Category Archives: Real Life : Alix

A little retro surprise at the Marin Civic Center.

Real Life : Alix, Vintage Photos

We were in Marin the other weekend. And we drove by the Marin Civic Center. It’s a fabulous masterpiece and looks somewhat incongruous in the pretty Marin setting….like a sleek space station plunked down in the midst of the scenery. In fact, the groovy sci-fi movie Gattaca was even filmed there!

We decided to walk around a little bit, but we were suddenly totally distracted. Look what we have here….

Oh-so-casually parked under this little overhang….a pristine vintage 1960s Plymouth Fury police cruiser. WOW! It was so cool. I felt like I had blasted back in time (and was wishing I was wearing a more special outfit). I love it! But as amazing as the car is, let’s pause for a moment to acknowledge the insane lighting situation going on up there in the background.

WOW! Talk about crazy globes.

No one wants to be pulled over by the fuzz, but man…..this would totally help soften the blow. I’m not sure what the car was doing there. Perhaps they just bring it out for the weekend. Maybe it belonged to some kooky collector. Either way, I was loving it!

My sweet little fella.

Real Life : Alix

Aw, I found this photo from last year…and it reminded me of a cute moment with my little guy. I was trying to be all cool with my little feather headband and I remember Wolfie looking at me all thoughtfully. “Whatcha thinking? You like my kooky headband?” “Mama….I like it. You look like a flower ninja!”

I love when he comes up with things like that.

Best Halloween EVER! The Meatball Costume

Best of Alix, Real Life : Alix

So by now you are all familiar with Wolfie’s Legendary Anti-Costume stance from Halloweens past (as seen in When Your Kiddo Hates Costumes!)

But this year my little man made up for all the years of struggling in the most spectacular way possible. It all began with a little brainstorming. As we talked about what we wanted to be this year, Wolfie informed me that he wanted to go as Harry Potter….or a Meatball.

You could have knocked me over with a feather. A MEATBALL?? Who was I to say no?? Happily, the meatball  won and Greg, our paper mache master, set up shop with a giant balloon and lots of newspaper.

He and Wolfie worked diligently every evening applying the paper and paste.

It took several days to let the numerous layers dry, but it was a lot of fun! Once it was complete, we took it out back and painted it. We used spray paint for a quicker/cleaner dry.

(as a side note, spray paint has really crazy fumes, so be careful….those bottoms photo of Wolfie, he was “posing” for me post-spray because we only took the one photo “in action”. He wasn’t that close to the can!)

Of course no meatball is complete without SPAGHETTI, so a pasta fedora was also on the agenda. It turned out AWESOME.

I know I’m biased, but i gotta say this kid was THE COOLEST/CUTEST CHILD I HAVE EVER SEEN! What possessed him to pick a meatball, we will never know….but I LOVED it! Because Wolfie is only seven and we wanted to keep things easy peasy, we went for a cute “saucy” red meatball as opposed to a realistic browned meaty meatball.

The meatball made his debut at Wolfie’s elementary school, the day of the Harvest Festival. Alas, in our happy frenzy, we forgot to cut the arm holes! It was a hot day so he didn’t wear it the entire time….when it came time for the Costume Contest he and his buddy Jonas went head-to-head. They were hysterical together….


Lots of jokes were made about the Venus Flytrap trying to nibble the Meatball….

There was an amazing moment as my little meatball tried to step up onto a bale of hay for the judging. Remember….NO ARM HOLES. He made it up, but on the way down he teetered and tottered and nearly rolled off the bale of hay. We were all in hysterics (and everyone was thinking, “And then my poooor meatballlllll….rollled right on the floor!”).

Although there were many cute kiddos at the festival, there really was no question over who the winners were—MEATBALL AND VENUS FLYTRAP TIED FOR FIRST! They were thrilled! That night, we cut arm holes in the meatball.

Halloween evening we hit the road to our pals Chrissy and Jim’s house.

I’m not sure if any of you watch The Regular Show (it’s not appropriate for little kiddos, but for grownups and older kids it’s a very irreverant/silly/fun show on Comedy Network that Greg and Wolfie are obsessed with). There is a character that is a cassette tape on one episode (you can see him here….it cracks me up) and Greg went as that guy.

Sammy came along and guided our way with a special hiking flash light collar.

Every where we went, the Meatball was a sensation…lots of people watching him come up their walkway would initially say, “OH, are you an apple?” “No, imma MEATBALL!” “Fred! C’mere! You gotta see this kid! He’s a meatball!”  Wolfie loved it. As goofy and outgoing as Wolfie can be, he doesn’t often like to be the center of attention. That’s why it was so cute to see how pleased he was with his handiwork and the positive response he got from everyone.

At the end of the evening we counted up our loot. Wolfie selected the red (strawberry lollipops), a packet of goldfish and two cherry Airheads….and then told us that we could have the rest of his candy. Ahhh, some things never change.

When Your Kiddo Hates Costumes.

Real Life : Alix, ,

I posted a version of this story last year and you all got so much joy from my pain….I thought it was worth sharing again. And I have a little update too….

It’s true. I’m a mama who love to dress up. I love fashion and I love being “festive” and dressing up in general. Like this:

 

And even this:

As a result, Halloween has always been one of my favorite times of year. When I found out I was having a little boy, I was so excited when about all the dress-up, play time possibilities. I had visions of making him superhero capes…astronaut outfits…cool pirate get ups. The works! Yet life clearly has a sense of humor, because I was blessed with the world’s most adorable child…who hated costumes. He’s an impossibly good natured boy, who is so easy going 99% of the time—he happily wears any regular outfit I put him in. Except, of course, when that outfit might involve a character.

It all began with Wolfie’s strict NO HATS policy as a baby. Wait, no hats? What what? He’s a baby! How can he hate hats? Trust me.

When Wolfie was one, I bought a little prefab puppy dog outfit for Halloween. But because that seemed just a tad boring on it’s own, I had Greg dress up like a Westminster Dog Show handler—with Wolfie as his prize-winning pooch! Since Wolfie was still so little and liked to be carried around, they made an awesome pair.

Except my sad little pup refused to wear the “hood” that had the puppy head on it. Too much like a hat, of course.

At least I managed to sneakily draw a little nose and whiskers on him and he still looked pretty adorable.

The next year I got him the cutest little cowboy outfit…it came with wee chaps, a cowboy shirt and a super cute lil vest. I didn’t even try and add a cowboy hat, but I figured this outfit was pretty much like regular clothes. Easy peasy, right? WRONG. What I neglected to remember was that Wolfie is a very proper little man and he liked his jackets and hoodies closed or zipped up. And a vest? Well it’s like a perpetually “open” jacket. Yeah the vest? He didn’t like it ONE BIT.


He threw himself on the ground like a cartoon character, sobbing. Keep in mind that normally Wolfie is the sweetest, most low-drama kiddo around. Greg and I looked at each other half laughing and half shaking our heads….like “Really? You’re going to throw yourself on the ground over a VEST?” Thankfully he gets over things pretty quickly and once the offending vest was removed, he was all sunshine again.

The next year I had a great plan….and seemingly Wolfie-proof! Greg and I would go as Mr. & Mrs. Frankenstein—and Wolfie? He would be the Crazy Mad Scientist. Genius, right? All he’d have to do was wear a wee little lab coat (buttoned all the way up, of course) and make his hair all crazy. It was the perfect plan. Greg looked great.

I even left Wolfie help me put on my “spooky” eye make up so he wouldn’t be scared—this was a huge success.

But when it came time for his own costume, well…once again, you can see how Wolfie felt about all this:

I explained to him that Halloween was all about dressing up, and if he didn’t like the Mad Scientist outfit he could really be anything he wanted to. After some thought he declared. “I wanna be a punkin.” I was a little floored. “Um…..a pumpkin?” “Yes. Punkin, mama.” My costume-adverse child goes and picks the roundest, poofiest costume around?? “Wolfie, you know a pumpkin is very round, right? Are you sure you want to be a pumpkin?” “YES. PUNKIN.” OK. So I have to admit that I was totally a terrible mom and thought this was a lame costume idea (I know, I KNOW), but I wanted him to be happy, so a pumpkin it was. I searched high and low for a non-poofy pumpkin costume and FINALLY found one (it ain’t easy, folks). I came home triumphant. YES! Wolfie will be so excited! Except……

Oy! I can’t lie. It became a Battle Royale. He was going to wear that freakin’ pumpkin costume if it killed me. I finally calmed him down and like all savvy moms…..I negotiated a bribe. “Listen. If you wear the costume, I’ll give you something. Something good.” His ears perked up. “What?” he sniffled. “Um…you can have some chips.” Yes. I know. Bribing with snacks. What can I say? I was desperate. And Wolfie’s a salty boy, so this worked better than the promise of chocolate. With a sigh, he was resigned to his fate:

The final verdict: “I’ll wear it. But I won’t like it.”

By the next day (which was actually Halloween) he had a miraculous change of heart and happily wore Ze Pumpkin. Hallelujah!

Oh my silly little Wolfie. I’m happy to report the last two years were amazingly struggle free and he has decided costumes (and HATS!) are A-OK. His friend Emmy got him into Pokemon and decided he wanted to be Pikachu. Not only did he wear the outfit, he wore the kooky hat dealie too! Whooo hoo! It was a cheap-ass flamable costume, but HE WAS WEARING A COSTUME. Listen, I’ll take what I can get. And apparently this is a rather “rare” costume, and he got lots of props from the big kids who all shouted at him, “We chose YOU Pikachu!” He was beaming.

The next year he continued the Pokemon theme and dressed up as Ash, Pikachu’s owner.

And this year? Well, once again little Wolfie has rocked my world. He informed me that he was thinking of being Harry Potter……or a meatball. Yep, you heard right. A MEAT BALL. And folks, I’m pleased to report that the meatball won. He and Greg have been working on a paper mache proto type and I’m in charge helping with the noodle hat. Oh this boy of mine…


Takin’ a train to the Pumpkin Patch.

Real Life : Alix

Last weekend we hit the pumpkin patch. There are so many excellent ones, but one of my favorite is located at the Western Railway Museum in Solano. If you live in the Bay Area, it’s soooo worth a visit! What makes it so grand, you may ask? VINTAGE RAILWAY CARS, people! Oh yes….

The Western Railway Museum is dedicated to preserving electric train history—volunteers restore vintage rail cars and offer rides on authentic streetcars and electric trains that are 50-75 years old. During the Halloween season, visitors hop a ride out to the pumpkin patch. The conductor’s are salty but sweet—and passionate about their trains. Each train has authentic ads lining the car and clips along at a brisk pace, making for a fun and exciting ride!

When you get to the pumpkin patch,  you fell like you are in the middle of Americana. With nothing but fields as far as the eye can see, the patch itself is a grove of shady trees with all kinds of goodness awaiting. There is a giant fort made out of bales of hay (perfect for climbing and exploring), tractor hay rides, a petting zoo, bluegrass band, bake sales and more.

These were some of the prettiest chickens I ever did see….

Greg was totally the Animal Whisperer…..this little piggy didn’t like ANYONE to pick him up (you could hear his squeals from miles away!) but with Greg he practically fell alseep. That’ll do pig.

The other top favorite feature is the Pumpkin Chuckin’ Slingshot. For a $1 you get a small pumpkin to catapult out into the field. If it lands in the box target, you get to pick out a free pumpkin! Wolfie and Greg won THREE!

Wolfie is a huge animal lover and the pony ride ended up being his other top favorite. His pony was named Charlie and was so smart….the guy running it said that Charlie doesn’t usually give rides, he’s more of a “ranch hand” at the farm (pulling a little wagon). Wolfie was so cute talking to Charlie and patting him. Charlie understood lots of voice commands so he and Wolfie ended up running the ride together (deciding when everyone would stop and start! If I’m being honest, it was mostly Charlie deciding they would stop….haha).

Before we knew it, it was time to hop on the train and head back to the car. We were windblown and sun-tired….and three pumpkins richer!

Have you guys hit the punkin’ patch yet? You only have a few more days!

PS  Several of you have asked me where I got Wolfie’s cool fox tee. I picked it up at the Renegade Craft Fair from Gnome Enterprises! It’s the best. You can get one here.