One Year Birthday!

I am not now, nor will I ever be a Pintrest mom… you know the type: the all natural GMO free meals and snacks prepped each day, a carefully curated collection of toys and activities that not only look gorgeous but are guaranteed to help your child excel in life and, the biggest component, elaborate birthday parties with unique and clever themes that appear in every aspect of the party from the invitation through to the decorations, menu and gifts.  Don’t get me wrong, I love these moms!  I just don’t have the patience or attention to detail to know where to begin so if and when Oskar asks for a European vintage car themed party I fully plan to outsource the planning to those better equipped:  my mom, sister and close friend Anjulee. 

So when it came to Oskar’s first birthday, which happened to fall on Memorial Day weekend, the plans were set without much thought.  We would spend the weekend at the Lake and host drinks and appetizers Saturday afternoon at the cabin for the celebration.  No formal invitations (other than a few phone calls), no decorations, no theme, and no stress. 

Oskar opened his presents early in the afternoon surrounded by both sets of grandparents and shared his new toys with his cousins Alton, Cassidy and Blake.  Unwilling to forgo the obligatory cake smash to commemorate his first true taste of sugar and chocolate, I baked him a carrot, zucchini chocolate cake and watched in anticipation as he took his first tentative bit.  While he wasn’t that impressed with the cake either due to my baking skills or the sweetness, thankfully everyone else enjoyed the dessert.

 

The best part of the weekend however was the following day, which we spent out on the boat.  With the weather warm enough, we all got a chance to get in the water to cool off and Oskar was able to prove his status as a Lake Rat.  He had such a fun time splashing around in the water, getting his face wet and laughing at the bubbles.    Seeing him play in the water was such a relief since his previous trip to the Lake wasn’t so promising.  

And while Oskar is ready to enjoy the summer in the water, I am ready for the next few years in my new role as family Sherpa!

Treat Yo Self

In March Martin went to Sweden for his annual family ski holiday for a week.  And even with help from my mom two nights, I quickly came to appreciate that being a single mom is no joke. In the seven days I was fully in charge, Oskar came down with a fever, a rash on his arm, unidentifiable scratches on his legs and slept in bed with me for two nights.  But I survived and so did Oskar and I had three weekend getaways on the books to treat myself (and take a break from all of the craziness my life has been recently.)

The first weekend away was to Sonoma for wine tasting and fancy dinners out.  It was spent with my San Francisco / Colorado girls, a group of six strong women who definitely know how to spoil themselves.  I had to bring my A Game to this weekend and tried my best to look stylish, well rested and carefree.

A few weekends later, I was off to Calistoga for a one night spa momcation with my mom friends of North Beach.  We left San Francisco early Sunday morning and kicked off the trip with Philz coffee to enjoy on the drive up.  The 24 hour trip was a chance for us to enjoy the time away for the kids by doing things unavailable to us in normal life:  facials and massages, reading books by the pool, a relaxing glass of champagne while we took our time getting ready, fancy drinks by the creek downtown, beers at a dive bar and a late night dinner at the Thai joint in town.  We ended the night with all four women in pajamas in one of our king beds watching TV and drinking wine. 

I wrapped up my tour of “me” with a long weekend in NYC with my Zurich Girls: Kim, Petra and Anna.  It was the perfect combination of the two previous weekends: fancy dinners, shopping like we had no budget, a lively piano bar and plenty of time to catch up on life and family.

Not to miss out, I do have one final weekend planned with the SLO girls in June to meet Baby Kelsey!  But in the meantime, I am happy to be home with no other plans but to spend the time with Oskar and Martin.