Tuesday, April 24, 2012

I HEART CITIES

We've done the burbs thing in the past and really really hated it. Why? Because we're the type of family that loves to explore! We adore that within walking distance of us there are two universities, two amazing museums, a conservation center, a waterfall meditation park (not sure what to actually call this), and a gorgeous public flower garden. Not to mention parks, bike shops, and all the people-watching you can stand. True, we hear the occasional gun shot and definitely lock our doors all the time. It's a major city so there's going to be some of that. We live in an eclectic neighborhood, which we think makes it more interesting. And we always feel safe tucked away in our little city home.

I would say that I love Kansas City, but I'm more in like with it than anything. We dream of warmer winters, beaches within a day's drive, and culture, culture culture. But until then, we plan to make the most of every beautiful thing this city has to offer us. In general, I mostly love big cities, and even small ones if they're awesome (can I get a Lawrence Kansas in the house?).

Today we ventured out on a late-afternoon adventure to the nearby conservation center grounds, which are beautiful.

Everleigh, looking all tough-guy on the way there. Yes, we can walk but today we were pressed for time so we drove.

Pretty nature

Ev parking herself in the bike rack

Checking out the little benches

Admiring my husband while he watched Ev play


Tickling the flowers. Tickle, Tickle, Tickle

Beautiful

Checking out the waterfall

Checking for frogs! See it? Look close...

Tall baby back to the car


Sunday, April 22, 2012

PAST ADVENTURES


This might be as good a time as any to talk briefly about the time Scott and I moved to the Crossroads Art District, took over and renovated what was basically a large garage, and turned it into a live-work gallery space.

First of all, we were young and we didn’t know any better ;) We knew we wanted to move out of our downtown loft and into something with a little more freedom where we could play music and Scott could paint without worrying about space. We drove around the Crossroads district, which at the time was very up and coming, and the Eastern side was very undeveloped. Think lots of commercially zoned, super cool old buildings sitting empty.  For awhile artists had been renting spaces down there on the cheap, and showing their work in the galleries below. We did not have a big budget, but we had lots of raw materials and a little savings, and struck a deal with some landlords to rent a space from them for dirt cheap in exchange for renovating it—they would handle the plumbing and electrical and we would do everything else.

So we dove in. We painted the loft ceiling, built a wall, a loft space for our bedroom, a closet, and a library/study. We cooked using a microwave for way too long. We felt dirty most of the time because we were living in a construction site. It kind of sucked. But we also were the only people I know who had lots of square footage downtown and dirt cheap rent. We even had a stage in our place for bands.
One night in a fit of creative rage, Scott began building a giant tree in the space out of left over dry wall, wood, and anything else that could be nailed down. We painted it white, but over time it’s evolved into a fabric-covered Alice in Wonderland style installation.

We really only stayed a year…I was tired of the constant noise and discomfort of living in such a space, and the gallery never took off in a big enough way to help supplement other expenses like we had hoped. But it’s still fun to go back and visit—it’s now the HoneyTree Gallery (named after Scott’s giant tree), and every owner who lives there has made cool changes to the space that we love to see.
Sometimes when we feel too suburban, with our little house and toddler and SUV, we think back on our time as bohemians in the cozy little art district. There were late night shows at Grinders (we became friends with owner Stretch), walks around the neighborhood, which we shared primarily with artists, homeless people, and small business owners. But it was a real sense of community, and we belonged. I’m not sure why I’m even bothering getting into this now—maybe to give you guys a little glance into my past? Probably just to try and prove to Ev later that we WERE cool J PS: I am thankful every day for our little house! We learned after years of apartments and lofts that we really love porches and cookouts and backyards. So things are different now, but I really think they’re better. And if we miss that lifestyle too much, we can always go visit, right?

Thursday, April 19, 2012

FAMILY DATE: FIRST FRIDAYS

Sorry this post is super-crazy late. I have lots of random awesome blog ideas throughout the week, but I'm struggling lately to find the time to sit down and hash em out. Also my internet connection (while super pricey) leaves a lot to be desired and sometimes it takes literally hours to do a simple post like this with uploaded pics. Enough negativity :) I just wanted to apologize because A). I really do love this blog and B). I know what a bummer it is to check someone's blog over and over and it's the same post. I will do better!

So here's a snapshot of our First Friday art crawl, family-style.
The tree in our old place that is now the fabric-covered centerpiece in the HoneyTree Gallery

A weird tag we keep seeing everywhere in the city. Maybe a graffiti artist is expecting?

We were shocked to see these guys when we came around the corner. They were playing traditional blues rock



A costume designer poses for some promotion

One of my favorite paintings of the night

Hobo drums

Daddy caught us by surprise! Mommy kissing Ev while she eats cheese

A strange but fun installation

Our Hello Art stickers :)

A fibers piece I really enjoyed
Hula girls: rocking my world since 1897



As the weather gets warmer, the people really come out in droves to see what Kansas City artists have been up to. We saw some street performers,  people selling art out of a wagon, hula girls doing their thing, and a one-man-band called Monster, whom I absolutely loved. Everleigh kept saying "go see the ga-wa-wees" and "go see the awt". It was pretty cute. I also got to tour my own employer's Sunshine From Darkness exhibit, which featured art by clients with mental illness. Very neat stuff.

While it's nice to get away without Ev once in awhile, we really love our family-dates too, and First Friday is a family night tradition in our home, dating WAAAAAY back :) Do you have fun family traditions or kid-friendly family dates you go on?


Wednesday, April 11, 2012

DEAR EVERLEIGH (22 MONTHS)






Dear Everleigh,

This month you turned 22 months old, which means you are almost 2! We’re already planning your two-year old puppy birthday party (your idea), and prepping you for the responsibilities of turning 2 and officially becoming a Big Girl. We’ve informed you that after turning 2, you will no longer drink Mommy’s milk, and will have to start drinking milk from a cup like a big girl (a transition we’ve been working slowly for the past month or so). You will also be losing your binkie, except at night. You nod your head and act like this will be okay, but the other day when I brought up turning 2, you cried a little. Change is tough, my little lady, but I know you’re brave enough to handle it :)

Here are some of the things you’re up to now:

Physical Comedy: you love it when people slip and fall, pies in the face, skateboarding accidents, etc. Wipeout is one of your favorite grownup shows, and you also like Max X and other extreme sports shows that highlight lots of falls. You and I play a game sometimes called slippery slip, where I put lotion on you and then slip and fall back on the bed because your hands are so slippery! You love this and never get enough of it.

Memory: it kind of blows me away that you remember so much! You love singing along with the radio or on your own, and will often sing songs from shows or from the radio word for word. One of your favorite songs right now is Rumor Has It by Adele. Also, last First Friday we all got stickers the read “Hello, Art” and last night you tried to get the sticker from my bag and said “Hello Art.” We hadn’t said those words in days and it made me think for a second that you read the sticker, which was crazy. I’m pretty sure you just remembered that’s what it said, but I still find that to be proof you are a super genius ;)

Sick, sick and sicker: February and April have been rough months for us. You seem to drag every cold and flu bug home from your one-day a week at daycare, then infect the whole family just as you’re getting better. You’re just getting over an ear infection and we’re all stuffy nosed and coughing and blah.  Times like these, I try to keep in mind that if a cold is your biggest physical ailment, we’re pretty lucky still.

The Waters: you and Daddy recently discovered a treasured little park space that’s almost like a meditation space. It’s always very quiet there, and it has lots of beautiful little waterfalls and fountains. You call it “the waters”, and your favorite waterfall of all is “the loud one”. It’s very peaceful there, and I’m glad that you sometimes choose the waters over the playground :)

Silly Runs: one of your favorite games to play is to run the space between the living room and kitchen and do silly runs. Right now your running repertoire contains the “arms crossed run”, the “zombie run”, the “moonwalk”, the “broke back” (nothing to do with cowboys), the “flying run”, and the “arms behind the back” run. You like it best when you can get Mommy or Daddy in on the action too.

Favorite Books: this last library run was a success! You found the book “I Don’t Want a Cool Cat” and “Don’t Lick the Dog” and you still prefer me to close each night with “If You Were My Bunny”. We also got an adorable little monster book for you that basically scared you by introducing the concept that some monsters were considered scary while other were good. You did not like this and told us outright. We’ll stick to the animal books for awhile longer ;)

You’re growing up so fast and we’re loving your ability to communicate with us like a big girl! You often tell us “I’m so happy” or “I missed Mommy today”, and it always melts my heart that you feel the love we have for you. Even though you’re a big girl, you’ll always be my little baby.

Love,
Mommy

Sunday, April 1, 2012

LOVELY

This weekend, Tory was on Spring Break from college, and got to spend Friday and Saturday with us. We tried to stretch the time as much as possible. Everleigh lit up to see her sister, and had to immediately show off her dance moves, tricks, and so on ;)

Saturday we woke up and rolled out to the City Market--our local farmers' market. Oh, how I've missed it so. There were so many sights and sounds to take in! Lots of vendors selling beautiful fruit and veggies, fresh bread, organic teas, figs, fresh flowers, spices. Of course, I forgot my camera.


But then we took our bounty home and cooked an amazingly fresh meal--grilled chicken and steak with rice, grilled and seasoned green and yellow peppers, and a big fresh salad. YUM!



Sunday, I woke up late (thanks Ev!), and Scott had made us up a fresh little breakfast platter sampling our yummy fruit. Gah. I wish it could be Spring forever!


Then after running a few errands, we made good on our promise and took Ev to Loose Park, a nearby favorite of ours.

We tested out a dollar store kite (it seemed to be worth roughly $1's worth of kite flying), and ran through the grass barefoot and laid on the blanket and soaked in the sun.
















It was absolutely lovely.