KNITTING FOR A CAUSE

image via

the tough thing about knitting is, sometimes you just don't need another dang knitted thing in your life, you know? so your hobby sort of sits on the back burner until you either lose a mitten, feel like watching the six hour version of pride and prejudice + need something to do with your hands, or else you just get really, really bored and have nothing else to do. but today i have for you TWO projects! yes, two! as a long-time knitter, i can assure you. this is a very exciting time to be alive. we're useful! let's be useful! dust off ya knitting needles, grannies, we're doing it!

first: you may have heard about the call for knitted jumpers for all the little penguins who've been caught in oil spills. naturally, huck + i are all over this. come on. let's help these little dudes. 

UPDATE: IT WAS APPARENTLY A HOAX. NATURALLY HUCK + I ARE DEVASTATED. 

you can read more about this project HERE and HERE.

the pattern is found HERE.

you can send the finished jumpers to:

KNITS FOR NATURE

phillips island nature park

replay paid 97

cowes

victoria 3922

AUSTRALIA

huck and i are so excited to get started on this once i'm able to clear some room for it in the schedule. he'll be on yarn color duty. (thank you to everyone who has emailed me with the link! i could kiss you all.)

instead of that, let's focus on this!

my sweet friend robyn devine, author of the upcoming book she makes hats (available april 29) is currently collecting knitted hats for the university of iowa's pediatric oncology center who are desperately in need, and i say we pitch in. 

here's the story: robyn's friend casie's son, eli, was there for treatment in 2012 for a rare form of retinoblastoma. he was diagnosed with it just before christmas. he was two. after six months of chemo and radiation therapy at the UI oncology center, i am so excited to say he was declared cancer free! he's been cancer free for six months now. casie + eli received such loving care and support from the staff and families at the center, and consider everyone there family. it's truly the happiest ending possible for such a scary time. on their last trip to the center for eli's routine testing, casie noticed that the "grab a hat" bin was empty. these knit beanies are so essential in these centers. due both to the hair so loss common with chemo as well as the side effects of the treatments, these kids need all the warmth they can get. she asked about it and learned that these bins are nearly always empty hospital-wide. no amount of donations can ever keep up with the flood of kids that come through those doors. so! it's a knit drive, kids! robyn is on collection duty. she needs as many knit beanies as possible by APRIL 28th--and casie is on transport duty. she will be driving the beanies to the oncology center in may, when eli is there next for his routine tests. i'm so excited to help spread the word on this, number one because, how wonderful is this! and number two because i always need a good craft project that i don't have to find a place for once it's finished. ;) you in? let's positively drown these ladies in beanies!

some important info about these beanies we're knitting:

-- hats for older kids tend to go quickest, so casie and robyn are focusing on hats for ages 10-18. most kids these age are wearing adult size hats, so robyn says "if it fits you, it'll fit them!"

-- the hospital says that the older teens usually love the neutral colors and slouchy shapes (think: black, navy, grey, and the like). while knitters may find knitting with these colors less exciting, these hats are always grabbed up the fastest. (of course, please use whatever yarns you may have on hand if you're looking for a stash buster!)

-- the hospital requests that you please use acrylic yarn, the softer the better--remember these are touching bare skin, skin that is often very sensitive due to treatments. these hats MUST also be able to be machine washed and dried. you can find soft acrylic yarns at most big box stores at pretty low prices.

and here's some information about the UI pediatric oncology center:

-- the center is a 150-bed "hospital within a hospital" on the UI health care campus, with 170 physicians + surgeons, 500 specially trained pediatric nurses + more than 40 pediatric specialties. 

-- last year the center cared for 55,866 patients, from every county in iowa, every state in the united states, plus at least eight foreign countries. people come from all over the world to be treated at this center, in fact, casie was among the lucky ones, with only four hours of travel time to get to the center from their home. unlike most families there, they didn't need to pick up and move all or part of the family for the duration of eli's stay. 

-- because the center is treating some pretty hard core cases, the center is able to receive a lot of grants for their work, which allows them to do cutting-edge treatments that no one else is doing.

please mail your completed hats to:

robyn devine

p.o. box 6093

omaha, nebraska 68106

in case you need some help getting started, there are some great knitted beanie patterns online. here are a few: HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE. if crochet is more your jam, here's some of those: HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE! whew.

(in case you're looking to learn how to knit or crochet, this site is a pretty great resource. youtube videos are also really helpful for more visual learners. good luck!)

on behalf of the team--robyn + eli + casie + all the kids + staff at the UI pediatric oncology center--thank you in advance for your help! now go find those needles, i'm sure they're somewhere!

IN WHICH THE HOLBROOKS EXPERIENCE A PERFECT WEEKEND

perfect weekends are hard to come by. here is how ours went down. 

on friday night brandon looked at me terribly seriously and told me that it was going to be a relaxing weekend.

i was not to accept any social engagements.
we were not to leave the upper west side.
above all, we were going to take it EASY.

normally these kinds of declarations would make my hands go straight to my hips because, look. but actually it all sounded rather nice to me, so i patted brandon on the head and said, okay. you win this time, red.

so that is exactly what we did! n o t h i n g.
in the end it was probably the loveliest, most restorative weekend i've had in a good long while.
here's what all we did while we were busy not doing anything at all.

// a lot of our friends have spent recent weekends going apple picking upstate. i've super enjoyed all their photos on my instagram feed! they are not redundant one bit! but every time brandon or i start to talk about renting a car and making the trek up ourselves, we mostly just shrug at each other and ask, "why?" but these apples i picked up at trader joe's the other day--hand picked, even! (by somebody else)--tasted pretty darn good to me. eh, we'll make it up there one of these days.

// saturdays are for staying in your pajamas until as long as possible. huck and his "puppy-penguins!" are becoming one of those situations where i need a decoy set for when it's time for a wash. 

// a little fresh air after lunch at one of our favorite chinese places. central park was made for weekends.

// brandon and huck are movie-goers. any time a new movie comes into town (that isn't the smurfs, that's where i draw the line), they go together and check it out. this time i was invited (lucky me!). and when it was over we walked out of the theatre right behind george stephanopoulos and his wife. they probably weren't there to see cloudy with a chance of meatballs, but bygones. 

(p.s. if you like puns, then THIS MOVIE. i laughed a lot harder than i expected to. but then, this is humor-specific humor. brandon was all, this isn't that funny natalie, and i'm like, but it's a leek! in a boat! get it?)

// i got an itch for some serious baking this weekend, so as soon as we got home huck and i whipped us up some pumpkin bread. heavy on the chocolate chips, we know what we're doing.

// sunday morning cartoons and brandon's insane bed head. huck caught up on his backyardigans, i caught up on the second season of girls, a good time was had by all. (that ocd plot line totally stressed me out beeteedubs.) 

huck's at the age where he's really empathizing with the characters on the shows he likes, and embarrassing situations are hard for him to watch and gosh, it's cute. 

// ever since i discovered that a penny on the needle was all our record player needed in order to stop skipping, the record player has been back in action. when i was pregnant with huck i found this great vintage winnie the pooh record at the brooklyn flea market. we busted it out sunday afternoon and the sound of those old pops and fizzes and the look on huck's face as he listened was so good i about burst.

ready to be super productive this week or what?!

as my mother would say, 

"produce things!"

(i'm totally going to produce some more pumpkin bread because dang that junk was good.)

other bits of announcements:

our birthday giveaway was a huge success. our winner has been contacted and packages are on their way, and as a bit of a consolation prize, HowAboutWe is offering two months free membership to anyone! everyone! just use the link HERE and enjoy.

this week only, all remaining mary poppins totes are 30% off. get yours HERE.

TEN DATES // 02 A BROADWAY SHOW

make that an off broadway show.

we'd been meaning to see peter and the starcatcher on broadway for-everrrr. we have such soft spots for the boy who wouldn't grow up, and when we saw that a peter and the starcatcher date was available through HowAboutWe, our new sponsors, we jumped at the chance to finally see it. 

it's no longer on broadway, it's now off broadway at the new world stages, which is probably THE raddest venue i've ever seen. it's literally a multiplex . . . for plays. five shows going on all at once. it felt like such a uniquely new york experience down there.

the show itself is wonderful. i have a pretty low tolerance for broadway musicals--my secondhand-cringe gene is hyperactive--but this one blew me away. the bursting into song was minimal and well-used and the performances were all amazing and seriously. we ate the whole thing up. i haven't heard brandon laugh that hard in months.

so . . . we took a lot of photos in the lobby area during intermission. nights out just the two of us are so rare that we kind of get a little goofy pretty much right away. this has been such a huge blessing, getting to reconnect with that redheaded stinker of mine, so i will happily subject you to ALL of the stupid photos we took together. 

of course you should never take photos inside of a theatre, especially not of the stage . . . which means that as a cardholding ornery person i am contractually obligated to take at least one photo while inside anyway. so, here is that.

this post was sponsored by HowAboutWe, who have a special promo for new members in nyc. sign up for a new membership before 10/31 and get a free 3-hour cleaning from Get Maid. (having your house cleaned for you while you're out on a date? genius.) applies to new members only. Get Maid is available everywhere in manhattan and select areas of brooklyn and queens. click HERE for details.

p.s. on me

h&m shirt (a few years old)

madewell high riser skinny jeans

bass weejuns

bag c/o halston

CRONUT HOLES AND SUCH AND THINGS

sooooo basically being me comes with a whole lot of perks, is what this post is about. 

yesterday was cronut hole concrete day over at the shake shack, a big old collaboration with dominique ansel with 100% of the proceeds going to charity. one of huck's friends at the shake shack sent over a VIP invitation to skip the line and get the very first concrete of the morning, which, hey! twist our arms!

now, myself having never tried the cronut (don't nothing get me out of bed before 5AM unless it involves saving a family member's life), i was pretty jazzed to try it. on the cab ride downtown when i asked huck if he was excited to try a donut ice cream, he furrowed his brow and said, "no, not ice cream. just donuts. yeahh, donuts."

the cronut concrete, if you're wondering: daaaaang. i will never, never get over that butter caramel custard so long as i live.

the line was pretty intense. camera crews everywhere, lots of cheering, and i got to be at the front of the line to watch the first 100 on line get their free tee shirts. it was pretty fun to be a part of so much excitement for such a great cause. 

hey shake shack, thanks for having us! we, like, really love you. it's pretty serious. 

no this post was not sponsored by shake shack, i know you were going to ask!

(maybe this post was sponsored by your mom!) (yeah that's real mature, natalie.)

HAPPY SUMMER!

well and happy summer to you! 

should you ever come to my house and need a tampon, fear not! i do have tampons. you are welome to them. they are located in the green zippered pouch under the bathroom sink, and you may have to use them to blow your nose too because, no, i do not buy tissues. i DO buy lots of wet wipes. hash tag toddler.

so look, i have been trying to sit down and write something ALL DAY and this is all i could come up with. i even tried to blog last night, but in my attempt at typing i dropped my laptop on my face and cut my nose (don't ask). 

so brandon came home the other day like magellan (the holbsgellan, hash tag old school!) with news of a new (to us) public grassy area that apparently nobody knows about that happens to be just down the way from us and he tried to explain to me its location only i am apparently the world's stupidest. what? and where?? you mean by the tennis courts? columbus and who? we were eating rice krispy treats and brownie cookies (brookies? crownies?) with our friends the snows and the shipps (don't go!), so clearly my brain cells were otherwise engaged. finally he walked us down there, and grass! grass as far as the eye could see! i promptly did a cartwheel. i'm really out of shape. i also got a dehydration headache because black pants plus i forgot to bring my water bottle (did i say WATER bottle?) but it was lovely all the same. 

by the way to the soda in my fridge. i have an open fridge policy and i am kind of a soda dealer. a chemical sweetener enabler. free sodas are my one contribution in the hospitality department, so come to our house and play! we have free sodas.

this morning i read something on twitter and it's been bouncing around in my head all afternoon. it was mindy kaling who wrote it (mindy kaling is so my person) and today is her birthday (happy birthday mindy kaling my person!) and she said, "i'm grateful for my fun life." and the thing is, yes. i have a fun life. i have a fun husband in a fun city with a fun job and a really fun kid. my life is frustrating and emotional at times but fun. very fun. and so i'm stealing that from her and i am going to make it my summer mantra, for when things get tough in that superficial way where things aren't really tough and i have no right to be upset about it but upset i get, anyway. 

"i'm grateful for my fun life." 

also this:

huck was down for the count the other day with this mystery virus. his whole face was watery, also there was a mild fever involved. moderate to severe whining. all he wanted in his whole sad world was to watch something he called "eggo twee frock in twubble!" the long story short is there is no such triumph in the world quite like the triumph of a mother who has scrolled, scrolled-scrolled-scrolled through all five seasons of go diego go!, only to actually find an actual episode entitled "rescue of the three-eyed tree frog," just when her toddler was about to lose hope. and oh! it felt almost like accomplishing something real! not to mention the look on huck's poor face when that tree frog showed up and the way he danced about the living room in his clunky green rain boots (sick day gear) while clutching his half-melted chocolate covered strawberry marshmallow (in the shape of a dolphin) (he didn't actually want to eat it, just hold it) . . . well that kind of thing could make any person feel ten feet tall. even five foot me. 

so kristen, my blog mascot, took these photos of us on her phone while we were partying on our secret grass on sunday and kind of at this point my blog wouldn't exist if it weren't for her (except for she doesn't even read my blog!). and a note to self not to lean forward in baggy tee shirts in photos ever again because of the not terribly flattering chubby-look aspect (hash tag not pregnant).

but i kind of love this one. and i kind of love my fun life, too.
hugs for everyone today it's monday!

DUMBO

over the weekend we took advantage of a supremely gorgeous sunny saturday afternoon and walked across the brooklyn bridge for an afternoon in DUMBO. how many times lately have we been to brooklyn, it's getting silly.

DUMBO stands for Down Under The Manhattan Bridge Overpass, and it's the sliver of neighborhood under the manhattan bridge between brooklyn heights and downtown brooklyn. it's just a handful of streets, and when DUMBO first started "gentrifying" we were living in brooklyn heights just a few blocks up. we used to always scoff at how silly it sounded and "oh, that'll never take off" and then there you have it. shows what we know.

△△△ I CAN'T GET OVER THIS. for the record, huck is drinking water.

△△△ in one of our grander parenting moments, we've been teaching huck the official ins and outs of flashing the peace sign at situationally appropriate moments. i've also been trying to get him to say "you got it, dude!" for weeks but that one hasn't stuck.

△△△ would you just . . . ugh. i'm going to have to eat him he's so cute.

△△△ those are mine! what a world.

△△△ the other day i was talking to a friend who has twin baby boys. she was telling me, "i don't care if their individual personalities are squashed, i just want them to wear matching smocked bubble suits, okay?" and i know what she means. i just want huck to grow up to be the buster to my lucille, is there really something so wrong with that? and the thing is . . . . yes there is. anyway. this made me laugh.

the end.

oh! except to say . . . if you're watching season four of arrested development on netflix, it only gets really good in the last two episodes and then you are just left hanging like a motherboy ball. anyway my eternal crush on buster bluth just keeps on getting stronger. 

p.s. jane's carousel last year, 

the official holbrooklyn tour, for those in need,

the tourists tour of nyc i posted once a million years ago, 

and two random babble posts i forgot to link last week on account of forgetfulness: 

forever 21 yadda yadda

and great fourth of july beach party ideas 

happy tuesday!

p.s.
my dress is forever 21
my shoes are kork-ease,
my bag is from madewell