You better shop around

Since Jason had the weekend off I felt much more comfortable exploring the city with him.
Saturday we hitched a ride over to the La Baneasa Shopping Center where all of my dreams came true.
Seriously this mall was massive and the stores were incredible.  We only made it through the first half before calling it quits.  But I'll be back, and I'm going to need a couple extra suitcases after :)

All the stores where comparable to Zara, the quality of everything seems much nicer then our crappy Forever 21 and H and M, but at a reasonable price.  There's one store in peticular called Bershka

 that had an awesome selection of super cute and affordable real leather jackets.  A wall full of flat thigh high boots that I've never even seen before and must purchase immediately, did somebody say birthday shopping?  Sorry Jason but if I have to spend my birthday here alone, I'm going to have purchase myself this little beauty, only 430 lei which converts to about 150 dollars which isn't too bad for a leather jacket.  Oh and maybe I'll need these shoes too, you know to match?  Check out the rest of their stuff, the possibilties are endless
http://www.bershka.com/coleccion.php



My other new discovery was Zara Home store, not that I can lug any housewares back overseas, but I can dream about it as I walk through their beautiful bed displays.  My style everything right down to their picture frames.  They even had a children's bedroom line with cute hot pink duvets and vintage looking pillow cases.  Jason gave me the eye when I put a beautiful knit hot pink and white blanket in my cart for Harlow.  "Really Michelle?  We're not taking that on the plane!"

Damn...





Also I discover Carrefour which I'm assuming is Europe's version of Target.  This place was crazzzy big with a full sized grocery store too.  I found one about a 20 minute walk from our place. So now I know where I can buy diapers and pretty much anything else I'll need.


  The mall 20 minutes from our apartment is called Unirea and it's really bizarre inside, almost like a giant department store but if you take a closer look they are little shops within 4 floors.  I'll probably end up spending more time here since it's within walking distance.  All this walking I can see why people eat so many carbs here, you can shed it in a matter of minutes just walking.  Everybody walks and I've seen a lot of people fall :( yesterday one woman fell so hard I heard it from across the street. So many people and the streets are old and in poor condition it's bound to happen.

But on a happier note  we found an amazing park right down the street!  It's beautiful and reminds me of Central Park with all the trees and row boats in the lake.  I took a couple pictures on the iphone located in my mobile me galley.
http://gallery.me.com/michellehamer#gallery

For now things are pretty good over here, I've got everything I need.  Now if we could just get used to the time change everything would be perfect.

Till next time, thanks for reading.

La revedere!! (goodbye

Bucharest Romania, let's try this again

My first year as a mother was much more consuming then I had thought it would be.  Instead of a creative relief, blogging always felt like another nagging item on my list of things to do that seemed to never get crossed off. 

So here I am sitting in my tiny apartment in Romania with a 19 month old daughter, looking for a proper way to pass time.  Jason is working on Ghost Rider 2 and we're along for the ride.  I think it's important in the film industry to keep the family together as much as possible.  Harlow needs to at least see her father's face before she falls asleep at night.  Besides I don't think I could be away from my husband's jokes for four months, no one makes me laugh like him. 

Above are a couple pictures of the city, I didn't take them because I didn't want to be that guy with my camera.  Pretty sure no one here is a tourist, everyone seems to know what they are doing and where they are going but me.  The first picture above is what we saw when we drove into Bucharest it's called the Arch of Triumph the driver explained it's history but I wasn't paying attention because Harlow was cracking me in the back of the head with a book, but apparently it's supposed to be similar to the Arch in France.

This is my first time in Europe, and things really are so different here.  The city is old, I'm talking really old where everything looks like it's falling apart.  So immediately I thought uh oh this place is rough and scary. At home when a city is falling apart it usually means you're in the ghetto. But after a day out and about I realized that's not the case at all.    

Bucharest, Romania is around 551 years old with some serious wrinkles from wars and earthquakes to prove it.  Most of Europe refers to Bucharest as "Little Paris of the East"  (Rachel you would love it here.)  I find myself constantly thinking of France when I hear people speak the language which is mostly latin based so spanish/Italian and tons French words.  But really I think of France because all people eat here is bread and cheese.  And no one I mean NO ONE is overweight, seriously everyone is super skinny and I've been on the look out, especially after grocery shopping yesterday, talk about slim pickings.  Nothing was healthy, bread, cheese, tomatoes and weird canned or dehydrated stuff.  Wow do I sound like an uncultured American or what??

Yesterday I tried to find a mall with Harlow strapped to my back, of course the first thing I go searching for is a place to shop because let's be honest buying things makes me feel good and consuming fills the void, what?   So after trying to translate directions on google, yeah I still can't figure out how to change the language on there, I'm sure its very easy but it's not working out for me.  Anyway I figured it couldn't be that hard to find, (this coming from someone who uses her iphone to find the post office right down the street in Burbank) cut to 5 hours later the mall that was supposedly 10 minutes from our apartment was still no where to be found.  This place is HUGE and everything looks the same and none of the streets make sense, there are backs alleys that lead to no where and cars parked all along the sidewalks and people everywhere.  Cute little Romanians, women in their hip trench coats and high heeled boots and hot euro men in their slick little leather jackets smoking it up on every street corner.

My feet are killing me, I haven't adjusted to the time yet, but I think I'm going to like this place.

Four more months to go...


PS  I'm going to have to type these posts fast with my crazy toddler, she demands my attention 24/7 so if you're sensitive to spelling and grammar mistakes I apologize ahead of time.

Moving

If all goes well, we'll be moving into our new home next weekend. Today we spent a good part of the day at Home Depot just educating ourselves on materials and their costs. It all really adds up, especially if you have good taste. But I cant wait to start picking out tiles and cabinets and colors, its all so creative.

In other news Harlow learned to clap on Saturday and it melted our hearts. Seriously everything she does just kills me, she's my most favorite part of my life.

Missing

Looks like I fell off the face of the planet for a month.  I honestly couldn't find a free moment.   I really used to love blogging on a daily basis.  But lately I just couldn't push myself to open up.  Harlow has been teething, we're buying our first home and life has been chaotic.  The worst part is everyday I felt guilty for not posting, like I was letting Harlow down.  Life has been flying by, everyday she grows and changes.  I feel like everyday I forget to post I'm missing a chance to document her.

It's hard to watch your child grow because it forces you to come to terms with your own mortality.  Ya I know we've all heard it a million times before, life is short, but damn it really really short.  My baby is leaving and soon a toddler will take her place.  I thought I would welcome each change excited for the new but I find myself trying to hold onto everything even her clothes.  I remember when we were leaving the hospital with her and I just started crying because she was already 5 days old, 5 days gone and never coming back.  Ridiculous right?  Maybe it hormones.


So, I have some catch up posting to, Halloween, my birthday and thanksgiving.  I'll do that with pictures, also once we have all the details on the house, I'll post pictures.  Did I mention it has a swimming pool? So exciting!!!

Harlow Raine 8 months old

Halloween Felt Monsters

How cute are these little guys?

Would that be super goober to make them as pillows and put them on my couch for Halloween?

Ya, probably.

Homemade baby food

Today I spent most of the day in the kitchen boiling fruits and veggies and then grinding them up to a lovely puree for little Miss Harlow.  The recipe below turned out awesome!  After baking a giant summer squash in the oven for over an hour and then grinding it up with boiled apples and brown rice Harlow was over the moon.

Squash Baby Food Recipes - 

Rice with Apple and Butternut Squash Purée (4)6 months+

1 squash - acorn, butternut or other winter squash
1 or 2 cups cooked brown rice
1/2 cup applesauce

Cut acorn or butternut squash in half, scoop out seeds
Place halves face down in a pan and cover with an inch of water
Bake in a 400 degree oven for 40 minutes or until the “shell/skin” puckers and halves feel soft then scoop squash “meat” out of the shell
Place squash "meat" into your choice of appliance for pureeing
Add cooked rice and applesauce and blend
Add water as necessary to achieve a smooth, thin consistency

Check out this recipe and so many others at http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com

this site has tons of useful information if you're new to the solid food stage.

As much as I think those little glass baby food jars are precious it really is a lot of fun making your own baby food.

I'm a sewing machine

Finally my new best friend came in the mail today.  The beautiful Brothers CS-6000i computerized sewing machine.  Dude it even has an automatic threader!  It's kinda like I'm not even sewing, just hanging out making a dress, what?


There are 60, that's right 60 built in stitches for your enjoyment.  This thing comes with a hard protection case and an oversized table for large projects.  I purchased it on amazon for $169!  I swear this machine makes my Singer feel like a dinosaur (sorry mom:)


So I started making Harlow a couple summer outfits, but by the time I actually finish them I'm pretty sure summer will be over.  It's not like you can really get anything done with a 6 month old baby, but I'll try.


JoAnns Fabric has really stepped it up lately in their selections.  I picked up a Rachel Shelburne retro  fabric here  on sale and one with little birds and trees too. Also I bought two simple McCall's patterns dress and hat and a Laura Ashley 


I'll post photos when I make more progress.


I'm off to the library to return my Self Sufficiency books and check more out about how to build a chicken coop.  Mmm fresh eggs coming soon.