A thank you note to Mama.

It's 10:05 PM and I am currently nursing a sore face (with a beer) due to being kicked by my loving daughter. I wanted to write a quick thank you note to my loving and caring partner. She normally handles bedtime as Sierra is still nursing but she was feeling pretty under the weather today so she tagged me in to get Sierra down for the count tonight. After 7 stories, including three different OLIVIA books Sierra got up and ran out of her room to our room and jumped into bed with Lauren. Lauren was OK with it but eventually I got Sierra again and tried to lie down with her on the couch with all our pillows, blankets, loveys and even a foot tall stuffed owl. Well after a few moments she was on the search again for Lauren who even in her "I'm about to vomit" state took her and tried again. I decided to do some dishes when 10 minutes later I was greeted by a laughing, running and jumping toddler at 9:45 PM, which is an hour past the time she's normally sleeping. At this point I was beginning to lose my patience and scooped her up and brought her into her bed, layed down with her and said "It is bed time we are going to sleep!" to which she began screaming MAMA!! MAMA!! and began kicking. Enter Super Mama who in 5 minutes flat got Sierra happy AND sleeping. I think I'm a pretty good Dad but there's a thing or two (or fifty) I could learn from Sierra's Mom who is never without patients or love for her baby girl neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness (or a "im about to vomit" moment) will be deterred from being a good Mom.


Thanks You Lauren. Truly.

WHO ME??!?!?

Happy Easter! HOP GIVEAWAY !!!

First off let me start by saying Happy Easter! Since it's Easter we figured why not have a eastery-themed giveaway! We have a HOP themed gift pack that includes:

·         HOP Blu-ray Combo Pack (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy)

·         HOP Nintendo DS Game

·         HOP Book Meet the Easter Bunny

·         HOP Book Chicks vs. Bunnies

Prize Pack valued $70

The Blu-ray Combo Pack includes an All-New Mini Movie and additional content to extend the fun even more.  Plus it has 3 ways to watch so your family can enjoy HOP anytime, anywhere (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy)!

About HOP

From the makers of Despicable Me comes an all-new comedy about candy, chicks and rock n roll! He was destined to be the Easter Bunny, but all he wanted to do was rock! When teenage E.B. (voiced by Russell Brand) leaves for Hollywood in pursuit of his dream to become a rockstar drummer, he meets Fred (James Marsden), an out-of-work slacker with his own lofty goals. Together the two encounter a series of hilarious mishaps and misadventures and in the end help each other recognize the importance of family. Now available on Blu-ray & DVD!

Heres how you win!!

We have one gift pack to giveaway and you can enter to win by:

• Liking HOP on Facebook
• Being a follower of TheHipsterDad + Leaving a comment on this post with your name, website and what you are doing / did for Easter!
• Winner will be picked at random two weeks from today!

Watch the Trailer: 

Happy Easter everyone!

Currently Sierra is gorging herself on jelly beans and playing with her new Lalaloopsy dolls so I figured I'd take a quick minute to say Happy Easter to everyone! We woke up around 8AM and started the festivities of opening Sierras Easter basket and hunting for plastic eggs filled with money and the yummiest vegan jelly beans ever from Surf Sweets!


Well time to get back to Easter! Hope your holiday is going as well as ours is going! -Craig

 

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

If you guys aren't familiar with the awesome daddy blog "Adeline's Daddy" you need to get on that. I stumbled upon Don's blog soon after beginning this one (about a year ago) and we began corresponding regularly about graphic design, parenting and just general chit-chat. Over the past 6 months we've became really good (internet) friends and talk daily. After many conversations about it, Don and his beautiful family drove down from New York to Boston for a possibly exciting new chapter in their life but also to finally meet in the flesh and take our bromance to the next level. Kidding about the bromance part..... sort of.


So at around 6:00 Don, Rachel and Addy came over and it felt like seeing old friends even though we had never really met. Hugs all around and after a few "let me feel you out" moments the girls were running around and playing together while the adults sat and chatted about their trip and upcoming week. It was a wonderful night filled with some drinks, delicious food from Veggie Galaxy and lots of laughs.


Can't wait for the rest of the week & truly happy to have met such great new friends. -C

The girls getting their art and tea on! It was too much cute to handle.

p.s. Don also blogged about our first meet up: READ HIS BLOG POST HERE.

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

Cute kid video of the day...

Are YouTube Ads just NOT targeted at all?

DISCLAIMER: Sometimes when Sierra is upset in the car I let her watch YouTube videos. GUILTY AS CHARGED. If letting her watch the Sticky, Sticky, Sticky Bubble Gum, The Bus Song or The Duck Song (her three favorites) once in awhile means not having a screaming toddler while in bumper to bumper Boston morning traffic then so be it. ANYWAYYYY...


So something I've noticed a lot is how un-targeted the ads are. What makes YouTube think that someone who wants to watch "The Bus Song" 4x in a row wants to see an advertisement for Shock Top Beer? It's gotten to the point where I don't think YouTube is even an OK thing to let her watch these videos on. I've seen ads for sexual and violent movies, Trojan condoms and this morning the beer. Google is normally pretty on-point with their targeted ads (for example I always get ones for soccer, portuguese themed t-shirts and tattoos) but the Google-owned YouTube just doesn't seem to get the same ad-targeting functionality. I'm not mad about this by the way, lets make that clear, it's my job as a parent to make sure my child isn't seeing things we deem inappropriate. This post is just a simple observation about the disservice they are doing to their advertisers. If they advertised "Baby Alive" or Cookie Monster Pajamas before these videos they'd probably have better luck getting my money. Sierra isn't begging me for orange flavored beer any time soon (I hope). Anyone else notice this??

It's official: My kid likes going to daycare.

In September we left the big daycare center we were at and switched to a small home daycare. You can read about the transition here. We noticed an instant change in "drop off time" from everyday ( for nine whole months): screaming / crying / pleading for us not to go to bearable half and half ratio of happy & upset (an improvement in my book!). Well March was the month. March was the month where everyday she is happy to go, says "Bye bye Daddy have a good day, Love you!" and waves as I exit with no issues what so ever. It's been a solid three weeks without one tear at drop-off. I don't pick her up at 3 but from what Lauren tells me it's gotten to the point where she doesn't even want to leave! On the weekends she randomly sings a song that goes something like "Gabbbbbie Maggggggie Gabbbbbie Maggggggie" and tells us she loves them. (Gabby is Sierra's daycare provider and Maggie is the other little girl at daycare). 

I am overjoyed that Sierra is in a place where she's feels happy, comfortable and loved. GO SIERRA! -Craig

In honor of my little independent woman here is today's Thursday Tunes:

11 QUESTIONS

So first off thanks to our pal Marcella over @ Mar and Peej for tagging us in this little blogger game going around!  We've been slacking a bit at blogging so this was a nice little kick in the pants to actually post something! -Craig

11 QUESTIONS

There are five rules:

1. Post these rules.

2. Post a photo of yourself and 11 random things.

3. Answer the questions set for you in the original post.

4. Create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them.

5. Go to their blog/twitter and tell them that you've tagged them.

11 random things:

1. I am portuguese... and extremely proud of it!

2. I hold a degree & license to be an art teacher but I am a graphic designer instead - which i never went to school for and don't hold a degree in.

3. I grew up in New Bedford, MA - a town that is most well known for being the whaling capitol of the world and still had a very busy / working fishing port.

4. I am vegan

5. I don't own or want a television or microwave

6. I have an irrational phobia of stickers. Adhesives really (stickers, band-aids etc) it grosses me out and I refuse to use / go near them.

7. I got a tattoo of the  logo as a bet when I was 18. Easiest 100 bucks I ever made!

8. I used to smoke about a pack of Camel Lights a day. (I quit over a year ago though!)

9. My favorite place in Boston is the Museum of Fine Arts.

10. I have moved 7 times in 6 years (all in Boston). I'm sort of indecisive.

11. I really really (really) hate Rick Santorum.

Questions from Marcella:

1. Whats favorite color?

My favorite colors are black, gray and white, boring I know!

2. Whos your favorite Celebrity and why?

My favorite Celebrity is David Hockney. He is a internationally famous artist - if you don't know him you need to get on that asap. Quick story: I used to work at a big museum here in Boston. Hockney had an exhibition going up and while they were setting it up I caught a glimpse of him smoking a cigarette inside the gallery. He was surrounded by tons of people (including the museum director, security, curators, etc) and he just didn't give a shit. He's been my hero ever since. David Hockney is above the law!

3. Whats your favorite kids clothing brand?

I love Sierra's clothes from Nico-Nico & Tea! 

4. Whats your  top 3 favorite blogs?

Beautiful Decay, Flux-Boston & The Evolving Critic

5. Whats one childhood memory that you'll always remember?

One of my favorite memories from my childhood was going to Florida: just me and my Dad. It was Thanksgiving vacation and we flew to Florida and he brought me to Disney, Orlando Studios, and tons of beaches and other attractions. We made our Thanksgiving dinner on the grill and spent the week jet skiing and going on rides. We didn't have a lot of money so I know it meant a lot of saving and sacrificing on him and my mom just to make me happy. My parents and that vacation rule.

6. If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be?

My waistline? 

7. Whats your favorite vacation spot? 

I have to say NYC. I've been a bunch of times and between the galleries, museums, vegan restaurants, and just the general vibe of the city it's a place I love / could see myself living eventually. (Also a big fan of Maine!)

8. Are you happy?

Yes I am. I have a beautiful family, a good job and I love where I live. Thats more than a lot of people have and I consider myself very very lucky!

9. If you had a chance to do whatever you wanted for one day, WHAT would you do?

I would go to England with my family and see a Newcastle United game in real life. We already have our shirts ready to go:

10. Favorite TV show?

My favorite show of all time would have to be LOST. It's amazing. But sadly it's over so my favorite current show is Breaking Bad. If you're not into it get into it. Now.

11. What kind of car do you drive?

A few months we go we purchased a 2011 Rav 4! Love it:

11 Questions for Adriana of Just By Living & Liz of Husband Dear Husband | Dear Wife | Dear Baby:
1. What is your favorite musician / band?
2. What is your favorite thing about being a mom?
3. If you could have any job (besides being a Mom) in the world what would it be and why?
4. What are your main goals for 2012?
5. What would your child's name have been if he/she were born the opposite sex?
6. What is your biggest guilty pleasure?
7. What are your top 3 favorite stores to shop (for yourself) at?
8. What will be your next big purchase?
9. Is your life how you pictured it being when you were a child?
10. Top 3 Favorite movies (or books)?
11. Your 5 must-read blogs currently?

Thursday Tunes #11 / "Don't Go" by Letterday

This week's Thursday Tunes is "Don't Go" by Boston based indie rock sensation Letterday. Made up of some of my best friends + ex-roomies I've been a big fan. This video is off their newest EP titled "READY" and is a funny / awesome video set to an even better song. Check out the video below and if you like the song stream the whole EP free here: http://letterday.bandcamp.com -C