Happy Weekend everyone! I just finished reading 

• If you don’t want to (or don’t have time to) read the whole book, Happier at Home, this list of 10 simple things to make you happier at home has some great ideas.
• We all suffer from the “grass is greener” mentality at one time or another. This is a good reminder that we should enjoy today for what it is, and the grass is greenest where you water it.
• Although our favorite breakfast is always a good dutch baby, these cottage cheese pancakes have been a hit around here lately.
• A few weeks ago I talked about my new favorite children’s book, My Name Is Not Isabella. This photographer did a similar photo project with her 5 year old daughter, honoring five amazing women who have changed all of our lives for the better.
• Could you go a year without the internet? I know I couldn’t.

A few years ago, when my little girl was just shy of one, I read

That day, I went to the art store and found a simple, spiral bound journal with thick, blank pages.  Obviously, at 10 months old she wasn’t able to do her first entry on her own, but my husband sweetly stepped in and helped her out. This year marks her fourth entry, and shows how she has grown in just 3 short years. From a cute card the first year in my husbands handwriting, to simple the scribbles of a toddler, to the creative and determined watercolor masterpiece of a 2 and a half year old, and finally this year, the beginning writings of my sweet 3 and a half year old. (She had some help with the spelling, but she wrote it all herself.)

Although my mommy book has just begun, I love it more than anything, and I am so excited to see how the entries change over the years.

Happy Friday friends! It’s almost Mother’s Day, so I have all things “mom” and “parenting” on the brain. Here are a few things you may enjoy…

• I love hearing what kids think about things, in their own words. This film of kids’ thoughts on their moms is adorable.
• Need an easy last minute gift for Mom? Print up this cute Mother’s Day Newspaper and let the kids color away.
• We have all been there, distracted by our iphones. In case you missed this article that started the debate and countless follow up blog posts… Dear Mom on the iPhone. And the best letter back I have read, Dear Mom on the iPhone, I Get It!
• I love being a mom. I truly think that it has made me a better person. But… It. Is. Hard. Sometimes it is nice to read an article that recognizes that, and reassures you that it’s ok to not carpe every diem!
• I really enjoyed this list of 50 Amazing things about moms. Anyone else with me on #25?

In this photo, my little artist was hard at work on The Mommy Book.

Happy Friday everyone! This week has been so crazy, in a good way, but I am happy to have a few days to relax. Before we head off for the weekend, a few things I have been loving lately…

• A few years ago I read The Happiness Project and loved it! I have been meaning to read the next book, Happier at Home, ever since it came out, so when I saw that it is the newest virtual book club selection book over on MPMK, I went straight to the library to get it.
• I can’t get enough of ampersands, so naturally I am quite smitten with This & That. How amazingly creative is this photographer?!
• So excited for my friend Angie’s new Capturing Your Kids series. If you are looking for some straight forward, easy to understand tips on photography, you will really enjoy it.
• Loving the new SFgirlbybay’s guide to bohemian modern san francisco app. Some of my favorite shops in San Francisco were recommendations from her blog and I am looking forward to discovering a few new faves.
• Speaking of apps, I really need to start writing down all the funny things my daughter says. Maybe this fun app will make me do it.

Happy Friday everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful week. Ours was filled with growing food scraps on our kitchen windowsill, reading her new sweet book I’m Here (which apparently is pretty funny??), farmers markets, and lots of fort building! Here are a few more things I have been loving lately:

• My latest obsession: green garlic! After buying a bunch at the farmer’s market last weekend, we have been using it in everything. My favorite is adding it to my pesto instead of regular garlic.
• Speaking of farmer’s markets and fresh produce, I love this infographic about eating the rainbow. Now that the spring fruits and veggies are ready, it will be so much easier to bring color to our plates.
• Last month I read Cinderella Ate My Daughter.  It was rather frightening, but a must-read for moms of little girls. The Pink and Blue Project shows just how much the gender-specific marketing campaigns are effecting our kids.
• Please and thank you are some of the first words my daughter learned, because I feel it is so important for her to always feel and express gratitude for what others do for her and give her. Going even further, I love the idea of leaving sticky notes everywhere to say thank you to everyone who makes our lives a little brighter. 
• After pinning this lovely print a few days ago, I couldn’t get it out of my head. Once I found out that it is part of an amazing fundraiser, with all proceeds going to a little cancer fighter, it was a done deal. Within an hour it was purchased, printed, and on my wall. I love that kind of instant gratification.

Happy Earth Day!

First off, how amazing is this Dear Earth print by Katie Daisy? I have a few of her prints, and love them all, but this may be my new favorite.

Now, I have been enamored with this adorable plantable paper earth since I saw it last week on Modern Parents Messy Kids, but never really had the time to make it happen. But then inspiration hit me when I least expected it (as usual). Sunday night, 6:30pm, I was making dinner and reached for the box of kosher salt. Yes, it was the kosher salt that gave me my inspiration – I can’t explain these things, they just happen. I could make a little earth out of colored salt instead of plantable paper. So never mind that dinner was almost ready and it was already super late. Once the idea was in my head, I had to drop everything and do it. I grabbed that kosher salt, some green and blue food coloring, scissors, glue, and a piece of cardboard and we were ready to go.

This whole project, including photos, took about 10 minutes. It isn’t perfect, but it was fun and we feel so earthy over here now. Totally worth dinner being a little late. And a little well done.

Directions:

1. Trace a salad plate onto a piece of cardboard and cut it out. (You could also use an old cereal box – It is earth day and all)

2. Put about 1/2 of a cup of salt in 2 different bowls. Add a few drops of blue food coloring to one of the bowls and a few drops of green to the other. Mix well with a spoon so that all of the salt is colored somewhat evenly. (We used kosher salt because that is what I was already using for dinner, but I think table salt would actually work better.)

3. Squirt some glue on your cardboard that somewhat resembles a few continents and rub it around with your finger. Please don’t look too closely at mine…it isn’t even close. Remember, we were in a hurry.

4. Place your cardboard on a dinner plate to keep all of the excess salt contained. Sprinkle the green salt on your glue and shake off the excess.

5. Now add glue to the rest of the globe (the oceans) and spread it around. Sprinkle the blue salt.

And that’s it. Easy. Don’t let the somber face fool you. (When she saw this photo she said, “My face doesn’t look so happy.” She was not, however, worried about it enough to take another picture.)  But just 2 minutes earlier she looked like this…

Happy Friday friends! I hope you have a sunny, fun-filled weekend ahead. Here are a few things I think you’ll enjoy while you are waiting for the weekend to start.

• There are no words for the tragedy that happened in Boston this week. The scariest part is knowing it can happen anywhere.
• I love asparagus! Roasted, grilled, deep fried, steamed, in soup, in pasta…you get the idea. Since we are in the heart of asparagus season, our dinner conversation often turns to “asparagus pee-pee” (I have a 3 year old, remember?) I’m so glad we are part of the lucky quarter of the population, because it gets her to eat the stuff like it’s candy.
• Would you describe yourself as beautiful? Yeah, me neither. I am working on it, though, for my daughter’s sake, and watching the new Dove campaign You are more beautiful than you think definitely helped. (And I love that man are less beautiful than they think!)
• Maybe that is why I have a hard time getting on the other side of the camera. I’m working on that one, too.
• Pizza and a movie is our Friday tradition, but finding movies appropriate for my 3 year old has been challenging. Why do all of the Disney movies have villains and scary scenes? So happy that a friend recommended Disneynature.

Happy Friday! It is no secret that I love San Francisco. But it is weeks like this that make me realize just how much I love this city! 70′s, sunny, blue skies, long baths with the windows open…it doesn’t get any better than this. I hope you are loving life wherever you are this weekend! Here are a few other things I am loving right now:

• Make a pretty watercolor map of your favorite places. This is being framed and added to our wall of vintage maps for sure.
• Have you ever considered homeschooling your kids? The more and more I become disenchanted with traditional schools, the more I think about alternatives.
• I have been working on this and it is amazing how good it feels to get my inbox to zero.
• If your house was burning down, what would you take with you? After my family, I would grab my iphone, my laptop and my hard drive. Forget the Passports, I can’t live without my Apple products.
• I grew up going to the Exploratorium at the Palace of Fine Arts. We even made it to the very last day before they moved. I am excited to see the all new Exploratorium when they open at the Embarcadero this week.

There are some nights that I just don’t want to cook. Nights when I stand in front of the fridge and whine and complain and think of every excuse possible for why I can’t cook. Usually there are a few culprits.

1.  I am tried, and don’t have the energy to put something together
2.  I am tired, and don’t feel like washing the inevitable dishes that show up after you cook
3.  I am tired, I haven’t been to the store all week, and we have no food in the house
4.  I am tired, my creativity is non-existant, and I don’t know what in the heck to make

So, I’m seeing a trend here…I have been way too tired lately. And at the end of a long day, I need quick and easy. Luckily, I found exactly what I was looking for in The Best Simple Recipes - a simple, one-pot pasta dish. And it looked like I could make it (or my own version of it) using food we already had in the fridge or pantry. Perfect.

So I made it. It was easy and cheesy and so, so good. It was such a hit that I have made it about once a week since then. My 3 year old is obsessed.  Every time we make it, she says over and over how it is “riquisimo”! Since I changed the ingredient list from what was originally in the recipe, I am assuming you could do about a million different variations of this dish. Use whatever you have on hand! The original recipe uses spicy tomatoes, sausage and jack cheese. Here is the way that we have been making it:

Ingredients:
16 ounces of short pasta (whatever shape you like)
2 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
14.5 ounce can of tomatoes (San Marzano is best, but whatever you have on hand will work)
1/2 of a medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, grated or minced
3/4 cup cream or half and half
handful of shredded parmesan cheese
2 handfuls of mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 – 2 Tablespoons basil pesto (homemade or store-bought)
fresh basil leaves
a few slices of prosciutto, chopped (optional)
1 green onion, chopped (optional)
EVOO
salt
pepper

Directions:
1.  Heat EVOO in an oven-proof skillet (that has a tight fitting lid). Add the onions and cook until slightly browned, about 3-4 minutes.
2.  Add the proscuitto and cook for a few minutes, stirring to keep the onions from burning. Add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds.

3.  Add the chicken broth and scrape the bits from the bottom of the pan.
4.  Add the tomatoes, pesto, salt and pepper and stir.

5.  Bring to a boil, and stir in the pasta. Cover the skillet, and reduce heat to medium-low.
6.  Add in the cream and stir. Simmer, covered, about 15 minutes, or until pasta is just tender, stirring every 5 minutes or so. Make sure not to overcook the pasta. It will continue to cook during the next step.

7.  Remove skillet from the heat.  Stir in about half of the parmesan and mozzarella cheese. Top with the remaining cheese and green onion (if using).
8.  Broil for a few minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Sprinkle with fresh basil and serve.

YUM!

What is your go-to meal for the nights when you are just too tired to cook?

Happy Friday, friends! I feel like this week has flown by. I guess with trying to recover from the excitement of Easter and having my nose buried in tax spreadsheets this week, it happens. I have some really great stuff coming up next week, but for now I will leave you with a few links to get your weekend started. And a photo of my baby’s first sailing lesson with her uncle. Love.

• Just another example of why Thailand is at the top of my list of places I want to visit.
• And after discovering the most beautiful travel site ever, that list keeps getting longer and longer.
• You know those squeezable fruit / veggie pouches that every kid (including mine) is obsessed with? Apparently they aren’t as healthy as we all thought.
• Speaking of healthy, April is National Grilled Cheese Month. I am thinking that gives me permission to eat grilled cheese sandwiches every day this month, guilt free! I will definitely be trying a few of these recipes, and may have to check out these local faves as well.
• Avery received My Name Is Not Isabella as a gift a few weeks ago, and it has quickly become one of our favorites.  Such a refreshing change from the princess stories.