Pictures of Mother's Day at Elm Bank

Elm Bank in Wellesley is a magnificent 36-acre Reservation and the home of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. It has 8 gardens that the public can enjoy year round including the beautiful Bressingham Garden designed by Adrian Bloom pictured below.

After buying a few heirloom tomato plants and a special Mother's Day arrangement of kale, lemon thyme, and lamb's ears at the Great Herb and Plant Sale we decided to explore the grounds.

Olivia loved running around the huge site and touching all the different plant textures. I loved looking at all the garden beds and how Bloom combined certain plants together in his design. One combination I really loved was the "Jack Frost" Brunnera with the "Ivory Prince" Hellebore with the Japanese maple as the focal point (shown above).

The Weeping Alaskan Cedar, above, is a tree I used to not like but have grown fond of every time I see it again. I like how sculptural it looks and how it works well as an alternative focal point to the usual red Japanese maples. Its weeping habit is also unusual and looks sort of wild against a manicured English garden.

At the Weezie's Children's Garden, there were these amazing woven branch sculptures that kids could play on. They reminded me of the Alice in Wonderland teacup ride in Disney World. Behind them is a path with posts holding bird houses. And just next to those bird houses was a tranquil yet playful water garden complete with a bridge and mini waterfall.

Then there was this: a gigantic red Adirondack chair. Olivia looked so tiny sitting on it and she loved every minute of it.

Overall, it was a great outing and an amazing discovery. It was, at least for me, the perfct place to go for Mother's Day. And it was only a 30 minute drive away. God, I love living here!

I hope all of you had a great weekend too.

Getting Things Done

Happy Friday everyone! Are you glad this week is coming to an end as much as I am? These past few days I've been busy getting us ready for the hot summer that's sure to come. Last year our car's air conditioner broke in the middle of summer and it was awful driving around for months in the high heat and humidity. On top of that, at the time, we didn't have any air conditioning in our house so it was equally uncomfortable once we came home. This week I decided enough was enough.

On Wednesday morning I called a local auto service center and asked if they could fix our car's air conditioner. Surprisingly they said they could get the part and fix it that day. They also said they would be able to take me and Olivia back home so I didn't have to wait at the shop. How nice! By the end of the day our air conditioner was blowing ice cold air and I couldn't be happier. If you live in the area and need a mechanic, definitely check out the repair shop in the Mobil gas station on North Main in Randolph. The owner is a town selectman and his workers were nice, courteous, and most importantly punctual (since I needed the car by 5 to pick up Adam.)

Then on Thursday, we got our attic and basement rim insulated through the MassSave Home Energy Services program. I'm so glad we finally did this. Insulating our home should make it a lot more comfortable when we run the window air conditioning unit in the summer. Plus, it will lower both our energy and gas bills by a lot during the summer and winter months, respectively. But the *best* part about insulating our home through the program was that they paid for 75% of the cost! I think there's also a federal tax incentive for doing it but I'll have to look into that some more.

All day yesterday I had to keep an eye on the work being done and on Olivia. And because it was pouring rain the whole time we couldn't even go to the back yard to play. We definitely felt cooped up so I'm glad it's all done. Do you have any plans for this Mother's Day weekend? Tomorrow we're heading to the 33rd Annual Great Herb and Heirloom Plant Sale in Wellesley. I'm looking forward to buying some heirloom tomato plants and herbs for my patio's container garden and for some summer feasting— yum! Then on Mother's Day we're going to picnic at  World's End, a beautiful 251 acre park in Hingham. Besides the downpour yesterday, the weather has been so amazing lately. I'm looking forward to spending time outdoors with everyone, including Daisy. :)

Have a wonderful Mother's Day weekend everyone!

Baby on the Brain

Remember when I was completely undecided about having another baby? A little more than a year ago Adam and I really couldn't make up our minds on whether or not to grow our little family. The main reason being how difficult it was raising Olivia alone up here. But now that Olivia is practically potty trained and she sleeps in her own bed the entire night, we are absolutely sure we want to have another one and soon! How's that for a complete 180º?

I know that it's a really personal thing to share but since only family and close friends read this blog I figured I would let all of you know about this new development in our lives. We're very excited about the prospect of having another baby and I'm already trying to figure out where his/her crib will go. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is swollen ankles and waddling. Ha!

Olivia's Bedroom Makeover

When we saw our home for the first time back in 2009 we loved several things about it: its easy access to Boston, the mid-century architectural style, a fenced in back yard and that it had 3 bedrooms. The previous owners used one of the bedrooms, now Olivia's bedroom, as their office. This is what it used to look like.

Ick. It was so depressing, cluttered and cramped. I don't know how they got anything done in there. Every time I see the picture above it just makes me scrunch up my face and shake my head. Isn't it just awful?

After we moved in, the room became our office too. But we rarely spent time in there and it was sparsely decorated with just a desk, a chair and two filing cabinets. Then a year later we found ourselves pregnant with Olivia and decided to make it her bedroom and to give it a good makeover. 

First, I chose a nice, neutral gray for the walls and got most of her furniture from Ikea. (Aren't they the best when you're on a budget?) Then I slowly added pops of primary colors with the curtains, and linens to make it look playful and modern yet cozy. Over the years we've hung up cherished pieces of artwork and family photos to really personalize it for her. This is how the room looks now.

I'm so happy with how it turned out. It feels cleaner, more open and comfortable. During the day Olivia and I will usually sprawl out on her rug playing with her train set or having a little "pasta picnic." At night we snuggle up together on the corduroy chair and read a book before I tuck her into bed. 

Olivia seems to really love her room now, especially after we hung up the giant print of butterflies (also from Ikea.) My favorite item in her room is a gift from Carolina (one of Olivia's Godmothers) — the J. Shatz egglamp on top of her dresser. When it's turned on, it projects "stars" on the walls through the pinhole openings in its stoneware shell. It's the perfect nightlight and makes the room look so dreamy. Thanks Carolina!

Well, that's it! Have you been doing any home projects this spring? I'd love to hear about them.

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On a side note, I'm in the market for a slightly used Canon camera, preferably a Rebel T3. I took the pictures above with my iphone's camera so, they are not as great as I wanted them to be. If you or anyone you know has a Canon with an 18mm-55mm lens they'd like to sell let me know.

Reflecting on the Boston Marathon Bombings

There was a moment of peace yesterday at 2:50pm, a week down to the minute since the Boston Marathon bombings. I reflected on the injured victims of the tragedy and the families who lost their loved ones. I thought about how our ever-changing world is seemingly becoming a dystopia, one I won't be able to shield Olivia from as she gets older.

In the Sunday paper of the Globe, former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky shared his reaction to the Boston Marathon Bombings. He writes, "Boston will endure, the Marathon will endure, we will celebrate again as we remember. But to some distinct degree, yet to be known, the security of the normal will be, for many of us, diminished." He then shares a poem written by Carlos Drummond de Andrade, "Souvenir of the Ancient World," which came to his mind as the events unfolded. 

Souvenir of the Ancient World

Clara strolled in the garden with the children. 
The sky was green over the grass,
the water was golden under the bridges,
other elements were blue and rose and orange,
a policeman smiled, bicycles passed,
a girl stepped onto the lawn to catch a bird,
the whole world—Germany, China—
All was quiet around Clara.
The children looked at the sky: it was not forbidden.
Mouth, nose, eyes were open. There was no danger.
What Clara feared were the flu, the heat, the insects.
Clara feared missing the eleven o'clock trolley,
waiting for letters slow to arrive,
not always being able to wear a new dress. 
But she strolled in the garden, in the morning!


They had gardens, they had mornings in those days!


Andrade's words rang in my ears during the moment of silence. The speaker is talking in the past tense suggesting the current state of the world he lives in is war-torn and ravaged. "The sky: it was not forbidden" tells us even the air is toxic. He daydreams of the "Ancient World" in which there was still beauty and innocence. To me, the poem serves as a warning of what may come if the state of affairs between our nations continue the way they have been. I was scared.

Then I thought of Carlos Arredondo, one of the bystanders at the Boston Marathon, who rushed to help the wounded instinctively and came to be known in the media as "the man in the cowboy hat." He is seen in the now famous photograph helping an ash-covered man with half of his leg missing get to safety. Arredondo is a hero to Boston but also to our world.  

In 2004 Arredondo's 20 year old son died in Iraq during his second tour of duty. Then in 2011 his other son took his own life. In an article published in 2012 by the Boston Herald Arredondo, who was interviewed for his public mourning, said he and his wife were "a broken people." Yet, on the day of the bombings  this "broken" man surprised us with his bravery and heroism. Instead of running from the chaos, he ran into it. Because of his actions Jeff Bauman Jr, the injured man in the picture, survived. 

It's people like Arredondo that give me strength and a hope that goodness will always prevail. Recently, we have seen so many tragedies the world over that, yes, "the security of the normal" as Robert Pinsky puts it, has been "diminished." But what humanity has also seen through the ages is our ability to overcome difficult times and, more importantly, through it all, come out stronger as a whole.

If you would like to donate to the amputees and victims of the Boston Marathon Bombings please visit UnitedWeStride.com.

To My Husband: Happy Anniversary!

"Love descends on those defenseless..."- David Bowie, Soul Love

Today marks our 5 year anniversary. It's gone by so fast I can't believe it! Since our wedding we've moved to Massachusetts, bought our home, had Olivia, and said thousands of "I love you's." Here's to saying thousands and thousands more. 

I love you, Adam. xo, Beverly

Potty Training Part 2: Poo Poo in the Potty

For months I imagined potty training Olivia to be a very difficult process with lots of crying, lots accidents all over the house, and loads of laundry. I'm still amazed at how well it's going and attribute her potty successes to waiting until she really understood me. Ever since she was just a tiny little baby we talked to her often and read lots of books to her which, I feel, really helped build her vocabulary and comprehension skills. So when it came time to talk to her about using the potty she really understood what we were telling her.

However, the morning after our first day of potty training Olivia seemed a little shy about using the potty almost as if she had stage fright. I knew that she didn't go number 2 the day before and since she's a pretty regular girl I knew she was feeling a little uncomfortable. So I asked her, "Do you need to go poo poo?" She said she didn't but I knew she had to judging from her behavior. Let me explain—when Olivia needs to poop she usually runs around upstairs or somewhere where we aren't around and does her business privately. Since I was with her in the bathroom and she was sitting and not running around I realized quickly that was why she wasn't going. Her routine was completely thrown off and I was watching her like a hawk. So I played it cool, said she didn't have to go right now and let her go play. But I knew that if she kept it in too long it would just get harder and would become painful to push out. So I thought about it and decided on this: I could just make it even more urgent for her to go by feeding her fiber-rich foods.....yeah, I know. Pretty mean. I kinda felt like an evil villain while fixing her a plate of carrots and hummus with a side of applesauce. There was no way she was going to be holding it in for much longer after her snack.

Well about an hour went by in which she actually peed in our regular toilet upstairs (and not in her new potty.) That was a nice little victory but she still refused to poop. So I thought about other foods she could eat that might make her go and thought of something I really shouldn't give her too often. That something was chocolate — dark chocolate, too, which is her favorite treat. Why did I give her chocolate? Because it has caffeine. And as we all know caffeine makes you go, go, go. Did it work? Yes, like a charm. About 20 minutes later she began running around with a panic-stricken, red face. Instead of asking her if she needed to poop I just grabbed her hand and brought her to the potty and said, "Ok, time to poop in the potty. It's ok, I won't look." I held her hand, looked away and waited. I heard her pushing and then all of a sudden she was done, standing up and looking at it in the bowl. She exclaimed, "I did it! Look mommy, I did it!" I was so proud of her! All she needed was some privacy and a little help from some more food.

I'm not going to recommend that parents use chocolate to make their kid go because that would be unwise and well just not good parenting advice at all. But for us that was what worked. Since she actually pooped in the potty I hope next time it won't be so frightening for her and I won't need to use chocolate. We'll just have to wait and see.

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I'm curious, have you dealt with a toddler refusing to poop in the potty? What did you do to make it more comfortable for them to go? Any stories, tips, or advice you'd like to share? I'd love to hear from you!

This is the second installment in a 3 part series I'm writing chronicling Olivia's potty training. If you're interested, you can check out Part 1 here. xo, Beverly