The Mama is a schmuck

In the last few weeks, several delightful bloggers have delightfully bestowed… well… delightful awards upon the book of alice. But I am a schmuck and I’ve done nothing with said delights. Instead of the proper response , I am simply going to give a shout-out to the very kind (and delightful) folks who like my wee blog. They are (in alphabetical order)…

All that makes you…

The Common Tarte

Hurt or Heal

Inhouse Mum

The Musings of a Jewish Stay-at-Home Father

These are five terrific blogs (I actually read them), and I am honored that they find some joy/humor/glad-it-isn’t-me moments on the book of alice.

Thanks folks. You really are swell.

lady alice*

The elaborate event that was last night’s Grammy Awards had me thinking about funny little songs The Kidling has composed over the years. This is a personal favorite of mine…

 

October 2010, 2 3/4 years old

There was a farmer had a dog and Mingo was his name-o.
B-R-N-G-O and Nemo was his name-o.

 

* As in Lady Gaga. Clever, right? No? **sigh**

the LBD of awards*

I suppose I should say thank you. the book of alice was awarded The Versatile Blogger Award by the wickedly funny author of Paltry Meanderings of a Taller Than Average Woman (try saying that three times fast). Which is lovely. And thoughtful. And retributive. You see, I bestowed the coveted 7×7 Award upon Cristy and six other fabulous bloggers a couple of weeks ago. And these lovely little awards do require a fair amount of work, particularly when your average blogpost takes four minutes to write. So here goes…

Rules, Rules, Rules…

1. Add the Versatile Blogger Award to your post… not as cute as a picture of The Kidling, but fine.
2. Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link back to their blog… here’s lookin’ at you, kid.
3. Share 7 completely random pieces of information about myself… no dice. About The Kidling. No one wants to hear about The Mama.
4. Include this set of rules in your post… because everyone loves rules.
5. Nominate 10 fellow bloggers for The Versatile Blogger Award in this post… watch out, blogging world. You’ve got some work to do!
6. Notify each of the nominees by posting a comment on each of their blogs… I’m cheating (thanks for the idea, Cristy). Email it is.

Super Random…

1. Alice’s favorite color is “all of them.”
2. The Kidling thinks The Mama is smelly. Because I am. After yoga, that is. When I get home she says, “Ick Mom! Get out of your stinky yoga clothes!”
3. Alice has absolutely no conception of scarcity. She inhales artisanal sopressata at the same rate with which she consumes cheap summer sausage: very, very rapidly.
4. The Kidling and The Dada have matching sweatshirts (don’t worry. They don’t leave the house in them. Duh). Whenever Alice sees her father in his, she suddenly declares: “I’m cold!” This, of course, is code for: I want to match Dad! Pretty stinkin’ cute.
5. Alice is a guilty carnivore. Stay tuned for related posts.
6. The Kidling is obsessed (obsessed) with genuine, New Orleans brass bands. Particularly, The Soul Rebels. And rightfully so. This is some serious, get-down funky music (they also happen to be the soundtrack to almost every dance party in our household).
7. Alice is painfully cute. Seriously. Painful. But you knew that…

And the Nominees Are…

1. The Tiny Sartorialist. Gorgeous. And tiny. Gorgeously tiny.
2. , . Yes, that comma is the blog title. And it is gorgeous.
3. Insatiable Booksluts. Love, love, love this book review blog.
4. Haute off the Press. Law + fashion = fabulous.
5. Trinkets and Treasures. Pretty, pretty things.
6. AJ Rokin. This lawyer-turned-writer procrastinates in blog form. Surely you’ve never done that…
7. Jimmie Chew. Have you ever wondered about animal stars? This blog is seriously genius.
8. Bohemian Babies. Someone has to keep track of all the fabulous kiddo-design, right?! And she does it so well.
9. Jennie Ingham. If, like me, you have a separate board on Pinterest for textiles, you should check out this blog. Swoon.
10. Shoes on the Wrong Feet. I just really like this blog about life and the little things.

Whew! Done. Cheers!

* Get it? Little black dress? Versatile? Sigh. I try…

49*

Well, whaddaya know?  Someone likes us, Alice!**  The lovely Shoes on the Wrong Feet bestowed the 7×7 award upon the book of alice. Shucks. And thanks. I like you, too!

So, this award asks me to 1) tell you seven things you don’t know about me, 2) link seven of my posts to a set of seven categories, and 3) re-award the gift to seven bloggers I think are swell.

Now I will be frank. The generous Shoes gave me this award exactly one month after I started the book of alice. This means part 2) will be pretty difficult. Although I have been posting pretty much every other hour since I started blogging, it is still only one month of material. I’ll do my best. Part 3) will be a bit easier, but I am still finding all of the great bloggers out there… Finally, since I swore up and down (to myself, which means I can absolutely break the promise if I change my mind) that this blog would notnotnotnotnot be about me, I’m doing a bit of tweaking regarding part 1). Enjoy, and thanks again, Shoes!***

Part 1

1. Under no circumstances does Alice introduce herself as “Alice.” It is always (always) her full name. First, middle, and last.
2. Alice is a contralto. Imagine how much cuter every. single. thing. I type would sound coming from a husky four-year old.
3. For her third birthday, Alice asked for a white cake with “moons and circles and numbers and a picture of a flat iron” on it. I think I spent too much time grooming that year, no?
4. For her fourth birthday, Alice told me, “I want a castle cake with a dinosaur and a dragon and a princess getting eaten.” Really.
5. Alice rarely pronounces an initial “s”. It leads to some very interesting words/phrases/looks from people. For example, “I have a scar from when I fell on my scooter.”
6. Have you ever seen that episode of Seinfeld where Elaine dances? You know, that bizarre kick with thumbs pointing outward with random hip motions? That’s how Alice dances. It is fabulous.
7. Alice is positively amazing. But you already knew that one…

Part 2

1. Most Surprisingly Successful: My Brain.
2. Most Underrated: I honestly am not sure how to answer this. So I won’t. Sorry. How do I know what you all think of what you are reading? I don’t have the “rate this” on my page precisely because I don’t want anyone sullying the illusion that you love every word I write. Duh.
3. Most Popular: Science. My all-time favorite Alice story. I smiled when I saw it was the most popular post.
4. Most Beautiful: I am not a “beautiful” writer. I am a silly writer. A wry writer. A frank writer. But not beautiful. That said, I’m just going to pick the post with my favorite writing: Commercial Interruption.
5. Most Helpful: Musical Interlude. Let’s face it. None of my posts are helpful. The event described in this one, however, was positively enlightening for me to witness as it unfolded. It showed me the differences in the way children and adults think. I believe children see things as they are, devoid of categories. Alice didn’t know that she was combining three songs; she only knew that these words all went with the same tune. I thought about her little brain differently after this day.
6. Most Controversial: Yuck. Because adults are never (ever) supposed to admit to picking their noses.
7. Most Pride-Worthy: Dear. Pride-worthy for the facts, not the writing. It is a beautiful thing to watch a child express gratitude in her own honest, quirky way. I loved this note.

Part 3

1. Piles of Laundry in the Holy Land: This is probably my favorite blog. Great writing, a terrific narrative voice, and the awe of knowing she has a daily home yoga practice. It is sosososo hard to have a daily home-based yoga practice. Put me in a studio and I am great, but home is a different story. Brava, YogaMama. You are pretty swell.
2. Becoming Cliche: My Journey to Becoming My Mother: Because even if it weren’t a great blog (which it is), it would deserve an award just for the name.
3. The Sugared Beauty Blog: More for her unbelievable product than anything, but the blog is a good source of information on natural beauty products and Sarah’s all-around good cheer. Because she is amazing!
4. Indulge-Travel, Adventure, & New Experiences: Lesley Carter has probably gotten approximately four gazillion awards for this terrific travel and lifestyle blog, but here she is again! Bonus points for the Oxford Comma in the title…
5. Tyler Coulson: If you haven’t heard about Tyler, you should check out his blog. Along with his dog Mabel, Tyler quit his job at a big law firm and trekked across the United States. Okay, Mabel didn’t quit the big law job, but I bet you knew what I meant…
6. Nell’s Dish Du’Jour: Beautiful photography, good writing… an all-around great blog. It makes me want to be Nell’s friend.
7. Paltry Meanderings of a Taller Than Average Woman: I confess I just found this blog today. But it is f.u.n.n.y. And everyone knows if you take the time to put a “.” between each letter of a word, than it must be extra of, well… that word. Thus, Paltry Meanderings is extra funny.

* 49 = 7×7. As in the name of the award. Get it? I am just so, so clever…

** Okay, I get that it isn’t really me that she likes. I’m no fool. But Alice is, after all, half me, so I am going to take a wee bit of credit.

*** Did I mention that this award comes from Shoes on the Wrong Feet? Oh, I did? Just checking…