Tales from the crib

My copy of The Four Agreements is missing, and has been for over a year now. Rats! It contains a part that I have been wanting to reread regarding the "you" before "domestication". 

I think of this whenever blogging parents describe the notable behavior and characteristics of their children under four years of age. Skylar/Tate/Benny/Hank is more pensive/imaginative/quick to laugh/hard to soothe/curious/affectionate than his brother was at this age. Dexter/Penny/Ana/Louis has an extra fondness for animals/dirt/games/other people/music it seems.

I love these statements. Record these proclivities. Just write them down somewhere because you might forget.

Case in point. My mom had 4 kids in a short time. I was number 2. When I ask her what I was like between 0-4 years old, what really was unique to me, she can't remember. You were good. Pressing her further I learned that I would prefer to hold my pee than go pee.

I am naturally a rather lazy person - physically, not mentally. And oh isn't that a book in itself...

Early polka dot adopter

Reflecting on slightly older years of childhood, when domestication had surely already taken hold, I can come up with lots of adjectives that might describe young me. But that person was trying to fit into (and stand out of) highly formative situations. Who was it who truly didn't give a fuck?

So write that shit down, parents. Don't harp on what's written, just note it. 

Some day your rather analytical child may want to know.

Instafairyland

One thing I tried this year that I've surprisingly stuck to is Instagram. I love being inspired, daily, by the creative energy that is out there. I want to capture it, this visual, and feast on it.

To get the fleeting to linger I sometimes take screenshots of my Instagram feed. In my continued effort of blog scrapbooking, scrapblogging, here are some things I mustn't soon forget:

But is all this imagery a bit overwhelming to anyone else? It's constant candyland. It's fairyland.

Instafairyland. Good for daydreaming. Bad for living.

I'm pretty sure.

What I'm really gifting* this year

Sometimes bloggers put the most ridiculous things on their gift guides. Are they really buying that $40 hipster pint glass for anyone? Does anyone really deserve a $90 candle? Man, that high end bottle of bourbon sure is one fine fuckin host gift.

So let's put a blogger's gift guide up to the fire. I volunteer.

First, for your reference, my 2014 gift guide.

And now, what did I actually buy? Was that gift guide all talk?

Let's take a look...

(Mom, I don't think you read this, but if you do, stop now.)

create your own identity

As predicted in the gift guide, the kids are each getting a superhero mask custom-designed with their favorite colors. They've come in the mail and they look great. Score.

In another solid gift guide showing, for my dad, the double-punch gift of humor.

My mom and sister-in-law were last on my list. I wanted to work on a unified theme - a mixed bag of awesome small treats that both diverged and converged. I was inspired by the desire to qualify for a nail polish discount by buying a personal shade for each of my ladies. This was fun. Then I got them the same 'almost' lip color, which is purported to look great on everyone. I have it, and it is remarkable how light or dark you can make it, so I can see the versatility. (These are also very tempting.)

Would my mom or sister-in-law buy these things for themselves? No. Probably not.

Will they like them? Oh, I hope so. I hope so.

Tree tops!! (currently out of stock)

I also bought each of them a small winter decoration. It's a little wooden conifer tree painted in pretty shades of green, sitting in a log. And it's a top! You can spin it on either end! Fuck yes. I hope it will make a welcome addition to whatever scene they are rocking in their respective houses. 

Last in the grab bag was a treat for the palate - good beer for the sister-in-law, truffle salt for the mama.

<<hands smacking>>  Done.

...

But what is it I would like to gift* to myself, you ask?

Art print.

New necklace.

<<hands smacking>>  Done.


* Are we all okay with using "to gift" as a verb now?

Getting personal

Want to know something kinda personal?

This is my collection of Zoya nail polish:

I have a few more actually (glittery dark purple, light gray, Elsa-blue (seriously, when did I get that one and why?!), and a soft gold), but these are most my jam.

Madeline, Normani, Kelly, Caitlin, Heidi, Tamsen, Cola, and Emilia

I've collected Zoya for a few years now. I buy no other kind (except for a few regrettable purchases from Target clearance bins). They're a splurge, like a whole pint and a half of beer each, but it's a spurge I can justify.  

I'm favoring Madeline, Normani, and Cola lately. Despite wearing these on my fingernails, which do see the light of day, showing them together at once seems somehow very intimate to me. These are colors I'm happy to have curated for myself, with no one else in mind. I made each selection carefully, with deep, self-absorbed thought. 

What could be more telling?