Hey friends! The lovely Victoria from sfgirlbybay asked me to guest post for her while she is out on vacation and I was only too happy to oblige! I decided to take her readers on one last little glamorous holiday poolside. Won’t you pop on over and say hello ?? (And check out some really fabu vintage vacation photos too!)
Come say hello at sfgirlbybay and show her some Kiddo love!
DOTTIE:Â Oh, what to pick! There are so many plans swimming around in my head. Lots of big ideas but also just a slightly better version of the way life already is. Here is what I’m thinking!
STAYING COZY. Like Dorothy, I am a true believer in there being no place like home. So, I probably see myself still living in the Bay Area because I love my friends and family and living in the Bay Area. I wouldn’t mind a different house with bigger bedrooms and closets and maybe a bigger backyard so I could raise chickens and bees, but I adore my neighbors to the point where I’d rather just stay put. I would like a very nice vacation house on a lake somewhere back east in Maine or maybe up in Oregon or Washington.
CONTINUE POSITIVE CHANGES. I did just make some serious and amazingly life changes that if I had been asked this question a year ago, I would have included something along the lines of working from home with clients that I love and who respect my work. And I’m very lucky to be on the road to accomplishing that right now. Although I’ve only been working from home for less than four months, it has already had a profoundly positive effect on my life. A lot of stress induced issues are gone. I sleep much better. My eye tick is gone. I think my relationship with Eric is sweeter and most importantly, I feel my time with the Peach is amazing. Watching her personality unfurl over the past three years has been amazing. I’d also love to add another little one to our family mix, and without the job stress, I know I at least have a better fighting chance at it now.
I’m still trying to get the balance right, and get into a better routine. I have all of these projects around the house—crafty as well as organizational that I sometimes just can’t seem to focus on doing. But I guess that is just life, right? There will always be that one project you wanted to finish.
WORK IT OUT. Speaking of routine, I’d like to add regular exercise to my daily routine. This goes beyond trying to fit into a smaller size vintage dress, but just feeling better. Be able to keep up with the Peach and help lead her into a healthy lifestyle for her future. Health is wealth!
GOING GLOBAL. In five years I see myself expanding my career to include more teaching and lecturing. And have that lecturing career be an international one. Why can’t I teach social media strategies in London? My recent trip to Paris unlocked a life-long dream to do more traveling. And I know it can be done. I’d love to take an international trip once a year for the rest of my life! Oh, the list of places I’ve wanted to go is so long—Sweden, Prague, Belgium, Japan, New Zealand and so so so many more. I also see myself doing more national and local travel with my wee family. I’d love to do more camping, my road trips, more fun. I just have to sometimes get out of the day to day and plan some adventures.
In summary, I see myself in five years with a very strong work/life balance as a consultant, allowing me to spend time with my family and friends, travel internationally, and focus on living a healthy life full of fun exercise and time for my creative crafty outlets. OK, your turn Alix!
ALIX: Â Wow, those are great lady. I hope you reach them all! So, hmmm, where do I see myself in 5 years? Gosh, I feel like soooo many things will happen in the next five years. The biggest thing for me is that little Wolfie will be 13 years old (ahhhhh!) and I think that will be a major difference in our life. I have to say because of this, my take is slightly different from Dottie’s….I too love our house and adore our neighbors, but as much as I love it, I actually hope we are living some place entirely! I’m a little scared to move, but I think change is always a great catalyst. While I love my little life, there are definitely things I hope to accomplish in the next five years. Here’s how I’d like to see things morph and shift…keep in mind, I’m taking “money no object” to heart. This is the most glamorous edition of my future dreams!
LIVING IN A NEW HOUSE. Our house is pretty great, but seeing us in a slightly bigger place is a goal of mine. I really want a great bedroom for Wolfie…his space right now is pretty small. I’d also love a guest room for when people come to visit (Hi mom!)…a bigger back yard for Sammy…a tree-lined street with a sidewalk so we can actually have trick-or-treaters (we don’t have a sidewalk in our neighborhood). And lots and lots of big windows and sunlight! If we could bring our next-door neighbors along with us, even better!
LET’S HIT THE ROAD. I’m lucky I actually get to spend a ton of time with my guys. We love our weekend outings. BUT, I want to make sure we make time to travel further. With grandparents all over the country, Wolfie is the world’s best little traveler—so I’m not sure why we haven’t gone to more distant places. I really want to be adventurous and expose my boy to the world. We need to go back to Germany (where my mother is from) and I really want to visit Scotland (where Greg’s grandparents are from) AND…..I want to lounge. I think relaxing vacations are so important. We need more of those! I hope to carve out more time for special family vacations and rather than wasting money on silly stuff, setting up a real vacation fund. Even if we can’t make it to exotic locales, just exploring the country together is something I know we will all enjoy.
A LITTLE SPACE FOR ME TO WRITE. I have a hard time visualizing where my career will be in 5 years. Mostly because I’m not sure what I want. I love what I do, and part of me wants to continue doing exactly what I’m doing! Then another part of me thinks I’d love to be doing something totally different. Growing Modern Kiddo into more of an official career?? I’m not sure. What I do know is IÂ love writing. And one thing on my perpetual To Do list is writing a children’s book. One for younger kids. And a young adult book. I have something I’m really excited about brewing and when five years rolls around I hope that this project is well into it’s second or third phase. Also, right now I write with my lappy on my lap, or I sit at our dining room table. I think carving out a special office space for me to focus on work and writing would be amazing and a great way to reach my goal.
LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU. Before Wolfie was born we were very social and had little dinner parties and people over all the time. When he was a toddler, things like bed time and naps meant we didn’t do as much entertaining. It’s something I love to do, and we have such wonderful friends I need to get back on it. Regular little gatherings are so much fun and can be simple and easy peasy—just a bottle of wine and good food and good company.  Of course it wouldn’t hurt to have a swank back yard to do it all it.
FRESH CHOICE. Finally, Greg and I are always talking about improving our diet. He’s much better about it than I am but I really want to get healthy. Hopefully trimming down is a by-product, but I’m not getting any younger and improving my diet and adding in exercise is something I reeeeeally want to see happen in the coming year (and years!).
So whew! That’s it. Now we have to ask, where do you think you will be in 5 years? (especially with money as no object!) Do you have any plans percolating? Any wishes? I leave you with one little piece of advice:
Thanks to our girl Tiffany Moore who always believes in asking the Big Questions – the kind that help you decipher your (actual) dreams — and (actually) fulfill  ‘em. Find out who else is answering The Big Questions today (9 other lovely bloggers!) and how you can win your own Big Question session here!
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Just finished my panel here (along with my fabulous panelists Meg, Rachel and Natalie) at Alt Summit on the Best in Up and Coming blogs. Some of these are true up and commers and some are people we just love and think you should have on your reader. Take a gander and see if you find some new inspiration! Feel free to leave some of YOUR favorite “Blogs We Might Not Have Heard About, But SHOULD!” in the comments.
ALIX FROM MODERN KIDDO PICKS {@galexina}
RACHEL FROM BLACK EIFFEL PICKS {@blackeiffel}
NAT FROM NAT THE FAT RAT PICKS {@natthefatrat}
INSTAGRAM :: ink361.com, web.stagram.com, listagram.com
MEG FROM MIMI + MEG PICKS {@meg_biram}
]]>And it made me think of Tiffany. Sweet Tiffany–the best “life coach” you’ll ever meet. In fact she likes to think of herself more as a change agent or a magic maker who believes that everyone can live their happiest, most sparkly life, starting NOW.  Hells YEAH!
And Miss Tiffany collected her top five tips to help center and de-stress parents. So, without further adieu, here are the wonderful tips from Miss Tiff!
Hi everyone! It’s Tiffany. Here are my Top Five Tips for Helping You Handle Stress and Stay Happy!
1. Count your blessings. Literally.
Gratitude Journal from Chronicle Books
A Gratitude Practice requires just that — practice. Take a moment out of each day to note three things, big or small, that you are grateful for. A list of three is usually a good place to start.
2. Play dress up even if you don’t feel like it.
Photo by Stefanie Renee
Play dress up is my life coach-y way of making take care of yourself sound fun. The key to taking care of yourself is to recognize what small things you need to feel better about your day, to feel more you, less Jack’s mom. If a pretty dress will do the trick, go for it! If a morning meditation class or cup of tea will do it, go with that. The key is finding small things you can do each day to help you get to your happier place.
3. Don’t forget to have fun!
One of my favorite things about kids (and dogs while we’re at it) is that everything they do tends to happen based on the potential for fun. The park: fun. Reading: fun. Cleaning up: yeah, not so fun…unless it can become FUN! Figure out what seems fun to you and then see how you can make it fun for the kids too! (For me, daily dance parties are a MUST!)
Spend a day following the fun and see what happens. You never know, it could end up being really…fun and who doesn’t need more fun in their lives?
4. Take a break.
print via pixelcloud
Just 15 minutes a day can make the difference between feeling pulled and stressed and being able to feel centered and grounded. Turn off the tv, put away the must-get-dones and take a few minutes to just be. Breathe. Sit. Be.
Stillness can be the thing that creates more energy and space for actually getting things done.
5. New motto: Extra + Early = Easy
Photo by Shutterbean
When things start getting harried, let easy and extra do the driving. Heading out with the kids for a playdate? Start prepping a few minutes early, just to give yourself a little extra room.
Cooking everyone’s favorite for dinner? Double the recipe and pop the extra servings in the freezer for a quick dinner when time is short. See Tracy’s frozen burritos for inspiration!
What are your favorite tips for handling stress and staying happy?
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Thanks, Tiffany! Just what I needed to hear!  If you ever have any life decisions that you are having a tough time making, I highly suggest going to Tiffany.  BTW, Tiffany realized one of her dreams when she co-founded Teahouse Studio, a creative workshop space in Berkeley. Alix and I have both taken workshops there and it’s a spectacular space! Find out more at her website, facebook or twitter.
And to make sure I give it the right bit of vintage oomph, I’m SO going to make one of these sweet dollhouse bullet planters using this fun and easy to follow tutorial from Danielle Thompson from Thompson Family-Life.
Aren’t they stunning? So perfect. And thankfully Danielle, who is the queen of step by step tutorials really breaks it down, so you know you’ll get something great at the end of it.
And these little full ones are just too adorable for words. I think I’ll make some and put them on the edge of my office window sill. Â Wouldn’t that look cool?
Thanks so much for sharing with us, Danielle!
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It’s National Children’s Book Week! Hip Hip Hurray! Nothing makes me happier than being in a library or book store. The smell of paper….getting lost in the pages of a wonderful story….it’s simply one of my all time favorite things to do. We try and limit the amount of toys and junk we buy for Wolfie (not always successfully!!), but the one thing I’ve always been really lax about was books. If he wants a book, I pretty much always buy it for him, because encouraging a love of reading is so important! Putting together a list of Top Favorite Books is near impossible for me. So I enlisted some help from the hubs! Greg is an amazing dad and while I really enjoy reading with Wolfie, somehow we have made Greg the Official Bedtime Story Guy. I asked him to give me his Top 10 favorite books to read with Wolfie.
Hi Modern Kiddo readers. Greg here. In our house, I do the reading before bedtime. My wife, well, she does what we call the “cuddle up.†That means she lies down with the boy before he falls asleep. Yes, heâ€
s getting a little old for that. Yes, he’s an only child.
While I love reading to him, it’s baseball season and there are definitely nights when bed time rolls around and I’m in the middle of a game. So the other day I asked, “Why do I always have to read to the boy?†It was a legitimate question. She loves reading to him and throwing down the gauntlet when it comes to who can do better character voices. In fine wifey fashion, she replied, “Because thatâ€s what you do.†I was also informed a few days before that I was the member of the family that “called people”. Apparentely I’m the “phone person.†This arbitrary rule is classic Alix— and meant that I am the one who always calls the doctor, the tax guy, etc. In a relationship, this is called concession. But I digress.
When she approached me about reviewing my Top 10 Kids Picture Books, I toyed with saying, “But you’re the Blog Person.” I didn’t think that would go over well, so I simply countered with “How ’bout a Top 5?” She accepted.
So, hereâ€s my Top 5 books that I read to the Wolf Cub before the cuddle up. This is by no means exhaustive, but these are books that we sure think are great.
1. Jenny’s Birthday Book
It’s a big day for Jenny Linsky, a shy little black cat in Greenwich Village. Her brothers, Checkers and Edward, take her out for her birthday. They pick up a bunch of other cats, including Pickles, the Fire Cat, who rounds up everyone in his fire truck to take them to the park. Originally published in 1957, it’s pretty darn cute.
The best part of this book is a secondary character named Florio, an eccentric cat whoâ€s prone to wearing a feather headband to express his individuality. You canâ€t go wrong with a character who wears an Indian feather. Discovering Florio was like seeing Jon Bon Jovi wearing a Native American chest plate in the Blaze of Glory video. Like Florio, Jovi, (who is 1/128th Cherokee) was expressing his individuality through Native American garb. Love it.
2. Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (Lyle the Crocodile)
Ahh, the simple urban tale of a domesticated alligator living in New York with the Primm family on the upper east side. East 88th Street, to be exact. Allâ€s well until Lyle goes shopping with Mrs. Primm at a fancy department store. Lyle bumps into Signor Valenti, “star of stage and screen,” who happens to be Lyle’s old vaudeville partner. Valenti is dying to “get the band back together” so he and Lyle perform for the crowd—annoying Lyle’s curmudgeonly neighbor (who works in the men’s department) and who gets Lyle shipped off to the zoo. Will Lyle ever get back home? Will life ever return to normal? And more importantly, will Signor Valenti be forced to tour Australia by himself?? We love Lyle.
3. Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
If I were 22, listened to The Black Lips and had a 4-year old from a tryst in highschool, I sure as hell would get a tattoo of this pigeon on my forearm. Pigeons get a bad rap. At work, when a pigeon flies through our side door into the building, I yell, “Get the hell out of here, pigeon!†To his credit, the pigeon usually turns around and flies out the door. If a sparrow does the same thing, the sparrow ends up flying into a window or floundering on the ceiling. This leads me to suspect pigeons are smarter than we think. And this book is smarter than you might think too. Super simple drawings and a fun interactive story (with the pigeon constantly pestering you to let him drive the bus) make for an instant classic. Bottom line? Pigeons rule; Sparrows drool.
4. Polkabats and Octopus Slacks: 14 Stories
This collection of color illustrations and quirky poems is amazing. What other book can explores themes like funky snowmen, a disco octopus and even bird turds in a way that is silly and fun for both adult and child alike? The one-page, rhyming “stories” allow the reader to conjure up many voices: a Boston accent, a curmudgeonly recluse, an early hip hop guy, a hobo salesman. For some reason I never find these books in book stores, but order it online. You’ll be happy you did. This (along with Brown’s other book, Dutch Sneakers and Flea Keepers) was in high rotation around these parts for over a year. Plus, a famous friend of mine suggested the book. And I always listen to famous friends.
5. Library Lion
Like those Christmas commercials with all the sleeping babies, I cried the first time I read this…and maybe the second and third time too. Now, Iâ€m hardened and, despite a personal fantasy of having a soft, fluffy pet lion that I can rest my head on during story time and that dusts and  who will lick stamps for me, my eyes are dry. Iâ€m hard; the story is not. I won’t tell you what it’s about, but know that it is perfect.
So there you have it. My Top 5. I’m sure I’ll think of five more tonight. And I’m sure Alix will say, “See? You should have made it a Top 10.” To which I will respond, “Sorry….I had to go call the tax guy.”
— Greg Kim, Star of Stage and Screen
I love every book on this list (I especially love the Calef Brown books…..they’re super fun!). We’d LOVE to hear some of your favorite books!
You can find my snarky husband over on his blog, Sit Down Casper, where he writes autobiographical short stories about being a young punk/rock dude in the 70s/80s. I warn you, he is a little more irreverent then me. He also swears. But he really does get all misty eyed at those Silent Night, Sleeping Baby Pamper’s commericals….