Sunday, February 23, 2014

Battle of the Bands


This Saturday my husband, San Antonio's finest and foxiest singer-songwriter-pianist Lucas Jack, won the Battle of the Bands to make his the official band of the Riverwalk for 2014! Four bands played a 45 minute set of originals and covers and then returned to the stage to perform a cover and a original for the panel of judges. The weather was perfect - 70 degrees and a bit overcast. [The emcee referred to this as 'San Antonio chilly']

Onstage at the Arneson River Theatre. Trivia: the venue appears in Miss Congeniality.

 
 
 
 
Our friends graciously watched Clementine so I could take pictures. THANK YOU!
 
WINNER ANNOUNCED! Lucas thanks the crowd and the Paseo del Rio Association.


The band took the stage again for another set that ended in an encore and an audience singalong of Drift Away. C and I sadly missed this - we headed home early in the second set as there are so many ways to occupy a toddler between a river and rows and rows of rocky steps.



I look forward to the many events Lucas will participate in with the Riverwalk this year!
 
PROUD WIFE!




Saturday, February 22, 2014

8/52

Watching Daddy in the driveway.
 
Out of focus but she's so fast!
 
 
Luke dubbed her the Frog Ninja in these pjs.
 
 
A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2014.

Monday, February 17, 2014

Winter Wonderland


My in-laws visited from Michigan last week and they were good sports about the weekend activities I suggested, like checking out the new downtown doughnut shop Vinnie's (fine but no need for a repeat visit) and the SA Children's Museum (ditto).





Downtown SA


We're not talking.




Forever in blue jeans


 

Lunch at the Cove


 
It was a great visit!
 
[I have the sinking feeling that my posts only reflect the weekend and nothing noteworthy happens during the week and I HATE the 'working for the weekend' mentality since that leaves 5/7 of the week unsung. It was a very interesting workweek on a professional and intellectual level, however.]
 
That said, on to the next weekend...
 
Walking out with my colleague on Friday afternoon, the doors slid open and we were hit with a blast of sunny 80 degree air and we both said --ahhhh!  It feels so good.  The cold (35-50 degree) overcast weather gave way and SA got back to being warm before it gets back to being infernally hot. We celebrated Valentine's Day with filet mignon from Omaha Steaks (thanks Dad! And thanks Chip and Joy for the chest freezer!) and House of Cards.
 
On Saturday C and I made the British-style scone recipe I'd ripped out the March/April Cook's Illustrated - they were stellar.  I took the rest to the salon about an hour later where I had a facial/cut/color.  I'm not a devotee or even believer in facials - I prefer strong acids and neurotoxins when it comes to skin care but during pregnancy some pore-degunking is as good as it gets.  My skin has been all-pregnancy-haywire so some TLC and de-gunking were in order.
 
 Beautified, we packed up the C-Bear for an afternoon out.
 
Lunch at the Luxury:
 


These plastic animals are the table numbers
For the second night in a row we fell asleep on the couch watching House of Cards and stayed there until the morning. That could be explained by comfortable couches, but we have two terrible, sat-upon-1000-too-many times loveseats, so there really is no excuse.


Morning: Yes wearing the clothes from the day before.

On Sunday I made a pilgrimage to Neiman Marcus because it's the only place in SA that sells Armani makeup -- the best foundation, ever, period, end of story.  I'd completely given up makeup entirely for weeks out of laziness and finally said, no, this must end. [See above: all-pregnancy-haywire skin - acne, worsening melasma.] I justify the expense by thinking of all the $12 bottles I'd have to buy at Walgreens only to decide immediately they are too light, too dark, too greasy, too sheer.  If you need to talk to me simply call 1-800-ENABLE.

Then to the Block - a bar and food truck park - for Luke's afternoon gig (thanks for joining us, Hertlesses!)



That evening I made rocky road ice cream from Jeni's book (using the 'milkiest chocolate ice cream in the world' recipe which TEN CUIDADO! has a typo plus layers of mini marshmallows, almond slivers, and caramel drizzles.  We tried it today and it is by far the best batch I have ever made and way, way better than storebought).  I also made the pastry cream for the Boston cream cupcakes I'd wanted to make for ages from Cook's Country.

Rule #45 from Michael Pollan's Food Rules: Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.

 
I don't think you know who you're dealing with, Mr. Pollan.

This morning I finished up the cupcakes and had one with lunch (actually, just a couple of bites -- they were so rich and I don't think I've ever thought those words much less typed them). Luckily Luke's producer was in the neighborhood and he swung by to share them with the studio crew (the magic of Instragram).


Egg salad and ersatz Boston cream pie, my diner-lunch-at-home. Butter lettuce is the best lettuce of all the lettuces.

C and I made a Target run and then to Pearl (the only pedestrian friendly area of SA) where I found the cowboyish hat with a chinstrap (so windy here) I'd been looking for. We sat on the patio of La Gloria where she ate an astonishing amount of guacamole (something idiomatic about an apple and a tree here), delighted in the birds scavenging for chips, and drank from a straw for the first time!  It just took an agua fresca for her to get the hang of it.

Tonight we found out she is on the cover of our neighborhood publication Hills & Heights in a feature on her daycare.

 
 
Until next weekend...

 

Saturday, February 15, 2014

February Reads



Cover images via Goodreads

Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom is Wrong - and What You Really Need to Know by Emily Oster  Came across this when googling 'sushi during pregnancy' because I really really want spicy tuna rolls and who better to give me license than the Interwebs?

Anatomies: A Cultural History of the Human Body by Hugh Aldersey-Williams  Read the NYT review here 

Little Failure by Gary Shteyngart   I think I've read some of his short fiction in the New Yorker.

Realizing that I read little to no fiction (I blame the doozies IQ84, The Art of Fielding, and The Marriage Plot over the past year or so), I've decided to read one novel a month.  Of course I finished the January installment in mid-February... I wasn't on board with Sweet Tooth and it was slow going but the denouement was crash bang WOW!

Not sure what to read next -- if I were more organized I'd work from a list of classics or important-novel-of-the-decade or Nobel prize winner bibliographies but I probably should just go into the baby's room and pull a long-ago-purchased, never-read selection from there.  But she's sleeping so I'll get back to watching season two of Girls [me: it's genius, absolute genius.  Luke: it's unwatchable].

7/52

Peekaboo!
 
 

 
 
 
Baby and Orange Chair
 
 
 
 

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Things and Stuff


Laughing about Dave Matthews GPS

Digging this commentary

Would love to take pottery classes and no I've never seen Ghost

Reading (slowly) this novel with a terrible title and cover

Took Amanda's advice and bought a subscription to New York magazine.  Now that I'm reading that, the New Yorker, and the Sunday New York Times I can safely say my NYC FOMO has reached fever pitch.

Want to whip up these brownies

Sundance catalog wants: this tunic and these sandals.  Ooo and these exciting cloggy sandals to be worn with maximum contrast tights in the fall (green or blue?)

Don't have any great contenders for baby girl names.  Ideas?

I want to go to here Utahhhhhhh


Hope you are having a great week!



 

Clementine Answers the Phone



Yesterday Pat and John noticed that when Clementine - at the tender age of 53.5 weeks - heard a phone ring she put her right hand to her ear as if holding a phone.

Today, she picks up and answers the phone.





 
Hi!
 


Thursday, February 6, 2014

6/52

 
Several bloggers I follow feature a weekly portrait series of their children [so this is not my idea].  I planned to begin January 1 but like so many other parties here I am, showing up very late and underdressed.
 
Clementine was given pigtails today at daycare (I was absolutely sure this wasn't Luke's doing before he dropped her off) and I thought, today's the day we begin the portrait series:
 
A portrait of my child, once a week, every week
[read: when I remember], in 2014.
 
The evening is not C's favorite time of day - she's often cranky and tired and worn out.  Unhappy little sprite.
 
Pigtails I
 
Pigtails II
 
I still can't believe she has blue eyes; but three of her four grandparents do so I guess it's not that much of a surprise.  #bluegenebaby
 
I include Little Miss Baby 2 here because Luke and I saw her together for the first time this week.  She has a long way to go before getting born, but hello, Deuce Hinkalo. We are excited to meet you!  (More on that later).

Seventeen weeks


Favorite Phone Photos - Year One Edition


These are uploaded straight from the phone on to Blogger so the resolution is terrible.  No matter- these are (some) of my favorite photos from C's first year. She's definitely the cutest thing that ever happened.


Birth day
 
She looks impossibly small, though she was 6 lb 7 oz

Snuggles with Grandma

Secrets with Doug
 
Disapproval at Two Bros BBQ

All Velcro'ed in for the night
 
Getting ready for BabyRoo
 
In the bibkerchief Grandma made

Sunday morning at Rancho Loma


Hanging out at the Luxury

Watching the Sopranos (if her first words are 'DA FUCK??!' I am going to be very embarrassed).
 
Yellowstone with namesake Great-Grandpa Thomas Francis
 
Bedtime signals with Grandpa in Denver

First fever

Postbreakfast nap in Hilton Head
 
Hilton Head beach laughs


Wrinkle-nose

Baby Frida for Halloween
 
I LOVE TO EAT PUFFS!
 
'Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk' duet


There is only one person who gets a smile like this and it's D-A-D-D-Y