hmm......

i found this helpful... lots of thinking to do

ok... now what?

so, 38 years in and i am still wondering what to do with my life.  seriously?

yes... i have my health, a stable respectable career... a lovely family with a faithful husband of almost 8 years and a beautiful 5 year old daughter and 3 year old son... a nice house in a great neighborhood... twin sister close by and healthy parents and in-laws 4 hours away.  i have a part-time nanny who is great with the kids.  i have a wonderful community of friends whom we see regularly.

what more is there than this?  really!?... i want to understand this feeling in me that i need to accomplish some other "thing".  what is that?  i'm pretty certain that i'm happy.

was thinking about contacting one of my favorite bloggers and offering to work for her (for free).  i'm a little nervous and of course would like to avoid rejection but i think i need to follow my instincts... and become the woman i know is in me.  wish me luck!

craft morning

this  morning after drop-off two of my good friends came over for a little crafting party.  there were some great ideas circulating back and forth over email... but in the end we went with this

i love how pretty everything looks.  great job ladies!

pretty nails that i ❤

i love doing my nails although i rarely have time... but seeing this post on this blog has inspired me to try something new and fabulous.

check out these tutorials which will allow you to do this at home!

miss me?

i miss my blog...i miss blogging...i miss looking at pretty blogs and being inspired...but things have been a little busy lately.  i was tickled when a few of you (my lovely readers) expressed concern about my lack of posts in the past few months... glad that your comments are pushing me back to this keyboard.  it always helps to have a nudge.

the lucky lady

school has started, my little amiya now a kindergartener and my roro in his second year of preschool... already with a new BFF and a cute new girlfriend!

i've been busy with work... having taken on lots of moonlighting shifts in addition to the regular schedule... plus getting a bit involved with amiya's new school.  i am one of 4 room parents for her kg class.  so far i haven't done much but the halloween party is coming up.  this year i finally decided to make a costume.  i did make my dress for last years party but it was pathetic so i won't count that one.  rowan's costume came from china but it's perfect and i couldn't have done a better job... so for 6.99 plus shipping it's a done deal.  for my little girl i have completed an adorable costume.  she decided to be a girly superhero.... we like to call her rainbow superhero... she's the one who makes rainbows come out after the rain.

now i need to figure out how to layer the kids with enough to keep them warm while trick-or-treating tomorrow!

dinner club

guess the fruit

yesterday we hosted dinner club.  it was quite a meal.  marty picked everything out, recipes, wine and did a great job making it a true foodie experience.  though i have decided to go vegetarian once again, i always try everything at our dinner clubs in an effort to be open... and enjoy the whole meal.

marty pouring heidseck monopole

nimbu pani- a non alcoholic apertif- made by sonal

wild mushroom flat bread- made by andrew and jennifer

peach and arugula salad (with pancetta and ricotta salata)- made by jyoti and martin

jyoti assembling the salad

danette made a special appearance- we were so glad to welcome her!

before

pinot to go with our main course- capiaux (CA)

after

ed slicing the duck breast

farro with duck confit and sliced duck- made by marty

fig strudel with alsace pinot noir sauce and kirch ice cream- made by ed and phoebe

cheers

cutest kid clothes ever!!!

you have to check out this website: http://www.smallable.com

i want it all!... seriously cute clothes, furniture, toys... even a section about kid trends.  i really should not have found this website!

anyway.... have started school shopping for the kids.  it's pretty fun though i'm trying really hard to be practical.  here's some stuff that Amiya will be wearing to kindergarten...