Sunday Snapshot: Easter in the Park

We spent our second Easter in the city at our friends annual brunch and egg hunt in the city. While dads hid eggs in a local park, moms walked a crew of about 20 excited kids across streets and city blocks to the little corner of the park where eggs hid awaiting their discovery by little hands.
While I stood there watching my daughter run about with her friends and tiptoe through the flowers, I thought about how nice it was to have a bit of the familiar. For the last two years, we have lived in the same city and country. And that has been ... well...refreshing and comfortable.

For my daughter, I am just filled with that joy a mom feels when her daughter has a really good friend who makes her laugh, treats her with kindness and who just loves her for being her. That is her little friend, Isabella. How grateful I am for that.
So, I captured a few pictures while my mind was wandering nostalgically over the last two years here in the city. It has been a really really great experience. And right now, I am not sure where we will be next Easter. And because of that, we really soaked in each moment. We have been doing that a lot lately. Not wanting to waste any moments, any memories or miss out on any great places here in the city, we are making the most of every moment.

Transition certainly isn't easy, but there is always the richness you can gain when you don't take your time for granted. So, whether egg hunting in a little city park in Harlem or visiting Starry Starry Night at the MOMA or just sitting in my Brooklyn apartment listening to the spring rain saturate our street, I am going to soak in each moment ... so much better than wasting away time waiting for the future...

Besides, this present is pretty incredible...no matter where it is...in the city, the country, the island life or the Queen's country...

By the Sea

It has been a long time since we have been away from the city. So, to get away from the city, we went to Seattle. I know. It is city. No offense, Seattle. It is a beautiful place. My daughter has defined city as the busy, hurried, loud streets of NYC. We drove from the airport to her cousin's house in Seattle and Graciebug took a deep sigh as she looked out the window at the shore of the sound dappled with houses and said, "I love the country!" We laughed, but we knew what she meant.


It has been a long winter in the city and everyone, even seasoned New Yorkers, need to find their way away from the streets and concrete to breathe in the fresh air. And us, we aren't life longers in the city we love. At heart, my daughter wants to explore the outdoors and return to the days of living by the sea. She misses the island life.

But it is more than that. It has been a busy, stressful time and Gracie feels things intensely. A little refocus, a little family and lots of fresh air was just what she needed...what we all needed.
Being able to take a few moments to let go of all the things you need to do, all the places you need to be, and all the roles you need to play to just be right where you should be, just the way you truly want (and need) to be is pretty refreshing...rejuvenating.
So we did that. We were still and we were busy being not so busy. We played in the rain...like we used to when we were living in the islands, a place that knows what it means to be. We splashed in the ocean. We played. We spent time with family. We just lived in the moment.
And in time, her worried, heavy heart was replaced with a big smile and a laugh so full and wonderful, it made my heart fill with joy.

Just to be...




This is the face of a very content and happy little girl. I learned a lesson during our week in Seattle (the countryside). I need to make sure we take BACK more of that time that we spend in the busy world and get back to the life we learned how to live in the islands and spend a bit more time splashing in the sea.

A Different Perspective

This last week, my husband turned 40. 40. When did we get here? How did this happen...already? It was just the other day that we were barely in our 30's and meeting our daughter for the first time. Back then, we were proud to be able to say we were in our 30's, debt free, starting a family, owning a home, loving our stable and predictable careers in teaching. Now, my husband is 40, we are still a family of one adorable and wonderful little girl, without those stable careers and home and knee deep in school loans. Here he is, 40, and we are nowhere near predictable...and as fluid as a wandering river. Forty is no longer young adult, but mid life. Mid-life? We aren't where a mid-life family is supposed to be. A house. Two car garage. Careers. Regular game night with other mid-life families. Long standing memberships at the local whatever it might be. We haven't been a part of any community for more than a year and half for anytime over the last 5 years. We are starting our 40's. We are too old for this....We are suppose to be "over the hill" but we haven't even reached the summit.

Well, that is one perspective. A pretty grim one, really. Here's another: my husband turned 40 last week. Five years ago, at 35, he stepped out - we stepped out - and made a big life altering decision. He decided to go to medical school. 15 years in to a career he enjoyed, he made a decision to seek a career he was passionate about. It was a big step. Some said we were brave. Most said we were crazy. We have gone back and forth on that one for 5 years. We sold most of what owned, packed up our suitcases and headed for the islands like a couple of carefree newlyweds. For the last 5 years, we have moved from the islands to Europe to the islands to the mountains to the big city, always living out of what we could carry with us. Debt? Sure. We've got it now. I choose to look at as an investment in living. Living the adventure and investing in the future. At 35, my husband was comfortable, enjoying his career, happy with his two-car garage, two-dog, 2.5 bath, vegetable garden life. Today, he is 40 and he is anything but comfortable. The unknown stares us in the face, but not with anxiety, but with anticipation of what it might hold. At 40, Matt will graduate from med school and begin a career he passionate about. At 40, Matt along with his 7-year-old daughter and his wife, will bring home his second daughter. At 40, he will celebrate 15 years of a really wonderful and adventurous marriage. At 40, he will really just be embarking on the adventure and the summit is still ahead. "Too old for this" is just one perspective. On his birthday, we stood at the "Top of the Rock" in NYC and looked out over an incredible sunset of the city we never thought we would call home. It was the end of a pretty wonderful day, but when you look out over a view like this of the city, there is a sense of wonder and promise. Promise of a day even better than the last. A day even more adventurous, more unexpected than the last.

One of my favorite author's words came to me while we watched the sun set on his birthday. Thoreau, a man who left everything to live in the middle of the woods and see if he could "live life" once said,

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams,
and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined,
he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

Today, I am proud of my 40-year-old husband. He set out on adventure and took us along with him. And what have we to show for it? A life more unexpected, more uncommon than imagined. Happy birthday, Matt. I am enjoying the adventure with you!

Sunday Snapshot: Lunar Day Parade in Chinatown

For the past several days leading up to the parade, Gracie would fly out of bed with the countdown until the big day of the parade. She was especially excited because we were going to join other FCC families and have the privilege of marching in the NYC Lunar Day Parade.

It was a beautiful day in Chinatown. With all the ugly muddy mucky snow slowly melting and the grey sky gone, the sun shone brightly on our corner of Manhattan.


We gathered with other families all proudly carrying the banners of the provinces of our children. We were a little sea of flags, banners, and eager children.

Then finally, the parade began to move slowly through the streets of Chinatown. Gracie waved back at the spectators waving and full of smiles called out, "Gong Xi Fa Cai!"

She may have collected a few of the red envelopes along the way. We put chocolate coins in her envelopes for her friends this year. So, it was a big treat to open her envelopes to find beautiful crisp dollars from those we passed in the parade.
A few shoulder rides were necessary after the long march.




Although I am sure that being in the parade was definitely a highlight, seeing her connect with those around her and take such pride in her own history made for a pretty incredible day.









Her dearest little friend and her friend came to the parade and cheered her on.




In the end, she made new friends...

and celebrated not only the holiday, but who she is and who we are as a family and a community.



And after closing our Lunar Day celebration with dumplings, we counted our blessings and looked forward to a new year full of many more and with the hope of sharing this new year with MeiMei.


This is a Sunday Snapshot. Head on over to Stephanie's to see more stories and pictures.

A Stroll on a Snowy Day

Today was beautiful! We awoke to more snow falling in giant fluffy flakes. The church across our street already had a beautiful blanket of white trimming its steeples, archways, and gates. We had to get out and play.

So, we finished our day early and headed out for an afternoon in our neighborhood. While most New Yorkers are not fond of the snow that slows down our city and leads to less parking spaces and more cleanup, Gracie and I love it.

When it snows, it covers, if only for a short time, the mucky yuck of the old snow or mud and leaves something almost magical. The city is quieter when muffled by the soft blankets of snow and I love it. So out we went today.

As I am writing this, more snow and sleet are coming and the fluffy bits of snow are now turning to icy stinging snow, but now I am warm watching it all fall from the warmth on my side of the window.

Sunday Snapshot: A Snow Day with Her Little Friend

A good friend is pretty wonderful.

No matter our age, those special people with whom we laugh until it hurts . . .

play ponies and dolls, finish each other's sentences, eat snow pizza together

speak through looks, sing the NiHao Kailan Theme Song, help grow,

and well, just be around, make life richer and more all around pretty great.

Gracie and Isabella are those kind of friends. Being on the move every two years hasn't been always easy.

When Gracie and Isabella met each other it was like peanut butter found its jelly or like my daughter says, like the peas found their carrots (No, she hasn't seen Forrest Gump...but she does love her peas and carrots).

When your daughter finds that friend that just fills her life with joy, well, it makes your heart pretty grateful.








I love their friendship. It is sweet. There is just this innocent enjoyment and love for one another that melts my heart. We were away from the city for a weekend and they had their very first "sleepover" together, camping at a lodge in the mountains. What fun they had with one another and their little friend, Levi! On the morning we left, they had one last adventure in the pure mountain snow.


This post is linked to Stephanie's wonderful Sunday Snapshots for at Ni Hao Ya'll.

VELVET SHOES

Let us walk in the white snow
In a soundless space;
With footsteps quiet and slow
At a tranquil pace,
Under veils of white lace.

I shall go shod in silk
And you in wool,
White as white cow's milk
More beautiful than the breast of a gull.

We shall walk through the still town
In a windless peace;
We shall step upon white down,
Upon silver fleece,
Upon softer than these.

We shall walk in velvet shoes:
Wherever we go
Silence will fall like dews
On white silence below.
We shall walk in the snow.

~Elinor Wylie