What's On Tap This Month - JUNE

Homemade Baby Quilts

I have a hard time throwing things out. I could thank my Cuban ancestors' need to save, restore and regenerate uses for things for this. When Husband and I discovered that Baby 2 was going to be a boy I became weepy eyed over all of the little girl clothes that I would never again sport on another little niña. Enter Baby Clothes Quilt. I collected the clothes that had a special memory for us and waited for Nana's (my Cuban aunt) arrival. She's a master seamstress and while the original idea came from Pinterest, like all great things, the idea was borrowed and tweaked. The quilt is made of three layers: the baby clothes, an inner soft towel layer for fluff, and a bottom layer of a lovely fabric we bought. Once the "simple" - and I say simple very loosely since it was HOURS of work for dear Nana -  once the "simple" quilt was finished we placed other details from those same outfits (flowers, bows, a heart from a pair of booty shorts, tulle from a tutu, etc.) and layered them on top. Rafaella's first bathing suit is now a pocket on her quilt. Yellow tulle from one of her dresses dances at the bottom of the quilt like a cloth ballerina. I know the quilt was supposed to be for Rafa, but I think I might keep it for me and hug myself in memories of her first year.

Summer (in NJ)

School's out. Graduation parties. Walks to the park to play on the swings. The familiar sound of the neighborhood ice cream truck. Oh boy... the sweet sounds of summer! Even more sweet is our upcoming arrival back to our homeland, The Dirty (what ONLY we natives can fondly call our beautiful NJ). We are excited to see our family and friends and introduce them to the newest Kaufman Legra (Santiago) and show off the brilliant cuteness that is Rafaella. We also can't wait to begin showing our kiddos what growing up for us was like. It's an amazing thing to come full circle and show your kids what made you happy as at their age. Lazy days at the lake (not to mention excellent food), parks with baby friendly swings, strolls down our beloved Westfield with an adult stop at Rockin' Joe's or Starbucks, chasing down the ice cream truck, running through sprinklers, hanging out with friends in their backyard with the BBQ grilling, playing with cousins, chasing fireflies, and the perk of short drives to NYC to spend the day at Central Park, any of the many museums, eating lots of pizza, or any of the other millions of things to do in Manhattan. Of course, no visit to New Jersey would be complete without a visit to the Shore. Even in its devastation, every NJ native can fall in love with the Jersey Shore. The summer is the perfect time to show Rafa and Santiago that no matter where we travel [their] your roots will always be planted in The Garden State.

Watt's Up Highlighter

Since having two children I have become more of a makeup user (and snob) than ever before in my life. Maybe it's because I have to hide the tired eyes of sleepless nights or because in a day where a lot of time is devoted to those little people this time is all about me (although "mane-up" as Rafa calls it, is her favorite time of day now so I guess I actually share even this). This year when I went home for Christmas I made a long pit stop at Sephora and picked up my free gift... a highlighter. I hadn't the slightest idea what a highlighter was that didn't come in the form of a bright yellow marker so of course I googled it. Turns out that that dewy, fresh faced look that I had been admiring on J.Lo for years comes in this little silver tube. And with the amount of time that I actually have to do "mane-up" with a 20 month old sitting beside me, it's a good thing it takes no time at all to apply. (And its perfect for summer - no other "mane-up" needed.)

Sephora's Watt's Up Highlighter

Apparently... Boy Belts
I have struggled for years to find belts that fit me. As a very proud Hispanic woman, these hips that are good for birthing are apparently not good for belts. Apparently, a size 12 belt doesn't exist unless I want to wear it under my boobs to create an A-line shape. A few weeks ago, I saw some cute boy belts at Jumbo, our version of Target here in Dominican Republic, and a light bulb lit up. Boy belts? Yes. Boy belts. I tried one on and voilá! Thank you boy belts for fitting around these hips that apparently don't lie.

These belts found on ebay.com

You're So Quotable

Recitethis.com is my new favorite way to make myself sound totally brilliant and be creative with alley cat quickness.  Any time you want to quote yourself - because let's face it what we say on a daily basis should be quoted for all of history to remember - you can simply type in your pearls of wisdom and choose a template for those words to be spotlighted. Anything you say can sound brilliant when it's written on a fancy template. 

see? doesn't this just make what I say sound so smart?