local art // wonderspaces

A few weeks ago, a sponsored facebook post popped up in my feed about Wonderspaces, a pop-up art exhibit here in San Diego, so after taking a quick peek at their website, I thought, "Yep. I wanna check that out." Bonus: my sister-in-law was going to be visiting soon, so I wanted to take her and make a fun afternoon out of it. There she is above! And that cool archway is called the Pulse Portal by Davis McCarty.

This was one of my favorites, called Come Together by Michael Murphy. At first, it doesn't look like any distinguishable shape or object, although still very cool in an abstract way. But if you keep walking around it, and stand in a certain spot, it begins to take a new form, and looks like this:

So cool, right?

The Last Word by Illegal Art was pretty neat. We each wrote a note of our own, and added it to the wall.

ADA by Karina Smigla-Bobinski was really fun to interact with. By pushing it around the room, it "draws" on the walls with its charcoal tips. The attendant in the room told us this was inspired by Ada Lovelace, who was a pioneer in computer science.

The Neon Tunnel by Kitsch Nitsch reminded me of being in a funhouse.

The photos really don't do this piece justice. Thousands of multicolor nylon cords hanging from floor to ceiling make up Sweet Spot by Shawn Causey and Mark Daniell.

We had fun playing with our shadows, courtesy of Danielle Strle's You + Your Shadow installation.

Not Myself Today by Partners For Mental Health. We weren't exactly sure if we were supposed to remove a pin, but I can relate to that "Hangry" pin SO MUCH. If I'm frustrated/stressed/upset, there's a 90% chance I just need some fries.

A Religious Experience by Adam Belt was hands down our favorite installation at Wonderspaces, but because we were inside a near-completely dark space, my iPhone camera couldn't even come close to capturing what it really looked like in there. We had to wait about five minutes to let our eyes adjust, and that's when we could truly see the hundreds of light rays coming in through the tiny holes in the ceiling and walls. It was beautiful. Before my eyes adjusted, I got the sense of being out in the wilderness, where the lack of ambient and city lights allows you to see a gorgeous, star-filled night sky. But then after my eyes adjusted, the individual rays of light looked almost tangible. I kind of got some Interstellar vibes from being in it too (that scene in Murph's bedroom where the dust is falling down in perfect lines). You should really click here to see better (and more) photos of this incredible installation.

There were a few other exhibits that I saw, but didn't take photos of (Bonus video on my instagram though!). I'm really glad I went though. You can read more about Wonderspaces and its different installations here!

the family photos that I usually don't see

I remember last year, when the babes were around 6 months old, I made a facebook post lamenting that I've got tons and tons of photos of just the twins, and the twins with their dad, but very little of the twins with me, their mom. Hashtag photographer mom problems. I was being cheeky at the time, but every now and then, it kinda bums me out. My husband DOES take photos of me with the kids, but not very often, and usually not unless I ask him to. However, over the past year, I've been (not so subtly) encouraging him to take more photos of me with my babes, especially during candid moments where I may not even notice he's taking a photo.

Good news: he's actually been doing it! But he's not the sort of person to share a billion family photos on facebook, so, short of bogarting his phone, I don't usually see the photos he ends up taking.

So today, I sent him this text.

God bless this man. I texted him while he was at work, so I was fully prepared to not get a reply for a couple hours, but he replied and sent a bunch of photos within five minutes! So I wanted to share some of them. I'm also including a few that he took of the just the babes, because he takes some pretty funny shots sometimes (I also just wanna reminisce over how tiny they used to be!)

The day they were born! Hazel on the left, Vince on the right. Look how itty bitty they were! It still blows my mind that these nuggets were inside me for eight months. Just renting out my uterus like an extended stay AirBnB. I'm pretty sure I was off recovering from my having my abdomen sliced open while Vince took this photo. I remember telling him, "Go be with the babies. Take lots of photos."

Hazel does NOT look super stoked to be living out of her warm, weightless AirBnB. I don't blame her. We were both kind of traumatized that day. I was so relieved to not be pregnant anymore, but at the same time, my brain was going, "Holy shit holy shit holy shit they're here and it's getting real now!" I couldn't stop staring at her face though. Every feature was so damn tiny.

I totally remember this photo being taken. It was the day we brought Vince home after nine days in the NICU, and I'll be totally honest: I was pretty terrified. Up until then, we just had Hazel at home, so while things were still scary and new, it felt manageable with just one baby. Coming home with two babies though: HOLD ON TO YOUR BUTTS.

Only like five days old, and my husband managed to capture Hazel's first accidental "F U" to the world. I can't wait to show this to her when she's a sullen angsty teenager and be all "You're not fazing me, I was prepared for this from the minute I brought you home."

Family photo! Okay, so technically, my dad took this photo, but I still wanted to include this one. How in the world does my husband look so awake and refreshed even though we were both doing night feedings?? Oh yeah, cause he wasn't the one recovering from abdominal surgery, having to wear mesh underwear for a still-bleeding vagina, and trying to pump liquid gold out of one's breasts. But I still love this photo, bags-under-my-eyes and all. And again: look how tiny they were!

I don't remember this at all, but I'm getting a kick out of Vince's skinny legs with big 'ole feet. And that was Hazel's favorite spot for many many months, just right there on my chest. I'm also noticing right now my cute little Spanish plates and bowls on the bar cart in the background, and how I miss having them there, since I had to move them once the loinfruits became mobile. I feel like 70% of parenting is regularly asking yourself "Okay, what things in my house can now hurt and/or kill my kids?"

Aww, Vince still lookin tiny in his Bjorn chair. By the way, I love those bouncy chairs so much. The babes are still using them now at 20 months. Every morning and night, I plop them in their chairs for their milk feedings, and they're happy as can be. Also, lurking cat is lurking in the background. This is still, 20 months in, her preferred distance to the kids.

Ah, this was the day I got my husband to help me take my "34 weeks out" photo to compare to my "34 weeks in" photo (You can see the side-by-side here!) Trying to successfully hold two wriggly seven month old babies so that they're both facing the camera at the same time is super hard, you guys. And they're heavy, which is why I think I'm taking a breather in this photo. Plus side of having twins: my arms have never been stronger!

Just a stroller walk around the neighborhood. Before we got our fancy Britax double stroller, we used two separate hand-me-down single strollers from friends to take our babes for walks. Giving the twins a taste of that single-stroller life before we forced them to sit side by side. Also giving me a taste of that singleton baby life; "I only have to push one baby around? This is NICE!"

I don't remember what was happening here, but Vince probably told me I should try to hold both babies for a photo, since I rarely hold both babies at once unless I'm trying to cross a moat of lava by myself with both babies sans stroller.

I just really like Hazel's pose and expression here. I have nothing funny or meaningful to add.

My first reaction to seeing this was, "No, I can't share this, I look awful!" But then I remember every time I would look at a photo of my mom from when she was younger and I was a baby/small child, and if I showed it to her, she would usually remark that she didn't look good in that photo, and I'd always reply, "No, you look beautiful!" Because she does look beautiful to me, and still does. And I hope in the future, my kids will look at these photos of their bare-faced, tired but happy mother, and not have to convince me I looked pretty alright.

Reason #495 my husband loves bath time: he gets to play avant-garde hair stylist with the babes. I'm not even mad.

I was either about to go to my barre class, or I had just gotten back. They can always tell when I'm about to leave the house, and they either get super clingy, or just start whining. It's probably because I suddenly appear wearing different clothes and my hair's down (it's forever up in a ponytail or bun at home), or maybe they have some weird toddler sixth sense. It's probably both.

This was just taken on Mother's Day! We were at Balboa Park with some friends and their kids, and my husband wanted to get one of just me with Hazel and Vince. I had to basically chase them up the hill to get them, and, as they've proven since they both started walking, they were both going in two completely different directions. I love this photo. Whenever I see current photos of my kids, I still always think, "Are they really that big?!" Cause they don't seem that big when I'm playing with them/feeding them/putting them in their cribs day in and day out. In a way, they still feel like little babies to me. So these photos are a nice jolt of reality.

Sorry/not sorry for the overload of baby photos. But I've been wanting to do a post like this for a while. It's nice to share some images on my blog that weren't taken by me in perfect lighting, and weren't carefully edited and cropped and so forth. Because these types of photos are just as important and valuable too. At least to me.

finding new art // Andrea Tavarez Boeta

Living in San Diego means there's usually several art walks that happen every year. They're outdoor events that cover several streets, and hundreds of artists display and sell their art to the public over the course of two days. I've gone to my fair share while living here, and while they're generally fun, most of the art I see there just isn't my cup of tea. I always see tons of HDR-ed-to-death ocean pier shots (boring), weird metal scrap art in the shape of cats (just why?) and pretty-but-meh abstract watercolors. I know art is subjective, and what may seem boring to me may be the bee's knees to someone else, but.....yeah. I'm totally coming off as an art snob, aren't I. I'm the worst.

So yesterday at the Mission Federal ArtWalk in Little Italy, I felt like I struck gold when my friends and I came across Andrea Tavarez Boeta's booth. She's an artist from Tijuana, and the first piece I saw that drew me in was a small framed piece using blue string. I loved how minimal and delicate it was, and now I'm regretting not taking some photos of her pieces that she had on display. And then I saw her nude woman piece, and thought, "She gets me."

I don't remember where I read(or heard) this quote, but the saying goes, "Only buy art that you really, really love." And I did. And I'm so happy this gets to live in my house for me to enjoy. Even my husband likes it, yay!

Bonus: Even her business card is cooler than anything I'll ever make.

You can see more of Andrea's work on her website. And now I need to brush up on my Spanish so I can fan-girl her inbox :)

things I've enjoyed recently

1// Last weekend, a friend invited me an essential oils blends DIY, where we made some goodies to take home, like a calming face mist, roller for sore muscles, and detox bath salts. I've been curious about essential oils for a while, so this was a fun and informative introduction to it.

2// I'm in the middle of reading Jancee Dunn's How Not to Hate Your Husband After Kids, and so far, it's equal parts helpful and humorous. I love that she includes lots of of actual published data and advice from real marital counselors, but she's kind of my new hero for trying out the techniques she's learning on her own marriage. For the most part, the relationship between my husband and I is pretty solid, even post-twins, but there's definitely areas where we could improve. So this book is pretty eye-opening for me right now. (Bonus: even if you don't have kids, this book is filled with gems of relationship advice and holy-shit-that-is-so-us moments. If you live with your significant other and tend to fight a lot, you should read this!)

3// Catfight was soo good!

4// Suck it, People-Who-Think-Cats-Are-Assholes.

5// HBO's Big Little Lies was a slow burn for me, but so worth it.

6// This made me laugh!

7// My marriage recently turned 14 years old! Yay us! We went out for a much-deserved date night, and right before heading out, I asked my dear friend, who was babysitting the twins, if she would take this photo of us. I love that if you look closely, you can spot both loinfruits pressed up against the screen door, making Very Loud Noises because they wanted to be outside with us too. I'm so lucky to have these three people in my life :)

day trip // desert wander

Reason #5857 I love living in California: drive two hours in any direction, and the landscape will look completely different and magical. Thanks to all the heavy rains this year, all kinds of wildflowers are in bloom in the desert for the first time in years, so a group of friends and I made plans to drive out and see it for ourselves. Lots of picture-taking, climbing rocks, trying not to get pricked by cacti, and general silliness. The perfect day.

Chunks of these cacti would be all over the ground, just waiting to stab our ankles. We dubbed them "death balls."

The weirdest/coolest trees ever!

We saw this from the road and immediately pulled over. We called it Pride Rock.

Dawn enjoys her Lion King moment.

Raina found this painted rock, and we decided to re-hide it.

Shortly after this photo was taken, Dawn came across a red snake on the move, and she proceeded to lose her shit, and ran away screaming.

Looking for cool rocks. Also, bird bones.

I love this group of women so much, and I'm glad we got to do this! It's funny; we were originally headed to the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park visitor/information center to start our hike/picture-taking, but all of these photos happened when we decided to pull over on a whim because we saw something cool from the road and wanted to check it out. Sometimes I think the best day trips happen that way. Bonus: no other tourists around to clutter up our shots! (Once we actually got to the visitors center, we saw tons of tourists all parked along the same stretch of road, taking their photos all in the same area. Amateurs.)