We spent a lot of time at Grandma's house and with Grandma this month. Always a lovely time.
The time of living with Sierra, Bobby, and Ella is coming to a close, so I'm just soaking up all this cousinlove goodness between the babies.
Lil' babies! Our seeds arrived in the post the day after the equinox, and they were eager to grow, obviously.
This can't be considered a joy or a favorite yet, exactly, because we're all still adjusting. But, Mads got his first big boy bed this month, and that's momentous if nothing else.
Favorites!
Favorite Beverage: Humdinger juices, made fresh, organically, cold-pressed, and (I presume) with love in Raleigh. Wolfman particularly likes the Zinger double shots.
Favorite Food Stuff - Firebud Brands Slap Sauce. We discovered this via free sample at Whole Foods. The woman handing out samples told us something like, "this sauce is for people who really love mustard." I am one of those people. This bottle lasted maybe two weeks. We put it on everything. Everything.
Favorite Beauty Product - Moist Hemp Body Moisturizer. Back in college, my roommate and friend Mckenzie had a big bottle of Hempz lotion, original scent, that I used perhaps too copiously. (Like, seriously, to this day I probably owe Mckenzie a bottle of Hempz.) I found this Moist Hemp lotion at a beauty shop for a good price and bought it primarily for the scent, which reminds me of being 21: sleepless and idiotic, but fairly happy and unencumbered. It also reminds me of my friends in those days. I have a rule, normally, that I don't put anything in my hair or on my skin that's not edible, so I don't use this lotion all over my body (I'm pretty loyal to my coconut oil). I just keep it on my kitchen sink and use it on my hands when need be, and take a trip down memory lane.
Favorite Acquisition - Prayer flags! Early in the month, Grandma and I visited the Tibetan Himalayan Gift Shop in Cary, and she bought some prayer flags for me. I've been wanting prayer flags for ages, and I can't imagine ever tiring of watching them billow on the breeze.
Favorite TV Show - Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Everybody loved Kimmy Schmidt this month, but that doesn't make it any less amazing.
Favorite Movie - TheBoondock Saints(1999). This wasn't only my favorite movie of the month, it immediately became one of my all-time favorites. I plan on re-watching it next St. Patty's. Honorable mentions: Robocop(1987), Moonstruck(1987),Eagle vs Shark(2007, New Zealand)
Favorite Music - Young Dubliners. Every March, I listen to Slacker Radio's St. Patty's station. As far as I know, I have not an iota of Irish heritage to claim, but regardless, something about St. Patrick's Day speaks to me. It is easily one of my favorite holidays (or, at least, it is my favorite minor holiday). The Young Dubliners popped up a few times on the station, and then they continued to provide the soundtrack for the rest of my month.
Though we don't really do Valentine's Day big, Wolfman never fails to bring me home some chocolates. Considerate and a cute butt? How'd I get so lucky?
Favorite Shops: Rocket Fizz and Duck Donuts. Rocket Fizz is a candy and soda pop store franchise out of California. Our Rocket Fizz was recommended to us by our friends the Wiests, and once we visited for the first time I realized Santa Claus did a lot of our stocking stuffer shopping at Rocket Fizz as well. This place is just plain fun. Our first visit, we spent a little over $30 on candy and specialty sodas (a bacon chocolate soda for Wolfman and maple soda for me--which tasted exactly like carbonated maple syrup). No regrets.
The Rocket Fizz Knight
Duck Donuts is a North Carolina franchise, hailing from the Outer Banks (Woot!). My grandma happened to see it from the passenger seat of her car as she rode home from a doctor's appointment with my grandpa and demanded at once, "Turn the car around!" We take donuts seriously in this family, and "cake donuts made to order" are words I have been waiting to hear my entire life.
Favorite Treats: Marich Chocolates coconut curry cashews and Welch's PB&J snacks. Wolfman found the Marich cashews for me at our first trip to Rocket Fizz (and I have since been back expressly for just them) and the PB&J snacks we came across at the Family Dollar next to our Laundromat. They're a perfect laundry day treat.
If you can't tell, most of the PB&J snacks were gone by the time I thought to snap this photo.
Favorite Acquisitions: Early in the month, and completely unexpectedly, Wolfman gave me this little sketch of our family drawn by a regular customer at the café, Pete "The Greek" Galifianakis (uncle to Zach). It's based upon a picture of the three of us taken way back when Mads was still so new, which Wolfman carries with him.
Also, I bought myself a yellow Valentine's Day dress (Wolfman loves me in the color yellow) for $8 from the Butterfly Exchange at BeYOUtiful Butterfly in Cary as well as a couple pairs of funky leggings on sale (two for one!) from the boutique.
Favorite Movie: Death Proof. After watching Double Dare a couple years ago (because I am such a hardcore Xena fan), I, like Quentin Tarantino, fell madly, deeply in love with Zoe Bell. There are a lot of reasons I love this movie (like Kurt Russell's busted face), but lets just simplify it to Zoe Bell and her insane car stunt for the sake of keeping this blog post short. Honorable Mentions: Pumping Iron and Starship Troopers. (Unlike last month, this was a good one for movie watching.)
Favorite Music: Uriah Heep. When Wolfman picked up that Camel album I was listening to on repeat last month, he also picked up Uriah Heep's greatest hits on vinyl. Every November, Wolfman and I attend the Carolina Renaissance Festival in Huntersville, which ushers in a time of fancy and fantasy for me--we build fires in our hearth, put stews and soups to bubble in our crockpot, fill out flasks with brown liquor, and I read the next installments of my big, fat, epic fantasy sagas. Uriah Heep is one of the bands that fits perfectly with this theme for me. I think Matrim Cauthon and Zeddicus Z'ul Zorander would dig Uriah Heep.
Favorite Television: Grounded for Life. Easily one of the most underrated sitcoms ever, it's now streaming on Netflix! Watching Grounded for Life is like drinking a red slushee and eating an order of French fries with mustard--that's what comfort food was for me in 2001, when this show first aired. We also spent the month of February re-watching a lot of Bob's Burgers and The Cleveland Show, two favorites; laughter is the best medicine for the February doldrums.
Wolfman's Favorites!
Favorite Television:Danger 5. It makes sense that Wolfman would be so fond of this Australian, pulp-inspired, cartoonish World War II spoof; watching this show is a little like what being dropped inside his head might feel like.
Favorite Internet Thing: Lars Andersen's archery. After he came across this video, he excitedly showed this to everyone he knows. This video reinvigorated Wolfman's love of archery.
Martigan's Favorites!
First time: Mads drove a coin-operated car at the mall for the first time this month. Truly, he would've been satisfied just sitting in the thing.
Note the black eye. Our little bruiser.
Favorite Food: Whole bananas! I don't know why it took me so long to give this boy a whole banana (as opposed to slicing one up for him), but he loves it!
Favorite Books: Martigan has really been loving the baby's first words kind of books in our collection, including The Baby's Catalogue by Janet and Allen Ahlberg, which I enjoyed when I was a wee one (our copy has crayon scribbles all over it, contributed by yours truly back in the 80's). I have to admit these are not always my favorite books to read him--they can be a little tedious, especially upon repeating. But, I try never to refuse to read a book to him--he's always loved books, and I want that to be a lifelong love.
My Christmas cactus, given to me years ago by a former co-worker, in bloom for the first time ever.
Waking early in the morning to make Wolfman breakfast before he leaves for work.
Finding an old tin box in the back yard thicket, hidden years ago by Wolfman when he was still a boy, and breaking it open to find old fire crackers and a triceratops toy.
Favorite beverages: Davidson Organic's coconut & vanilla rooibos tea and Old North State Winery's (of Mount Airy) Restless Soul red table wine (which comes, as a bonus favorite, with a ghost story on its label).
Favorite product: Bitty Bettys Liberty perfume. Not typically a perfume girl (by which I mean, not at all a perfume girl) and though Santa mostly stuffed this in my stocking because of the cute bottle, I was surprised by how much I enjoy the light, citrusy scent.
Favorite acquisitions: Shell & Rope asymmetrical belt purchased for $2 at the Cat Angels Thrift Store in Cary, a turquoise and faux pearl necklace and bracelet set generously given to me by my boss, April, and a cheery chevron & polka dot wipe-able tablecloth given to me by my sister.
