Kendra's Favorite Things!

OMG! It's almost as exciting as Oprah's list, save for the free Volkswagons and cruises and giveaways of any kind. And the commercial fanfare and approval from Stedman Graham. But this list has still been thoughtfully compiled. Maybe someday it will have its own claymation special! With a soundtrack! With ill-advised duets with, like, Mariah Carey and Kenny Loggins to boot! 1.) Peppermint Hot Choco at Ula Cafe Yes those are candy cane bits on top of frothy creamy chocolatey yum tasty goodness. By jove, it's like they made it JUST FOR ME!

2.) Fancypants duct tape.  I bought this from Tarjay and I cover everything with it. Gifts. Signage. Preschoolers' hands that need to be made waterproof.

3.) Darling prints from my mate Helen's Etsy Shop o' Prints that she done photographed herself.  I think she is so talented!

4.) The Gingerbread Pops kit. We testdrove the house kit a few years ago with my in-laws and it was wicked fun, but the pops are the perfect activity if you are hosting a party of a motley crew.

5.) Chillin' in my holiday menagerie

6.) Little Man's Cheeks Each sold separately

7.) The Throwback Little Tykes Dollhouse I have had such fun tracing various pieces of it through e-bay.

8. A tour of the Louisa May Alcott House in Concord, MA All decked out for Christmas!

9. Don't tell my Mary Kay posse but I really like this lip tint from Fresh.  It's long-lasting and has some lemon oil in it that is really yummy.

10.) The Flour Cookbook.  Flour and I go way back.  Both of my children gestated on Flour bakery goods.  I bought this for my stepmother for Christmas.  I hope she likes it, but more importantly, I hope she makes me the Chunky Lola cookies.  Which may or may not be found on page 97.  Please and thank you.

Interior Design

I heard it in Loverpants' voice. That warbling chuckle that he was trying to mask with stern rebuke. "Did you do this?"

"Yes," said Baby Girl, so earnestly.

"Oh, Madi, we don't color on doors. We only color on paper...What is it?"

"This is mommy and this is me!"

I walk back and there it is. Like a fresco diptych in a Renaissance cathedral: two figures, the two bobble heads with the accompanying stick figure bodies, each with its own panel on the white door. Perfectly drawn to scale. In blue crayon.

"That's a good circle, Madi," says Loverpants, unable to help himself.

"Ganks," she says.

"Don't tell her that!" I whisper, trying to conceal my beaming pride.

***

Mini Van/Mega Fun

I've had several friends purchase mini-vans over the few months and with every purchase came a decree. E-mails circulated with subject lines that rang of "The Swagger Wagon in our driveway? I don't know anything about it." I expect more of these e-mails in the years to come. It's just the chapter they're writing right now, wee little mouths and car seat totals expanding incrementally. My friends have come to grips with what this says about them, but I've only awakened to it all...

Because when you drive a mini-van, when you purchase or lease an honest to goodness space-pod on four wheels, you are reluctantly saying I SURRENDER. I surrender to the fact that what I transport is more important than my vanity. You might also be saying I can no longer masquerade as anything else. I can be a businessperson, a postal worker, a Jenny Craig model, a balloon animal artist, a diamond miner, or a carney. But first and foremost, I drive a mini-van. Orange slices and juiceboxes and whole weekends on the soccer sidelines? Yo. That's MY m.o.

I'm not there yet. But I am comfortable with a small orchard of raisins on the floor of my vehicle, because you can't fight every battle and a box of the Sun-Maid goodness is the perfect peace offering. And my li'l SUV is bigger than my kitchen at home, anyways, so it feels appropos.

***

Baby Girl drew this picture of me. Do you see the resemblance? Uncanny, really....