My house is quiet.
The girls are finally sleeping soundly. Marc is driving his dad (who was so wonderful to fly here all the way from Florida for Lily’s birthday party) back to the hotel. Bella is snoring on her little green bed. And I just took a deep breath for what feels like the first time today.
Lily’s birthday party and all the friends and family and food and gifts and squealing children and chocolate-icing-covered faces are swimming through my head. For all the planning and anticipation in the weeks leading up to her party, I’m astounded by how quickly the whole thing whizzed right by.
It was loud and chaotic and totally fun. I’d do it all over again tomorrow if we could.
But I sure am enjoying this silence.
This weekend’s about to get crazy. So before the birthday girl launches to another planet, I took her out for some quiet Mommy (and Sophie) time this afternoon at our favorite fro-yo spot.
She chose chocolate with marshmallows, M&M’s and chocolate chips. Because if every food was made of chocolate, she’d be totally cool with that.
That’s my girl.
I landed there by way of a baked potato grilled cheese sandwich recipe (imagine that).
And then I couldn’t stop scrolling.
And then I discovered the other gawker sites: craft and wedding and dwelling.
And boy am I in trouble now.
Local friends, if you have not yet been to PieBird, GO NOW. Like, drop what you’re doing and get thee to downtown Raleigh. The baby or the dishes or the DVR can wait.
This place is the deal.
Pictured above was my dessert at a lovely little lunch with Laura. My main course was a black bean and chile hand pie and a green salad with mandarin oranges and bleu cheese crumbles. Ah-mazing. And totally worth every single last calorie.
Next time? I’m all over the pie cracklins. And pimento cheese empanadas.
Stuffing pie into my pie-hole. Poetic.
(I had the pleasure of interviewing Sheilagh, PieBird owner and baker extraordinaire, before her restaurant became a reality. Read it here if you like.)
by Suzanne on February 1, 2012
in Posy
I spent today at home with a sick Sophie, and in one of the brief ibuprofen-induced breaks from her fever, we went outside for a walk. I plopped her in the grass so I could wrangle the stroller from our front porch.
She loved it. Ran her little palms over the ground around her, squinted into the sun.
It’s so neat seeing the world through her eyes.
Today was hard. Yesterday was hard, too. And last night was a flashback to the newborn days.
Each of the girls was awake at least once an hour, sometimes both at the same time. So Marc and I bounced like pinballs to and from and between their rooms, landing on our respective sides of the bed for a blessed 30 or 45 minutes of sleep until the next cry rang out.
Lily was wracked with coughing fits, and Sophie (poor Sophie!) is battling an ear infection and a virus at the same time. Her fever spiked on Sunday and didn’t come down all night. She was so sick at one point that she had the shakes. Scared me to death.
I got through this day with one eye open.
Sophie wanted to be held all day, and Lily needed lots of attention. Pulled in a million different directions is something I’m used to. But it’s different — taking a toll on my heart, too — when they’re sick.
So when Sophie finally relented to napping in her crib this afternoon, Lily and I sprawled out on the living room floor. We folded laundry and watched my favorite cooking show.
This little moment in time erased all of the hard stuff. Just like that.
It still amazes me how that happens.
One of the most awesome gifts of parenthood.
