Summer Loves

Sneak Peak

2012-01-24T10:35:00.002-05:00

Our fabulous wedding photographer LaRie Baquero offered to take photos of Cedar months and months ago, and as is often the case recently, we weren't able to coordinate our calendars until this past weekend. She came over, we shared some coffee and caught up while Cedar napped and Rich made banana bread. Then as soon as Cedar awoke, she transformed into the professional photographer that she is and acted as a fly on the wall capturing moments as we played with our boy. It went super well and felt completely natural. A few short hours later she sent us this teaser:

Don't you just love it?! I love her attention to detail and the way she juxtaposed the images of Cedar's room with photos of him and us. She really captured the magic of our boy and the joy that he brings us. I can't wait to see the rest. :)

Families

2012-01-04T12:15:00.000-05:00

I love these photos from Backyard Bill's Families Project.

Quilts

2012-01-03T17:39:00.000-05:00

I have a weakness for quilts, especially wacky, colorful, handmade quilts like these from The Quilts of Gee's Bend exhibition at Auburn University.

Back to the Future

2011-12-23T11:45:00.000-05:00

Noticing how much my little Cedar's face is evolving as he is growing is so cool. It makes me wonder what he'll look like when he's an adult.

Photographer Irina Werning has a project that she's entitled "Back to the Future" which juxtaposes a photo of a person's younger self next to a photo of their older selves reenacting the younger self photo. They're very cool. Take a looksy.

Karuna and Vipal's Magical Wedding

2011-10-29T22:06:00.003-04:00

I love weddings. A few weeks ago we attended my good friend Karuna and Vipal's Jewish/ Hindu wedding on her family's farm outside of Chicago. It was a beautiful, inventive, charming, musical, bohemian but traditional event set in the crisp autumn air. (All photos: Heidi Hoffman, except for the ones I took.)

We were greeted by a table of instruments and invited to select one to play during the processional through the woods.

(my photo)

My handsome husband and beautiful boy.

(my photo)

Our host carried an ornate flag and explained that we were going to walk through the woods to find Vipal. That's me towards the back in the center of the photograph. :)

And off through the woods, we went...

(my photo)

playing our instruments and having a good ol' time.

(my photo)

We reached a field and played music in celebration for a while, then we all turned to the hills and called for Vipal to emerge.
(my photo)

"VIPAL!"

Pretty soon, Vipal came into view in the distance astride a white horse accompanied by musicians.

(my photo)

Just a taste of the wind, and the music, and the celebration of it all.

Lots of dancing.

Next we journeyed back through the woods to find Karuna, this time accompanied by Vipal.

We arrived at a quiet pond where Karuna and her sisters sat in a small boat, Karuna's back to the crowd.

Slowly, the bride was rowed to shore, where we greeted her and she was helped out of the boat...

to see Vipal for the first time.

It was here that the rabbi oversaw the signing of the ketubah, the Jewish marriage document.

Once the ketubah was signed we ventured back through the woods to the ceremony, which was held on the back porch of the main house.

Karuna with her two sisters.

We sat on one of the many blankets surrounding the chappah/ mandap.

(my photo)

The ceremony was overseen by both a Hindu priest and a rabbi.

Breaking the glass at the end of the ceremony. Mazel Tov!

Keeping warm by the fire.

The new Mr. and Mrs. :)

Congratulations!!!

Cedar at 6 Months

2011-10-25T21:07:00.000-04:00

Well, I don't know if he's officially considered 6 months old, because it's not November 6th yet, but Rich and I have been going off of weeks. 4 weeks= 1 month, right? So, that means that since he's 24 weeks, he's 6 months-ish. It doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. What does matter is that our boy is MAGICAL and we are so happy and fortunate to have him in our lives. :) He cracks us up daily with his adorable little goofy sounds and facial expressions. And there's nothing better in the whole world than being with him. He's the coolest.

More Home Decor Inspiration

2011-10-03T09:47:00.001-04:00

A mauve-grey for the bedroom is the perfect neutral to work with all of our color.

White cabinets and dark teal cabinet doors and drawers. Love! Love! Love!

And for Cedar's room... displaying his books facing outward so we can enjoy the artwork on the covers. Simple but beautiful idea.

(all photos from Lonny Magazine)

Just in Case...

2011-10-01T09:41:00.001-04:00

...you'd forgotten how beautiful my Cedar boy is. I thought I'd remind you. :)

5 months old and loving life with the boys at The Bicycle Workshop.

Obsessed

2011-09-28T09:36:00.002-04:00

I've been obsessing over paint colors for our new place, taking trips every few days to the Home Depot during my lunch hour. I keep choosing colors, and then having second thoughts as I imagine the rooms in my head. For the most part, I think we've figured out all of the rooms, except for the living room. We were sort of on the fence with whether or not we choose a bold color for one of the walls, or we stick with all white and let all of the color and pattern that we own in furnishings, artwork, and decor do the talking. But then I saw this image in New York Magazine:

And now our minds are made up. A bold color it is.

The reason why it works so well in this interior is because the wall color acts as an accent making all of the artwork the focal point. We have a lot of artwork and I like to hang our artwork in vignettes anyway, so why not take it a step further and hang a lot of it on one wall like this? Oh my God! So inspired!

Overdyed Rugs

2011-09-12T12:00:00.001-04:00

Oh yeah.

All of the above from ABC Carpet & Home's "Color Reform" collection.

Cedar= 4 1/2 months old :)

2011-09-10T22:08:00.001-04:00

Cedar is 18 weeks, as of yesterday!!! My little love is growing super fast and has become quite the talker. He even tries to sing along with me when I hum lullabies to him. And I'm like, "Cedar, you're supposed to be going to sleep right now, not humming along with mommy." LOL! He's hilarious!

(p.s. The super cute outfit he has on is from Catimini. Thanks Grandma Cindy! )

Can't Wait Until it Arrives!

2011-09-09T17:56:00.001-04:00

I just ordered Mary Randolph Carter's gorgeous book "A Perfectly Kept House is the Sign of a Misspent Life". The small print reads, "How to live creatively with collections, clutter, work, kids, pets, art, etc... and stop worrying about everything being perfectly in its place." Phew. Doesn't that speak the gospel? Definitely a woman after my own heart. :)

Can't wait to share images and wisdom from Carter, once it arrives. :)

The cover of the book.

Mary Randolph Clark

Virginia Johnson Baby Bedding

2011-09-08T13:08:00.001-04:00

I just started browsing baby bedding for Cedar's new room and I came across these lovely options from Virginia Johnson, which I LOVE!!! I love the simple patterns and colors and the fact that they're not gender specific.

Music I Can't (Nor Do I Want To) Get Out of My Head

2011-09-07T21:18:00.000-04:00

Inspired: Gloria Vanderbilt

2011-09-05T22:48:00.000-04:00

Today, we picked out some initial paint swatches for our new place. We're not making any decisions until we actually see the color in the space, but my head has been swimming with paint scheme ideas. It brought to mind an article New York Magazine ran about Gloria Vanderbilt over a year ago. I have not been able to get the photos of her apartment out of my mind ever since. I love her bold color choices and eccentric, heartfelt decorating sense. These are some of my favorite images from that article:

I love the contrast molding in the room in the foreground and the bright pink molding of the window against a white wall in the room in the background.

One of the most beautiful mantels I've ever seen. So childlike and colorful.

What a stunning color scheme.

I'm Still Here

2011-08-29T18:54:00.000-04:00

I'm still here... Just a super lot going on right now.

We're all adjusting to me being back to work full time. I just haven't had a lot of time to write, or even think about writing. This week has been a particularly crazy week with an earthquake and a hurricane hitting NYC. I know, it sounds way more dramatic than it actually was, but we were evacuated from our home due to the later. Happily, we were able to return today and lucky for us, our unit actually sustained very little water damage and our big old windows didn't blow out with all of the heavy winds. Phew. Our basement wasn't as fortunate, and is flooded to the very top, but we're pumping it out right now. So, hopefully all will be back to "normal" soon.

The exciting news is that in one month we're moving! :) Can't wait for that. Along with more space, and better parking, I am really looking forward to decorating our new house. I've been starting to check out blogs, magazines, and Etsy for decorating inspiration. Everyone who knows me, knows that I have a very laid-back, colorful, eclectic, and informal sensibility. I love mixing modern pieces with antiques, and everything must be unique, personal, and preferably unusual. That being said, I came across a very cool house tour on Apartment Therapy of a family's home in Echo Park that got me inspired and couldn't wait to share it.

Enjoy.

How Cedar Came To Be

2011-08-07T21:48:00.017-04:00

When I became pregnant, I found myself reading inspiring birth story after inspiring birth story, fantasizing about the day that I would one day share my own with the world. I found these stories to be empowering, courageous, and extremely emotional. They guided me in my journey as I brought Cedar into the world.

Before I begin Cedar's birth story, I want to put out a little disclaimer. I myself will never judge another woman for the birth experience she chooses for herself and her child. Every child is a gift and every mother is a goddess for creating and then bringing life into this world. There is beauty in every birth and we are lucky to live in a time where women have options on how they can choose to give birth. I myself chose to have a natural homebirth for a number of reasons. First, I am a low risk woman who therefore had the option to consider a natural birth. Secondly, I believe that this country's media and for-profit medical system has convinced healthy women that giving birth is scary and we are unable to birth without medical intervention. Third, I trust my body's ability to do what it was made to do. Fourth, I wanted to give birth at home surrounded by as few people as possible so I could tune into my body and my baby and have the birth experience that I intended. Fifth, even though I am a caesarean baby myself who turned out just fine, I do believe that how a baby enters into this world stays with them throughout their whole lives, even if it is just in their subliminal minds. I wanted to provide our baby with the most beautiful, low stress experience he could have, and I felt that giving birth in a familiar, quiet, comfortable environment, like our home, was how to achieve this.

(me at 40 weeks)

And now, I am happy to FINALLY share Cedar's birth story with all of you. :)

Let me start at the beginning. My pregnancy with Cedar was a gift. We had just been married and decided to throw caution to the wind. If it happens, it happens, right? And yet, we didn't expect for it to happen so quickly. I had been warned by a medium years earlier that I had to be very "careful" otherwise I'd have a baby before I knew it. So, I was "careful" and remained diligent with taking my birth control pills. But when we were married I told Rich I didn't want to put chemicals into my body anymore, and he was fine with that, so off the pill I went and boom(!), Cedar was conceived.

We chose to have a homebirth after lots of research and deliberation. We interviewed a few midwives in the New York area and finally decided on Valeriana (aka Val). She was warm and wise and we liked her immediately. We spent two hours interviewing her and the woman who became our doula, Gayla. I was confident that the birth that I envisioned would be possible in their hands.

I had dreams of being this super active pregnant woman (much like some of my goddess friends) climbing, hiking, and practicing yoga throughout my whole pregnancy. The first trimester put a major kibosh on that. My energy went down the tubes. I would work all day, come home, eat dinner, and pass out sometimes in mid-conversation. I couldn't sleep enough. I was always exhausted. Exhausted and nauseated. Why is it that all of the most difficult pregnancy symptoms must be felt in the first trimester when you can't tell anyone you're pregnant?! How annoying!!! I relied on the acupressure wristbands called Sea Bands to get me through my day. And because of their ability to ward off nausea, I never actually vomited. But boy, did I feel like it.

Oh, to be a newlywed drunk on pregnancy hormones. Good times. It's amazing my loving husband didn't insist on an annulment very early on. Luckily, he stuck by me and my exhausted, nauseated, emotional self. With the second trimester, things became much better. I had some of my energy back. The nausea was gone and I was "starting to show". :) Around 20 weeks I finally figured out that what I thought was gas was actually our baby kicking me with his tiny little feet. I remember laying in bed in the middle of the night on our trip to the Philippines, feeling those little kicks. I woke Rich up, grabbed his hand, and placed it on my abdomen. Sure enough, he felt it too. Soooooo friggin' cool! The second trimester also brought on intense back pain due to a pair of herniated discs I have in my lower back and the added weight I was putting on around my midsection. I started to see a chiropractor regularly and an acupuncturist occasionally. I'd walk in limping and walk out feeling good as new. They were my feel-good team.

By the third trimester, I was getting big. Big and tired again. I love to eat, so this pregnancy gave me every excuse to eat whatever my little heart desired. By the end I had gained 45 lbs. My blood pressure, blood chemistry, and overall health was still good. I had religiously taken prenatal vitamins, Vitamin D, Vitamin C, probiotics, and DHA, done my 100 daily kegels, as well as had my daily cup of Red Raspberry Leaf tea (known for strengthening the uterus). I might have been waddling, but I felt pretty good considering. We had decided not to find out the sex of our little baby until he/she was born, however I felt pretty certain that we were having a boy. He was kicking the ever-loving sh*t out of me every day, all day. I kept joking that he had his daddy's super strong cyclist legs. But I was kind of starting to wonder why in our Bradley Method birth classes, all of the other mothers were lovingly touching their bellies high when they felt kicks, while I consistently felt my baby's kicks low. Valeriana was on vacation for the month of March, so we visited Gayla instead. When I brought up my concerns to her, she checked the baby's positioning and told me that she thought the baby was breech. Sure enough, as soon as Val returned she verified at Week 35 that our baby was in fact a breech baby. There was a chance that the baby would turn on his own, but if he didn't then I would be faced with having a caesarean in the hospital, something that I was very much wanting to avoid. I had consistently been having Braxton Hicks contractions throughout the last trimester, but they had started to happen much more frequently. So much so, that I kind of got used to them being a normal part of my day. Any time I'd walk up and down the stairs ( I work on the second floor of a two story office and live in a third floor walk-up), walk "briskly" anywhere ("briskly" meaning really just whenever I was walking outside or in my office), or have to stand up in the subway on my commute... Well, you get the picture. I was getting them a lot. I was starting to think that this baby was going to come early, and that really freaked me out. At this point, my midwife advised that I needed to stop working and go on bed rest (10 days before my planned last day of work, which was already 2 weeks before the baby was due) because of my stress level and my amniotic fluid being lower than normal. She told me that I needed to rest, hydrate, and concentrate on getting this baby to turn. I tried a little bit of everything to coax the turn, but eventually ended up at 37 weeks in a hospital in Greenwich, CT, with Valeriana at my side, Rich holding my hand, and Dr. Migotsky attempting and finally achieving an external cephalic version (ECV). God, I could write an entire blog post about that experience alone! It was painful, but SO WORTH IT. Afterwards our healthy little baby was head down! Yippee! We were SO EXCITED!!! However, babies who are turned in an ECV occasionally flip back to their original breech position, so our goal was to keep him happily in his brand new ideal anterior birthing position until May 5th, his due date.

(Reading Dr. Sears' excellent "The Baby Book" while doing my pelvic tilt exercises)

Fast forward to Sunday afternoon, May 1st... Rich and I had gone walking around our town of Hoboken to check out the annual Arts and Music Festival where I fell prey to a half price vegetable samosa. It was the end of the day, and the vendor was attempting to get rid of whatever was left over. I love samosas, so what's the harm, right? By the next morning, Monday, May 2nd, I had THE WORST case of food poisoning I'd ever had. I had diarrhea and projectile vomiting all at the same time. It was so bad that I had to call Rich and ask him to come home from work and take care of me.

By Wednesday, May 4th I finally felt like I was getting back to normal after having been sick for the last two days. I woke up earlier than usual and couldn't fall back to sleep, so I decided to feed our two kitties and then make my way to the rest room. After a totally normal morning pee, I looked down to see that there was blood on the toilet paper. MY BLOODY SHOW! HOLY CRAP!!! The first sign the baby was on his way! I woke Rich up excitedly and told him the news. Oh my God! We could be parents by the end of the day! Stay calm. Stay calm. Go about your normal business. No reason to get excited. We had our 40 week appointment with Val that evening. She encouraged us to be ready, but to stay level headed. If I were to start having contractions that evening, I should try to ward them off with a glass of red wine and a hot shower. There was no need to stay up all night in labor. I needed to get as much rest as possible before the big event. And if I could sleep at night and labor during the day that would be ideal for all parties involved.

I fell asleep around 10PM, only to wake up at midnight with my first contractions. Into the hot shower I went. And after 9 months of not drinking, I popped open a bottle of Rosso Di Montalcino 2008 Vendemmia chianti, and poured myself a glass. Back to sleep I went.

Thursday, May 5th... The baby's official due date. At 6AM I was up with more contractions after a restless sleep. I had tried staying in bed as long as I could, but I was just too uncomfortable. I decided to take another hot shower just to relax a bit, only to find out that there wasn't any hot water. Rich does some investigation and discovers that our hot water heater is in fact, broken. Oh my God! You have got to be kidding me! I'm having contractions, and we don't have any hot water!!! Stay calm, Summer, stay calm. Rich does some quick internet research and finds a highly recommended repairman only blocks away. He places a call, expecting to get an answering machine at this time in the morning, and someone actually answers(!). He keeps his cool, stressing how important it is to have the repairman come over as soon as possible without telling him that I am having a baby. No need to freak anyone out, right? Within a couple of hours, I'm laying in bed, relaxing into my still inconsistent contractions, while the repairman fixes our hot water heater and we're back in business. By 8-9 AM I call our doula Gayla to let her know that I have started having contractions overnight and she advises me to go about my day and let her know when the contractions start becoming regular. Rich calls his shop and lets them know that he's not coming in. At noon we decide to walk to the waterfront for lunch. We pick up sandwiches from a local deli and sit on a park bench eating and pausing only when I experience a contraction, which we realize are becoming stronger and have now consistently been spaced 20 minutes apart. Here we go. :) The first stage of labor has officially begun and it feels like heavy menstrual cramping. When we get home, I call Gayla again and give her an update. She sounds pleased and excited, then advises me to take it easy and keep monitoring the contractions. When they get to be 10 minutes apart, we are to give her a call again.

By 4pm, I remember watching Oprah and continuing to experience contractions. At some point, I realized I can't continue watching the show because my contractions were getting much stronger and closer together, and I just couldn't concentrate on the television anymore. I remember turning off the television and deciding to start doing some of the relaxation exercises I had learned in our Bradley class. From this point on, time is a little spotty for me because I was so focused on gaining the internal force that I was going to need. For the rest of the afternoon into the evening, my contractions continued to strengthen and move closer together. I prepared the house for what I was starting to realize was going to be a night of labor. I laid out the battery-powered flickering votives and started listening to my chosen labor music, Jonsi & Alex's stunning album Riceboy Sleeps. I swayed back and forth on the exercise ball while breathing deeply into my contractions. I chose to vocalize the word OOOOOOOOOO-pen so that I could focus on the sound and visualize my body opening up each time I shaped the word, much like you focus on the word "Om" when you begin or end your yoga practice. This word and the way that I elongated it, did the same for me. It focused my energy and helped me to work with my body rather than fight against the deep sensations that I was feeling.

I don't recall what time I talked to Gayla again, but I remember the contractions were somewhere around 7 minutes apart and when I had one, it was super intense. I had to stop whatever I was doing and chant "OOOOOOOOO-pen. OOOOOOOOO-pen," until they were finished. She heard me on the other end of the phone and told us she'd be to our place in an hour. Up until this point, Rich had been inflating the birthing pool, moving furniture around, making food in the kitchen, and running over to rub my lower back every time he started hearing my chant. I tried resting with my knees on the floor while my head and upper body swaying back and forth on an exercise ball. I tried rocking back and forth while leaning on a chair. I tried holding onto Rich and swaying back and forth as I worked with each contraction. It all helped me focus on opening my body up and aided in my transition through labor until Gayla arrived.

Gayla arrived at 10PM and immediately labor somehow got more manageable. I'm not going to say that Rich and I weren't doing a pretty okay job ourselves, but having her there with all of her wisdom and experience sure made things better.

Oh wait, I forgot to mention something pretty important that you need to know. At some point throughout this whole ordeal, my diarrhea had returned with a vengeance. Literally, every other contraction I had, I was running to the rest room and crapping my brains out. OH MY GOD!!! All I could think about was "Please, not now. I don't want to have diarrhea during this. I don't want to diarrhea on my beautiful little baby!" It was terrible, and it was funking up my flow. I had been committed to maintaining a holistic approach to medicine throughout my whole pregnancy, and I didn't want to stop that now. When Gayla arrived she brought with her charcoal pills, which were supposed to help stop the diarrhea. I gulped them down with my labor aid (a natural lemon, honey, electrolyte drink that we had whipped up for the event) and hoped for the best. She also checked my urine to make sure that I wasn't dehydrated, which luckily I wasn't. As an aside, during normal homebirths the mother is encouraged to eat and drink as much as she wants or needs. I looked forward to this leading up to this moment, and then as soon as the diarrhea appeared all of my dreams of eating comfort foods went straight out the window. I was instantly confined to only eating binding foods like bananas, white bread, apples, and white rice to keep up my energy. No fun. But necessary. And we didn't have any of these foods in the house because I'm a whole grain/ brown rice type of girl, so right in the thick of it, Rich had to run to the supermarket and pick it all up while Gayla and I labored on, walking around the house looking into each other's eyes, her harmonizing in my "Open" chant with me. Her expertly rubbing my lower back and applying pressure to my hips as I worked with my contractions. Me in the hot shower letting the water ease my deep sensations.

I'm not sure when it happened. Again, I was in labor-land, so time wasn't something I was paying attention to. But at some point we realized that my contractions were not getting closer together and so, in an attempt to get us to conserve energy, Gayla put both of us into bed. I remember now how beautiful it was. Rich and I asleep in our bed with only one votive flickering in the darkness. Gayla sat in meditation next to the bed, only inches from me. It was as if she was my wise mother sent there to ease my discomfort. Any time my body would tighten with a contraction and my breathing would deepen she would massage my body intently, assisting in its' softening and surrender. Even then, while I focused so intently on the powerful sensations inside of me, I felt the magic of the moment.

When my contractions starting becoming more frequent and I began running back to the rest room regularly again, I remember hearing Gayla on the phone with Valeriana, informing her of my progress. It was then that I hit a wall. My first moment of self doubt. The contractions were so intense. I was weak from very little sleep the past few days and my ever present diarrhea. I was ready to throw in the towel. I couldn't do this. I tried. But this was the end of me being silly with my natural birth ideals. This is the reason why women ask for an epidural, I thought. This is why, and I need relief. I was afraid. I needed help. I turned to Rich. He reminded me that we had learned in our Bradley class that self doubt was a natural, very important stepping stone in birth, often signifying transition, and that I was going to make it through. "But," I argued, "I'm exhausted. I'm weak. I'm sick with diarrhea. Just take me to the hospital. Give me an epidural and tell me when to push." He consoled me, "Baby, if that's what you really want, then we will do that for you. But you've worked so hard and you can do this. Please just give it a little longer." Gayla came around the corner to see me in a heap on the bed begging Rich for relief and she urged me to reconsider. "You've done such a great job so far. You can do this." Then she handed the phone to me and I spoke with Val. I remember almost crying to her on the phone, explaining that I was worried about the baby. How was all of this diarrhea effecting him? I wanted a natural birth, but not like this. Val listened to everything I said. She listened to me experience another particularly difficult contraction and then she said, "Summer, I'm going to be there soon. Just do me a favor and try laboring in the birthing pool for a little while and see how you feel. If when I get there, you still want to go to the hospital, then we'll take you. But I think that you're going to feel much better once you're in that water." I reluctantly agreed and Rich went about filling up the birth pool.

At maybe 4AM, Valeriana arrived. By this point Gayla had rechecked to make sure that I was indeed not dehydrated and I had taken Imodium, which had helped to slow down the diarrhea. FINALLY. I was in the birthing pool, totally naked luxuriating in the warm water. Boy, had things changed. That pool was AMAZING!!! Every time I had a contraction, which by this time were anywhere between 2-5 minutes apart, Gayla or Rich would pour warm healing water over my back as I chanted "OOOOOOOO-pen" and rested on the edge of the pool. The water just seemed to help my pain melt away. Valeriana smiled when she saw my renewed strength and self-assurance. I was back in the game. I was still running from the pool every few contractions to the restroom, but my diarrhea had slowed. She checked the baby's heart rate with her doppler, and sure enough it sounded perfectly strong. The baby was okay and I was back to being the warrior I envisioned myself being.

I could have stayed in that pool all morning. In fact, I was in the pool for 3-4 hours before Gayla suggested that it was time to change it up. I needed to move this along, and while the pool had been great for a while, we needed to do something different now. I reluctantly obliged and stepped from the pool for the last time as they wrapped me in my bathrobe. The next phase of labor was going to be spent marching around the house holding onto Gayla or Rich and then doing rhythmic squats when a contraction surged. The goal was to get the baby down and out. And so it went. I worried I was stomping too loudly, and that I would bother neighbors, who by this time had to be waking up getting ready for work. Rich taped a hand-written sign on the door which stated "Labor in Progress. Please Do Not Disturb" just in case anyone felt the need to pry. Finally, I realized that my diarrhea had stopped. I felt strong. I felt focused. This baby was going to come out soon. I stomped, and stomped, and stomped. And at some point I realized that as I squated during a contraction, I felt the need to push. I told them and they agreed that I should go for it. I should PUSH. Excitedly, I began pushing, but after a few times I realized nothing really seemed to be happening.

The sun was streaming in through our blinds and a part of me was struck with just how much time had actually passed, although I still didn't know what time it was. Valeriana suggested that I attempt pushing on the toilet. I don't know what it was, maybe the fact that I'd had so much diarrhea, but I suddenly found that pushing on the toilet was not effective at all. I tried it for a few contractions. Rich even removed the shelf from above the toilet so I could sit backwards and rest against the tank. Val suggested that maybe it was just because I was shy and didn't want people around me while I pushed. Many people have stubbornly shy sphincter muscles, and need to be alone to push for a bit to make progress. So they left me alone. There I sat, all alone pushing into a toilet whenever I felt a contraction, nothing happening. Rich had placed a pillow on the toilet tank for me to rest on. I remember gazing at the light filtering in through the blinds, feeling that it was morning, realizing I was exhausted, and then noticing that my contractions were slowing down and I was dozing off. How disheartening! Rich came to check on me and I explained to him that I was frustrated. This wasn't working. I was tired. I needed to rest. I felt like my contractions were weakening. I couldn't go through this all again. As hard as it was to come to terms with, I needed a break. He escorted me out of the rest room and explained to Val and Gayla that I wanted to sleep and then we'd try again. They both took me to the bedroom while Rich settled in for some New York Times reading on his Blackberry in the living room, expecting that I was going to be asleep any minute.

In the bedroom, I explained to Val the frustration I was feeling and how I didn't feel as though I was making progress, no matter how hard I pushed. She decided that she was going to check me and see how much my cervix had effaced. This was the first time that Val actually checked me since her arrival. We weren't sure when or if my water had broken and the more a woman is checked internally, the bigger the chance that outside bacteria can be introduced into the birth canal. So, while Gayla had checked me twice before Val had arrived, this was the first time Val took a look. I laid back on my bed, my legs spread wide. Val was crouched at the foot of the bed and I think Gayla was next to me. Val inserted her fingers and discovered that there was the tiniest lip of stubborn cervix still left. This was the reason I hadn't made progress. I was pushing up against a wall. She told me that she was going to move the cervix back and then she said the most amazing words I had heard throughout my journey, "Summer, do you feel my fingers?". "Yes," I answered. "That's where your baby's head is. Push into my fingers." And so I did. And it was ONNNNNNNN! I was PUSHING, GOD DAMN IT! And MY BABY WAS COMING THE F*CK OUT!

I moaned and a beast came alive inside of me. I felt it! I was doing it! My adrenaline was pumping and it was working! I think Gayla called Rich over and told him that it was time. He was a bit in shock, expecting that I was going to take a nap, and now here I was a savage beast pushing with everything I had. After that contraction, they asked me to position myself onto all fours at the head board, while Rich sat in the bed next to me speaking words of encouragement and wiping my sweating brow and neck with a cool wash cloth. I remember the space between contractions and how I felt our baby within my body as I breathed in healing gulps of air. And then another contraction would come and I would scream and moan and push with all of the primal strength I could summon. Val urged me during a rest to start pushing into my anus and not into my throat, otherwise I was going to blow my vocal chords. She also told me to pay attention very carefully to her instructions, and to slow down my pushing when she advised me to. She didn't want me to tear and so I had to be calculated and control my efforts. I tuned into everything she said as if she were the only one in the room. I felt the baby's body descend within my birth canal and the stretching of my body and the flexing of my bones. At one point, she instructed me to reach down and feel my baby's head. I gasped and lowered my hand. I felt a hard, wet, silken head. It was so surreal. I was moments away from meeting our child. Then I pushed a few more times and she invited Rich to take a look at our baby. The head was out. He was sort of creeped out by it, but he moved to my backside and saw the little head fully emerged. I held this position feeling every sensation in my body. Feeling my baby, knowing that I only had to give one more push or so and the baby's shoulders and body would be born. When the next contraction came, and Valeriana told me to push. I pushed with everything I had! And the next thing I knew, there was this tiny little blue-ish, wet, crying baby laying beneath me. Valeriana had expertly caught him and passed him through my legs onto the pad below me. He lay there gasping for air, breathing his first breaths, crying his first guttural cries, blinking into his first light, and I gazed at him in disbelief, shock, exhaustion, and utter exuberance. This was our baby. We had done it. The baby was a boy. He was here! He was our Cedar! About 30 seconds passed as I just breathed in air, touched, and focused on this little baby, gathering in all I could of this sight. Rich kissed me and stared at both of us in disbelief. Val rubbed Cedar's little body and appraised him to ensure he was okay, but allowed us to really regard our son for the first time. And then I finally found my voice, "Hi baby... I'm your mommy." I stroked his back. The spell was broken, and I was able to talk again. Cedar was born at 10:08AM, Friday, May 6th.

We lifted him onto my abdomen and covered him with his froggie blanket. The cord was short so we couldn't bring him up any further. They waited for the cord to stop pulsing with healing cord blood and then clamped it and cut it. He lay on my belly as Rich and I gazed at him, falling deeply in love. Val then told me to push when I felt a contraction, and out came the placenta. I was officially no longer pregnant!!! What a fantastic feeling!!!

For the next hour or so, we laid there with Cedar's bare skin on my bare skin, watching and encouraging him as he slowly and deliberately kicked, crawled, and head-bobbed up to my left breast to complete the birth crawl and latch onto my nipple for the first time. It was the most magical experience and my heart sang to see my tiny baby's eager lips surround my areola and then feel the sensation of him nursing for the first time.

(Val giving Cedar his first check-up)

After he had nursed, Gayla took my hand and led me off to the rest room to shower, while Val and Rich cleaned everything up. I remember how wonderful that water felt washing over my body, energizing me, healing me, welcoming me into the new day as a mother. When I stepped from the shower, Gayla met me with a towel. "I'm so proud of you, Summer. You did a wonderful job. This is the day that you have been born into this world as a mother. Celebrate in your birth today, for you will never be the same." Being alone with her in our rest room, I felt for the first time the invisible line that would forever attach me to our son. And I knew I was now a mother.

(Cedar all swollen and peely. Only 1 1/2 hour old, totally alert and interested in the world already.)

Rich and I had decided not to inform anyone when I went into labor. We didn't want anyone interupting and checking in on our progress. Rather, we wanted it to be a time for us. A couple of hours after he was born, the phone calls and the Facebook posts with the good news started. We could barely contain ourselves. But that first day it was only for us. We told our mothers that only they could come the next day, and then the rest of the family could come the day after that. But that first day was for the three of us. We were a new family and we wanted to enjoy being a family alone for that precious first day.

(Breakfast in bed with my little love. It doesn't get any better than this.)

Looking back on this experience, I wouldn't have changed a thing. It was the most empowering, inspiring, beautiful, wonderful, and perfect birth I could have ever desired. It was everything I had hoped for. Everything I had dreamed of. Everything I had intended.

And now, I write my Cedar's birth story sitting in the bed he was born in only 13 short weeks ago, while he sleeps soundly for a few more precious hours in his crib at the foot of the bed.

I have been blessed to have had this experience and to be able to share it with you.

xoxo-

Summer

Cedar's 3 Months Old and I'm Going Back to Work

2011-08-05T19:42:00.000-04:00

My Cedar-love was born 13 weeks ago today. As I've continued to say every time I reflect on how old he is, it seems like it's been longer that he's been with us. It's as though his little soul was always with us. It was just waiting for the opportunity to come into this world.

I'm going back to full time work next week, which is bitter sweet. My husband and I weighed the options for months and finally decided that it was the right thing to do for our family. He is going to take on the role of Cedar's primary caregiver, and for having that option, we are blessed and thankful. Cedar will be in the best of hands.

Understandably, this transition into my new role as "working mother" weighs heavily on my mind. I want to grasp onto the memories from the past 4 months that I have been home prioritizing my boy and his needs, both before he was born and since. It has been an extremely gratifying time, one that I will always treasure and never forget.

Oftentimes, in the first morning light as he nestles up next to my body nursing, I think to myself how two people couldn't possibly be closer to one another than we are to each other. It's a magical feeling. I love everything about my little sweetie. I love being his as much as I hope he'll always love being mine.

xoxo-

Summer

8 Weeks Old and Big Smiles!!!

2011-07-04T10:48:00.000-04:00

Look at my beautiful boy! I love his gorgeous smile and his cute little dimples! His newborn hair continues to fall out and his new hair is starting to grow in. Can you believe it's already been over 8 weeks since he was born?! His personality is starting to shine through and he's making all kinds of fun cooing sounds. We have conversations all day long. I can't wait until I get to hear what is on his mind. For now, I can only imagine.

Happy Anniversary!

2011-07-03T11:00:00.001-04:00

Today is our 1 year wedding anniversary. :)

So much has happened this year. All good of course, with Cedar's birth being the best.

I love my husband and I'm so happy to have him as my partner in life.

Mommy Style: Me So Far

2011-07-02T23:58:00.000-04:00

After reading Joanna's blog post about how motherhood has changed her personal style, I thought about how my style has changed since I had Cedar over 8 weeks ago.

(Cedar and I at a friend's art show this past week)

Has it changed? Umm, yes, very much so. And here's why:

#1 I'm dressing a new body. I gained 45 lbs with my pregnancy, and while I've already lost almost half of that, I still can't fit into most of the clothes that I used to wear pre-Cedar. Also, I'm breastfeeding, which means that my breasts are my version of enormous and I need to wear clothes that not only fit their size but provide easy access for the Cedar-man.

#2 I'm on maternity leave so I'm dressing far more casually than usual. T-shirts, jeans, and Birkenstocks have been my staple uniform and other than our ring sling, accessories and jewelry have been non-existant. I'm always holding my son and I don't want anything to scratch him or make indents on his cute little face while he's snuggling up to me.

#3 I said goodbye to my long hair in favor of a short hair cut because I got bored with always tying my hair back to keep it out of my way. I tried to wear it down a few times and it just didn't work. The truth is that I've always preferred short hair anyway, so this was a great excuse to cut it all off again. :)

As my body slims, Cedar gets bigger, and I go back to work, my style will continue to evolve. But for now, this is me. And I'm loving being Cedar's casual mommy.

Mommy Style: Joanna

2011-06-23T10:11:00.002-04:00

Joanna Goddard, one of my favorite bloggers, posted pictures of herself with her son the other day, and I just love her chic mommy style.

New Blog Love

2011-06-21T15:05:00.000-04:00

Typing with one hand while I hold Cedar with the other... I wouldn't change it for the world.

So much has been going on and as I mentioned before I haven't had much computer time. But today, as Cedar sleeps in his favorite spot (on me), I decided to do some internet browsing instead of napping, reading parenting books, or watching crap t.v. And that's how I came across A Beautiful Mess, a super gorgeous, funky blog by an adorable girl named Elsie. She has great retro style and obviously owns a terrific camera. You've gotta check it out! I'm totally inspired.

Check out a selection of these cute photos from her colorful, vintage- inspired wedding below:

Whoa, 4 Weeks Old Already

2011-06-05T12:11:00.000-04:00

I'm sort of obsessed with my kid. But, how could I not be, right? He rocks! And he's officially 4 weeks old!

Judging by my lack of posting recently, you probably have already realized that I'm up to my eyeballs in being a new mother. I don't have much online time these days, and usually I'm checking my e-mail or Facebook when I am online for a couple minutes. I've been lucky this first month. I've managed to get a pedicure, have my hair colored, and we've taken the baby out to eat a couple of times in the neighborhood.

The unfortunate thing is that I can't be away from him for more than an hour without him having a meltdown. Like yesterday... Rich and I have been hesitant to get a stroller. I know, you're thinking you two are nuts(!), strollers are a must. Well, our thought process went a little something like this... We live in a third floor walk-up and hauling a heavy-ass stroller up three flights of stairs, along with Cedar, and whatever other crap we might have sounds like NO FUN. Also, our neighborhood is full of stroller commandos. For those of you that don't live in an urban area, let me explain. Stroller commandos are moms (or nannies) who are usually talking loudly on their cellphones and will run your ass off of the sidewalk (or over) with their gigantic SUV strollers full of kids, a diaper bag, groceries, a pack n' play, and whatever else they can cram into those things. Okay, now that you know what I'm talking about, Rich and I REALLY don't want to be one of them. We decided that since Cedar is small and portable, the sling will be our mode of transport. Cedar loves the sling. We love the sling. So, no worries, right? And then we got some hot weather, and the sling started to get a little sweaty. Both for us and for Cedar. When we got home from a walk the other day, and both Cedar and I were covered in sweat, I decided that a stroller was necessary. So, back to me not being able to be away from Cedar for more than an hour. Yesterday, I left Rich at home with the Cedar-man and I went out to find a simple, light weight stroller. A task that I expected would be a quick trip. Turns out, most strollers are massive and heavy (and expensive) so I had to visit a couple stores before I found what we were looking for. An hour into my trip, I got a nervous phone call from Rich with Cedar wailing in the background, asking me to hurry home. Luckily, I was already on my way. :) Aww, my little boy loves me. (But also) Aww, I can't be away from him for an hour without him getting upset, my poor boy. Soon enough, I will be pumping my milk and Cedar will be able to take a bottle from Rich and hopefully maybe then I can be away from the boy a little longer without him getting sad.

Now for some cute 1 month old pictures of my little love!

Most of the peelies are gone and the newborn acne is here. He's also starting to lose his newborn hair.

He has a cowlick just like his daddy.

Hey, check me out in my stylie Baby Gap outfit.

Totally flat. :)

Lips just like his daddy.

My new favorite skill that he has is smiling while he looks directly at me.

Music for Your Memorial Day Weekend

2011-05-27T09:42:00.001-04:00

Mom, I'm Hungry!

2011-05-24T21:50:00.000-04:00

Rich has been making Cedar videos for our families who don't live close by. This latest one is my favorite. I was in the shower and my little Cedar man decided that he was hungry, so Rich had to keep him busy until I got out.

Ahh, the joys of breast feeding. :)

2 Weeks Old and Cuter Than Ever

2011-05-22T11:36:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it's already been two weeks since Cedar was born. Well, actually I can believe it when I look at him and see how much he's grown and changed since then. Not to mention how much we've grown and changed as parents since then. We've been out and about a little more this week. Running errands and having an afternoon in the park with Cedar in his sling. I'm not ready to breast feed in public yet since I'm just not stealth enough, so I've been doing it in the car or making sure that our outings are less than two hours long to ensure that he doesn't get hungry. I look forward to the day when I am a master breast feeding goddess who can whip out the boob without anyone noticing and then discretely put everything back away just as quickly. A few months ago I was having brunch with a friend at one of my favorite restaurants when I noticed a couple of women and their brood of kids eating at a nearby table. At one point one of them unbuttoned her top and inserted her newborn to nurse, while not even missing a beat in her conversation with her friend. That woman is my hero. She was so cool about it that I strongly doubt that anyone else in the restaurant even realized she was breast feeding. Ever since then, I've kept the image of that master breast feeding goddess in my head in hopes of one day being just like her. Wish me luck that the day for that will come sooner rather than later.

Now here's some cute pictures of our little boy that I took yesterday afternoon.

Still a little peelie from birth, but adorable none the less.

His Zutano 0-6 month old onesie is a little big, but we figured we'd give it a whirl. Isn't the print adorable?

There's one of his sweet smiles. :)

Introducing Cedar!!!

2011-05-09T12:53:00.001-04:00

Hi Everyone!!!

This is our son, Cedar Robbins Sutter!!! Born on Friday morning at 10:08 AM at home in a planned home birth. He weighed 6 lbs 12 oz and measured 20" long.

Labor and delivery was the most challenging, intense, empowering, and rewarding experiences of my entire life. I experienced self doubt a couple of times during my 22 hours of labor, but my trust in our chosen expert birthing team (midwife Valeriana and doula Gayla) along with the support of my amazing husband Rich carried me through the ups and downs of contractions and birthing our beautiful boy. Their absolute belief in my body's ability, my soul's wisdom, and our baby's willingness and partnership in being born was what carried me through. I became a primal beast under their watchful eyes. Something I wasn't aware existed inside of me, and quite candidly, pushing the baby out is the easy part once you've gone through active labor. Cedar was born on our bed and was placed onto my abdomen to complete the birth crawl , which he did in a little over an hour after he arrived into the world. He's been breast feeding like a pro ever since. He's super alert, aware, and curious of his surroundings. He really is an angel. He just wants to be held by someone all of the time, and as long as we do that he's super happy and content with the world.

I myself am doing great. Just recuperating from such an emotional and physical experience. My mother drove all the way up from North Carolina to help Rich and I with the transition into parenthood. She and Rich have been waiting on me hand and foot as I spend my necessary time on bedrest allowing my body to heal. The hardest thing for me has been getting my much-needed sleep. So, with that being said, I'm going to say goodbye and try to catch some z's before Cedar wakes up ready for another feeding.

Love to all.

-Summer

It's Magic!

2011-04-22T12:09:00.002-04:00

I'm sure you all have realized that my baby mode brain has been switched on since I could have the baby any day at this point. Don't get me wrong, I'm still inspired by style, design, and music. But all of this baby stuff is new and exciting to me, and since I'm thinking about it, I'm going to share it with you. :)

The first time Rich and I interviewed our midwife, Valeriana we found out about The Breast Crawl, which was something we had never heard of before. Valeriana told us that human babies, just like other mammal babies, have an instinct to crawl to their mother's breast right after they are born. It's unfortunately one of those things that our society has lost awareness of due to the way that we as a culture approach birth. What?! How could this be?! I thought infants were helpless and couldn't do anything for themselves. Then she showed us a video she had on her phone that she had just recorded at a birth that morning. Rich and I were blown away! There was the little boo-boo, all pink and naked, laying on her mother's abdomen lifting her tiny head and CRAWLING (!) to her mother's breast and latching on like a pro. "Sign me up!", I thought. How AMAZING!

Months later, in our Bradley Method Birth Class, our educator Mary Esther, showed us the below video, and from that point on, it's been one of the magical moments that I look forward to experiencing with our little baby at our birth.

SUCCESS!

2011-04-21T07:46:00.001-04:00

The external cyphalic version worked!!! The baby's head down!!! We are so excited!!!

38 weeks down. 2 more to go. :)

Learning My First Parenting Lesson

2011-04-14T12:06:00.001-04:00

I'm learning my first rule of parenting right now. Our baby is a part of me, but ultimately they are an individual. In my role as a parent, I guide them toward what I believe is right, but in the end this little individual decides what to do on their own.

Now at 37 weeks pregnant, I feel my baby’s little head under my ribs at the top of my belly and its’ sweet little hiney in my pelvis. I love this little baby and I trust their wisdom in choosing to birth the way they know is right for them. There’s something in me that admires our baby even more for being so strong willed in their choice of position. Throughout all of the acupuncture, chiropractic, and even hypnotherapy that I’ve used to encourage this little one to move. Not to mention the uncomfortable “butt-in-the-air” positions that I continue to put myself in for hours, working with gravity to show the baby the way to place their head in my pelvis, I’ve realized that I’m not the one in charge. I’m at the baby’s will. It is my job to encourage, but ultimately to surrender to what the baby decides to do. I have 3 more weeks to encourage this little soul to flip around. Our next option is an external cyphalic version where a trained OBGYN will attempt to externally turn the baby in an OR, while monitoring the baby’s heart rate, and using sonogram to make sure of the position. I look forward to this opportunity and hope for its’ success. If the baby decides to turn, either on its’ own or with assistance, then we will have our intended homebirth with our beloved midwife and doula that we have planned and prepared for. If the baby continues to reside in the breech position, then our birth will be in a hospital with an OB that I haven't even met yet, but know is capable. Either way, our baby will be brought into this world with love and respect, and I look forward to meeting our little one soon.

My Baby Shower! Oh, and 35 Weeks!

2011-04-05T22:16:00.001-04:00

This past Saturday my step-mother Cindy and my mother-in-law Dina hosted a baby shower for me at Pipa, a yummy tapas restaurant attached to one of my favorite stores, ABC Carpet & Home. I've been looking forward to this for months mostly because I haven't seen all of these people together since my wedding last July. And yes, the gifts were nice too. Rich and I have sort of been waiting to purchase anything until after the shower, so now I really feel like we're getting prepared for our little one. But, in all reality the gifts were just the icing on top of spending time with all of these wonderful women. I'm such a lucky girl to have so many amazingly loving ladies in my life. :)

All of the lovely grandmas-to-be and me. How lucky is this kid?! I mean not only do they get 3 awesome grandmothers, but also two fabulous great-grandmothers! (Only 4 here, because Dina's mother is in the Philippines.) From left: my mom Jeanette, me, my step-mom Cindy, Rich's grand-mother Naomi, and Rich's mom Dina.

Some of my best friends from high school, who all came up from Virginia for the day(!). Love these girls! From left: Alisha, Morgan, and Airynee.

My step-sister Sara is 17 weeks pregnant! How cute is she?!

Reena-licious.

Mom, Naomi, and Dina enjoying each other, the food, and the sangria.

Ms. Janet.

All the pretty ladies toasting.

Just a few of the vintage chandeliers that hang from the ceiling. Oh, and they're all for sale. :)

My mama and I.

Fast friends Rebecca, Rachael, and Sharon.

35 week pregnant me with 27 week pregnant Shelly.

Sara and Cindy.

Yum! Dessert! The coconut gelato was unbelievable!!!

Whitney, Shelly, and Reena.

Rachael and I.

The walls of the restaurant are encrusted with shells and stones. The whole effect is very dreamy, kinda like this party was for me.

My darling Airynee.

One of my favorite parts of the shower was the "Mother's Blessing" which Cindy included on the handmade place-cards. Each guest got a bead and was able to write me their blessing on the inside of each card. Being the sap that I am, I treasure these above everything else. I read each card aloud and my step-sister strung the beads on to a necklace that I will wear in labor. That way each of these ladies will be there supporting me in my journey into motherhood. :)

Gift time! Since we've chosen to be surprised by the baby's sex, we got a lot of super cute gender-neutral clothes.

Like this little Dwell Baby outfit. How cuhhh-ute!

Thanks to EVERYONE who made this day so special for me. All of you ladies are the best!

A special thank you to Cindy and Dina for all of their planning and generosity in hosting this party, and my mother for driving up from North Carolina to share in this day with me.

I love you all!

-Summer

34 Weeks Along (me) and Cleo Arrives (Nina)

2011-03-26T15:03:00.001-04:00

What a difference a week makes...

Last week, I had a stomach flu and some ligamental aches and pains. No fun. But with the help of homeopathy, chiropractic, acupuncture, and my general practitioner, I'm feeling as good as new this week.

Me at 34 weeks. Check out how much my belly has popped! It's pretty amazing! Our little one is getting big. :) In the past couple of weeks, I've actually had to go through my closet again, and figure out what clothes definitely don't work anymore for my growing physique, and needless to say, there was quite a lot. I'm down to a few dresses, 2 pairs of maternity leggings, these maternity jeans, and about 6-7 tops. I am going to make it work for the next 6 weeks. A lot of mid-week laundry may need to be done, but I'm not going to invest in anymore maternity wear. In this photo, I'm wearing a Development cotton top, over A Pea In a Pod maternity tank top, my Gap Maternity skinny jeans, Muji merino wool scarf, and All Saints grey suede sneaks.

It was a rather grey, cold week in NYC, so breaking out the colorful Spring attire was a little premature (even though we had a 70 degree day last week). However, wearing bright orange earrings certainly added a little cheer to an overcast day.

Now onto other more exciting news...

Nina and Blake welcomed baby Cleo last Sunday morning! Cleo was born in a birthing pool with their midwife, Nina's mother (who is a certified doula), and Blake assisting, after 6 hours of labor and 15 minutes of pushing. This photo was taken only hours after Cleo was born. Doesn't Nina look gorgeous?!

I love this picture of Jasper inspecting his new baby sister's tiny hands.

Congratulations to Blake, Nina, and Jasper!

Can't wait to meet beautiful baby Cleo soon. :)

Kelly the Great

2011-03-21T12:00:00.002-04:00

I've written posts about the stunning interior designer Kelly Wearstler before. But it's been a while and there are new inspiring developments in her world, so it's time for another Kelly Wearstler post.

First off. She has a new blog called My Vibe My Life, which I'm already addicted to, even though Joanna just introduced me to it the other day!!! Here are some of my favorite photos of her AMAZINGly eccentric, colorful, and chic personal style from her blog:

Next... She has a new ready-to-wear collection that she just debuted at NY Fashion Week a few weeks ago, which I'm in love with. The collection features her signature love of color, pattern mixing, and sumptuous fabrics combined with her unique sense of style and proportion. Here are some of my favorite looks from that collection from Style.com:

How Life Has Changed

2011-03-19T11:05:00.002-04:00

Only a few years ago, I lived within blocks of Shelly & Joe and Nina & Blake. We would see each other multiple times a week and hang out, drink wine, eat dinner, go climbing, and just plain have fun. Our little neighborhood seemed to be the center of the universe. But then life happens. They decided to have babies, and I decided to move in with Rich and get married. We all ended up in different corners of the New York/ New Jersey area and now we barely see each other.

Last weekend, I had a last minute styling cancellation so I decided to take my suddenly free day and visit my friends. Nina, Blake, and their adorable son Jasper live in a quietly cute neighborhood in New York State right on the Hudson River. Shelly, her son Hudson, and I drove up to visit them for the day. Oh, and one thing I forgot to mention is that Nina is 9 1/2 months pregnant and Shelly is 6 months pregnant, so it was awesome hanging out and sharing pregnancy stories while watching them with their two toddlers... Which by the way, HOLY CRAP(!), I don't know how they have the energy to keep up with those two.

Nina @ 38 weeks, me @ 32 weeks, and Shelly @ 24 weeks.

So, let me explain this picture... We're posing for our cute prego moment, which the boys wanted to be a part of. So Jasper starts proclaiming "GOD DAMN IT!" with his little fists stretched into the air, over and over again. It's evidently something new he's learned, which Nina and Blake are trying to ignore in hopes it will go away. But here? Well, we're doing the opposite of ignoring it and cracking up, which could encourage him to continue saying it. Which, I might add, he did. Over and over again. :) To me, there's nothing cuter than an adorable toddler with a potty mouth. LOL!

So, here's a picture with everyone happily part of the photo and no more "GOD DAMN IT!"s.

Hudson (3) and Jasper (2 1/2) playing on the couch. Aren't they the cutest?!

Taking a walk around the neighborhood.

Towards the end of the walk the boys got to ride on their mommy's shoulders to expedite the walk a little bit, because I had to go to the restroom (a very normal thing these days). I told the boys, "We have to hurry, otherwise I'm going to pee my pants!" Later that week, Jasper had to go and told Nina, "I don't want to pee my pants like Summer," and used the toilet. Who knew I was the key to potty training?

32 Weeks!!!!!!

2011-03-12T11:05:00.007-05:00

OH BOY, how life is changing. My newest accessory is a back brace/ belly support, which is honestly rocking my world (in a good way). All of this extra weight has been rough on the herniated discs in my lower back, which prior to pregnancy weren't much of a problem. But you know, growing baby and no more core strength, and these things happen. So, what's a girl to do but adjust, or in my case get adjustments from my wonderful chiropractor. Pregnancy continues to become more glamourous. :)

It was in the 50s yesterday, so I'm outside with only a sweater on. :) Hooray for Spring being on the way!!! I'm wearing a silk All Saints printed top under a grey tweed All Saints sweater with a pair of Gap Maternity skinny jeans and my red Hunter boots (we've been getting a lot of rain).

A detail of the top with the sweater, since you can't really see it in the above photo. Again, both sweater and top are non-maternity pieces, so they will both live on after the baby is born. :) Back when I was still in the first trimester and could wear my normal skirts, I wore the top with this skirt, which is my favorite combo.

Turquoise earrings.

My red Hunter rain boots. I've worn these an awful lot this winter.

The baby and I are listening to the new Elbow album today. Check it, check it out.

Music Because It's Almost the Weekend

2011-03-10T12:03:00.002-05:00

31 Weeks and Off To Vermont For The Weekend

2011-03-06T21:40:00.000-05:00

I've been fighting off a bad cold for a little over a week now, so it was soooooo nice to get out of dirty NYC and into the fresh Vermont air this weekend.

We left work early on Friday afternoon and arrived in time for dinner at The Pond House in picturesque Brownsville, VT. Yup, this is me at 31 weeks, still wearing my favorite Rebecca Taylor printed silk dress (I think it's going to last throughout the whole pregnancy. Yippy!) over an Isabella Oliver black maternity turtleneck and tights.

We were greeted with a delicious home-cooked dinner by our gracious host Gretel. This was our mixed green with goat cheese and crouton salad.

The main course was spinach linguini with a chicken, mushroom, artichoke, and cream sauce. Mmm-mmm. It really hit the spot.

Dessert was a light and refreshing citrus salad with coconut, almonds, and yummy homemade citrus syrup that she had drizzled over the top.

Our super-comfy, cozy, warm bed. Rich and I have been having a hard time sleeping at home thanks to my constant pregnant tossing and turning, but we slept very soundly in this wonderful bed.

It must have been the quiet of the country along with the cushy feather bed.

And for breakfast... Orange french toast with grilled prosciotto.

Oh yeah, that made my day. :)

I got to spend the day relaxing, reading, napping, and exploring while everyone else went skiing at nearbye Magic Mountain.

Outside The Pond House, which was built in...

1830.

Charlie, The Pond House's adorable doggie.

Sunday morning was a rainy mess, so Rich decided to pass on skiing and we headed home.

We stopped in Northampton, Massachusetts to eat a late breakfast at Jake's No Frills Dining.

I had the El Paso, which was corn bread covered in scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, black beans, and a jalapeno salsa. Yummmmm.

Feeling much better after this weekend. Nice and revitalized for the busy week to come. :)

My Stylie Friends

2011-02-21T11:49:00.000-05:00

The other day when Rachael was taking these pictures, I decided to turn the camera on her since she looked so damn cute.

She's wearing a Theory knit dress and J+ cardigan from Uniqlo.

Her necklace was a gift from one of her sisters to symbolize she and her three sisters. Isn't that lovely?!

Vintage belt.

Tights from a store in Milan, boots from a store in Verona. (Rachael used to live in Italy)

Just as we were finishing up, we heard shrieking coming from down the block. At first we ignored it, because there are plenty of crazies wandering the streets of New York shrieking at any given moment. But the person kept getting closer and then we realized that that the "crazy" person was actually our friend Allistair who isn't one to go unnoticed.

Allistair is a stylie dude, so here he is dancing and squealing for us.

And just in case you were wondering what Allistair's wearing... He has on a J.Crew v-neck sweater, Belstaff jacket, some form of Japanese denim that he didn't remember, Redwing boots, and a Porter bag.

Oh Hell Yeah

2011-02-20T10:00:00.000-05:00

New Radiohead. Need I say more?

Bennett's Birthday Weekend in Red Hook

2011-02-19T12:00:00.004-05:00

A couple of weekends ago we celebrated our friend Bennett's 28th birthday up in Red Hook, NY in a beautiful, historic rental home that Rebecca had found for the occasion. It was so great to get out of the city to relax in the country with friends, if only for a short time.

Here are some pictures from that memorable weekend:

A snowy view of the back yard.

The barn which was also a garage next to the house.

Our pretty room.

The lovely antique blue wire frame chair in the corner.

The original front door was one of my favorite parts of the house.

The kitchen complete with tons of snacks Becky brought.

The crooked staircase lined with a collection of old walking canes.

Rebecca and Marina-dog.

Ms. Sierra chillin.

The girls napping out. Could they be more cute?!

Our gracious hosts Bennett and Rebecca.

Dinner at a super yummy vegetarian restaurant called Luna 61 in Tivoli, which had hands down THE BEST chocolate cake I've ever eaten, and it was VEGAN(!). From left, me, Bridget, Brett, Bennett, Rebecca, and Rich.

Happy birthday to Bennett!

Rich, me, and the baby belly.

The house once the snow stopped.

The screened in back porch.

The boys and Sierra warming up the cars for our departure.

Coralee

2011-02-18T13:54:00.000-05:00

I am so happy to announce that our good friends Cat and Carmine just had their little girl, Coralee this morning at 8:35 AM.

She's so beautiful and I'm so excited for the two of them! God, it doesn't seem like that long ago when I noticed that Cat wasn't drinking or dancing at our wedding, which might I add, is very unlike her (especially the dancing part). So of course, I grabbed her and asked her why, and that's when I found out that she was pregnant with their little "bean". She and Carmine had decided to wait and be surprised by bean's sex, so there was a lot of speculation that she was having a boy, because of the way she was carrying. Well peoples, that old wives tale means absolutely nothing because, as you see now, Coralee is a gorgeous girl. :)

Congratulations to Cat and Carm! And welcome to the world lovely little Coralee. :)

29 Weeks Along & The Baby Wants a Doughnut

2011-02-17T22:21:00.002-05:00

I'm feeling great! Like better than I have in my whole entire pregnancy GREAT.
I'm going to credit that to a number of things:
1) Vitamins, supplements, and probiotics.
2) Weekly chiropractor and acupuncture visits.
3) The mountains of snow and ice melting so that I can walk everywhere again.
4) A new Doughnut Plant location that just opened up next to the Chelsea Hotel, near where I work. Yum. Doughnuts. :)

What's that? Taking pictures outside without even a coat on? Could this really be February in New York? Ahh, if only it would last. I'm wearing an All Saints printed silk dress, a Madewell light heather grey tank top, black Gap Maternity leggings, and a Tse Say merino cardigan.

Manic Manic necklace.

Black suede Minnetonka moccasins.

Looking over Eric's shoulder inside Doughnut Plant.

Fresh warm doughnuts.

Even vegan Mark couldn't resist.

My warm passion fruit, glazed cake doughnut was the most moist cake doughnut I have ever had. It melted in my mouth.

Gobbling up my fresh doughnut on the way back to work.

Get Out Your Tissues

2011-02-16T21:39:00.000-05:00

Last Minutes with ODEN from phos pictures on Vimeo.

What's In An Old Oxford Shirt?

2011-02-16T13:37:00.000-05:00

I loved this blog post on Worn Stories about the heart-felt story behind my good friend Karuna's old oxford shirt that she inherited from her beloved father.

It made me think that there are endearing pieces in everyone's wardrobe that have their own story. What are your favorite pieces and why?

Now That's What I Call A Fashion Show

2011-02-14T14:52:00.000-05:00

Moncler's Fall 2011 show in Grand Central = A definite reason to miss you train.

28 Weeks= 3rd Trimester FINALLY

2011-02-11T21:14:00.000-05:00

Hello 3rd trimester!!! I am so excited to be here! Only 12 more weeks to go and I cannot wait! I'm so excited to meet this little kicker.

I'm wearing a tent-like t-shirt from All Saints, a Pea in a Pod tank top (can you tell that I wear one of these almost every day?), a Club Monaco black cardigan, Gap Maternity skinny cargo pants with a Muji wool scarf knotted at my neck, and copper hoop earrings.

A nice side view of the baby belly.

Oh how I love wearing these All Saints suede sneakers. I feel so much more grounded and comfortable in these than any of my other shoes, something that is becoming increasingly important to me nowadays.

The Way to My Heart Is...

2011-02-11T11:41:00.000-05:00

...through my stomach.

And while I feel that every day should be Valentine's Day, what's the hurt in giving your loved one a little something extra sweet on Monday?

Maybe some yummy brownies from Mari's New York?

Thanks E. Lee for my little yummy box. ;)

Music For Common People

2011-02-10T12:00:00.005-05:00

Haven't been able to get this song out of my head recently. Not that that's ever a bad thing when Jarvis Cocker's involved.

I Heart Olivier

2011-02-09T14:36:00.002-05:00

I've loved designer Olivier Theyskens since he dressed a gothed-out Madonna for the Oscars way back in 1998. He went on to become quite the fashion darling after that, first designing his own line, then taking the helm at Rochas and Nina Ricci. Now he's in New York and designing a slightly more expensive line for Theory called Theyskens' Theory, which I am in absolute love with. Below are my favorite pieces from the new line. One of the best things about this collection is how gorgeous each one of these pieces looks from behind, so I've included a lot of back views for you to enjoy.

Oh Isabel

2011-02-08T16:13:00.000-05:00

I love this Backyard Bill for Elle spread of French designer Isabel Marant in her design studio.

27 Weeks

2011-02-05T11:11:00.001-05:00

In pregnancy news:
-I officially weigh as much as my husband now.
-The baby is turning somersaults and kicking me constantly, which is really, really cool. (I think it has its' daddy's strong cycling legs.)
-I've come to the realization that I literally don't know when I will have a night of full sleep again.
-I had my glucose screening test, so I had to lay off anything sweet or with a high glucose index for most of the week (thank God that's over now). To punctuate that we went out last night with our friends Lauren and Greg to a yummy pizza place in their neighborhood called Lucali.
-This weekend we're off to celebrate our friend Bennett's birthday in Red Hook, NY.
-Oh, and only 13 more weekends in our lives as non-parents. Whoa.

I broke down and bought another pair of jeans this week from Gap Maternity (which I couldn't be happier about because they are so damn comfy). In this photo I'm wearing A Pea in a Pod maternity tank top, a Theory light weight white pocket tee, my favorite All Saints blanket, I mean, sweater, along with the Gap Maternity denim leggings, and my All Saints grey suede sneakers.

My striped Club Monaco light weight wool scarf, which I've lived in for probably 6-7 years.

And what kind of a blogger would I be if I finished this post without a picture of the pizza we had last night?

So here you have it. Yumm. Simple thin crust with basil and garlic. Delicious.

Music For a Bitter Cold February

2011-02-03T15:49:00.003-05:00

Bundled Up For the Cold

2011-01-31T12:43:00.000-05:00

Stylie Eric all bundled up for the cold.

Eric's wearing a Moncler heather grey wool coat,

a Michael Bastian cozy warm hat,

and Sorel for Berdorf Goodman boots.

Can he be more chic? I think not.

26 Weeks

2011-01-29T11:14:00.001-05:00

The snow continues to fall on New York, and my Hunter wellies have been a part of daily life. How better to get through all of that brown, slippery, sidewalk sludge while still looking cute?

I'm wearing a Madewell lambswool marled cardigan, an All Saints white cotton tunic and a Gap Maternity tee, with my J.Brand Mama J. dark denim jeans.

You might be saying to yourself. Wow, she wears an awful lot of All Saints. And, yes, yes I do. All Saints is definitely my favorite brand right now and lucky for me they make a lot of voluminous clothing that works perfectly for maternity. This tunic, for example, was a pre-pregnancy purchase (or at least I didn't know I was pregnant when I made the purchase) that has made the transition well. My goal in the beginning has remained the same as it is today. I don't want to sink a whole bunch of money into cutesy maternity clothes that are totally not me and that I'm not going to wear for very long. I'm all about the investment. So, I've chosen to invest in clothes that can work for me while pregnant and while not pregnant. The maternity basics that I've chosen to purchase are layering essentials like tank tops, jeans, t-shirts, leggings, and one basic black dress. Everything else, i.e. all of the pieces that truly reflect my personal style, can be worn no matter what my maternity status.

My vintage shell necklace that I bought on our honeymoon in Maine. P.S. Notice that the tunic is unsnapped a bit? That is one of the adjustments that had to be made with my fuller pregnant bustline. When I first bought this, it closed. LOL!

The ever-growing belly. :) To think I still have 14 more weeks. I'm going to be BIG!

Progress report: I got two subway seats offered to me this week (which I took, thank you very much). Guess this means I'm pretty obviously pregnant now. :)

My New Blog Obsession

2011-01-28T15:31:00.000-05:00

Style Like You is my new blog obsession. It's sort of like The Selby, but more about personal style rather than just interiors.

Check out some selections from a recent post on Andrea Linett, who I've loved since her days as fashion editor for Sassy Magazine back in the early 90's. After stints at Jane and Lucky she's now the creative director of Ebay and has her own personal style blog called I Want to be Her.

Woolrich Buffalo Plaid

2011-01-26T17:57:00.000-05:00

Rich's grandparents David and Naomi are two of my favorite people on Earth. After reading my last post about "Stylie Men", I got an e-mail from them which included two pictures of them wearing their Woolrich black and red buffalo plaid shirts during their recent hikes (they are both avid, expert hikers) along with a photo from my post. I loved it so much that I had to share it with you:

Stylie Men

2011-01-25T15:47:00.000-05:00

I always look forward to Tommy Ton's street style photos for GQ.com during the men's fashion shows. He has such a wonderful way of capturing personal style by focusing on the details. Here are some of my recent favorites from the Fall/Winter 2011 shows:

Music for a Bitter Cold Monday

2011-01-24T15:12:00.005-05:00

25 Weeks

2011-01-20T12:00:00.006-05:00

Time is flying. I'm 25 weeks today. Woo-hoo!

I'm wearing A Pea in a Pod maternity white ribbed tank, under an All Saints silk top, paired with my J.Brand skinny maternity jeans, topped with my J.Crew merino wool cardigan.

There's a belly under all of those ruffles.

My Dina Sutter (mother-in-law) rutilated quartz and rose gold necklace.

All Saints grey suede sneakers. At this point it's all about comfortable footwear for me (not such a stretch from the pre-pregnant me). Any heel, even a low heel, has been throwing my back off, and since I'm paying a chiropractor to keep me aligned, the last thing that I want to do is to screw myself up by wearing heels.

The Most Important Accessory

2011-01-19T13:20:00.001-05:00

The most important accessory to invest in is eyeglasses, or sunglasses if you're like me and don't wear eyeglasses. Think about it. You wear them every day ON YOUR FACE. They should express your personality and your personal style and yet be comfortable and versatile.
A couple of weeks ago, I accompanied my friends Eric and Rachael to Moscot to help them pick out their new frames. It was sooooo much fun, and to be honest I was kind of jealous that I didn't need glasses too, because Moscot had so many wonderful options.
They just got their new frames yesterday. Check out how great they both look!

These frames are perfect for Rachael's coloring, face shape, and personal style.

She wears a lot of tailored vintage clothing mixed with modern urban staples and these frames have the funkiness and individuality of vintage mixed with urban cool. Perfect for Rachel!

Eric has impeccable taste. His personal style is modern classic and very designer.

He chose the Lemtosh tortoise frames which are the perfect modern masculine shape.

I love their frames so much that I'm actually considering getting my eyes checked just to see if maybe I do need glasses after all. I mean my eyes have gotten worse over the years, right? I might need glasses for reading or something. ;)

24 Weeks

2011-01-13T21:51:00.004-05:00

6 months down, 4 to go. :)

So, where am I at in my pregnancy? Well, I'm feeling good. I've gained 20 pounds of boobs and belly. My hips are widening. I'm not passing out at 8:30 anymore. I feel the baby move all the time (which is super cool). I've finally accepted that I can't walk as fast as I usually do (otherwise I get light headed). Oh, and the other day I got offered a seat on the subway for the first time! Actual courtesy from a New Yorker?! Amazing. Has it happened since? No, but I'm sure it will.

My friend Rachel at work offered to take pictures of my daily outfits yesterday because she says that I look cute and I should be showing that you can still dress like yourself even though you're pregnant. (Aww, thanks Rachel.) So, I took Rachel up on her offer because I rarely have time to take pictures of myself anymore.

We've gotten a lot of snow in New York so I've been wearing my red Hunter wellies almost every day. I'm wearing a Club Monaco merino wool turtleneck layered under a Club Monaco silk top. Since some of my non-maternity tops (like this turtleneck) aren't quite long enough to stretch over my belly, I end up wearing a belly band like this one from A Pea In a Pod which keeps everything concealed very stealthily. The jeans are J.Brand skinny maternity jeans, which fit just as well as normal J.Brands, but with ingenious elastic gussets at the side seams instead of a whole belly tube (like most maternity jeans) to give you comfort. I bought two pairs and pretty much live in them.

My beloved All Saints necklace.

Modern Fatherhood Captured

2011-01-13T13:44:00.003-05:00

The Selby is one of my favorite blogs to keep up with. He recently posted a very cool short film that he created about Mitch Alfus, which I loved. The beginning with him and his little daughter is so super sweet! You've gotta see it! It's such an awesome portrait of a modern father.

I Love Cacao

2011-01-08T12:17:00.000-05:00

About a month ago I watched Food Matters, a wonderful documentary about the benefits of super foods and vitamins on our overall well being and health. Here's the trailer:

After I saw the movie, I zeroed in on certain super foods that I wanted to add or increase in my diet to help maintain my health. Certain foods were easy, such as spirulina, green leafy vegetables, goji berries, acai, coconut water, raw honey, aloe vera, echinacea, and ginseng, because I already like eating them and they taste good. But others, well okay just one, has really been hard for me to add because it's so damn bitter. I'm speaking specifically about raw cacao, which contains the world's most concentrated source of antioxidants found in any food. How strong? 14 times more antioxidants than red wine and 21 times more antioxidants than green tea. Great, I thought, I'll just eat dark chocolate. But unfortunately it's not that easy. Dark chocolate is processed at such a high temperatures that it breaks down most of the nutrients and antioxidants. So, the only way to really get the good stuff is to eat the raw organic beans, nibs, or powder.

Discovering that fact, I decided to buy the beans at Whole Foods. I ate one, which was SUPER BITTER. Swallowed. Told myself it was good for me and that it was an acquired taste and then ate one more. Almost gagged, but swallowed, then gave up and figured there had to be a better way.

Well, when you put it out to the universe, the universe responds. So there we are a week later, Rich and I, on a plane from Manila to Iloilo and we're both looking at our inflight magazines and we both almost simultaneously read an article on the Filipino rich hot chocolate called tablea tsokolate. Tablea Tsokolate is made from raw cacao(!).

Then we show up at the farm in Guimaras, and what do we see but raw cacao plants with ripe cacao growing right there next to the house! We were sooooo excited! The picture above is cacao in it's raw fruit state. It's a large orange pod that when cut open reveals the cacao nuts, which appear to be large corn kernels.

You can eat the sweet white fruit around the nut which is very tasty.

And this is what the nut looks like when you open it up. Yup, that's the bitter-but-good-for-you stuff.

But this is where it gets really good. See those chocolatey discs above... We found out that Rich's Aunt Carmen's mother makes them from the raw cacao and sugar. They can be eaten raw like that or used to make tablea tsokolate. So, we bought a bunch and brought them home and are now making our very own delicious tablea tsokolate here (or are being lazy and eating the discs raw).

But Summer, you say, I'm not taking a trip to the Philippines and I want to eat raw cacao too. Well, Rich and I are going to attempt to create our own tablea tsokolate with the raw beans that we have here. But you can buy cacao everywhere. As I said, I bought mine at Whole Foods, however this online resource looks even better for all kinds of cacao options. So, good luck and have a happy healthy new year. :)

Philippines Part 5: Around Guimaras

2011-01-07T12:00:00.001-05:00

When we travel to the Philippines we fly from New York JFK to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to Manila, then transfer to a smaller domestic plane and fly to Iloilo City located on the island of Panay. From there you take a 15 minute ferry ride from the port to the small rural island of Guimaras, where the family lives. It's a nice adventure.

My favorite part of the journey is always the ferry ride.

Once you're on the island, the primary modes of transportation are independently owned tricycles and jeepneys. Jeepneys are colorfully painted and usually jam-packed with passengers. For tall Americans, they're very crouchy. But, what are you gonna do except suck it up, right?

Me and the beautiful Marivec and Monica walking around town. I get a lot of attention because there aren't very many tall white girls on the island.

Market photos. Yum, fresh fruit galore.

How I miss that fresh fruit now that we're back in NYC and I'm watching the snow swirl outside my window.

Philippines Part 4: Eating Pomelos

2011-01-06T12:00:00.003-05:00

I had never had a pomelo before, or heard of one for that matter. I expected to be eating mangoes and papaya the whole time, but not pomelos. However, since the mangoes and the papaya weren't in season on the farm yet, we ended up enjoying pomelos most days, since they were readily available.

Pomelos are in the grapefruit family. They have a very thick flesh, are surrounded by a thick white membrane, and taste sweeter. We would eat the fibrous sections with a little course sea salt. Mmm-mmm.

Philippines Part 3: Skelly

2011-01-05T12:00:00.002-05:00

Wherever we are, cats seem to be attracted to Rich, or visa versa. So, it was no surprise that the farm cats were the same way in the Philippines. After we'd been there a few days, 10 year-old Christopher brought a malnourished tiny little kitten home that a friend had given him. Rich and I immediately were concerned for the little one, so we took her into our care for the duration of the trip. She was starving, exhausted, dirty, full of fleas, had singed whiskers, and one squinty eye. The kids wanted to name her Rich, but in protest Rich insisted that since she was so bony we name her Skeletor, or Skelly for short. She became our baby kitty, sleeping in our laps during the day, and in a box in the house all night long. We fed her, bathed her, and even pulled off fleas with a tweezer. By the end of our trip she started to play and be adventurous like a normal kitten, her boniness began to soften, she had a round happy belly, and she was sleeping under Marivec's chin at night. We knew she was in good hands and that she was going to live a happy life.

This is the adorable Skelly:

I can't wait to go back and see how she's grown and if she remembers us. Aww, I miss her and her sweet little meow.

Philippines Part 2: Life Around the Farm

2011-01-04T11:27:00.004-05:00

Returning to the Philippines as a pregnant wife was understandably a more meaningful experience than that of my first trip two years ago. My first trip, I was experiencing the culture and Rich's massive Filipino side of the family for the first time. Communication was difficult and everyone was reserved, respectful, and yet extremely hospitable. This time around I felt like the beloved member of the family that I now am. Everyone was more familiar with me so there was an openness now that I had only began to feel towards the end of our last trip. Their hospitality was still unparalleled, not allowing neither Rich nor I to lift a finger the whole time we were there. Uncle Vicente and Aunt Elizabeth kept us fed every few hours with their amazing homemade dishes with ingredients freshly harvested from the farm. The housekeeper hand-washed our laundry and cleaned our room daily. Rich's mom Dina, who is the eldest sibling and the "queen" of the farm, ensured that the whole family was entertained and well taken care of throughout the entire holiday week.

Here are some more images of the farm and our experiences while we were there:

One of the many giant mango trees around the farm. Each mango is lovingly wrapped in newspaper to help protect it from insects. Unfortunately, we missed the harvest by literally a couple of weeks. :( Mangoes are my favorite fruit and the small island of Guimaras is known for having the best mangoes in the world.

A beautiful hat on the front porch of the main house.

Chillin' one afternoon at the family table in the main common area.

You can't beat a fresh coconut every day.

Home sweet home.

One of Uncle Vicente's many beautiful fighting cocks. Cock fighting is a super popular past time throughout the Philippines.

Isn't he gorgeous?!

Lounging around on a very hot and humid day.

The view I had of my poor swollen feet and my baby belly.

Yummy mung bean and spinach soup.

This was a scrumptous black bean, jack fruit, and fish dish. Mmm-mmm.

Egg-battered eggplant. Deee-lish.

Barbecue free-range chicken and mango dinner. Can't beat it.

Rich building a bike he brought from the States for his family with Uncle Vicente, which the family LOVED! Someone had left the perfectly good old bike at his shop when they'd purchased a new one from him, so he rebuilt it and outfitted it for farm use.

Sweet potato harvesting. That's Rich's 81 year old Lolo (grandfather) with the hat overseeing everyone's work.

Dina works the dirt with cousin Paul.

Rich, his Lolo, and cousin Christopher hang out with a farm cat at the family table.

Cousins Trixie and Marivec hang out in the common space with Aunt Elizabeth near the open air kitchen.

Baby Genevieve napping soundly in her baby hammock. (These are the coolest things EVER! This trip I must have been tuned into them, because I saw them everywhere. I found a couple of super cool options here and here.)

One of the orchid gardens.

Orchids,

orchids everywhere.

More to come.

Philippines Part 1: Christmas and My First Lechon

2011-01-02T12:00:00.001-05:00

They celebrate Christmas right in the Philippines. Instead of gifts being exchanged, the day is all about family, food, and a big party. As a person who's been totally disillusioned by the commercialism of the holiday here in America, I've gotta say this is the way that I want to continue to celebrate Christmas for years to come.

Decorations around the farm.

San Miquel beer= 50 cents= cheaper than bottled water

Lindsey and Genevieve getting warmed up for the dance party that night. If only you could see how these cuties were shaking their little hineys to Lady Gaga, you would die.

Coming face to face with your food. Not something we're used to in the U.S., but very normal in most other cultures. Umm, case in point. I had to hide in our room while they were prepping this pig for slaughter because I just couldn't handle it. The whole family was laughing at me and my squeamishness. Roasting a pig is a Philippine tradition and they couldn't understand that we don't see this in America.

Chop Suey.

Tripe soup.

Uncle Vicente and farm hand Ray plate up some lechon.

My first lechon. See all that yummy crispy skin?

Dance party with the family, the kids, and the farm hands. Good times.

Lolo hanging out and watching the scene.

The kids having a blast at the dance party.

All of us having fun.

Happy 2011 From the 3 Mamas

2011-01-01T14:09:00.001-05:00

Fighting off the jet lag from our trip, we were happy to share a New Year's Eve dinner with some of our closest friends at Joe's family's Italian restaurant in New Jersey. Aside from it being a new year and everything, the best part was spending time with two of my pregnant girlfriends and drinking fake "Pregnancy" cocktails together. (Thanks to Mikey for concocting those for us. God only knows how much I miss real cocktails.)

From left: Cat is due in February, of course you all know that I am due in early May, and Shelly (who's on baby #2) is due in July. Ain't we all cute with our baby bellies?

One Last Post This Year

2010-12-18T15:17:00.000-05:00

We had our 20 week scan yesterday to make sure that the baby's anatomy has developed well and I wanted to share some sonogram photos with you. The baby is gorgeous and I couldn't help but get a little weepy when I saw that little heart beating away. It's so magical to think that little being will be in our arms in 20 short weeks. We can't wait to meet him/her.

Notice, no crotch shots for all those speculating what the sex is. We don't want to know, so keep your speculations to yourself. :)

In the meantime, we've got a few girl names that we love, but we haven't been able to agree on any boy names yet. I like crunchy hippie-bippie names that have meaning and Rich's only need is that it feels right. I've been obsessed with nameberry.com, but if anyone has any suggestions for other resources, please let me know. We're open to suggestions. :)

Okay, I'm off to finish up my packing for our trip to the Philippines tonight. Since there isn't wifi at the family farm, I won't be posting anything in the next couple of weeks, but I wanted to wish you all a happy holiday and new year.

Until 2011.

xoxo-

Summer

Etsy Baby

2010-12-13T14:20:00.002-05:00

I love Etsy for all of the handmade goodies you can find. I started creating a baby wishlist full of some of the the cutest baby toys and clothes . Here are just a few that I'm loving, because after all, is there really anything better than handmade?:

1 More Week

2010-12-11T13:13:00.000-05:00

Last year was a year full of wonderful, adventurous travel. This year has been a year overflowing with love, commitment, new beginnings, and a lot of hard work designing full time and styling part time. It's been an amazing year. :) But with the exception of our Maine mini-honeymoon get-a-away, I didn't really travel anywhere for a vacation, which makes me sad.

But don't feel bad for me. Rich and I are off to the Philippines to visit his Filipino side of the family next Saturday. (Hooray!!!) It was a life changing trip when we were there almost two years ago. His grandfather asked that we come with a baby on our next visit, and this time we're returning married with a baby in my belly, which is kinda close to his request. :)

These are some of my memories of the colors, the food, the places, and the people from our last trip:

My Kids Are Gonna Dress Cooler Than Me

2010-12-10T17:10:00.000-05:00

LOL! That is, if I dress them in All Saints Kids.

If only they made baby clothes, I would have already bought them out. ;)

The Best Cookies EVER

2010-12-07T12:30:00.001-05:00

These Momofuku compost cookies are my ultimate favorite cookies. They're made with potato chips, pretzels, oats, butterscotch, coffee, and chocolate chips. Mmmmm-mmmmm. Genius.

Yesterday, I went down to Momofuku Milk Bar to pick up a bunch to say thank you to my lovely husband, whose been doing some home improvements around our condo recently. His absolute favorite thing in the world is cookies, so they were the perfect gift. Oh, and I got to eat one too. Woo-hoo! :)

Menswear Love

2010-12-06T12:22:00.000-05:00

Engineered Garments is definitely one of my favorite menswear collections this season. I love how they mix traditional military details with masculine tailored fabrications. There's something very Japanese and yet very American about their clothes.

Addictive Song

2010-12-02T14:25:00.000-05:00

FOALS // SPANISH SAHARA from dave ma on Vimeo.

My Birth Choice

2010-11-26T17:17:00.002-05:00

I am super lucky because many of my friends have already had babies and I've learned a lot from each of their experiences. The best thing that I've learned is that there is no right way or wrong way to approach child birth, rather it's about educating yourself and finding the best option for you.

For me, the best option is home birth with a midwife and doula. I always knew that I wanted to use a midwife after having visited a midwifery center on the Upper West Side for my annual feminine check-ups for many years. The level of care was something I had never experienced with ob/gyns before and since the center closed their doors (due to lack of funding) 4 or 5 years ago. Having an inkling that babies were on the horizon for Rich and I, I started researching my birthing options earlier this year.

The first documentary that got my attention was "The Business of Being Born", which I found myself watching over and over again.

The film opened my eyes to the staggeringly poor statistics of birth in our country today compared to the rest of the world. The film also had me considering home birth for the first time in my life. Before that I'd always thought that a birthing center was my choice, but the film portrayed home birth as such a beautiful, safe, and natural option.

From there, I watched another documentary called Orgasmic Birth.

This film appealed more to my spiritual side, while The Business of Being Born spoke to my intellectual side. I was hooked. Then I started reading.

Ina May Gaskin, one of the most well known midwives in the country, was one of my favorite experts in both of the documentaries. Two of her books have been a couple of my favorites that I've read, and I have her breast feeding book on order.

Spiritual Midwifery

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth

Both books were super good and were filled with beautiful birth stories that reaffirmed my decision that a natural home birth was the right option for me. Luckily, my husband has been supportive of my decision. Honestly though, I think he became more comfortable when we interviewed the midwives we were considering working with. We spent two hours speaking with Valeriana Pasqua-Masback (featured in Orgasmic Birth), the midwife we ended up selecting, and I could tell that his apprehension faded and he knew we were in expert hands.

I'm already 17 weeks along, and I am so excited about each step in this wonderful 40 week journey. I look forward to being able to share our birth story in the spring with all of you. Until then, I'm always open to any wisdom you may want to share either on birthing or parenting.

Thanks so much for all of your kind words and support. :)

-Summer

Thanksgiving #1

2010-11-23T22:16:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we shared Thanksgiving #1 with Rich's family in Jersey. #2 will be Thanksgiving day with my mom, step-father, and sister in Virginia. Rich is the chef for both. He loves to cook and we love to eat. How perfect!

Me at 16 weeks in yet another one of my perfect non-maternity maternity outfits. :) I'm wearing a Aoyama Itchome top with a J.Crew white tank and my forever old 1969 boyfriend jeans that I bought when I used to design for Gap back in the day. The key is the belly band which allows me to wear my normal jeans (albeit unbuttoned to accommodate my growing bump). I wear my belly bands with everything, even my maternity jeans which I'm still growing into.

Turquoise earrings.

One of my favorite Matta scarves which I live in.

My Ellen Verbeek boots, which I've been wearing more often than not, partially because they're so easy to get on. Oh God, I said it... I'm actually starting to have a more difficult time lacing up my sneakers and putting on my socks. So anything that's a slip on, I'm finding myself turning to more often.

Later that day... Rich preparing food at his parents' house.

Rich's grandparents, aka the Gs, with their GPS that they're lending us for our drive south tomorrow.

Rich and his mama.

Mmm. Dinner.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!