Is This Thing On???

 I'm back, new posts coming soon! 

Welcome Back!

It took me long enough to come back to my blog didn't it? So much has changed, I felt like I needed a name change and a little makeover. The look will change a bit, but I wanted to get things up and running!

As stated so long ago when I started "Whiskey & Tutus", I am not a writer, please do not correct my grammar and other errors! I am not working right now so I don't have the luxury I normally do in showing my posts to a copywriter to check everything when they have time :).

Speaking of not working, most of you know that Kyle and I have moved again. This time we stayed in the country though and have made the move to Northern California! Kyle once again got an amazing opportunity to work on a new game with this title you may have heard of, Avengers. I am SO proud of him! We live in a little town called Montara and I absolutely love it. I have always wanted to live in San Francisco and the fact that it's only 22 miles "Over The Hill" is awesome.

You can Google Montara and check it out, but here's my take so far:
1. There's not one stoplight - so I roll through a lot of stop signs. Kidding, I fully stop. every. single. time.

2. The USPS does not deliver to our house, so we use the local post office. (We do get Fed-Ex and UPS though) Thank god because I Prime something weekly.

3. We have three restaurants in Montara. THREE. And also the cutest little coffee shop you ever did see.

4. Our neighboring towns are Moss Beach, Half Moon Bay and Pacifica. There are plenty of restaurants and shops so usually we just head over there! I will do a full round-up on where I have been in a future post. Not working I have decided to be a tourist and check out popular places.

5. Groceries - We have a small gourmet type store that you go to in a pinch and are looking to spend $75 on three items. Otherwise we go to Half Moon Bay or Pacifica to shop for groceries. Stores like Trader Joes are "Over The Hill". That's about a 20 minute drive or so. Half Moon Bay has a Whole Foods type store as well.

6. Horses! They are everywhere. There are ranches all around us. I can't tell you how many times I have taken Remi to the parks and see people riding their horses on the street or on the beach, it's pretty amazing! Remi LOVES horses and we've been taking her to the cutest little farm where she can ride her favorite pony, Cookie. Her love for horses has reignited mine as well and I have been looking into riding again. I am currently looking into leasing a horse. Whether I'll trail ride or learn to jump, I don't know yet. I am still deciding on a mare or a gelding! (I am hearing gelding all the way though).

7. The Coast in general is just breathtaking. It's absolutely beautiful here. The views from our house are insane. I love the fact that I can look out any window in our house and see big beautiful mountains as well as the ocean. Hearing the waves at night is my favorite thing. Taking our dog Maggie on trail walks every day is also the best. I always try and take her to jump in the water after our walk.

8. Coyotes and Mountain Lions and Raccoons and....We are in a rural area. This is something I needed to get used to again. I have lived in mountain towns before but walking Remi to preschool in the morning I either take Maggie with us or have a walking stick- Kyle thinks I am overreacting but I am not taking any chances! I think I will Prime a mini airhorn next....he should love that.

9. Oh and yes, I can walk Remi to school! It's my favorite thing to do! She is LOVING her new school. They play outside a lot and take the kids on nature walks. It's pretty cool. Bonus: There's an Alpaca farm across the street from her school. We stop to say hi every morning and goodnight every night.

10. Fog. Yeah it gets foggy, but it also gets really sunny and beautiful. I feel that living in Vancouver prepared me for all kinds of weather. The nice thing is that when it's 90+ "Over The Hill" it's usually about 20 degrees cooler here.

I feel like I can go on and on. I'll save some stuff for later, but you get the idea. Here's the thing...it's NEVER easy having to pick up and move. I have had to leave jobs that I love, leave friends and family and take Remi away from her "YaYa" as well as her preschool where she had the same little friends for 2 & 1/2 years. I cried so much leaving Vans, it was by far my favorite place I have ever worked. Starting over is rough. Making new friends is hard.  I have been lucky to land in some pretty great places and meet some pretty great people. Vancouver brought us Remi, who knows what Northern California will bring us? As long as I am near the ocean and mountains I am happy. Tahoe is only 5 hours away! And I have to admit that the fact that I now live in the birthplace of Burning Man makes me so happy. It's not foreign here, people understand my family and why I will always call the Playa home. I guess there's a whole NorCal vs. SoCal thing, I haven't lived here long enough to be able to compare the two. I will say that where I live is one of my favorite places ever. I feel lucky to call Montara home. It's small-town, just how I like it. And when I need some city life I can just drive right over that hill and get my fill. Then come back home to the beautiful coast.

So once again I hope you'll stick around and follow our new adventures here on the coast!

Remi & Kyle walking from our house to visit the Llamas.

Remi and her Cookie.

Just taking her horse on a walk down to the beach.

Montara Beach at sunset.

Me, pretty much everyday. Kidding...sorta. 

Beautiful shot of Montara Beach. 

photo credit: Lanny S.

Blooms on the bluff.

Happy girl.

Trail walkers.

More blooms on the bluff.

The Alpaca Farm across from our house and Remi's school. 

photo credit: Alpacas by the Sea.

Remi also gets an awesome view of the mountains and ocean from her room!

~Mrs. G aka: Montara Mamma

Happy 2018

2018 is the year I bring this little blog of mine back to life. Truthfully, I have a post that I've been working on for quite some time, it's just not ready in my eyes to go public. It's so personal and I want to be sure I get everything right before I post it.

I keep thinking about what will change with this blog? I'm working on a new look and feel as they say in my world. The content (another buzzword for you) will focus mainly on mom life and antics with Remi. I use this blog as a journal of sorts and love looking back on past posts. 

One post that I looked back at was one that talked about Friendship Divorce. The past couple of years  saw a few of those friendships come back together. I feel that since becoming a mom, I really needed to let go of stupid shit and band together with other moms since we all can use support from one another. I cherish these ladies more than anything and feel blessed to have reconnected with them. 

However, since becoming a mom, my bullshit tolerance is lower than it ever was. I was never one for Mommy and Me groups because the competition amongst some moms was no joke! I did just sign Remi up for dance class which should be interesting. I really just want to put Remi in a pink tutu and watch her twirl around. I know some people sign up their toddlers in hopes of having them become the next Anna Pavlova, I'm just hoping Remi doesn't have a tantrum and throw her shoes at someone.

Speaking of tantrums, our little one will be three next month and she is a pistol. She's my kid all right — no doubt about that. She's quite funny and super sweet but man, she can be stubborn and she definitely has opinions. 

Well, that's it for now. I hope you'll stay with me and follow along on our adventures - both big and small. I may also offer up recipes, workout tips and makeup tutorials.

~LM

P.S. I am in no way doing that last part.
P.S.S Writing disclaimer: Once again, let me remind you that I am not a copywriter so please refrain from commenting on my writing style or grammar mistakes. If you're one of my super-talented copywriter friends, comment away (you know who you are). 

That's A Wrap

And just like that, we're heading home.  The past few months I have made the trip back home twice with my little peanut. It felt so good being home and being with family.  Both Kyle and I felt it.

The slate board from Kyle's last day on-set.

We've been here for almost three years.  Moving was really hard for me.  It was hard leaving our friends and family especially since we were trying to get pregnant, suffered losses and I needed my support system.  But the opportunity was too good to pass up for Kyle.

Just a couple of months ago Kyle spoke on a panel at ComicCon.  If you have any idea about what ComicCon is then you know what a huge deal this was.  I saw the panel on YouTube and cried.  I watched all of my Husband's hard work and success right before my eyes.  There he was, the Cinematic's Director, answering questions to a crowd of at least 1000 fans.  Then signing autographs.  Yes, you read that right.  It was such a proud moment! This is what it was all about.

Living here has been amazing.  Vancouver is truly one of the most beautiful places.  It's no wonder it's always voted as one of the top places to live-in the world. Not many people get an opportunity to live in another country and I feel so lucky to have been able to say we have. Also I could never live somewhere that didn't have mountains or oceans or at least some natural bodies of water. Vancouver had it all! BUT most importantly, Vancouver gave us Remi, our little dual citizen who can now come back here and live one day if she so chooses.  And I hope she does.  I want to encourage her to travel and experience living in different places.

But to me, home is home. After having Remi I knew I wanted to be close to family and friends so they can see her grow.  So they can see our family grow.  And so next month we will be back in Southern California.  Who knows what the futures holds, I guess we'll just take it one city, state - or country at a time.

So what will become of Whiskey & Tutus?  I started it after The Gaulinoscopy, which was my little blog following along with our wedding planning adventures.  Whiskey & Tutus was my way of letting everyone back home in on life here in Vancouver.  On our adventures here in BC.  I am so thankful to all of you who have stayed with me, even when I took the blog in different directions.  I am working on a post that is the most important thing I have ever written, it's a story I want to share with you all.  After that I will figure out what is next.  Maybe I'll go over to a whole new hosting site.  A more grown-up blog if you will.  I'm sure nearly all of my posts will be about being a new mommy.  Maybe I'll loose some of you, maybe I'll reach out to and gain a whole new readership of mommy's.  Maybe I'll take a break after I write the post I am working on.  We'll see.  Either way my next update will be written from home, which makes me so very happy!

~Mrs. G

Thank you Vancouver, for bringing us this little miracle.

The Day I Stopped Giving A Sh*t

I can remember the first time I stopped giving a shit pretty clearly.  It was in 1986, I was in catholic school and about to graduate 8th grade.  My friend Stacy and I decided we would shave our hair-perfect for photos and the father-daughter dance.  My dad was not impressed. There I was front and center in our class picture with bright red tights under my white dress and my half-shaved head.  I did not give a shit.

Of course not giving a shit lead me to do some pretty stupid things, but for the most part, not giving a shit throughout my life has served me pretty well.  I moved to new towns not afraid that I knew no one, backpacked through Spain and ended up in Ibiza for the year 1999-2000 after a bad breakup, tried different careers and not giving a shit even lead me to meeting my Husband. I also started going to Burning Man and definitely didn't give a shit what close-minded a$$holes thought about it.

Since becoming a mother I find myself not giving a shit on a whole new level:

-Milestones: Unless my Dr is worried, then I do not give a shit. Remi will do things when she is good and ready.

-My everyday bun: It's my new look.  It's easy and I can dress it up with a head wrap.  (I have matching ones with Remi.  I also don't give a shit if you think that's ridiculous).

-Going out with spit-up on my shirt.  I know it's there, it will dry and I cannot be bothered to change-again.

-Having a glass of wine or a beer during the day.  Some days just call for it.

I asked a couple of friends what are some of the things they don't give a shit about since becoming  moms:

-Unsolicited advise: Ahhh yes, we really don't give a shit to hear this from you.  We'll ask if we need it.

-Joining cliquey mommy clubs where the moms continually compare their baby to your baby.

-Expanding social circles-being with family is what counts now.

-Letting the dog lick the baby!  I love this.  I too don't give a shit if my dogs lick Remi.  I just clean her hands if they really got them slobbery.

-Sanitizing pacifiers: just rinse in water, that'll do!

-Getting dressed up.  I love this!  My friend explains that while she takes the time to make sure her babe is dressed really cute, she herself goes out in yoga pants. She also goes out with spit-up on her shirt too.

And lastely...Showering.  This made me laugh.  Yes I don't give a shit to shower everyday either.



~Mrs. G

Here's me and my friend Stacey not giving a shit in Venice Beach in 1986.

My First Time Mommy Confessions.

I cannot believe it's been five months already!  She has changed so much, we have all changed so much.  Our little family is doing great and I feel like we are in a good groove.

Though I have only been a mom for a short time (although really I think I became a mom the moment I got pregnant) I have a few confessions I thought I'd share with you all.  There's only a few and I suspect this list will keep growing...

Confession #1: Remi was super fussy and crying for what seemed like hours.  Kyle said "I'll take her for a while, please just heat up a bottle."  I went downstairs to the kitchen, opened the fridge and grabbed the bottle.  I saw an opened bottle of chardonnay and took a swig. Straight from the bottle. It was 3:00 am.

Confession #2: I don't know too many nursery rhymes, Kyle always laughs because the one I know (sorta) has a line that I made up and goes something like this: "Hush little baby don't you cry, momma gonna buy you a five and dime??" The other day I found myself singing: "Fish heads fish heads, roly poly fish heads. Fish heads, fish heads eat them up yum".  I used to listen to the Dr. Demento show in the 80's and he played this religiously.  
      
Confession #2A: (Update)-I sing "You Are My Sunshine" to her as part of our nightly routine and because I think I am the best singer ever, I think my version would win me a Grammy.  I often wonder if she is impressed by my vocals. 

Confession #3: When Remi spit up, which was a lot, I let Maggie lick it up.  When she burbs, Maggie now comes running or just follows us around the house waiting for her snacks.  Gross I know, but I look at it as once less thing I need to clean up.

Confession #4: My "mommy voice" is supppppppppper dorky.  But as long as it makes her laugh I don't care.

Confession #5: I actually like washing bottles.  We use the Dr. Brown's bottles and I find it calming to wash and arrange all of the parts.

Confession #6: I'd be lying if I said that maybe once or twice I passed gas and blamed it on the baby.

Confession #7: I still check the monitor during the night to see if she is breathing, especially when she sleeps for 9+ hours.

Confession #8: I feel like I have won some sort of "F*ck Yeah, She Slept Through The Night" award when the above happens.

Confession #9: I drink way more than I used too.  


~Mrs. G

Our Lives Have Forever Been Changed.

Introducing Remi Rose Gaulin
Born February 17th 2015

Today is Remi's 1 week birthday and it's been the best week of my entire life.  I have so much to tell you all about this week but need to sleep, eat, shower and sleep some more.  

More to come...

~ Mrs. G