Running in (Orange) Circles.

I told you I'd be sharing some of the mundane moments from our days, so here we go! Yesterday was one of my days off, so we tried to make the most of it by getting out of the house and doing something fun. My days off are a little bittersweet in that I have the whole day to spend with my little man, but I must also take advantage of the day by getting errands and projects and cleaning done. I try my best to strike a balance of the two, either by getting housework done in the morning or during naptime, or breaking up errands with lunch or a stop at the park or a quick trip to Disneyland (we have annual passes). It works well so far.


So yesterday we went to the Orange Circle in Old Town Orange, which, if you are not familiar, is a cute little historic part of Orange -- lots of old boutiques, antique shops, cafes, and restaurants. It really feels like a step back in time....and fun fact: scenes from the movie That Thing You Do were filmed there. You will now have that song stuck in your head all day, so you're welcome. The actual Circle part is a roundabout with streets that branch off, kind of like spokes of a wheel. So, Levi and I made the 10 minute drive up there and got some coffee (well, he got a bowl of fruit), played in a grassy area in the circle for awhile, and then walked down to Bruxie. If you haven't been to Bruxie, you must. It is a little walk-up stand with sandwiches made with waffles instead of bread. They have savory sandwiches as well as sweet ones, so you can cater to your taste. I prefer the savory ones, with the classic chicken and waffle sandwich being my go-to.

Levi reeeally wanted to go back to the fountain/grassy part of the circle, so we walked back down there to eat our sandwiches on the grass and I tried to get him to make a couple kiddo friends while we were over there. He had a lot of fun running around the fountain with some of the other kids there, and had me join in at one point, too! It was a successfully fun day.

I started off the day with some souvenir pie from Chile Pies in San Francisco for breakfast -- Mexican Chocolate Pecan and Green Chili and Cheddar Apple pie. SO GOOD.  I did not finish both pies ;)

Strollin.

Iced coffee for me, fruit for the boy.

Cool stuff at the candy shop.

Running around in circles...literally.

I'm trying to get better about having Levi socialize more with kids his age. When he was in daycare more, I didn't worry so much, but now he only goes for 2 half-days and I can tell he's getting to the age where he craves more interaction with playmates. Plus, seriously, I can only play with Hot Wheels for so long.

♪ If you're going... ♫

Last weekend we took a short road trip up north to San Francisco with our friend Katie in tow.  We first made a pit stop in Placerville, which is outside of the city, to visit one of my best friends for a day, and then it was off to S.F.!

The car ride up, with a sleepy boy who wouldn't nap.

Breakfast in the middle of nowhere.

Stopping to stretch our legs and almost getting blown away. It was insanely windy.

Lindsay's adorable cabin!

The best breakfast!

Cabin livin'.

We explored an old gold mine that was a stone's throw from Lindsay's house.

Hunting for "froggits" (Levi's name for frogs)!

There was a guided audio tour inside the mine...but we ditched it two minutes in and explored it ourselves. 

Another abandoned mine.

Katie bought Levi a geode to break open!

Lindsay, Levi, and the manzanitas.


After our overnight Placerville stop, we finally made it to San Francisco!

Levi reeeeaallllly wanted to see the sealions down at Pier 39.

The Rock.

We had to do the obligatory GGB visit. 

We made it down to SoMa for a food truck park that rotates trucks daily -- they had an awesome Cuban band playing while we sipped Sangria and ate tacos and chicken sliders. 

Lemon head. He insists on eating lemons straight up. 

Lunch in the Haight.

I learned that having a kid along with you in a busy city isn't the most relaxing vacation -- I haven't been to San Francisco, or really stayed in any major city (well, besides L.A.), since having Levi -- but it was still nice to get away for a few days.  We ate delicious food -- high on my priority list -- and explored what is one of my favorite cities. San Francisco, you still have my heart, (even though I have to rep SoCal because rivalry is rivalry). ♥

Stretching our wings.

     For those who don't already know, in early January we moved! Our old apartment was perfect for us when we first moved in and had Levi -- it was a tiny little bottom unit of a duplex with very reasonable rent, was minutes away from both Clay and my parents (VERY convenient for us as new parents), less than a mile from the beach, and had an adorable enclosed patio where Levi could play around once he was old enough. We really loved it....BUT it was tiny. We knew we could milk it for awhile while Levi was small and save some money to evetually move into a bigger place, so we figured we'd live there for about a year and then go from there. Well, a year went by and we were slowly starting to outgrow our cozy little crackerbox. We began the daunting search for "the perfect place".

    Fast forward to a year later, and we still hadn't found it. There was always something that was a dealbreaker, and unfortunately by that time we had become increasingly picky. One night, I sat on the couch and looked around our living room. It was right after Levi's second birthday, and although we had requested no birthday presents at his little party this year (for simplicity's sake), the room was still somehow littered with toys and clothes and stuff, just so. much. stuff. It wasn't necessarily that we are overly materialistic, but the fact of the matter was we were three people living in a very small space.  We were bursting at the seams. I went online right then and there and searched, searched, searched online for a housing listings. Miraculously, one of the first hits that came up was the most adorable little house I'd seen yet. It was small, sure, but that was just fine. It had a backyard with fruit trees, lots of natural light, and beautiful original hardwood floors from when the house was built in the 1940s. Oh, and a laundry room (hallelujah! Sometimes you don't know what you have until you have to go without it)! I emailed the owner and set up a time to come look at it. Once we saw the house, we knew: it was perfect. It's about a 30 minute drive north of our old place, and we're still adjusting to commuting to work and being further from family members and the beach, but it's been so fun to explore a new city, new neighborhood, new beginnings. Levi LOVES it. That's what matters most.

Our little house.

 

 

 

Our pretty street.

Making fresh orange juice from the oranges in our backyard!

Kitchen details.

It's coming together, slowly but surely.

We are still unpacking a few boxes of random things, sorting through our belongings, and touching up paint. Moving is no joke! It's a lot more work than I think I bargained for, but it's all for good. This little house is beginning to feel like home.

Here we go again.

Hi! I'm back. I've been thinking about this blog again lately, and how it has captured a time in my life that seems like a million years ago. It's inspired me to start writing again, not everyday, not any specific amount of times a week, but as much as I can. More than anything, this is a time capsule for me to look back on, and maybe Levi will even read it some day. I have been truly realizing how little moments can slip through your fingers as time edges on. Sometimes the days tend to fade into a blur of routines, errands, and work, and sometimes I forget to appreciate (or even forget, period) the little moments along with the "important" ones. Levi is changing before my eyes, growing physically, emotionally, mentally. His vocabulary is increasing, and the little funny approximations he used to use for words he couldn't quite say are waning. I can have full-on conversations with my little boy; he tells me about his day, about his likes and dislikes, his train collection, his favorite book, the funny part of a movie, a song he loves. It's amazing and heartbreaking all at once. My little baby is turning into a kid, day by day. I want to savor every bit of this time between babyhood and boyhood, because I'm realizing that what everybody says is true: time flies.

So here is my Levi, 2 years and 5 months old. 

Technically this picture is from a couple months ago, but I love it :)

His favorite colors are red, green, and sometimes purple.

His favorite movie is Fantastic Mr. Fox.

His favorite thing in the world is anything with wheels: cars, trucks, trains, etc. etc. He will point out the different types of trucks on the freeway that he learned in his truck book: "Dat's a transporter truck...dat's a tow truck....dat's a delivery truck".

His favorite thing to eat is berries, any kind. Blueberries, or "blees" as they were called, used to be his favorite, but now he is also a fan of blackberries and "red berries", a.k.a strawberries. He also loooooves oatmeal.

His favorite thing to do is go to the park and go down the slides.

He also wants a dog.

Just FYI, I'm thinking of maybe changing the name or URL of my blog. Some of my content has been compromised to due to someone linking it to an inappropriate website. Changes to come!

If you'd like more snippets from our lives, follow my Instagram! 

Username: chelseaspatz

Switcheroo

On our looong drive home from our vacation in Yosemite last month, Clay and I somehow got to talking about Halloween costumes and what we want to dress up as this year. We wanted to do something that involves all three of us, and had a lot of fun coming up with creative and strange ideas; case in point, my idea for us all to dress up like eachother. You know, Levi dress up as Clay, Clay dress up as me, and me dress up as Levi. HA! Genius, right?

Anway, I stumbled upon this site today and it reminded me of my super cool Halloween costume idea, and the more I think about it, the funnier I think it would be.

Have a chuckle at these switcheroos!

more here.

Hilarious, no?




Oh, and in case you were wondering, this is what we were for Halloween last year:

Clay was the guy on the Tapatio sauce bottle (an inside joke - he gets told he looks like the Tapatio man all the time. Compliment? Not so much, but it's funny),  Levi was a chili pepper, and I had nothing else to be but a senorita.

"Just wait until I bottle your spicy goodness!"

"Whaaaa?!"

And yes, I realize it is barely August and a little early on to be thinking of Halloween costumes, but I just loooove Halloween. I love dressing up and pretending to be something else for a night, and it's like, the funnest thing ever to come up with costume ideas and then go all out. I also love costume and theme parties of all kinds, so this is my sly way of begging hinting you to invite me to any and all costume parties you may throw.  :)

So, did you think the switcheroo pictures were creepy or funny?

And what do you think of my costume idea?!