Living with a ten month old baby is sort of like being trapped inside the world's cutest snow globe – and every time you think you've found your way around the place someone comes along and shakes the damned thing up. So you might also say that living with a ten month old baby is like living inside a tornado… or some kind of crazy vortex where time and reason function totally differently.
My friend, Hilah, who recently had a little boy of her own described the experience of motherhood pretty brilliantly as "the worst-best sleepover party that never ends". That pretty much covers it. On one hand, I am happier than I have ever been in my entire life. On the other hand, I am completely exhausted, physically battered, and constantly stressed. My eye never stops twitching. I can't keep up with work, or household chores, or basic personal hygiene. I'm a mess – but I'm a mess with a full, happy heart, and a deep well of joy. It's pretty mind boggling.
At ten months my little CC is crawling, standing, cruising on the furniture and eating us out of house and home. With his maniacal laugh and appetite for mischief there is never a dull moment. So while I'm picking half-dissolved apple puffs out of my hair every night I remember that sometimes Kids Are the Worst, but they are also always the best.
The Austin Food Blogger Alliance put out its annual City Guide just in time for SXSW. (Which I completely missed by the way. Big surprise. There were ZERO SX events thrown inside the baby tornado snow globe. Zero!) I shared three posts for the guide this year, two updates on older posts (Ice Cream and NY Style Pizza) and a brand new post, Austin's Most Interesting Pizza. Be sure to visit the City Guide to check out awesome guides to food in Austin from a whole gaggle of ATX bloggers.
I sat down for tea a few weeks back with an old friend who recently started her own business hand-blending artisan teas. Lauri launched White Cloud World Teas like a boss, and is out there hustling her tasty teas at fairs and expos all over the place. Lauri's gusto is really inspiring. I need to cultivate some of that energy myself to get my butt in gear and get natural beauty and soap making workshops going soon. The Natural Beauty Solution has been sent to the printer and will be coming out in stores in just a little over two months! I'm simultaneously psyched and terrified.
Speaking of inspirational people, my sister, Heather, will be running the Boston Marathon on April 20. She's running for Project Hope and will be collecting donations for their charity for the next four weeks leading up to the race. Every penny goes directly to Project Hope so please consider stopping by her site to make a donation. You can also check out her blog while you are there – a real treat since Heather also happens to be a really entertaining writer. Go Heather!
I did manage to leave my house earlier this month in order to celebrate my Mom's birthday. We feasted on lobsters at home on her big day and spent the following evening learning to properly pipe buttercream at Make It Sweet. I've always wanted to learn more about cake decorating. That particular skill leaves a big old hole in my culinary repertoire. In fact, baking was the only portion of culinary school where I really struggled. Turns out I can't make biscuits. The shame. THE SHAME!
You know what's a shame? The fact that I saw this robot that makes noodles but it wasn't actually MAKING noodles wen I saw it. I wish you better luck should you happen to be visiting Chen Z over at Oak Hill. Great place for noodles and dumplings, by the way. It's not a very nice place to eat but the food is killer. We usually opt for take-away as the dining room is decidedly uninviting.
I leave you with my most successful baby art project to date – CC's footprints made into valentines. I hope that your Spring is shaping up into something lovely – or at least looking less like Winter.