James Perse recycled doubleknit sweatpants | size 4
I bought these 40% off during their summer sale
James Perse brushed jersey turtleneck | size 1 (about 5 years old?)
Misha & Puff cotton cardigan | m/l
AllBirds wool loungers (these are the limited edition fuzzy ones – sold out)
I’m not going to say I can’t believe what happened at the Capitol on Wednesday, because I can. I was horrified by it, still. But yes, THAT is US. THAT is who we are as Americans – whether we directly participated or not, we all bear some responsibility for the deep and seemingly insurmountable divisions that are wrecking us. Who has a family member they just don’t talk about politics with because they’re afraid, or “don’t want to get into it”? I do. Even within our household we have disagreements that are very tough to work through and discuss without anger – multiply that by millions and you have our democracy as it is today. I’m not sure what to do about it. Probably I need to have the hard conversations. But then what? We’ll still disagree.
*Edited to add — I do not mean to discount they we’ve had a genuinely narcissistic, dangerous man as president these last four years who has multiplied the divisions to such a destructive level. I don’t believe we would be here without his tweets and presidency.*
Another, easier thing is to try and stay off social media – the algorithms and push to monetize us – our attention – CREATED the misinformation age we are living in…I don’t want to feed into it, but easier said than done.
Knowledge is important too…I’ve been reading Caste and am deep in the shock and sadness of American history. So that frames how I’m processing everything. I am just appalled that so many things about race and caste in the United States were never discussed in school (or anywhere else). I’m ashamed to say I didn’t give it much thought either, until now. Of course I have lived the immense privilege that I didn’t really have to. All I can do at this point is educate myself so I can educate Hawk; there’s no excuse for him not to know about the ugliness that happened alongside the beautiful.
Speaking of Hawk, I am really excited about sharing with you our “vegan journey” and more about what/how I feed him and myself to get the most out of what we’re eating every day. Here’s just a brief look at lunch for now…(Hawk is 17 months old on the 15th):
Amy’s roasted veggie no cheese frozen pizza
Frozen peas (still frozen)
Carrots I cooked in veggie broth earlier in the week
Banana
Refried beans with lemon juice (the vitamin c from the lemon juice helps your body absorb the non-heme iron in the beans)
I’m going to talk a lot more about this later, but my primary focus whenever I feed Hawk is that he get a legume and vitamin c at every meal for iron. I don’t worry much about protein, or fiber (haha) or vitamins because those are relatively easy to get. We do give him a multivitamin drop for b12 even though I sprinkle everything with fortified nutritional yeast (b12 has a “low absorption rate” so you have to shoot for more than the RDA to make sure you’re getting enough, and nutritional yeast alone just doesn’t cut it).
Other than that, I just make his plate colorful and balanced. And I try not to worry about his not eating something – for example, he LOVES carrots that we cook in soups and pull out for him, but the last two days, he hasn’t wanted to eat these. I don’t even acknowledge that he hasn’t eaten something; my job is to provide nutritious foods for him to eat, and his job is to eat it – or not.
We don’t have dessert, I just put everthing on his plate and he eats it whenever he wants. He never has to eat something to get something else; all of his food is equally important and valuable. Even if I give him graham crackers or something else more “decadent” lol, he gets it at the same time as he gets his beans.
What he ate (didn’t eat…) – he didn’t eat many of the carrots, but devoured everything else. He especially liked the peas.
Well, that was more than I meant to say, but I hope that’s a good introduction. As for what I ate – just pizza haha. I had a huge spinach smoothie for breakfast (Hawk had some too) and some carrot apple oat muffins so I feel like I hit a good balance. And now I’m drinking some decaf coffee and eating a chocolate pb blueberry oat cookie. It’s all about moderation 🙂
Happy Friday!!! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!!!
Thanks for sharing your journey – in all things! – with us over time. I think I found your blog as I was turning 40, quite a while ago if I actually look at a calendar. Eek! Anyway – I love your comment about making the plate colorful and balanced. That’s my goal too! Sometimes a meal can taste really good but I don’t like looking at a plate where everything is beige…..
That Amy’s pizza! My kids were/are anaphylactic to dairy, so that Amy’s Pizza was a godsend, especially when they were little! Do you know how many kids have pizza parties for birthdays, etc…? So they would go to the party, armed with their own dairy free cupcake and an Amy’s Pizza. They are adults now and they still love it!
I also liked what you said about feeding Hawk everything at once — he doesn’t have to finish something to get “dessert”. I think you are teaching him really a great attitude towards food. Bravo!
It is THE BEST pizza!! Besides the one my husband makes on Saturdays 😉
It’s really nice to have the option of a delicious dairy free frozen pizza n
Thanks for the vegan meal tips for toddlers. I’m definitely going to try some of that for my toddler! Also thanks for the book recommendation (Caste). It sounds like an important read. I also want to make sure my kid learns some American history not according to the (white-based) US educational system.
Hi Grechen,
I love your blog, you have a very individual style which I admire.
You were the one who introduced me to James Perse, you are an enabler, Haha.
My brother who lives in Texas told me you never discuss politics or religion in Texas, here in Ireland we all have opinions on both and discuss them at every opportunity.
What happened Wednesday was not really unexpected but not really representative of the American people. I do feel that some people have been brainwashed by fear. Fear can be very powerful and dangerous. As we head into a new year there is a lot to be hopeful for, vaccinations, new president etc.
Appreciate the updates on your daily life.
Hi Catherine!! Yes you are absolutely right that it’s not necessarily representative of most Americans, but I do think that we are all complicit in the way that we cannot engage in civil discourse and that we all no longer even believe in the same “truths”. We’ve all allowed this to happen to a certain extent. I know that I haven’t done enough personally to engage with people I disagree with…
I am 63 years old and I am following you for years and it’s the first time that I comment, since English is not my first language, I am a passive follower most of the time, but I want you to know that you has being such an influence on my life.
Hi Grechen, off topic, but I remember a while back you posted few photos of Ace and Jig sky onesie? It looked nice on you. Can you give feedback on the size and item itself? I’m contemplating purchasing it but it’s a final sale. Thanks and it’s good to read your posts again!
Hi Monica! I actually had one of the older generation Skye onesies without the buttons and a wider leg I think? I had a small at the time and I hated that it would fall off my shoulders but I think they fixed that with the newer generation. I really loved it except for that little fit issue though – I wore it a little into my pregnancy but then couldn’t anymore. I find that their measurements are very helpful for making decisions …what textile and size are you looking at? I think my hips are sized out of the Skye onesies at this point 🙁
Grechen, thanks for quick reply. I was interested in chalk but looks like they have sold out of my size. Aaron jumper looks tempting tonight!
I like the Aaron jumper a lot. I would be concerned about the tie back though- doesn’t seem comfortable for sitting against.
Thanks for pointing that out! Agree 100%
OMG! I do frozen peas all the time for my little ones, people always look at me like I’m crazy but the little ones love them!
Grechen, thank you for sharing this!! I loved hearing about Hawk’s lunch. It sounds delicious and simple and put together with so much love. Before reading this, I hadn’t heard of the idea of serving everything at once and presenting all food equally to kids. I don’t have kids, but hope to one day. As someone with a complicated history with food/diet, it’s really helpful to hear about this approach and how some parents are trying to teach their kids about food today, both in terms of thinking about how I’d like to try to parent, and also how I’d like to try to relate to food myself!! The day after I first heard this, I happened to hear someone talking about the same idea on the podcast “Gee Thanks, Just Bought It” (the ‘talking bodies’ episode). Anyway, thanks for opening the door to that way of thinking for me!! Can’t wait to hear more.
i also have a complicated history with food/diet; basically i dieted since i was 12 or 13 years old? i’ve lost and gained so much weight in my life, until i was 40 and then i lost it and managed to keep it off. when we were young we weren’t really allowed desserts and sweets much at all (like maybe ice cream on the weekend?) – my mom was very restrictive. when i got old enough to ride my bike to the store down the street by myself and i had babysitting/allowance $$ i bought all the candy and ate it while hiding in my room. thus the disordered eating began…i was never taught how to moderate myself, or learn that i could have what i wanted, so i hoarded and ate till i was sick.
i am at the point now myself that i can moderate my eating, and i don’t feel the need to deprive myself, but it took a long time to get here. i don’t want hawk to have to go through what i did …anyway that way of eating just makes sense to me now – no food should be put on a pedestal, or be something you “have” to eat to get to eat something else. food is just food!!
thank you so much for your comment maria 🙂 i’m so glad!!