We were in a Tornado last night. Literally.

Who would have thought that a Tornado (yes, a real tornado) would have hit Brooklyn? Max and I went out for a walk earlier in the day and it was muggy and overcast. We headed home and it started to get overcast. Within a matter of minutes the sky got dark gray and rain started to pour. I didn't think anything of it - until I looked out the window into our backyard and saw the top part of our tree fly away in the swirl of branches traveling past our backyard. It was unreal.

Max ran for cover - in a canvas bag :) I love this 3 Sprouts canvas bag I got last weekend from Giggle.

One thing I miss tremendously from the Mission (aside from my mom!) - is the produce. Give me Casa Lucas any day. I heart Casa Lucas. The produce here in New York is pitiful. The Cheap Ass Bitch warned me about the produce. "The Avocados here are 3 times the price and never ripe." I consider I had been forewarned. But, I didn't think it could possibly be this bad. I got a Spaghetti Squash from Fresh Direct the other day. Looked good from the outside. But, when I cracked it open, it was all green and not ripe. Living in California has set my expectations too high for fresh produce. I really took it for granted.

I was able to scoop out the middle of the squash and put a little water in the middle, cover it with tinfoil and cook it in the oven. It came out ok. I had to take a picture of it as I had never seen a green spaghetti squash before.

[Check out his 2 teeth in the pic!]--->
The Butternut squash I got the other day turned out ok. I made a nice pureed baby food for Max. He loved it - loved to smear it all over; His face; The Highchair; Mommy. It was a great success. I have been trying to make him baby food in an effort to save money and make delicious healthy food for him. I was using a organic baby food (Earth's Best) which is great. He really likes it. But I am part of a mom's group here in Brooklyn and one mom had to point out that there is BPA (the bad plastic compound that can leach into things) in the metal lid of the baby food. I look over at the 40 jars I bought, which are sitting in the corner and contemplate if I should continue to give it to him. I feel like not everything that he's going to touch, eat, etc will be "BPA Free." I try my best to be conscious about everything going into his body - but there are certain factors that I have little control off living in a city. Smog, Smoke, Dust. Whats wrong with a little BPA afterall? I'm sure all the bottles used when we (1970's era babies) were growing up were tainted with all kinds of good stuff. And I turned out okay. Or at least I'd like to think so. Am I a horrible mom for letting a little thing like BPA on the lid (which is not really touching the food) not really bother me? I just think of all the moms who take their kids to McDonalds[insert any Fast Food joint here] every day.

Max's first playdate

We had a great time up in Hudson. The Fair was alot of fun and we certainly saw alot of things that I hadn't seen in awhile (ie. Carnies!) We saw every kind of livestock available thanks to the 4H Club. The Budweiser Clydesdale horses were quite majestic - even though they were all squeezed into their individual corrals. There were so many people at the fair. We decided against riding any of the rides - so we did a walk around the fair. We saw a older guy (50's) getting his nipple pierced (yes, at the fair) and an older carnie (early 60's, sorry mom!)wearing CrissCross jeans

So I'm pretty wiped out - so going to try to make this posting short and sweet. Max went on his first playdate to Prospect Park today. I met some other moms (40 of them!) online with kids around the same age as Max. Today, 5 of us met in the park and hung out for an hour or so. It was great to see how happy Max was to be around the other kids. He sure is a social little guy.

I'll work on a longer posting at a later time - Max has been sleeping erratically, so I am going to snooze while he is!

MM out xo

We are going upstate with Auntie M

So excited. We are going out of town for Labor Day weekend. Heading up to Morgana La Fayes roommates families house. Its sure to be packed full of excitement - We are going to the Fair, and to a Super Wal-Mart! (Never thought I'd be so excited about going to a Wal-Mart - but there aren't any in the city)

I hear the little man rustling - Thank god for this baby monitor.

One little tidbit more - Living in SF, I loved our Quinny stroller. But here in Brooklyn. its like driving a "Big Rig." I can't get that big fucker [pardon my french] up and down stairs, down narrow store isles and thru our front door. I think I have to recant one of my first blog postings. I am starting to hate the Quinny. Maclaren fo' life!

Our Neighborhood Restaurant...and the BEST cheap Brut I've EVER had.

Wow. We went to AppleWood last night for dinner and I'm still thinking about it. We got the Tasting Menu with Wine pairings and it was out of this world. We had this amazing Brut with the first course which I need to find. Its from a California winery called "Wycliff." I thought they said Wyclef - so I've been Googling and getting nothing but results on Wyclef Jean. I found bottles of the champagne online for $5! Time to Case up! Too bad they won't ship to NY unless you are a restaurant or a liquor store. Its honestly the best (cheap - a Ernest and Gallo product!) Brut I have had. And I've had my share of cheap ass Brut.

So I read not ONE but TWO articles on Bedbugs on the NY Times today. The first article was about buying second hand and vintage clothes/furniture. The overall consensus of the article was that it was generally "OK" to buy second hand, but to be cautious. This scared the shit out of me, since I LOVE to thrift store shop and LIVE to find Vintage goods. I haven't bought anything second hand since we've been here however.

The second article was out right scary. Literally skin crawling. Danny and I have developed a phobia of Bedbugs (having come from a environment that was entirely void of bedbugs - for states and states). I had to Google bedbug bites when I first arrived here in NY, as I had amassed a number of bites on my legs. We were able to deduct that they were not, in fact, bedbug bites - but mosquito bites. (I had been out in our garden cleaning up brush and must have hit a swarm of those blood suckers) But still we are nervous Nellies about Bedbugs.

So - what did I just go and do? I bought some second hand stuff around the corner at a childrens resale shop. Swimtrunks for Max (in case we go upstate this weekend), a summer hat and some super cute winter booties. Yes, I'm living life on the end, I tell you.

Max is up! Madre out...ttys

Holy Hell - Part Trios

Max's First Night in BKLYN with Daddy

Ok Ok - its been rough finding time to update my blog. (Thanks for mentioning that....Gloria) I have SO much to bitch about too. I apologize if the Mission Madre blog has turned into a platform of "Busch Bitching." I think I am the only Busch that bitches - so, why not have my own platform.... And also, wanted to comment on my no longer being the "Mission Madre". I will always be the Mission Madre. Even though I am no longer "geographically" located in the Mission District, I will always be the mommy ON a Mission - whether it be finding the best fun activities for Max or scoring cheap shit on Craigslist... My mission never ends.

Ok carrying on...going to try to wrap this one up

2a. The Move, Movers, lackeys, idiots, and ass kissing
3. Selling the House, Car, Bike, Kidney (kidding on that last one - but email me if you might be interested? hah!)
4. The Rendezvous
5. Operation "Move to NY"

2a. The Move, Movers, lackeys, idiots, and ass kissing CONT.
So, to make a long story short...there was some back and forth with the DB's (yes mother, I know douchebags have a use) that work at the moving company. They tried to delay our stuff arriving by a week - I had already bought plane tickets for my mom and I based on their original dates. After much "Busch Bitching" I was able to get them to commit to deliver our goods - on the day that we arrived into NY. Danny had his work cut out for him - he had to get a bed and get all our stuff delivered and partially unpacked. Not to say I didn't have a HUGE task as hand in getting Max, my mom and 170lbs of luggage from SF to our place in NY. Yes, that was NOT a typo - 170 POUNDS of luggage. More about the trip in Part 5.

3. Selling the House, Car, Bike
Things in our life somehow sold UNBELIEVABLY fast. This made me question whether we sold it for TOO good of a price? The house had an offer after the first open. The place looked AMAZING (will post a pic later) - so its not a shock that it went quick. But we were uncertain how the market in SF was going to be so we didn't price it too aggressively. Our car sold to the first person who say it - again it was in GREAT shape and we took care of it like our own child. So it was not a shocker that it went quick - and the guy who bought it brought cash. It was nice to have a ton of cash when I walked into WellsFargo. [plucking down a nice wad of hundies] "I need to make a deposit please". Teller: "Damn Gina!" And then I had to sell the AWESOME vintage Bianchi (which I never rode). I paid $125 for it down in Orange at the Salvation Army. I put it on Craigslist for $350. I don't know shit about bikes. But I DO know that hipsters in the Mission are always riding around on Vintage Bianchi bikes. I was able to sell the bike to the 2nd person I showed it to. Thankfully, my bro was there to answer any "bikey" questions.

4. The Rendezvous
Danny flew to Orange, CA to meet us at his parents house for the weekend. My mom, Max and I drove down from SF. It was a great weekend - and it was a really nice birthday present to be able to see my husband (who we had not seen for nearly a month) It was SO hard when Danny left. But I told myself, it was only another 2 weeks until we were in NY. Danny flew out on the 26th at night and we drove back to SF the next morning. I showed the car to someone the day after we returned and it was sold. Just like that the pieces to the puzzle fell into place.

5. Operation "Move to NY"
Luckily, we flew JetBlue which lets you check the first bag (up to 60lbs) for Free. I had to pay $30 as I checked 2 bags and a $50 overweight fee. Thankfully, Erin (my Bro) dropped us off at the airport and helped us get all the luggage to the counter. We said our goodbyes and I watched him walk away. And then I lost it. I sobbed uncontrollably, as I tried to check in at the JetBlue counter. I just couldn't help it. The culmination of our being apart from Danny for so long, stress of selling our house, living with my mom, leaving the life that we had built in SF - it all just came to a head and emotionally erupted - right in front of the poor JetBlue agent. "I'm - sorry - i'm-moving...sobbbbbb...." Gawd, I felt like a 5 year old kid. I quickly composed myself and we headed on our adventure. Needless to say, Max was great on the flight. We were able to get an entire row to ourselves, so had an extra seat where we could put Max's carseat. The flight was fairly quick and the flight attendants loved Max. We had a car pick us up at JFK and arrived at our new place around 8:30pm. I got out of the car, saw Danny, and started crying. "This really did happen, this is our new home, we did it" I told myself. I walked in our apartment and felt a HUGE sense of relief and the weight had lifted off my shoulders.

xx MM Out