Olive Us: Pétanque
We’re delighted to share another new Olive Us episode today! It’s called Pétanque (pronounced pay-tonk), and it shows the popular French game of the same name. Have you heard of Italian Bocce? It’s similar, but the balls are smaller and made of metal. The materials make for a really handsome game.
In France, every little country village has a pétanque field where the older men gather for a game at the end of the day — and you can find pétanque fields in the parks of Paris as well. This episode was filmed in the teeny, tiny village of Fleuré, very near La Cressonnière, the home we rented. We would pass this field several times every day. In fact, this video has me feeling nostalgic!
Have you ever played petanque? And if you live outside the U.S., is there a sport or game that’s particular to your country? I’d love to hear.
P.S. — Want more Olive Us episodes? You can find them all on the Olive Us website, or see my write-ups on each episode here.
In France, every little country village has a pétanque field where the older men gather for a game at the end of the day — and you can find pétanque fields in the parks of Paris as well. This episode was filmed in the teeny, tiny village of Fleuré, very near La Cressonnière, the home we rented. We would pass this field several times every day. In fact, this video has me feeling nostalgic!
Have you ever played petanque? And if you live outside the U.S., is there a sport or game that’s particular to your country? I’d love to hear.
P.S. — Want more Olive Us episodes? You can find them all on the Olive Us website, or see my write-ups on each episode here.
A Ticking Clock
By Gabrielle.
Have you been keeping an eye on the US Government’s state of affairs these past few weeks? The shutdown and near-default on our debt unless we raise the ceiling (Which just happened, by the way! Phrew!)… oh, it’s heady and dizzying and frustrating stuff, to me at least.
If you work for the government, were you told to stay home or were you deemed essential? And is it true you essential folks worked without pay?
One of the commenters in Karen Nyberg’s Space Station tour is currently furloughed from her job at NASA, along with 97% of the agency. (Hi Sarah!) It must be a ghost town! And it must be crazy hard for those in the Space Station to deal with their support staff so limited. I’ve heard awful stories about programs that have been halted, small businesses that rely on government workers patronizing their establishments suffering painful losses, and on a much less serious note, even the super cool Alcatraz Island that I had planned to show my friend, Caroline, has been closed. (Next time, Caroline!)
How have you been affected directly, whether you live in the US or elsewhere? Fingers crossed you’ve only been mildly annoyed at the ever-alarming newsreel!
P.S. — My youngest brother hosts half marathons at National Parks, and could lose a very hefty deposit if the deadline passes or any other delays pop up. It’s a new business and a loss like this could tank the whole thing. I’m worried sick for him. Lunch Menu #7
Photos and text by Lindsey Johnson for Design Mom.
When my oldest was little, I came up with different variations of what we called “roll-ups.” Basically it’s anything you can smear, stuff, layer and roll up in a tortilla. For some reason she just always loved roll-ups and would request them for every meal. For our Menu #7 in the Lunch Menu Series, I’m sharing one of my daughter’s very favorite roll-ups with you. Some lunch menus tend to be more like a second breakfast, and this is one of those menus. But it’s full of healthy proteins, whole grains, and fruit.
MENU #7
– Greek yogurt with blueberries and honey
– Granola (homemade or store bought)
– Energy Packed Roll-Up
… Tourists in San Francisco
By Gabrielle. Painting: Transamerica Building and The Bay by Paul Ferney.
My dearest friend from France, Caroline, came to town yesterday. What a treat to have her here! It’s Caroline’s second time in the U.S., and her first time on the West Coast. For dinner last night, she ate her very first taco!
I’ll be splitting my time between work and hosting this week and I’m really looking forward to seeing the area through Caroline’s eyes. This afternoon, she’s going to take a hop on/hop off bus tour to get an overview of San Francisco, and this morning, we’re going to catch the boat to Sausalito from the Ferry Building and have lunch across the Bay.
In addition to touristy things, Caroline also really wants to see things like Target, and big American grocery stores, and popular chains they don’t have in France — like Old Navy. All the stores in France close by 6:0o or 7:00 PM, so I think it will be fun to blow her mind with a shopping trip to Target at 9:00 at night. : )
P.S. — Caroline is here till next Monday. We’ve started putting together an itinerary, but we’re still new enough here that we’d love your suggestions! Pop Up Desk DIY
By Gabrielle. Images by Handmade Charlotte for Building Blocks.
Did you see the Pop Up Desk DIY on the Building Blocks Blog? It’s so cute. And so doable!
I pin all sorts of projects on Pinterest — some that I will probably some day try, and others that I will never even pretend to attempt, but inspire me in one way or another, or maybe even spark another idea. But this desk I feel like my kids (I’m thinking Oscar and Betty) would totally make! And they’d love it too. It’s a perfect rain day/snow day project. Find the instructions here.
Tell me friends, what’s a project or recipe you’ve pinned or bookmarked lately that you actually plan to do? Or maybe have already done! I’d love to see what you’re up to.
P.S. — I’ve mentioned it before, but when Building Blocks first launched, I contributed several articles — like this DIY for a You Are Special Today Plate, and a recipe for a kid-friendly, french fry alternative. Lunch Menu #6
Photo and Text by Lindsey Johnson for Design Mom.
This is another basic for our Lunch Menu #6 — turkey and swiss on whole wheat bread. I’m still a fan of basic lunches because they always get eaten up and my kids love them. I do want to highlight this super cool Wrap-N-Mat. It functions as a reusable sandwich wrap, but also as a place mat. I love it! It’s super easy for kids to use and fold up and fastens with velcro.
MENU #6
– Turkey and Swiss Sandwich on whole wheat
– Whole grain cookies
– Baby carrots
– Apple
– Pickles
… Lunch Menu #5
Photo and text by Lindsey Johnson
Remember when Lunchables first came out and you begged (I mean, begged) your mom to get you one. But then after all the hype it just wasn’t as good as you were hoping? Yeah, me too. That’s why I refuse to buy them for my kids. They’ll thank me for it later, I’m sure.
Nothing could be easier than this Menu #5 from our Lunch Menu Series. The best part is that it is also one of my kids’ favorite lunches. I have one who will spread cheese on the crackers and layer with lunch meat. And one who eats everything separately, and yet another who creates her own cracker sandwiches. It gives them the chance to be a little creative here. You can totally sub whatever cheese, meat, crackers, and fruit your kids like best. It’s just a nice reminder that sometimes nothing tastes better for lunch than good old crackers and cheese.
MENU #5
– assorted crackers (one or two kinds)
– ham
– cheddar cheese stick
– herbed goat cheese (you could sub cream cheese or Laughing Cow)
– grapes
– strawberries
… Sugar Rules
By Gabrielle. Image by Lindsey Johnson for Design Mom.
You may remember that months ago I mentioned the NY Times article about toxic sugar. The article really stuck with me — possibly because I have a long-standing passion for all things sugary. : ) Since then I’ve done more reading on the subject and the family has made several sincere (but failed!) attempts to eat less sugar. But our latest effort seems to be working. Granted, it’s a baby step, but I thought I’d share in case anyone else out there is trying to cut back.
We instituted a sugar-only-on-the weekends rule, and I think it’s a keeper. It’s quite loose, and non-stressful, and that’s probably why we’re having more success. Basically it works like this:
… Lunch Menu #4
Photo and text by Lindsey Johnson.
This week’s Menu #4 of our Lunchbox Menu Series swaps a sandwich for a pasta salad and loads up on healthy veggies and fruit. I’ve finally discovered the best pasta salad that is full of goodies and easy to adapt to your child’s preferences.
MENU #4
– loaded pasta salad with vinaigrette
– fresh broccoli
– carrot apple sauce
– oatmeal raisin cookies
… Mary Lu
By Gabrielle.
Since I’ve spoken freely about how this move has thrown me for a mental health loop, I’ve received dozens of emails with kind-hearted questions on the topic, with one of the recurring themes being surprise that I feel so open and shameless about what I’m going through. These conversations have left me thinking hard about what has formed my own views on mental health. And predictably, it turns out my views were formed by experience. Two specific experiences really. And I thought I’d write about one today, and one on another day.
The first experience was growing up with my aunt, Mary Lu, who lived with us. If I asked everyone out there who had a Crazy Aunt Mary to raise their hand, I know pretty much everyone would. But some of us had an actual Crazy Aunt Mary. Mary Lu had Paranoid Schizophrenia. She would hear voices constantly. Sometimes the voices said harmlessly crazy things. And other times they said horrible things. These are some of the thoughts and memories that come to mind when I think about her.
… Lunch Menu #3
Photo and text by Lindsey Johnson.
We’ve arrived at Menu #3 in our Lunchbox Series. This menu is pretty simple and something that I’m likely to put together in a hurry on our way out the door. It comes together quickly and doesn’t require much planning, and my girls love it. I started making cream cheese and jam sandwiches for my daughter when she was little and it has been her favorite sandwich ever since. We switch up the jam depending on what we have. For this sandwich, I used our favorite sour cherry jam, but we also like blueberry and peach.
MENU #3
– bagel with plain cream cheese and cherry (or your child’s favorite) jam
– veggie crisps (these are Inner Pea crisps from Trader Joe’s)
– fresh strawberries
– water
… Lunch Menu #2
Photo and text by Lindsey Johnson.
For Menu #2 in our Lunch Box Series, it’s all about the brown bag, baby! Everything in this lunch is recyclable or compostable — nothing to bring home. This is ideal for events like field trip days when students don’t always have their backpacks handy for carrying home lunchboxes. It also works great if you don’t happen to have reusable lunch gear on hand.
I kind of went old school with the tuna on wheat, but added a little twist that my oldest daughter loves — pea shoots, also called sprouts. They are crunchy and fresh and taste like sweet, just-picked peas. If you can’t find the pea shoots, substitute baby spinach or another kind of sprout.
MENU #2
– Tuna sandwich on wheat bread with pea shoots/sprouts
– Cinnamon applesauce (no sugar added)
– Clementine
– Baby cheese wheel
– Snack size chocolate bar
– Bottled water
Halloween Garlands — Glow in the Dark!
Images and text by Amy Christie for Design Mom.
Tomorrow is October! Bring on the black and orange!! And you know me, I love the garlands. Sewn paper garlands can be customized for everything and I just can’t stop making them. They are a simple, inexpensive and low-key way to dress up your home or decorate for a party.
But for this holiday, an eerie trick! Make the seemingly ordinary garland into a glow-in-the-dark treat.
By day, a festive string of color — and by night, a gleaming strand of ghoulish shapes.
Gather your materials and let’s get started.
… What to Wear to Middle School and Preschool
Photos and text by Gabrielle.
Here is the third and final installment of our 2013 What to Wear to School posts, featuring the lovely Olive & June. This is a bit of a landmark post, because it’s the first year that June has had interest in participating. And boy was she interested! She thought the whole experience was pretty much the funnest thing ever and kept bringing me additional pieces of clothing that she felt should be included — Mom?! What about my watermelon pajamas? Mom! My slippy slops!! (Which is how she pronounces ‘flip flops’.)
Olive has had a big growth spurt since last year and her wardrobe is pretty much entirely new. In contrast with June, who is mostly wearing clothes we bought in France last fall/winter (most are from our favorite French grocery store), sprinkled with hand-me-downs. I confess, I will be sad to retire her little clothes. But on the bright side, it was so fun to have her join in the fun this year.
I hope you enjoy the tour!
On Olive:
Houndstooth Dress from Gapkids (sold out online, but the polka dot version is cute too!). Yellow Knit Tights from H&M. Leather Ballet Flats are hand-me-downs from Maude, purchased at Carrefore, a French grocery store.
On June:
Floral Scarf from Zara Kids, Striped Dress and Grey Knit Tights from Carrefore, Leather Boots are hand-me-downs from Betty. And Betty wore them as hand-me-downs from our friend Kathryn (I don’t know the brand, but you can find similar here.)
… Living With Kids: Debora Kolb
By Gabrielle.
I’ve always wondered what it must be like to live in a popular vacation destination — fabulous, right?! — and this week’s tour answers some of my queries. Doesn’t everyone know one or two families who enjoyed their Florida vacations so much that they moved there? Now I do, too!
Debora and her family now happily reside in South Florida after a stint in the Southwest, and would probably tell you that life there is exactly like a vacation. Except for those pesky jobs that get in the way of beach time! Relocating came with obvious perks (sunshine and proximity to family), but also a smaller, not-exactly perfect home. Not a problem for the Kolb family, though. Here’s their refreshing story; a lovely mix of postcard-perfect and real life, which is exactly how we should all be living!
Q: Please give us a rundown on the family who lives in this fun and functional Florida home!
A: We are a busy, happy family of five. I’m Debora. Before I took on the challenges of being mom to three kids and keeper of household affairs, I enjoyed my work as a professional architect and interior designer. I keep my toe in the water and my creative side engaged, though, as I’m still licensed and working the odd design job on the side. I live design. I even appreciate bad design!
My husband Kelly is an attorney by weekday, kayak fisherman and jack-of-all-trades on the weekends. He’s a great partner and often helps bring my designs to life. One of his biggest challenges, he would claim, is the fact that he is outnumbered threefold by the females in the house; we have a trio of lovely daughters.
The eldest of our children is Taylor. Once a moody, slothful teenager she is now a college freshmen, and a delightfully kind and appreciative 18-year-old. She has survived those tough years and “come back to us” as a young woman who once again appreciates her family and life’s little luxuries. Like a home cooked meal and clean laundry!
… Olive Us: Fruit & Veggie Kabobs
By Gabrielle.
Oh you guys. I have mixed feelings about sharing another Olive Us episode because it’s so awful that it can’t be viewed outside of the U.S.A. yet. But. The good news is, we received an update from ulive that the problem will be solved — and that we’ll have a worldwide-friendly video player — very soon. I will be sure to post links to all the latest videos as soon as the new player is available! In the meantime, for those of you who can’t view it yet, please accept my apologies.
And for those of you who can view it, I hope you’ll enjoy it! We had so much fun filming this episode. What a delight it was to arrange and sort all that gorgeous produce. And the kabobs turned out so charming! Take a peek.
P.S. — Feel free to subscribe to the Olive Us Newsletter! Ben Blair sends one out each week. It’s lots of fun. Job Titles
By Gabrielle. Incredible meeting under the sea by Marco Queral.
What do you tell people that you do for a living? I guess I mean to ask, how do you describe yourself in one official job title upon meeting someone new? Whether you’re a mom or a banker or an anthropologist (one who either digs up artifacts in exotic locales or one who sells all the pretty things at Anthropologie!), what do you mention first? The most meaningful-to-you duty, or the one you think might sound more impressive or audience appropriate in the moment?
I got lucky with my job title – Design Mom – because it’s a fairly basic descriptor for what I do; I’m a designer and a mom. But depending on the situation, I sometimes only mention Olive Us. Or Alt Summit. Or Ben Blair. And I’m not really sure why! I wonder if we all sometimes get the urge to define ourselves in one simple term? If so, what’s yours?
P.S. – This article is cute. I would love to be a Pintern at Pinterest, wouldn’t you? Living With Kids: Ashley Reese
By Gabrielle.
The major element in Ashley and David’s story that intrigued me right away was the path to finding their home. I don’t want to spoil the ending, but it was less of a path and much more of a hike. A hike up Mt. Everest! With very little equipment or even a guide, at times! And they traveled the same grueling, often heartbreaking trek to find their daughters. In so many ways, the Reese family has worked hard for the life they’re living, but I know they wouldn’t have had it any other way. This is one of those stories where the end justifies the means. I’m so touched and inspired by this remarkable family in so many tangible ways, and I hope you will be, too. Friends, I’m pleased to introduce the Reese family!
Q: Please introduce us to the family who makes this house a home!
A: Our family of four lives in this little house: my husband, David, and our two busy girls, Amelia (Mia) and Julianne (June), ages four and 18 months. The locals call it “the white chapel on the hill” because it is so tall, white, and just plain conspicuous set against our rolling plains of farmland.
David and I are both students for a second time after deciding to make career changes. I taught high school English and History, and am now studying Speech and Language Pathology. He owned a landscape design and construction business, but is now is studying to teach high school Science and does personal fitness training on the side. We thought it’d be fun to cover the entire career spectrum before we hit 30!
Like most parents, our girls are the joy of our lives. We realized early in our marriage that our children would need to arrive unconventionally after several rounds of IVF, and now couldn’t be more grateful. They don’t look a thing like us, but I tend to forget that. Some biological mechanism kicks in when you adopt – particularly when adopting from birth, I think – and although my girls both have beautiful brown-skin-chocolate, as Mia describes the look, and David and I are pretty run-of-the-mill for our corner of the globe, I can’t fathom pinching a white bum or kissing a head without curls.
We are a high-energy family and tend to be either doing, creating, or dreaming something up to do or create. We spend a lot of time outside hiking, running, and biking. My husband runs ultra-marathons competitively, while I run just enough to claim sanity, and our four-year-old runs laps on a dirt track around our house as her specially tailored time-out. We thoroughly enjoy growing, assembling, and consuming good food, appreciate interesting architecture, and although we don’t have traditional television, as a self-diagnosed Anglophile, I can never pass up a good period drama or British detective series!
… What to Wear to 9th & 10th Grade
Images and text by Gabrielle.
Are you ready for more What to Wear to School photos? I’ve got a whole bunch for you! Today’s post features Ralph and Maude, our highschoolers. If you can believe it, Ralph was in 3rd grade when we shot our first What to Wear to School photos! I can hardly believe how much time has passed. And I can hardly believe I’ve really been blogging for so long.
Every year, we wonder if it will be the last wardrobe shoots for our oldest kids, but then we conclude it’s so nice to have a yearly record of how they dressed, and how they styled their hair — and they end up using these photos throughout the year for different projects and with their social media accounts. As for myself, I have so few photos of my teenage years. And I know I would get such a kick of looking at my wardrobe choices during high school! So we keep going.
These wardrobes were put together before school started, and I’m curious to see how Maude and Ralph will feel about their choices a few weeks or months in. Will their style evolve with the new school? We shall see!
On Maude:
Cropped Pants by DPAM, Green Layering Tank and Zig Zag Sweater by H&M. Converse Hightops at Zappos.
On Ralph:
Cardigan and Fitted Tee by H&M. Skinny Jeans by Vans. And the Checkerboard Slip-ons are Vans as well!
Note: If you have a son who is in between the boys department and mens department and is having a hard time finding pants that fit, Vans jeans are a lifesaver!
… Olive Us: Let’s Visit Holland
Images and text by Gabrielle.
I’m delighted to share this week’s Olive Us episode! We filmed it on a spring trip to Amsterdam earlier this year. And I love how it turned out.
Some fun behind the scenes info: We had to plan this trip well in advance, and we did everything we could think of — consulted the experts, the locals, the calendars (old and new) — to schedule the trip during the very peak of tulip season. But all that research and careful planning were a bust! Turns out, Spring arrived unusually late in Europe this year. And we missed the main blooming season by 2 or 3 weeks!
The downside to our timing was that instead of the hundreds and hundreds of tulip fields, that you might see on a postcard from the Netherlands, there were only a few tulip fields in bloom. Like maybe 10 or 15 in the whole area. It was simply too early! This was of course frustrating, but also funny, as we commiserated with busload after busload of tourists from all over the world who, like us, had scheduled their trips to The Netherlands at “peak” season. Hah!
The upside to our timing was that the earlier blooming bulb flowers — like daffodils and hyacinths — were still in bloom. And really spectacular! And we weren’t expecting to see those at all, because by the time peak tulip season rolls around, they’re long gone. So we did some last-minute scrambling and re-writing and came up with a fresh new concept for the video. And like I said, I love how it turned out. I hope you like it too!
Note: For those of you who don’t live in the U.S.A. and can’t currently view the new episodes: We are working on it! I promise. I was told it should be solved in 2 weeks or less. So I’m crossing my fingers the wait won’t be too much longer. And oh man, I feel awful that you can’t view the episodes! I’m so sorry. It’s driving me nuts (and I know it’s driving some of you nuts, too). Thank you, thank you for being patient while we sort it out.
And another big thank you, to Lotte! She’s our talented Dutch friend who assisted us with the shoot while we were in The Netherlands. We couldn’t have done it without her.
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