I heart pigtails!

One of the many, many reasons I love having a girl :-)



Pigtails!

Mmmmmm... Sushi!

A non-Annabel post! Tonight I am out for a girls' night with my friend, Renee. We had sushi at Piranha, and I have to tell you if you're a sushi-lover, you have to try this place! They have some really creative sushi rolls and menu items.



Here is the Vietnamese Summer Roll. I can't remember everything in it, but it's packed full o' goodness and wrapped in rice paper instead of seaweed. See? Creative, right? Yummy.

Afterwards, we are seeing "The Color Purple" at the Bass. I say "are seeing" because I'm blogging during intermission. Hee. Ahhhh technology!



Me and Renee!

So far the play is fantastic. Love the music! Hope you're having a fun Saturday night too.

Cheers,
Cathy



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

It's all about the lighting

Chris had a project last night. We thought we'd add a little light to Annabel's kitchen set. The place in our house where it sits now isn't super bright without turning on all the kitchen, breakfast and hallway lights. That means $$$ on our electricity bill! So we got some under-cabinet lighting at Ikea and installed it in her kitchen.



Voilà! Didn't her daddy do a great job?

On a separate note, I had a chance to stop by the hospital to say hi one of Annabel's new friends the other day.



Welcome, little Kate!! Isn't she a cutie patootie?

Cheers,
Cathy

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Closing doors

Annabel's latest "thing" is closing doors. She wants to make sure the door is closed wherever we go... whether we are leaving a room or entering it. Yesterday, we went and visited Daddy at work, and as we were leaving, she went to close the door. But his doorknob was a little higher than a typical door, so she really had to reach!

Reeeeeeeeach! (Please forgive the fuzziness... the shutter on the iPhone isn't very fast).

Cheers,

A Shopping Caste System

Today, Annabel and I went to the Galleria to pick up my watch. I was having it repaired at a store there. After picking it up, we had a little time to kill, so we walked around a bit. Well, I walked, and Annabel observed from her stroller. As I went from store to store and floor to floor, I discovered that the Galleria has a caste system! Yes, the first floor holds top end, posh brand-name stores. The second floor holds the "middle America" shops, the brands we all know and love and shop (on sale). And all the "bargain" shops are way up in the nosebleed section (third floor).

The obvious illustration of this store hierarchy is the BR (Floor 1)/Gap (Floor 2)/ON (Old Navy) conglomerate that anchors one end of the mall. Here are a few other examples in their corresponding retail categories to further illustrate my point.

Eateries: La Madeleine / Corner Bakery / Subway
Footwear: Gucci / Nine West / Payless
Accessories: Louis Vuitton / Fossil / Claire's
Cosmetics: L'Occitane / Bath and Body Works / Perfume Village
Jewelry: Cartier / Zales / Fast Fix Jewelry and Repair

I mean, I get that they are sort of grouping their stores by customer segment, but it's a bit extreme, don't you think? I mean, I own a Louis Vuitton, use Bath and Body Works lotion and eat at Subway. I can't possibly be the only who does that. Am I? Oh well. I guess that's why I'm not a mall designer!

In any case, here are a couple of pics from our adventures at the mall. Our girl is a fun shopping partner!

Annabel insisted on holding on to our excellent clearance finds at the Gap. Although, I know this picture looks more like I stuffed the bag onto her seat with her. But I didn't!

See? Clutching that bag like a new baby!

We also checked out their playground. She had a lot of fun because there was so much to do and not too crowded. And she especially enjoyed it since it featured one of her favorite types of playground equipment...

A tunnel!

I haven't been to the Galleria in awhile, so this was fun going outside our usual routine. Even though I disguised myself in my sunglasses and hood the whole time we were on the third floor.

Cheers,

Library fun

Today, our local library held storytime for toddlers. It's great because they go all out with songs, stories and even a puppet show. And the best part is that it's free!

Unfortunately they do not allow pictures during storytime, so I took this one in the kids' section afterwards.


Annabel loves those kid-sized chairs! Wonder where I can find one...

Cheers!
Cathy

Why I love digital photography

Four words: TODDLER-ON-THE-GO!

I must have thousands upon thousands of pictures of Annabel, from birth to present. How many of those are actually print-worthy? A fraction of them. Thank goodness we are in the digital age, and I can snap away without worrying about my film budget. Still, I gotta say that sometimes the throwaways are fun. Case in point... When we went to the park the other day, here is what most of the pictures that I took look like.

Girl on a mission... headed from the swing to the slide. Never mind that Mommy is trying to get her to at least look in my direction! (And on a side note, yes, I do realize that her hair clip does not match her outfit at all. But it was the only one I had within reach at home as we were leaving, and sometimes, within reach is the best you can do.)

And up the steps we go... camera? What camera?

And then back down again. Nope, still can't look at Mommy! We have to watch the steps of course, to make it down again.

Incoming!! I really need to be faster. I think only a couple of her hairs are in focus here. Perhaps I should get a sports lens.

And I'll end with her cute diapered-butt. I have a lot of these shots. Really. I can't tell you how many. But I love every stinkin' one of them.

Cheers,