What a weekend a.k.a. WE GOT ENGAGED!

What a weekend!

Saturday morning Lauren's mother, Nana, came to get Sierra for an over night sleepover (first time ever!) and Lauren and I were going for a night away alone (first time ever!) to celebrate our 5 year anniversary. We wanted to stay nearby so we went an hour or so North of Boston to Hampton, NH. Hampton is a small town with a long boardwalk full of restaurants, bars and arcades running along side a big beautiful beach. We had visited Hampton once before in the winter and have always wanted to see in it's summer season.

Packing

Leaving our lovely city.

We left Boston around noon and headed north for the night. We had a lovely drive listening to and singing along to the cheesiest music possible; Dashboard Confessional was in heavy rotation. Once arriving in New Hampshire we were both famished so we stopped at Good Karma Café, a delicious raw vegan gluten-free place in Exter. If you are heading through NH and have dietary restrictions (or even if you don't) I highly suggest you stop here - the food was wonderful!

Uplifting sign as you enter the restaurant. Thanks Good Karma Café!

After lunch we went to our hotel to drop off our things and take a quick dip in the pool and a nice relaxing lounge in the jacuzzi before heading up to our room to search for fun things to do (on our iPad. Thanks for the present Gramma!). Hampton is full of things to do, including tattoos and mini golf which is of course what we decided to do. We found a place that had great reviews and photos of their work just down the road from the hotel called Jim's Tattoos and decided to check it out. We both got quick little tattoos and love the way they came out! If you're ever in Hampton and in need of a tattoo i suggest Jim's HIGHLY! They do great work, it's affordable, friendly and FAST!

Our New Tattoos.

After that we went and played 16 holes of mini-golf and I kicked Lauren's ass (by two whole strokes). After my PGA quality game we rushed home, changed into fancier clothes and rushed out to dinner.

Dinner was amazing - seriously. Blue Moon Evolution is an awesome vegetarian & vegan friendly restaurant that is in situated in an old restored barn in Exeter, NH. It's dimly lit by candles and string lighting, has a great menu and the service was top notch. If you're vegan and in need of a good date spot in New Hampshire this is it - no contest. For an after dinner drink we went to 10 Water Street down the road on the river and Lauren even let me watch the 3rd period of the Hawks v. Kings game... THAT LATE GOAL RIGHT?! 

Blue Moon Evolution and 11 Water Street - both great spots!!

After our drink we headed to the Boardwalk back in Hampton and went for a lovely walk and even hit up an old school arcade to play skee ball. We grabbed one more drink nearby and headed to the beach to star gaze.

The arcade and our loot.

By this time it was nearing midnight, making it June 9th, officially our anniversary. I'll spare you the mushy details of my proposal but she said YES and thats all that matters!

We had a child first, then we moved in together and now we're getting married. Not the traditional order of events but it's worked for us. I feel incredibly lucky to be engaged to such a gorgeous, smart, caring and supportive woman who I have a beautiful daughter with and I couldn't be happier or be more lucky.

-Craig

Hello! My name is André.

Hello! I'm Andre, one of the newest additions to The Hipster Dad. Let me tell you a little bit about myself (without tying to sound like a singles ad)...

I met Craig through our friends from American Authors. We became good friends because 1- we are both art geeks/MassArt graduates and 2- we both have crazy adorable daughters. We set up our first family date almost a year ago where my wife Liz and Craig's girlfriend Lauren hit it off right away. We've all been hanging ever since and I feel really luck to have made good friends as an adult (which is tough to do) and to have a dad friend to swap stories with.

I've written maybe .004673% of the posts over at Husband Wife Baby, a blog my wife started shortly after finding out we were pregnant.  I'll share more about trying to get pregnant/dealing with infertility at some point, let's just say that sticking your wife with needles in order to try to get pregnant is NOT fun. 

And just to prove how parenting always keeps you on your toes, we have baby #2 on the way through NO medical assistance (and this one was a definite surprise!). We are due in late May and can't wait to add another kid to the crew of cuties here at The Hipster Dad. As for my daughter Eila (14 months), this was her reaction when she found out:

Well, that's it for now. Looking forward to hanging out here!

-André

From Troy to Boston: Adeline's Daddy & Family come for a visit! -- PART 2

So meant to post this last week but life got int he way so here we go! So on day two of "Don Does Massachusetts" we explored some neighborhoods so they could get a feel for the different parts of Boston. We checked out Back Bay, Brookline and a few other places. I won't bore you make you jealous with the details but here are some cute photos from the day! It was a lovely day shared with new pals and we miss them already! -Craig


(p.s. If you missed part 1 read here!)

For lunch we went to one of our favorite spots The Otherside Cafe which sadly is closing in less than 20 days! Glad Don, Rachel and Addy got to try it out before it closes it's doors. Here are Sierra and Addy enjoying some cucumbers and sunnies:

Here is Don on double swing duty for the girls. I die from the cuteness.

Sierra shredding up the playground!

Rachel taking a nice picture while Addy is eyeing the boys on the basketball court.

Addy enjoying the sandbox.

Apparently my daughter is half puppy and enjoys the feel of the open air on her tongue?

ACTION SHOT! Best part of the photo is Rachel's face.

She used to be frightened of this bridge and here she is enjoying it for the first time (with a little help of course!)

Restaurant Review: Ayur-Shri (Way kid friendly!)

So I don't normally "review" restaurants but we had such an amazing experience tonight I felt compelled to let you know about it. If you live anywhere near the southcoast of Massachusetts you need to check out Ayur-Shri. It is a cute little Indian restaurant on Route 6 in Dartmouth Massachusetts near New Bedford. Whenever we visit my parents in New Bedford it's a constant issue of where we can eat as NB isn't the most vegan-friendly place in the world. We normally end up at No Problemo Taqueria which is AWESOME but it's nice to mix it up sometimes. Not only was Ayur-Shri really delicious and authentic Indian food that's on par with pricey places we've tried in Boston it's also WAY KID FRIENDLY!!!

We walked in on a Saturday night at 8 PM with our family and our BFFs Uncle Will & Aunty Jill and instead of being met with eye rolls we were asked if we'd like to sit in the "family room". We were not forced it was a choice which was nice! Of course we took them up and were directed through the dark restaurant to a small room with four or five tables in a well lit back room. We were far enough from the regular dining room that we didn't feel self conscious about Sierra's giggling or Tozzle playing. Not only was the family room an awesome accommodation but without asking they brought her a small plate, small spoon and a paper cup w/ lid and straw. The waitress was patient, nice and very attentive despite being in a back room with no other customers.

Some photos I stole from their website since like I said we went pretty late and it was dark.

Being kid friendly was totally the winner for me at Ayur-Shri but in addition they are also super vegan friendly. They had a clearly marked vegetarian section on the menu and also had little icons indicating which things had dairy in them and also another icon stating "Can be made dairy free upon request".

My dinner + my beer :-) BOTH AWESOME!

Like I said this is not a restaurant review website but I felt the need to let anyone in that area who has kids (or perhaps vegetarian / vegan diet restrictions) know that they should totally check this place out for a great night out with your family full of great food, awesome service and 0% scowls at your loud toddler! -Craig


Links:

• Website
• Twitter
• Facebook

Thursday Tunes #10 / "Just Pretend" by DIVORCÉES

So Today's "Thursday Tunes" is a song off DIVORCÉES debut EP "Live at the New Bedford Elks #73" which will be released on vinyl by Croon Recordings on February 24th.

Not Only is this song and the entire record amazing but the band is made up of two people I have known and loved for a long time Ross Nunes and Aaron Alves who between the two of them have been in too many talented / awesome bands to count. To top it off one of my best friends Trevor Vaughan owns  the label which is putting it out and it's his first vinyl release so it's a big deal for him too. If you live in MA make sure you check out the show if not make sure you order this album when it comes out Feb 24th you wont be disappointed! Enjoy:

 

"Fart Spray" by: Christopher Swanson

I have been begging one of my good friends Chris to contribute to THD for a few months now considering he's one of the coolest Dads I know. The other day I woke up to an e-mail titled "Fart Spray" in my inbox. Enjoy.

--------------------------------

Fart Spray.

          I like my kids sense of humor. Maybe I can relate to it so well because she’s five years old and that’s where I’m at mentally, I don’t know.  I do know that I was filled with pride the time she asked me what the words on my tape measure said.  When I told her it read “HEAVY DUTY” she burst out laughing.. I must admit, I was nonplussed.. she explained through guffaws, “You said ‘DOODIE’!” *more giggling “HEAVY DOODIE!” *falls on floor laughing. 

That’s my girl.

          So, last week, Ophelia informed me that she wishes to own a “case filled with pranks”.  I can’t say what spurred this, presumably it was the influence of some snappy cartoon show, perhaps SpongeBob, maybe Fishtronaut.. In any case, the idea instantly resonated with me, and I started to reminisce about all my favorite old joke shop pranks.  She was familiar with the hand-buzzer and kaleidoscope eye-stamp, both of which she planned (with my implicit approval) to ply on her old Portuguese grandfather.  I told her about the time I got my high school math teacher with the whoopie cushion and how we cleared out a laundromat with stink-bombs.  She was partial to the snakes in the peanut brittle gag, and of course the classic, fake poop.

          There really aren’t too many descent joke shops around anymore, the nearest ones are all at least an hour away, but every day Ophelia would bring it up, begging me to help start her collection.  Then it finally occurred to me that Spencer Gifts in the mall has a shitty little gag section, and it would most likely be enough to temporarily satiate her prank-lust.  The first round I allowed her one item.  She chose the “Mixed Nuts” gag, and for the next several days I was forced to play dumb, then act surprised when a squeaky snake came jumping out. After a while it got tiring and I would refuse the nuts. “Oh, are these roasted with salt, I prefer raw.” No, she would not accept that.  Just open the damn can and scream.  

          Eventually, we found ourselves back at the mall for more, this time adding the “Spearmint Gum/Finger Snap” gag, and the hand-buzzer to her “case”.  Having memories of all these old toys, I must comment on how shoddy and cheap they’re all made now.  They all bore the finger print of Chinese manufacturing, on the Spearmint Gum gag, was written “Always enjoy praticle joke!”<sic> In any case, she didn’t know the difference and was completely stoked on her new vocation as prankster.  (As a side note, while I was waiting in line at Spencer to purchase said pranks, I witnessed a woman buying brass Truck-Nuts on a credit card.  This, to me, was the epitome of consumer confidence.) 

          Now we have a nice little collection going, and we walk through the mall to Ruby Tuesdays, as she tries out her new tricks on me along the way.  At no time would she ever subject herself to any of them. The finger snap was o.k. to try on me,  but too scary to put her own precious little finger into.  The same goes for the hand-buzzer.  So, we sit down in a booth and the waitress comes over to take our order. I figure, I’ll give the waitress a chance to earn a better tip, by playing along.  I give her a big deliberate wink in case she’s a total rube, and offer her a stick of gum.  She gets me, and goes to accept the gum, when Ophelia suddenly dives in the way, “Nooo, it’s a trick!!”  Naturally, we all crack up laughing at my sweet, softhearted little girl.  Ophelia, satisfied at having saved the lady, went on to explain the ins and outs of all her pranks like Penn & Teller, giving away all the secrets.

          We enjoyed our dinner together, as we always do, and on the way out Ophelia stopped the waitress “And remember, if you see me with a can of mixed nuts... Watch out!”

p.s. Check out some awesome work by Chris's partner in crime: http://www.tsilvabarbosa.com

Guest Dad: Matt Ferreira

In the early days of hip hop, one of the defining characteristics of the music consisted of a production technique called sampling. The instrumental or “beat” was actually a collage of sounds taken from various pieces of music, television, movies, or any media that contained audio. This collection of previously existing sounds would then be skillfully arranged and weaved together to create a fluid, rhythmic, original piece of music. Think of the saying “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”.

I relate to this art form when I think of the family I’ve created for myself. My name is Matt Ferreira, 25, from New Bedford, MA. When my wife Leah and I started dating in November 07, she had two children from previous relationships—Xavier (then 3, now 6) and Nancie (then 2 now 5). To make a long story short, Nancie went to live with her father for what was supposed to be a temporary stay that ended up turning into a three year custody battle to get her back and I ended up adopting Xavier who had never known his biological father much like I had never known mine. In March 2009, my son Matthew Jr. was born and my daughter Azaria came soon after in August 2010. A few months ago, Leah’s custody battle finally came to an end and Nancie now lives with us—all the sibs together full time at last. And since she hasn’t seen or talked to her dad at all after that last court date, I’ve become more of a stepFATHER than a STEPfather.

So, to re-cap—I have an adopted kid, a step kid, and two biological kids all under the same roof with my wife and I. Potentially, it could be a disastrous, life-scarring scenario for these kids, with some feeling less loved than others. But through truly knowing our children and what they need to feel stable, Leah and I are able to make all the elements of our family weave together seamlessly like a DJ Premiere beat. And I don’t mean that we’re the perfect family where everyone gets along all the time and there are no problems. What I mean is that our problems do not include our kids feeling like they’re part of the family to greater or lesser degrees than one another.

The key ingredient to making this work is of course sincerity. For all our children to feel equally accepted they must actually be equally accepted by both adults in the house. Seeing that Leah is the biological mother of all of our children, our family structure mostly depended on my degree of acceptance of the two children she brought into my life in the beginning. It’s funny, but I remember being really little and hearing my adoptive parents arguing with some lady, I don’t remember who, about whether or not a child is really yours if it’s not your flesh and blood. Now that I’m an adult with both children I made and some that I didn’t, I can finally say with confidence that the lady was wrong. The fact that you made a child is only one reason to love them, and while it’s a good one, there’s still plenty of others which could apply to any child—it’s all about whether or not you choose to do so.

Another thing that I feel helps is that there are no step or half brothers and sisters in our home. Our children are taught that they are brothers and sisters, period. They live in the same house, follow the same rules, and sit at the same table to eat the same dinner at the same time, so I can think of no good reason to distinguish their sibling-ship to one another with prefixes. My wife and I treating them all with equality as parents only holds so much weight if they don’t follow suit in the way they view each other. Plus, we can’t go one dinner without someone saying with a mouth full of food “Look, I’m beating you guys at eating!” so I can imagine what a daily “I’m More Mom and Dad’s Kid Than You Are” competition would be like. Yeah, no thanks.

So, that’s my family—four children, two parents, mad love. There’s some families out there in similar circumstances who are different than mine in that they have boundaries and separations, and if that’s what works for them, that’s great. My wife and I on the other hand have always felt it was best for our household to exist as a whole. We want to live, grow, and function as a full-fledged family rather than six people who are associated solely by the fact that two of those people are in a relationship. You won’t ever hear me say “Honey, can you tell your kid to stop leaving the bathroom light on?” I’m the dad in our house—I’ll handle it. 

WHAT'S NEW FRIDAY: Summer, Summer, Summer Time...

I just dropped Sierra off at daycare and am now sitting in my favorite coffee shop at 8:00 AM. They are playing Radiohead on the radio, the A/C is bumping and I am sipping on the largest iced coffee known to man, this is a good moment...


I wrote that a week or two ago with the intention of writing this long, thoughtfully written blog post about life... well, life is... BUSY! Hence only getting the first two sentences of that post finished, sorry about that! Although I am not in a coffee shop, I am finally sitting down for a few minutes to 'pen' some of whats been going on over here at Hipster Dad headquarters. I think I'll be doing these "What's New" posts every Friday from now on so let's get started:


WHAT'S NEW WITH US: So like I said, Sierra has left daycare for the summer and Lauren is temporarily a stay-at-home mom. I am still working my full time job and doing (almost) too much freelance to handle. It's finally warm here in Boston and we couldn't be happier. We have been hitting beaches, playgrounds, and cookouts like nobodies business. All three of us (and all of our friends) seem in general just happier which is nice. The New England sucks the happy right out of you in the winter! Here we are last Sunday in our "back yard".

We call this "Lazy Man's Cornhole" featuring the best bean bag return system ever! I swear she had a blast doing it, it wasn't forced or even requested! (Photo Stolen From Mom, Sorry!)

WHAT'S NEW WITH SIERRA: Over the past few months Sierra has transformed from my sweet little baby who's only two words were "mama" and "daddy" to an adventurous, giggly and talkative toddler. I wrote a post about this a few weeks back but I just wanted to write a little postscript if you will. Most changes in your child for the first two years are rather gradual, their size, their personality and taste in food. Other things are so fast it blows your mind, I often find myself saying "Where did you learn that?!" or "Did she just say Google!?". The games we play are getting more advanced, she's understanding everything we say and do and she's saying and repeating EVERYTHING. She wants to walk more than she wants to be held and she's taking bigger risks (running faster, bigger slides, stairs, etc). Yesterday on our walk home from the bus Sierra was in an amazing mood and just wanted to run and play even though it was nearing her bed time. I shot this little video along our walk and although only 10 or 15 seconds long I feel it really captures who she is as a little person. Her facial expressions, the way she runs, I don't know something about it is just perfect to me:





WHAT'S NEW WITH THE BLOG: The blog is doing well! We have reached 150+ followers on Google Connect in our first 3 months of blogging and look forward to seeing that number grow! We will be launching a brand new design with SPONSORS in the next month or two so keep an eye out for that! We hosted our first giveway last week and our next one should be live on Tuesday! Here's a hint to what it is:

WHAT'S NEW (and cool) ON THE INTERNET:

• Intel's "Museum of Me" - http://www.intel.com/museumofme/r/index.htm
• Google+ - I signed up have you?
• Michael's Promo company "NextHYPE" is throwing a 4th of July Pool Party!
• I started a blog to help people find jobs in Boston! - Boston Jobz

OK everyone I am all blogged out, so like I said I am going to make a habit of these "WHAT'S NEW FRIDAY"'s and try to get Michael to some too! Feel free to give us a follow on the right, leave a comment with WHATS NEW with you and as always take two seconds to give us a vote on TBB, Thank you and I hope everyone has a safe and fun filled 4th! xo -C

OUR NYC ADVENTURE: DAY 2 / SATURDAY

Saturday morning Milo and I woke up around 8AM and let Lauren and Sierra sleep in a bit. Exploring Soho with a dog in the early morning was really nice and relaxing. New York is very different than Boston, not only in the obvious ways like amount of businesses and people but the whole 'feel' of the city is different, the smell, the look, the people - just about everything. When Milo and I returned home we got ready and headed out in search of breakfast and coffee. After about 20 minutes of walking around aimlessly we settled upon 'sNice which is a vegan/vegetarian coffee/foodery that had so many delicious things it was hard to choose from. We ended up with a Tofu Scramble Wrap, a Grilled Cheese (yes a grilled cheese for breakfast, judge us!) and a everything bagel with tofu cream cheese - all three things were shared and loved by everyone. Oh yeah, also tons of coffee obviously.

Sierra enjoying the complimentary sugar cookie that came with breakfast! p.s. I totally ganked this photo from Lauren's tumblr here: http://laurenmissesyou.tumblr.com

As you can clearly see, we hated breakfast.

After our delicious breakfast we walked up and took the D train to 59th street / Columbus Circle and spent a few hours enjoying the beautiful day in Central Park. We found this amazing playground that is almost as big as the town Lauren is from. It had a gigantic sand box, climbing structures, tons of swings and just about everything a child could ask for. The sun and the heat were pretty intense compared to the past few weeks in Boston so we went in search of shade and we stumbled upon "The Ramble" which we didn't know when we got started but is is basically a rocky, dirty, long, steep and sometime stair filled HIKE. We were wearing Toms, had a toddler and toting a huge stroller, needless to say we were unprepared for "The Ramble". Once we finally made it out Sierra had passed out in her stroller so Lauren and I got some snacks and found some shade. Lastly we hit up Strawberry Fields and then jumped on the C train to West Village for some lunch and shopping.

Here we are resting in Central Park after The Ramble. It was a perfect little moment. (photo also stolen from Lauren's Tumblr, whoops, don't hate me Lauren!)

Here is a short little video of Sierra enjoying the swings in the Central Park playground, her favorite part was kicking over the camera man (aka me)

For lunch we decided on "Vegetarian's Paradise 2" that a friend had told us about. We kind of went all out and got Buffalo Wings and The Roll Sampler for an appetizer and the "Seafood" Extravaganza and Chicken Curry for entrees. If you're a vegan who trys to eat somewhat healthy I'd avoid this place, it's just a "fake meat paradise" and I was underwhelmed with it in general, although I can't lie that chicken curry was amazing. Once we were all full of soy and tofu we headed to Generation Records which was AMAZING if you're in NY and a vinyl nerd do not miss this place. We also went to Clementine Consignment, Hamlet's Vintage and a few other neat shops.

The Buffalo "Wings" - VERY tasty.

The curry "chicken" and potatoes. Also very good.

The "seafood" extravaganza. YUCK! We barely touched it, they actually took it off the menu without us even complaining, they just noticed we didn't touch it or ask to take it home, good customer service :)

Sierra's favorite part of the meal obviously, Mint Chip Ice Cream and Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream. It made the trip to this place, and New York, worth it. Mmmm.

Although I think my favorite part of the day was how happy Sierra seemed. She seemed to love the hustle and bustle, the people, the dogs, the cabs, the runners and bicyclist - yeah we have all that in Boston, but like I said earlier it's very different here and I could see the excitement in Sierra's face. At least two dozen people stopped and said how cute she was and one full grown man with dreadlocks and an 8 pack played peek-a-boo with her for a full three minutes. It makes me happy to see her happy and to see her make others happy. All and all it was an amazing day and I'm excited for tomorrow. Tomorrow we are planning to get to Brooklyn and explore the Brooklyn Flea, Bedford Ave and the Botanical Gardens.

OUR NYC ADVENTURE: DAY 1 / FRIDAY

OUR NYC ADVENTURE: DAY 1 / FRIDAY

Once upon a time I had a boss named Blaine who eventually left our company and moved to NYC for a new job. Blaine and I stayed in touch and when she said she needed a dog / apartment sitter for this weekend we jumped at the chance to have free lodgings for the weekend in a swanky soho loft apartment. The apartment is beautiful and the dog, Milo, is super cute and this was just the little weekend get a way we needed. 

FRIDAY:

Friday morning started like any other Friday for us which means rushing around the house like maniacs trying to get dressed, coffee'd and out the door by 7:30AM to get Sierra to daycare and Lauren and I to work. Except this Friday I didn't go to work, I went to a park near The Massachusetts College of Art and Design to graduate. Yes people you heard right, I JUST graduated from college yesterday, no I am not 22, I'm just a very late bloomer! So the ceremony was beautiful, I felt happy, accomplished and all that other mushy gushy stuff you're supposed to feel on your graduation day. After the ceremony my parents took Lauren, Sierra and I out to lunch at this place we love called The Otherside Cafe which caters to vegans AND meat eaters. It's great, if you ever find yourself in Boston I suggest you look it up. After lunch my parents threw $100 in our gas tank as a graduation present and we headed up to NYC. Lauren drove the first two hours until we stopped at a Mobil somewhere in Connecticut for the bathroom break from hell:

SO GROSS.

So after we were back on the road we were making good time, not traffic, good conversations and a happy sleeping toddler. This was until we hit the F.D.R. which was the worst nightmare of my life. Traffic up the wazzoo, stand stills, honking, single lanes and a SCREAMING toddler. After about 45 minutes of that we finally arrived at the apartment where we basically through the pack n play together and all passed out. --- stay tuned for SATURDAY some time tomorrow!