PS

Apart from holding the Cutest Baby Ever of the Month Award, Lily has started throwing tantrums. Few and far between.

But their presence makes me fear 2 with every inch of my life.

Unnatural body contortions. Her pigtails retreat to the back of her head like an angry dog. All while screaming uncontrollably (Jay swore he saw foam)

Lil' bit scared....

Mamacrack

Lily is now 15 months - and TO.DIE.FOR.CUTE. Cute pig taily hair, cute big belly, cute knarly teeth - Pure barforama cuteness.

Reflecting

Besides her dashing good looks - she's finally started to figure this whole talking thing out. Like if she says a word - she'll get something from us. Novel.

I'm sure, in 6 months I'll be begging for silence - you wait.

Some of my fav's of late:
Tah - Todd the Frog
Dow - down
Shooos - Shoes
MiSah - Mr. Sun - a sun pinata we have in our garage. I know, I know - why do I have a sun pinata in my garage?
Boh - ball (she says this at least 299 times a day - even if there's no ball in the room)
Cheese - and smiles at the camera
Ah lah sdflk - I love you (seriously - she just doesn't say it very well)
yuh, yuh, yuh, yuh - which she says repeatedly until I get what she wants at that moment

And hands down, the most adorable thing she does is the Old McDonald Duet:

Mama: Old McDonald had a farm (c'mon - everyone now!)
Lily: Ei-I-Ei-I-O
Mama: And on his farm he had a duck
Lily: Quacks
REPEAT with Dog, cat, cow, pig, elephant, lion, bear, pig, tiger

I can't get enough - I make her sing that damn song when she wakes up, on the way to daycare, when changing her diaper, in her highchair, bath, feeding her before bed - I add new animals from time to time, like snakes, goats... I'm addicted... I have a problem.

Gardening

I was at a meeting today and someone was talking about her daughter, who's almost three, who can speak 4 languages - and I mentioned how absolutely thrilled I was that she can immediately switch from the call of an elephant to a duck (that's hard).

I've been trying to secretly record it so you can understand my gushfulness. Man - my life has turned into one big "when I was at band camp" moment.

Beach

Lxo

San Fran or Bust – Cont again

San Fran is fabulous. The hills, the history built on those hills. But as a Vancouver resident, is somewhat of a template of cities like Seattle and Vancouver. I expected a Granville Island or Pike Place. I expected a Chinatown, complete with unrecognizable dried thingamabobbies, and I expected a downtown shopping district. But what I didn’t expect was the vastness of these districts.

We got up this morning, in our two bedroom haven to the sound of dumptrucks. We headed down to Fisherman’s Wharf –a must see by everyone I talked to. Honestly, I wasn’t too impressed. Very taupe. Tourist traps do nothing for me. And the sight of Starbucks and In and Out Burger on the wharf seemed sacrilegious. The area replete with metallic street performers, cheesy tee shirt shops and knock off sunglasses. Who buys this crap? I was on the hunt for a decent cup of coffee and a real fisherman’s wharf. Like where locals go to buy their produce and seafood. We finally found a little aisle of realness, with cheap (er) seafood for sale and not a clown in sight.
We were lured into an old style seafood restaurant for lunch where Jason had his first (and last) crab and sourdough bread sandwich that made him feel sick. The restaurant was great though. A real 1930s, Italian mobster feel and a gorgeous view of the Golden Gate Bridge (on a clear but windy day).

Fisherman's Wharf - L'il bit Bored at...

We left Fisherman’s wharf shortly after, in search of coffee – as any true west-coaster would. Amazed at the lack of coffee houses in San Fran. How do they function? There’s barely any Starbucks here! And we don’t even like Starbucks! Found coffee in the Italian district, near our hotel. The area is chocked full of coffee bars, café’s and exotic car repair shops. Very European feel. Beyond the Italian district is Chinatown, which I’ve been dying to see since I was doing my thesis. This is THE Chinatown. The largest and original overseas Chinese community in North America. And it is RAW – dirty, chaotic and overcrowded – with laundry hanging from balconies and the scent of fish permeating the air.

And it goes on for miles and miles. What Jay and I realized, after changing streets to avoid going up a hill (because we’re lazy), was that we were in the real Chinatown. The Fake Tourist Chinatown was one street over. The one with the clean streets, streams of lanterns like garlands between the buildings, and fantasmical jade and cherrywood sculptures showcased in storefronts.








Chinatown - Uncut
Miles down the road, and with an abrupt end to Chinatown signaled by a small Chinese arch, we arrived in Union Square. Shopping. Up.Scale… Chinatown - Hollywood style
Kenneth Cole, Chanel, Betsey Johnson, Tiffany, stores with buzzers and guards and brass doors that are polished daily.

We went to Macy’s. The Men’s 5 level mall. That’s right. 5 levels entirely devoted to men. The biggest Macy’s on the west coast. We went up to try on some new suits for Jason. And it was there that I realized, that we, as Canadians, are being ripped off. The average suit at Harry Rosen in Vancouver is $800-1000. Average. At


Macy’s? $250-400. For the same quality and same service. Almost cheaper to fly down to San Fran to buy a suit. Isn’t that sad?

Kissing herself in a Macy's dressing room

We loved the vibe in Union Square. Pretentious, yes. But lot’s of fun – and so markedly different from the other areas we walked through today.

Stopped at a little Italian gem of a restaurant in the Italian district for dinner that was totally family friendly. Toscana - on Columbus and Union Street. Kids menu, highchairs, crayons (that Lily eats on a regular basis) and a cool server dude with white nail polish. Jay and I reminisced over dinner of the days of wearing white nail polish just because we felt like it, over a bottle of fabulously under priced wine. Then headed back to the hotel at 7. We stopped a liquor store for another bottle of wine. Because what else are you going to do if you’re kid goes to sleep at 7:30pm? We bought a Ravenswood wine that sells for $40 at home for $7.75. Canadians - Ripped. Off.

I’m staying in San Francisco forever. Ha ha.

San Francisco or Bust - Cont.

Believe if or not – we made it to San Francisco. According to MapQuest, a 15 hour jaunt down the I-5. So it took us 2 days. Whatever.



Riding in Style at the Sleep Inn (Roseburg, OR)

Day two was a dream compared to the 1st. No fleeting temptations to pull a U-ee and head straight back to Canada, today. With teething baby at bay, we made it all the way. Another 10pm arrival time – but this time Lily was asleep.

Drove through a bunch of pretty towns in Oregon – including Portland. All green, luscious, volcanic.



Mount Hood - Volcanic.

A central American vibe. Kept expecting coffee plantations and monkeys. Portland was interesting. 1% of development must go to the arts and a rapid transit system (MAX) was built to link communities before the communities were built. Smart. So very green little city and quite the model for dev’t of the future. We will explore more on the way back. Specially since I am obsessed with revitalization of old buildings at the moment. (last week it was corn starch take out containers)

Stopped in a gorgeous town called Ashland, an hour or so north of the CA border. Just for gas. But ended up spending two hours there. GORGIOUS town. Lots of old houses, lively historic downtown core and real earthy feel. Big park in the centre of town that we stopped at for a fabulous organic lunch (my fav). Played in the park afterwards with 7 year old Genevieve Strawberry Shortcake. Seriously. She was one of those mothering type kids that follows your kid around everywhere and gives you a little break from entertaining. Love.

Lily was cute at the park. She’s bold and social and loves going up to groups of people and staring at them until they tell her she’s cute. If they talk to her, she will NEVER leave. She kept bugging this family picnicking with Kentucky Fried Chicken. KFC is not worth lurking around for.

Didn’t stop again until dinner at IHOP in Vacalla,CA. Our waitress accidentally spit out a tooth when she came to check up on us. She said it was a tic tac.

The one glitch in our San Fran or bust trip so far was the Bay Bridge into San Fran. Traffic was horrid. Even at 8:30 at night. Backed up for miles. To get into San Fran, you have to cross the Bay Bridge – which is tolled ($4). There’s no signs of costs or methods of payment leading up to the bridge. But Jay and I thought, if you can use credit card at the Coquihala, you can use credit card anywhere. Nuh-unh. Our first breath of San Fran air is tainted by a $30 ticket for having no cash to pay for our toll fare. Jason’s going to write the mayor.

Our hotel, the Columbus Inn, is 10 minutes from Fisherman’s Warf. In the Italian District. There’s no continental breakfast here. But a separate room for Lily. And a guy at the front desk who talks like Borat. And has a hangy mole. Everyone here seems to have hangy moles. Solid gold.


Tree at Columbus Inn. Nicer than outside of hotel.

San Francisco or Bust

The official name of our vacay. The fam decided to take a roadtrip down to San Fran for a week this April. Yes. Sounds romantic and adventurous doesn't it? Not quite so much with el Lily Tornado in tow. Some highlights along the way...

Day 1
Day 1 was a bust. Summed up best in a haiku. (naturally).


Two hour border
Lily teething - premolars
Gravol doesn't work


12 hours in the car. Shitloads of traffic in Seattle. Nasty rest stops (Lily HATED these bathroom stops - bad vibes). And I'm serious about the 2 hour lineup at the border. And that was Sumas! It was 3 at Peace Arch. Actually pretty fun at the border. Lily and I got out and walked on the side of the road by the lineup of cars. Like a true queen, she waved at every single car on our walk. And you know what? Every single driver waved back. Even the grumpy truckers.


And I really should give some time to what was undoubtedly the grossest Denny’s in North America. Somewhere'sville Oregon. Original ‘70s décor (carpet and upolstuery), orginal waitresses and dirty dirty everything. I actually felt like barfing after leaving. But what a little piece of American heaven there. Great people. Great service. Too bad about the dirty restaurant and dirty food.



Made it to Roseburg, Oregon at 10pm that night. With a dirty, greasy, overtired (and awake baby). Sleep Inn. Continental included. We heart free breakfast. We easy to please.