Featured Today @ Caldwell Co

Hey, I know I've been away. Sorry. Getting all moved in and unpacked and relaxing has taken it out of me. Haha.

Anyways, if you are looking for something extra to read today. I'm featured over at Caldwell Co by my beautiful friend Stephanie. Just a little something something for your day. Talk to you soon my lovelies!

Where In The World Is Naomi Martin?

China Town
Monterey Bay Aquarium Jellies

Monterey Bay Aquarium

John & Hazel. My favorite people in the world.

My favorite graffiti in SF

Hazel's Valentine Gift from Mama

Hazel turned Two! We did these instead of cake.

She's balloon crazy. Daddy did good!

Hazel on her birthday. She woke up sick and we ended up in the er with a very high temp for many hours of the night. We've spent the last two weeks trying to make up for that. Poor girl.

So where in the world have I been? Good question! I feel like the last few weeks have been crazy for our family and I haven't had much time to visit this space like I would have liked. I'm here now though, even if it's just for a quick hello.

See two weeks ago, today actually, my husband gave his two weeks notice at his job here in California. Today is his last official day. If you've been around here for a bit you know we moved to CA about a year ago for this job of his and the adjustment has been really hard on our entire family. After much deliberation we decided the best thing for our family was to move back "home" and be a part of the lives of the people we love the most again. We don't regret this move to CA in the least. We all learned so much about ourselves and each other while being here. It was an amazing opportunity for us and one that has changed our lives forever.

Now the next season is about to begin and we couldn't be more excited about it. Here are the details in short. We are moving from San Fransisco CA to Texas. Near Dallas. Our plans are very loose at the moment. We have family there that we will move in with to begin with and then we'll get a house at some point. John doesn't have another job yet but we aren't worried about it. God will honor his commitment to our family and give him favor with the right people. It's sometimes hard to not feel overwhelmed by the lack of a solid plan for the future but thankfully John and I haven't been feeling those feelings at the same time yet. When one is weak, the other is strong and so on. That's what marriage is all about, isn't it?

Anyways, in four days our lives will change again. We are currently surrounded by boxes, packing tape, paper, bubble wrap. The house is a mess and the cat is getting nervous. Saying goodbye to this place and the people we came out here with will be hard but we all know it's for the best. We will miss you all more than we can say. If you are ever in Texas, stop by. You are ALWAYS welcome.

So next time you hear from me, I'll be in a new state, a new house, with new stuff to talk about. Thanks for stickin with me. I'll be back soon!

Until Then, nm

Naomi + Amy = Love

Amy Butler that is. I am so amazingly excited for the Charm Clutch pattern that is now out on Amy's website. I've been lusting (I know, such a strong word!) over this bag for ages. I've been looking all over trying to understand why I can see it on her site but there isn't a pattern for it anywhere. Well today (well at some point, I just checked again today) Amy made my dream come true. I can't wait to get this pattern and sew up a little something for myself. I'm already thinking about adding a longer strap to the bag as well because my life is such with a toddler that you sometimes need both hands. The hard part is now to select fabric. Lord I have trouble in that area. There are so many wonderful thins to choose from and I suffer from a little fashion ADD from time to time. I am all over the map on any given week. Picking something that will touch all of those styles might be a challenge. I'm up for it though. More updates on this soon.

The weekend is almost here again. I'm so glad. I should also have some exciting mini Naomi makeover news next week. With that, I'll leave you on the edge of your seat breathlessly awaiting whatever nonsense I have to share next week.

Peace, Love, Owls (I saw that some place the other day and it made me smile).

nm

Veronica Mars

Something is wrong with me. I'm always late to the party. I always get into shows WAY after they are popular. Take Veronica Mars for example. I've been glued for weeks watching old episodes on netflix. I try and pace myself. I usually fail. Since nothing else particularly exciting is going on in my life at the moment, I took my new show love to a entirely new creepy level. I spent the morning making a polyvore of Veronica Mars style. What is wrong with me? Seriously. I've turned into a teen girl here people! I never really did this stuff when I was a teen girl, so maybe I'm making up for it now. Anyways, here is my VM style polyvore. Click the pic for a bigger view. Remember, I'm crap at tech-y stuff. That is why I have my husband. He's awesome.

I'd gladly trade styles with VM. Most of the things here are her, a few are more me. Was anyone else into this show when it was on? I just read Kristen Bell wants to fund a VM movie herself but Warner Brothers won't release the rights. Figures. I haven't made it to the end yet. I'm in the middle of the last season. I hear the finale is a let down. I'm not really looking forward to it now. Sad. If you weren't or aren't into VM, what shows keep you up at night these days? You know, I've got to start making my list for three years from now what I'll be watching FAR behind everyone else. =)

Away We Go

So since my everyday hasn't been full of much exciting stuff lately, I decided to tell you about a movie we watched last night that we loved. It's called Away We Go with John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph. In short, they find out they are pregnant, the family the having living nearby decides to move to another country, so they realize they don't have to stay where they currently are. So the entire movie is them traveling around trying to find someplace that feels like home to put down roots. Along the way they visit family and friends trying to find a place they feel they fit and want to bring up their unborn baby. There are funny parts, silly parts, sad parts but mostly it's life as it really is on display. The two main characters, Burt and Verona, are people you can completely relate to. John and I both recognize fears we've had or had in the past in the characters. Would be a fun date night with your hubby movie. The music is also awesome. It's almost completely Alexi Murdoch, which OMG, he's great. Be warned, there is a little cussing. So if that kind of thing bothers you, be forwarned. We watched it after Hazel went to bed. It was a nice end to a long day. All that was missing was the ice cream but I was to lazy to go to the store to get some. Ha!

Season Confusion

Over the weekend we had a bit of season confusion here. The weather here was wonderful. In the 60's both day and sunny. We couldn't resist a trip to the beach. It was very odd to be walking on a beach on Jan 15th but we enjoyed ourselves all the same. Hazel loves to play in the sand and we had a much harder time getting her to get in the car to come home this time than before. Her current favorite statements are "No Way!" or "I'm Not Tired!". Guess we've reached that stage. Thankfully she's napping again. Sometimes it's only thirty minutes but that's thirty glorious minutes I get to myself in the middle of the day.

Sunday I cooked a full "Thanksgiving" feast for us. Last week sometime I got a bee in my bonnet about all that stuff and decided to cook a big dinner for us to eat on for a few days. Since our Thanksgiving this year was different than every other year of our lives, we didn't get to take many left overs and so I'm thinking we didn't get it all out of our system. I only got one fairly unattractive picture before the boys dug in though.

The last few days have been really foggy in the mornings. We've heard this is how it normally is but we've yet to see it this thick where we live. It's been really cool to wake up to this thick blanket of white. Not exactly snow but still something different outside our windows to see.

Why Oh Why?

Why oh why does Fossil always make me swoon over things I SO don't need? I have no reason in the world to have shoes like this anymore and i certainly don't need a new purse but OMG these things are cute!

later gator, nm

Snack Time

I live in a snack house. A house full of people who love to snack and would rather eat snacks than meals most of the time. I didn't used to be that way but I am now. I still love a good meal. I certainly love to cook a good meal but sometimes you just want a little something, not a big something. I try and keep this snacking habit of ours on the healthy side. We always have fresh veggies, fruit, yogurt, granola bars, etc around. I decided this weekend though to try my hand at making one of Hazel's favorite things. Graham Crackers. They turned out wonderful and I thought, if like us, you either have little ones to feed OR just love a good homemade (and easy) snack, you'd enjoy this. So here you go:

Easy Grahams

2.5 cups all purpose flour

1 cup dark brown sugar

3 tbsp wheat germ or flax

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter, cut up

1/4 cup honey

2 to 4 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

Heat oven to 350 f. In a large food processor fitted with the paddle attachment (or by hand) mix flour, brown sugar, wheat germ or flax, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Cover and process until well combined. Add butter (use tines of a fork if mixing by hand). Cover and process until fine crumbs form. Add honey, milk (start with the 2 tbsp and see how your dough looks. I needed more, so I added till I was happy with the consistency) and vanilla. Mix until mixture starts to hold together. Divide dough in half and flatten each into a disk.

Place one disk in the fridge to keep the dough ready for rolling. On a lightly floured surface roll out first disk of dough to desired thickness. Leave thicker for a softer "cracker" or thinner for more of a crispy texture. Once the dough is rolled you can either cut them out with cookie cutters or just cut them into rectangles with a pizza cutter. Arrange them at least 1" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. With tooth pick or skewer you can decorate them as you like.

Bake about 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool. I used cookie cutters and this recipe made 36 cookies.

Enjoy!

More soon, nm

1.1.11

Picture 1. He and Me "late" on New Years Eve. We almost never stay up for midnight on new years. I'm not sure why. This year was no different. My Gran texted me at 10 our time, 12 hers. I told her we were going to bed and she called us "weenies". I guess she's right but I'm ok with that.

2010 was year of change for us. Heck, so was 2009 but who's counting? Some changes we're getting used to, others we may never find ourselves liking. All in all though, they've made us better. They've helped us grow up, grow closer, grow stronger, grow more into who we are. So let's see what you got 2011. I think we're ready for you.

Picture 2. Me today, 9pm. I spent the first day of the year doing just want I vowed I'd do more of this year. Make our home what we want it to be. Even if it is an apartment. It's where we are now. So in the effort of putting one foot in front of the other, I baked, cooked, sewed, laughed and found myself proud at the end of the day. Not at the amount I accomplished but proud of myself for being me. Proud of making our home, mess and all, ours. So in 2011 (NO this is NOT a resolution!!!) I vow to make our space more of a home even though our hearts are so very far from where they belong.

More soon, nm

New Years Already?

Wow. New Years Eve really snuck up on me this year. It's funny, living away from home, friends and family, time seems to stand still for me. This year has gone by terribly fast in some ways and painfully slow in others. I can't say I'm sad to see 2010 stay or go. Or the new year to begin tomorrow. I'm trying not to set resolutions for myself or get caught up in sadness over what might have been. I'm just trying to put one foot in front of the other one till it is time for the previous one to lead again. So to all my family, friends or random folks who may have stumbled upon this blog, Happy New Year to you and yours. May hope guide your way home.

Blessings, nm

Christmas 2010

Well Christmas 2010 has come and gone. We spent it quietly at home, snacking on treats, watching movies, talking on the phone to loved ones and taking turns playing with Hazel and her new toys. Overall, a lovely day.

It was very strange to be away from the comforts of "home" this year and we all found it amazing how the weather very much contributes to the feeling for Christmas for us. I'm not sure we ever realized that before. Christmas just doesn't really feel like Christmas when it's 60 degrees outside. Not for me at least. We made it through it though and here we are, on the other side, happy.

Hazel made out like a bandit but there was never any doubt she would. Some many wonderful gifts for her came from our family all over the US. I receive some lovely things too. A wonderful cookbook from my Dad, some fancy chocolate and macaroons but my favorite was my new bird earrings from John. They haven't left my ears since right after I took that photo above. I doubt they will be any time soon either.

More gifts should be arriving today. Amazing. This year I didn't really get as much done as I wanted and I still have gifts to send out (isn't that terrible! If we are someone waiting for something from me, sorry. I ran out of time and steam this year). I'll be getting to those this week. Maybe since it's after the holiday the mail will actually work like it's suppose too.

Ok, I'm off to start my day,

More soon, nm

Hypothetical Christmas

Ok, I lied. One more post today. Hazel gave me an extra bit of time to do whatever I wanted this morning and so I chose my ever eternal most favorite way to waste time. Polyvore. Check it out if you haven't. It's amazing.

Anyways, Hypothetical Christmas (click the pic to see it bigger because I'm rubbish at figuring out anything to do with computer lay out) is what I'm calling my wish list this year. I don't actually think I'm going to get any of this stuff but it's all stuff that makes my little heart go all gooey inside. Most everything is from my favorite shops (Anthropologie, Fossil, Toast, Urban Outfitters). The most surprising thing I want this year is a record player. I have no idea where this little nugget of happiness has come from but I really want one. Maybe it's that I remember listening to records with my parents when I was younger. I loved looking through the covers and picking out something special for the family to rock out to. It's not a practical gift but it just might be at the top of my list this year.

What things are at the top of your list, hypothetical or not, this year? I'd love to know.

Ok, really this time. More soon, nm

Candy

Christmas Candy was made in mass quantity at our house yesterday. My lovely friend Heather came over and we rolled stuff in chocolate till we couldn't stand the sight of it anymore. We made five different kinds of yummy treats. Corn Flake Candy, Oreo Truffles, Peanut Butter Balls, Tootsie Roll Fudge and Martha Washington's. OMG. I think I'm addicted to candy making. This might replace the cookie making I like to do each year because I found this to be easier and more fun in the long run. We made a big mess, had all the candy made, put everything in tins and were cleaned up by six pm. I was very proud of us for our first candy making try. Everything turned out SO yummy too. I'd be happy to share recipes with anyone who wants them. Now if I can just keep myself and Hazel from eating all of it before the actual day of Christmas, we'll be set.

This week I have to finish up last minute gifts, grocery shop and clean the house. Oh and wrap presents. I keep saying I'm going to do it every night but then I put it off. I'm better under pressure anyways.

Alright. That's all from me today. I'm off to drink coffee and plot my course for today.

More soon, nm

Our Weekend

Another weekend, come and gone. We started it off with a trip over The Bay to Union City (about a 45 minute drive from us). We had been planning for two weeks to have a little "Midwest Reunion". We couldn't believe how excited we were for Wal-mart. Right inside the door it didn't fail to deliver that old familiar chaotic feeling but we somehow managed to wander the isles finding joy in the way we felt like we were home. Who would have ever thought I'd be saying that about Wal-mart. We also ate lunch at Fudruckers. It's a very yummy burger place that I remember eating at when I was young with my parents. I got John and Hazel hooked before we left KC and of course there isn't one around here. It was really lovely to be able to taste a piece of home as well.

From there I found Hazel's biggest Christmas present (which was such a wonderful relief to have that off my shoulders), followed by a tiny bit of thrifting. I scored with a sweater, another gift for a friend and some sake bowls I'm using for candles.

Sunday we spent with my dad and friend shopping around town looking for deals. I ended up scoring fourteen new books for Hazel. Everything from Mother Goose to Little House on the Prairie. I believe in being prepared for whatever kind of story Hazel wants to read.

Today I'm working on cleaning, grocery list making and Christmas present crafting. I hope I haven't been to ambitious this year in what I've decided to make vs buy. I always like to do a little of both. I think I can work it out if I can keep myself focused (I just giggled to myself. That's not a good sign).

More soon, n

Sick Day and Other Stuff

Hazel woke up with an upset stomach and so we've spent the day snuggled up watching her favorite movies and sipping "Nonee" as She calls it. Chocolate milk to you and me. I love her little made up names for things. I love that I speak her little sweet language.

The days around here have been fairly lazy of late. I do some cleaning here and there but mostly find myself sitting under the warmth of my laptop or playing fun games with The Bee. I try and recall at the end of H's usual naptime what I've done. Most of the time I've looked at pictures of stuff online. Crafts, recipes, home decorating stuff, endless flickr pages. Fun but not really getting stuff done. I've gotta get on top of that.

I'll leave you with a quote that I got from I have no idea where. It's something that runs through my mind at certain times in my life. Today it seems to be yelling at me:

"Don't just live the life you've been given, make the life you want."

until then, n

Thanksgiving

Being away from home, family and friends this year for Thanksgiving wasn't something I was looking forward to. I'm a person who is very grounded by the traditions of family and so being away from those for basically the first time in my life was hard. We had planned a large sit down meal with John's work family. Lots of other people in the same boat as we are this time of year. We all brought amazing food (more than I expected) and ate until we could barely move. It was lovely.

For my dish I made something very near to my heart. A definite family tradition. Every year of my life my Grandma Anne would make homemade noodles in broth to go along with our dinner. When she passed away I thought I'd never taste another noodle in my life but then I discovered my Aunt Bev made them too. Every year. So this year, being far from the comforts we are used to, I wanted to make noodles even if I was the only person who would eat them. I was nervous because pastry making isn't my strong suit but I bravely set out wed night to mix, roll and cut a giant batch. It felt so great to cut noodles by the light of the Christmas tree just like I remember doing with my own Grandma when I was little.

So now I've got to focus on Christmas and honestly I don't know where to start. I've got the tree up and the wreath on the front door. I've not purchased one gift or written one card. I wonder, dear readers, have you ever been away from wherever you call home for Christmas? How did you still manage to make it feel not gloomy? Or did you? I'd love some ideas.

Redecorating

So I decided to do a little redecorating of my space here. I plan to TRY and be more involved here in the coming months. I often get bogged down in the day to day "stuff" and feel I don't have anything of value to share or show but maybe, just maybe, I can change that mindset.

Some of the things you see here currently are temporary. That's what happens when you stay up way to late playing with details and lose all your photo light for the day. Oh well.

Hopefully more here soon. I've got holiday crafts, holiday foods and I'm sure something else will come up to share with you soon.

Until then,
n