Alameda

We spent the morning and early afternoon on the island of Alameda. First, Victoria experienced her first beach.

Her review: sand does not stay in your hands when you pick it up, which is confounding at first, but ultimately fascinating. It is also not good to eat, but it is fun to drop handfuls of it onto mom’s pants.

I’ve been doing some freelance work with a company based in Alameda, so we went to visit their offices. Working remotely from Alaska, I had never been there in person before, or ever met many of the people whom I’ve worked with face to face. After introductions, they took us to lunch at Rock Wall Winery, where I had a delicious pulled pork sandwich and an even deliciouser glass of Zinfandel. We sat outside facing an amazing view of San Francisco, and Victoria slept peacefully in her car seat, probably dreaming up many more uses for sand.

Throwback Thursday: Someone Old, Someone New

A couple of months ago I received several boxes full of my childhood stuff. One of the most exciting finds in the dusty pile was a box full of my childhood clothing. My mom was a sewer (I hesitate to use the word seamstress – that makes it sound like a profession), and she made a lot of my baby and toddler clothes. Sure enough, there are quite a few dresses handmade by her grandmother that Victoria will be forced into over the next few years. Beyond the clothing my mom made, I also saw quite a few pieces that I recognized from photos. Obviously, this situation is just perfect for a photo recreation.

I have the shoes that baby Mariah is wearing, and I tried to put them on Victoria to recreate the photo, but the shoes are gigantic and she just kept pulling them off.

I am just about six months in my photo, and I took Victoria’s on the day she turned 8 months old. I’ve been procrastinating doing this photo shoot for a while (at least two months) – I wanted to get a dark wood chair, get the lighting just right… but finally I realized that by the time I got it together, Victoria would no longer fit into the dress.

I put a ribbon on the dress for my recreation, but Victoria promptly undid the bow and shoved it in her mouth.

It was good that I just went for it, because there was pretty much no way to get Victoria to hold any specific pose. I’m actually surprised we got one of her standing, because she kept folding over and playing with her feet. We all had fun, I think, and we learned that V is not particularly ladylike when it comes to wearing dresses.

 

Us

It’s been a while since I updated my Facebook profile picture with a picture that was just me and not three fourths baby, so it being Friday, and me feeling distracted, I played around with a couple of shots. I like this one. It says, “hey! I’m bemused, and in a semi-natural pose!”

Later on at the store, Seth and Victoria were framed together just perfectly. It’s crazy how much they resemble each other.

Our little family. Literally. We’re all quite short.

The Salty Flavor of Regret

Sometimes you do things that you know in advance you’ll end up regretting. They say it’s the journey, not the destination, right? I present:

A vat of melting Velveeta, mixed with salsa.

Dip your tortilla chips into it; it tastes just like a bowling alley. Ah-maze-zing.

Halfway through, and this still seems like a great idea. My stomach is full, but the consumed tortilla hasn’t started expanding yet, so I’m good for another 1/4 bag of chips before doubt sets in.

Vat empty, stomach packed, nothing left but regret. Nevertheless, once the memories of a salty yellow hangover fade away, I know I’ll be back. Curse you, Kraft!

Scenes From A Mall (Classy Anchorage Edition)

There’s only one good mall in Anchorage. By good I mean shiny, clean, has national chains, is generally devoid of character, and doesn’t have carpeting on the walls. While all of the other malls in town have fallen into various states of disrepair, our downtown mall thrives, and even has a Starbucks now. Wow!*

We went there on Sunday for a little clothes shopping (not at the Wet Seal in the picture). We assumed that the mall would be pretty empty, with it being the Superbowl and all, and we were correct. Thus, we didn’t feel bad about breaking in Victoria’s stroller.

Here, she basks in the glow of the Apple Store.

She was great, letting herself be wheeled around as we took turns in the Banana Republic. She seemed to like riding in the glass-sided elevators, and wasn’t totally sold on popping wheelies.

It was a clear, frosty day outside – here pictured from the walkway between the mall and the parking garage, taken as we were leaving. It was just before 5:00 pm and the sun was beginning to set, so our days are getting longer, but are still winter-short.

*Sarcasm. I am well aware that everything everywhere has a Starbucks in it now. That said, for some reason I was still surprised to see the Starbucks.

Pogo A Gogo

Molly could not resist purchasing this $3.00 pogo stick at The Bishop’s Attic thrift store. Angie showed off her mad pogo skillz. It was very squeaky and seemed to have been well-used in its past life. Worth three bucks, I’d say.

Pack Moose Express

We couldn’t help ourselves.

 

Delinquents

It was Adam’s going away party. That’s all I’ve got. No good karaoke pics, unfortunately.

Karaoke

I do love me some.

Supermodel

On Saturday I went with Seth to the optician to help him pick out his new frames. It’s fun to encourage people to try on frames for laughs. You never know, maybe you’ll make an amazing discovery and find the perfect pair of glasses! Unlikely, sure, but in the meantime, it’s a load of cheap entertainment.

I know that mid-century nerd chic is in right now, but I think these glasses would get him beat up at work. Not to mention all the lunch money he’d lose.

British mathematician by day… British mathematician by night.