You may have noticed I have been seriously absent from the blogosphere. Between the craziness of Holiday photo shoots, to my own family Holiday shenanigans and having A LOT on my mind, blogging has unfortunately taken a back seat. 2012 is going to be a year full of change for my family, so my husband and I have been trying to get our head around what’s ahead. I will get into details about these changes later, but for now, rather than post images from sessions I never got to write about, I’ve decided to look ahead at write about Valentine’s Day ideas.
Since my [insert older] son loves it when I decorate the house for an occasion, I thought I would make the most of the upcoming festivities. My son sometimes watches a show called Team Umizoomi and they had an episode about a special “I Love You Day”, so between that and school, I think Valentine will actually mean something to him this year.
So here are some great ideas for a modern Valentine Day celebration, with many simple DIY ideas:
all photo credits of their respectives sites
Clockwise from top left:
Heart Garland from here; Glitter Banner from here; Red table setting from here; Valentine bubbles from here; Sweet Treats from here; XOXO cupcakes from here; Cupid’s Arrow Brownies from here.
Now that I’m the mother of two boys, I’m taking the time t re-read Raising Boys, by Steve Biddulph. I remember reading it after the birth of my first son and feeling better equipped at raising a boy, and while I am more experienced this time around a refresher course never hurt. Not only will it remind me what to do with my baby, but I will better understand what to expect of my four year old. While leafing through the pages this morning, I came across a wonderful passage that I firmly believe in:
TENDERNESS IS TAUGHT
In the 1960s, anthropologist James Prescott carried out a very large scale study of child rearing and violence across different societies. He found that those societies which gave less touching and affection to young children had by far the most violence amongst adults. It’s clear that the more tender and warm are the lives of children, the safer and more loving they will be as adults. (Sex offenders and other sexual predators almost always have a history of rejection, institutionalization and disrupted childhoods.) Treating children with warmth and affection immunises them against the wish or need to harm others.
All my clients will attest that I’m a firm believer in hugs and kisses.
I’ve also got The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids, by Madeline Levine, Ph.D. The title is intriguing and I certainly don’t want to raise disconnected, unhappy children. So I picked up a copy in the hopes that I will be confirming that I’m on the right track, or worst case scenario, learning where to make corrections.
Sure, there’s nothing like real experience, but when it comes to something like parenting, I firmly believe you can learn from other people’s successes and failures and books are a wonderful source of invaluable information. Looking at my bookshelf, I think going all-kindle might be the way forward for me.
What great parenting books do you recommend? I’m always interested in learning.
I’ve always loved Thanksgiving. It’s one of those holidays that seems to have withstood becoming overly commercial (excluding Black Friday). This year, unlike in years past, we are actually going out of town, which is not something to be underestimated with two little ones under the age of five. But at the time we booked it seemed like a good idea to go up to San Francisco and spend Thanksgiving with my brother and his wife, and let them play hosts this year.
That said, I’m a sucker for entertaining and decorating for the holidays, so I still managed put together a Thanksgiving Inspiration Board, even though we are not hosting. Our Thanksgiving will be small, as our family is small, but the food will be delicious. Above are some cute ideas for decorating your home and some neat recipes with an autumnal flair, that while not “traditional”, still manage to capture the spirit of the season.
Since we are a small family, we will be opting for a chicken instead of Turkey. The recipe for the chicken is not just for any roast chicken. It’s a Thomas Keller roast chicken, and frankly the best roast chicken I’ve tasted! Unlike conventional roasting recipes, his requires no basting, but relies on a generous amount of salt to keep the bird juicy and flavorful. The sweet potato French Fries are for my oldest son, who hates “mushy” food. I don’t blame him, he spent the better part of his early years eating only purees, so I’m not surprised he likes texture and crunch. The pear salad is for me, as I love the idea of making a salad tower. And, last but not least, the “horns of plenty” are so cute and such an easy cheat using waffle ice cream cones and a bounty of fresh fruit that I would be remiss not to include something so pretty, so easy and so healthy.
Photos are copyright of their respective owners, follow the links for each:
1. Autumn Basket
2. Welcoming Entry
3. Pumpkin Centerpiece
4. Thomas Keller Roast Chicken, BTW- this site is full of gorgeous recipes. Too bad the author decided to discontinue blogging.
5. Fresh Fruit Cones. (unfortunately for these there is no link to the original source. let me know if you come across one as I would prefer to give credit).
6. Crispy Sweet Potato Fries
7. Vertical Pear and Walnut Salad
Lastly, here are some nice FREE Printables to dress up your festivities that you can download here:
Wishing you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving!
 
Sometimes I find it hard to believe that my husband and I have been in Los Angeles for twelve years (we moved here from London). To most people that’s probably not a big deal, but I have never lived in one city for that long before. So, it shouldn’t be surprising to me that now that I’ve been here so long I’m crossing paths again with people we met when we first moved here. I mention this because the dad of this lovely family worked with my husband when we first moved here. It was a small start-up part of the first generation during the internet bubble of the late nineties, when the internet was the Wild West and businesses had not yet figured out what business models would work in this new medium, or as my husband might say, “how to monetize the web“. As start-ups go, this one didn’t last, but we will forever be grateful to this man as he gave my husband his first opportunity in this new country; the first step in us following our “American Dream“. So when his wife contacted THOMPSON and SPRING for a shoot and I saw their name come up on my Caller ID, I couldn’t believe how we had come full circle… and after all these years, he hadn’t aged one bit!
However, in the interim, his family had significantly expanded and he now has three gorgeous kids. It was fun doing a family portrait session with them near their home in Hancock Park. The kids all had very distinct personalities and looks. And, while the weather report had been threatening Los Angeles with rain, luck was on our side and we managed to have fun outdoors.
Most people would agree that the city of Los Angeles is not much of a city. There is no apparent center, no real pedestrian life, and to top it all off, within Los Angeles, there are a bunch of incorporated cities, the most famous of which is Beverly Hills, closely followed by Santa Monica, lesser known cities within LA to non-Angelenos are West Holllywood, Culver City and Century City. (Did I miss any?) I still don’t quite understand why some “neighborhoods” became cities. I understand that they then can control their own fate, but if you ask me it seems to me like a lot of redundant bureaucracies. Anyway, I recently shot in one such city, namely Century City for this recent family Holiday shoot.
It was great seeing them again, and seeing how big their baby daughter had grown. She was a very tall one and a half year old, walking up a storm. Mom had warned me that she might take a while to warm up, but she was game from the minute we said go and we had fun playing around Century City, which is also where Mommy happens to work. Mom is also expecting Number Two, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at her, she looked fantastic.
I have to say I’m a sucker for blue eyes and this little girl’s one are exceptional, which she definitely inherited from Daddy. My older son has slate blue eyes that change a little depending on what he wears, but this little darling’s eyes are blue through and through and couldn’t be more gorgeous! Don’t you agree?
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