is "frühjahrsmüdigkeit". so funny, because i recognized this word from sewon's recent blog entry. it is a german word that is translated to something like "spring tiredness". my joints have been aching as well as my hips, and i decided to go to yoga with adrienne last night. it actually felt good despite looking pretty ridiculous trying my best to balance on one foot.



this morning was really nice. the sun was out, the sky was blue with white fluffy clouds. a man was mowing the lawn and the cool breeze smelled of fresh cut grass. even though it sounds like such a cliche spring day, it made me feel so good.

so i went and bought myself the gift of an iphone and i was going to chalk it up to spring fever... but whatever, i have made so much justification for this splurge but in the end i am happy that i did. all of these images were taken with it and i have been so addicted to the instagram app, that i have not picked up a real camera for a month. i guess i won't be purchasing a new digital camera.

sweet and simple days

"i really learned a lot
how to dust off my heart
how to make it shine
how to take a field of dandelions
and make dandelion wine"

"such sweet and simple days
though bitter tasted the wine
we drank it anyway
for love had made it fine
when the world was young
when the road was bright
and the morning poured
its golden light
like dandelion wine "

- ron sexsmith, "dandelion wine" -

i am in love with this season. more sun, more daylight, more time to spend outside. though it isn't officially summer yet, i've been listening to compilations of songs from the summer of '04 and it always brings a smile to my face.

sunset at the park

she's so big now. i can't believe it myself. i get so sad when i'm at work, because i always miss her terribly. i feel bad because sometimes, she would rather go with her lola and i know it's because she spends more time with her. i really want to quit my job so i can be with her. this is the best age so far. she's like a sponge, learning things i wasn't even teaching her, doing things i didn't even know she knew. i don't want to miss it anymore.

spring has sprung

i've never seen so many blooming trees in my life. it's really lovely to walk around our neighborhood this time of the year. bd doesn't really like where we live, because the people here can be a bit off at times. specially those east of avenue c. i find some things a bit odd too, like how there's a church in almost every single corner, if not, every 2-3 blocks apart. it's really weird. it's also a bit conservative compared to new york city or jersey city which is only 15 minutes away. i've heard that despite it being so close to the city, some people have not step foot out of this peninsula. but i do like the quietness and the peaceful walk home. it's not the city but also not quiet the suburbs. i also like how i can walk everywhere: grocery store, restaurants, my doctor and my dentist (but still drive anyway).

rainy day monday

I had fun this weekend. I went to the dentist for the first time in two years and I'm proud to say I don't have any tooth decays! Unfortunately, I need a crown which is just as expensive as the ones that go on top of your head. On Friday I had drinks at LITM with BD after he got back from DC. It felt nice to be out and just relax after a long stressful week. Saturday night was full of lmao's with Yoko and Bonnie. It sounds like we have an active social life, but don't be fooled, it was a blue moon.

I wish we could do this more often.