A Lazy Day

"I'm walking to Norway, Mama!"
Today is a lazy day. The weather is beautiful and fall-ish. The house is cozy and smells delicious. We're in lounge-y clothes making cookies and watching Beatles movies. Blogging the Norway trip and making plans.

John left for a shoot last night and won't be back until tomorrow night. We miss him.

My mama will be here on Saturday night and we are very excited. William's birthday is next Wednesday and we have lots of fun plans for the week.

We went for a wonderful walk this morning. Kickboxing tonight. Maybe another walk after dinner. More working on the trip blog (I promise more is coming!) -- I didn't keep a journal while we were there so I've got to get it down before I forget things.

I should be mopping the floors and cleaning the shower. Washing the windows. Vacuuming.

I think I'll continue to enjoy this lazy, comfy day and worry about the cleaning tomorrow. Hanging out with my best little buddy "cooking hot french fries" and "walking/flying/driving to Norway" is the best way to spend today.

Excuses Excuses

So I have sucked at blogging lately. Again.

(As usual?)

The deal is...the photos are just so much work. To me, anyway. I take mediocre at best photos, so if I want something decent I have to wait for John. He either has take them for me or to help me set up the camera so I get good exposure, etc. I just can't wrap my brain around the ISO and aperture, etc. And then there's the post processing. And John's super busy. Etc. So there's my excuse for being such a lame blogger.

I really have been working on a lot of cool things in the past few weeks. There's the ripple afghan, a couple baby projects, cafe curtains, quilt, book covers, paper cutting. I've been busy! Plus plans for some baby gifts, some experiments in designing my own plush matroyshkas, and more crocheting. I'm also on a thrift/antique hunt for frames. I can't find any!! And I need several.

Also, I've been revelling in this amazing weather we've been having. It's like, insane how awesome it's been. Two weeks of overcast skies, some rain, and temperatures all under 75!!! I'm soaking up every second of it before the heat hits and then stays until Christmas. We love the cool, morning walks!

I may not have any craft photos, but I do have pictures of our weekend in San Diego last month. Enjoy!

William with his youngest uncle, Ryan.
Waiting in line for the bus.
Cute bugs.
Running down a big hill.
Sleeping through the new elephant exhibit (my favorite animals at the zoo!).
Checking out the chimps.
Will's first beach experience!
He loved the sand but was a bit wary of the water.
He's a kid now.
Our family, in feet.

What We Did...

...in Utah in April.

Saw a parrot driving a truck



Attended my beautiful cousin's beautiful wedding
(which John photographed)



Sis-tahs!

Did some creepy things with non-creepy people

$10 if you can tell me where we are with Mr. Brick Pants. Another $10 if you'll ignore the fact that I look like I could ingest Sheena in a single bite.

Got snowed on?

This is me saying "Seriously, UT? Snow? In April?"

But really, I enjoyed every minute of it.

Went bowling with sibs


Somehow the end scores weren't all that surprising.

The baby-child got injured



Ate cupcakes. And a lot of Indian and Thai food.

Some More Favorites

1) I don't know what is up with the maple theme around here lately, other than it is a delicious flavor and why not? We tried these cookies from Trader Joe's and all three of us are now addicted. They are INSANE. In fact, John just ate one and said it was "retarded" it was so good. And William cries and cries when I won't let him eat any more.




2) I knew it would happen, but didn't do anything to prevent it. I finished the entire Outlander series 4 months before the next (last?) book comes out. And now I'm going nuts. I guess the plus side is that I can now do other things. They've been a little all-consuming. But I'm definitely counting down the days to Sept 22 when the new book will be released!




3) We finally got rid of the ugly, stinky, giant couches that were in our living room and moved our pretty couch in. I'm soooo happy. I just stand here and look at it with a smile on my face. It's so lovely and proportional and not-stinky. I want to squeeze its guts out I'm so happy. And now all I need is the perfect armchair, which I will hunt tirelessly for and blog incessantly about.


One of these days that fireplace will be finished and will no longer be a huge, gaping black hole.


And one more thing...

4) The cosmos must really love me. For there to be a place that serves three completely random and unrelated things, which happen to be three of my very favorite things on the planet, is just too much of a coincidence. I think it's a sign that I'm loved by some higher power. There's really no other explanation for something like this. Which also means that I must go here and consume said goods as often as possible. So let's go!




This weekend we're off to San Diego to go to the zoo and the beach with my mom and youngest brother. Can't wait! Have a wonderful weekend!

Mama and Bebe

William calls me "Mum" and "Mamaaaa". He calls himself "Eee!" and "Bebe". He'll call to me to get my attention, "Mum. Mum! Mamaaa!" and then when I respond he goes off on a little William-language tangent for a full minute. Very seriously. He apparently has a lot to tell me.

I love this age...


Please excuse my appearance. This was taken literally within 3 minutes of walking in the door from my kickboxing class. Eek!

Stella

John gave me this perfume for Christmas. And it is amazing. It's pretty much the best thing I've ever smelled. I discovered it while my sister Beth was here visiting and we were frequenting Anthropologie daily. I fell in love with the Stella and she loved the Brigitte (and bought it). They are both incredible scents and make me so happy. And, bonus, John actually likes it, too.

Even though I own this perfume for my own, I still smell it whenever I'm at Anthro. Along with the other three scents. The funny thing is, and Beth agreed with me on this, one of them smells just like my grandma and another smells just like my mom. So four women of my family are represented in this line of fragrances. I like it.

For the Perfect Thursday Afternoon

1) Rainy and grey outside
2) A well-napped mommy and baby
3) Vegetable Masala burgers from Trader Joe's
4) Baked Sweet Potato Fries
5) A mug of chai
6) Pushing Daises extra features
7) Plans for some paper cutting

*Content sigh*

Just Because...

I just found this picture of John and I at Lake Geneva (not sure if we're on the Swiss side or the French side here) and had to share. I came across it randomly and it made me really happy. :)

Eight Years

Happy Anniversary, my love.

Thanks for being my best friend, the daddy, and everything I ever wanted.

Christmas time-ish 2006 in Malibu.

Speaking of...

So I was looking up information on the afore mentioned Bluebird Restaurant and kept running across some really great photos of where I grew up. I decided to share them with you here. These are things that all have a great deal of nostalgia for me. Enjoy!

All photos from Google images.

Bluebird

You may or may not be aware, but I have two of the very best sisters in the world. They are my best friends and I miss them every single day. One of my dreams is to someday be able to call them up whenever to meet for a hot chocolate or a trip to the mall or to watch movies.

One of my sisters, my sweet Beth -- whose praises I could sing all day long -- happens to work at a restaurant in our home town that opened in 1914. (That's almost 100 years ago! I love old things!) They have amazing rolls. Also, they still have the original soda fountain counter and they sell chocolate. It's pretty perfect.




So anyway, while we were up there last month, I visited Beth at work and she gave me free food. And some of that free food was served on what quickly because an obsession.




I had to have one of these plates. My very future happiness rested upon having one in my possession. Let's talk about why:

#1. Birds.

#2. Hello, scalloped edges.

#3. Name of home town.

#4. I think that about covers it.

Much to my dismay, however, I found out that they did not sell the plates. In fact, the servers themselves had to pay for replacements if they accidentally broke one. I was heartbroken. I was convinced that I would never again feel complete without one of these sweet little plates.

That evening, Beth -- being the nicest, coolest, most wonderful sister ever (and not just for this, but for everything she does) -- appeared with not one, but four of these plates just for me! I managed to get them all home in checked luggage without incident and now they are in my cupboard waiting for the perfect little dessert to be served upon them. In the meantime, I get so happy when I see them there on the shelf. It gives me a little reminder of my Bethy, my beautiful home town, and home.

10 Years

One of our first photos together.
Wow. 10 years. It's been 10 years since John and I first met. 10 years since we started on this journey together. And now here we are, more in love than ever, and with a little baby, too.

I spent part of this evening re-reading emails we exchanged back at the beginning of our relationship. It's interesting to see how immediate it was. How we instantly knew that we were just sticking together. It makes me so happy. And I love that back then we never could have imagined what we'd be doing in 10 years, and how much more we'd love each other. We were just meant to be. I feel so incredibly lucky to have found my perfect partner.

I love you, John, always.

So to celebrate we stayed at Four Seasons (Woot! Corporate discount!) and had dinner while Ruth watched William. We picked him up later and then we all three spent the night. In the morning we walked around the grounds and then went out to lunch. It was incredibly fun and John spoiled me to a ridiculous extent -- not that I'm complaining ;). And we were cracking up that William's first hotel stay was at a Four Seasons. He's so posh. And the hotel was amazing. It was so much fun.

These photos are clearly from the Four Seasons website





And I don't want to be brag-y, so I won't list all the many surprises John showered upon me, but I will say I'm extremely spoiled. And John, you're way too generous and sweet. Here is a photo of my Mother's Day necklace that arrived in time for our anniversary, though.

Amazing custom necklace by Kathryn Riechert!
Thanks again, John, for an unforgettable anniversary! Here's to 100 more! (Whoa, we'd be insanely old.)