Back Posting

I am miserable at this blog thing at the moment.  I have been submerged in my own little world... & it is chaotic!  We have had a lot of life moments, which I am just going to summarize here with a huge montage.  I have not used my camera very much in recent history, except for client work, so almost all my personal images are iPhone photos... & that is okay.  I am okay with that.  I would rather have these moments recorded with my phone that not to have them at all!  And it is liberating in a way... I am not concerned with the technical aspects of the tool.  I can focus more on just capturing that elusive little grin Rue has, on remembering how she sleeps right now, eyelashes heavy veils against the light.  That dimpled hand & those thighs that are so chubby the rolls look like melting ice cream, just folded over themselves.  I am so enamoured with this little girl & her Daddy!  Life is beautiful, & I am trying to appreciate that.  We aren't rich, our home is cozy, & we definitely do not need much stuff to be happy.  What we have is enough! If I don't get around to posting more this November (I completely missed October!  Woah), I want to get this out now: I am so grateful for all that I have in this life.  I wouldn't trade it for anything.



My goal this month is to post a little bit more often!  We are doing handmade Christmas this year, & I am considering making a craft book to sell on Blurb for quick, cheap, easy & impressive crafts to make for & with children!  Does that sound like anything anyone would be interested in?

I am also working on an Etsy shop... hopefully I will have enough stock to open by April.  Spring means new beginnings, right?!?!

xo

Christmas Day

We usually spend Christmas Eve with my family & Christmas Day with Bear's. This year was no exception.  I don't have any photos to show for Christmas Eve... I only took three & none of them came out.  But I do have a few from Christmas Day with Bear's extended family to share.
















That helicopter was apparently a hit among Bear's cousins!  Next year, we will have our own baby to add to the mix.  It's a little unbelievable!

How were your holidays?  We spent time with loved ones, enjoyed delicious foods (even though baby has me enjoying a vegetarian diet these days), relaxed together, read aloud to baby, sang carols, attended parties with friends, & received thoughtful gifts we are bound to get much use out of (including the beginnings of a baby stash).

See you all in 2013!

xo

Vacation 2012: Mountain Air Therapy

This past summer, Bear & I went on vacation with my family to Upstate NY, where my mom's family live.  I had not been to the lake house in almost TEN years... it was lovely!  I cannot express how much I missed the lake & mountains.  We also had the opportunity to meet my cousin's two adorable babies!  Having time to catch up with family is one of the best things in life.  On our way, we stopped off at my mom's reunion for her Parish Mission Team, which meant the world to her.  It was fun to see a bit of my parent's past come alive as well.



















xo

Fells Point

So, the day after the wedding.  A lot of people were hung over.  I've been limiting my alcohol consumption to three drinks a day, and I usually only allow myself to drink anything one day every two weeks, so I wasn't drunk the night before (although I always feel kinda woozy after that initial drink) and I wasn't hung over the next day.  But I WAS sleepy.  See, we all got back to the hotel room and everyone crashed.  Except me.  I stayed up to watch the episode of 30 Rock we accidentally ordered for $5 (they are getting sneaky about paying for TV in hotels, and since we paid, I figured someone ought to watch the whole thing, even though I am not a big fan of awkward comedy).  Then I went outside for a cigarette.  I met up with some of the wedding party, who were after-partying, and talked with them a bit (everyone was in street clothes or still dressed up, while I was in PJ pants and a hoodie... CLASS).  Then this taxi drives up and an honest-to-goodness hooker stumbles out.  There I am with a minor and three gays, and she surveys us and decides that we are, indeed, the perfect group to try and... well, hook.  After an awkward banter, she teetered away leaving us to wonder if that really just happened.  It had.  It still seems surreal.  But, that's the city, I guess.

Anyway, the next morning we all got up and checked out of the hotel with plenty of time to spare, despite daylight savings time jipping us an hour of rest.  We decided it would be a good idea to hang out at Fells Point for a little while before driving the two hours back home.  We hit up a local independently owned record store that reminded me a little bit of Empire Records, not in the way it LOOKED, but in the way it FELT, if that makes any sense.  Then we ate at an Irish pub and had a glass of wine at this little place called V-NO.  We walked around a little bit and then decided to leave.  And guess what?  That day happened to be Baltimore's early St. Patrick's Day parade day.  So traffic was AWFUL and the GPS wanted us to take every road that was closed.  So it took us at least one full hour longer to get home than planned.  I always try to think of these delays as an adventure (we see parts of the city we otherwise wouldn't, maybe we will grow more familiar with the area for future reference...) but Bear and I always manage to run into these awkward sorts of hold-ups, and my optimism doesn't make a long detour home any more charming than it is.

Enough with the words.  Onto the photographs!




























Happy "hump" day!  xo