LA Mamas

Had such a fun date out on Friday with some wonderful mamas and our little ones. Since having Henry I have been so blessed to have met some awesome ladies who I honestly don't know what I would do without in this new, exciting and at times challenging stage of life. 

We went out for lunch to celebrate the lovely Ayana's birthday at Superba Food and Bread on Lincoln in Santa Monica. We were joking that Lincoln is the ugliest road ever, that you pretty much only use to get to Costco and LAX. When people come to visit and we are driving into Santa Monica I feel like I need to warn them "don't worry it gets better", because it is pretty sketchy in parts and kind of grotty looking. Lincoln is definitely starting to transform though, with some trendy and tasty restaurants popping up along it that we will hopefully see more and more of. 

The food was delicious at Superba. We ended up all getting the same thing, as girls so often do, the salmon sandwich on seeded bread garnished with avocado, bacon and a super yummy jam. All of us Mamas even got a sneaky glass of wine…ahhh nothing like a cold glass of white on a summers day. For a little sweet treat and birthday celebration we had the smores tart which I promise was as good as it sounds - chocolatey goodness with a gooey marshmallow dollop on top, delicious! That mixed with some good iced coffees it was a fantastic meal and great company. 

I love exploring and finding new eats in the area, as Sam and I so often get into a rut of going to what we know is good and that we can walk to. Santa Monica has amazing restaurants and random foody spots everywhere, we are so lucky. I am looking forward to exploring more and more of these great little finds! 

Henry and his girlfriends :)

Mamas who mean business!! :)

Beach Weekend

We had a great weekend spent at the beach. We decided to stay close to home and take advantage of the awesome beachfront that is a hop skip and a jump from our place. I had just ordered Henry a UV tent off Amazon, which by the way I buy almost everything off of these days using Amazon prime, soooo convenient when you have a baby and things can be shipped right to your door in 2 days! Anyways we thought we would put the tent to good use, and packed up all our gear for the day.

 

 

 This is how we do the beach :)

 

 

The weather has been amazing here so it was so wonderful to just soak it up for a few hours. Henry loved it as we watched the waves and dipped his toes in, was so fun to see him taking it all in. Even though we go for lots of walks down there it was his first time actually in the sand and up close to the ocean, all these firsts are so fun to experience!

 

Sam and I tag teamed entertaining the munchkin so we each got a few moments to ourselves to lounge and read...one day I will finish my Game of Thrones book Dance of Dragons...one day, sigh.

 

We are lucky our kid sleeps anywhere!!

 

The only age its ok to have man boobs. Those rolls <3

 



 

All in all it was a wonderful two days. Sam and I looked like pack horses on the walk down, and we were totally 'those new parents' trying to get the UV tent back into its case at the end of the day, but we got there and by day two looked like old pros.

 

 

I had an unfortunate experience where I somewhat lost my mind when I thought a sea creature had suctioned onto my big toe. I was having a lovely moment with Henry, walking in the waves, when all of a sudden I felt something gooey on my foot that wouldn't come off.. I looked down to see a big black glob that I was convinced was some sort of leech/jellyfish and ran like a crazy woman up to Sam to make him get it off. It was in fact tar, which is pretty disgusting and sad. After about 20 minutes of picking it off  with my nails and using an endless amount of baby wipes I was able to get most of it off with only a small amount of lingering tar smell, gross. As grossed out that I was that this happened to me it made me so sad for our beautiful ocean and all God's little sea creatures having to swim around in globs of tar and whatever else we are sending down there. Ok there is my rant. Sam says I have to work on my composure in these moments - haha, he is right, I am a parent now.

 

Our second day we ended by going to Sunny Blue's on Main Street by our house where we got delicious omnusubi which is basically hot rice balls of goodness filled with beef or chicken or salmon and is mmm mm good. Anyone who wants to come visit I will take you there!! I am not above bribery ;)
 

 We took it home and watched the USA/Portugal game, was the end to a great weekend. Counting down to the next one!!

Fathers Day Weekend

Happy Monday Everyone!! Weekends go by way too fast always, but we had a wonderful time celebrating a super special guy in our life! It was Sam's first Daddy's Day this year so it was a special event for us. I like to make a celebration out of everything I can , so we started the morning off with a special Daddy's breakfast of chocolate chip scones, eggs and fruit and of course I did a little walk to Starbucks for his fave morning drink and a necessary one these days, a non fat latte. I remember last year getting Sam a daddy to be card before anyone knew mini coops was on the way but us. It was fun to remember that time and to see a year later how much our lives have changed with our newest addition and to be celebrating all three of us together.

 

First official dad gift....a mug and socks!! There will be many more years of that gift to come. Very fitting with a 'Best Dad Ever' mug and my favorite Arrogant English Socks ;)

 

We spent the rest of our afternoon getting some culture as Sam would say, at the Getty Villa in the Santa Monica/ Malibu area. We had two failed attempts before this visit so we were excited to finally make it there. The Villa is modeled after other ancient Roman homes with beautiful gardens and pools with glimpses of the ocean, it is pretty spectacular. Unfortunately due to the drought in California the pools were not filled to help conserve water. Selfishly I was very disappointed!

 

 

 

We ended the day at one of Daddy's fave spots InandOut  with a delish cheeseburger :)

I said it on the day and I will say it again so grateful for this special guy that I get to do life with. He is such a great partner and daddy who works so hard to provide for his family so we can all enjoy life together. His number one priority is his family's health and happiness. He is so selfless and even after a long day at work he takes over to let me go to spin or get a coffee if I need some time for myself. Grateful for him in so many ways I couldn't put it into words. Love you to the moon and back

Malibu Country Mart

Since we have reached the four month mark with baby boy we feel we can start planning things again! Exploring and doing day trips has been on hold for a while due to sleepless nights, constant feedings and absolutely no desire to even try to go very far from home ;) So we are excited to now start being able to make some plans again.

We decided to start small with a little day trip to the Malibu Country Mart. It has been so long since we did a trip out to Malibu, one of our very spots. Only 20 minutes away  but feels a world apart, a little staycation. It is wonderful out there, so relaxing and beautiful with such a laid back vibe. It is right on the ocean, surrounded by the Malibu mountains and all sorts of foliage.

Thanks to a recommendation from a friend we decided to try out Café Habana, a Mexican restaurant owned by Cindy Crawford. It was delish and the fish tacos were incredible as was the margarita I was able to sneak in :) I would definitely recommend!!

Henry likes to put the serious face on every time the camera appears, but he really did love swinging….not as much as Sam and I loved watching him though!! The Malibu Country Mart reminded me of a LA version of Granville Island with tons of shops, galleries and good eats, it was a great little day getaway.

We found this cute little walkway leading to the ocean which was the perfect after lunch stroll. I love being out in the sunshine with my family and it is days like this that I so appreciate the wonderful warm weather

The City Mini is fantastic, but not so great on the sand…so we left our sleeping baby by the porter potties ;)

It was a great day with our little family. Looking forward to planning more days like this and exploring Cali and LA LA land even more.