Toddler imagination...

Last weekend, W and I took P for a walk on his bike. It's one of those fun trikes that has a handle for parents so you can steer for him. He loves it! Family walks are one of our favorite things so we enjoy it too.

W and I were walking along talking when we realized P was talking too...to himself.

"Basketball?"
"No!"

"Ride?"
"No!"

"Leo?" (our dog)
"No."

"Ahh-sahide?" (outside)
"No!"

"Elmo?"
"No!"

"Apple?"
"NO!"

He went through these many times over, we were laughing so hard once we figured out the gist. He was listing all the things he loves and asks for a hundred times a day then filling in what we would say (totally unfair because I usually say "OK," except for the Elmo thing).

It's amazing, isn't it? He's not even two but he's having imaginary conversations about his thoughts and feelings on what we let him do. Unbelievable! Can't wait for those teenage years.

"Wheelie?"

"Absolutely!"

A few ways to tell for sure that you are in NOLA

1) Trees are blooming and budding and it is January.

2) It's 65-75 degrees outside and it is January.

3) It's 65 degrees outside in January, you and your family are dressed in short sleeves, but the locals are wearing turtleneck sweaters, tights, and wool coats.

4) Because it's a beautiful 70 degreese outside, you decide to grill out. When you stop at a convenience store for charcoal, they tell you they only sell it in the summer.

5) You go to a church potluck and approximately half the dishes contain seafood.

6) The fact that half the dishes at a church potluck contain seafood doesn't surprise you or send you screaming "FOOD POISONING" in the other direction, you proceed to eat it and pronounce it delicious.

7) You can run around the corner for beignets. (Or, as I like to call them, "Beign-YAYS!")

8) A wondrous thing called Praline Bacon exists here and is available to delight your tastebuds. (GO TO Elizabeth's)

9) You see signs for drive-through daiquiris. (You just can't put the straw in the cup until you arrive at your destination.)

10) The only thing that outnumbers the lifesize, blow-up football players in front yards are the number of friendly people you meet everywhere!

Sparkly Hat

I love those times when you have a weirdly ridiculous experience with a stranger. Either they try to share some kind of inappropriate story with you (I do not appreciate birth stories in the middle of the freezer aisle) or ask you for something off the wall.


Yesterday, I was at Hancocks. It was a delicious day at the fabric store because my husband had come home early from work and I was toddler free with a tall, one-pump, Starbucks pumpkin spice latte in my hand. I was browsing patterns and buttons then made my way over to the trims. I was "minding my own" when I heard a poor man (clearly sent to the store by his wife) painfully describing "You know, those little hooks like on a bra clasp" to an employee. He had no other words to describe them and had to keep saying "bra clasp" over and over, but the employee had no idea what he was talking about and finally said "We don't have anything like that here." Well, for one thing, they probably do have actual bra clasps, and for the other, I know for a fact they had hook and eyes which is what he was trying to describe. He passed behind me and I said, "I think you mean 'hook and eyes,'" the poor man's face lit up and he was so relieved to have alternate vocabulary with which to describe a product he didn't fully understand. Anyway, he went on his merry way and found what he needed (by the way, this is not the weird experience). So I continued browsing trims and gradually made my way to the table of seersucker on sale ($2.95 a yard!!)

I was absorbed in my sale fabrics when a little older lady, who had been browsing trims near me and probably heard my exchange with "bra clasp man," approached me and asked what I thought of two different pieces of gold, sequin covered elastic. She had a small piece and was trying to match it with what was there. I said, "Well, one is gold and one is colored" (it was kind of irridescent with many different colors plus a little gold). So I thought maybe she just couldn't see very well or couldn't reach the trims (she was about 4 feet tall or slightly less, no exaggeration). I pulled out a roll of the same thing she was holding and started to leave, then she began to describe exactly what it was for. The tale she told me involved a cruise she's going to be taking, a gold dress she will be wearing and a navy blue beanie that she intends to cover with this gold, sequin elastic. I'm "Mmm, Hmm'ing" politely and backing away when she asks, "Could you help me wrap this around my head so that I can see how much I will need?" No kidding, she stood there and had me wrap about 3 yards of stretchy sequins around her head in rows with zero compunction. She was really friendly and it was no trouble, but it completely cracked me up. What a thing to ask of a stranger! It was also sort of oddly personal to be putting things on someone else's head.

Anyway! I came away with a funny experience and more fabric than I intended to buy, but what do you do?!