Poetry & Words – Page 15 – The Oaxacaborn Blog

Chapter 1

When you ask some people where they are from, they’ll tell you where they were born. But that’s not how my story begins — even though if I were to tell you that story, you’d hear about a noisy little town in southern Mexico, and American parents, and how I would have been Micah if I would have been a boy.

But I always think of my stories as starting when I leave a place. So when I think back to the beginning, I think of standing on my seven-year-old tiptoes under the unrestful Yugoslavian dawn, reaching up to hug Babica goodbye.

That’s where it all started for me.

That’s where I learned to say goodbye.

Poetry & Words

November Ads/Sponsorships

November 2, 2012March 22, 2014 Gina @ Oaxacaborn

Eyebrows the Fox - handmade toy for sale on Oaxacaborn's Etsy

Historically, this blog has always had higher-than-average views during the Christmas season. And with October’s traffic coming in as the highest of all-time (thanks to YOU!), I think the stats this holiday season are going to be the best yet.

So grab your ad spots now for November and December! : )

Poetry & Words

WRITING & WORDS :: The Miracle in the Midst of the Noise

November 1, 2012March 22, 2014 Gina @ Oaxacaborn

Aveline reading on the couch - photo via Oaxacaborn dot com

Sometimes, it looks like this.

(Sometimes. Not today.)

It has sounded more like this, today: “Don’t put your head in the toilet.” “Why are you putting that piece of sandwich between your toes?” “Hey! Don’t eat my makeup!” “I am not a trampoline.” “Good job helping! Yay! Thank you! Wait! Was that a red dress? We’re washing whites!”

But those are just the things I’ve said.

I don’t want to drown in the sound of my own voice.

I’ve got to remember the things she’s saying, too.

I’ve got to remember the joyful shouts of “Mummy!!” whenever I reappear. The MO MOW! (more milk) and MO SEE-WOH! (more cereal) breakfast chorus. The “Oh, wow!” marvel at everything from a cookie to a piece of lint. The giggling “Ready? GO!” shrieks followed by hugs-from-a-running-start. The “Help. Stuck!” announcement that’s she has woken up from her nap. The bouts of uncontrollable laughter. Even the endlessly dramatic “Oh, no!”, which drives me crazy sometimes.

Because, even though every day doesn’t look like that photo, every day won’t always sound like this, either.

So on days like this, I ask God to let me see the miracle in the midst of the noise. And you know what? Every time I remember to stop and ask him to see with new eyes, He always, always answers.

“You have put gladness in my heart.” -Psalm 4:7a

Inspiration, Poetry & Words

INSPIRATION :: Winter 2012 Toast UK Women’s Catalogue

October 12, 2012November 1, 2012 Gina @ Oaxacaborn

I only like icy landscapes in theory. I can say that with some authority, because I’ve tested the, er, frozen waters. In college, I lived across the street from the Lake Superior shoreline, and meh — not my thing! See, it’s not an urban legend or an exaggeration that humans can have icicles hanging from their personage. Oh, no. That really happens.

Here’s a photo of me, standing on Lake Superior when the ice had already started to break up. It was Easter break, so I’d switched to my “spring” snowpants and coat — and was subsequently frozen to the core. (What was I thinking?! DOES THAT LOOK LIKE SPRING TO YOU?! And who in the world has “spring snowpants”?)

Brrrrrrr. It’s true that the air is amazing and clean, there are myriad stars, and the stillness and quietness overnight are like nothing I’ve experienced elsewhere. But you know? It’s cold. Your car’s doors freeze entirely shut. When you do get the car moving finally, the wheels feel square. The worst part of it all is when the sky and the ground fade together into a dusty, dreary gray, swallowing everything in between them. The sun disappears. Weeks pass before it reappears momentarily, only to slip away again. Sometimes, it’s too cold for snow even to fall.

So when I’m oooh and aaahing over the pretty wintery scenes in Toast UK’s most recent lookbook, I try to remind myself what living inside those pictures really was like, and realize that I’m much happier just looking at the photos*.

*I’ll let you decide how much of that is true and how much is an attempt to convince myself I enjoy sweating in Florida-October’s swampy heat.

You may also be interested in my Toast UK catalogue round-ups from previous seasons. They’re not all wintery. ;)

Poetry & Words

WRITING & WORDS: The Parental Bragging Complex

October 8, 2012March 22, 2014 Gina @ Oaxacaborn

The parental bragging complex, a humorous article on Oaxacaborn dot com There’s a strange phenomenon I’ve observed since becoming a parent: the irrepressible urge to brag.

Oh no, I don’t mean pulling a quintuple-fold wallet out of one’s pocket and loudly showing the pictures to everyone within earshot. That’s to be expected. The instant one becomes a parent, one firmly believes the wrinkled child held up in that room is the best-looking, smartest baby in all of humankind’s existence. That’s normal. That’s to be expected.

It’s beautiful, actually.

But the moment a parent lays eyes on any other parent, a bizarre transformation takes place. Alongside the beautiful pride, a strange and paradoxical pride also rises up, causing the parent to believe his or her child is not only the handsomest and most gifted, but also the worst and most awfully-behaved.

Remember the Topper, a character in the Dilbert comic strip? No matter what anyone said, Topper would top it.

Well folks, when this Topper complex is observed within the parental habitat, it’s truly a weird thing to behold.

Exhibit A:
“Hi, friend! How’re you doing?”
“Oh, pretty beat. My kid didn’t sleep much last night.”
“Psh. I have thirty-eight kids and none of them slept through the night until they were twelve.”

Exhibit B:
“Oh hello, friend, where have you been lately?”
“Yeah, it’s been a while. My kid just got over chicken pox.”
“Ohreally? That’s nothing! Mine came down with an extremely rare case of TURKEY pox! It’s so rare, my doctor hadn’t even heard of it. Here, let me show you the rash. He’s still incredibly contagious. Yeah, it’s the grossest rash ever…let me just pull down his..”
“Ummm, actually, yeah, we were just leaving…”

Exhibit C:
“What a coincidence meeting you here!”
“Yeah, my kid is going through this phase where he’ll only eat bananas, so…”
“Psh, don’t talk to me about grocery shopping. You’ve got it easy. My kid only ate fin-less goldfish and square cheerios for eight years straight.”

Exhibit D:
“A cast? What happened?”
“Oh, it’s ok. My kid fell out of a tree in the backyard and broke his wrist.”
“My Bobby fell out of the Eiffel Tower and broke seventy-two out of the twenty-six bones in his foot!”

Friends, I have no answers. No tidy little explanations. Honestly, I can’t figure out if this sort of behavior stems from a superiority complex or an inferiority complex.

The bottom line, it seems, is that each parent wants others to believe his life is better — or is it worse? — than every other parent’s.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go scrape off some cheese (?) my daughter stuck to the television screen. I guess she can escape her Pack n Play now.

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Babiekins Magazine, Poetry & Words

Babiekins Magazine: in Stores October 9th!

October 3, 2012November 1, 2012 Gina @ Oaxacaborn

It’s alllllmost here…the very first print issue of Babiekins Magazine!

Babiekins Mag - available in Barnes and Noble stores October 9 Cover photo: Kelly Roper Photography

The issues are en route from the warehouses as I type this, and will be sold in every single Barnes & Noble store in the US, beginning Tuesday, October 9th.

In the US, you can also check Books-A-Million and Stater Bros. If you’re in the UK, copies are available online at Lapin & Me; in Brasil, Supersoniko, and in France, D’Arthur à Zoé.

I’m particularly thrilled about a little piece I wrote on my childhood in the former Yugoslavia, and about some photographs the wildy talented Deb Schwedhelm shot of Aveline and I. (I’ve had to keep that a secret since April.)

There’s lots more, of course; each page is bursting with fresh content from dozens of incredibly talented people. (And did I mention how proud I am of our Editor-in-Chief for including a verse in her Editor’s Note?) Oh, I can’t wait for you to see it!

So, here’s the thing. I’m hoping to see the entire stock SOLD OUT. Wanna help me do that? :) You can find Babiekins Magazine in the fashion section of the magazine rack.

Locate a Barnes & Noble store near you

Poetry & Words

Now offering ad spaces/sponsor spots!

September 20, 2012March 22, 2014 Gina @ Oaxacaborn

Babiekins Magazine, Poetry & Words

WRITING & WORDS :: Issue 10 of Babiekins Magazine

September 10, 2012November 1, 2012 Gina @ Oaxacaborn

I haven’t actually blogged about this yet (although if we’re connected on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram you’ve already seen this).

I had the honor of appearing in four separate spots in the latest digital issue of Babiekins Magazine —

Aven Clothing: Designer Interview [pages 45-48]
Madeleine P’tite: Artist Interview [pages 49-52]
The Pie Pixie: A Childhood Memory of the Tooth Fairy [pages 57-58]
The Unbreakable Bond: What I Want my Daughter to Know [pages 247-248]

I’m incredibly grateful to my editor, Priscila who believes in me and has handed me this huge opportunity — and to my mom, who has always, always encouraged me to keep on writing.

Big thanks also goes to Mitch from Aven Clothing and Madeleine of La p’tite Madeleine for being such wonderful interview subjects, to the talented Maia Chavez Larkin for illustrating my Pie Pixie story, and to Deb Schwedhelm Photography for the photograph of Aveline and I that I’ll treasure forever.