in the bag {life}

I am not, for the life of me, certain of what compelled me to decide I needed to do a blog post about my make-up bag, but there you are. I am certainly no expert.

First, take note of the gorgeous bag made by Tori at One Eleven Studio. Now. I count two women among my make-up inspiration (although, I've had lots of tips, advice and general help from the blogosphere of late). My friend Marianne, who always looks pulled together and glamorous, and my friend Debbie, who, well pretty much looks the same. Glam-o-rama. I fell back in love with make up while she was living nearby, but now that she's moved away, I'm not nearly as adventerous as she inspired me to be. Back to the neutrals I go!

Anyhoo, now that spring is here, my carry-around needed an overhaul. Dark browns and reds needed to be replaced (and, given that my Rosebud Salve met with an unfortunate incident in Charleston, it needed to be replaced too), so I was on the hunt for some lighter colors. It's spring, so it's time. Here's what we eneded up with: Buxom Lip Cream in Mudslide. Sounds lovely, yes? It's a rosy brown, and what I love about the Buxom products is the tingle they give your lips and that they stay on. Next up, Laura Mercier's StickGloss in Borwn Sugar. My friend Marianne recommended this one to me last winter, and I finally pulled the trigger. It's very neutral. Very. It's my "oh, my lips are dry and I'm just going to be in the carpool line where no one will see me" gloss. Or my "It's 6 p.m. and we have another baseball game" gloss. I am pro-Laura Mercier. Her Truly Red is my favorite dressy bright red. The MAC lipstick is a new favorite too. Viva Glam IV. Theresa from inspirationCOOPERATIVE suggested Viva Glam I me over the winter when we were all looking for that perfect red lipstick, and it's lovely. What I love about the Viva Glam line is that it's not too pricey, so if you hate it, you haven't made a huge committment. And the colors are divine. IV is my go-to color for spring. Between that and the Buxom, when it's a little color I want, I'm set. When I'm aiming neutral, it's Brown Sugar all the way. And of course, you know I need them all, right? And even though I don't carry eyeshadow with me, I thought I'd pop that in there too. I haven't even tried it yet, but I'll let you know what I think. Oh, and the Sugar, by Fresh? A gift with purchase that I made sure to grab. I love their stuff. I use their Advanced Lip Therapy every night, and next on my list is this. Sephora gave me a sample and I'm almost out.

Beacuse I've been asked, the gloss in the first couple photos is also Buxom, and the color is Ruby. We love it, don't we Christy? And the moisturizer that Neel got me for Mother's Day is Nutriganics Night Cream  by the Body Shop. Two nights in, and I'm pretty pleased so far. No smell, and I'm not at all oily when I get up in the morning. My skin feels good. Thumbs up, Neel!

But. What about you? What's in your make-up bag? Not the drawer you open each morning when standing at your bathroom mirror, but the bag that comes along with you to the ballpark and in the car? I have to go to Sephora later this week...anything else out there that I need to know about?

Monday Mash Up, May 14

Well? How was your weekend? For those of you who celebrate it, how was your Mother's Day? In all honesty, we did not rock Mother's Day around here, I'm afraid. We had a nice weekend, but Mother's Day, notsomuch. More on that in a moment. We started things out quite nicely with an impromptu neighborhood happy hour. I love our neighborhood so much. It's so lovely to slip outside and settle on a blanket in the front yard. Everybody did something different for dinner, but we all ate together (and my godson Landon ate his mom's keys) and settled into the evening. The sun went down. The kids played across the yards and sang us songs, and we all sat and talked in the deepening twilight. It was nice.

Saturday, hey hey! No baseball. But boo. EXAMS. Cal starts his final exams this week, and I'm convinced that the person who created this exam schedule hates his mother. He studied math and English on Saturday and more math and social studies on Sunday. What a way to spend the weekend. I managed to pull out all my spring and summer clothes and Neel painted the new fence (which, sadly, looks too much like Fenway Park) while Callum worked (which means it'll be cold and rainy all week), and we treated ourselves to dinner al fresco, but STILL. What a way to spend the weekend. Mother's Day itself started with a bang. The phone rang at 3 a.m., and that's never good. This news wasn't the worst that we all fear, but a freezer in Neel's lab was failing (the freezers have alarms on them and if the alarm gets triggered someone from security calls) and Neel had to go in and check on it. And because we have vicious attack guard dogs, he can't sneak back home unnoticed either, but they all have to bark their dang fool heads off an hour later when he came back home. No one slept well.

When we got up, (too early) Cal and I went for a walk, and we did manage a nice breakfast, but the freezer and the exams loomed over our day. I'm ashamed to admit that I did not purport myself well in this endeavor, and I feel convinced that we all need a do-over. It's not exactly that I'm ready for the work week to begin, but I am ready to have another go at a weekend. I do feel much tended to and loved by my family, no matter what (people, Neel got me nighttime moisturizer). I hope you did too, whatever you did. Honestly, I hope it went better than things did around here!

five things may 11th edition

1. I think the curveball I wasn't expecting to have thrown at me was having Cal get sick this week. His end of year exams start on Monday. Like we needed more stress around here.
2. I think I haven't had a charley horse since I was pregnant (I'm not pregnant). They hurt.
3. I think I need to stop complaining about not being present in the way I want to be, but I'm still not happy. Sniff.
4. I think now I need a nighttime moisturizer. Thoughts?
5. I think Cal and I likely need artichokes again. Post coming soon. Think we can talk Neel into obliging?

Have a lovely weekend, my dears. I hope to be back in this space and really present again for all of you next week. I've missed you all.

Monday Mash Up, May 7

Hello my dears! How was everybody's weekend? We had loads of busy and loads of fun. We have a new Friday night tradition of ordering pizza and salad from a local pizza place. Neel swings by on his way home from work (and has a beer at the bar while he waits) and orders our special and we tuck in for the night. We'd considered taking Cal and a friend to a minor league baseball game that night but everyone was so wiped out, Neel especially, it was nice just to come home. He'd actually had a great week, but unfortunately, on the way to get the pizza, he popped a tire on Blanche, our Mini Cooper, and had to change it. Neel was really intrigued that no one offered to help him. Sure, in part it was because he is a man, but as Neel said, he'd at least ask if someone needed help! I told him it was because he was grinning so much from all the good news he got that people thought he was happy to change his own tire.

Saturday was, frankly, crazytown. Cal had a baseball game at 11, but it was also Field Day at his school. This is a big deal. It's an all-day event with races and games on the Midway (the grassy area in the center of the track), all those inflatables that kids love to jump on and in. There's face painting and spray paint for hair and talent shows and plant sales. It goes on and on and on. There's delicious food and everyone volunteers for some part of the event. We went for a bit, dashed for baseball, and dashed right back. The cool thing about Callum's Field Day is that it gets greener every year, and this year's goal was zero-waste. It was a Bring-Your-Own-Water-Bottle event, and the entire day was run on one solar panel. A popular item are lemons, sold for a dollar, that have a hole carved in them with a peppermint sticking out. Cal had about four. When we pulled in at home that night we ran into our neighbors, and the wife of the couple is an alumni of Cal's school. "Field Day!" she cried. "I love Field Day. Do they still have those lemons with the peppermints?" At the end of the day everyone gathers in a place called "The Pit" for the Faculty Follies where a group of faculty perform a dance, but the high point of Field Day is the raffle. The Lower School alone sold over 20,000 raffle tickets for prizes like baseball tickets, surfboards and beach cruisers. We never have any hope of winning, but it's fun to watch. A final traditation comes at the very end, when the raffle is over, everyone throws all their tickets up in the air. It's a neat celebration. It's tiring too. Still, despite our fatigue and all those lemons, we managed to go for ice cream after dinner.

Sunday was nice and slow. Callum has exams coming up (as evidenced by my kitchen island), so he studied while I edited photos and Neel worked (of course he did) in the garden. What started gray and cool ended sunny and cool and very lovely. Oh, and here's something funny that happened. Callum was sitting with me finishing up a book for homework while I was at the computer, and all of the sudden, I felt the whole energy of the room change. The mood completely shifted. The air grew heavy and dark, and I thought, suddenly, "Callum's sad." Almost as soon as I thought it, he closed his book and said, "This book was good, but it was really sad." How weird is that???

Still, it was a nice day. The house is definitely livelier with Neel in it. It's so nice to have him home. We had the windows open all afternoon, and it felt so nice to stand in my family room and feel the breeze move all the way through the dining room and living room. I finally put away all my winter clothes. Summer is calling isn't it?

What's everybody's week like? I can feel things winding up for Callum and me too. I'm ready. Summer really is calling, isn't it?

five things may 4th edition

1. I think I missed you guys! No time to blog, no time to check blogs. No time to even read my comments. My friend Mark even had to call and check on me! I'm fine. We're fine. But me no likey.
2. I think Callum and I managed really well with Neel gone, actually. He left at 4 a.m. last Friday and got home around 1 a.m. Thursday morning. We're not apart much as a family, and it's been awhile since Neel's been gone, especially for this long. We survived with few mishaps; only a cracked iPod (devastating), but two big baseball wins helped. We were busy, which also helped, and now Papa is home and everything can get back to normal. I'm tired.
3. I think I have some shopping to do. ! And some planning. Callum's lower school graduation is coming up and all of his grandparents will be here to help celebrate. I'm thrilled for him that all of his family will be here to help celebrate. There is much to anticipate and much to look forward to. But. What am I going to wear, and what am I going to fix to eat?
4. I think Neel and I will have to sit down and have a major pow-wow about everything that needs to be done around here before family descends on us in the next few weeks. You can expect that list soon.
5. I think I love early hydrangea time. Hoping they're in full force in another few weeks. And how are you? What have you guys been up to all week? Has the weather been nice out there? Did I tell you that Neel told me his trip was just like being on vacation! I might need to dump a cup of coffee on his head! xoxoxox

monday mash up, April 30 edition

Happy new week everybody! So far Callum and I are managing to survive without Papa pretty well, although it's lonely around here. You know? The dogs never saw his suitcase, and I I think they haven't realized he's out of town! We had a crazy busy weekend, which helps, but with Neel gone it feels like ten times the work, not just double. I shouldn't complain. This happens to us very rarely, and I have a really helpful 12-year old to keep things running. Although Neel had a plant delivered the minute he left that he'd been waiting on for weeks. Callum and I don't know how to take care of it, and we're freaking out.

We were gone all day Saturday. It was picture day at baseball, which meant we had to be at the ballpark over an hour before the game. When I left I the house, I worried that my sweater was going to be to heavy (remember my red neck of last week?) and I ended up freezing my butt off the entire game. Like, literally shivering. It was the! most! exciting! game! we'd! had! all! season! Neel's plane had just landed as things were getting interesting, and I texted him updates as our guys (warning: baseball content ahead) went from down by three to Callum putting us on that board with a sacrifice bunt, to Callum losing a tooth, to us tying the game, to them going ahead in the top of the last inning, to us loading the bases in the bottom, of the last to us scoring a final winning run. TEN-SION. But so exciting! I pride myself on knowing my sports, but Neel said that getting my texts was just like sports radio. Blush. I really try not to talk baseball too much, even though it's what we live and breathe around here, but man, that was an exciting day.

Cal had a party Saturday. Girl's birthday party. 134 kids. DJd dance party. Crazytown. He said it was fun, but a lot of dancing. While he was gone, I went to Nordstrom's with a girlfriend and may have bought some lipstick. Maybe. We went to Aveda so I could refill some hair stuff I use and both got free hand massages! BONUS! Later that night as I was heading back out to pick my Cal at his party, about five police cars went screaming down our normally quite street. And I mean screaming-fast police cars. I stood in the driveway with my neighbor on my way to head out and we probably watched fifteen more cars pelt down the street. Just before I left, a police car pulled past our house, headed the other way to tell us that the people involved had been detained. Which was reassuring, sort of. I avoided that way out of the hood, but the next morning, Callum and I headed down the street to find that sign. Apparently a car had jumped the curb, plowed into the street sign and the side of a house. That's what we call excitement around here.

Sunday afternoon, we headed back down the street to a reception for a neighbor who is running for city council. All my Norfolk friends, don't forget to vote tomorrow! The reception was held in the backyard of our mayor's house (that's him there talking in the last photo), and we ate a little and chatted a little. I wanted to take a ton of pictures of this gorgeous yard for Neel, but I felt like that might look a little odd. Callum is a great wingman at events like this because we barely know anybody, but we really want to support the people who have worked so hard for our city and continue to do so. It's funny. Neel gets made at me when I get restless (this is the longest that we've ever lived anywhere), and Callum must have my wandering gene because he chatted with me a bit saying that if his school weren't here, he might want to live in a different kind of town. For me, it's not the town so much as...I don't know, I get hemmed in by suburbia. And yet, I love our neighbors and neighborhood. I get silly and yearning sometimes. But yesterday afternoon, as we walked home from the mayor's house (and let's face it, how cool is that?) down the middle of the street, all I could think was how lucky we are to live here.

Cal and I had our artichoke dinner Sunday night. We've been taken so well care of. On Friday our friends Rebecca and Evans invited us for pizza, and last night our next-door neighbors and dear friends Tyler and Catherine asked us to join them for dinner as well. Since we had the artichokes steaming, we just sat with them, but how lovely was that. Low golden light, and kids running in the back yard. You'll see some photos from that dinner soon, I think. As I described eating artichokes to Catherine, we decided maybe we needed to have a dinner dedicated to things you dip in butter. Good idea, yes?

So what was everybody up to this weekend? I see that some of my favorite ladies got together and that makes me very happy! Does it feel more like March than April where you are? I'm so glad I haven't packed away my sweaters yet. They're promising warmer weather later this week. I'm ready. Really ready.

So I have a lot to say, but posting may be light this week. I'm feeling the weight of the work I have and hanging with my boy. He's missing his dad for sure and needs my attention now. But first I have to go run the dishwasher.

 

five things, april 27th edition

1. I think we're all a little blue today because Neel has left us. Don't be silly. The man who draws hearts around the word "hoagie" on my grocery list isn't going to leave us, leave us. He has a conference west of here. He snuck out before 4 this morning and he won't be back for days. Cal and I are on our own. But we have plans. Among them: artichokes.
2. I think that I've likely been sick for weeks and weeks. My guess is that I have sinus infection that won't go away. I'll feel okay for a few days, not great, but okay, and then back to moderately crummy. Functional but moderately crummy. I need to shoot over to my doctor and have a consult. I needed to do it this week, but I needed to get my hair done too, and I didn't have time for both.
3. I think I am thrilled beyond measure that Cal wants to hang out with me tonight, order a pizza and watch a Storage Wars marathon in our jammies instead of going to a sleepover. Of course, he's going to a dance tomorrow night. But I'm going to the mall. So ha.
4. I think I'm going to answer some questions from the comments. I'm overdue. Here's the dealio. I'm in the middle of the end of a big work project that is somewhat overwhelming. Things are slipping. I can't quite see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I can see the bend around which the light will be shining. Does that make sense? It means I'm near enough to the light that I can feel the whispers of things I want to work on when I can work on things again. I want to make lists. You've asked me some good questions lately, like am I melancholy and did I get red lipstick and how are our dinner parties. Stay tuned next week for the answers.
5. I think one of the most moving things that happened to me on my birthday was when my friend Jean told me that I was her inspiration. Me? Me???? It was a humbling moment. After the slog through the mud I've had this winter, I feel anything but. I need to think about this for awhile, but my wish for the upcoming year? Well, it's to be the kind of person who could be inspiring.

(inspired) salad {life}

Perhaps I've mentioned this, but Neel and Callum love their hoagies. For those of you who aren't as Neel would say, "from around here," a hoagie is a sandwich. Neel would say it's the sandwich. The only sandwich, really. I reluctantly send you to Wikipedia for the definition. Reluctant because they call hoagies "submarines," and, as Erin knows: that's just wrong.

So each weekend, when I'm doing the grocery shopping, I get Callum and Neel a hoagie from the deli to spilt for lunch. If Neel manages to see my list, he'll add "hoagie" to it, in pretty ink and draw stars and hearts and balloons around it. Like I need reminding. "A whole ham and cheese on white with provolone, mayo, lettuce, tomato, black olives, banana peppers, pickles, salt and pepper, sliced in half." Every. Single. Weekend.

 

I've been into the idea of chopped salads lately. I love the scoopableness of them. They feel so substantial. I'm hoping to add more and more chopped salads to our rotation as we move deeper into summer, at least one a week. Anyhoo, at the wine tasting a few weeks ago, we had a salad with chopped ham and cheese, and Neel said immediately that it reminded him of a hoagie.

Lightbulb.

It's easy enough. Chop some romaine. Chop some tomatoes. I used some sweet peppers and some banana peppers (also chopped). Slice some olives, and chop some ham and provolone. Layer delightfully. Because we're in the South, ya'll, we use Duke's mayonnaise. I combined some mayo with a little vinegar and some Italian seasoning, and tossed it with the salad.

It was a paper plate kind of meal, and I couldn't not put little mini hoagie rolls on the side. They were sweet Hawaiian rolls, though. We fancied the stuff up. Rave reviews from all involved, and let me say, these hoagie eaters are hard to please.

so I had a birthday

So I may have mentioned that Monday was my birthday. I felt really off this year. Like April sprung up on me. It's been stealing up all along apparently, and suddenly here it is, and here I am. Older. Great. I ended up with a perfectly lovely day. Each one of your comments was like a star in a constellation of loveliness. It was so nice to recieve throughout the day. Really, really nice. I started off with some phone calls from some far away friends and phone tag with my mom. My facial was...interesting. The Russian woman said immediately, "You haf been in zee sun." Well, I told you all on Monday that I got a little sunburn on my neck at Cal's baseball game. She proceeded to punish me for it for the rest of the facial. Not really. Really.

Had an awesome lunch with my friend Jean who is so sparkly and vibrant. She makes me laugh and laugh. She said something really interesting to me that I'm needing to ruminate on. I'll try to get back to you about it in my Five Things Friday. Callum got home early from school (Neel picked him up so I could have that awesome lunch), and immediately started his homework with no prodding which, I have to say, might be the best! birthday! present! ever! While Cal was working I talked with my mom and my friend Mark. Mark calls me his blogging therapist, although I'm pretty sure I'd demand a refund if my therapist laughed as much as I do whenever we talk. Seriously people, giggling school girls. And that's without wine. All I have to say is that when he finally writes a post about his bathroom, I'm going to link to it, lie down and never write again. Bless his heart.

We had sushi for dinner, which was only meh. It's normally our favorite sushi place, but the kitchen was backed up and things were just off. Still, we came home to prosecco and presents and cupcakes and PRESENTS! My friend Seamane gave me a gorgeous clutch from Hong Kong where she'd just returned from. It wasn't until I'd opened the gorgeous packaging that it occurred to me that she'd brought me something back from Asia, and I thought, DUH. I got an email from a friend I haven't heard from in ages, and that was lovely. My mom gave me a giftcard to Sundance, and I already know wheat I'm going to spend it on (hint: shoes). My dad got me that gorgeous book Fashion. It's HUGE, and I can't wait to sink down and spend some time with it. Neel gave me some gorgeous earrings, and Callum wrote me the most beautiful, heartfelt card. Honestly? That might be the best birthday present ever. But just was we were settling down for the evening, the dogs went crazy as our doorbell rang. My lovely neighbors. My favorite buds came by to deliver a present, a Happy Birthday song, and the sweetest cake. I was so completely taken aback by that and filled with love. These are some of the most important women in the world to me, and I was touched beyond measure that they did this for me.

The fun continued on Tuesday. I know! For a low-key birthday, I managed to extend things quite nicely. After a few hours of work in the morning, I met my friend Tracy for lunch at PF Changs. (And this is really interesting to me. I had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen with Jean on Monday and at PF Changs on Tuesday. Both of those restaurants were my comfort-food go-to restaurants when we lived in California. What do you think that says? That those were the places I wanted to eat? Anyhoo.) Tracy had the brilliant idea to make me choose two entrees and she'd eat whatever I ordered for us (plus lettuce wraps, of course). She can be tricky to feed, so I really appreciated that gesture, and you know what? We had a wonderful lunch! It was such a generous idea and the food was so, so tasty (garlic noodles and moo shu pork). I loved every single minute of it. And they gave me a free dessert for my birthday!

And kids, I went to Sephora. I got a sunscreen (that doesn't smell like sunscreen!) by Shishedo that goes over my moisturizer which I love. Win-win. And perhaps I purchased a lipstick or two. Perhaps. I think I should probably officially declare the celebrating fini now. Bummer. Next year, I'll go all out.

Monday Mash Up, April 23

Happy Monday Peeps! Our weekend was as full as expected; how was yours? Callum had a great baseball game this weekend, highlighted by my first redneck sunburn. Woot! I got my face and the front of me covered in the sunscreen really good, but not the back of my neck. It feels like a learning curve every year, this whole spring time thing. Next week: sundress and hat. I'll be in better shape. After the game we went to Lowes only to discover that they don't make the glider and chair that I wanted for our front yard anymore. That's a huge bummer. I'll need to do some research to see if I can find them somewhere else. Then Neel and Callum went to the train store. I made it about ten minutes before heading back to the car to read a magazine! I like the train stuff once it's in my house and my boys are putting it together, but the train store is not so much my thing. I don't make them buy lipstick with me, so I figure it's fair.

We went to dinner Saturday night. First let me mention my gin and tonic. You'll note the photo. That's the gin. The tonic is in the bottle behind! Impressive, yes? I knew I had to post that shot for Leah, and that many of you would appreciate it. When I first had a gin and tonic at this restaurant, I thought, "Oh! Nice pour!" When our server set my drink down in front of me. Aaaaaand then he added the tonic. Ah yes. That was nice. And bacon lolly pops too.

Yesterday was the forensics tournament. Noreen asked in the comments on Friday if the parents got to watch, and we didn't. We drop the kids off at 12:30 p.m. and come back for the awards ceremony. Sadly, Sunday was not the day for our boy. Just before three, I got an email from Cal that said, "Hi! Waiting for callbacks. I think it went well." We emailed back and forth a bit until finally at 3:30 he wrote, "No callbacks for me." Heartbreaking. We met up at the awards ceremony, and I saw lots of friends from our old school which was just lovely. And let me say this. We try really hard to teach our son about fair play and sportsmanship. He was a good sport, and supported his teammates even though he didn't win. His school came in second over all, which was awesome. However. When the host school wins first place in five of the eight categories and places in seven of the eight, well, that feels a little suspect to us. We waited until we were in the car, but once safely inside, we didn't keep our mouths shut. (In fact, it was a little tricky to keep Neel's mouth shut during the awards ceremony. He was keeping stats on his program.) The fact that Cal's old school, which generally does a tremendous job in this competition, only had one winner, is mind-boggling to me. So while we generally don't disagree with refs or upms or judges; in this case we did and it felt great. Made Cal feel better too, and that's all that matters to me.

Also, apparently today is my birthday. Who knew? In some years, my birthday is met with much anticipation, and in other years, like this year, well, as I said to a friend last week, it may as well be January it feels so un-like my birthday. Another friend of mine has a theory that off years (the non 0s or 5s) feel like that, but last year was an off year, and we did more. I'm not bothered by it. Just kind of interested. But! I'm getting a facial in the morning and having lunch with a girlfriend. We had a nice dinner out on Saturday night, and we'll do something easy for dinner, although there will be prosecco. There will be presents too. I always save my presents until the end of the day. It's not hard for me at all. Can you do it? Not sure if I'll be here on Tuesday. I might just let the good times roll.

Love you, ducks! How was everybody's weekend? xoxo

five things april 20th edition

1. I think I'm really looking forward to our very full weekend this weekend. I plan to kick it off by being in Level One Jammies (LOJ) by 7 p.m. tonight. Movies maybe? Or baseball game? Cal has his own baseball game in the middle of the day on Saturday and then we have an exciting trip to Lowe's (a home improvement store) planned. Woo-hoo. Dinner out Saturday night, and Callum's forensics tournament is all day on Sunday. Neel and I drop him off just after noon and don't go back until the awards ceremony around four. Yipes! And at some point I'll have to go to the grocery store.
2. I think I miss having dinner parties. We never really got into the groove of it here, although we did do it with some friends here and there. In California we did it all the time. I know I've bemoaned this before. How the having people over for dinner thing just didn't gel the same way here. We do a lot with our neighbors, but it tends to be more casual pot-lucky stuff. Mark's comment on yesterday's post made me think that this is the first place I've lived in a long time where we haven't spent lots of days planning for our evenings when friends were coming for dinner. I miss it.
3. I think I'm totally digging quinoia. We made (the other) Lauren's recipe twice this week (Callum already claims he's tired of it...whatever!), and I couldn't be happier with this new addition to our diet. And have you seen her refrigerator? That's my goal. I'm not going to even try until next month to get close to this, but count me impressed.
4. I think yesterday was good at the start (school conference) rough in the middle (migraine due to a freaky weather change) but finished up pretty good in the end. I finally gave up on work for the day around 4. I caved. My head had pretty much stopped hurting at that point, but I was in a total fog and completely fatigued. Instead of trying to push through, I went with Neel to Callum's baseball practice and sat in a field of clover and watched a bunch of boys catch balls. Or not catch balls as was sometimes the case. It was fun. There was a cool breeze, but the sun was shining, and it was just what I needed.
5. I think I might want Callum's homeroom teacher and baseball coach to move in with us. Cal loves both of these men so much, and he responds to them so well. I respect them too, and frankly, I could use the help. We'd let them have the 3rd floor and they could play X-Box as long as Cal had all his work done. Sound good?

Happy Weekend, my lovelies! What's everybody up to?

we had some wine {life}

I mentioned that Neel and I went to a wine tasting on Saturday. Ah, yes. It was fun.

Our neighbor and friend Catherine's church puts on this event every year, and I think we've only missed a couple in the nearly nine years we've lived here. It's usually held in February, when the lure of six or seven pours of red wine makes you brave the cold and icy weather. The company isn't bad either.

Catherine's dad hosts the event and he's witty and charming...and bossy. He keeps us on task as we move from wine to wine. As you can imagine, the further we get down the list, the more difficult a task this becomes!

The first year we went, there was bread and cheese on each table as palate cleansers. And one year, someone had the brilliant idea to bring other food. Each table now is a feast of delights. Catherine brought spinach dip and olive oil and dipping herbs to go along with the bread. We brought proscuitto-wrapped dates, and a reuben dip. My friend Candy recommended it, and let me tell you, it was the BOMB. Even if you're not a fan of the reuben, this dip is delish. Chicken salad, and pigs-in-a-blanket (can't wait to see who asks about those first!), and chocolate scattered about the table rounded out all of the yummies. It's good to have food when so much wine is flowing.

Each year, the church features a Virginia winery, and this year they went back to Veritas, a wine we'd had here before. Good choice.

By the end of the evening, things can get a little silly, but you know? That's okay. The wine is good, the evening is good, and the company is good. That's the best isn't it? Spending an evening with good friends? Yeah, the wine is nice, but really it wouldn't matter if I didn't have a drop.

Homecoming {life}

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was off on a very special Saturday photography assignment. One that I was most excited about but that would push me. Those are always the best, aren't they?

This particular assignment was the best. Our friend Christy, along with her kids, was getting ready to welcome Vince, her lieutenant commander husband, home from Afghanistan for a two-week visit. This was the six-month mark of a 14-month deployment.

Christy is a delight. She works with Neel, and is one of those people I never see enough of. I'm always so happy when I do. I was thrilled when she asked me to document this moment for her family and tickled to be part of the process. Tickled when she emailed: "Here's my cell!" and forgot to include the number because she was so distracted! When I got to the airport and saw her and the kids standing there, anxiously waiting for the plane to come in, I immediately got teary-eyed and thought, "I'm never going to make it."

Alexa made a sign for her dad, and Ethan tried to talk to me. But all they really wanted to do was wait and crack jokes about how Vince would probably be the last off the plane and stop at the bathroom on the way.

They were nervous, excited, pent-up and happy. It was really beautiful to watch.

See how happy they are when they finally laid eyes on him?

Yeah, it was beautiful to watch.

I used to to do labor support (in another lifetime-although I have to admit, birth photography has some appeal to me!), and you had to be sensitive to that critical moment that came after the birth and fell between when mom and dad needed you there a little longer and when they were ready to be on their own. Sometimes they didn't really know themselves! Being with Christy's family felt almost as intimate as a birth experience that day, but even after Vince arrived, I had this sense that there were more pictures to be taken.

So I took a few more minutes and walked to the baggage claim with them.Vince admired the sign that Alexa made, and Christy and Alexa both noticed how thin he'd gotten.

He couldn't stop looking at or toucing his family. A hand to the head here, a quick hug there.

As we hopped onto the moving sidewalk, Alexa turned to her parents and said, "I will never get used to this."

Ethan didn't say much. He was pretty smiley though.

Happy Family. I took several pictures like these and told them what great smiles they all had. And they all said at once, "We have a lot to be happy about."

Happy family indeed. Coming and going.

neighborhood afternoon {life}

We had a gorgeous summery weekend here this weekend. Highs on Sunday were in the 80s. Mid-summer weather without all that gnarly humidity that beats me down. Or the mosquitoes. It was nice. By late afternoon we all moved to the front yard; you couldn't not be outside. This little lovely was enamoured with Callum's baseball glove, and had quite a time with it. I almost, almost forgot that I had my camera with me. Can you believe it! I'll let the photos tell the rest of the story.

Monday Mash Up, April 16

We had such a crazy weekend, that I can now bring you a 12 photo edition of Monday Mash Up. And I know I told you I'd try to take some photos to tell you about Cotillion. People. I took notes. It was a little stressful. There were so many rules (aside from making sure the kids were behaving we had to make sure they didn't go outside and the boys kept their shirts tucked in...stuff like that.), and we felt like we had to be vigilant the whole time. Vigilant while simultanelously trying to catch sight of Callum while not being seen catching site of Callum. Know what I mean? I must be getting old because the music was loud and the girls skirts were so freaking short. Seriously. I would not let my daughter leave the house in some of the dresses I saw. Mostly though, they were sweet boys and pretty girls. Trying so hard to be grown up. A couple times Neel and another dad had to cross the dance floor, parting the too-rowdy crowd. At one point a trio of wound-up boys started body-slamming each other right in front of me and falling to the floor. I really like nothing more than yelling at kids (Not really. It might be my third favorite thing.), but I just shook my head and they stopped. For a second at least. Before they moved to another part of the room and started doing the same thing. I watched another mom shake her head at them exactly the same way. And they stopped again. Beauty.

And at the beginning of the night one of the organizers asked that someone always stand in front of the light switch because the kids like to try to turn off the lights, plunging the room into darkness. Great. A little over halfway through the evening, I took over light switch duty and I was fine for awhile until I bumped against the wall and suddenly got afraid that I would accidentally shut off the lights. Like I needed another thing to worry about. Still it was a good vantage point, because as the girls walked past, they checked their hair. Over and over and over again. Sweet. The slow dances were sweet too, with super tall girls dancing with much shorter boys, although it was painful watching the boys scramble to find a girl to ask to dance. Really painful.

I finally decided that Cotillion is like a pre-teen epsiode of The West Wing. A lot of intense walking around and important, very important, conversations. Thank goodness we don't have to go again.

Neel and I put together our TV cabinet from Ikea and I love it! The dogs are less impressed. It's longer than our old TV cabinet and now there's no room for their bed in the family room with us. First we moved the bed outside to air it out, and that made them very nervous. Thea tried to sleep on it, but every time I looked at her, she got up. It was as if she was worried that if we thought she got too comfortable we'd keep the bed outside, you know, forever. With the bed in the dining room, it's barely two feet further away from where it used to be, but it's clearly requiring an adjustment. Violet was willing to try it, but she kept one paw in the old room. And, as you can see, Lucy kept her whole head in the old room. Gazing longingly at where the bed used to be.

We went to a wine tasting Saturday night. I'll tell you more about that later. Callum was tired and lonely after Cotillion and a sleepover, and those tally marks on my tasting notes are the number of times he called me. He was happy when we got home. He slept until 10:30 on Sunday.

10:30!

Gorgeous day though. Homework outside. Belly rubs in the grass (for the dogs). Catch in the front yard. Tomatoes, collards, beets in the ground. Not a shabby day at all. I cleaned off the island in the kitchen on Saturday with the thought of doing some kitchen photos. I feel like I've left so many comments on your blogs saying how much we love our kitchen...seems like a good place to start the house tour. I cleared off the island, bleached it and gently placed everything back, perfectly placed. Then Neel and Callum came home. Aaaaannnndddd....we're back to real life. Scattered and messy as it is.

How was your weekend, everybody? Anybody get to dance to Cotton Eyed Joe? Anybody sleep til 10:30? I got to have a lot of nice wine, and hey! No headache!