Vacation, Satin Jeans, and Tea Parties

We just got back into town after 2+ weeks in Utah for my sister's wedding, cousins' camp (for the Rockwood cousins), the annual Rockwood girls' weekend (with NO kids:)... well, except Brandon, but he's too little to disrupt the estrogen bliss yet). Then a week with the Knight clan replete with a baptism, lots of fun conversations, great food, and fireworks. It was a wonderful vacation, each day full of exhausting relaxation. Is that possible? It was exactly what I needed and wanted, and it was way more than I expected. I feel full and ready to jump back into life again.

We are back in Boston (after a WONDERFUL travel experience with our two kiddies, for which I was VERY grateful). The first thing welcoming me back to Beantown was a hypnotizing pair of shimmery jeans walking in front of me. I stared. I couldn't help it. I was trying to figure them out. Why did they shimmer? Ah... satin. But of course! Satin, meet jeans. Jeans, meet satin. Not sure how you will get along, but let's give it a shot. I will make no style judgments, since heavens knows my Target wardrobe hardly qualifies me, but I will say that they are the only pair of satin jeans I have ever seen, so I'm not sure how trendy they could be. They DID look comfortable, though.

So as we hopped in our taxi van on the way back to North Cambridge, I fell back into the rhythm of Boston... the big dig tunnels, Zakim bridge, the humidity curling hair wisps at my neck, the Haitian music accompanying the nearly unintelligible cadence of our Haitian driver's questions, the Charles in the distance, the top of the Science Museum. I took a deep breath and felt like I was slipping into an old pair of satin jeans. It's good to be home. Have I mentioned lately that I love Boston?

Tuesday was our first real day at home, and it was wonderful. The kids were happy and content to play with all their old toys. I got a lot done, Kurt got home early from work, and the weather was wonderful. We took post-dinner family stroll to the playground and wound the kids down since they were still on Utah time.

But as the unwritten rules of child-dom dictate, one day of child bliss is immediately followed by a day from child hell. There were two cranky, unruly kids and one tired mommy who felt like she woke up at 5 am, even though it was 7. To bolster the sting (also prompted by a great article in the NY Times read it here), Madi and I made chocolate chip cookies while Max was napping. Then we decided to have a tea party on the front porch with our tea and cookies. This is a fairly frequent thing for us and would have been fine, but for Max who has no interest in tea or parties. He is usually not invited (mostly because he's usually asleep). First, he took Annie's place (Madi's doll), then he sat on the tablecloth. Then when he saw the cookies, he tore across the place settings to get one. When he did not succeed, in anger he grabbed one of the china tea cups, threw it on the ground and broke the handle off... Madi burst into tears and I quickly started gathering up all the rest of the tea set. In the bustle, I dropped another cup and broke off that handle. Madi cried harder. Sigh. So much for a helping the situation. :)

Regardless, we are happy to be home and looking forward to more Boston summer adventures!

p.s. I saved half the cookie dough and refrigerated it for 36 hours, like it said in the article. Mmmm... I TOTALLY noticed a difference- try it.

Comments

merathon said…
yeah, i saw that article too and wondered if the cookies were really THAT good. what's the verdict? did you put sea salt on top too?
ty and megs said…
you had me hooked from the title my friend. i'm glad you back. reading you blog is like "slipping into an old pair of satin jeans." that is my new all time favorite line. it paints such a nice picture.
mckenzie said…
you're a great writer.
achirolla said…
I saw that recipe and got overwhelmed as soon as I saw that I had to use two different kinds of flour. Sigh. Did you use two different kinds? Do you think I could use whole wheat flour? I know it's silly, but I feel so much better about eating cookies when they are whole grain :)
Nollie said…
We had some friends over for dinner a few weeks ago and they brought dessert - the NYT chocolate cookies, prepared exactly per instructions, including the sea salt. He baked them at our house and I have to say that they were truly the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever eaten. Big, crunchy on the outside, but slightly gooey on the inside. Aahhh, heaven. I asked if it would be sacrelige to put ice cream and chocolate syrup over them and got very disapproving looks from the crowd. :) My only hangup in making them is that I don't think I could survive 36 hours with chocolate chip cookie dough in my fridge - what exquisite torture!
Nollie said…
Sorry to go on about the cookies. Jenn, I'm glad you had fun in Utah - I wish we could have connected.
Lauren said…
Thanks for the recipe! Coming back from a big trip is always a little unpredictable - the tea party story is such a classic. Life is so tragic for the oldest child - especially when it's a girl!!

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