International Traveler

As a parent dedicated to raising her kids as citizens of the world and vowing to show them the benefits of global networking vs social networking (though we all have a little bit of love for face book), I'm VERY excited to report that Jackson made his first international debut last weekend in Vancouver, B.C. Not the longest of journeys, but it's a beginning. A beginning to a life sure to be full of adventure!

I adore Vancouver, the vibe of this city is electric. It's young, hip, healthy, clean, and full of international flair. Not to mention breathtakingly beautiful. Vancouver never disappoints but with the Olympics only days away, this city is truly at it's best right now.

After spending the night at the cutest winery inspired boutique hotel we ventured out to breakfast at Jack's Grill. Great food, lousy service, and home to every hipster in town. This was one of those moments where Brad and I truly felt like parents and old ones at that. . . Jackson was the ONLY kid in the joint and while we chugged coffee and slammed our eggs benny, every other table was full of young hipsters lounging over their bloody mary's and recapping the crazy events from the night before.

Never fear, we soon found our place at the Sunday Market on Grandville Island. Families and strollers in full effect, along with some of the most beautiful displays of produce, wines, meat, pastries, and art that I had seen in a while. Think an upscale Pike Place Market minus the odors, garbage, and growing number of homeless residents. We even toured a school of Industrial Design ( Emily Carr University) and bought Henry (our Pug) organic dog cookies said to cure bad breath . . . simply put, we were in heaven!

I have to say from the looks of Jackson's smiles, I think that he's a traveler at heart. Ahhhh, he is his mother's son!

After returning home from our weekend Jackson wanted to show off his latest skill, holding his head up (aka: tummy time). What a stud.

Haute Yoga

Last week I became a hot yoga devotee, seriously it was love at first downward facing dog! I have always been the girl who makes to-do list during yoga and thinking that I should really just be hitting the treadmill for a 'real' workout, but now those are all things of the past. This 75 minute class is face paced "flowing" power yoga set to hip-hip music and held in a packed studio where the thermostat is turned up to a 'pleasant' 98 degrees. Yikes . . . my first thought upon entering the studio was "they expect me to work out in here? I'm already sweating buckets". And sweat buckets I did. Ten minutes into the class my muscles were burning and I thought I was going to drown in my own sweat but I have never felt so accomplished, strong, thin (yep, the sweat will do that to you!), and refreshed as I did after this class. Focus you ask?? You have no choice but to focus. The heat, the face-paced poses, it's impossible not to be completely present in the moment. Finally, it makes sense when people say that yoga is an escape!

That night I decided that not only was I going to become a practicing (hot) yogi but that I should just go all the way and become Jennifer Aniston*. She swears her killer bod is due to a combination or running and yoga, and now that I've committed to the yoga part, I'm doing my best to commit to the running part (1/2 marathon here I come!). After years of going to the gym and not really seeing any change in the bod, I've decided that Jen must have found the secret to success, so I'm quitting the gym and following the ways of Miss Aniston . . . don't be surprise if I start to resemble her by summer :)!

Of course I'm sure that wine, cheese, and chocolate are on her diet plan, I mean even us most devoted yogis have to live right?

So Seattle friends I invite you to join me at Haute Yoga on Queen Anne Ave, you won't regret it!! And right now they have a killer deal for newbies: 2 weeks unlimited for $25.00.

Want to join me on my quest to become a runner? Join the Sliger clan this Saturday morning at Green Lake for the Love 'em or Leave 'em 5K. Our first 5K as a family! Brad might have to dangle something shiny in front of me to keep me moving but we will finish & hopefully this Valentine's Day will fall in love with running!



*minus the personal trainer & private chef

All Things Paree (aka: Paris)!

If you read my last post you're probably laughing by now that it only took me 2.5 seconds to once again embrace the old me but we've had a few French moments in the past few weeks that just had to be shared!!

First up, our Julie & Julia night! Brad and I were so inspired by the ladies in this movie that we thought we'd throw our own Julia Child night, complete with four courses of French cuisine, all from the 'bible' of French food, otherwise known as "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". Trying to be as authentic as possible I kept the decor simple (think small cafe in Paris), asked our guests to come in their best American in Paris attire (no, not white tennis shoes & fanny packs!), and played a mixture of Edith Piaf and Arielle Dombasle. While the food was fantastic I have to give major props to our guests who came dressed to impress, one even sporting a ridiculously fabulous handle bar mustache!

The menu you ask? Here it is in all it's four course glory. Feel free to drool!

First Course
Tros Fromages aux Champagne Grapes
Upside down Martinis

Second Course

La Soupe a L'oignon

Third Course

Poulet Saute aux Herbes de Provence

Rataouille

Salade Verte aux Vinaigrette

Cotes de Rhone

Fourth Course

Reine de Saba

Champagne

Novice to French cooking? No worries, there is so much butter in these recipes, cardboard could taste divine. Especially after one of Julia's favorite Upside down Martinis!!

Our next visit to the city of lights was at our friend Lillie Belle's first birthday party. This petit bebe's celebration was full of so many cute touches she was sure to be the envy of all one year old cheris everywhere! Major kudos to Lillie's mom & dad who hand crafted most of these special touches themselves. The things they did buy, including the customized Lillie poster, were all purchased on Esty.com. For you that haven't discovered Etsy yet, it's heaven!! No matter if your style is modern, eceletic, shabby chic, just plain chic, it's all there & most items are handcrafted by extremely talented sole proprietors or small companies, so you can feel good about supporting the little man (woman!).

Croquembouche available at Madeleine's European Cakes in Seattle.

Before Meets After

For weeks now I've been struggling with the "before (baby)" me vs. the "after (baby)" me. . . scolding the after/new me for not being able to do all the things I used to LOVE to do, most of which now seem like a challenge. Who wants to read magazines & plan the next big step in their career when you can do things like sleep or watch the Food Network in your free time? Being so fed up with myself I decided that I'd just have to put the before/old me on hiatus for awhile and fully give in to the sweat-wearin', non-workin', not in the know, can't hold an intelligent conversation to save her live new mom. But hey, it's ok, because I now have more time & brain power to play a hell of a game of "where's mommy" or "whose got your feet"!

If I have learned anything in my few short years as a grown up, what makes us great is following our passions and right now, little baby J is my passion. No more trying to balance or fight it, I'm just going with it, and when the before/old me resurges, I'll embrace my time out of the mommy bubble fully & with open arms!

That said, I had the biggest after/new me moment today. Today Jackson laughed! You would have thought that I had just completed my first marathon or landed a contract planning the Obamas anniversary party, I was that proud!! It was absolutely fabulous, I felt like I was the most clever woman alive . . . really (crazy cakes I know, could it be that us new mommies spend waaaay too much time alone?). While I don't have a photo to document it, I do have a great smile to share with you, check out these gems from the past week.

Baby Gap ads here we come!!

Chillin' . . . cause he's cool like dat.

After a visit from Grandma Cooper . . . that would wear anyone out ;)!

Meet the "babysitter".

This post dedicated to women everywhere trying on motherhood for the first time. Here's to finding your perfect new "outfit" and letting your new self shine!!

Happy Birthday "Auntie" Shannon!!

Happy 30th Birthday "Auntie" Shannon, we love you!!!

PS: this is about as polished as we get these days . . . . welcome to the crazy house!!

xoxo,

Keri, Brad, Jackson, & Henry

Pigeon Party

Remember my post about the birthday party for the oh-so-famous pigeon man that I was providing the decor for? Well, this past week was the big week and I have to say for the budget and resources I had; it turned out quite well. In my book, any day you can make a 90 year old happy, you've done good!!

Though the luncheon was in a church banquet hall (think neutral (read: plain room with folding chairs & tables)) and the fact that my minimal decor contribution was the entire decor scape, we managed to create a very "winter in the northwest/I heart pigeons" feel.

Having never done a northwest/winter style wedding, I would love to take on this theme, with the right venue (I'm thinking Sleeping Lady Resort, Herban Feast at Sodo, or Red Barn Studios) and budget you could go wild!! Hmmm . . . . maybe Brad & I should have a winter 'vows renewal'?!?!

Until then, here are some highlights from the event!


One of the birthday boy's prized pigeons!

Centerpiece style #1: white tulips, evergreen branches (not real unfortunately, but I did find bundles of these holiday faves at Michael's for 88 cents each!! Fellow crafters: the after Christmas sales are amazing), and of course the creme-de-la-creme, the bird (also found at Michael's). A little strategically scattered snow and pine cones complete the look.

Centerpiece style #2: Wanting to add a little dimension to the room I decided to incorporate height into this design. Starting again with the white tulips and evergreen branches, I then added tall pieces of curly willow and silk feathers (purchased at Joann Fabrics).


When working on a budget you can NEVER have enough candles!! Brides and party-planners alike remember this, they are a secret weapon in the event world! Here are two ways I incorporated candles into our theme:

Bird nest purchased at Joann Fabrics for $1.99!!

Lantern provided by Bliss Events.

Lastly, for the guest book & gift table I used a woven basket lined with Spanish moss for the card box, framed by a vase of pine cones on either side. These pine cones were purchased at Michael's for $2.99 a bag - worth the cost as they gave off the best cinnamon scent - but if you're feeling very green just hit the nearest park - cost of pine cones there - FREE!

Mission Accomplished.

Two Months & Three Shots Down

Hi Everybody!

Today I went to my two month old doctor's appointment & it's official I'm short and fat! In the 50th percentile for height and 90th percentile for weight. Yep, it's true I've been working hard these past eight weeks eating as much & as often as possible and now I've earned my status as Rolly-Polly, Chubby-McChubsters, Little Man with the Meaty Thighs, but it's alright because mom thinks I'm super cute like this and the doctor promised me that one day my height will catch up with my belly!

The good news is that even if my milk-gut and meaty thighs are here to stay I'm sure to have huge success as a professional football player (linebacker yo!), a chef, food critic, or even a sommelier (hey I'm already quite the milk connoisseur).

I also got three vaccines today (don't worry, mommy & my doctor both agreed that these were all ok to get!) and I didn't even cry! Ok, I cried a little, but you should have seen my parents, they were a WRECK! What cry-babies! Hopefully next time they'll man up and realize that it's only a shot!

So, enough chit-chat, I know what you want . . . the eye-candy! You got it, check me out in all of my eight week old glory!


Going to the doctor in my fuzzy bear suit (circa 2009!):




Coming home . . . it was a long day at the office:




30 minute nap and I'm back and ready for action. Let's play!!




Love,

Jackson (aka: bubba bear, aka: chubby mcchubsters)
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