Hi there! Thanks for checking in. I didn't post yesterday because we decided to stay an extra night in the Hamptons. Or is it The Hamptons? I'm not sure, but I am sure that our super sweet friends let us have the run of their beautiful house on Sunday night, after we had had a great family weekend - they have a 4-year-old girl and a 2-year-old boy - and it was really, really nice. Bret was working immediately Monday morning, but it did almost feel like vacation for a second there.

And now we're back! For inquiring minds, let me share with you our hopes, dreams and ambitions for this week in July, 2015.

• Purge, purge, purge. I was recently talking to Bret's aunt, who expressed disbelief that we have anything left to purge. I'm sure it feels that way on your end of things, but on our end, I am itching to get rid of stuff. Staying the weekend in a pristine vacation house didn't help - the lack of clutter was palpably relaxing. I need it. Bret's bummed - he recently cleaned out five years of detritus from his DC office, and claims to still be "traumatized" - but I'm ready to go. I plan to hold a yard sale, rather than donate it all. Above, the start of our collection. It's embarrassing, especially when you consider that we don't even have a basement or garage to stash all this stuff. Where was it all??? Anyway, this is a long-term project, but we're gearing up. I have some reading to do, including some formal training in the KonMari method, which I've heretofore only instinctively followed. I'm also planning to discuss different toy philosophies with my friends, one of whom just posted on Facebook that she's ditching everything but a toy kitchen. I need to hear her take!
• Learn to sew a button. Yeah, it's embarrassing. I don't know how to sew on a button. Bret has done it for me many times, and I find that charming enough to have not learned it myself, but it's time. What if the apocalypse hits tomorrow? I'll need some survival skills, and button sewing seems the most basic. Also, I have a dress I recently bought that is losing all of its buttons, and I'm just too embarrassed to pay someone to do it.
• Eat well. I hate the term "clean" eating, which some how implies that the rest of us are dirty, but I am basically trying to follow the precepts of the clean eating movement. Very few processed carbs, no added sugar, just a focus on veggies. Here's what we're planning to eat this week:

1. Black Bean pasta with Tony's Curried Mushrooms & Shallots (I'll post about this one once I perfect it; it's my grandfather's favorite/only vegetarian recipe)
2. Veggie chicken apple sausages with coleslaw (buns for the grain eaters in the fam)
3. Falafel and Greek salad
4. Barbeque baked tofu bites and corn on the cob with a side salad

• Work out! I mentioned that I signed up for a half marathon in Philly in November. Let me be clear: I am very, very afraid. I've been looking for good training programs, but I find it's a little tough, because I'm not sure postpartum should count as "beginner." Know what I mean? Once upon a time I was in shape. Surely there's some muscle memory or something I can rely on to elevate me above the couch potato starting point (their term, not mine) that's available in a lot of these training regimes. If you've got any tips, holla. In the meantime, Wes(t) (a story I'll share soon) and I are headed to baby yoga again today.

....And that's the week. In a nutshell. Meanwhile, Oscar the Roomba is earning a place in my heart. That little dude is such a hard worker! I find myself looking on him fondly and offering encouragement: "Oh, underneath the crib? Go on with your bad self Oscar!" and "Okay, okay, you cleaned it! You're just being a showoff now!" That sort of thing. It is perfectly normal over here, is what I'm trying to say. Talk to y'all tomorrow!