I wrote a post about all the reasons I’ve been blogging less back in July and said I would be focusing more on Instagram. Well, I’ve done that and it was a nice break for the summer, but now I’m starting to miss the blog.
Okay, so let’s get back to writing more for the blog, I thought. Easy peasy!
But every time I started to write a post about the new school year, I was like— wait. I can’t write about this new thing until I write about that old thing that happened over the summer. And quite frankly, some of the old things go even farther back to the end of the last school year. That’s when Harlow had her hip-hop recital and Mazzy had her acting show and we refinished the attic in the house and those things need to be written about!
Maybe it doesn’t matter to you guys so much if I just forget about those things and start fresh in the present day, but it matters to me. I’ve recently realized that if I don’t write about these events and have the blog posts to reference, those important moments disappear from my brain. And if they disappear from my brain, I can’t ever recount these stories to my kids. We are now at the age when they ask to hear stories about when they were little, and what do I do? I read them old blog posts. Mazzy and Harlow LOVE them. It’s amazing to me every time I unearth something on the blog that I had completely forgotten writing, let alone happening.
So, yes, I care about you guys, the people reading, but this blog also serves another purpose. It’s eight years worth of stories told about my kids.
And so, in the interest of time, instead of spreading all those events out into separate blog posts and being in a permanent state of catch up, I’m just going to compress everything that’s happened into one big blog post. Then I will be able to breathe.
Think of it as the Sparknotes version of our summer. Or if you are as old as me, the Clifnotes version.
Ready???
1) Harlow’s Dance Recital
Harlow’s recital outfit was a black sequined cat costume and it was freakin’ adorable. They danced to the Stray Cat Strut.
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Here’s an edited version of her dance because Instagram caps videos at 1 minute, but that’s okay because I got to edit out all the parts where she stands directly behind the girl in front of her. I need to teach her about staggering!!! She did awesome though and I was so proud. If you are wondering why she is so much smaller than the rest of her class, it’s because a) Harlow is a small person and b) It’s a k/1 class so the girls are 5-7. She is on the younger side of K since she’s a November birthday so I’m guessing in addition to being small, she is also the youngest. And the most SERIOUS cat.
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2) Mazzy’s Acting Show
Remember back in last December when I went to Israel and missed Mazzy’s first acting performance? No? Probably because I never wrote about it. The performance was part of an after school class she’d been taking all fall that culminated in a show. And I missed it. It was pretty devastating for everyone involved. Anyway. The good thing is that it was a full year class and she had a second performance in June. I made sure my schedule was clear!
Mazzy had a small part with a few lines, but she refused to practice at home so I was a little worried that she wouldn’t have her lines memorized. Well, I think she must have practiced on the sly because she was great! It was so fun seeing her up on stage! If you click the little arrow on the right, you can see a montage of a few of her lines. There was actually one uncomfortable moment when everyone was silent and it was obvious someone had forgotten their line. Then someone nudged Mazzy so she spoke and the play continued. I assumed Mazzy was the one who had forgotten, but after the show, she told me, it was not her turn to speak. She said they were four lines away from her line and then told each line that was supposed to lead up to it. “But someone had to say something,” she said. She was right. I guess she knew her stuff after all.
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3) The Last Day of School
There are two things I want to tell you about the last day of school. The first is that in Mazzy’s class, a few of them got up to read a letter to their teacher, including Mazzy. I can’t tell you how happy I am to see that Mazzy has recently transformed from an under the radar kid (at least academically) to a kid who will volunteer to read in front of the class.
In Harlow’s class, each kid presented their parents with their final project— an autobiography. In a few words and pictures, Harlow wrote about her favorite color, how much she loves her family and what she wants to be when she grows up. A dancer? A baker? A doctor? Nope. She wants to be a blogger. This took me totally by surprise. Should I be proud? Flattered? Concerned??? Whatever the mix of emotions, it made me well up inside and get a little weepy. I think it says that Harlow really looks up to me and I have to make sure I’m setting the best example for her to follow.
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4) Our Summer Trips
The day after the last day of school we left for a weekend trip to New Orleans but I already wrote about that here. And three days after we got home from New Orleans, we left for a 7-day road trip around Northern California which you can read about here. In the three days between those trips, we packed up our entire apartment and cleared out for the summer which leads us to…
5) The Apartment Renovation
We’re renovating. I told you that. We were supposed to be done by September but Spoiler Alert! It’s still not ready. There have been several delays which I’ve heard is pretty standard for most renovation projects. I did write about how smoothly the move out process went, but I still have a lot to say about the design process. I will save that for it’s own post.
For now, here’s a picture of what Mazzy and Harlow’s room looked like after we moved everything out.
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If you remember when we transitioned the nursery to a shared big kid room and loved their decor, DO NOT WORRY. The same furniture will all come back, after the floors are done and the room gets a fresh coat of paint. The only thing we are changing in there is the carpet. I don’t know if you remember the multi-color rag rug that was in there…it was great looking when the room was clean, but made it look extra messy when the room was cluttered, which was most of the time. It also acted like little kid camouflage and made it impossible to find anything on it. We put it in the attic room at the summer house (more on that later) and even though I shook it out and vacuumed, I am still finding bobby pins and Barbie shoes lodged in it. Anyway, that will be the only change. Our second bedroom has gone through a lot of transitions since I moved into our apartment 15 years ago, but for once, that room is staying the same while every other room transitions to something new!
6) I was on Good Morning America
Last time I went on GMA I was promoting my book. This time I was promoting coffee. It was for a partnership with Keurig. They put a pound of make-up on my face that looked ridiculous in real life but excellent in photos! I had to make an iced cappuccino on camera and I DID NOT SPILL!!! Winning.
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7) I was also in People Magazine!
When you are at the doctors office or the nail salon and see a stack of People Magazines, look for the August 27th issue. Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollen are on the cover. Then, if you flip past Brad and Angelina (their battle heats up!) and Justin and Hailey (pushing back their wedding plans!) and Carrie Underwood (expecting baby no. 2!), and make it all the way to page 79, you will find a much less famous person talking about (of all things)— ME TIME!
Honestly, when People called to ask me questions, I thought I was just going to be quoted in a larger article. I did not realize I was going to have a FULL PAGE until my friend saw it (at the nail salon) and texted me a photo with the message “WTF???!!!!” I mean, not only am I in People magazine, I got to call my mom and say, “Guess what? YOU’RE IN PEOPLE MAGAZINE!!!!!”
Best surprise ever.
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8) Camp Struggles
Harlow has always hated camp. She hates it because she hates being dropped off at pretty much anything. Mazzy hating camp was a new development this year. She was actually really looking forward to camp, but then, a lot of the girls she thought would be there from previous summers weren’t there and her age group was very small with mostly boys. It was pretty heartbreaking to see my overly enthusiastic kid feel genuine disappointment. I think she is starting to feel the sting of getting older and things changing, even though she’s not really ready to move on yet.
With Mazzy hating camp, it was a lot harder convincing Harlow that she should like camp and as a result, both kids stayed home a lot more this summer which is probably a big part of the reason I had less time to blog about it. This is when working for yourself and from home is hard. You can’t pin it on your boss like most people.
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Towards the end of summer, Mazzy did a stop motion animation camp which I actually did write about. She’s going to do that camp again next summer and we’re going to look into some other specialized camp options for both of them. If you have any suggestions, let me know.
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9) New Changes at the House
While I’ve been talking a lot about the apartment renovation, we also did some work on the house over the last year, which we got to take advantage of over the summer. I’m going to do a whole post about those changes, but for now I’ll mention my favorite one— a hanging chair. Yes, I know. Not that big of a deal, but I’ve dreamed about a chair like this for years, but never had a place to put one. One of the things we did to the house was push the sun porch back, which created a small roof awning. It’s the perfect place! It’s also a great shaded spot to watch the kids while they are in the pool.
Or, you know, drink a glass of wine on a Friday night.
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10) Mazzy’s Best Friend Moved to Australia
This is a big one and now that Mazzy is back in school, she is really beginning to feel it. Alice and Mazzy have been in class together and pretty inseparable since kindergarten. Before Alice left, she spent the weekend at our house. I wrote all about their bittersweet goodbye here.
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11) The Annual Mikes Weekend
If you don’t know about the Meeting of the Mikes, you might be new here. You can read about all our past experiences like last year when Mike took Mazzy while I stayed home with Harlow, which resulted in two COMICALLY different weekends, the year we all went together, the first time Mazzy went alone with Mike and the very first year we went (when I was pregnant and got food poisoning.) If you already knew about our annual weekend and look forward to those posts every year, don’t worry. I will write this one up too. Eventually.
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12) The Girls Went for a Ride in Poppy’s Convertible
Harlow has been obsessed with convertibles ever since she saw her friend’s mom drive up in one at camp pick-up. She points out every convertible she sees on the street and has wondered aloud why anyone would ever buy a car that was anything but a convertible.
“You know who has a convertible?” I told her. “Poppy!”
“Can we ride in it, Mom? Please???!!!!”
I told Poppy and the next time he came over, he took Mazzy and Harlow for a ride. Five minutes on the highway and they were both BEGGING him to put the top up. “It’s too windy!” “It’s so loud!!!” “My hair is in my mouth!!!!”
Dream put to rest.
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13) Harlow beat Poppy at Jenga
We went out for dinner one night and there was an oversized Jenga set in a waiting area. Harlow challenged my dad while we were waiting for our food. Isn’t it always amazing when you discover your child is oddly good at something random? That was what happened that night. Turn after turn, Harlow pulled off risky maneuvers that nobody thought would work. She could barely reach the top by the time the thing came tumbling down (Poppy’s fault.) Everyone in the restaurant was impressed. Especially my dad, who builds for a living. The best part was that when Harlow won, with everyone watching, she took a really big bow. Another classic Harlow move.
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14) The Creepiest Art Exhibit of All Time
Every summer, we go to an event at the Watermill Art Center billed as a family day. It’s usually a little strange, but this year took the cake. There was a dying mermaid, a plant man buried in the ground who only spoke Portuguese, and men in their underwear hiding in the trees, just to name a few of the odd things I subjected my children.
For those of you who watched my Instagram story and were like, “WHO THE HELL WOULD BRING THEIR CHILDREN HERE????” Please know that the invitation described it as “an afternoon of art installations, performances, workshops, tours and family activities.” At least there was cotton candy??? As an added bonus, the event definitely provided enough material for Harlow and Mazzy’s future stand-up routines or therapy sessions; whichever direction they may choose. Maybe both.
If you missed my Instagram story, I put it in my Instagram highlights as “ART” since more than one person told me to “please post it somewhere permanent so I can watch it over and over and laugh my ass off forever.”
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15) Another Dance Recital for Harlow
Last summer, Mazzy did a week long ballet camp at the Westhampton Theater with a friend. At the end of the week there was a performance of Peter Pan. Mazzy wasn’t interested in doing it again this year (I think only because her friend didn’t sign up) so we signed Harlow up instead.
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This time, the show was Aladdin. They tried on their costume the very first day and I have never seen anyone as excited to wear an outfit.
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They learned their dance routine and then had a week to rehearse for the big show at the end of the week. “Strangers are coming!” she told me, meaning the performance is attended by the community and not just the parents of the kids in the show. She was right. It was a packed house.
You can watch part of her performance below.
She loved every second up there (her VERY SERIOUS expression was because she was FOCUSING!) and I truly can’t believe they learned that whole dance in five days!
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16) Smash Hit Lemonade Stand
Towards the end of summer, Mazzy let me know she was disappointed we hadn’t done a lemonade stand yet. Then one evening, Mike and I were talking about how much money we had spent on all the renovations we are doing and Harlow said, “I know! Let’s have a lemonade stand and put the half the money towards furniture for our apartment!” How do you argue with that? Also, I love how she made sure to use the word “half.” Mazzy made no such promises, FYI.
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There were two awesome moments from our lemonade stand. First was when a potential customer asked what they were raising money for and Harlow said, “Our home renovation.” And the second was when Mazzy said she wanted to sell lemonade to the ice cream truck. About a half hour later, we heard the ice cream truck in our neioghborhood and Mazzy got all excited, hoping he would stop. I said, “Don’t get too excited! If he stops, it will probably be to sell us ice cream. He stopped and we all took bets who was selling to who. Guess what??? He bought a cup of lemonade! I was shocked. I guess that’s what you get when you buy from the ice cream truck for an entire summer.
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17) Harlow and Luke are getting married
If you’ve been following on Instagram, you know that this summer I spent a few nights swapping kids with Seri for sleepovers. Usually we fight over who gets Luke and Harlow because they are so dang cute together. They actually decided that they are officially boyfriend and girlfriend this summer, but don’t tell anyone because Harlow said to keep it on the DL.
One night when Luke slept over, he flat out told me, “You know, we’re practically family because I know I’m gonna marry Harlow one day.” Then he told his mom he was no longer single. If Seri and I end up related, I am A-OK with that. Plus, they will have the best wedding slideshow EVER.
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18) Harlow and Mommy Day
At the end of August, Mazzy and I went on a mother-daughter trip to Mont Tremblant which you can read all about here. Afterwards, Harlow demanded a Harlow-Mommy Day which was perfectly reasonable. I asked her to make a list of what she wanted to do and it took her longer to write down her list than it took her to come up with her plan, you know, because she’s new writer. Her list included pedicures, pizza, ice cream and Parcheesi. Sounds like a perfect day to me!
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19) There was a Catastrophe
One morning Harlow screamed my name from her room. I came in. “What’s wrong, Harlow?” She pointed to the floor where her stuffed cat Buttons was lying next to her bed. “I dropped Buttons,” she said. “That’s it??” I asked. “Mom,” she deadpanned. “It’s a CAT-tastrophe.” She must have been waiting all four days I was away with her big sister to use that one.
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20) We went back to the city!
And then, as we do every summer, we headed back into the city at the end of Labor Day weekend to make it back in time to start school. Except, instead of going to our apartment, we moved into a studio that belongs to my sister’s husband’s family. I’ll write more about that one next.
I actually did get it together to write about their first day of school this year, so YAY!!!! I am all caught up.
Ahhhh…I feel so much better now.
I think I’m going to do a recap post like this every month for all the things I didn’t have time to write about. Then I’ll never feel backed up again.
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Now that we’ve covered the summer, next up is September. Wait. Is September almost over already???
I hope you don’t mind if I post that one next week.
I love the idea of an end of the month recap!
Glad you’re back into the swing of the school year and hopefully blogging more. Loved the recap and excited to see the renovations!
Looking forward to the renovations reveal, but would also be very curious to see how the girls’ furniture has adapted as they’re growing. My oldest is about Harlow’s age, shares a room with his brother, and I’m looking around my house full of preschool stuff and wondering how to adapt to a big kids’ room without having to start over.
That pic of Harlow and your dad is pure gold. Frame that. Grandfathers are the best.
Great to have these memories in print.
I totally understand the need to have everything from the past posted in order to do future things! I’m obsessive about making photo books, and can’t fathom skipping anything!
I am SO HAPPY you are posting more to your blog! Thank you for sharing your beautiful family with us.
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