“What I” Wednesday: Waits Rebhal and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day

October 12th, 2011 - filed under: The Food » Food Styles




Last Thursday was the day that we got Waits’ cast off. We were so excited for that day! I remember waking up and thinking, “Oh, this is going to be a good day!” Yes I did, can you believe that? I even decided to photograph the whole thing. It looked something like this:






Coffee



I’m not 100% back on coffee . . . it’s more like 99%.

While my coffee dripped I set about making the dogs their breakfast. Waits was begging and pleading for some of their tofu (Waits says “toy-a! toy-a!”) so I cut off a bit for him. I only remembered to photograph it afterwards though. The cutting board remains:



And the happy guy playing with his best toy – a baby-sized “food processor” (it’s actually an electric citrus juicer) that I got just for him at the thrift store, so he could be just like mommy – just an hour or so before the cast came off:




Breakfast

Taken over my shoulder (at a stoplight of course!), Waits reading in his car seat.


This is where things start to get off track, though at this point it was still fine and dandy. The pediatrician appointment was in the late morning, so we skipped the standard oatmeal/green smoothie and took advantage of the special occasion. Our pediatrician just so happens to be located very near the vegan/gluten-free/naturally-sweetened bakery. Yes!

Mmmmmm, yes. Baby-friendly treats!


We got an apple muffin, which was so amazingly moist and spectacular. It was my first time trying their muffins and I was super impressed. If you’re ever in Portland, Cravin’ Raven is a must! Muffin:




An Afternoon of Chaos

From there it all went to hell. I’ll spare you the details, but suffice it to say that getting the cast off was not the jolly ol’ experience I was hoping for. Eventually we made it home and Waits passed out, poor guy. I had an apple with homemade sunbutter:




When Waits woke up shortly after (he barely slept), I decided to do the breakfast-for-lunch thing. I made him a small bowl of oats with blueberries cooked in (topped this with coconut milk), and we split a smoothie:


Kombucha/banana/blueberry/hemp protein/kale/stevia. And all my favorite boys in the background!


After breakfast-lunch we got all cleaned up and headed out on our errands. Remember at this point Waits has had a seriously traumatic morning, is running on a quarter nap, and oh yeah his vampire teeth are coming in. POOR BUG!

I made sunbuttered rice cakes before we left. Waits ate one bite of his so I pretty much ate both of these:



First stop = checking in on book stuff at Herbivore.



“Hey Josh, can I take a picture of you for my blog?“



“Okay but DO something!“



Josh is awesome.


Leaving Herbivore we split a Larabar for the road (Waits ate most of this):



From there we headed downtown for vitamins at this shop where I had a coupon. Trying to find vegan vitamins at a non-vegan vitamin shop is a pain in the tuchus. Waits was super over it. I think there was more much-needed coffee involved at some point around this time. FInally, we met up with Damian since we were nearby his office. He was kind enough to give me a 5-minute breather, and held Waits while we strolled around the neighborhood. It was nice to see him and I was thankful for the break, since Thursday is his night to work late and me and little mister would be on our own until bedtime (his, not mine, haha).

By the time we left Damian it was pretty late in the day. Waits was cranky and clingy and to be honest, the idea of going home and trying to cook a meal with a sad baby sitting on my hip, was more than I was prepared to handle. I was DONE.

Whole Foods to the rescue.

They give a free banana to the munchkins!


So Waits pretty much had a complete meltdown at the Whole Foods hot bar. The eco-yuppies were shooting patchouli-scented lazer beams from out their eyeballs at us, and we barely made it out of there alive.


Dinner

It was the sort of night for a living room picnic. Raw kale salad, cold curried tofu salad, a few grilled asparagus spears, and a small plate of reheated leftover Thai noodles:



During dinner I put on the dvd of Rent: Live On Broadway and I sang along the entire time. It made me feel a lot better, and Waits totally doesn’t mind when I sing at the top of my lungs with my mouth full. He’s really great like that.




Dessert



Much later, after clean-up and our bedtime walk and after Waits was fast asleep, I had a late night snack of my beloved banana and nut butter and maple syrup. It was perfect.

~~~




This is another one of my classic autumn outfits, perfect for running around town with a toddler in the Portland on-and-off rain. Also, every time I visit Herbivore while wearing an Herbivore hoodie (which, seriously, seems to be every time I visit Herbivore at all), I feel like a big geek. Of course, I’m pretty sure I am a big geek, so there’s that.



  • Purple hoodie: Herbivore
  • White fluttery skirt: secondhand
  • Black denim skinnies: secondhand
  • Purple stripey knee socks: from Sock Dreams (I am addicted!)
  • Black rain boots: secondhand
  • Black and white head scarf: vintage

BUt the day wasn’t all bad:





How do you bounce back from a day that careens out of control? (I assume I’m pretty alone in my “Broadway musical singalong therapy”) Do you find that it helps to poke fun at yourself and laugh about it, or do you prefer to just move on?

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  • Anonymous

    Sorry it was a rotten day. At least the cast is off and you had delicious food to make things a little better! I like to just go to bed and go with the “tomorrow is a new day”attitude after a bad one.
    P.S I love your OOTD :)

  • http://kaliesthoughts.wordpress.com kalie

    I love this post

  • Anonymous

    omgoodness, what a day! thanks for the tip about cravin’ raven, never heard of this place before. their website says they have happycamper bread, and i’ve heard raves about it. thank you!

  • http://mindrunningwild.wordpress.com/ mindrunningwild

    I love your posts!! Waits is a cutie, and I’m so sorry he had a tough time today. But thank goodness for whole foods. What doesn’t get made better by that store??
    loving your outfit, but I totally understand about feeling a bit geeky wearing the logo to the store, hha.
    I usually meditate after something like that. It makes me feel like I’ve paused enough to feel better and know what’s going on again. then I smile at myself in the mirror. My dad taught me that :)

  • Erin

    I have a bath, and look forward to the next day being a chance for everything to work out differently.
    You are very much *not* alone in your singalong therapy! It helps a lot, too!

  • http://www.healthifulbalance.blogspot.com/ Shannon @ Healthiful Balance

    yummy eats!
    I’ve never tried the Key Lime Pie Larabar but it sounds soo good!

  • http://www.livingoriental.com/ Carolyn@LivingOriental

    Cute outfit! Sorry I didn’t follow with your blog, but what happen to your poor baby’s arm!? And your dinner, sounds yum! Love random things dinner :)

  • http://www.ibakewhoeats.wordpress.com Qi Ting

    Your kid’s soooo cute!!!! So awesome that Waits is young and already into Larabars! Great start with a healthy diet!

  • http://www.love-life-project.com Stephanie

    You’re not alone in singing broadway musicals. I have a special spot on my shelves for musicals. Rent, Hairspray, Chicago, Buffy the Vampire: the Musical – I just pop one in if I’m bored or having a bad day. I hope tomorrow’s better for you and the little guy!

  • http://brokencookiesdontcount.wordpress.com/ Fran@BCDC

    Looks like a Great day to me! Wish we had a Whole Foods near us…I Love the looks of their salad bar!

  • Catreinhardt

    hey Harry Potter! how’d you make that picture move? and oh yeah..I love this post.

  • http://twitter.com/tigermilking Savannah

    Oh, no. Broadway Sing-Along Therapy (with a good helping of Tilly/the Wall, red wine, and something chocolatey) is how it goes in my house when I am stressed.

  • Brianna

    “So Waits pretty much had a complete meltdown at the Whole Foods hot bar. The eco-yuppies were shooting patchouli-scented lazer beams from out their eyeballs at us, and we barely made it out of there alive.”

    Bwahahhahaha

  • http://www.mynaturallyfrugalfamily.blogspot.com Rachel

    Oh No! I love Broadway musicals and singing with them…I definitely think it clears things out…and Rent LOVE IT! Your eats seem so scattered and I think that definitely echoes the type of day you had. I hope that things are better now and especially since you seem to have a computer things must be looking up!!!

  • http://www.workingouteatingin.com Anastasia

    Sorry to hear about the no good day. We all get ‘em every once in awhile, but then things always get better! I love your WIAW posts because I love seeing the variety of foods you and Waits eat. Babies teething are so pitiful :[ My nephew is just starting to teeth & my sister uses on of these (http://www.amazon.com/Sassy-Teething-Feeder-Replacement-Bags/dp/B000GUYCZI) filled with frozen grapes or a really cold, wet washcloth and it seems to really help him.

    I’m with you on your method of therapy. While it’s not musicals for me, if I put on Gilmore Girls I’m instantly cheered up and calmer. That show is just cozy haha

  • Anonymous

    Hmmm – bad days lead me to:
    - turn on pbs kids – Clifford and Curious George to the rescue
    - turn up teeny pop music from my college days (nsync, brittany, etc)
    - count the moments until they are asleep and then unwind with either a glass of wine or cup of hot tea.
    - know that tomorrow will be better

    Sorry for the public meltdown. I’ve been there.

  • http://sarasexpletives.wordpress.com/ Sara Grambusch

    Aw, seems like the day turned out okay after all. I try to end bad days on good notes. I actually do a lot of random singing which cheers me up and laughing at recent unfortunate events might be the only remedy sometimes.

  • http://twitter.com/keephealthstyle Laura Agar Wilson

    Glad your day ended on a good note with the singalong! You have me craving banana and nut butter in a big way right now too! After a tough day I love to just make myself a huge mug of tea and eat a little bit of chocolate in front of the TV and then have an early night!

  • http://twitter.com/arodenha Alli

    It’s time’s like these I miss having a car — my favorite way to decompress from a bad day was to sing along to the radio, and you can’t really do that on the subway!

  • http://dearilou.blogspot.com chelsea

    I’m sorry that you had a bad day, but even you bad day was inspirational to me. I love reading your blog, it is a real pick me up. To bounce back on my bad days I usually make some tea and turn on some Gilmore girls. Or I just lay back and breath.

  • Taylor

    I usually go for a run (short, but fast), take a shower, and hang out in bed to feel comfy. When I was living in Seattle, I had downer days ALL THE TIME (probably because of the ever-consistent cloud cover) and it was really hard to snap out of it. But it’s great to have loved ones around… that’s awesome that you met up with Damien in the afternoon and got to chill out for a second. Hope that today’s a better one!

  • http://vegmomof4.blogspot.com/ April

    Sorry your day was so rotten. Them are the breaks when you’ve got kiddos, no? The way I look at it, it’s the terrible-crazy-chaotic days that make you appreciate those amazing moments so much more <3 Enjoy your Broadway Musical Therapy Moments :) For me, the kids and I sing along to Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog. The boys are seriously obsessed. Familiar with it?

  • http://foodanddo.lindsaybeeson.com Lindsay Beeson

    Your food day looks pretty delicious. And how much do I love fruit desserts?! Tasty, no guilt.

  • JBuesch

    3 things:
    1. Owen recognized “Baby Waits”. So cute :-)
    2. Next time you have a ped appointment we must plan a date ! I might have TWO kids by then so you’d basically be saving my life by hanging out with me. HAHA! But we live soooo close to Cravin’ Raven… Nom!
    3. Free nanners for wee ones at WF? How did I not know this!?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=38914961 Sarah Jessi Smith

    I’m sorry the day was poo-y. Yay for Waits cast begin off though!!

    Monday was a Very Bad No Good day for me, and I:
    wallowed in it for about 2 hours,
    realized how wasteful it was and was doing nothing to move me into a better frame of mind,
    so I went home and was alone with my cat for a while,
    vegged out doing NON school reading,
    then cleaned my entire apartment while listening to my fav angry women artists and drinking a vodka tonic. It helped immensely!

    I’m SO curious as to what you feed your dogs! I want to make my cat a vegetarian diet, but I’m afraid of doing it wrong and hurting him.

  • Kat

    I had to laugh at the Rent sing-along because this very Monday (as in, less than 48 hours ago) I had a full-on meltdown at work (poor Waits, I know just how he feels…except for the teething thing…) and left the building, got in my car, drove two blocks away from the office and then sat in the parked car for half an hour singing along to the Rent soundtrack at full volume.

  • Evelyn

    How did you do the last photo? That was awesome!

  • http://survivingcandyland.wordpress.com/ Lindsay

    You look so cute in your outfit. How did you get it to move like that? I would love if you sang to a broadway show. That would be awesome because I usually sing along to show tunes and I don’t even have it on. My roommate currently thinks I’m insane.

  • Freespirithoops

    I love LOVE love sock dreams!

  • http://dietplaid.wordpress.com/ Jen

    Bad days really stink. I do a combination of a few things: Play Call of Duty Black Ops (shooting imaginary people makes me feel better. I’m horrible), get a chai latte, have a drink, watch several seasons of Red Dwarf or No Reservations, have a snack. I don’t know how I would deal with a sad critter though :(

  • http://keepingitrealfood.com/ Jess

    I keep a ukulele next to my desk for emergencies.

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    Thanks for all the responses guys! And yes, everyone has rotten days every once in a while. It’s all about how you bounce back that’s important! Plus, having a pal that’s as cute as Waits makes it hard to stay down for very long. =)

  • http://simplybeme.com Jenny @ Simply Be…me

    On bad days I try and go for a run as soon as my husband gets home. It always seems to help. I also find that once our son is in bed, and I’m telling my husband about our day, the good always out weighs the bad and I just want to go and wake him up again :)

    The moving picture is awesome! I can hear him squealing with delight :) And Rent is my favourite musical of all time!

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    Happy Camper is the best store-bought xgfx bread I’ve ever had (by FAR) and Cravin’ Raven sells it cheaper than anywhere else, too!

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    Waits is a super rough-and-tumble dude, but he actually fractured his wrist on the smallest, silliest little plastic baby slide. He just slightly rolled onto his side as he was going down. Of all the things!

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    It’s an animated gif, which (I just discovered) is SUPER easy to do in Photoshop (and I don’t know much at ALL about Photoshop). I used this tutorial: http://creativetechs.com/tipsblog/build-animated-gifs-in-photoshop/

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    New computer is definitely helping! ;-D

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    Gilmore Girls seems to be a popular theme! Maybe I should check it out, I’ve actually never watched it (whoops!)

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    Aw, thank you. And you’re the second one to mention Gilmore Girls – I need to check it out!

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    I need to revisit Dr Horrible, it’s actually in my Netflix queue. And you’re totally right about the kids – the lowest lows are balanced by those unparalleled highs!

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    1. Yes Cravin’ Raven date! Any time!
    2. DUDE WE OWE YOU A BABYSIT! Please let us get you back before you’re due, I would love to give you guys some alone time while you can still get it. Let me know!

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    cleaning + loud angry music + vodka (cranberry) = how I got through my early 20s. :-)

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    Aw, that’s awesome! I mean, sorry you had a rough day, but yay! Rent rocks!

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    It’s an animated gif, which (I just discovered) is SUPER easy to do in Photoshop (and I don’t know much at ALL about Photoshop). I used this tutorial: http://creativetechs.com/tipsblog/build-animated-gifs-in-photoshop/

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    Ooh, I’m cheating and copy/pasting this from above – It’s an animated gif, which (I just discovered) is SUPER easy to do in Photoshop (and I don’t know much at ALL about Photoshop). I used this tutorial: http://creativetechs.com/tipsblog/build-animated-gifs-in-photoshop/

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    You made me snarf my coffee. =D

  • Amanda Estes

    Cute pics! Just had to chime in and say I love singing along to Broadway music…and Rent is one of my favorites :)

  • Jackie

    Yep, you are absolutely NOT along in the “Broadway musical singalong therapy” category! It’s the only way I can get through house cleaning, long car trips, and some bad days!

  • http://thequirkykitchen.wordpress.com emma

    Awww…..I’m smiling sooo big at that video. Waits is a little cutie :-) Lucky mom!

  • http://www.facebook.com/minnatoots Minna Toots

    Love the gif! And the cool thing is that I wore exactly the same colours today, yay! Purple, white & black together just look fabulous :)

    Gotta vouch for cleaning and listening to music. Certan types of music. Always helps.

    *Craves banana and maple syrup after reading this post. Too bad it’s almost 2AM :(*

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