Girls day out 60/365

Today was such a beautiful day. It was hard to focus on things like cleaning the house or work so me and my mom and Baby Girl decided to go for a drive.

Originally I had planned on taking a class at a local quilting shop to learn how to make quilts. But I just couldn't tear my self away from my baby girl.

Instead, we decided to take a girl's trip to the quilting shop together. Which was much more fun than going by myself.

It was really fun looking around the shop and day dreaming about all the quilting possibilities. The shop is really well organized, I LOVE when things are organized by color, with lots of different fabric and lots of sample quilts.

It was a very successful trip. Not only did we get to spend time together outside the house, but both me and my mom came home with fabric for making our own quilts.

I will be making a Turning Twenties quilt, it's a good beginner quilt, in shades of pink.

My mom's quilt will be in reds and brown. The fabric she picked out is Civil War replica fabric.

This will not be my mom's first quilt so she's going to make a more traditional quilt. Her finished quilt is really fun that I really love. She designed the pattern herself and she made center part of her squares herself with leaves from trees on her property.

Here's a close up on one of her leaf squares.  She made them by hammering leaves onto muslin.

I'm really looking forward to getting started on these quilts. It's going to be really fun to do together and it's something that's I've really been wanting to learn to do.

Lion Dance 26/365

Today the Chinese Arts Alliance of Nashville performed the Chinese Lion dance in 6 different places in the Nashville area. We showed up late for their 2:00pm and had so much fun we decided to follow them over to their next one.

The first was at a small public library but we had a chance to meet and talk to some of the performers and they even suggested a good Chinese restaurant. Baby got to meet one of the lions up close and personal.

The second show we went to was even better than the first one.  The show started with 4 large drummers that were really good. Then 3 lions dancing "lions" came out and danced.

Bonita was fascinated by the drums. She clapped her hands and bounced to the beat...

Then the lions came out...

She wasn't sure about them at first. She wanted to be safe up in her daddy's arms for the show but I think in the end she really liked the show.

After the show we went to have Chinese food. We had been craving it for some time and especially with it being Chinese New Year we really wanted some. So we check out Lucky Bamboo. As you can see William is very happy.

Bonita Rose really loved the restaurant. There was a pond with fish it that she loved walking around. Bonnie loves fish and this was the first time she'd seen them in a pond. She wanted to get in with them and she kept making the sign for fish.

She almost didn't want to sit still for dinner but then she tasted something she'd never had before and loved it. DUCK! Baby Girl LOVES Cantonese style duck. William said she should considering how much I ate when I was pregnant. Like Mama like Baby.

 We were very happy to be eating Chinese food again and some of the dishes were really good.

Our favorites were the sour and spicy soup, the beef and tofu hotpot, and the fishy fried rice. It wasn't exactly like eating in China, but it was a nice taste of "home". Because Shanghai will always be a kind of home to us.

We ended our meal with the good old American tradition of fortune cookies.

It was a great day and a wonderful way to celebrate Chinese New Year.

To top off a good day we sat around and watched an old family favorite, The Happiest Millionaire, while Rosie ran circles around the coffee table.

Happy World Breastfeeding Week!!

This week (Aug 1-7) is World Breastfeeding Week!
I wish I had something profound to say about it.

I love breastfeeding my baby.
I love holding my baby close and I love the communication, and attachment we have with one another.



I love that she needs me and I need her.


I love when she gazes into my eyes and we just stare at each other. Silently taking in the details of each others eyes and the love and trust there.

I even love her little pinches, kicking leg and occasional bite.

I love laying next to my baby at night and hearing her gulp down her night snacks as I drift back to sleep.

Yes. There are wonderful, irrefutable health benefits in Breastfeeding. For both Baby and Mother.

There are facts and studies that will tell you it's the best thing for your baby.
There are facts and studies that tell you why you should do it for "long time" (two years in the life time if a person is not long.. but whatever)

But really. I do it because I love it. And so does baby.

Painter Street

No it's not a type-o. In true Chinglish fashion the name of this place is called "Painter Street" And that's just what it is. A street, or ally really, of painters.



This is a fun little street to just walk down a look at all the crazy things they have but it's also a good place to buy art for your home. MUCH better than just buying the generic IKEA stuff that every one else also has.




Most of the stuff here are replicas of something else, all with various quality. Some are really good. You can buy what they already have out or you can bring them a picture of what you want them to copy and they can do it for you.
There are some originals here too. You just have to look around and see what you like.



Something else fun that you can do here is bring a photograph or family picture and have it painted. I saw one shop that looked like they were particularly good at it.



Or if you want a certain theme for a kids room or something you can have those painted also... there was one guy who seemed to really like to reproduce TIN TIN paintings.



At least one of the artists was a traditional Chinese painter but most everything else was western or modern.

You could also order custom frames. Any color, any size.



This place was so much fun to just walk around and admire but I think it would also be really fun spend some money here. If only I had a larger place to decorate :o)

OH.. if you are here traveling you can buy paintings here and they can take the canvas off the wood and role it up for better transport home. You just have to get someone to put it back on once you get home. Or you could just bring a big enough suit case for all the art and frames you buy.

Painter Street
212 Wending Lu,
near Nandan Lu
文定路212号，
近南丹路，