Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨
A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if I wanted her to bring me back anything. Would you believe me if I told you I asked for salt? I love picking up different varieties, whether we’re traveling or I’m just visiting a new shop. Maddie grabbed me a super cute one from her trip to Paris last year, and the Magic Unicorn Salt I get locally is another favorite. What’s yours?
One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a serious case of FOMO on the daily, gets hiccups more than anyone we know and has perpetual bed head. She’s quite the unique roommate but may be exactly what our home needed. 💛
I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw th I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw that @njdotcom had picked six bagel shops at the “best in the state,” and one was reasonably local, all the sudden I needed one. I was never one to fall prey to peer pressure, but I’m very definitely a marketer’s dream. 😂 Alfa Bagels is on Route 10 in Randolph and has a good assortment of bagels, including all the usual suspects, but with a few others like rainbow, Asiago and French Toast throw in for good measure. Their bagels always seem to have a nice chew, which I appreciate and I love their sesame one. My go-to order lately is a double toasted flagel with lox spread and tomato. Their lox spread is a little ho hum, but the bagel is delish. Check them out next time you’ve got a craving (or get motivated by a local news story 😝). What’s your bagel order?
✌🏻 ✌🏻
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Sweetnicks

Food and Life

“I’m Going to Call Her ‘Monkey Girl'”

February 25, 2009 · Narrative

Madeline and the Monkey“I’m going to call Madeline “Monkey Girl,” Nick said as we were driving home from the bookstore recently.  I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that his sister was tightly clutching two brand new monkeys in her little fists.  She spied them in the kids section of the bookstore, and held onto them the whole time we were there, dragging them all around with her.

When I was growing up, I was obsessed with penguins.  Loved them, loved them, loved them.  It later changed to elephants, and I definitely still hold a soft spot for them to this day.  I wanted Madeline to like elephants like me, and started collecting elephant stuffed animals for her right before she was born.  They’re such gentle giants with those long, long eyelashes, how could you not love them?

Well, she has managed to resist their charms and has fallen in love with another animal … the monkey.  It is only fitting, really.  She *is* a total monkey herself.  Always into, under, over or climbing anything she can get her little feet and hands on.  The Husband didn’t believe me when I told him what she spent her time recently doing … until he saw it for himself.  Nick had brought a small stepstool into my bathroom to reach something and, of course, like all good six-year-olds, he didn’t put it away and left it there.  Madeline climbed on the stepstool, and then from there climbed onto the laundry hamper.  The laundry hamper happens to be right next to the bathroom vanity and within minutes, she was sitting in the sink trying to get the water to go on.  She kept trying and trying because she knew that water came from that faucet, but luckily, she couldn’t figure it out. 

A few months back, my mom got her one of those Paul Allen monkeys that have become popular again, and Madeline drags that thing e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e.  If you ask her “Where’s the monkey?” she’ll look around until she finds it.  For sanity’s sake, I’ve added a few more monkeys to her collection and they seem to be fairly interchangeable.  ‘Tis a lesson we learned when as a baby, Nick became very attached to a frog.  It was the only thing he wanted to take everywhere with him, and, well, when you only have one, it becomes a bit of a challenge.

When we were on vacation last month, we stopped in a little gift store.  She started yelling from the stroller, “That!  That!  That!”  I followed her fingers to see what she was pointing to.  She had spied a monkey hanging from one of their shelves and was shrieking until I brought it down.

For her recent birthday, Madeline received this great collection of sock monkeys that my Mom found on Etsy (LOVE Etsy!), and she’s been busy dragging them all over the house.  It’s funny because as many monkeys as she has now, she definitely uses different monkeys for different things.  Certain ones go in the car, certain ones go in the high chair and so on.

What can I say?  She’s a girl who knows what she wants.

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Posted In: Narrative

Comments

  1. Tyanne says

    February 25, 2009 at 8:56 pm

    She is soooo cute!!!

    Reply
  2. brilynn says

    February 26, 2009 at 12:18 am

    I’ve got a soft spot for elephants too…

    brilynns last blog post..Sugar High Friday #52: Baby TKO’s

    Reply
  3. Jennifer W. says

    February 26, 2009 at 10:24 am

    What a cute story. My attachment was to a big yellow dinosaur.

    Reply
  4. Sarah says

    February 26, 2009 at 10:54 am

    That photo is adorable! She certainly does know what she wants. Paige loves dogs (living or otherwise) and cars … She definitely shows how she idolizes her big brother on the latter.

    Sarahs last blog post..Food Boundaries are a Crock

    Reply

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Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨

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Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨
A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if I wanted her to bring me back anything. Would you believe me if I told you I asked for salt? I love picking up different varieties, whether we’re traveling or I’m just visiting a new shop. Maddie grabbed me a super cute one from her trip to Paris last year, and the Magic Unicorn Salt I get locally is another favorite. What’s yours?
One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a serious case of FOMO on the daily, gets hiccups more than anyone we know and has perpetual bed head. She’s quite the unique roommate but may be exactly what our home needed. 💛
I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw th I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw that @njdotcom had picked six bagel shops at the “best in the state,” and one was reasonably local, all the sudden I needed one. I was never one to fall prey to peer pressure, but I’m very definitely a marketer’s dream. 😂 Alfa Bagels is on Route 10 in Randolph and has a good assortment of bagels, including all the usual suspects, but with a few others like rainbow, Asiago and French Toast throw in for good measure. Their bagels always seem to have a nice chew, which I appreciate and I love their sesame one. My go-to order lately is a double toasted flagel with lox spread and tomato. Their lox spread is a little ho hum, but the bagel is delish. Check them out next time you’ve got a craving (or get motivated by a local news story 😝). What’s your bagel order?
✌🏻 ✌🏻

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