JAGGER S.W. LEVINE

Congratulations Katherine and Josh on your brand new baby boy.  Jagger is just precious! Can't wait to meet him.

Jagger S.W. Levine

July 29, 2010

7 lbs. 8 oz.

BATH TIME

Adrienne and I got a good laugh from this bath time photo of Annabelle.  For some reason with the lighting her face looks extra orange like an oompa loompa and her body like the dolls we used in baby CPR class.  Anyhow, she is a water baby and enjoys the tub, particularly the scalp massage with the nozzle rinse.  Don't you wish someone else would wash your hair everyday!

WISDOM

At my new mom's class this week our instructor shared some words of wisdom that hit home.  She said, "Enjoy this time.  Chances are some of the best friends you will ever have, you will make behind a stroller, slightly sweaty, with your ponytail falling out and looking like you could use a nap."  I can already relate 7 weeks in.

IN LOVING MEMORY

Yesterday Nathan's Aunt Susan passed after a long battle with cancer.  We celebrate her life and will remember her always with the joy, love and hope she brought to the world.  May she be at peace with the angels above.

THE AMAZING ADELEE

Today I celebrate Adrienne - my older sister and my oldest friend.  Wishing you birthday love from the NYC.  I hope you are enjoying your day while in Big Sur.  I cannot wait to see you on Friday.
XO,
Your old buddy Bert

PEANUT

I will be sad the day Annabelle is too big to curl up and sleep on me.  Just look at those little feet.  Our little peanut.

ROLL-Y POLE-Y

A big first happened today - during tummy time Annabelle rolled over all by herself - twice!  She didn't like it, but she did it.  Way to go Annie E.!

BIRTHDAY BOY

Happy Birthday Nathan!  Today marks Nathan's 32nd Birthday.  Twice in the last week he has asked me how old he is turning.  Funny, somehow the older we get, we seem to loose track.  The number seems no longer important, it is life's experiences that count.  Anyhow - I love celebrating birthdays, particularly the birthday of my favorite guy.  In honor of his special day, we will be trying out a new restaurant, Corsino, that just opened down the street.

I have also attempted to make Nathan's favorite birthday treat, courtesy of Grandma Jean's recipe,  Banana Split Dessert.  Luckily, it is one of those 'no bake' dessert, considering the weather in New York has been disgustingly humid and sticky.  Every year, Nathan looks forward to having this dessert at his Grandma's.  Since he won't be making it to the LBC this summer, I thought I would surprise him with one.  My version, however, did not quite turn out like Grandma Jean's.  First of all, my normally-sleeping angel, Annabelle, decided yesterday of all days, she would ONLY nap in my arms.  Typically at nap time, I dance her to sleep to music until she gets really tired and then do the quick pass off into her swing, bouncy seat, or into her crib so I can maximize nap time to get things done.  Yesterday, not so much.  As soon as her heavy eyelids closed I went for the quick pass off.  I snuck away only to hear a wail not a minute later - she was on to me.  She began giving me the one-eyed pirate glance just to check to make sure I was still holding her.  Somehow between my five attempts to put her down I managed to Cuisinart the graham crackers together with the melted the butter, press it into the pan, slice the bananas, spread the ice cream, and make some real-estate in the freezer.  It was the chocolate sauce topping that threw me for a loop.  According to the recipe I had to "cool the melted chocolate sauce for 15-20 minutes stirring constantly until it was a pudding-like texture."  Would I really have 15-20 minutes before my little one-eyed pirate awoke? Plus would I have time to clean the kitchen and hide the evidence of the surprise before Nate got home from work?  I decide to chance it.  Once I got to the "cool" stage I started stirring, realizing the sauce was not really thickening.  Did I really have to "constantly stir?"  Hoping no, I left the sauce alone and began the dishes.  After a few minutes of dishes, I ran to check on the baby, then back to the sauce for a stir, then back to the dishes.  This continued until the dishes were done.  The sauce was still not thick.  I was running out of minutes.  Hmmm.  Perhaps it was too hot in the kitchen?  I took the sauce pan into the living room and stood in front of the AC unit stirring.  Still not thick.  Baby stirring. I am stirring!  Maybe if I threw it in the fridge for a few?  Put it in the fridge, went to tend to the baby, forgot about the sauce!  Luckily, even after 45 minutes the sauce seemed okay.  Still not 'pudding consistency' but not ruined despite abandonment and not constantly stirring.  I let it sit out to bring it to room temp then poured over the ice cream which seemed to melt on contact.  The ice cream lava-ed up into the sauce making a tan mess - not at all like Grandma Jean's dark brown chocolate layer I recalled from banana split desserts of the past.  Thankfully this dessert also calls for a Cool Whip topping which will hide my tan mess.  Phew!  Hopefully it will taste just as good, even with the layers somewhat melded together.  As I went through my banana split dessert drama I could not help but picture Grandma Jean making this dessert in kitchen in Long Beach while tending to all six of her kids.  There I was, sweating it with just one!  Moms of many never cease to amaze me.  Anyway, wishing Nathan the happiest.  We love you very much!  XO!

P.S.  This is one of my favorite pics of Nate as a little guy.  I am guessing he is about 2 here and sporting some stylish bangs.

CITY SLOUCH

Loving these jeans.  Not sure how they will look on my post-pregger body, but I may need to sneak over to the Soho Madewell store to try them on!

FAMILY RESEMBLANCE

HAPPY 4TH

The 4th of July is a magical Holiday.  It is one of my favorite Holidays along with Thanksgiving. The 4th, of course is about celebrating our Nation's Independence, but for most of the country it is about spending time outdoors with friends and family, BBQ-ing, free fireworks shows, and an extra day or two off work. What's not to love.

I have such fond memories of the 4th of July growing up.  We would spend every 4th at my Grandma & Pa's house in Woodland Hills, CA.  Their 50's style ranch house perched on its own little hill top in 'the Valley' provided the perfect setting for a long day and night outdoors.  We would spend hours on end in the kidney-shaped pool, diving for lava rocks, playing shark, and pool volleyball with our mom and dad and family friends, the Waldrips'.  We would stay in the pool until our eyes stung from the chlorine and our blond hair was that special shade of green you get from endless hours swimming. Around dusk it was off to the front yard where my grandpa would BBQ in the gigantic built-in BBQ pit and we would have a delicious dinner of ribs, corn on the cob, baked beans and potato salad.  This was not to be outdone by your choice of three kinds of pie with vanilla ice cream for desert.  Americana at its best.  As the sun set and darkness set in we would wait for the fireworks show to start at Pierce College just down the street.  The fireworks show was always preempted by parachuters that would jump from planes holding flairs.   With the first sign of the planes circling we would grab our lawn chairs and head to the driveway where we had the best view possible of the show.  We would oooh! and ahhhh! our way through the entire show with great anticipation of the grand finale. After fireworks the Waldrip's oldest son would share his own supply of pyrotechnics and we would swirl sparklers and hold our breath as he lit off roman candles and other rockets.  Such fun.

 1984?

After I left for college, those 4ths at my grandma's seemed to fade out as I chose to spend the 4th with friends.  In my "Newport Days" following college, the 4th include memories of bike rides through the "war zone", water balloon fights, cheap beer, horseshoes, bocci ball, body surfing in the ocean and, of course, BBQing.  Good times.

The 4th of July in NYC is a totally different experience.  Most of the island seems to empty out as the locals head to Hamptons or to their weekend get-a-ways of choice. There is no weekend like the 4th in NYC for getting into the latest hot restaurant with no reservations, or for finding a parking place on the street.  Last year we hung in Williamsburg at a rooftop BBQ and then watch the fireworks over the Manhattan skyline.  This year, however, the friend factor was absent, which Nate and I both missed.  Mind you we spent it with our new little friend, Annabelle.  In the afternoon we took a water taxi out to Governor's Island where we hoping to catch She and Him play a free show.  Unfortunately, everything that is free and remotely cool to do in NY, is almost always superbly over-crowded, as was this concert.  Everyone left in Manhattan for the weekend appeared to be there.  There were no more wrist bands available for entrance into the venue, so we cruised the island and rested in the shade under a tree with views or the Statue of Liberty and the skyline.  Once cooled off we made our way back to Manhattan and headed home to the refuge of our air conditioning.

Around 8:45, we headed back outside to the Hudson River Park to watch the Macy's fireworks show.  Never before have I seen so many fireworks being lit off at one time - even before the grand finale.  Spectacular!  All in all, it was a big day for Annabelle and we had no trouble putting her down to bed once we arrived back home.  Hope everyone had a Happy 4th wherever you may have landed.  We were thinking of our friends and family in CA over the Holiday and reminiscing about some of the great 4th's we have celebrated in the past with you all. 

CRUISIN'

This photo was taken by one of my fave people, Donnell, of one of my other favorite people, Katherine, who is expecting a baby boy at the end of the month.  She posted the pic on Facebook, but I just had to post on my blog as well (hope you don't mind, ladies!).  So many things to love - a 10 months pregnant KK, a fabulous outfit, red flip flops, and of course a bike ride!  So much to smile about.  Miss you girls!