mind over matter

No sooner than when I wrote my last post that the energy in this apartment totally changed for the better. Elise woke up from a long nap in a great mood and has been happy ever since! Even Lola is calm and minding. I spent the afternoon coloring and playing with the girls (I didn't have a key, everyone took off with a key and left me with none! the doors here automatically lock behind you so there was no way to leave without a key!), but that's ok because, not only was it totally rainy, but I think the girls and I needed a calm day of just recharging. We napped and played and everyone was happy again. Dan got home from his meeting around 4 pm and we took the girls for a nice walk. We found the coolest restaurant so far. It caters to kids too, which makes it that much more awesome. Kid-friendly restaurants have, so far, been proven to be a rare find around here. Maybe it's just this neighborhood

Tonight the rents are going to stay in while Dan and I go out. The girls will be asleep before we leave. We are just going as far as we can by foot, so close enough to come back quickly if we have to. Some sushi and sake 'sans enfants' sounds good to me.

More later!

Ok, I'm trying really hard not to complain, but...

Another rough night for us. Elise woke up twice, once for 1.5 hours and the other for 45 min. It took me bouncing her on my back in the ergo while watching tv at 3 am to get her to go back to sleep. She has been quite miserable this whole trip. Then, Lola woke up at 4:30 am vomiting. I don't know what happened there. She is fine today and hasn't puked again.
It's raining today so we were going to hit the Children's Museum of Art, but it took us all so long to get ready, with Elise crying all morning, I finally just put her down for a nap instead. So we are going to be in the apartment for most of the day, it looks like. Dan is in meetings today and my folks just took off exploring. I'm going to try to nap on the couch, if Lola will let me. I'm way sleep-deprived at this point. I'm beginning to wish we never came. So far, it doesn't seem worth all the grief. I haven't even seen anything yet and we've been here since Wednesday!

I'm sure it will get much better. The weekend should be nice and at least Dan will be free so we can go to Central Park and the Natural History Museum.

off to rest!

Quickie update...

I'm really trying to enjoy and appreaciate this trip, but it's been tough, mainly because if Elise is not nursing, she's crying. Very few moments in between! She's really having a rough time...not quite caught up on sleep, I think. She has cried so much today, intolerant of everything. Especially restaurants! Sadly, our apartment is so small that eating in is not much of an option either. I'm trying not to stress, but it's been challenging!
Dan had to go to a couple of meetings this morning so I ventured out with both kids. Lola in a stroller and Elise in my Ergo, we just went around the corner to the grocery store. We were a sight! People stared at our little mini-circus and I even got a comment from a guy that my 4 year old was way too old to be in a stroller! Huh! Imagine that, the city that has seen it all was quite perplexed with our little spectacle. One woman on the street said I looked like "an indiginous (sp?) person"! Ha!
We found a cool playground today and Lola had a blast there.
Both kids are asleep now and we are chilling with the rents. More tomorrow...we are planning to hit some hot shopping areas like soho and canal street.

Rockin' NYC!

This town is PRETTY COOL! The energy is so high and the architecture is so fantastic that you really don't notice the 'circa depression era' greyish colors. While the buildings may have that worn dull tint to them, the people more than make up for it with their vibrant shop signs and warm smiles. We have encountered nothing but sincerity and kindness...honestly, not at all what I was expecting. People here bend over backwards to help a stressed out mama trying to fit her stroller through restaurant or elevator doors!
We took a red-eye flight last night and I would not do that again if I had the chance. Red-eyes with our kids, at least, have proven time and again to NOT be good ideas. Suffice to say, neither kid nor parent slept on the plane, except for the last hour and 1/2 (Elise & Lola). So we made up some sleep by checking into a hotel room while we waited for the condo to be ready. By 1 pm it was ready and we headed on over. It's absolutely tiny, but still really cute! It's a nice little neighborhood. My dad and his girlfriend will be joining us tomorrow and stay through Sunday. It's seriously going to be tight in here. This place is SMALL! But it's only for 3 nights so I'm sure we can deal.
Tonight we did some recon with the kids and walked a few blocks diameter around the neighborhood to see what was around. We have everything we need within walking distance, including a whiskey bar! More on that tomorrow since I'm sure Dan and I will peruse as soon as my folks get here! ha!
We did find a really cool mexican restaurant on 2nd Ave., called Mexico Lindo. Food was awesome, as was the service. They were really cool about our kids (the only kids in the restaurant!) and catered to Lola to make her especially happy, which she was. Completely by herself, she ordered a bean burrito with no cheese and rice and beans. She asked if they could please not put cheese on her beans!
Dan had enchilades con camarones and they were chock full of shrimp. My plata combinacion had a combination of tacos, enchiladas and tamales. It was deeeeee-lish.
So was my margarita Donita!

More later and photos to follow when we get home since I left the cable there! drat!

Mama recharged the ol' batteries

As per my New Year's Resolution, I took time out for myself to do something fun. Last night I went out with the girls to this cool little bar. Dan was so proud of me for doing it, he thinks I don't get out enough. He's right! So I had me a nice little hall pass for the night! We had a blast and now I'm procrastinating making my way over to wannabehippie (who shall be referred to as Sneaky Camera Girl from now on) because, remembering the evil glint in her eyes, I just know she will have fantastically horrific photos posted as evidence of our good times.

So, we've decided we're going to be doing this once a month...why, oh why, didn't we think of this before???

haircut!

Dear Jess,

If you ever doubted how much you mean to me, please look back and remember that I posted 2 incredibly dorky self-portraits on the INTERNET just because you asked to see my new haircut. 'nuff said.

Love, Luci

Resolutions, Yaaaay or Naaaay?

Holy crap, I haven't blogged in a long time. There. Had to get that out first...now on to the subject at hand....

Resolutions! I've never done them before, although I do remember having to write some as a kid in school for some kind of assignment. I also remember that the resolutions were completely forgotton about as soon as my pen left the paper. So, would you say that to make a resolution(s) is an unrealistic aspiration? Are we doomed to forget all about our goals and hopes as soon as the novelty of the New Year is over? I'm thinking, yeah. Probably. But does that necessarily mean it's a bad idea? Why not write them, I say? Can't hurt! Maybe it's actually a good thing to define and clarify what your goals are based on your reflection of the past year. By defining the areas that need change and improvement, we can then reprioritize our time, money, attention, whatever. There ALWAYS room for improvement, right?
So this year I resolve to resolve! Ha!

1. Treat my body more respectfully. Feed it healthy food in healthy quantities. Excercise it.
2. Treat my mind and my heart. Air out stagnant emotions, take time for myself.

The common theme here, as you can see, is balance. Something that is seriously lacking in my life right now. But I'm hoping that with by achieving more balance via these 2 resolutions, I can thwart these unhealthy and unsightly negative habits that I've developed lately. Specifically, overeating, spending too much time at the computer and losing patience so quickly with Lola.
My wise acupuncturist/midwife/all around pal told me how important it was to encourage circulation in the body, both emotinally and physically. I don't pretend to understand Chinese Medicine or Qi, but I do see how the Chinese have a beautiful way of explaining balance and the symbolism is not only graceful, but incredibly logical. Spot on. It's amazing. Something I would definitely love to know more about.

In my very first attempt at the resolutions, I got acupuncture yesterday for the first time! Yes, the needles pinch a bit, but nothing that I couldn't handle. But how I felt afterwards made it so worth every little pinch and then some. I came out feeling goooooood. Completely relaxed. So relaxed, I wondered if I should have even been driving!

Then, in my second attempt at my resolutions, I got a haircut. This could feasibly be a WHOLE other post. I'm going to give you the short version (no pun intended).....BUTCHERED! ha! I kept asking the stylist to fix the area on the left side, because looking in the mirror, I could see clearly that the sides weren't even. Not in length or texture. The right side was shorter and very layered, the left side was longer and bluntly cut. It made the left side look huge. After she made several attempts to fix it, I decided it was good enough so I went home. Once I got home, I saw the cut in it's entirety and it was entirely awful! I tried to fix it myself, but couldn't get the back so I called my friend over today and she fixed it for me. It's actually pretty cute now, but way shorter than I had intended on going! That's ok. Secretly, I really wanted short hair anyway, but I thought I would make it gradually. Nope! ha ha! Anyway, all's well and I like it now.