charley star photo

TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS is not just $25

It is an expanded provisions store. It is new farm equipment. It is a new taxi.  It is more humane living conditions. With micro-lending, organizations like Kiva are helping people like you and me connect to entrepreneurs in the developing world who need money to grow or start businesses to support their families and improve their quality of life. 

Kiva caps the loan amount at $25, so its really affordable to help! Kiva provides journal updates about the business you invest in, until the loan is repaid.  Kiva is a credible  NGO that has been featured on Oprah, The Today Show,  and in Presiden't Clinton's book Giving.

Grace Nwaneze and her son

I am excited to now be an investor in the GRACE PROVISION STORE in Nigeria, along with 30 other investors.
There are many micro-financing organizations.  If you feel so compelled, i encourage you to invest in one of these unique small business, and empower a family to lift themselves out of poverty.

xxo

i do not yet know who i want to be
at the end of my days

i do not yet know what role
i will say i should've played
looking back upon my life.

i do not know if i am good
at making poems or art or cookies or money
i know only
that it doesn't matter.
the mattering
is in the opening and flowing, the giving
and receiving of this thing called ME,
this thing called YOU

I love birthdays!

yesterday was a beautiful day with friends to celebrate sati's bday. 
i can't believe she is 1 years old!  thanks to all the birthday wishes + love from everyone.

check out all of my photos:
Download satine_bday_slideshow.pdf

 

1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1 = 12 ==> 1

Twelve mo's ago today, i was very, uh, LARGE with child. very large. so large in fact that strangers on the street actually thought i was having twins, triplets even. but no, it was just you my love, roasting in my belly, getting good and plump.  and what a little plump angel you were.  you have grown from this:

to this:

in what seems like a flash, and i know you will be 18 and out of the house before i know it.  Twelve months ago, i began a journey-- motherhood -- that billions before me have taken, yet incredibly, feels fresh, unique, and like it is mine alone to journey.  there is an old chinese proverb that says: There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it. 

there is also the understanding "that [people] who fear becoming [parents] don't understand that parenting is not something perfect men do, but something that perfects the man.  The end product of child raising is not the child but the parent."  (Frank Pittman, Man Enough)

and so, satine, i enter this journey with you.  the next 18 years -- 35 -- 50... until hopefully you have your own children, and we will both look back upon this enriched journey of living with gratitude.  i for one, already, am filled with such deep-seated joy and awe at the gift of you, that i am silenced by its command.

Happy Birthday Satiney!

you are the light and joy of my life!
many many many blessings for you today and always~

xxo

BLURRY EYED

buggy's got a cold. not sleeping well....

WE'RE BACK

hi all.  we're back from a great trip visiting N's fam.  thanks to everyone for a wonderful time. we spent time with the fam AND i got to see Chicago for the very first time.  we took satine to the (free!  What?!) zoo right on the lake.  very cool.

been playing catch up on everything since i got back, but real quick before i go to sleep, just want to let you know that i've launched the 7:01 MORNING PHOTOS PROJECT ---> i was having so much fun with the photos, i decided it warranted its own site.  check it out, and if you like what you see, please subscribe for a new photo every morning!  thanks.


more later. gotta get some zzzzzz's.

xxo

A COUPLA THINGS BEFORE I GO...

been running around all day like crazy, trying to get ready for our trip to chicago (well, ok, an hour outside), but i just had to tuck into the Martin Schoeller show at Ace Gallery because it closes today. glad i did... wow. amazing portraiture.

Masino, 2005
Martin Schoeller

also, been loving -- !--  my new SPORKS. made by bambu of bamboo, they're perfect for adults or babies -- no plastic leaching, perfect size for their little hands, and great for traveling.  and picnics.  but i've been using them even for regular meals.  they feel great, and i think i particularly like them 'cause they remind me of those little ice cream sticks you used to get as a kid with those tiny vanilla ice cream servings.  plus, they're eco-friendly, reusable (at least for a few times) and after disposal, they bio-degrade in 4-6 months.  i'm tossing a few in the bag for satine for our trip.

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so as i said today was kinda busy, and i needed a quick meal for me + satine.

Usually in our house, N used to be the "every day" cook, and I was the "special occasion so i want to try a really grand, really great new recipe" cook.  but of course, now that i'm a mom, and N works most nights, i've (gladly) had to up my practice in the kitchen. so i've been loving discovering new recipes, reading cookbooks, trying new things.  the other night i made this delicious Warm Butternut and Chickpea Salad.  (Thanks Orangette!)  which was just stunning. 

For a shortcut on her recipe though-- because really, what mom has the time to peel and cube butternut squash?-- i bought the butternut squash in the pre-peeled and cubed convenience bags.  so tonight i'm looking in the fridge, and see that i've got a couple bags of butternut squash left over.   perfect.  So tonight i decided to modify the recipe even more. this time i skipped the chickpea/tahini thing and just tossed it with the allspice and garlic. baked it. when it was done, i sprinkled some fresh parrmesan cheese on top and a dollop of the pumpkin butter that i got at Underwood Farms the other week.   yum!   satine loved it too -- the parmesan cheese helped seal the deal. so for any moms out there looking for an easy recipe, this is it! (though i skipped the pumpkin butter when serving the munchkin).

enjoy!  i'll be offline for a few days so have a good week everyone!

xxo

MORNIN' BEDHEAD

(click to enlarge)

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i love being a mom to you satine. 

xxo

MORE OF THE 7:01 MORNINGS PROJECT

a guitar fan, a guitar, and a fan.

FOUND SOUNDS

"OK, you have to pretend like you're dead."
"For how long?"
"Forever."
"Forever?"
"Forever."

                      -Overheard #36: two girls at the playground,
                       from the Found Sounds project.

7:01 -- THE MORNING SNAPSHOTS PHOTO PROJECT

dead duck

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pre-mommyhood, i was nowhere near a morning person. now, i actually find myself enjoying them (well, once i grumble out of bed). i'm a huge fan of stephanie and mav at 3191 and they have inspired me to start my own collection of morning photos.  so i'll be posting a lot more of these here, which i'll eventually move into the photo album.  i'm sure mine will, like the photo above, be a document of the beauty of "decorating" with child, but sometimes satine's "messes" are strangely beautiful.

hope u enjoy!
xxo

ps. please feel free to comment. and if anybody wants to join me in this project, email me your morning photo to hello@charleystar.com.

good morning monday.
+ happy birthday to jason whose bday was saturday 

hope everyone had a good weekend.  here's a little taste of ours:

ducks at echo park

it was a great weekend to get outside... beautiful weather, hint of fall.  being october already, i wanted to see some fall leaves but as you can see from above, its mostly palm trees.  then yesterday i logged in to see what my sis was doing and was inspired by the beautiful fall foliage back East  and how beautiful her hydrangeas looked in the fall.  so i ventured out to find some colorful leaves--or something-- of my own. something to remind me that it was indeed changing seasons.

i was totally surprised to see that i didn't even have to venture further than my own backyard. i hadn't been back there in a couple of days, and in my absence it had "fallen."

our flowers in bloom.  Q to Kee: are these the same as your lonicera sempervirens?


LA version of fall foliage.  note the palm tree.  this is our backyard.

SAFETY IS SO CUTE

There has been a string of reports lately about the dangers of plastic leaching into our foods.  Apparently some of you  (ahem... cough... hubby) missed the memo and are still nuking plastics in the microwave.  or think baby bottles are the only thing you should be worried about. think again. Rubber ducks, teething rings, plastic books, you name it. if it's plastic, its at risk for having BPA and or phthalates.  BPA is one of the highest-volume chemicals in the world and if you're living and breathing, you're probably already walking around with some of it in your body. It has been linked to female reproductive-tract disorders, early-stage prostate and breast cancer and decreased sperm counts in animals exposed to low doses.  Read more here.

What about my water bottle? Tupperware?  well i myself had forgotten which numbers are "safe" so i had to look it up again.  basically, stay away from #3.  supposedly, #1, #2, #4, and #5 plastics are the best choice.  more doom and gloom about how the gov't, toy, & chemical co's are watching out for us here. but kudos to the city of San Fransciso who was the first city in the nation to ban the sale of baby products containing phthalates and bisphenol A back in 2006. Why isn't every city doing this??? I'm going to try to do a little research about L.A., but if anyone knows anything feel free to comment.

but i digress.  the GOOD NEWS is that concerned parents now have great-- and STYLISH -- choices for liquid-delivery vessels (no, not your boob, Moms) for their babies.  take a look at this:

weego bottle

ok seriously.  how cute is this?  the folks at BabyLife (love them!) have given us a really cute and SAFE option for feeding our munchkins -- the weego.  And because it's made of glass instead of plastic, you no longer need to ask your lil bunchkin, "hey... like a little Bisphenol A with that milk?"  The non-toxic, plastic-free sleeve acts as a protective bumper for the glass, and the plastic pieces (ring, plug, cap) are all bisphenol A, phthalate, PVC and polycarbonate-free.  Nice going BabyLife. (bad news: not yet available in stores. website says "coming soon.")

the folks at BornFree are making a range of BPA-free bottles and sippy cups.

and SIGG has eco-friendly, reusable (Americans add 30 million plastic water bottles to the landfill... everyday. nice.) water bottles made from aluminum and a 100% leach-proof liner inside.



drink up, kiddies!

xxo

MORNING THOUGHTS

What do i need from this day for my soul to unfold?
For my deepest, truest self to find expression,
and bloom?

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ive been reading dawn markova's book lately, and she poess to us: what are the question we ask ourselves each day, each morning, when we wake? do we ask "what is the laundry list of things i need to do today?" "What are the problems I need to solve today" For she theorizes that the questions we ask ourrselves on a repeated basis are the very things by which we define ourselves and form our lives.

and so i took a look at the questions i ask myself.  What are my questions? What is my question? the one that i've asked with enough frequency that its begun to inform my life? better yet, if i could CHANGE that question, how would my life improve?

What if, instead of "how am i going to get everything done today?" i began to ask myself how i could notice the different shades of blue in the sky? How many shades are there? Is it different from yesterday? How about the night sky?
how can i become a better listener?
How can i...love more? enjoy more? open my heart? appreciate life more?
what would i tell myself about this being alive if i were to die and could offer my (living) self some advice?

so i came up with a new question-- what do i need from this day for a deeper and truer unfolding?

{Nature. walks. brisk air. laughter. joy. writing. creativity. friends. love. kisses. chocolate. my baby's breath....}



What are your questions? How do you enter your day?

xxo

PUNK'N IN THE PUMPKIN PATCH

it's hard to believe that just 1/2 an hour outside of LA is a land as far removed from the glitz and glam of hollywood as say, idaho is. Just a quick drive outside of the city, and satine and i found ourselves at  Underwood Farms, a welcome respite from the traffic jams and concrete jungle of los angeles. This past weekend was the kick-off of their Fall Harvest Festival.  You can pick pumpkins, go for tractor rides, watch live bands and clog dancing...

Punk'n in the Pumpkin Patch

and when even Whole Foods can't satisfy that urge for fresh, garden-fresh foods, you can venture to Underwood Farms to pick your own fruits and veggies. This week, fresh for the picking is:  raspberries, sunflowers, zinnias, yellow wax beans, eggplant, bell peppers, squash, zucchini, okra, black-eyed peas, cucumbers, and tomatoes.  YUM!

(click to enlarge)


Satine finally picks her pumpkin

The Fall Harvest Festival runs through the end of October.  You can also check the pick-your-own crop calendar here to find out what deliciousness is available year round.