weekend pics

this was not a productive weekend but a relaxing one for sure. to wit, watching a circus show, eating ice cream, time with friends, mother's day brunch, reading a stack of magazines, playing in our green space. 

suffice it to say, it was busy relaxation!

the teen performers at circuswest (the circus school kai attends throughout the year) put on a brilliant show. blue sky circus: a stellar circus spectacle had the kids soaring thorough space helping to save earth from impending alien doom.  it featured aerial artistry, juggling, acrobatics, and much more.  kai invited a friend along and after the show we enjoyed some pizza and ice cream. 

 

we spent time with one of our favourite families, the phillips, eating take out thai and enjoying homemade sorbet and biscotti.  the desserts were prepared by aadishri, the 16 year old daughter whose awesomeness i have posted about before.  we were spoiled folks - everyone should have friends like the phillips.  just one thing, make sure they don't live in the forest where bears apparently wander the streets! not kidding.  true story.  seriously.

a mother's day gift for snehal - gorgeous photos of tulips - from her children

 

mother's day brunch at yew was a feast.  let's just say the lovely dinner stefan had planned was postponed because we ate way too much at brunch.  okay, we pigged out. the a la carte menu was divine and then there was the buffet full of treats like salmon, scallops, cheeses, olives, breads, and the list goes on.  we obviously have no self control.  thankfully i had the foresight to sweat it out first thing that morning at a bikram's class and then went for a 5km run. (i went a little crazy on the exercise) no wonder i had an appetite?!

not surprisingly, the rest of sunday was spent lazily in our green space under the pine trees playing games, reading, and relaxing.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



               prezzies from my boys, my purple converse (!) and paper mache vase.

thank you kai, i love being your mama!

momma love

ali smith celebrates motherhood through pictures, capturing mothers in moments of motherhood, giving mothers a voice and bringing to light their reality.  i can't wait for her book, momma love: how the mother half live.  if you have some time, do visit her website and read about her momma love documentary.  i hope you find it as inspiring as i did.

about her book (due out mother's day 2013), ali writes:

Momma Love is not only about the love a mother shows. It’s about the love she is shown, by herself and the world around her... The details and rituals of motherhood largely go unnoticed and are taken for granted. They are talked about among mothers in private places—in toy-strewn living rooms, in kitchens, or over the phone while a child throws a tantrum on the floor nearby. To an outsider, motherhood seems like a profoundly important secret society, one that I started this project to understand more fully... Each woman I photographed for this project has the truth of her experience to offer. In creating this book I have attempted to bring a community to light, creating a patchwork-quilt of advice, empathy, reflection, commiseration, opinion, anger, assurance, and love. In order to nurture healthier mothers and a healthier society, honest conversations about the realities of motherhood and how mothers are treated are necessary.

i love the realness of these photographs, ali captures motherhood perfectly.  visit momfilter (where i copied these photos from), a little blurb about their life as a mother accompanies each picture.  enjoy.  and a happy mother's day to you!

 

 

 

 

and, while we patiently wait for the book to become available, watch the video trailer for momma love.



 have a lovely weekend!

butter on the endive

butter on the endive hosted a trio of dinners recently and we were lucky enough to attend the first dinner, i wanna live with a cinnamon girl (each dinner was named after a song).  this amazing dinner, led by owen from butter on the endive and adam from beta 5 chocolates consisted of 5 plates of goodness.  the setting, a private residence above le marche st. george, itself was as beautiful as the food. simply pretty.

the chefs treated us to an albacore tuna salad, rhubarb risotto topped with white chocolate (i know, rhubarb and white chocolate in a risotto!? it worked wonderfully), and duck breast with fava beans.  stefan picked up a gorgeous gewurtztraminer wine to accompany the dinner.  we finished the evening with two yummy desserts, a tallegio sponge cake with plum and a chocolate ganache tart with olive oil.  all of it perfect. 

i am so glad we got tickets, their other chef in residence dinners were sold out.  a huge thank you to the folks behind butter on the endive for coming up with the brilliant idea of a pop-up restaurant.  it was a lovely evening of good food and good people. 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

michelle, taking photos for scout magazine, has great pics of the residence and food.  visit here to view them (you may see one or two of me).

raining cherry blossoms

the last of the cherry blossoms fell. i love it when rains flowers instead of water.

view images of raining cherry blossoms here, here, here, here and here.  one of my travel fantasies is to visit japan during cherry blossom season.  i think it would be pretty amazing, don't you?