greatest hits

hi friends.  i managed to pick up my camera a few times last week.  which means i won't skip greatest hits.  again.

thursday is my favorite day of the week.  i keep addy-girl, i go to yoga, hang out with the littles and do shit around the house.  nothing exciting, but i love it so.  do you have a favorite day of the week?

(in my early twenties, thursday was my favorite day because of cheap drink specials at our best bar.  my, how things change.)

here's a peek of how we fill our days:

1) jason's deli night for crosby's school.  this child eats his ice cream cone upside down, so he had to finish it out of a drink cup.

 2) ben had his first kindergarten school performance at multi-cultural night.  he was super pumped to see us.  can you spot him?

 3) when the weather hasn't been frigid, it has been beautiful (texas weather is schizophrenic).  we went for a walk and found where ben wrote my name with a rock on the sidewalk the day before.

 things are bloomin'.

 4) bubbles with my baby are an enormous mess, but highly entertaining.  so, worth it.

 5) can you handle this picture?  these twinsies were all gussied up for cowboy night with dad at crosby's school.

 6) time warner cable offers yoga classes for kids on demand.  so cool.  he kept quitting because he was "bored" but never left the room and kept migrating back to the mat.  so cute.

looking forward to the trinity river levee run on saturday.  oh, and the oscars!

how was your week?  what are you looking forward to?

love,

coco

p.s. here's a video i took of mister sassy today.

what she said

i don't get political on facebook.  i appreciate those who are passionate about politics and for the most part i find some of the online discourse entertaining.  it keeps social media interesting.  and the beauty of facebook is that you can practically edit what you see and from whom.

i adopt amy poehler's motto:  keep it factual and friendly.

i'll talk about my kids.  the most controversial issue i post about is which patio in dallas is best for a happy hour.  i abide by this self-imposed rule for a few reasons:

• if you know me well enough, you absolutely know where i stand on political and social issues.  if someone cares to know, they can try to get to know me better first. 
• confrontation makes me uncomfortable.  even innocent arguments between friends.  i am always waiting for it to go too far, because after that, things get weird and i get squirmy.
• most likely, you are not going to change my mind.  and i can safely assume that i am not going to change yours.  so let's hug and have a margarita.
• i completely respect those who are passionate about their beliefs and want to educate others about issues that are important to them.  i am uncomfortable bringing that attention to myself, but if that's your thing, do it. i envy your confidence.

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now don't get me wrong, some people's ignorant rants on facebook get me all fired up.  there have been a few times where i have wanted to reply in complete annoyance and frustration over what some people say (people i care about in real life, btw).  chris recently had to talk me off the ledge when i almost went off on someone about....

wait for it....

beyonce.

i liked her grammy performance.  there i said it.

according to some, that makes me un-christian like.

to others that makes me a shitty feminist.

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i didn't want someone to pray for me because i regarded beyonce's performance as plain old artistic expression.  art is appreciated (or not) differently by everyone.  in my heart of hearts, i didn't think her performance painted some big picture that the youth of america are going straight to hell. nobody was making any arguments out-loud that i could fully get on board with.  that is until i read churl's reflection of the whole she-bang.

i know churl in real-life and i recently discovered she writes a blog when she published this post specifically.  and when i read it i thought:

"what she said".

"yes, yes, yes, yes." 

"this makes sense to me."

"damn, i wish i could write like that."

"she's smart, and kind, and pretty, and smart".

"i'm gonna hug her neck next time i see her".

her's a taste of what churl wrote about jay-z and beyonce:

let him worry about the right combination of cardio and weights that shapes an ass that perfect. let him worry about waxing or shaving or laser hair removal. let him worry about the holidays and all them pounds he gained.

but he can't be bothered with that cause he's the business genius and he's got power moves to make.

which is why he has on a tuxedo. why he's fully suited and booted and she's got her ass out. cause she's got to stay camera ready from the rooter to the tooter. and that's a lot of worrying.

oh please, please, please go read the rest here.  the last paragraph sings.

lastly, in keeping with the theme of reading something that so clearly strikes a chord in my heart, here is a blurb from a blog post about parenthood and marriage that i cannot seem to shake.

I was both lonely and absolutely desperate to be alone. I was saturated -- just BOMBARDED with touch and then the second I put down this baby I yearned to smell her sweet skin again. I was simultaneously bored out of my skull and completely overwhelmed with so much to do. Today was too much and not enough. It was loud and silent. It was brutal and beautiful. I was at my very best today and then, just a moment later, at my very worst.

give the entire artcle a read here.  i know everyone's experiences are different, but this woman's testament brought a tear to my eye because it just felt so...familiar (especially that part about escaping to target).

does it strike a chord with you?

have you read anything lately that speaks to who you are at your core?

i'd love to know.

love,

coco

monday commute

once upon a time, in 2008, chris and i went to see my morning jacket in dallas.  during the encore, our fair city's beloved erykah badu joined the band for 'tyrone'.  and that my friends, was one of my favorite live music experiences to date.

 

pandora reminded me this morning exactly why i love my morning jacket and ms. badu and 'tyrone'.

 

here's a clip from that show:

click here for mmj's studio version of the same song.

 

p.s. here's my favorite erykah song:

happy monday.

xoxo

 

greatest hits

hi honeys.

how are you this fine saturday afternoon?  i am a little sleepy and sore from my run this morning, but it's nothing a little advil can't fix.  i am home alone and trying to resist the urge to pick up every tiny figurine that litters my floor.  unlucky for my floors, but lucky for you, or me, or you...

it's been a busy one.  here's a peek:

1) ummmm, since i posted that i was back at my pre-crosby weight, i have gained FOUR WHOLE POUNDS.  ugh.  it takes two weeks to gain, and six months to lose.  bunk.

those handfuls of peanut m&m's and "snow day" mornings spent at hypnotic donuts might have something to do with that.

why isn't there an eat-anything-i-want diet?  whhhhhhyyyyyy?

{no, but seriously, if you go to hypnotic, order a peace-tachio and a maui waui.  whoa, baby.}

 2) best day ever was spent checking out some of the sculptures/art pieces with the nasher xchange project.  it's been on my to-do list forever and of course it ends this weekend, so we just picked a few to check out around town last saturday.  the kids were really good sports and we got to drive around the city looking for art.  it was rad.  read more about the project here.

 {we drove by where we got married almost ten years ago and jumped out to snap a pic.}

 3) i've decided to forgive my in-laws for sending the boys that giant bag of peanut m&m's (which i ate by myself) because they included this cookbook in the care package for me.  there are about ten recipes for chicken salad alone in this bad boy.  

 4) valentine's parties galore.  at this particular party crosby made the cutest craft.  they slathered a wooden heart with crisco and birdseed to make a sweet little birdfeeder. our dog ate it as soon as we got it home.

 5) on valentine's evening, we went on a fancy family date to go eat sushi, followed by frozen custard.

 {i love this picture because it captures me trying to figure out once again what the hell this boy is talking about.  look at the ice cream on his face.}

 {wild about harry's for the win!}

6) i kept up my tradition of heart-shaped love notes scattered around the house for my guys.  they used to be much cuter when i was a teacher and had access to colored paper, a laminator and sharpies every color of the rainbow.

7) chris went to new orleans for work last week.  i was super jealous as he texted me pictures of all of the fabulous things he was eating (while i was eating lame things like veggie chicken patties).  but look what he did!  he bought me a giant, rusty, metal sign for valentine's day, which beyond makes up for all of the food pics.  i love you, chris.

 8) the boys got new pets.  meet darth mal.  luke skywalker, not pictured.

looking forward to our mystery girls trip dinner tonight.  this is where we hand over money to the mystery trip planner!  so excited.

how are things in your world?  what are you looking forward to?

love,

coco

p.s. i started this post yesterday but never published it, which is why i say it's saturday at the beginning.  sorry for any confusion, boos.

happy valentine's day

i saw this card on a blog and then again recently at urban outfitters.  i had to post it, it cracks me up.

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chris and i were "just friends" for a nice long while.  then we officially dated for a hot minute and got engaged.

i would've so given him this card during those really awkward "friendship" years.  haha.  sure am glad those days are o.v.e.r.

my day is packed with kiddos valentine's parties tomorrow, so i figured i would send you my love today instead.

i looooove y'all!  thanks for reading my little blog.

p.s. here's a sexy little song for you.  i've posted this before, but it's too good not to post again.

p.p.s.  i should be ashamed by how many HANDFULS of peanut m & m's i have eaten in the past week.  my in-laws sent a huge bag for the kids and i am out. of. control.  good lord, it's not even valentine's day yet.

nashville

remember my new years resolution to travel more?

 

well, i'm working on it.

 

for our upcoming thirty-fifth birthdays (good lord...old), we were gifted flights to the one-and-only nashville, tennessee.

 

we are leaving in a month for a long weekend.  my dad has already given me a lengthy hand-written list on yellow legal paper of places he and mom recommend (these lists have been happening exactly like this for-eeeh-ver.)

and because my main squeeze cannot plan a trip anywhere without looking into what bands are in town, we are now going to see the bands ratdog (the remaining members of the grateful dead) and widespread panic while we are there.  he is already beside himself with excitement.

 

i would love your help.  have you been to nashville?   what did you love about it?  what should we check out?  what should we avoid?

 

we love live music, dive bars (the dive-ier, the better), FOOD (any and all kinds), museums (nerd alert), and shopping (unique, local, one-of-a-kind).

 

care to hook us up with some recs?

thanks, boos.

 

p.s. guess what else?  i am going to denver in april!  some of my nearest and dearest all live there now, robin (my soul-sister), jami (my most devoted blog reader and commenter), and joni (fellow aggie and my longtime ACL compadre).  i could only make one weekend happen, all or nothing.  i emailed my gf's and to see if they were available to join me by outside chance, and four of them said yes!  so now we have a denver posse and i cannot wait to have some girl-time in the mountains.

these resolutions are really shaping up.

sweetheart

y'all know how much i love a mix-tape.

and you know who makes a really good one?

starbucks.

no lie.

we just bought their compilation titled, sweetheart.  and it's so, so good.

i was going to wait until valentine's to post this, but then it occured to me that you should totally go buy one of these from starbucks now and listen to it on repeat for the next week.  play it in the kitchen while you are making dinner.  turn it up loud when you are in the car on the way to work.  oh, it's also available on itunes.

first of all, my sweetheart jim james covers one of my favorite bob marley songs, turn your lights down low.  hubba hubba.

vampire weekend covers andrea bocelli (of all people).  the first time i listened to it, i thought it sounded silly.  the second time i heard it, i thought it sounded badass.

there is beck, the head and the heart, phosphorescent, sharon jones & the dap kings.  then some that are new to me (whom i will google search stat), like bahamas and thao & the get down stay down.  i think i am in love.

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but the song that drives it home for me is ben harper's cover of fade into you by mazzy star.  oh boy, i do love how it sounds like he is pushing his voice out of his body.  did you know that we had a friend sing a ben harper song at our wedding?  i have a soft spot for him, for sure.

happy valentine's day, one week early.

i love you.  i do!

p.s. other starbuck compilations we have loved: making merry (i'll take willie nelson siging a christmas carol any day)and norah jones: artist's choice (which introduced me to i want a little sugar in my bowl by nina simone.  whoa.)

greatest hits

y'all.

the snow is pretty and all, but good grief, i just slid all over town on my way to pick crosby up.

stay home!  stay warm!

let's play catch up, shall we?

here's a peek and my week (or two or three...i dunno):

1) daddy and ben went on an adventure guides camp out, so crosby and i painted, made pizzas, went to the arboretum, and watched a lot of bubble guppies.

2) chris and my dad eat at maple and motor often enough to be on a first name basis with the owner, jack.  chris is now trying to acheive similar status at jack's new barbeque place slow bone.  well, chris finally took me. and oh my word.  so delicious.  they have this special called cornbread pudding. no words.  just go there as fast as you can.

3) here's my toddler bouncing off the wall at the doctor's office.  for the past twelve hours he had been crying of ear pain.  guess what?  there was nothing wrong with his ears.  or throat.  or head.  but there is a pain in my neck.  his name is crosby.

that's all folks.  one day i'll get back on track.  i have so many post ideas that i need to start working on!

looking forward to a lazy weekend.

how are you?  what are you looking forward to?

love,

coco

monday commute

did y'all watch the superbowl?

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is it possible i have an enormous crush on bruno mars?  he is as big as a minute and i usually prefer my men to be at least five feet two inches tall, but man, he's so super talented that i don't even care that he is miniature.  he went from being my guilty pleasure to just my pleasure.  no more guilt.

 

none!

 

it's like the radio knew i needed a little pick me up on my drive to work this morning.  i could've slept for days until at least 7:30 if it hadn't been for my alarm clock and kids and responsibilities and stuff.

 

just push play and turn these up.

 

i'll never get tired of this song.  quote me.

 

this song is fantastic and brand new to me.  and even better, it's local!  this is the orban's lead singer's solo debut.

 

sorry for the delay in greatest hits.  i have been dealing with my precious toddler refusing naps and feigning illness until i take him to the doctor to learn that he is, in fact, NOT sick.

 

love,

coco

 

p.s. we were out to eat recently when chris pointed out to me a teenaged girl wearing a long sleeved flannel shirt, leggings, oxblood doc martins, with her hair held back by an enormous...wait for it...scrunchie.  the only thing that separated that girl from exactly what i was wearing in 1993 was that my shoes were not as cool as hers and she fortunately was not wearing dark brown lipstick and giant hoop earrings.  oh, and i'm sure her eyebrows were groomed properly as well.

 

here's something i was listening to back then that i also heard on the radio this morning.  long live the nineties.