Loot
Posted on 26 March 2012 | 3 responses
Our weekend was chaotically crazy. Julien had (another) day off of school on Friday. What’s with all of the days off for the MPS kids?? Seems like they have a day off every other week, yet other districts do not. So since J had a huge amount of Marketing homework to do, I took the kids over to my parents house for a sleepover. Sleepovers there are always fun. My Mom cooks delicious food (always) and they both play with the kids and I get to see my baby sister Shayna. This time was particularly special because my middle sister, Chelsea, took the train up from Chicago to join in on the Sleepover Friends action. My Mom and I were even able to sneak away for a bit of thrifting at one of my favorite spots. I found a ton of great items including two See-N-Says. Now I just have to find some time to photograph and list it all! But sometimes … sometimes … you have to keep the best finds for yourself. Behold, the most magical of all blankets!
AND … I actually squealed with delight when I found this … a mini lace vest for Veevs! Plus, the cutest pastel plaid dress that I was going to sell but instead decided to keep. I try not to keep many items, but this one is special because I swear I remember a baby Chelsea wearing something very similar.
The shop also enjoyed a busy weekend. Packages are going out today to California, NYC, Chicago, and the UK. Thanks, everyone!! I hope you all had a lovely weekend as well.
Shop Update
Posted on 23 March 2012 | No responses
Added a TON of girly items to the shop last night. Some highlights below. Super adorableness explosion!
On the Move
Posted on 22 March 2012 | 2 responses
This little lady is going to be crawling and walking before we even know it. She’s hard at work trying to figure it all out. Above are stills taken from video shot.
From What I Saw
Posted on 20 March 2012 | 1 response
Goodbye, Winter. And Hello, Spring!
Sneak Peek
Posted on 18 March 2012 | No responses
Shop update! Lots of new items being added tonight. Go ahead. Get cute.
11 Random Things
Posted on 16 March 2012 | 7 responses
I’m having a really hard time focusing today on what I need to do during those 20 minutes when Vera actually naps. How is one possibly supposed to get any work done in just 20 minutes?! Oh, well. My friend Adriana just posted a fun little quiz-type list over on her blog. I thought I’d do the same because … well, it’s fun! Back in the day, when I was actually on Facebook – my friends and I would circulate these types of lists around. They were always enjoyable. Nothing more, nothing less.
11 Random Things:
1. I lived in Germany for 3-1/2 years while my Dad was enlisted in the US Army. It is also where I started school and where my sister was born.
2. New York City was the first place ever that I felt a sense of belonging somewhere. That I finally ‘fit-in’ for once.
3. My son knew the alphabet before he was 1. He knew most of his colors and could count to 10. At 3, he was reading words from street signs and reciting simple books back to us. At 4, his teacher told us she believed he was reading on a 3rd grade level. It is a challenge to be his mother, but it is also the most lovely experience ever. He is teaching me how to advocate for someone. Which in turn, helps me to advocate for myself and my own needs which is something I was never ever good at.
4. My name was to be ‘Michelle Marie’ but my cousin was born right before me and they named her that exact name. Thus, I became ‘Kristina Marie’ instead.
5. Everyone in my family has the middle name ‘Marie’. I always disliked it growing up because it didn’t sound very unique or cool. When we found out we were having a baby girl, J immediately wanted her middle name to be ‘Marie’ as it is also his Mom’s middle name. However, I wanted ‘Noelle’ since we found out we were expecting around my birthday and right before Christmas. Noelle sounded magical. Marie did not. So we reached a compromise and Noelle-Marie it became.
6. My Mom moved us to Wisconsin when I was in 3rd grade. My family was from California and the kids in my new school took to calling me ‘the weird girl from California’ …
7. I spent most of my free-time while living in NY at a bar called Sweetups.
8. I am a detective and will find out any bit of information needed. An information collector. This mind of mine is overly analytical and perceptive. Mercury in Scorpio!
9. As a teenager, I found The Smashing Pumpkins and their record ‘Siamese Dream’ changed my life.
10. I hated high school and graduated early so that I could get the hell out of there. I started college at 17-years-old and moved on from all that was associated with my high school and hometown. Going back there makes me feel incredibly uncomfortable and suffocated.
11. I heart the early 90s.
1. What is your favorite musician / band?
This is an impossible question. SOME of my faves include The Kills, Best Coast, Usher, and Jay-Z … a little bit indie hipster and a little bit pop. I tend to listen to a lot of Top 40 Kiss FM radio now because of Julien. I honestly find it much more refreshing than everything else on the radio these days. I love a good beat.
2. What is your favorite thing about being a mom?
Seeing my kids find their own passions and excel at them. I am a proud, proud Mama Bear. My kids are the coolest!
3. If you could have any job (besides being a Mom) in the world what would it be and why?
A successful artist. A maker of handmade goods. Doing what I love but making a lot of money while doing it.
4. What are your main goals for 2012?
To grow my career. To make more money and not be broke. To take risks and do more of what I want to do (in terms of career). To become a more patient and better parent.
5. What would your child’s name have been if he/she were born the opposite sex?
Julien was going to be named Olivia. We were so sure he was going to be a girl and had a very hard time with boy names! Vera was Vera all along (I had a very strong sense that she was a girl and I kept hearing the name ‘Vera’ repeated to me daily. Weird!) but we did flirt with a few boy names. I really loved Indio but J would never go with it. Still, I think it’s the perfect boy name. Little Indy!
6. What is your biggest guilty pleasure?
Beef sticks, a can of Coca-Cola, and an episode of the original Teen Mom series.
7. What are your top 3 favorite stores to shop (for yourself) at?
I like Forever 21 for basics. Delias for my jeans. And thrift stores for everything else.
8. What will be your next big purchase?
A Canon DLSR camera and a much-deserved family summer vacation to NYC.
9. Is your life how you pictured it being when you were a child?
No and yes. I always saw myself as a Mom. I wanted to be a famous singer which then turned into an artist which then turned into a graphic designer. So I’m doing all of those things except for the singing part. I sing in my car and that’s about it these days. I didn’t think I would be so broke. But … I should have expected that when I chose to be an artist when I grew up. I thought I’d be living by an ocean. But instead I live by a big, big lake.
10. Top 3 Favorite movies (or books)?
Lost in Translation is my favorite movie. I dig any book that is chocked full of information and facts.
11. Your 5 must-read blogs currently?
I tend to fall in-and-out of love with blogs rather quickly. I fall fast and hard and then eventually become annoyed and stop reading. I don’t like the begging for votes and the sponsored posts and the blah blah blah commercial aspects of it all. HOWEVER, I love authenticity and girls who keep it real:
My Little Loves
Nat the Fat Rat
Mandoo and Lumpia
Barefoot and Vintage
Just by Living
Images above: NYC Paintings © 2007 by Kristina Rolander
Looking Forward To…
Posted on 15 March 2012 | 3 responses
THIS! The Black Keys with Arctic Monkeys show in mid-May. Taking my baby sister with me as her 18th birthday present. It will be my first night out alone (for an extended period of time) without any kids. Cannot wait to see them! That’s my signature ‘I’m so surprised yet excited too’ look above. Jules even knows my signature photo-taking pose. He can do a great impression of it. Kids. They’re so funny. It’s also my signature ‘It’s early morning and I was up all night with Miss Vera and I had to run Jules to school and I’ve only had 2 cups of coffee and I have no makeup on and I’m so tired’ look. That’s always a good one too.
Little Bits
Posted on 14 March 2012 | 1 response
Vera turned 7-months-old on March 4th. And my baby sister Shayna turned 18 (!!!) this past Sunday. Both are deserving of posts and I do plan on getting something written and published soon. However, life around the Avery household continues to be chaotically, crazily busy. I’m talking ‘not even able to catch our breath’ busy. Lately, I’ve been feeling as if there is SO much to do that I cannot even manage to chip away at any of it. Every day, I wake up with a huge to-do list and every night I go to sleep having not even accomplished half of it. And most of this has to do with cleaning, laundry, dishes, diapers, keeping our house clean, etc. etc. Having two kids is SO much harder than I anticipated. Like a thousand times harder. I am constantly split between the two. When one is fed, then the other one needs to be fed. When one gets attention, the other one needs attention. When one goes to sleep, then the other has to readied for sleep. It. Is. Constant. No time to breathe. Or think. Or eat a well-balanced meal.
A few things to note. Vera has officially said her first word! She has been saying it for a few weeks, but we weren’t quite sure if it was real or not. Well it is. She’s definitely saying “hi” … ! The funny part is that this is probably the word she has heard most (besides ‘baby’) since being born. Every morning, Julien has woken up and greeted her with a succession of hi’s and hello’s. The other morning, I swear that she also said ‘hello’ … but with that one, I haven’t heard it again since. For the record, Julien’s first word was ‘tree’ (after saying ‘mama’ and ‘dada’) … but Vera has not said those two yet.
I’ve been agonizing over this school situation with Julien. As you know, in January I decided to put in an application for him to switch schools. When he got a seat at the new school though, I was more unsure than before. I’ve been going back-and-forth daily. And then this past week, I developed a strong gut feeling telling me not to switch his school. After talking with J (and talking more with J and then talking with J some more), we decided to keep him at his current school, Burdick. There are many reasons for this and I’m not really going to get into any of those reasons … except for one.
Burdick has the most amazing music teacher around. The music teacher and the music education that Julien is currently receiving at Burdick is unprecedented. It is the reason why we chose Burdick. It is the reason why we LOVE Burdick. Julien has come home talking about composers and instruments and symphonies that I, in my 32 years, have never even heard of. He plays his keyboard daily. He listens to classical music right alongside the top 40 of Kiss FM. Mrs. Nokovic spends the time to encourage Julien. She sees Julien. She sees what we see. And she sees it in others. And encourages it. And spends the time to foster that love and that talent and that ability. After speaking with her a couple of weeks ago regarding Julien and him needing ‘more’ … she put together a ’1st grade composers night’ where every Tuesday after school, a group of kids come to her room and are able to explore. They play instruments and they dance. Last week, I walked in on them in a circle on the floor. All with drumsticks. Playing soft and hard, quiet and loud, along to her piano playing. The song they were playing to? Swimming by Florence and the Machine. Yesterday, I walked into them dancing and moving to the same song. I was floored. So moved. It was absolutely fantastic to watch. And experience. And in those moments, my eyes opened back up. And it made me remember why we were at Burdick. Because of Mrs. Nokovic. So for now, we are going to stay. And that’s that.
And thus, I found myself in the Burdick office this morning – sheepishly explaining to the secretary that I had changed Julien’s school for next Fall but now have changed my mind again and we really want to stay and oh I’m so sorry and blah blah blah. Needless to say, it was a little embarrassing. And I then had to fill out more forms and reapply for Burdick. Even though it is Julien’s current school.
Sometimes I do ridiculous things.
Sometimes I stray from the path.
I own it.
But sometimes we have to go forward in order to find ourselves back again. To remember the reasons why we even made those decisions in the first place. A double negative. But with a positive outcome.
Today it is supposed to hit the mid-70s. Julien went to school in shorts. The sun is shining. Vera is crying. Life may be messy and my house may not be clean. And I may not always be sure. And sometimes I change my mind. But overall, things are good. J graduates in 8 weeks. We are counting down the days! So, I leave you with this. For sometimes it takes a little group of 1st graders to reopen your eyes.
xo
First Swing
Posted on 7 March 2012 | 3 responses
Shop Update
Posted on 5 March 2012 | No responses
LOTS of great items being added this week! Very excited about all of them. I have been very selective in my purchasing and can honestly say that each item is picked with love … annnnddd an eye for current trends. Take a look around. And go and get your cute on!
