Superpragmatic

3rd day of 4th grade

2016-09-06T23:39:00.000-07:00

The third day of school was even cuter than the first! We signed (an invisible) contract this summer that says I get to do her hair again. I so missed doing it when I was working last year. I'm sure we'll quickly have less time to spend on hairdos and outfits, but for now it's fun. I thought for sure the bandana would be off by midday, but she kept it on all day.

Her shorts are from Zara | tee shirt from H&M | shoes from Nine West | vintage bandana

Unfortunately for her fourth day of school, and Labor Day for that matter, she caught a case of the sickies. But somehow that afforded me time to work on a second blog post in two days.

Here's to wellness and a great fourth grade year.

first day of fourth grade

2016-09-05T15:58:00.000-07:00

I don't have many words to add this year. First day of school seems pretty old hat for her now. Not a lot of nerves, just excited to meet her teacher and see who is in her class. I sewed that romper for her this summer, and it took more hours than I'd like to admit. She was excited for my accomplishment and proclaimed she'd wear it on the first day. She is so sweet; the waist hits her in an odd spot and it's a bit short on her torso, but she wore it proudly. And afterward I told her she never has to wear it again.

summer

2016-08-31T16:00:00.000-07:00

daylight saving

2016-07-17T11:51:00.001-07:00

As soon as we Spring forward I reach for my fancy camera. It's fun to have more daylight to play with it. We took these that first week we changed the clocks. She still humors me because she knows how happy it makes me when we make photos together.

lunar new year in chinatown

2016-02-20T21:23:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday wasn't unlike any other. We debated going out and exploring or staying home and relaxing on the couch. Sitting on the couch is always welcome, and sometimes necessary, but the truth is we rarely regret going out to explore. We do regret wasting a weekend on the couch though.

Earlier in the week I read on Ban.do's Instagram that there was a golden dragon parade and so we hopped on the train and we went! We were quite sure we weren't going to make it on time for the parade, but we did get there for the tail end of it. See what I did there?

Everything about the day was so colorful, vibrant, and dynamic that I was drawn to shoot video instead of just stills. So I made a little video of our outing. I'm still learning the video editing...

View on Flipagram

When we started out on the street there was confetti here and there, but by the time we left in the evening the ground was thick with brightly colored tissue. Chloe tried Chinese brush painting and got to hold a monkey named Terra! We made wishes and tied them to a tree. We ended up eating at food trucks because the waits at the restaurants were hour-long. Did a little souvenir shopping and had a cocktail at Hop Louie, a great little dive bar that was playing great 80's tunes and allowed Chloe to sit at a table since they serve food upstairs. We played with snap chat while we sipped our drinks.

I highly recommend this family outing.

Happy New Year!
I just have to say as a reminder to myself, get out there and explore. It is so much fun.

Mom tips: there is no restroom from the Long Beach Blue Line until you get off at Union Station if you are connecting to the Gold Line. So, yeah. And the usual, pack water and snacks in case the wait at your desired restaurant is an hour long and you're super hungry while walking through Chinatown.

The Go Metro Los Angeles app was helpful for directions.
From Long Beach: Take the Blue Line heading north to the 7th Street Metro Station and get on the Red Line heading East to Union Station. (Use the bathroom!) From Union Station take the Gold Line toward Pasadena one stop to the Chinatown Station and walk up the hill a block and go right.

I want to take the train again to explore more areas of the city, or just to grab lunch at Grand Central Market. I forget which stop it was, but we saw a guy riding a horse down the street and I can't say that I've ever seen that before. For that alone, go metro!

halloween two thousand fifteen

2015-11-01T22:36:00.000-08:00

She is the Gray Lady Ghost inspired by this post we saw from Martha Stewart. It was quite easy to make and cost about $30 when it was all said and done with make up and white hair spray that didn't really work.
Taking Halloween photos with her is my favorite. We try to get ready early in the afternoon so it's relaxed but we always end up racing the sun to get that magic light. Anyway, I love it.

julie and her girls

2015-10-12T15:59:00.001-07:00

first day of third grade

2015-09-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

You can see her body language is a little different the morning of the first day than it was a couple days earlier when I asked her to try on the skirt I made for her. She was a little more laid back in the photo below. To be expected, I'm sure. She had a great first day. I love that she loves school. It certainly makes life easier. Her first day outfit looks very Matilda-inspired.

summer planning / documenting

2015-07-13T13:23:00.000-07:00

So, I suck at making plans. I don't like to be overbooked, but I also hate to have August arrive and feel like we've done nothing all summer. I want Chloe's summer to be fun, but I still have to get some household stuff done and I find that a challenge at times.

In previous years I have felt like I was failing at summer if I didn't have something fun planned everyday. But even on days that we did nothing, we still did stuff. Like stay in pajamas all day and watch movies. But I didn't have anything to show for it and it felt like the days kind of ran together.

We ended up at the laundromat the first day of summer and I found it humorous, so I took a picture and posted it on Instagram. The next day I posted another because we ended up having to go to several stores for a recipe, and I thought even though we're sometimes doing mundane things, we are filling our days and we are together, and often times it's beautiful. Or at least I chose to find the beauty in those moments and places. So this project started. And we'll now have books to show what we did this summer, events both big and small.

A day spent in jammies watching old movies is equally important to a trip to a water park, Knott's Berry Farm, or the Natural History Museum.

And for your first day of summer I will take you to LAUNDERLAND!

A photo posted by Tracy Flaming (@superpragmatic) on Jun 18, 2015 at 5:35pm PDT

It struck me as funny because it was the most mundane, boring thing to do the first day of summer, taking a bunch of blankets to laundromat. But Chloe was up for anything and the fact that the place happened to be called Launderland was just hilarious to me. The next day was something else silly, and so the project was born. Now I'm half way to printing the first 60 days of our summer. I'm going to use Chatbooks to print as they are gorgeous and affordable and the format is perfect for this project.

And for your second day of summer, I will take you on a short tour of Long Beach liquor stores in search of a single shot of Kahlua so that we can make a belated birthday cake for your dad. #superpragmaticsummer #VSCOcam

A photo posted by Tracy Flaming (@superpragmatic) on Jun 19, 2015 at 12:42pm PDT

I think we'll both treasure these books forever. If you'd like to follow along or catch up on what we've done, you can follow the hash tag #superpragmaticsummer on Instagram.

new collective

2015-06-04T22:34:00.000-07:00

I joined a new photo collective that began this week. It is called Slowing up and is to be 52 weeks with prompts. I don't like prompts, so I don't know how this is going to work out. But my cheerleader, Geoff says I'll do great and rise to the challenge. I love him for that.

These are my outtakes for the the prompt 'chair.' Clearly I'm not good at prompts. You can see the one I chose here.

mother daughter photo session

2015-05-14T13:48:00.004-07:00

I found Ashley Jennett of The Stork & The Beanstalk where I find every thing that is cool these days, on Instagram. I can't remember exactly how I found her, but I kept coming back to her to work. Her style stands out and each of her photos would draw me in to stay a while. That's tough to do on Instagram, where much of the look is homogenized.

She announced she was having a Mother & Child special for Mother's day and I treated myself to a little mother's day gift. To be honest, I loved that she offered a mother and child session, because I am behind the camera so much and rarely in photos with Chloe. I felt selfish wanting a session of just she and I, but the fact that Ashely offered a Mother & Child session made me more okay with it. Of course now I want a session of all three of us. But I'm so glad we did a shoot of just us girls.

I love her photos of us. She is seriously good and a joy to be around. If you want to see more of her work, check out her blog and Instagram stream, but also this session of a super hot mom and her darling son in Old San Juan Puerto Rico. It's stunning.

All photos in this post by Ashley Jennett.

road trip games

2015-04-14T16:00:00.000-07:00

While driving to downtown LA Saturday afternoon Chloe and I were playing random games to pass the time.

She said, "let's play test questions."

"Okay?" I responded.

She went on, "You could go on a three hour trail ride OR go to a fancy French party...with handsome men to dance with and you get to wear a fancy dress in pink or gold?"

She knows me so well. I simply couldn't choose. They both sound perfect to me. I had to ask, "is the party in France?"

"Yes, and so is the trail ride. And they are both three hours."

Oh no. Oh dear. I want both.

Time passes.

"Mamma, you have to chose one."

I can't. They are both so good.

"Okay, the party is after the trail ride, so you can go to both."

This makes me smile to no end. So to Chloe, if you cannot make up your mind, and you hem and ha long enough, you can just have both things. I like her way of thinking. Also I never knew how badly I wanted to go to a fancy French party until she proposed the idea.

I had a harder time thinking up two equally perfect choices for her. Since we had just been to Universal Studios the day before, that choice won over all others, except maybe riding a horse through an empty Disneyland.

Fun questions to think up on a road trip.

Oh, and on our drive to Universal Studios Geoff read trivia questions to us from Trivia Cafe, which was also a good time and we all learned what a monotreme is.

spring break

2015-04-13T15:30:00.000-07:00

| Dinner in DTLA at Fogo de Chao |

We went directly to Disneyland after school on Thursday to take part in their annual Easter Egg Hunt. We did the hunt at Disneyland first, then DCA, and back to Disneyland; it was super fun. The lines were long, but since we were hunting eggs we got around just fine. By 10 pm when we were done with the hunt at DCA, the lines were shorter and we got on plenty of rides. It was awesome to pull a late night and shut down the park together to celebrate the first night of Spring Break! We were the last ones on Alice in Wonderland at 12:15am!

Tuesday morning we went for a trail ride in Palos Verdes, it was awesome.

Wednesday we did some bike riding and I introduced Chloe to Pee Wee's Big Adventure.

Thursday we did quite a bit of cleaning, went through all of Chloe's clothing to see what fits and what doesn't, made piles to donate and cleaned out her drawers and closet. She says she doesn't love cleaning but she loves having a clean room. I agree, I don't love cleaning, but I don't mind it--I do LOVE a clean house though. We had dinner at CPK with my mom.

Friday Geoff took the day off and we went to Universal Studios together. It was Chloe's first time, and we hadn't been in probably 14 years. The one thing I'll say about Universal Studios is, don't get attached to anything there. It's crazy to me how often things change there. I was rather attached to the ET ride, it's long gone. So is all the behind the scenes kind of educational stuff. The attractions where you could actually see how things were done like green screen, flying like super man, etc that is all gone and replaced with "rides." Don't get me wrong, we had a great time. But it was disappointing, Geoff and I missed all the movie magic and audience participation stuff we remembered from our childhoods. Chloe didn't know any different.
Also, there was this super cute Irish pub we wanted to visit after dinner, we had plans to sit and grab a beer, then watch Chloe play in Super Silly Fun Land but when we returned at 6:45 it was closed. The park didn't close until 9 pm, but all the restaurants were closed by 7. That was really frustrating.

Let's face it, I'm a Disney girl through and through. If they say they are open till midnight, they are, and you can even get on Casey Jr., Dumbo, and Alice in Wonderland after the stroke of 12am. And get an ice cream and buy souvenirs an hour later. Also you don't have to worry about questionable content at Disneyland. One of the first scenes they showed on the Universal Studios Backlot Tour was of Mindy Kaling getting frisky with her costar in airplane lavatory. Where Disneyland is rated G, Universal Studios is PG-13 at best. Beware of Norman Bates coming at you with a knife on the studio tour as well. I'm glad we waited till she was 8, and I don't feel the need to go back for at least 5 years. Sounds about right, Harry Potter's Wizarding World will have opened and the crowds died down a bit by then.

The minions were super cute.

spectacles

2015-03-23T15:56:00.001-07:00

A letter came home with Chloe from the school nurse. The one that says "your child may have some vision difficulty, we recommend that your child have a complete vision exam as soon as possible." The timing couldn't have better as we just got new vision coverage.

Also kind of funny, about six months ago she was wishing she had eye glasses and bought herself a pair with clear lenses.

The money Chloe earned yesterday was burning a hole in her pocket. She bought that hat, faux reading glasses, and an owl necklace today. Apparently she needed some accessories. She says we match now. Love her madly.

A photo posted by Tracy Flaming (@superpragmatic) on Aug 21, 2014 at 7:14pm PDT

We ended up popping the lenses out so that her eyes didn't incorrectly focus, and she still wears them now and then. But it is a different thing entirely when you're told you have to wear glasses. The option is always better, isn't it?

I remember all too well standing in the ophthalmologist's office with my mom and brother and feeling completely deflated and small and ugly when I was told I'd have to wear glasses for reading for my astigmatism. I think I was in fourth grade. The glasses were so, so unattractive and there were probably two choices: ugly and slightly less ugly. I'd show you a photo but I don't think any exist with me in them. I hated them. The were pink with drop down sides. So bad. At one point the drop down sides matched my drop-crown perm and were highlighted by my braces and headgear. It was a rough year for me.

So, with those ugly feelings somehow still fresh thirty plus years later, I decided to arm my little cutie with a head full of cute eyewear ideas before she hears she has to wear glasses. Most optometrists don't stock a whole lot of cute frames for kids, I have no idea why, but they don't. It's not that they don't exist. Luckily, a friend on Instagram has a daughter who wears some of the cutest frames I've ever seen and she directed me to Zenni Optical. They have really cute, super affordable frames. We could even afford to get a couple pairs so she can change them out with her mood & outfit.

Now she's not afraid to be sentenced with prescription glasses, but instead maybe even a little excited to be able to see better--she does love to read. Also? We'll totes be twins. I'm excited to get some new frames myself.

When I can lighten the load on her little 8 year old heart, you bet I am going to. Thank goodness for online resources that can make life a little easier. Wish us luck as we head off to our eye exams!

wounded bird

2014-11-13T23:56:00.003-08:00

There's a story that goes with this one. And lots more photos, too. It's one of those stories that keeps unfolding, and therefore is keeping me from writing it all down. Let's just say I'm glad tomorrow's Friday and I'll catch up soon.

happy halloween!

2014-11-03T16:29:00.000-08:00

Between her costume and my listening to 1920's jazz while editing, this post has gone very vintage.

We had an extra fun Halloween this year. There were a lot of families out in our neighborhood and we ran into lots of friends from school. After trick-or-treating we joined some neighbor-friends at their house for more good fun. Geoff and I clinked cups every time we saw an Elsa.

Each year Chloe looks most forward to visiting our neighbor who hands out brand new books to every trick-or-treater She is so generous and always seems to know the perfect book to chose for our girl. This year it was "Unicorn Magic." Such a special treat. And the neighbor across the street who is a former teacher gave her a notebook, ruler, pencils, bubbles, and a book. Which reminds me we need to write a thank you for that.

It rained which was fantastic! Most everyone had finished trick-or-treating by then, so it didn't spoil a thing. I left the party for a bit to check out a haunted maze which scared the crap out of me, which is precisely what I was after. All in all, an excellent time. And I have to say, I think everyone we visited (especially the elders) was really happy to see a little flapper, something they recognized amongst all more fleeting television, movie, and game characters that were out. It was fun for them.

Yay to it feeling like Fall!

she humored me today

2014-10-24T22:50:00.000-07:00

I got a new camera and she let me play. She was somewhat patient with me as I tried to figure it all out. When she starts counting down shots I know I'm about to lose her. She was nice enough to start counting over a few times.

Here's to a great weekend!

oh summer, how i love thee

2014-09-05T11:28:00.001-07:00

I mentioned here how I want to play more with video and editing. These are some of my attempts from this summer. Chloe had a little pool party at her Uncle's house and all the pictures and videos were shot on her Kodak EasySshare Sport. It's a lot fun, that little camera. There are so many cool video editing apps for smart phones; are there any cool, user-friendly video editing apps for desktops?

halfway there with let the wild rumpus last

2014-09-04T16:21:00.000-07:00

So, we are over half way through the year of our photo collective project, Let the Wild Rumpus Last. And while at times I've been frustrated by my ability (or lack-thereof) and my camera (which most likely points back to lack of ability) I am so, so glad to be doing this. Some weeks I've captured a little magic, and some weeks were more about feelings, like when she captured that little bunny at the stables and there were lots of tears when I told her we couldn't take it home. Some weeks I have forgotten to pick up my camera and I've found over looked photos from weeks before. A couple times I've phoned it in (literally) and other times we've gone to magical places and I would like to post all of my photos for the whole year from there.

But part of the reason I want to share these all together is to encourage everyone to take more photos. My friend, Rachel Dennenberg offered some advice right after Chloe was born. She said, "take lots of pictures and videos, you will never regret having too many photos." She was so right and even though I take lots, I always wish I had more because this childhood stuff is so incredibly fleeting. I always wish I had more video, too. I'm trying to be better about shooting more videos and learning some fun video editing techniques so that I can put clips together in more creative ways, and I love it.

The photos won't all be technically correct or beautiful, but hopefully they are honest and transporting because they grow up so quick. And these photos, mementos and souvenirs are the best thing we have to hold on to as our hearts ache with the passage of seemingly hyper-lapse speed of time that is childhood.

When I think of starting a yearly series it seems daunting--once a year? How unfulfilling! But I just added my sixth photo to her 'First Days of School' album as she enters 2nd grade. So take those annual photos, they are fun to compare each year and it's not too late to start. Monthly works, too, as does weekly and whenever the mood strikes. I'm just so glad we area doing this, because I wouldn't have most of these photos if not for this project.

Thanks again to everyone who is playing along with me. This week's photo on LTWRL.

camp debbie day two

2014-07-12T12:35:00.000-07:00

Tuesday morning we had tasty french toast made with fresh eggs that Chloe gathered from the coop. Prior to that I had a coffee date with Destiny. That's the horse's name, I didn't really have a date with destiny. I slept in a bit, but then we did muck out stalls. Chloe hung out with the younger chickens quite a bit, naming them all.

That horse smile cracks me up every time.

We hung out with the horses, Chloe rode a bit. I rode a bit. The neighbor horses came for a visit. It was windy! We watched The Black Stallion while we ate lunch and those of us over age 7 might have dozed off a bit. For dinner that night we went to Kernville to That's Italian where Chloe devoured the first portion of pasta they gave her, and then three quarters of the second bowl they gave her. And garlic bread. Her appetite makes me happy, especially when we've been out in the sunshine working and playing. Maybe we need to start ordering adult-size portions for her at Italian places?

Debbie and Jim humored me and stopped on the side of the road so that I could take photos of signs and whatnot. We stopped at a little market in Kernville for breakfast items, and ran into some firefighters who were taking a break from working on the Shirley fire. You can see some smoke in the photo above. It was a great second day at Camp Debbie.

heartbreak coffee

2014-06-30T13:04:00.000-07:00

The women of Heartbreak Coffee are some of the nicest you'll meet, and they are passionate about what they do. Gretchen and Michelle are opening up a brick and mortar shop in downtown Long Beach, reviving an old storefront and helping to revive Long Beach Boulevard. Saturday Geoff, Chloe and I got a taste of what their shop will be like when we visited their PopUp shop. The coffee was yum, as were the pastries, and we ran into two friends, it felt just like a neighborhood coffee spot should feel.

They have two days left on their Kickstarter Campaign. Check them out, maybe you can lend a few dollars, or if not, share their page. They've come so far, but still have a ways to go! Did you know that if your goal isn't met on Kickstarter you don't get any of the funds? True. They knew the amount was high, but alas that how much it costs to move their roaster and get all the proper licensing and start a business. If they don't reach their goal then they need to get investors, etc. The storefront will still happen, just on slightly different terms.

I can tell you it will be a lovely shop. Their aesthetic is gorgeous, Chloe said, "I want to come here every day!" And she's got pretty good taste, that one.

Wishing you best of luck Heartbreak Coffee!

camp debbie day one

2014-06-26T00:07:00.000-07:00

Chloe and I are serious horse lovers, and so is Geoff's sister, Debbie. Now, a lot of people like horses, but not everyone is a full-on LOVER. There is one sure-fire way to know if you are a true horse lover, kind of a litmus test, if you will. When you drive by a stable do you inhale deeply? If you do, and you love that smell I'm pretty sure you are a LOVER. So, we three girls bonded over the love back on this trip and since then she and her husband have moved from Santa Barbara to Weldon. At every family gathering Chloe and Aunt Debbie would chat it up about her horses, and more recently Debbie has been inviting Chloe to come stay for a few days. We started referring to this idea as Camp Debbie and since it is a three hour drive, I couldn't just drop her off, I would really have to stay at Camp Debbie. You know, to conserve gas and all. (I totally wanted to go to Camp Debbie! It sounded way too fun.)

Chloe of course chose the first week of summer to go, because she's seven and why would you wait for the best week ever? My being 39 (for two more months!) and practical I thought why not do it towards the end of summer so that you have something to look forward to? But I couldn't really justify putting it off. There would be June gloom here on the coast anyway, let's go! Debbie and Jim were agreeable to this time table, and so the first week of summer was spent at Camp Debbie and man was it a good time.

It's going to take me a couple posts to get through the week because not only was it fun with horses, it was also a photographic dream. So there are lots of pictures.

We arrived around 4pm after a quick stop in Mojave. There were so many places I wanted to stop and take photos on the way, but Chloe wanted to get there so badly, she only humored me in windy Mojave. Actually it was windy everywhere that day. We arrived, unloaded the car, met all the animals, gathered eggs, had a quick ride, fed the horses, and headed into town to pick up Chinese food. Whew!

winding up for the end of the school year

2014-06-09T10:33:00.003-07:00

It always feels like it should wind down but it couldn't be further from the truth. The last two weeks of school are the toughest (on me at least.) The amount of things to contribute to, finish, pay for, and remember is unrelenting. I just remembered this minute I have yet to put all of Chloe's patches on her Girl Scout vest for her bridging ceremony tonight. Seems silly since the ceremony is to bridge into Brownies where she'll get a whole new vest that I will need to fashion a whole new lot of patches onto. But this one must be complete. And um, many of the ones I'm putting on have already fallen off from my first round of apparently insufficient hot gluing.
Also on the to-do list:

Make Blurb book for teacher with portraits I took of all the children and include a quote from each child.
Make that Blurb book again so that other parents can order. (no, you shouldn't have to do that, but my username had to be changed and so on and so-forth.)
Go to birthday part in BFE. Can't grab a gift since there are no stores in BFE, so add that to Monday's to-do list.
Finish report on woman inventor.
Buy a $5gift for pen pal gift exchange.
Sign permission slip for walking field trip to pen pal's school.
Wrap and remember take gift.
Pack sack lunch for walking field trip.
Attach patches to girl scout vest.
Make gifts for Girl Scout leaders (this is going to have to wait till later in the week when all other gifts will be made.)
Check to see what dues I still owe for previous girl scout meetings.
Wrap teacher's gift.
Bake and decorate several dozen summer-themed sugar cookies for gifts to teachers, girl scout leaders, the mom who made scrapbooks for the whole class, the parking guy, principal, secretary, friends, and anyone else who has helped us out this school year. We appreciate people. With cookies.
Get oil change.
Have tires rotated.
Shop for husband's birthday which happens to also be the last day of school.
Shop for husband for Father's Day which is three days after his birthday.
Shop for Dad for Father's Day.
Design and make t-shirts for Camp Debbie.

Also? Really wish I'd remembered about the patches sooner, because we are missing two petals on her vest and look how cute this is. I could have made her vest really cool had I shopped earlier. The local scout shop which is right down the street? It's closed the second and fourth Monday of every month. Dang it!!

three things: tuesday

2014-05-27T15:07:00.001-07:00

1. I have been growing my hair out for three plus years and I am so happy to finally have long-ish hair again. I'm not sure how this bun happened and stayed that way all morning, but I love that my hair is long enough to be all floppy on top of my head! Simple pleasures.

2. Chloe loves this top of mine. She loves every time I wear it. She says it reminds her of her first day of kindergarten, that I wore it with my green jeans. That after school she sat on my lap telling me all about her day and touching my chest and looking at the pattern. I will probably have this blouse forever because she has such fond memories of it. And she says I look pretty in it!

3. Ashley Jennett of The Stork and the Beanstalk is coming to our house Thursday for a mother and child session. I am therefore scrambling around the house trying to pick up/put away/hang anything I may see in the background of a photo that would bug me. And also stopping to take a selfie and blog about it because that is a really good way to manage your time when there is only one-hour left til school pickup and you still have three hours of work left to do. Am I right?

mother's day weekend

2014-05-16T10:25:00.001-07:00