For the first shirt I pulled from my recent naturally dyed Easter eggs, and did an ombré effect with turmeric. Here are the directions I used from ScoutieGirl – totally easy and fun.

For shirts 2 and 3 I pulled out some fabric paint and taped off some fun patterns. I did a geometric triangle pattern in green and an ombré striped pattern in peach. I love the stripes!  Here is my inspiration for the triangles and stripes.

Shirt 4 also used fabric paint, but I did a stamp this time. I carved an apple into a u shape and did a scallop pattern covering the front of the shirt. This one looks cute under a linen blazer.  I got the inspiration from Kate Gabrielle, one of my sister’s favorite crafters.

Next up I want to try this Peter Pan collar tutorial, and maybe another natural dye edition (strawberries?).  Any suggestions?

• Fave food: cereal
• Fave animal: birdy
• Fave article of clothing: dresses, or mama’s tanktops worn as dresses. This month Tilly started dressing herself!
• Fave activities: coloring, running back and forth in the hall, climbing things (like climbing into her high chair),
• Weight: 25 lbs, shoe size is 5
• Recent words of note: she’s making us laugh with her phrases lately. For example, she tooted the other day and then said “gotcha!” Other fave phrases include “ready set go”,  ”I’m Tilly”, “wake up Mama”, “Chill out Tank!”
• Schedule: Same, bedtime is 8:30 and she wakes up either at 5:30 or 7.

Tilly is so girly lately!  She prefers to wear pink and loves jewelry and makeup.  It perplexes me, but I just go along with it. :)  Here are some photos from the past month:

I got an umbrella stroller a few months back to make riding the bus easier.  It’s okay but I think I should have splurged a little more because this thing is pretty rickety and way too short for me.  But to be honest, it’s Tilly’s favorite mode of transportation!  She asks me to push her around in it up and down the hall of our apartment, go figure.

I was originally looking for an umbrella stroller that had a carrying strap attached to it, but the only one I found was over $100.  Then it dawned on me – how about my yoga mat strap?  I can easily Velcro it around the stroller when it’s folded and up and sling it over my shoulder.  Ta-da!  This is awesome for jumping on and off the bus, going up and down stairs, etc.

I also got some bike handle bar extenders and attached them to the stroller so that I wouldn’t kill my back by  bending over… they did the trick but if I had more room I would have gone with the Maclaren Volo stroller! All my problems would be solved.

It was 2003, I was a sophomore in college and really wanted to go to Coachella (it’s second year of existence) but none of my friends were able to go. My good friend’s neighbor Irv said he was going and I asked if I could tag along for the weekend. That meant camping with a bunch of grimy dudes I didn’t know, but to 19 year old me that apparently sounded like fun!

So I jumped in this guy’s Mercury Mountaineer and away we went. That evening as we set up our tent in super windy pitch darkness, I saw Josh’s smile light up the campground from a few yards away. Ding ding ding!

I’m so glad I took a chance and went on that trip. It was the first of 5 consecutive Coachellas for us and I still remember it like it was yesterday. Bands we saw include Hot Hot Heat, Badly Drawn Boy, Ben Folds, Ben Harper, Iggy Pop, Red Hot Chili Peppers, the White Stripes, Polyphonic Spree, Beastie Boys, the Rapture, the Libertines, Mars Volta, Eisley, Ben Kweller and more.

Josh and I also happened to have a class together that semester (Environmental Ethics, awww) so I made sure we partnered up on our final project and the rest was history. My mom-in-law says that she’s so glad she spent a small fortune on Josh’s braces since its what caught my eye!

We daydreamed about going to Coachella this year but just couldn’t swing it. Our friend’s band played this evening and it would have been amazing to see them there but c’est la vie. Whether we ever make it back to Indio or not – that place changed my life and holds some of my most cherished memories.

Since our relationship is older than Facebook and iPhones, I don’t think I have any pics from that weekend. But here are some old ones anyway:

So many times I’ve skipped the iced tea, oj, mineral water, or 12 pack of toilet paper because I just couldn’t carry it along with everything else. (Oftentimes I have Tilly strapped on too, and have 2 flights of stairs to climb.)

I’ve been placing a Trader Joe’s order about once every 2 weeks and it’s just awesome. I get salads to keep on hand for lunch, all kinds of drinks, paper goods, the whole shebang.

I can’t bring myself to order from whole foods since its one block away but I think its awesome that I could if I needed to. Well wait, there is one bummer. They don’t bring flowers or booze. But I get those at WF anyway so it’s all good.

So – if you live in SF, try it out! Here’s the link: www.instacart.com.

How was your Easter? We made the most of the weekend – Saturday we had friends over for brunch (I made these super easy egg boats) and then we went to the SF Spring Eggstravaganza!  Right across the street in Golden Gate Park, it’s a decent sized carnival with rides, food trucks, etc. We went to the toddler egg hunt, rode the choo choo train, said hi to the Easter bunny from afar, made an Easter basket, and fed the bunnies and goats in the petting zoo. Tilly loved it all besides the train on which she cried on the whole time. Every time we looped around to the crowd of people and saw papa come and go she would start wailing again. But afterward she was smiling, so go figure.

Sunday I got up early for mass, and then we did a little egg hunt in our living room. I never thought indoor egg hunts would be as much fun as the outdoor ones I had as a kid, but it was perfect. After that we went to brunch with some friends at Andalu and then went to a Game of Thrones premier party. Tilly and I actually left before the show started but that’s fine by me – I’m not really a fan anyway. ;)

My naturally dyed eggs morphed as they dried and made me so happy all week. I’m definitely doing this again next year. (I used spinach, matcha green tea, turmeric, and blueberries.)

ps – now that Lent has ended, I can use exclamation points again!  I know it seems trivial to give up punctuation for Lent but this was really a challenge for me and definitely made me pause and think on a daily basis. 

Here’s our monthly update, better late than never. :)

•  Fave food: spaghetti, hummus, grapes
• Fave animal: doggy
• Fave article of clothing: socks worn as gloves
• Fave activities: coloring, brushing her teeth, climbing things (she is currently trying to climb the back of our couch so she can ride it like a horse…brb)
• Weight: 23lbs
• Recent words of note: adding names onto the end of phrases ie Thank you mama, and asking if josh is going to play soccer any time he leaves our apartment.
• Schedule: day light savings really did a number on us. Tilly goes to bed so late now… 8:30 or 9 and still gets up at 6. We’re working on that.

 Tilly had her first “sick day” last week. Her day care called and said I should come pick her up. SAD. But she didn’t really seem too bad and didn’t have a fever. Not sure what it was but I think she was just off her schedule after traveling.

 Last weekend we went to a volunteer work weekend with my work at a Boy Scout camp in LA. My mom-in-law came to help out with Tilly and my aunt, uncle, cousin, brother, sister and her fam also came. I love seeing Tilly bond with our family – a highlight was Tilly saying “uncle al” over and over again. My sister and I climbed a tree together for the first time and Tilly called us monkeys.

Here’s a glimpse into the four rooms that make up our dwelling place.

In case I haven’t seen you already today… Happy California Arbor Day.  :)  You would not believe how much of my life revolves around Arbor Day lately.  We’ve just kicked off our big California Arbor Week Tour with the TreeCircus and we have 10 straight days of educational shows and tree climbing at sites throughout California.  It took some magic to pull this one out of the hat, but someone up there must be pulling some strings for us.  (Either my grandpa or Luther Burbank, most likely both.)

Today I celebrated in Palo Alto at a “spa day” for El Palo Alto, for which the city is named.  It’s over 1000 years old and got some extra loving care from volunteers today including a full intensive “check-up” to make sure it’s healthy and strong.

This weekend I’ll be at two Arbor Week events in Oakland… at a Friends of Wood Park tree planting on Saturday and at a TreeCircus show/tree climbing event at Fairyland on Sunday.  Then the tour heads south and I get to take a break… :)

So anyway… if you think all this tree love is a bunch of bologna, I suggest you visit InvestFromTheGroundUp.org and read about how rad trees actually are.  Not only do they clean the air (duh), they raise property values, lower electric bills, filter rainwater, provide homes for animals, reduce stress levels, encourage people to spend more time in downtown shopping districts, and yes… create jobs.  Trees… I am forever indebted to you.  Thanks a mill.

(PS – I am sticking to my oath of giving up exclamation points for Lent and it was especially hard during this post.  Just had to get that out there.)