Make it Quality (Sugar)

Before I get into the details and photos from our fun, sunny weekend, a big shout out to my friend (and Bramble Berry customer) Jennifer Togher for her amazing accomplishments and recognition from Nike. Jennifer introduced herself to me at a Soap Guild Convention seven years ago. She had quite a short ‘n’ sassy hair cut. But, it wasn’t for fashion. In 2004, Jennifer was diagnosed with leukemia. In 2006, she finished her first marathon.

After receiving her diagnosis, Jennifer vowed that her illness would not define her. She started her journey with daily walks to her mailbox. She worked up to walking a block, then a mile, then another mile. The next year, she crossed the finish line at the Nike Women’s Marathon, bolstered by the strength of 20,000 other runners. Jennifer is training to run four half marathons this year. She keeps running to prove that greatness defies the odds. Go Jennifer! We are all so proud of you (!!!).

After seeing that ad and having a proud-happy teary-eyed moment (Go Jennifer!), we left Jamisen at home with awesome sister-in-law Cheriss to have another happy teary moment.

Long time readers will remember Kyle, my little friend that died of cancer three years ago. His Mom, Christin, got remarried this weekend. We were delighted to be a part of a beautiful ceremony and witness the commitment this fantastic couple has for each other and their blended family. The entire setting was so amazing (lights, paper lanterns, fresh flowers everywhere, white tables and many cute touches) that when I showed up to the lawn wedding, I said, “This looks just like a Pinterest wedding!“

The next morning, Jamisen was up for his typical 6 a.m. wake up (like clock work, every morning at 6 a.m.). There was no sleeping in for us after date night. We spent all Saturday outside, playing in a variety of parks, running errands and laughing. Jamisen is in nap limbo right now. We’re transitioning from 2 naps to 1 right now and it’s challenging to schedule an plan activities (but we’re doing our best). Jamisen met his first baby this weekend. He wasn’t sure what to make of the little precious bundle of baby. He was curious but didn’t try to touch or interact with the baby at all.

Today, we went on another excursion to a tiny town called Bow-Edison. There’s a coffee shop, a deli and a break market there along with quite a few art galleries. It’s an adorable little town. We went to enjoy a delicious breakfast (shout-out to Tweets! Awesome food and great service) and introduce Jamisen to a new playground. Notice how he’s rocking the color blocking trend and the pattern mixing trend? It is certainly not because his Daddy dressed him. No. It is because he is a little fashion designer in the making.

Jamisen paid absolutely no attention to the playground once we got there. He took one look at it, spun around and made a run for the open field. He had so much fun exploring the field and never even glanced at the slides and fun playground. There’s a lesson in there for me someplace.

Jamisen eats at home with us every day and eats what we do – which means, he’s had refined sugar all of 6 times in his life. This morning was one of those 6 times. It was worth it for a homemade plum cake with freshly whipped marscarpone cheese. If you’re going to have sugar, make it quality sugar.

We had more fun today. We went to an art festival, listened to live music, played with dogs, and went to a children’s aquarium.  Jamisen is **obsessed** with dogs. He loves them! He giggles every time they bark. The family that owned dog ‘Blueberry’ thought Jamisen’s laughter was so adorable that they all pulled out their cameras to video tape his charming laugh. Awwww …

Jamisen needed that second nap today for sure. He was one tired little guy by the late afternoon. Daddy was super silly and entertained Jamisen during dinner (video)