it wouldn't be a birthday without...

Make a wish...

...then BLOW!

This isn't bad...

Mmmmmm

I can't believe I ate the whole thing!

xoxoxoxela
(sticky, happy and starting my 2nd trip round the sun)

Numero Uno

It's my birthday, y'all!

simple pleasures

a warm bath, clean hair, and cozy flannel pajamas






xo xela

Neither snow nor rain nor gloom of night

... keeps Xela from her appointed rounds. This baby isn't afraid of a few flakes!

Does this thing have snow tires?

under plastic, blanket and fleece... me!

The subway: which stop is Guatemala?

my macha Tia isn't daunted by winter either
yes, she's bicycling in a snowstorm

More snow is on the way - 2 storms this week. But I see sunshine and bikinis in the forecast. Details soon!


xoxox
xela

Brunch with the Bradleys

When I feel restless, watch out: this week, I discovered the toilet (look, Ma, I'm washing my hands all by myself!) and cat food (mmmm, organic!) Someone needs to do another round of Xela-proofing.

When Tia Lynn and Tia Claudia feel restless, they move. They've bought and sold dozens of homes over the years, each more fabulous than the last. Real estate is their hobby; they have a knack. (Even in this market.) Wielding intuition and vision, they transform overlooked, undervalued properties into singular homes. Which they then leave. Hey, it works.

Last Sunday, we visited their latest casita. Ocean views, acres of woods and quarry trails out back, and huge, with a guest room for yours truly... it's a work in progress, but what a crib!

Las Tias strike a pose

YES, we always color-coordinate

the dark wild-eyed dog in back wants to eat me

Keep me away from the satanic hound!

Valerie: immigrant, educationalist, scrap-booker extraordinaire
... and soon-to-be Grandmother

I can't resist a tall, dark 'n' handsome dude like Nick

Mama, can we get one of these?

we're baaack!

Mama's computer had a nervous breakdown, or something... so annoying.
Fortunately, it's better thanks to the Apple store "genius bar" - we even got to play games on ginormous screens while we waited:

pixilated pixie

notice the expert use of the tongue

gimme that mouse!

more updates ASAP.
and - just in case anyone isn't near a calendar - this is a BIG week for me!!


xoxoxo xela

Are you a good reader?

My great-grandmother Rose loved to read. Not best-sellers, mind you, or - god forbid! - romance novels. No, Rose was drawn to the real deal: literary fiction, classics, stories of human complexity and conflict limned in lapidary prose. Too poor to attend college, she became a self-taught, life-long English major: she organized book clubs, sought out teachers, befriended librarians. She read fearlessly, open to (and fascinated by) lives and worlds far from her own. She shared her love of books with my Mama. Many of Rose's favorites now line our shelves: Virginia Woolf, Proust, Isak Dineson, Thomas Wolfe, Doris Lessing, Anais Nin.

Rose thrilled to meet kindred souls who shared her passion for books. These "good readers" became lifelong friends.

I think we would have hit it off.

And yes, I am named after her.

Ladies Who Lunch

Friday, Mama & I had lunch with Stella and her daughter Teju. 10 years ago, Mama and Stella trained to be shrinks together. Now they have offices next to each other.

Teju is three and a half. She loves pink, princesses, and Dora the Explorer. She speaks 2 languages - English and Korean - plus baby-talk (she likes to pretend she's still a baby!)

We ate lunch at a table on the floor. No high chairs. No chairs at all!

Am a a chub or what?


Look Ma, no hands!

Hey, Ref, where's the flag?

Oranges... my favorite!

Such fun... I hope we have lunch together again soon.