Happy Easter!

Better late than never! My mom and sister were in town from Minneapolis last weekend and it was wonderful. Wonderful to have some family time. To see Ingrid with her grandmother and aunt. She moved on from saying "Aunt Kiki" to "Aunt Kirsten." Our little lady is growing up.

The weekend was full of basketball, coffee, laughing with Ingrid, eggs and...more basketball.

There were also M&Ms. My sister claims that Easter M&Ms (or the probably-PC term would be Spring M&Ms) are better than the regular, year-round regular treats. I laughed her off and might have even literally waved her comment off. After a semi-blind taste test, I'm a believer that the pastel M&Ms are indeed better than the rest.

Obviously, this isn't the reason for the season but - spending time with family and debating the features of holiday candy felt pretty great.

A Weekend in Minneapolis

Dan, Ingrid and I hopped a plane to visit friends and family in Minneapolis. The plane ride was a little longer than expected, but I'll share more about that experience another day. Here's a little look into our trip after this little gem from Ingrid:

When we pulled into my aunt's driveway, Ingrid yelled "Immi!" - thinking we were at our friend's house back home.

Classic Ingrid.

Back to the trip. We spent a few nights enjoying the company of our family. Ingrid loved being the center of attention. Dan and I were shaking our heads in slight-annoyance with the magnitude of Ingrid's new-found hamming-it-up-skills.

Ingrid took a break from nose scrunching and dancing to bluegrass to snuggle with Aunt Kiki (Kirsten is pretty difficult to pronounce):

"Everyone look at me. Look, I'm giving the duck water."

Surprisingly, when I asked Dan what he wanted to do during our visit he threw out the idea of going to the Mall of America. I knew he wanted to see the epic consumerism first-hand and was curious to see what all the fuss was about. Our mall agenda consisted of: a carousel ride, multiple elevator rides, Orange Julius and spending way too much time in the Lego Store: 

Sifting through a sea of heads. 

Dan and I both fought over the bomber jacket. I think I could have rocked it. 

Amazed by just about everything.

The reason we planned the visit was to celebrate my cousin's wedding celebration. Of course, we didn't get a picture of her in her amazingly beautiful dress - but it was great to see her and other family members and introduce them to Ingrid. She was drawn to the flock of blonde-haired little girls and hovered around them excitedly, the youngest by at least four years.

My favorite observation of Ingrid's social interaction with "the big girls," was when she pointed to a bus outside. She exclaimed "BUS!" and looked at the girls for validation but came up flat. The girls were too young to humor Ingrid and the whole thing was awkward and somehow really sweet.

She did stop running around long enough to sit with Grandma and Great-Grandma for these short, but sweet moments:

It was nice to see Dan relax. We took an hour and went to a nearby coffee shop to do that - just be low-key. Normally, our dates are scheduled months in advance or we go out to a dinner or show - it was refreshing to have a "date" over multiple cups of coffee, treats and giggle between spurts of work.

Another highlight was going out to brunch with our friends and their new baby girl. Of course we didn't get a picture of her either. We then continued the celebration after the kids went to bed with cocktails and one of my favorite cheese plates ever (mini-curried tomatoes? Yes!).

This little getaway was needed for the three of us. We needed to take a break from our weekend routine and get our of the house (to something other than a campground). It helps that every time I go to Minneapolis I fall in love with the city more and more. Even though it's never been my home, I feel a connection as my family is from the state and it's just nice.

The best part of the weekend? Seeing my sisters and my mom:  

Family-Friendly Recipes (sorry nuggets, you're not invited.)

The term "family-friendly" recipe typically involves veggies covered cheese sauce or something in a nugget shape. Now, I'm not turning my nose up at nuggets or cheese. I live in Wisconsin and would never frown at something fried or cheesy. Never.

But, kid-food isn't that satisfying to make or eat. Lately, I haven't been itching for veggies masked in cheese or to putz around in the kitchen to make chickeny-nugget things.

Simply put - I'm not in the mood to create additional meals for Ingrid. And thankfully, she's not picky (yet!). Although, when she pushes tofu around her plate, I tell her that it is meat and she happily shoves it in her mouth.

Like you, I attempt to cook what's in season and give my family a variety of options - some meatless, some meaty (haha) and try to incorporate lots of vegetables and flavor into everything. Then, when I break out the baked goods, I tell myself that everyone's had their veggies and isn't that what balance is all about?

Here are some old classics and new favorites:

Loaded Quinoa Veggie Burgers

Ingrid says "These taste just like meat!" 

photo and recipe via

Mexican Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes

Ingrid says "Can I just have the filling? Those skins are too tough." 

photo and recipe via

Turkey Chili

Ingrid says "Is this meat? Ok, then I'll have more. I mean, more please." 

photo and recipe via 

Giada's Turkey, Brown Rice and Kale Soup

Ingrid says "I like to pick out the green leaves and place them next to my bowl." 

photo and recipe via

Giada's Tomato Soup 

Ingrid says "This soup is absolutely delicious with a grilled cheese." 

photo and recipe via 

When the days are long and cooking feels impossible, and take-out from Noodles sounds amazing - Ingrid (and the rest of us) will happily eat:

• Baked acorn squash 
• Edamame 
• PB&J 
• As much yogurt as you'll allow her to have
• And Ingrid's favorite: Hummus on Whole Grain Bread. Or as Ingrid calls it, "Hummy!" 

"Family-friendly" or not, what are your go-to-dinners? 

Last Day of Summer.

Tomorrow marks the first day of autumn. So, on the last day of summer, I leave you with my favorite photos from the summer of my favorite people: 

I know I'm biased, but isn't that pouty lipped face the best?  

One.

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. My favorite kind of whirlwind that involved multiple parties to plan, friends and family to visit and cocktails to be sipped.

All of the whirlwinding took a toll on me yesterday in the form of an annoying head cold/sore throat so I parked it on the couch and watched Gossip Girl between trips to and from the kitchen for juice, medicine and Kleenex.

In a medicated haze, I thought about the cold-hard truth that tomorrow - as in today - Ingrid will be turning one. 

Today, Ingrid is one. Today, I have a one-year-old daughter. 

And I couldn't help reflecting on our lives one year ago - and how different everything is one year later. 

New baby, new role as a mother, new routine, new lack-of-routine, new priorities, new job, new grocery list (seriously, now staples include bananas and whole milk). 

And I'm pleasantly surprised how much is the same. I'm at home in our lovely little apartment, Harper is still bouncy little Harper, Dan is still Dan and my friends and family are wonderfully supportive. I still love all of my loves including brunch, online shopping, vodka grapefruits and yoga. I now just do yoga in my living room. 

The newness has been constant this past year and - as cliche as it is - I can't believe it's already been a year since we welcomed her on April 10. 

Today, we celebrated with Tofu Rice Bowls for dinner, gave Ingrid a bath and read about 14 books.

We did host a birthday party with friends and family last weekend and my favorite part of the day was the cake. When we placed the cupcake in front of her, she just studied the cupcake and started to pick off the sprinkles one by one. She grinned a scrunch-face grin at everyone surrounding her and slowly ate her frosting. 

No one was too impressed by this method as they were all anticipating the face-in-cake routine. But not little Ingrid. As I recounted this to my aunt on the phone later that night, she smartly replied "Well, that's how she wanted to eat her cake." 

And that's one of my favorite things about Ingrid - she's funny, intense, has a sense of humor and a really, really, really long attention span.

I know there will be years of her smashing cake in her face, years of her requesting a certain cake flavor, years where she'd rather not see me or any cake - but for her first birthday, she wanted to pick off her colored sprinkles one by one. And then, when I intervened and smashed that corner of her treat in an effort to "help" - she looked at me as if to say "This is how I want to eat my cake." Then, I slowed down, listened and let her eat it because she's wonderfully sweet that's how she wants to eat her cake.

Weekend

On Friday, I took a vacation day to be with Ingrid. Since it was raining, we kept our jammies on, read all morning, went to the library, picked up Aunt Kirsten at the train station and then, had lunch at the Public Market.

That afternoon, my sister and I took turns reading Eyes, Noes and Mouth to Ingrid for about three hours (the girl is obsessed). It was one of the best vacation days I've had in a long time. 

That night my sisters and I saw Hunger Game - which lived up to the hype. So good. 

Then, we went to Palms for a dark beer and some deep conversation about recent Target finds. 

Today we went for a walk, baked some banana bread and saw my grandpa at his hospice center. 

I'm thankful we all visited him this afternoon but, during the ride home I cried. Because the thought of loosing your grandparent is sad. And the thought of your dad loosing his dad is sad. And knowing that my daughter won't remember him is sad. The compounding sadness of these thoughts brought me to tears during the car ride home.

Typically, Ingrid does not fall asleep quietly in the car. She looses a pacifier or cries for a bit, but today she just fell asleep and I was thankful because I was able to cry and think without fishing out a pacifier from the depths of her never-ending car seat crevices.   

Somehow, she's still sleeping and I'm thankful for the time to just be with my thoughts and throw myself a brief pity party.

Yesterday was filled with the giggles and quiet moments between Ingrid and I. Today, feels like the opposite.

I'm trying to muster up the energy to make a to-do list, go grocery shopping or at the very minimum, throw in a load of laundry. I'm dragging my feet to just get through this day. 

Big, important thoughts are getting muddled by little annoying ones. I'm thinking about my grandpa while feeling annoyed by the fact that I have to get a new phone.   

Weekends are a time to regroup. A time to clean, cook and organize things and thoughts. Spending time with family and friends. Enjoying a cocktail or three. Time to practice yoga and run. And spend time with Ingrid. 

I've surrendered to this big-thought-little-thought whirlwind I'm in and decided to plan Ingrid's baptism/dedication while thinking about what I'd like to make to celebrate tomorrow's Mad Men episode.