New England Mamas

Secret Spaces: Eating well

This is my first post in quite some time, because I went ahead and had myself another baby girl.  And then I went ahead and had some serious post surgical complications.   Given all that madness, a few things fell to the wayside.  Posting here, doing the laundry, and cooking a nightly dinner.

Enter my favorite restaurant, tucked away on a quiet street in the heart of downtown Lowell, MA.  When my husband and I lived in Lowell, pre-children, one of our favorite things to do in the evenings was to stroll downtown to witness the revitalization process.  Amidst the artists' lofts, condos and shops that opened were several cafes and restaurants.  And the restaurant that called our name most evenings was Life Alive.  It continues to call my name all the way out here in the suburbs.  I'll tell you why.

Life Alive is  not just a restaurant.  According to their website, their mission is "to feed the vitality of the world, one meal at a time."

Whoa.

Sounds crazy, right?  Right? 

Wrong!  And, my friends, you simply  have to go there to find out how wrong.  Life Alive is, quite simply, a restaurant dedicated to serving fresh, organic vegetarian meals to anyone and everyone who steps through the door.  The decor is vibrant and exciting - the walls are painted in shades of golds, purples, and greens.  Artwork by local artists is hung on the walls and even the bathroom is a beautiful space,  filled with quotes to make you think, wind chimes to charm your ears and lush greenery in the re-purposed bathtub.  Honestly, every square inch of the place is gorgeous and I haven't even told you about the food.

Life Alive serves up simply the yummiest vegetarian fare I've ever eaten.  They get their organic produce delivered daily and with it, they create vegetarian dishes that can't be beat.  My favorite by far is the Green Goddess -  avocado, broccoli, dark greens, tofu, garlic, Ginger Nama Shoyu Sauce, flax oil - served over short-grain brown rice.  Every dish is enhanced by one of Life Alive's original, signature sauces.  They also serve delicious salads, amazing smoothies and refreshing blended juices as well as coffee and tea, both hot and iced. You can eat in or take it to go - and here's what keeps me driving to Lowell from the western 'burbs - you can bring your own containers - tupperware, glassware, what have you - and they'll send you off with meals for the week.  I bring my own containers, order three or four meals et voila - I am set for lunches or dinners here and there when I don't feel like cooking.

Life Alive is located in the heart of downtown Lowell, at 194 Middle Street.  Between the delicious meals, yummy smoothies, healing juices and oh yeah, the free WiFi, trust me.  You're going to keep going back and you're never going to want to leave.

Just leave some Green Goddess for me.  Thanks.

A tale of two cribs

I haven't posted here in quite some time, mostly because like everyone else, I have quite a bit going on off-line, not the least of which is managing being 31 weeks pregnant, selling our house, buying a new house, and moving to a new town. 

 Things are going to ramp up significantly over the next few weeks, because we are moving the week after next.  THE WEEK AFTER NEXT GOD HELP ME. 

Anyway, my grand plan for the move was to set up my daughter Charlotte's brand new, super adorable toddler bed that my parents bought her this past Christmas. Oh man, is it cute. I had envisioned her beautiful new room in the new house with her cute new rug, little curtains, toy box and toddler bed. I am re-using her nursery stuff - it's still in perfect condition - only two years old - and it matches her new room - but my point is, I just pictured her new room looking so cute and so, well, big-girl.

The only thing is, I don't think this girl is quite so big.  And so I've decided to keep her in her crib.  Here's why.

Charlotte's turning 2 in a few weeks, but while my big-little-girl is so precocious in so many ways, she is still very much a baby. To me, anyway. But one way in particular - she loves her crib. LOVES it. I mean, she LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVES it. When she wakes up in the morning, or from naps, she never cries. She rolls around, sings, practices talking, plays with her "babies" and curls up with her blankets. I just don't think she's ready for the transition to a big-girl bed. I feel like moving to a new house and then becoming a big sister mere weeks later AND losing her beloved crib might be a little too much for a very special two year old to handle. Charlotte understands a lot, but the concepts of a. moving, b. becoming a big sister, and c. big girl bed are completely lost on her. She just doesn't get it and to be honest, I don't want to force her to get it.

Also selfishly? I am 31 weeks pregnant and so sometimes, I am tired. And as such, preparing to welcome a newborn into the house. Selfishly, I want Charlotte to stay on her beautiful 12 hour a night sleep schedule and nap 2 hours every afternoon. Selfishly, perhaps I am the one less ready for the transition than Charlotte is. However, like my mother said last night, perhaps it is less "selfish" and more "self preservation."  You see, my husband travels extensively for work - just about weekly, for days at a time, and he is just not home every night to help. It would be wonderful if he was, but he's not. And that is fine. It works for us and I have no complaints, but until I know I can haul myself off the floor next to the big girl bed without adult assistance, I think the transition is going to have to wait.

I may be underestimating her - because I certainly have underestimated her adaptability and ability to transition in the past. We've gone on several vacations where prior to making the actual trip, I wrung my hands for weeks - WEEKS - worrying about how she'd react, nap, sleep - and every single time she proved me totally wrong and was perfectly fine.

This time, though, I think I'm making the right call. So I will be making a trip down to Ikea to buy a crib for the new kid. Charlotte's crib at the Cape is from Ikea and I love it, so I think I'm going to get an identical one for the new baby. If it turns out to be a big piece of crap, well, she'll sleep on a nice mattress in a big piece of crap until her big sister IS ready for the big girl bed.

I am so interested to hear what other mothers have done to transition your kids from crib to bed, especially as you welcomed new babies into your home.   I'm all ears.

Helpless in Hannaford

Hello!  I have been one heck of a blogging slacker of late - due to lots going on here at the homestead.  So, I've got some time to post and of course, it's one that some with *ahem* delicate sensitivities may want to skip over.  Consider yourself warned.

Some backstory. I am 19 weeks pregnant and I have an extraordinarily sensitive stomach.   However, whilst pregnant, the sensitivities tend to disappear - honestly, I feel my best when I am pregnant. I know. Good genes.

Due to the lack of gastrointestinal sensitivities, I tend to be a bit more, um, experimental these days and I also tend to give in to my pregnancy cravings. Which can be a bit of a lethal combination. Over the course of the last twenty-four hours, I have eaten several clementines, two pears, a pint of blueberries, a bag of funyuns (uh huh), microwave popcorn and a turkey sandwich on wheat. 

Nothing too out of the ordinary - except, of course, for the funyuns. 

Let's just have a moment to consider the funyuns.

*moment*

*moment over*

Like I said, all that fruit, the sandwich and the delicious crispy fake onion treats proved to be a bit of a lethal combination. My stomach had been churning all day, but suffice it to say that by this afternoon and copious consumption of bottled water I assumed that I had borne the brunt of the "storm."

Feeling fine, I picked up Charlotte from school and we headed to the grocery store to pick up some essentials like trash bags, diet vanilla coke zero (manna from heaven) and hershey's dark chocolate syrup. You know, the essentials that I can't get during my weekly grocery run to Whole Foods. I loaded Charlotte into the cart and headed up aisle #1.

*Gurgle*

Crap. Literally. I mean, we are talking the type of gurgle where you KNOW you need to find a loo and quick. With my 20 month old in tow, I yanked her out of the cart and hauled ass into the public, multi-stalled rest room. I don't know if I speak for anyone else, but I had no shortage of inner turmoil over what to do with my daughter while I took care of business. So I pulled her ON TO MY LAP. In the public restroom. It was really the lesser of two evils, the other evil being her extreme curiosity with the large space between the stall and the restroom at large.

We chatted (yes, we chatted) - I took care of business - and there was a lot of hand-washing post haste and really, no worse for the wear.

Honestly, I am stumped.  What would have been the better choice in that - or a future - situation?

Besides, of course, skipping the funyuns.

Giving thanks - for time to actually cook

I have been roped into graciously nominated to host Thanksgiving here in my home this year.  Kidding!  The truth is, I have hosted Thanksgiving here for the past two years, and I am actually very much looking forward to hosting year #3.

Because I work full time and have a nineteen month old toddler, I don't have tons of time during the week to spend a lot of time cooking during the week, but I make time every weekend to spend time cooking - because I truly enjoy it.  I find joy in researching recipes online or tearing them out of magazines, making grocery lists, buying the groceries, spending time in the kitchen chopping, stirring, concocting - and man, do I love the finished product.

How circa 1950's of me, no?

 

Maybe it's the (very) amateur scientist in me, but I love the fact that I can throw a few things together to produce a (usually) delicious product.  I also find the entire process tremendously relaxing.

That said - I am looking for Thanksgiving recipe ideas. I usually order an organic turkey, either from the grocery store or a local butcher shop.  I also make a mushroom stuffing from scratch and garlic-parmesan-basil red potatoes.  Those are my stand-bys, but I am kind of interested in hearing about your favorites, your standbys, or maybe the recipes you had high hopes for but didn't turn out exactly the way you had hoped.

Also, do you host Thanksgiving at your house?  I'd love to hear about your traditions and what makes Thanksgiving special to you.

Testing

Just to test the categories.