All good things

With the march behind me and January still raging like the wintery abyss that it is, I needed some city time and cheering up to get over the doldrums. The mood of the city is one of constant change and energy, even on its most uninviting days, so sometimes I need to escape into Manhattan and have a walk around to recharge my own batteries. With all our conversations about the state of the country lately, Nacho and I are more agreed than ever that living where you feel at peace is important and not to be traded for the comfort of a bigger, newer life somewhere else. Real estate searches online are a fun diversion, but the reality is we live here now. So we are trying to embrace that and soak up the social and cultural benefits as they come. Our rainy day tromp through Union Square ended at a place near and dear to our hearts, L'Express. It was one of those French bistro-style eateries we used to frequent a lot more back when I worked on 14th Street and made late night outings all over town. The wasn't anything extraordinary, but it was comforting and right now that counts for a lot. 

Elisa had a sick day on the only day I had a photo shoot scheduled in the month of January (GO FIGURE) and Kyle visited Brooklyn for a concert at National Sawdust so we made an afternoon of it and joined him for dinner afterwards. It's always good to see him and relive our STL glory days in the summer of 2000. A busy few weeks and still the protests continued--this time at the Museum of the Moving Image where Shia LaBoef's livefeed video exhibit "He Will Not Divide Us" was the backdrop for a rally to oppose the refugee ban and border wall. Seeing so many of my neighbors and their families out in support was a good reminder that I'm not alone in all of this. We're also deep into the middle of the school year when projects are coming to fruition and we were invited twice in one week to attend parties in each girl's classroom. Carolina's class completed their family books and they held a family celebration party with lots of food and activities. It was fun to see all the different cultures represented and to have our own family story put in print. A few years back, I remember attending this same event in Elisa's first grade class and it really struck me what a little family we've made.  This year, in Elisa's class we were treated to a cute video done in a news broadcast-style covering all the Greek myths and their scientific explanations. The kids were all so well behaved and eloquent reading out their introductions. I was impressed and glad to share that moment with Nacho since I think it's important that we both see just how much progress she's making. It's been a long road to get here but she's really trying hard and her smile at the end of this was such a joy. Of course we can't forget that it was also Carolina's HALF birthday on 2/2 which started off with her springing out of bed and into our room announcing it. She actually thought she was getting presents for a moment until I reminded her that half birthdays are not a thing. I mean, I'm happy to bake something for her (when would I deny that?) but no, there is no bike waiting, poor girl. So we lit up our makeshift candles on a brownie cake, sang a half birthday song, and I think the evening was complete. Even if they didn't even eat any brownie. The little snots. They wanted ice cream instead. All good.