Pop Rocks and discarded loveys

Last night Tim and I went to The Bazzar alone, sans les enfants who stayed home and had a sleepover in Caroline's room. Tasty tapas like Jicama wrapped guacamolé, Caviar bun and Codfish fritters were all  surprising bursts of different flavors and the Sweet potato fries with whipped Greek yogurt made me want to try my own version at home. For dessert we moved into the Patisserie - pretentious but fun - and sat at a communal bar table listening to a Frenchman telling his partner that she never contacts his friends to which she responded: "I don't speak French, how can I?" Not even her Heart of Chocolate cake seemed able to lift her out of her misery as she listened to him lament all the compromises he had made. 


The most fun of the whole evening was the chocolate-covered pop rocks. I loved Pop Rocks as a kid. I remember pouring them into my mouth by the bagful. Served in a delicate little candy bowl, The Bazzar's house-made chocolate-covered pop rocks were more sophisticated than those of my childhood,  but they popped, sizzled and fizzed just as much. We brought some home for the girls to try. I was so excited for the girls to have some that I  let them have them this morning before breakfast! We all had fun opening our mouths and listening to the popping as I was transported back in time.

Chocolate-covered pop rocks we brought home

This past week we also tackled a major Lovey-Purge. We're beginning to get ready for a huge garage sale at which I'm determined to get rid of all the extraneous stuff that accumulates over the years.  Katherine was told she could keep one bin of Loveys and it could not be overflowing. So earlier this week we sat down on the floor in her room and made two piles: The Keep Pile and the Garage Sale Pile. Caroline joined us, expecting drama, but didn't get any. Katherine very calmly went through all of them until she had two piles. She had to then go through her Keep Pile a second time whereupon Caroline announced that she was going to have make some very hard choices.
"That's not hard at all," Katherine retorted and then she very efficiently swept through the Keep Pile until it was an appropriate size. "There, see how easy that was?"

The Garage Sale Pile

After the three of us stuffed all of the Loveys into garbage bags I wondered if the Lovey purge wasn't harder for me than for Katherine. Even now, while recognizing the absurdity of this huge pile (all gifts from friends and family who fed the Lovey obsession), as I  see Tigger (upside down) and Groovy Bunny (face down on the floor) discarded without a second thought, I feel a sadness, a pang, a desire to return to those moments not so long ago when they were snuggly, comforting Loveys.


Pop Rocks and Loveys. Things of the past.