*la dieta

You probably know I love books and documentaries about food, whole food, healthy food, food politics... anything that gets me fired up against corn syrup and cheetos-like substances.  My favorite book is probably Omnivore's Dilemma - I love that it's not radical or unobtainable to follow his advice: eat food, mostly plants, not too much.  I've always tried to eat healthier, non-processed food, but I fully admit that am often lazy and will have a spoonful of peanut butter with my yerba mate instead of taking the time to make a salad.  Or I eat the rest of the girls' honey toast or mac and cheese. Or I eat not one but two raspberry bars at the bakery or go back for thirds of ice cream [hypothetical ;)].  This needs to change.

So anyway, last year at some point I watched Forks over Knives [thank you, Jenise!] and it really made me evaluate what we eat.  Seriously, if you haven't seen it, you should!  The last month or so I have made a serious effort to change our eating habits and even Ben is [almost] completely on board.  Instead of one "Meatless Monday", I am trying to make as many meals as I can revolve around vegetables and legumes, whole grains [sorry, I just don't like the idea of this paleo diet everyone's on!] and try to limit butter, cheese, extra oils, white anything, sugar... *  I do truly believe it is healthier to limit meats + dairy and also it is not as expensive.  I had the E2 cookbook out from the library last week and got a few ideas, as well as some I've found elsewhere and from my own head. I seriously need to just overhaul many of my go-to regular meals.  Here are a few winners that I am going to go back to.  If any of you friends have any vegetable heavy meal ideas, please let me know!

-this kale salad [seriously it was so good and filling! I had some carrots and hummus with it and wasn't even hungry later on]
-green curry with chicken or broiled tofu, green beans, peppers, spinach...
-chickpeas [I made them from dried beans for the first time - so much better!!] mixed with a pico de gallo type salad, cider vinegar, diced potatoes.  I got this idea from an Indian buffet we went to a few weeks ago. So fresh and delicious!
-salad as the main course. my favorites are spinach with goat cheese and steamed beets and pinenuts, spinach/kale with roasted butternut squash [thank you again, Jen], feta and walnuts.  I've served it on top of quinoa or brown rice so it's more filling and we are less tempted to eat before bed [on these nights I basically separate the salad into parts on their plates and add mac and cheese or sliced turkey or just something healthy so they fill up].
-Ina's Winter Minestrone with added kale [I guess minus the pancetta...]
-black eyed peas + rice + avocado + spinach + parsley/cilantro + salsa verde
-black bean burgers from the E2 cookbook... made these tonight for the first time - I loved it, Ben thought it was pretty good [I think he just didn't want to admit it was really good :)], Vera said she didn't like it but ate it all without prodding, Edie liked it enough to eat half.
-miso soup with bok choy, watercress, tofu [I haven't done this one yet, but will once I find this amazing miso paste that Rosie used to bring from CA...]
-lime-pozole-tortilla-like soup with or without chicken.
-black bean+sweet potato+spinach burritos

*I am not going to completely cut out these things because I enjoy food :)

*el acento

One of my favorite things here is hearing the accent. There are a lot of transplants and internationals here too, so not everyone has it.  I just love it when I hear a good, solid, I've-lived-here-my-whole-life version. Like the guy at the post office - he's got the best I've heard so far. I've loved overhearing people talk about getting out their snowblowah or the lady at the pediatrician's office saying I have reached Havad Vangahd [Harvard Vanguard].  When I talked to the school secretary on the phone the first time I couldn't tell what her name was. It sounded like O-land-a. So the next time I asked for Mrs. Orlander, thinking her last 'a' was an 'ar'... but it turned out to be Orlando :) My favorite is this girl Vera met who goes by Sarah Dilababa because there are two other Sarahs. I recently learned that her name is Della Barba. Ahhhhh I love it. I don't have a lot of people to comment on this with, so I share it here with you!  Vera's school is really interesting - I would say half of the parents speak Chinese. Also about six kids in her class are Irish... so we have Boston accents, Irish accents, Chinese... it's all very interesting.

*la lectura

I have tried several times over the last couple years to get through a chapter book with Vera.  Either things get busy and we never solidify the habit or she isn't super interested - or both.  I admit I was totally jealous of her little friends who seemed to be flying through the Little House books, Narnia, etc. Of course, jealousy and competition should not be my motivation :) Really, I just want so badly for her to have that same reading experience that I did - lost in those amazing and wonderful worlds!!  I was such a reader when I was little, literally devouring books and reading both those series multiple times.  So anyway, thankfully in January we found the book that kept all of us captivated - James and the Giant Peach! It was so fun to read together - I didn't even want to miss out if Ben were reading on a particular night.

Since then we read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory [one of my faaavorites] and are in the middle of the first Boxcar Children.  It made my heart happy to hear her exclaim last night, "I wish I was one of the boxcar kids!"  That's the kind of play I so loved as a kid - pretending to set up house in the woods, collecting berries and finding treasure :)  Anyway, I do hope that she loves to read as much as I did.  She's doing well on the road to reading on her own - she can sound out pretty well and reads the little Bob type books sent home from school, but I would say it hasn't "clicked" in a major way yet, which is just fine.

***

*primeras visitas!

Ben's parents were here last weekend for a short visit. SO encouraging and comforting to have family here. Seriously I feel like we've moved abroad - it's just so far away.

The girls were so incredibly excited to have them here!  They talked about it a ton beforehand, wondering when they'd arrive. We didn't send Vera to school that morning, which was good - it turned out to be a pretty big snowstorm and there was no school the next day either.  Ben spent an hour trying to get on the freeway that morning to pick them up at the airport - he ended up coming home and they took the train - toting his surfboard the whole way :)

Showing them everything in their room: 

The first day the storm was still blowing and so we decided to spend the day inside at the MFA.  It was an adventure just getting to the train station and on the train!  I don't think anyone expected as much snow as we got.

lunch in the museum cafeteria:

These are out of order, but too hard to fix.  This was our last night at an Italian place in the North End.  It was a bit of a gamble as I googled "best italian in north end" and went with one that looked like it had sincere reviews.  It was called Terra Mia - really delicious and quaint and we had a perfect little table in the window.  This plain ol' spaghetti you see here was de.li.cious. I ate a bit of it myself before bed that night :)

Saturday we walked around Cambridge and Harvard.  Ben and I went to have a beer at a tavern and Mike, Rosie and the girls went to a Peets to have a snack and read some new stories they'd bought.  How sweet is this one?

It was a beautiful crisp and clear day - here we are next to the Charles River.

Edie after taking a dive in the mud. Poor baby had it from head to toe :(

on the Harvard campus:

This was actually our first night. We still don't really know the area that well and with the snowstorm and high tides/flooding along the coastline it was hard to know where to go eat. Mike especially loves seafood, so we went to a random place mentioned in a local tourist brochure. It was such a winner!!! Basically a super fresh fish market that has restaurant space.  Everyone was more than happy with their meal :)

my crabcake sandwich:

*:)

*una cita

Ben and I were finally able to go out last weekend! It was sooo nice, I can't even tell you. We went to Abigail's in Cambridge, recommended by my dear friend in slc. It was a beautiful restaurant and the food was really delicious [I wouldn't say to die for, but really good]- Ben had a shrimp appetizer and flank steak with mushrooms and spinach.. I had a cheese plate and then chestnut and bone marrow risotto with garlicky kale, yumm. Afterwards we walked through Cambridge past MIT to Harvard where we got some ice cream before getting back on the train. A sweet student of Ben's watched the girls and apparently they were fabulous. Success!!! We have a small list going of places to try - and a few years at least to check them off :)

on the "T"

evidence still of the big snow:

that's Harvard!!! I can't wait to walk around and really see it.

*para atrás

That means backwards.

This is Edie posing next to her sticker chart - she could put a hello kitty sticker on each morning if she woke up with a dry diaper. Which she did for at least two weeks!  Completely potty trained - I finally didn't even have to ask her anymore if she needed to go.  We have had a couple regressions over the last few months - if I am not paying attention to her diet and she doesn't get enough, you know, fiber.  It  seriously messes her up and this regression has lasted about a week now.  Like going in her pants about 90% of the time.  She will suddenly exclaim that she needs to go, so I whisk her to the bathroom and then she freaks out and says she doesn't need to. Since *sometimes* she actually goes, I feel I have to give her a chance.  This happens 5 times before she finally goes in her pants [which have been pull-ups the last couple days].  Do you know how infuriating this is?  ?!?!!!!  I would say potty-training issues are the absolute hardest thing for me.  For good or bad, I am a person who likes to have control.  I cannot control this and I quickly lose my temper if I'm not careful.  I know God gives us trials to strengthen us and teach us, and I feel so silly that potty-training is the trial I need.  Vera likes to pray that Edie will "go", but I try to tell her that we pray for patience and for kindness.  Because that's what I need!!  Lord, help me and give me true patience with this!!!

*Edieisms

- [when she's grumpy] I don't want to go potty and I don't want to watch a show and I don't want to see you ANY MORE and I don't want to see Dadda and I don't like the lamp [or whatever is closest] and I don't want to see addebody and I don't want to do anyfing ANY MORE!!!!
- Heehoc [Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh]
- every night at the table, the same: Dear Jesus, thankyou for is day, thank you Eloise don't like hers cage.
- I don't like baaaaassyball! I only like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!!

- [licking her snot] mmmmm tastes like cimanim and shuga!

- me: what is your favorite candy? Edie: Dora candy wif a Boots wrapper. Vera's favorite is Cindelella wif a race car wrapper.

- You're in my fanly. I love my fanly!!! ♥ 

- gleen, ice cleam, glound
- I have a bottom and DONT TOUCH IT!
- Massachusetts! [she says it perfectly!]
- my brain hurts! [points to her tummy when asked where her brain is]
- she calls out a dozen times after we put her to bed and says the most random things: why are we sleeping? last day remember I go on a little pink airplane wif Puppy - it was sooo tiiiny!
- Daddy come suggle (snuggle) wif me!
- lots of potty talk - toot, stinky, butt!, I see yours bottom!  
.... I'll add more if I think of them.

*vacation week

All schools in Massachusetts have a week off in February.  We made good use of the time and saw some new things...

Wednesday we went to the Museum of Fine Arts. I learned a couple valuable lessons: first, the train parking lot is usually full by 9am. We parked at Ben's office and then walked 15 minutes in the cold wind [I love walking myself, but understand Vera isn't quite as excited and poor Edie just had the wind freezing her little cheeks]. Second, don't always trust your iphone GPS!!!  It led us on foot about 3/4 of a mile in the wrong direction after we'd got off the train.  The girls were troopers, especially as we took a little detour to Panera to get chocolate milk.  Anyway, it was all worth it!  We had a lot of fun with all the special craft activities they had set up for vacation week.

Pouring paint:

"tape tricks"

 Edie thought this statue from Congo looked like Abedibia (Amelia Bedelia :)

Vera recognized having learned about this statue from her class in Nevada!

obviously their favorite exhibit:

cookie break:

Monday we went to the Science museum with the McCoys.  It was enormous with so many interesting exhibits.  I imagine it will be even better as they get older. The view was so pretty:

Thursday we went to our local library for a little craft.  This is the historic wing built by a famous architect [don't ask me who :)]  It is a nice library, but to be honest, I think we had the best in Salt Lake!!

*dorm living

I finally have pictures of our apartment.  It's working fine for now... to be honest we don't know what our next move will be.  I'm thankful for an affordable place to live while we decide what and where we can afford, what kind of job I find, etc.  There are positives and negatives to living here of course. It's nearly impossible to be alone and I miss having outside space.  I also feel a little constricted in the kitchen as it's tiny and I didn't bring many of my favorite gadgets [cuisinart, crockpot, pizza stone...]  On the other hand, it is nice that internet/tv and all utilities except electricity are set up and paid for.  We are living very simply for the time-being and that is something I've always aspired to.  The girls think it's fun to have an elevator and a mailbox with a key.

Girls' room. I just got a cute duvet cover for Edie but have to fix it a bit before I put it on. Their dresser and the one little kitchen hutch from UT is to the left. 

I made this floor pillow with my old feather bed and some echino fabric I got with Christmas money. I'm hoping they embrace their new reading nook!  I *kind of* forced this shot, though she did stay there at least 10 minutes : )

I made our nasty, dark, cramped, dated, fluorescent-lighted kitchen look a little nicer via instagram:

Valentine paper chains and our pretty air plant:

bedroom/living room looking towards kitchen.  That's Eloise's cage in Ben's closet:

my anthropologie towels make the bathroom a lot happier :)

living room/bedroom/tv room

I'm really thankful for this little cupboard space.  Actually our closets are pretty big - more storage than our bedrooms in Salt Lake for sure!

our art wall, started by Edie: