Rock Shic

#912 Happy Halloween! Last day of October – 2020 What a Year 🎃🎃🎃

 

Happy Halloween!  Last day of October – 2020 What a Year. 

 

Today was the last day of October – and also Halloween!  The bone-chilling night in the moonlight of All Hallows’ Eve as it is otherwise known.

 

To me this signifies many, many things.  It’s kind of nuts – I haven’t written for ALL of August and ALL of September… which is quite bad even for me.  I know I know.  Where do I begin really.  August was a blur – we remained out in East Hampton and life was busy busy busy… then September – it didn’t seem to stop, largely as we began school (full time in person for both boys!).

 

Then there was October… Fall – a lot of movements, we came BACK to East Hampton… largely for the weekends… but it almost seems like homecoming at this stage.

 

As for today?  Well today we made the most of it I suppose… we skipped around from place to place – went to a Halloween Puppet Show at Guild Hall – then headed to our friends’ house in Amagansett for a big Halloween bash (our friends had not one, but TWO piñatas.  In a COVID world, where things are becoming increasingly more complicated – the boys couldn’t have asked for anything better.  To them this was heaven – and by extension, that meant that it was for us as well.    

 

The day ended where it began – myself and my big Rockshicbaby returned to Guild Hall, this time for an ADULT performance for Halloween where the actors took to the stage and performed not one, but FOUR scary tales, complete with lighting, sounds effects, music, and contemporary dance.  It was awesome!  We felt very fortunate indeed to be able to experience outdoor theater fun.  It’s definitely nice to see that the arts did not suffer this year… despite all of the turmoil caused by COVID.   And with that… we begin a new chapter – NOVEMBER here we come!  It’s hard to believe that there is only two more months left of 2020. 

#911 Lavender fields and the end of July 2020 💜💜💜

 

My goodness it is JULY!!! If I don’t write soon it will be August… and literally three months will have passed.

My friends, we have literally come to this stage where I think to myself, if I don’t write now the blog might die.  Yes! It’s true… at some point mamma might lose her momentum, which would be just so sad since we are basically eight years into this project (remember Rockshic started with a whisper and a dream back in Spring of 2012… a very distant world from today).

If I had to pick a simple moment from July that sums up our latest state, it may be my recent visit to the Lavender Fields at Lavender by the Bay.  This occurred last Sunday morning.  It was quite blissful actually – the last weekend before they cut the lavender blooms due to the intense heat that was killing the blooms.  I took the boys (hubby slept in… he didn’t actually think I would make it, ha!) – and just the smell of lavenders blooming alone was enough to make all of us happy little lambs.  The boys ran and frolicked in the lavender fields, gasped at bumble bees, laughed and picked and sniffed lavender, and all in all it was an amazing time (worth the near two hours back and forth that mamma had committed from East Hampton).

Otherwise… you ask, how goes life.  Well, it is as busy and complex as ever, and I am constantly defeated by detail or simple fatigue.  My body giving up on me I suppose (signs of aging… GASP!).  it makes sense doesn’t it… just think I was so young when Rockshic first kicked off, hardly in my thirties, haha… and now… though I still FEEL young – I somehow must come to terms with the fact that I am… somehow, NOT.

That is not to say that we can’t still be dreams running in lavender fields though!  Hence why I loved these memories so much and shall always treasure them.

Happy Friday my lovelies – and here’s to (gasp!) the start of August!!

#910 Mother’s Day in North Fork

A few belated posts for May…. I cannot believe how fast time has gone by.  Today will be day 71 of our social distancing!!

What can I say about Mother’s Day apart from – it happened, it was lovely, we did a mother’s day Bollywood dance class, followed by some oysters (local!) and champagne on the patio.  During a pandemic, this is the best that we can ask for J

Life has been difficult and challenging these days – so one of the things we do to try to stay sane (apart from drinking) is to post something beautiful each day on our stories.  For more updates, you’re more likely to follow me there as I crash quite early each day before I can even to write a blog post. 

#909 Farm-girl chic 🌾🌱🌿🐓

Today I did a little photoshoot with my munchkin.  Our second one since escaping from COVID-19 in the City.  Last one in Sag Harbor featured here.

It was a bit random, I'll admit.  As I saw the sun sneak its way up in the afternoon, as it tends to do now everyday while we tap away on our computer -- I thought to myself... why not I deserve a break.

Truth be told, I absolutely love our backyard and have fallen in love with it over the weeks.  We've been here now since April 1st and it really feels like ages.  I'm sad to say that we'll have to leave this neck of the woods by early May... but who knows, maybe once day we'll be back?

Until then we have these photos to remind us of the beautiful memories... and yes, a little bit of #barnyard chic (who doesn't love a little Denim Chambray popover dress?) brought by yours truly and her Rockshicbaby (who's not such a baby anymore! Though he'll always be a baby in my eyes). 

#908 Easter in North Fork

Happy Easter!!! It’s hard to believe that another Easter has come… and certainly who could have imagine Easter on lock-down?  It’s been 32 days since we’ve isolated ourselves…. Since that fateful day when I came back from work on March 11^th – noting that: a) I would be working form home (hubs had already started); and b) the boys wouldn’t be going back to school.

Since then… we’ve moved houses several times (or so it feels).  We left the city on March 17^th… lived in Sag Harbor for over two weeks, then more recently moved to North Fork – where we’ll be for the foreseeable future (at least until early May).

Yesterday, Mayor De Blasio announced that schools will remain closed in NYC until the end of the school year (something which both hubs and I saw coming a month ago so we’re not entirely surprised).  It’s too bad that De Blasio and Cuomo are fighting over ego… particularly at a time like this.

But right now let’s focus on happier times.   Despite the pandemic and quarantining, the boys seems to in pretty good spirits.  Part of it, I think, is that they’re too young to understand what is happening around them (does anyone truly understand?).  My oldest comprehends that we “can’t go back to the city,” even though he misses his friends.  My youngest thinks that this is an extended vacation.  For the most part, I would venture to guess that both boys are living their best lives at the moment.  We’re steps away from our own private beach, we’re fortunate to have our health and a beautiful back yard to play in (the pool isn’t open yet, sorry – but it is also April J).  Hubs and I are struggling with homeschooling and working full time, but again, we are managing and it isn’t impossible.  Life is drumming along, and there really isn’t anything to complain about.  As I said before – so long as we have each other, that is all that matters to us.

So happy Easter everyone!  This may be the most bizarre Easter yet… but I firmly believe that we are strong, and we can get through this.

#907 We’re going on a Bear Hunt – a Nature Trek in the woods

This morning we decided upon two things:

• We’ll probably stay out East until the end of May, maybe June even (probably June??); and
• We were going to go somewhere and do a nature hike – after a drive to the beach, maybe.

There are so many "ifs" and "maybes" in our lives right now, and we count ourselves to be the lucky ones.  These days there have been loads of uncertainties everywhere, and the only thing I know for certain is that my kids will need to be fed, cared for, and even entertained every day.  I’d like to think that hubby and I are doing our best to keep them enriched, whilst also keeping on top of our own jobs and doing the very best that we can.  The fact of the matter is – I’m just not so sure about anything right now.  Everything is so minute by minute, moment to moment – and we try to do our best and balance as best as we can.

I do feel incredibly fortunate though, oh God yes – of course I do.  I recognize that it’s an absolute luxury to just escape out of the city, to be able to go on nature hikes with my children – to have the capacity to still work remotely and have all of our daily needs and comforts answered for.  We’re able to stay far and away from the maddening crowd (for now), to the best extent that we know how, and that is enough – for now.

We’ve been going to the beach quite a bit since we’ve gotten to Sag Harbor (we’ve mainly gone to the Sagg Main Beach… hubs also tried nearby Foster Memorial/Long Beach).  Last Sunday was our first time (really I had to ask myself, all those months we were living in Sagaponack back in late 2017, it never occurred to us to go to the beach??).  Hubby has been really keen to take the boys to the local parks as well to kick around a soccer ball (although I think yesterday he tried to go to main park again and it was fenced off?).  Eeks. 

I have to admit, there was something hauntingly beautiful about the trees and woods here.  In the city, there is an abundance of cherry orchids and flowers galore (at least from my friends' social media pages), given that we are officially entering Spring.  Yet here out east in the Hamptons, life still has this bewildered, shaken-up feel, as if mother nature is still not quite ready to give up on winter, so the landscape is very subdued and musky… with shades of beige, grey, and faded greens – all quite pretty really, but in a rather eerie kind of way.  This must be what “remote” feel like. 

In the woods, for instance – everything had a sense of redness to it… largely due to the faded leaves on the ground that now glistens hues of deep burgundy (especially in the rain).  As I trailed behind my brood of three men (including two little boys desperate to become their father)… I couldn’t help but think that I was in a little “red forest” of sorts.  In some ways it made me think of that time that hubby and I visited Muir Woods in San Francisco (when I was basically seven months pregnant with my first little Rockshicbaby).   Fast forward nearly seven years later, and the world is completely different. 

“Things will never be the same,” I thought to myself – as I looked around in observance of the great beauty that surrounds me – desperately wishing and willing my eyes to remember it all.

Tomorrow it may all be different.

#906 Styling by the lake – Sag Harbor

Yesterday, as little droplets of rain started to come down… and as my oldest was practicing piano by the window – I looked longingly at the lake views outside of our Sag Harbor house and thought to myself “why not have a photo shoot?”

Truly – why not.  These are trying and stressful times.  Everyone’s lives have been turned completely upside down by the Corona Virus – GLOBALLY.  It truly feels like there isn’t a single place in the world that hasn’t gone into lock-down or have not been impacted by Covid-19.  For a moment, I just wanted to feel like my old self again, to experience pieces of me returning back to my own body as I walked about by the water (with my six year old photographer whom I’ve enlisted for the occasion)… and to feel **CREATIVE** once again. 

Perhaps it was selfish, and perhaps it was frivolous given the pandemic, but in these times of need, when everyone is in sheer survival mode and every news-flash is flooded with updates regarding new cases of death, Corona illnesses, the collapse of the healthcare system, the inundation of hospitals, and a universally ravaged economy – sometimes it’s just nice to be reminded of your own humanity – of doing something nice and simple for yourself JUST BECAUSE. 

A luxury indeed.   

I think my six year old may have snapped this photo accidentally, but I kind of like it! #sagharbor #vibes

#905 Sheltering in Sag Harbor — Covid-19

March 18, 2020 -- our second night in Sag Harbor, we decided to take a walk into town... and suffice to say it was quite empty (but peaceful)

Also March 18th -- though in reality this could have been any ol' day these days... our backyward faces a small pond.  The entire property is situated on approximately 1.3 acres (though as you can see the owners recently cut the trees down).  We've been doing a lot of this in our backyard, it's nice to just open the door and let the boys roam around.  Feeling blessed!

We spend a lot of time in the airy living room (with cathedral ceiling!).  The boys love it, and it's a nice place for them to do their building/playing activities (when they're not fighting) #sagharbor

March 18, 2020 -- again, although this was taken on the second day of our arrival, it pretty much resembles our everyday.  I feel like each day we have a little piece of delivery that comes in... as I frantically sort out what it is that I am missing.  These days we try to minimize, to the extent possible, the number of times that each of us leave the house. 

Hello from Sag Harbor!  Like many Manhattanites... we decided to leave the city early last week (Monday the 16th to be exact).  It was all so fast moving... I came back from the office on Wednesday the 11th, after being told that we would all switch to telecommute starting Thursday the 12th.  The situation escalated to a point whereby both myself and hubby no longer felt it safe for the boys to go to school on Thursday.  Can you believe that their school was even insisting on holding a group concert on Friday the 13th? Absolutely insane.  We all sheltered in place that Thursday -- and have not had much contact with anyone since.  EVERYTHING has become virtual in our lives.

By Sunday -- all of the schools in NYC have shut down (to be fair they should have closed it down long before then, but both Cuomo and De Blasio were slow to respond).  In retrospect, that was a mistake -- see article here.

Monday, we rented a car, we found a house.  Tuesday (March 17th), we packed up the few things that we could (or had the mental capacity to pack)... and we were out of here.  I remember standing in the elevator with my husband, our children, thinking, "when will we return to our apartment?"  I even dropped off my favorite plant (a salvaged orchid that had started to bloom again) with our downstairs neighbor before I left... later texting "please take good care of her!"

When WILL we be back in the city?

I still don't really have the answer to that question to be honest.  It's a very disjointed feeling - to carry on in some respect as if everything was okay (work, child rearing, going for walks, texting with friends, cooking, cleaning-up).  Yet, on the other hand -- knowing that life as we know it will never be the same.

Even looking back... to just a week ago, I realize that so much has changed in the world.  I've stopped keeping track of the statistics regarding the pandemic.  I know that it is bad, and I know that New York (particularly New York City) will be the hardest hit.  There is a literal tsunami waiting to strike our city -- and per Cuomo it will hit us with 14-20 days.

So... for the time being we've decided to hunker down here in Sag Harbor -- at least for another week, before we relocate (but NOT back to the city, not with the way things have escalated in the last few days).  In the meantime, I pray that everyone is staying healthy and connected!  Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.  I'll be sharing my thoughts and experiences in the days to come.

Xo,

Rockshic

#904 Dinosaur fun with Jurassic World Tours 🦖

Me and my boo boo!!  A much deserved break

The boys are ready!!

Dinosaur action!!

 

My monkey has been so engrossed in all of his coursework (more on that later)... that I decided to reward him with a little treat over the weekend to see Jurassic World Live Tour.  So dedicated was I to the cause that I even agreed to schlep all the way to (gasp) Newark!!! On a SUNDAY night no less!!  There must be trophies for this sort of thing no? :)

Jokes aside, it was certainly fun times.  The story is a familiar one... the need to preserve and respect wild life (albeit very extinct ones) whilst also warding off those who want to harness special powers for evil.  My favorites were the velociraptors who truly came to life (hint: there were real humans underneath!).  Another family I went with observed that they had initially thought those dinosaurs would be animatronics, but apparently not! Oddly enough, I actually prefer the real thing if you know what I mean. Lends an air of authenticity to the whole experience, even if it was just an actor in costume at the end of the day. 

I took some videos so you can judge for yourself.  Part of me wishes that I could have taken our little guy with us, as he would have been even more “wowed” by all the action, but alas the show was a bit too late at night to have taken my three year old... especially on a Sunday night all the way to New Jersey!  Next time — let’s aim to stay a little bit closer to home (maybe even, dare I say it, a date night??!).  Makes me realize how nice it is to introduce our children to these unique experiences, be it dinosaur explorations at the museum or musical theater to unleash our inner creativity.  They are all equally important!  See below for some related posts in the past, and you can find more under Theater family experiences and Museum outings.  

 

Related Features:

 

#1. Gustafer Yellowgold at Symphony Space -- Creative Fun for the Whole Family

Gustafer Yellowgold at Symphony Space

#2. The Lion King

The Lion King

#3. Dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum -- Exploration with Littles

Dinosaurs at the Museum of Natural History

 

 

Me and my silly, at Prudential Center -- can you tell he loved the show?

Super pretty!

Ready, set, action!

#903 Year of the Rat 🐭🐭🐭

Happy Year of the Rat!!! 

It’s funny to think that so much has happened since Chinese New Year 🧧 this year (which hit early as it’s usually in February).  I ALWAYS love Chinese New Year and this year is really no exception... although the unfortunate thing is this year Corona virus is all abuzz. In fact, one could argue that things are even worse now than they had been during actual Chinese New Year, which is a real bummer. 

The truth is, there is nothing I love more than the anticipation of Chinese New Year — the excitement and anticipation of it all.  The ability to recall stories of New Years last, reading the race of the Zodiac, sharing little pieces of the tradition with my children.  All of this becomes so magical and beautiful.  Even the negative bits (likes being sick this year which was so awful and wretched)... to feeling like you’ve missed out on critical things such as our annual philharmonic outing.  Nevertheless — it is all okay because at the end of the day, I still hold these precious memories near and dear, and I know that with each year, our family tradition of celebrating Chinese New Year will only grow stronger.  🧧🧧🧧