Little Luna is now 10 months old. Luna loves swimming in the pool (we go once a week), sitting on a swing and bouncing on a seasaw at the park. She loves our long walks as she sits in her stroller and watches the world go by. Luna LOVES playing with her nephews Bailey and Nico and get excited every time they come over to play with her. They always watch her so closely (like her big brothers) and endlessly entertain her.

Luna has also learned her first word – MAMA! Though, she refers to everything and everyone as Mama. Luna has also learned to clap her hands and wave.

Luna has been eating finger foods and enjoys feeding herself. She happily eats a banana all by herself, strawberries, melons and practically anything she can get her hands on. Luna has also enjoyed everything I cooked for her so far. She loves her baby bolognese with ricotta cheese, homemade broccoli cheese sticks, peas steak risotto & macaroni and cheese.

Luna is still sleeping very well and sleeps all night by herself in her room. Oh, the freedom we have! As soon as we turn on Lullatone (given to us by Jonathan & Anita), she knows it’s time to sleep. She’s also made a friend which stays with her everytime she sleeps. It’s a little white lamb which our friend Sophia had given her. She loves her little lamb which she always has tightly wrapped in her arms to keep her cozy at night.

At this stage, we also feel like she should have a few organized activities that she can start participating in. We’ve got a puppet show to go to in our local library next week, a creative movement class which starts in 2 weeks at a community centre and Mother Goose at our local library once a week as well where we all sit in a circle and sing nursery rhymes. She’s also signed up for a baby art class which starts in November. I’m excited for that one!

We still have the last bit of Summer to enjoy and then we welcome what Fall brings to our everyday life.

Today, we spent the afternoon picnicking at a semi-secret park, Crab Park at Portside with our friends Jonathan, Anita, Jamie and Heather. On the hottest day of the summer, the other city beach parks would have surely been jam packed. Jonathan and Anita live in the area and, to beat the weekend rush, suggested Crab Park instead. Sure enough, we had the whole park practically to ourselves. On the menu was a spectrum of finger foods: deli meats, baguette slices, cheese, mixed nuts, fresh berries, chips & salsa and, for dessert, a variety of chocolates. The meal was paired with Villa Teresa Rose’ Veneto and Old Style Pilsner for a high/low, old-world/new-world fusion. Conceptual? Yes. Purely coincidental? Um, maybe.

Crab Park isn’t well known to people who don’t live in the area. That’s, partly, because it’s surrounded by industry and, partly, because it borders the northern most tip of the Downtown Eastside. If you do make it to the park, you’ll see a 360° microcosm of Vancouver – old, new, rich, poor, scenesters, immigrants, families, singles, industry and nature. To the north are unobstructed views of the North Shore Mountains. To the south, loom the heritage buildings of Gastown and Railtown. To the west, you’ll see the downtown financial district and luxury cruise ships docked at Canada Place. While to the east, is the port with brightly coloured shipping containers that look like giant lego building blocks. Adding to the industrial romance, occasionally, a helicopter will fly by to land at the nearby heliport or a train will chug along the still active railroad. This is not Celebration, Florida, though. You’ll see homeless people and colourful locals dotted throughout the Park. For the most part, they’re just getting some rest in the sun like everyone else. If you’re comfortable with that part of the urban tapestry, give Crab Park a visit. It’s a diamond in the rough.

Wow, our little girl is now 9 months old! A few updates this month. Luna can now sit up all by herself! She’s also eating very well. I’ve recently introduced lentils with coriander and fresh mint, peas risotto and tofu. Soon, I’ll be making her homemade hummus for her to dip her baby cookies in. As much as I can, I try to introduce a variety of flavours to constantly expand her palette.

Luna loves sitting and standing on grass. She loves the feeling of it in her little feet. She also loves to grab flowers and leaves and tries to stuff them all in her mouth. Luna doesn’t like the feel of sand in her feet and is afraid of the ocean. But I’ll try to take her to the beach more often so she can get used to it. Luna also loves being taken to the playground to sit in the swing. This has been her new favourite activity.

We’ve also successfully sleep trained her (at 6 months, she decided she didn’t want to sleep in her crib so we’ve been co-sleeping since then). She now is able to sleep all by herself in her crib and sleeps all night. Amazing! And when she wakes up, she quietly plays with her little lamb in her crib and waits for us to come in. We always look forward to going into her room in the morning as she screams with delight as soon as she sees us and is eager to be taken in our arms. These are moments we will always cherish.

We continue to watch our little girl explore her world and are excited to experience what month 10 brings!

Aside from jumping at home in her jolly jumper, Luna has found a new favourite activity – swinging! I take her to the park on our daily walks to give her a little play time. She loves being pushed quickly and giggles every time the swing comes close to me. Then, she’ll put her feet up and just hang out. This is what summer is all about in Luna’s world.

For Mother’s Day, I bought Nerissa a Boskke Sky Planter. The day after I bought it, I picked up a nice orchid for it but the root ball was too big to fit inside the small Boskke. Two months later, I got around to finding a replacement plant and hanging the planter up. I chose an Areca Palm which should stay fairly petite with long lyrical leaves once it blossoms out a bit. It’s a clever piece of the design. The act of hanging the plant upside down abstracts the form. It’s no longer just a plant in a white pot. It becomes a whimsical, living piece of sculptural art. It’s a nice addition to our home.

We spent part of the day walking in the woods at the beach today admiring all the greenery around us. Then a little picnic and a siesta for the rest of the afternoon. Hope you had a great and relaxing Saturday too.

Yay, I received my bakers twine in the mail today and i’m so excited (my simple pleasures in life)! I found a fantastic site where you can get them super cheap ($8.95 each + shipping). Each twine is a 2-pound cone – that’s approx. 3,400 yards! I got a red and white one and a lime green and white. I’m so loving them!! These should last me for many years.

You can order them here. Happy twine shopping!

We spent a full day at the beach yesterday as it’s been scorching hot! I really love summer. The days are longer, the smell of bbq surrounds the air, birds chirping away, ice cream everyday and long days at the beach. It always feels like I’m a kid again. Hope everyone is having a great summer too and not melting from the heat.

I seem to have an obsession with cups. I don’t know what it is but I think that my coffee tastes better in a cup that has a nice shape or pattern to it. Part of my enjoyment of drinking coffee is the cup itself – it’s part of the experience. As soon as I step into a vintage or a home store, I go straight for the cups. I always stop myself from buying them as we have way more then what we need but just admiring them makes me happy. A few that I absolutely love, but don’t have yet, are: Sentou-ti cups, cinq cups, zipper cups, Fellina Sok-Cham espresso cups, ABC Paper Cups, & Marimekko Oiva cups.

Mia, an old friend from art school, and her husband, Brent, graced us with a visit this afternoon. A month ago they were vacationing in France and brought back a lovely souvenir for us – Eucalyptus Soap. Coincidentally, we have a big Eucalyptus tree on our backyard. Three years ago we, actually, had four Eucalyptus trees but three of the more spiry ones couldn’t survive the wind and the winters. Also, as an ode to art school, I snapped an image with Sonic Youth’s “A Thousand Leaves” inner sleeve in the background with Kim Gordon peeking through some Eucalyptus branches.

I’m loving my new summer scarf. I’m also dying to have these black and white stripe espadrilles.

We can’t believe our little Luna is now 8 months old. It feels like it was only yesterday when we took her 7th month photos. How time flies… People weren’t kidding when they said they grow fast – they really do. When we look back at her newborn photos, it’s hard to believe she was that tiny!

Luna is now eating 3 times a day and really enjoys her food. I’m not quite sure if she has a favourite as she seems to eat anything I give her. As long as it’s sweet, she’s happy. I’ve started giving her quinoa and will soon introduce pasta and tofu. She also likes munching on her baby mum mum and it’s so cute how dirty she gets by eating those little cookies. Every morning when we wake up, I feel like I need to run to the kitchen and quickly make us our breakfast as she wants to eat ASAP! I guess she gets it from me as I’m that way too :)

Luna also loves getting her hair brushed. She is a girl afterall… She hasn’t started crawling yet but we see her trying. Maybe soon?  Luna will also be starting her summer session of her swimming classes this Saturday which I am looking forward to. It’s really cute to watch her splash around in the pool. Our little girl is growing and we continue to watch her explore her world.

Yesterday was Peter’s first Father’s day and I decided to surprise him with Jennifer Causey’s ‘Simply Breakfast More Please’ book as a present. I didn’t have the time to make him a special Father’s day breakfast as we had to rush out of the house in morning to meet the rest of the family for an all day Father’s day picnic at Kits beach. But I figured he can just feast his eyes in Jennifer’s breakfast photos instead. We’ve been a big fan of her blog with all her delicious breakfast photos so we are happy to add her book to our library. Happy belated Father’s Day to all the father’s out there!!

My favourite breakfast these days – homemade whole wheat bread, cream cheese (or avocado), fresh basil, pouched eggs, fleur de sel & a drizzle of olive oil. It’s so simple but so flavourful (the photo doesn’t do justice to how good it is but believe me, it’s so good!). Fresh basil is so good with anything really… I also received my Anthropolgie catalague so I happily ate my breakfast while dreaming of all the beautiful things I was looking at which I wish I could own. They are just way too expensive. But so beautiful! I heard from a friend that Athropologie might be opening a store in Vancouver to take over the Liberty space on Broadway. I’m so excited!!!!

Our little girl is now 7 months old! She’s a lot more vocal now and loves rolling around. She can’t crawl yet but once in awhile I see her trying. She loves the food I make her and recently, she started eating homemade steak stew (it’s actually pretty good, a lot better then the stew I made for Peter and I a few months ago), chicken with fresh basil, mangos and soon, she will be eating blueberries. She’s finished her swimming classes but I have signed her up for the summer class as she really loves it. Summer is almost here and I can’t wait for us to spend our days lounging at the beach, picking berries at the park by our house, lots of picnics and having our meals out in our garden. Luna is a winter baby so we are excited to see her discover her world in the heat! Yay for summer!

I spent part of my day today having lunch with our good friend Gen and her little Aoi as they are moving to California. We are sad that they are leaving but yet excited for their new adventure. We will miss you guys!  xoxo

Lounging outside in the sun yesterday afternoon. It’s been raining and cold here the past few days but the sun finally came out yesterday and it was so nice out. So Sisi and I met up for lunch at Urban Fare in Yaletown and lounged around at the seawall and chatted all afternoon. What a great day! Vancouver is so lovely in the summer.

We had our friends Tami, Jim and their super adorable daughter Lily over for brunch a few weeks back and we ate, ate and ate!! I love having friends over for brunch. It’s casual and a good way to spend a Sunday morning. We had homemade coconut Belgian waffles, homemade whipping cream, strawberries, nutella, syrup, dolce de leche spread, bratwurst with carmelized onions & yams, pineapple juice and Milano coffee. Tami made us cupcakes for dessert with lavender tea sprinkled on top. Yum! We were happy and very full after.

I can never seem to have enough tote bags. Peter’s mom came to visit and stayed with us for a week so I was able to find some time on Friday to sew myself a new tote bag while she happily entertained Luna while she was awake (a nice break for me!). It was really nice to get back into sewing again and having that time to myself.

For those of you who are looking for amazing hand crafted bags and scarves, Breanna Musgrove from Scout & Catalogue who I went to art school with makes the most amazing bags. Each piece is dyed, hand studded and all made with love. Check out her etsy store here.

A nice lunch with my friend Kevin at Little Nest today on Commercial Drive. I had toasted organic baguette with ricotta and honey & chocolate cake. Kevin had a platter of smoked applewood cheddar, mild genovese salami, apple, fig jam, maple roasted hazelnut, crostini and organic baguette. After lunch, we headed off to one of my favourite Italian grocery store called Santa Barbara and bought a 3L extra virgin olive oil for only $17! I love this place. Kevin has been extra busy at school doing his Master’s so it was nice for us to have some much needed quality time together to do some catching up. We then headed to the park for a quick walk until heavy rain started falling from the sky and we quickly ran to my car and headed back home. A perfect simple Thursday.

I woke up this morning with the smell of one of my favourite breakfast – eggs benedict! Thanks Peter, you’re the best!! The eggs benedict was done westcoast-style with smoked salmon and avocado. We also had rosemary potatoes and cherry tomatoes. The rosemary and tarragon are fresh from our yard.

Today is a special day as it is my first Mother’s Day. I sometimes find it hard to describe what being a mom is like and find that there are no words to describe the love that I feel towards my little Luna. But yesterday, I received a beautiful email from my cousin which clearly describes everything I feel about being a mom. I found myself getting all teary eyed when I first read it as it captures what motherhood has felt like for me.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn’t want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn’t stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn’t know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn’t know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn’t know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn’t know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth,
the joy,
the love,
the heartache,
the wonderment
or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn’t know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the beautiful Moms out there!!

It’s never too late for an Easter greeting. Hope everyone had an awesome Easter celebration filled with lots of chocolates & yummy food!

We’ve been on a lookout for a high chair for Luna the past weeks. Instead of buying a brand new high chair, we decided to go for a used one and customize it. I found this wooden high chair on craigslist for $25.00. It had a nice shape to it so I bought it, sanded it, primed it then painted it red. A small can of paint was $20.00 so all in all, her high chair only cost us $45.00! It’s a great looking high chair for a small price tag. And, it was customized especially for her.

I bought a bag of lemons from a market the other day and stacked them up neatly on our table as a centre piece. I’m quite happy how it looks as a centre piece. So much so, that it doesn’t make me want to use them. But I have been wanting to make lemon meringue pie for quite sometime now and I found a recipe online that I might want to try. Does anyone have a good lemon meringue recipe they would want to share? I was also watching an old episode of David Rocco’s Dolce Vita and he made limoncello from scratch at Villa Maria in Ravello. It looked pretty easy actually. Easy enough that I might try making that too. That episode made me miss the Amalfi Coast. Sigh…

We like to leave Luna on the floor so she can feel free to do whatever she wants. She can roll, babble, chew on her toys or just put her arms behind her head and relax. Life is so good in her world.

Another note: Hello to GrassrootsModern. Thank you for including our Weekend DIY Project in your blog.

I’ve been thinking about waffles these past few days so instead of just thinking about it, I decided to bring out the waffle maker and make something a little different – coconut waffles! It is so good eaten on it’s own or you can spoil yourself by adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top with some warm chocolate drizzled on it. Coconut and chocolate make an excellent combination. Indulgence!

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup toasted sweetened coconut flakes
2 tbs sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
One 14-ounce can coconut milk
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
6 tbs unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

1. Preheat a waffle iron
2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, coconut flakes, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, eggs, and vanilla until completely blended.
3. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the coconut milk/egg mixture, blending gently only until the ingredients are combined. Add the butter in a slow stream, continuing to blend until the butter is incorporated.
4. Pour a generous 1/2 cup batter into the waffle iron.
5. Serve the waffles with the topping of your choice.

Note: To toast sweetened coconut flakes: Arrange an oven rack at centre position and preheat the oven at 350F. Spread the coconut flakes on a baking sheet, and bake until the flakes just start to brown, 4-5 minutes (or less).

Recipe taken from the book ‘Waffles’ by Betty Rosbottom. ISBN 0-8118-4842-6

On a rainy Thursday morning, I had a craving for something sweet to eat for breakfast as I look outside watching the rain fall from the sky. I was secretly happy it was raining which meant stroller fitness (an exercise program I have joined which happens every Thursday morning) would be canceled. As much as I want to keep fit and loose my pregnancy weight, I really just wanted to sit in my cozy kitchen and enjoy my apple strudel and my ultra favourite Milano coffee. As I happily eat away those strudels and lick my fingers to make sure nothing goes to waist, I was thinking to myself this is definitely much better then running outside and doing jumping jacks. Exercise can wait until next Thursday.

Bruce Lee’s “Fighting Methods” series and Charley Harper’s 123′s and ABC’s books are displayed side-by-side in our studio. The colors and design of the books play off each other perfectly despite the disparate subject matter. It’s an example of our all-ages, unisex, ass-kicking decorating modus operandi.

I found the Bruce Lee books, years ago, in the street-side dollar-bin of a used book store on Granville Street. It was quite the score since these are rare and sought after amongst collectors. Although, I have to admit I only bought them because the minimalist covers are cool. The other quirk about this set is that it’s the Yugoslavian printing. Presumably, “Metoda Borbe” translates to “Fighting Methods”.

The Charley Harper kids books were bought a couple years back when Old Navy stocked a small collection of Harper merchandise. At $10 each they’re a steal compared to the Charley Harper retrospective “An Illustrated Life.” We bought them before we were even planning on having Luna. They’re nice to have and beautiful to look at, even if you don’t have kids.

Yep, ABCs, 123s and…martial arts. All good.

Dinner and Movie night yesterday was French-themed. We watched Flight of the Red Balloon accompanied by a French-inspired tasting platter. On the platter was: a baguette from Terra Breads, hot calabrese, local goat cheese, manchego, sweet pearl onions, olives and cornichons. The highlights of the platter were two spreads that we bought at a Farmer’s Market in Saint Rémy de Provence. We were saving them for a special occasion. A night at home can be as special as any occasion, so we opened them up. Why not? The dark spread is Crème d’Alhambra, which is similar to a tapenade but slightly creamier and less salty. The ingredients are olives, olive oil, anchovies and, unlike tapenades we’ve had, sheep cheese. The mustard colour spread is Carmin d’Artichauts with is 60% artichoke hearts, olive oil, dried tomatoes, pine nuts and garlic. Imagine those ingredients together. It tastes exactly like that. Nothing more, nothing less. Simple and delicious.

And how was the movie? As the backdrop to our meal, it was perfect. The film is filled with vignettes of Parisian life with lovely locations, styling, cinematography and beautiful people. The story is rather meandering and abstract, though. You won’t laugh, you won’t cry, you may not even know the movie ended but, served with dinner, you will enjoy your meal. Bon appétite.

Every time Sisi and I spend time together, we can talk for endless hours about everything we can possibly think of. I find that as we get older, it gets harder and harder to find time to sit with friends in the middle of the afternoon and forget about all the things that needs to be done that day. So days like today, where Sisi and I find a corner at a café/restaurant and completely forget about time, are always special. Our moment together is all that matters and we are oblivious of what’s around us. Love you Sisi! x

The soundtrack to this weekend was “My World” by Tim Kay. The song is probably best known as the theme song to Jamie Oliver’s “Jamie At Home” series and we’ve had it on loop for the last couple days. On Saturday, I caught Nerissa watching an episode of Jamie’s Australian Tour Diary where Tim Kay performs a live acoustic version of the song. Nerissa kept rewinding to hear the song again. I thought I’d save her the trouble and buy the track on iTunes. Some songs you just connect with and 99¢ for a song that captures the spirit of the moment is totally worth it. P.S. The photo above was taken in Provence. In my world, the backyard doesn’t quite look like that yet but one lovely day it may.

First treat of the day for us was a visit to Mark & Shannon’s new place for coffee and a slice of lemon meringue pie. Mark converted a 70 year old schoolhouse in Strathcona into an innovative mixed-use multi-family dwelling. The conversion maintains 40% of the original structure with modern updates getting the schoolhouse to Built Green Platinum standards. Each of the five units have a flex-space that could be used for an income-suite, additional living space or a home studio. The main floor of the schoolhouse is Shannon’s studio/workshop with future plans for public community programming. It’s a beautiful and thoughtful conversion which I’m sure must be the talk of the neighbourhood. Now, about the pie…it was baked by Shannon’s mom and it was spectacular!

Breakfast today: Homemade whole wheat bread (freshly baked yesterday), coffee, Casa Giulia blueberry preserve & cheese tarragon omelette. I was also happy to receive my Anthropologie catalogue in the mail this morning. Like a magazine subscription, Anthropologie mails out a new catalogue each month with great photography, locations and styling. It’s incredible to think they’re essentially producing 12 different lookbooks with 12 different themes each year. That’s a lot of imagery/creative to produce. And it’s all top quality. Having produced a few photoshoots and lookbooks in our day, we really respect the effort and imagination put into these monthly catalogues. We’ve kept every issue we’ve received neatly stored in our library. It’s a nice monthly visual treat and it’s free to subscribe.

These days, I’m all about simple and quick breakfasts but…it has to be delicious, too. Today’s breakfast consisted of: homemade whole wheat bread with flax & sunflower seeds, hard boiled eggs, coffee and Casa Giulia blueberry preserve from Italy. Peter’s Note: If you can’t get enough of breakfast photos visit Jennifer Causey’s Simply Breakfast blog. If anyone is keeping track, Simply Breakfast is, hands-down, the number one breakfast blog. Jennifer has documented 507 breakfasts (and counting) over the last 3 years. Simply awesome!

Toys don’t really interest Luna in this stage of her life. She prefers human interaction and we’re happy to give her lots. However, we can’t be with her every second of the day so we got her a baby gym so she can entertain herself. Friends also tell us it’s good for hand/eye development. Luna seems to really enjoy it. She took to it right away. It’s definitely the best $25 we spent this week.

You know the safehouses in Grand Theft Auto? No? Don’t play video games; not criminal minded? Well, neither is Nerissa. It took some explaining but we’ve come to incorporate the word “safehouse” into our parenting lexicon. In Grand Theft Auto, a safehouse is place where you can escape from the cops, get your stolen car fixed or covertly meet up with your associates. For us, a safehouse is far less nefarious. It’s a place where we can comfortably nurse, that has a properly maintained changing area or where we can get a decent meal and not feel guilty about Luna crying. We keep a mental catalogue of places around the city so that we can make a pitstop when out and about rather than rushing home. One day, I’d like to create a Grand Theft Auto style map with all the baby-friendly safehouses around the city. I think it’d be funny.

So far our safehouse list includes:

• IKEA, Richmond – the best family/changing area we’ve seen. It’s bigger than most downtown dens and looks like a mini-showroom.
• Whole Foods, Cambie Street – the eating area has lots of space for a stroller and other gear. Hippies love crying babies. Hippies love everyone.
• Little Nest, Commerical Drive – delicious food, good coffee and designed with young families in mind.
• Lilli’Q Cafe, Yaletown – During a long walk, we needed to find a place to change Luna and found Lilli’Q. We were a long ways away from the nearest safehouse so Lilli’Q was a welcome new discovery. There’s a comfortable changing area, a play area for bigger kids, friendly staff and nice drinks.
• Munch, North Vancouver – You won’t find a lot of kid friendly places with a full bar! Amazing food & drinks and would definitely recommend this place to other young families.

Last night we borrowed Nerissa’s parents’ electric raclette grilll and had Jonathan & Anita over for raclette. Wikipedia describes raclette as “both a type of cheese and, informally, a dish featuring this cheese“. I’d describe the dining experience similar to a fondue but with the cheese and accompaniments grilled instead of boiled. While there’s one or two places where you might be able to order a savory fondue, it’s really hard to find a restaurant that has raclette on the menu. The only one, in Western Canada, that we’ve seen is the Grizzle House in Banff which is fitting because the dish has an old school Swiss alpine feel.

The cheese is grilled in tiny pans and served over bite sized potatoes along with sweet pearl onions, cornichons and sausages. It doesn’t sound like much but the flavor combination is really delicious. Raclette’s fun because you eat at a casual pace and the table has a communal feel fueled with conversation. Jonathan & Anita also brought over prosciutto, melon, pâté and manchego cheese. As an experiment, we melted the manchego in the raclette pans and grilled the pearl onions. Pretty yummy, actually. Those were probably one of the many raclette etiquette rules we broke last night but that was part of the fun; it was interactive and a new adventure for all.

Cupcakes + pizza + lavender tea + storytelling = a perfect afternoon with, Sisi, one of my best friends.

I spent an afternoon at Little Nest with the girls (& Peter). We had a lot of catching up to do so the afternoon was filled with non-stop chatting, laughter, entertaining Luna, coffee and munching on food. I love this place. It’s casual, kid friendly and has great food too. I could spend everyday here if I lived on Commercial Drive.

I was checking out Bloesum Kids the other day and there was an article on this wicked café called Moomah in New York. It’s like a gallery/studio/café/shop all in one. This place is stunning, you have to explore the site yourself to know what I’m talking about. It’s a creative café where parents and kids can hang out. It’s a similar concept as Little Nest but Moomah offers a little bit more by having some classes for kids & adults. Oh, do I wish we had a Moomah here in Vancouver…

Last night was filled with great food & wine at Doni & Gen’s place. These days, gathering with friends at each others’ homes makes for a perfect weekend. We indulged in fresh oysters, cheese, cured meats, paté, Portugese sardines, apples, strawberries, cornichons and some artisan rolls. We ended the evening with some lovely dessert wine and chocolates. Thanks Doni & Gen for another wonderful get together!

Just chillin’ in her rocker contemplating what to do today… should I play or should I sleep? Mmm… tough life.

I was going through our photo files and I found these. I had almost forgotten what life was like before Luna. These photos were taken probably a year and half ago. The image above was taken from one of our weekend breakfast. I always make it a point to have something special for breakfast as it makes it a good start of the weekend. I still try to do that until now but with less effort and less time to eat.

The second image shows our favourite thing to do on a rainy Saturday night. It’s something we get excited about. We grab a good film, open up a nice bottle of french or spanish wine and eat all of our favourite food as we watch our chosen film. It’s like our own version of a tv dinner. We usually end up drinking a whole bottle of wine and eat up all the food too. If I remember right, I think we were watching the classic french film Mon Oncle while devouring all this food.

Great film + great food = happy people.

Luna has received the loveliest presents from our friends. The top above is designed by our very talented friend Genevieve. Her kids clothing line, Cielo is sold in various stores as well as on her website. I can’t wait for Luna to get bigger so she can wear it!

The toque is from our friends Shannon & Mark. They had purchased it from a friend who makes products made out of recycled woolen sweaters that they call Re-felt. It’s so cute and wintery!

Our DIY Eames chocolate bars has been featured in Modern Findings – a blog that features all things mid-century modern.

Luna has super sensitive skin. The cold winter air completely dries up her skin in certain areas of her body and she also gets baby eczema, rashes & cradle cap. My sister used to live in South Africa and has recommended to bathe Luna in Rooibos tea to help with her skin irritations. So everyday, I drop a bag of Rooibos tea in her bath and it has done wonders to her skin! It is truly amazing. She loves the smell of the tea and tries to lick the water when it lands on her lips. Her spa time just gets better and better…

Rooibos is a natural caffeine-free herbal tea grown in South Africa. It has been used for hundreds of years by the “bush people” for natural remedies. I’m so loving this tea. It’s not only good for your internal system, it’s amazing on the skin too. Yay to South Africa and to those “bush people”!

The only shoes I seem to be wearing lately are my Bensimons & espadrilles. I spend my days at home wearing my espadrilles as slippers and go for walks outside at the beach in my Bensimons. My wardrobe has changed completely since I got pregnant as leggings have been my best friends. Ultra comfort!

I grew up wearing espadrilles in the Philippines as we get a lot of products from Spain. They are super cheap and easy to wear. I had all the colours you could imagine. Now, I only have 1 pair in black which I bought in Barcelona for 8 euro. I wish I bought more! I did go to Madrid the year after but completely forgot to buy more. Hermés, Sperry and others have versions of espadrilles but I like the folky classics you find in the markets.

As for my pair of Bensimons, my search started when I was in Paris in 2008. I was looking for a pair of comfy sneakers to wear all day as I wandered the streets of Paris. A friend had told me about Bensimon before leaving Vancouver and had given me the store address which is located at Le Marais. So on our first day in Paris, we wandered the streets of Le Marais to look for the store which was an easy find. As soon as I stepped into the store, I fell in love with everything. I wanted to buy all the colours they had. I tried them on but for some reason, none of the sizes would fit me. I left the store wondering what was wrong with my feet! Why couldn’t I fit into any of the sizes? Bensimon seems to be the espadrilles of France. Almost all Parisians own or used to own a pair. They have a kids version too which are super cute. I’ll have to get a pair for Luna when she’s bigger. They are cheap as well and also super easy to wear. I ended up getting my Bensimon in Vancouver and surprisingly, I found a size that fit me!

Luna’s first Christmas was filled with presents, yummy food and family fun. To all those visiting, Merry Christmas from Peter, Rissa & Luna. If you’d like to enjoy some christmas music, try the playlist below. We’ve had it on loop for the last week.

The prettiest baby Kimono I have ever seen. Luna receives her first mail last week and inside the envelope was the most gorgeous baby kimono that was sent by Jonathan & Anita. Thanks guys! It’s the prettiest thing, it makes me want to frame it rather than let her wear it! The Kimono is from Redfish Kids.

Fifteen more days until Christmas. Yay! I usually like to make something festive every year to give to friends. In the past, I’ve made cards, notebooks, baked goods etc… This year, I’ve decided to make Christmas cards to send out to our lovely friends. This is the most realistic task I can do as lately, Luna decided that she wanted to be in my arms ALL DAY! So the idea of baking Christmas goods have been scratched off my list including other crafts that needed cutting and gluing. There’s only so much I can do with one arm!

So I’ve been sitting in front of the computer designing these cards the past few days. As I am designing them, Luna is laying in my arms fast asleep & snoring away. But having a baby at home also means that things just take longer to get done which is something I am still getting used to. When she cries, I have to get up and cradle her to put her back to sleep. When she’s hungry, she cries for milk so I have to move to the couch to nurse her. But having her always so close to me is really so special. She will never, ever be this small again.

When I started designing these cards, I wanted to stay away from the typical Christmas shapes, ornaments and colours used to design anything for Christmas. Though, I still wanted it to look fun and festive. The base pattern shapes are taken from Kids & Toys Petite Pattern Book which is full of fun patterns you can customize or use as is. The colours I used are inspired by what I see outside my window. The chilly winter air, smoke from chimneys, fallen branches, pine cones… Yes, this is winter!  These cards have been printed using my epson printer on card stock.

I hope to send out these cards within a day or two so it can soon find it’s new home. Happy Holidays everyone!

Staying at home means having a lot of time to do fun stuff with Luna (well, sort of…she’s been wanting to be held all day lately though which makes it more difficult to do anything). For as long as I can remember, I have always been obsessed with fabrics and patterns. When I find a fabric that I like, I always end up buying it for future projects.

As I lay the fabric flat on the rug and layed Luna on top of it, she suddenly had a burst of energy moving her eyes around, flapping her hands and kicking her feet. I then realized that newborns can only see in black & white and shades of grey. She probably had a visual overload as she was surrounded with this black and white pattern on the fabric. It was fun to watch seeing her so excited and SO WIDE AWAKE!

I plan to make Christmas stockings with this fabric to hang on our white brick fireplace in the tv room. It might be a project for next years Christmas though as I seem to be busy putting Luna on different poses on top of my many fabric collection!