five things, october 5th edition

1. I think I can't believe how hard it is to find a cookie jar I like. I think my mom could believe it. I think if you remember how much trouble I'm having finding dining chairs, a tote, a coffee table for my family room, black boots, etc. etc. etc. I know, I mean, I really do KNOW that I can't replicate that old blue jar that I mentioned earlier this week, but everything else is too cute (fat French chefs or cartoon characters) or has writing on it (duh, I know there are cookies in there...or are there?). Why is it so hard? And yet, when I uploaded this photo, I realized that the answer might be staring me in the face. I need a Selama's stop, STAT.

2. I think I wish I could get better at wearing lipstick. Especially now that fall is creeping in and there are all those awesome darker colors to choose among. I can put it on, no problem. In fact, I rarely leave the house without it. It's as if my lips know we're headed to the door and start asking. But keeping it on? Another story all together. I'm open to suggestions.

3. I think I jumped the gun a bit when I said that things had been going better for me headache-wise. October is the new August around here, it seems, and I've been hammered day after day with headaches lately. Not enough to send me to my bed, but enough to make things tricky to navigate. And frustrating. I knew those cool temperatures and lower humidity levels we so enjoyed in September were a nasty trick. It's been downright tropical around here, and unfun. We're promised cooler and drier air over the next bit, so I'm keeping my head down (literally!) and hoping the end is near!

4. I think I'm excited about some things that are happening for me photographically. Is that the right word? I've been working hard on some product shots this week, and a group of us has decided to meet twice a month to add some structure to our photographic journies. I was introduced to this group as a "food photographer" and I'm not sure that's entirely true. Yes. But is that all? Tabletop, still life...I'm wanting to stretch. And needing to as well. Neel and I have made some decisions about a renewed emphasis on photography for me, and that entails shifting space a bit. I'm excited to move out of my tiny studio (which was far away from the kitchen!) into a space off our livingroom that will give me more room and better light. (Downside: sharing with the dogs!) We have some work to do to get it ready, but these steps feel good.

5. I think I've been thinking about house and home a lot lately. In some ways, how we make our homes is something I'm always thinking about. The bathroom reno, shifting space in the studio, imagining changes in this house and future houses, these are all things I think about. I'm lucky enough that the father of a friend of mine is an architect, and he indulges me by talking about how we live in our homes and how he works with families to build their spaces. I've already told him that I want to kidnap him for a drive around town to look at all of his houses! If you want to get some good house eye-candy, go and like his facebook page, at William F. Deal, Architect.  He's recommended a wonderful book to me that I'm totally drooling over, and I'm reading another that I'll maybe talk about here next week. What does your space say to you? Does it say what you want it to say?

update {life}

Where were we?

Mark chastised me this week that my bathroom reno wasn't progressing quickly enough. Or I wasn't blogging enough about it. One of those. I forget. Anyway. We're at the midpoint, or perhaps at bit past that, so let me catch you up.

When I last reported on the renovation, Neel was happily tackling the demolotion of the tile walls and carefully chipping away at the tile on the bath. Because we'd earlier removed sliding doors from the shower, we needed to retile the area where the doors used to meet the wall. Neel carefully pulled tile from the walls to knit into those surrounding the bath, but then something happened.

No matchy.

That was frustrating. So all the tile from the shower came down.

And went back up again. It's much better now.

This was a big day too. :)

I've chatted about the floors, and for sure they were a big change. Before they went in though, the radiator went out; I think I had mentioned that it had never worked. My friend Stephanie asked me on Facebook if we'd given up on radiant heat, and for this bathroom, sadly we have. For a few reasons. For one, the new floor is going in on top of the old floor, which would make radiant heat tricky. Also, this is our guest bathroom. Even Callum tends to shower in our master bath. We just didn't want to put a ton of investment here. After two recommendations, we opted instead for a small wall heater, which will blow warm air on your chilly damp calves right as you step out of the shower. The room is small enough that I think it'll heat up nicely. And anything will heat up better than say, no heat, right?

I'm beyond pleased with the floors; already it's so much brighter and lighter in there. And we're getting baseboards in now too, so things are starting to come together. Last weekend we purchased the vanity and the toilet and all the attendant faucets. Paint too. All that's left for the guys to do is to skimcoat and dry wall the walls and Neel and I will paint before we get the rest of the stuff installed. Past halfway, for sure. I can definitely see the home stretch.

And then it's on to Number 2. (Take that any way you will... )

baking history {life}

My earliest memories of Nestlé's iconic Toll House Cookies come from the first house I remember living in, standing on a stool at the kitchen sink and "helping" my mom bake. My help included the dishes, soap and lots of splashing, but I was there, mixing it up. I have such acute memories of those times, the windows over the sink and how tall I felt standing on that stool. The softness of my mom's chef's-style apron and her head bent over the bowl as she beat the flour into the batter. I do know that one time while I was "helping," I went to take one last bite of cookie dough off of the wooden spoon that was sitting in the bowl only to find that the spoon had dish soap on it.

Shudder.

We didn't have these cookies all the time, but they were a regular enough staple in our house. Fool-proof baking for sure, simple enough and yet stunningly flavored so that we were wreathed in smiles whenever my mom got the urge to make them. As an older kid, I would come home from school and have a sudden realization, "Mom made cookies Sunday!" It was the best possible feeling, to remember that there were cookies in the blue jar with the chipped lid to give me a boost after a long day at school. And that jar, I think my mom still has it. Intrinsically intertwined with the cookies themselves was this old blue jar. The lid was chipped, but it too spoke of home and sweet comfort to me.

In recent years, I've been making these cookies for my own family. They're nothing fancy. I've said again and again that I'm not a baker, but you can't get these wrong, really. And there's something terribly satisfying about making the same recipe that my mom used to make. The same crinkle of the plastic wrapper that the chocolate chips come in, the same rich scent of vanilla extract. The same sweet surprise in remembering that there are cookies, still, when you walk in the door. The only thing missing is a jar, and I think I'm going to get on that right away.

Monday Mash Up, October 1

Despite kicking things off with a slight cold, it really feels as if this has been a near-perfect weekend. I got very nearly everything I wanted out of it. How often does that happen? I had a glorious start to my Friday with an amazing hike with my friend Tracy. Isn't that Spanish Moss something else? It had been a couple weeks since we'd had lunch, so we had a lot to catch up on. The miles sped by. After that, it really felt like Friday, you know? I'm trying to get in a rhythm of doing the grocery shopping on Fridays so we don't have that chore over the weekends, but this cold has me wiped out, so I didn't quite make it this week. Ah well, something to strive for. Friday night we resurrected our pizza ritual and finally (FINALLY!) caught up on all the Project Runways we'd missed. I feel so much better now. Who wants to talk about it?

Saturday was my favorite kind of fall day: cool and rainy. Cal stayed home to do homework while Neel and I went to run errands (grocery store), including, da...da...dum! Buy a bathroom! We picked up paint, a vanity, a toilet and all the faucets and such. Of course I woke Neel up early(ish) to get dressed in case our bathroom guys showed and they didn't, but there you are. Neel had asked me to pick out paint chips that mirrored our kitchen backsplash which has lots of shades of seaglass greens. And then he picked gray. I'm down with that. After all those errands, the only place I wanted to be was on the sofa, under the covers, and, as it turns out, that was exactly where Violet and Lucy wanted me to be too. I had one pup on my lap and one draped across my legs. Not a bad place to be.

We made Neel's special marianated steak for dinner Saturday night. (Dinner on Sunday night is an entirely different phenomenon. It's called Football Sunday, and I'm sure you can imagine what manner of food we're eating on Sundays. Take a guess.) When I was growing up, Saturday night dinner was such a special thing. We're trying to do that here too, but Saturdays can be so busy. This Saturday was nice. Great food, thanks to Neel's secret marinade. Callum lit all the candles at the table, and the windows were open so that we could hear the rain falling. Nice night.

Neel did a lot of cooking this weekend! He made a great bagle breakfast Sunday morning, and while Cal powered through the rest of his homework we cleaned the house and rearranged a bit both inside and out. Seems I'm happiest cleaning when I'm also moving things around. Go figure. We watched Harry Potter #1 this afternoon, which always feels like fall to me. Every so often we get in the mood to watch the series front to back, top to bottom, and it always seems to happen in the fall and winter. I'm ready. More snuggles. Bring it on. Bring on the cookies too. Nestle Toll House. Easiest baking in the world. Ain't nothing finer.

What's everbody's week like? I have another busy one, but that's okay. Seriously, I feel like I haven't drawn breath since school started, but we're getting there. It's good stuff I've got going on, so that makes it okay.

five things, september 28 edition

1. I think I'm still thinking a lot about the difference between busy and fulfilled. I wrote about this a few weeks ago, but people, I'm too tired and busy to go find the original post. I don't feel good about that. I have some posts swirling in my head about raising busy kids (and busy parents) and what kind of life I know I want to lead, and I hope to get to them in the coming weeks, but right now this picture of an unmade bed will have to serve as a reminder to slow down and get lazy. That it's okay to do so. We're feeling over scheduled right now, and I know that's not right for my family. I'm trying to right the ship. Wish me luck, 'kay?

2. I think I had just the best time at coffee with my friend Liz yesterday. It was such a treat to catch up with a fellow photographer and blogger, even if we both felt we could have spent more time talking about both! Meeting up with her, and sitting down face to face, reminds me how important it is to do that and spend time with people who love the things I love. Happy birthday, girl. I'm hoping we can do it more often.

3. I think great progress continues to be made on the bathroom, and our "guy" has become so comfortable with coming over here to work that he just walks right in. Fortunately we've been out of our jammies and fully clothed every time. I owe you all a blog post on the progress, and I'd better hurry up because it'll be done before we know it. I know. Famous last words. Our rate limiting step right now is picking the paint color. Stumps us every time.

4. I think I'll take a quick moment to say a little something about the amazing birth I was able to witness earlier this week. Really, it's not my story to tell. In answer to some of your questions, we took the pregnancy photos on September 11 so Charles came almost two weeks later! Bruiser! A long long time ago, when we lived in California, I worked as a doula (labor support) for a spell. It is some of the most meaningful and rewarding work a person can do. I found Callum's birth to be such an enriching and amazing experience that I relished the opportunity to travel that journey with other couples. I taught childbirth classes and provided labor support for a number of years before we moved here to Virginia. For various reasons, the work didn't translate here. Partly, the climate is different in Virginia (duh), and partly my family life changed, making it harder for me to be on call for clients. I absolutely loved teaching (and hope to find a way to teach something again someday), but being on call: not so much. :)

All that being said, it is such an amazing and tremendous pleasure to be able to "come out of retirement" as I like to call it for my dear friends here who are having babies. I can not describe to you what joy that brings me. Three times now, I have stood here by the side of women I love dearly, buoyed by their trust in me, and I witnessed their great strength as they brought their babies into the world. Sometimes I think I must be one of the luckiest women alive! You feel a special connection working with a couple who are clients. You feel infused with love when you are helping dear friends. And seeing your friend dig deep and find a strength that even she didn't know she had? Well, that's pretty special. My friend Rebecca, like my friend Catherine before her, was a flipping rockstar. I am in awe of her. Seriously, I have no words.

The midwifery center here is pretty stellar. The midwife who attended this birth was pretty stellar too. While I was focused on my friends, you really put yourselves in your caretakers' hands. And she was phenomenal. A little gruff on the exterior maybe, still she kept flashing me the biggest smiles. We both knew how well, and quickly, things were going. After everything was over, she surprised me by saying, "Can I have a hug?" And then she really surprised me by saying that I was an awesome doula, that she was jotting down and taking notes on things I did and said throughout the birth. As if I wasn't on cloud nine already. That comment had me beaming with pride. I haven't really practiced in almost ten years, but sometimes love is enough.

There's another reason why I can't really do this for a living (although don't think I didn't explore the midwifery route a long, long time ago, and don't think a tiny part of me doesn't think about birth photography...just a little, now). Attending births takes it out of me. Again, even when I was there just for a client, the emotional and physical toll a birth took on me could take days to recover from. It's not a bad thing necessarily; I just needed to be better able to distance myself from it to do it long term. Add to that the fact you really love the people you're helping, that you're weeping as that baby emerges into the world, well, I get a little fragile after. But that's just me. For these guys, though? Again and again and again and again. Well. You get the picture.

5. I think I'm not at all ashamed to say that I'm so happy Cal is not running in the meet in Richmond this weekend. It's an hour and a half a way. Neel's spent at least five hours in the car for the last three weekends, and we're d-u-n. Done. Everybody around here is worn out. So this is a weekend to rest and recoup some of the energy we all know we have. I'm putting a moratorium on sleepovers and late nights. Movies and snuggles. That's all we got. The downside is that I don't get to go to Can Can, which is where I'd take Erin if she were here. I can steam my own mussels. What are you guys up to this weekend? If the bathroom guys weren't coming, I'd be in my jammies the whole time, but sadly, that's not gonna happen. A girl can dream.

I am in love with ocean {life}

I told you last Friday that I started my day with a walk along the Atlantic. I clearly need to do this more often. We're not all that close to the ocean, really. I mean, I know I shouldn't complain, but when your preference is to step outside or cross the street or walk down the block, well sometimes the drive can seem a bit far. Still, after dropping Callum off at school, it's only an extra 20 minutes before my toes are in the sand, and I can feel every fibre of my soul relax.

The beach is different in September. The light is lower and more golden. The bite in the air invigorates. The crowds are gone, minus a few loping doggies, happily roaming off leash as their people lag behind. I seemed to be the most purposeful walker, most of the very few other people I saw were much less hurried. My goal for the walk was to unplug entirely, but I didn't have my watch, so I brought my phone. In a way, I'm glad I did. I took these pictures, and I got to see each of your suggestions about what pictures to take. I felt disconnected and yet connected too. I thought about the blog a lot and taking photographs. I let my thoughts drift and recede like the waves. I got practical. Is it possible to continue these walks through the winter? It doesn't get that cold here. I have a friend from high school who just announced a move to Alaska on facebook, a move that she said she was planning on surviving with these. I wonder if that would make walking on a winter beach manageable. (Or in Nantucket, right, Megan?) Or if it's even necessary! Maybe I should ask Theresa to do a Wear in the World for Winter Beach Walks. Her beaches are a lot warmer in the winter are mine though. I thought about bringing one of my own doggies. Provided she'd earned the privilege. Maybe one day. I thought about coming alone, each week, or sometimes with company. It all sounds good.

I didn't stay as long as I wanted (had to pee), but it did me a world of good. When a place sings to your soul, and it really is right outside your door, why shouldn't you make an effort to get there more?

Callum and I went back yesterday (he had the day off school) with every intention for a nice long walk. When we got to our spot, however, we were mesmerized by a low, low tide and swarms of dolphins swiming close to shore. It was hard not to get rooted. Cal ran some seven-second sprints to get ready for a meet he has today, but mostly we drifted from spot to spot, watching the dolphins leap. We could have stayed all day.

Ocean
~Mary Oliver

I am in love with Ocean
lifting her thousands of white hats
in the chop of the storm,
or lying smooth and blue, the
loveliest bed in the world.
In the personal life, there is

always grief more than enough,
a heart load for each of us
on the dusty road. I suppose
there is a reason for this, so I will be
patient, acquiescent. But I will live
nowhere except here, by Ocean, trusting
equally in all blast and welcome
of her sorrowless, salt self.

joy, multiplied {life}

Back when I first started getting serious about photography, I took pictures of this gorgeous Mama when she was expecting that sweet girl. The photos are buried somewhere in the blog, and honestly? I'm simply too tired to go looking for them for you tonight. You can find some, as well as one of my all time favorite photographs ever (of that same Mama kissing her sweet baby daughter) on the photography page of this site. That was back when I thought I might be good at taking photographs of people. Now this family is ready to welcome their second baby into the world, and we thought some new pictures would be in order, capturing that special, expectant time.

Charles Evans III, born September 24, 2012 @ 7:42 a.m. after a F.A.S.T. five hour, unmedicated labor. (I know, 'cause I was there.) Welcome to the world, little star.

soup to seeds {life}

I loved all of your suggestions for what to cook last week. So many great ideas! I would have loved to have gone to the Farmer's Market or to see Jackie's gorgeous bread baking oven. For various reasons neither of those worked out, but someday, someday. I have some ideas, ladies. You know I do. But you all inspired me so much. Saturday was the first full day of fall, and of course fall means autumn soups.

We're big soup eaters around here. Callum has always been a big fan of soups, even when he was a wee tot. His preference leans towards brothy soups with lots of stuff (think chicken noodle with good chunks of stuff like chicken, celery and carrot), but he'll eat a pureed soup like this Butternut Squash soup, no problem. The key is to fill it up with tasty bits. Pumpkin seeds, prociutto, cinnamon toast croutons. I mean, hello. Add some ham and my guys will eat anything.

I adapted this recipe (to follow) from Epicurious. To my mind, the Epicurious recipe was a bit too sweet. Add some spice, and then the cider cream. And then the cinnamon toast croutons? Oh yeah.

Butternut Squash Soup with Cider Cream and Cinnamon Toast Croutons
adapted from Epicurious.com

5 tablespoons butter

2 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 6 cups)
2 cups chopped leeks (white and pale green parts only)
1/2 cup chopped peeled carrot
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 medium Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, chopped
1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried sage leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
5 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth
1 1/2 cups apple cider
2/3 cup sour cream

Melt butter in a large heavy sauce pan. Add leeks, squash, carrots and celery and sauté for approximately 15 minutes, until slightly softened. Add apples, sage, stock and one cup of the cider and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium low and simmer until apples are soft, for roughly 30 minutes. 

Allow soup to cool slightly, and, working in batches, puree soup in a blender until smooth and return to pan. Stir in cumin and curry and set soup aside.

Cider Cream

Meanwhile, bring remaining cider to a boil and reduce by half, to 1/4 cup. Stir in sour cream.

Cinnamon Toast Croutons

Combine 3 tablespoons softened butter with 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 1/4 teaspoon brown sugar. Spread on four slices of bread (we use whatever we have on hand, this time honey wheat) and toast in a 400 degree oven until tops are bubbly. Cut into triangles or squares.

 

Ladle warmed soup into bowls and top with cider cream and croutons. Soup can be thinned with cream, if it's too thick. Accompany with pumpkin seeds and prosciutto, if desired.

Monday Mash Up, September 24

1. Hello ocean | 2. Let's get political | 3. Beagle in the sun | 4. Flooring progress | 5. Ahhhhhh, bliss. | 6. Wine time | 7. Milestone | 8. Provisions | 9. Signs of fall? | 10. Dishes | 11. Charlie | 12. Charcoal Pit | 13. Old Stomping Grounds | 14. Homework | 15. Floored

Hey gang! How was your weekend? I'm so glad to have Neel and Callum home, but I'll be the first to admit that it was fun to have a little time to myself! I started Friday with a walk on the beach, along the Atlantic. I should really do this more, and I'm making a commitment to myself to get out there more often this year. If you can bear the iPhone photos, I'll have a post about my walk later this week, so I won't say anymore here, except that it felt really, really, really good. Friday night we went to a local political event. For the most part, living in a battleground state = unfun, but this was really nice, and when you can support people whose work you actually believe in, well that feels good. Plus, I got to talk houses with one of my favorite architects (like I know so many), and that made me really, really happy. There may be a post about this evening coming soon too. No politics though, I promise. Aren't we getting enough of that everywhere else?

But my floor! My bathroom guys came early on Saturday (as I suspected they would), so I wasn't really alone that day. But I was dressed and ready for them! Neel and Callum texted me from the road and pictures from the game. They got real close to see batting practice, and even though the Phillies lost, Ryan Howard, one of Cal's favorite players hit his 300th homerun! That was pretty cool! And thanks to all of you did anti-rain dance! (I'm looking at you, Liz.) Thankfully, the rain held off until the guys walked from the ballpark to the car. Then it poured.

I had a great time Saturday night chatting on the front porch with my friend Catherine. It was the perfect night for a glass of wine and a long girl-talk. I haven't seen her in ages. We needed it.

However. There are definite downsides to having Neel and Callum gone, aside from the obvious. There is no one to do my dishes. And no one to make my coffee in the morning. When I took a shower Sunday morning my shampoo didn't lather the way it normally does, and I realized that I'd used my body wash instead. So. Off to Borjo, our local coffee house to fill me up. And before anyone freaks out, yes, I can make my own coffee. It just seems silly to make a pot when I only drink a cup. And besides, Borjo has spiced caramel latte. 'Nuff said.

We got an unexpected call from our neighbors who were out of town this weekend. Charlie-the-Pug is one of those neighbors. He didn't make the call, but he was in a bit of a dog sitting pickle and needed an early pick-up. Charlie was staying with a friend, a Dachshund named Bailey who'd been mauled the night before by another dog. Poor Bailey is okay, but she needed some quiet time. I picked Charlie up and brought him home, and he's a total crack up. He hopped in the driver's seat without a thought, and was so happy to be back home. What would we do without these guys, you know?

Before coming home, Callum and Neel made several special stops in Pennsylvania. One was at the Charcoal Pit, a restaurant Neel used to go to when he was Callum's age, and another was at Neel's old school. We try to make this stop every time we head to Eastern PA. They took lots of pictures, so look for a guest post about that too. I'm making lots of promises today, aren't I? 

Then I took some pictures, and your suggestions were so amazing and gave me so many great ideas. Guess what! I'll have a full recap of my decision and a recipe too! That comes tomorrow. Woo-hoo! My floor is in, my guys are home and it feels like fall. Does it feel like fall where you are too?

five things, september 21st edition

1. I think we're slowly starting to get our feet under us. I mean, hell, it's nearly October, right? I'm pulling together some goals for our family. (Weekends are for fun - cross country meets aside - not chores, yes?) I'm starting some fun new habits that I hope I can keep up with through the winter (walk on the beach this morning.), and I'm trying to get a handle on our falltime/school time cooking. My friend Debbie, who has gone back to work with a lenghty hour-long commute this year, is relying a lot on slow cooker meals. Do you have any go-to dinners that keep you full and fulfilled in the fall?

2. I think I'm hoping to get a lot of stuff done this weekend. Neel and Cal are aiming for a reboot of the Phillies game (please please please please cross your fingers for NO RAIN!) and for various reasons, I'm going to stick it out at home. What to do? What to do?! I can't sleep in late, but I'm sure if I tried, the bathroom guys would show up. I have some things planned. I'll never get all of them done.

3. I think it's funny that Neel and I were both reminded of a much younger version of ourselves when we visited Erin and Boyfriend. How silly is that? I talked, in my post about our visit, about how much I loved their city-life. Walking to cafes and restaurants. Having to walk the dog in the sleet, snow and pouring rain. I well remember those days! And then of course I had to go and watch a House Hunters International where the couple move to Cannes and kept talking about how much they loved the cafe culture. See, there I go again, getting all yearny! We can walk to a couple restaurants here, and we have great coffee shops and wonderful neighborhoods in my sweet little town. Why can't I infuse my own space with more of the kind of life I want to lead? There's absolutely no reason at all.

4. I think I continue to be lifted up by our conversations about authenticity over the last days. It means different things to each of us, I guess. I was reacting initially to how reading such amazing things on so many amazing blogs can make me feel restless and dissatisfied. Yearning. There's often the argument that so many blogs pretty things up and don't show the real and true dark underbelly of our day-to-day lives. It's pretty dresses! Ikat throw pillows! Danish kitchens! More about those things and less about what my desk looks like right now or the dust bunnies under my tv cabinet. And yet, part of why I go to those blogs are to read about the very things that can make me all yearny. It's quite a conundrum, isn't it? I was particularly interested about the thread of comments (from Chi and Annie, especially) that looked at authenticity in terms of how much to reveal. I don't think that keeping your personal life private on your blog makes it any less authentic. We all focus on different things, as we should! I imagine that as Cal grows older there will be less and less that I reveal about his own life. But as Rooth pointed out, it's the ordinary day to day moments that are the most compelling. To me at least. And I guess that's what I'll continue to present here. I may try to make it more focused in various ways, but as I was trying to think of tag lines in the shower (every gal needs a tag line, I suppose!), I kept playing with something along the lines of finding the extraordinary in the ordinary moments. Feel free to come up with your own. I could use the help. Clearly. And what I loved the most? How we all had something to say? Let's keep talking? How can we keep talking? Theresa, who often asks a question at the end of her posts, had a great post yesterday about creativity and getting inspired. I'm sure you've seen it, but if you haven't yet, check it out.

5. I think I'm really enjoying Tabletop Photography at Nicole's Classes. I really fly by the seat of my pants with this photography thing. I mean, I know my camera and its settings, but angles and styling...that's all instinctive, and I feel like what I've learned has really strengthened some of the stuff I've been guessing at. I also feel like I want to go back and re-read all the lessons and take better notes! This week's homework is my favorite by far. Pretend you're shooting the cover of your favorite magazine (Heather and Chi, sound familiar?!). Well, you know I have to do food, but what? I want you guys to weigh in and help me decide. What would you like to see me cook and shoot over the weekend. What would you like to be on my magazine cover? As you saw in #2, my time is my own! I want to have some fun. It occurred to me that this could end up being a fun recurring blog column. Tell me what to cook and shoot. What do you think?

racer man {life}

I love the sweep of color as the racers from all the different schools lined up.

I guess I wasn't expecting such a spectacularly beautiful morning. Callum wanted to ride the bus with his team, so we dropped him at school at 6:45 (gulp!), grabbed our own coffee and followed them the 45 minutes to the meet. Callum's race was first, at 8:30, so the sun was low in the sky and the shadows were long.

I love those shots of all the boys lined up, ready to sprint from the starting line. You can't see Cal there, but we were able to pick him out. He looked so little compared to these much bigger kids. And the trick about Williamsburg, where they went to run, is that it's pretty hilly. We don't have those here. Not by any stretch. People training for big out of town races where there will be hills run parking garages at dawn to get that kind of training in. That big one that they're running up? They had to do it three times.

He did it though, and he persevered. Saving enough for a smile for his mom along the way.

festival {life}

They called as we were on our way to Pennsylvania a few weekends ago, the gals from Selma's, to see if we were free for the wine festival. Hmmmm....let me think about that for about half a second, yes.

The Neptune Wine Festival is far more intimate than most that take place around these parts. A smaller footprint along the Atlantic Ocean with a limited number of tickets available. This was the second year that Selma's attended, and they graciously included me and Neel with seats around the table. They'd learned a few things from last year too. Like, bring food. So we brought food. Crackers and pimento cheese. Figs and grapes and wasabi-infused gouda. Hello.

There was live music and wine aplenty to try. I skipped out on the habanero-infused wine, that was the one you had to try with cheese wiz (I kid you not), but everyone else did. You got a sticker if you made it through. Some of us were understandably skeptical.

The longer the afternoon lingered, the more people got up to dance. Some did not bear taking photos of, and at one point Neel remarked, "We're surrounded by gypsies!" It was after she tried her first fig but before she chatted with the gentleman in the hat (he owns four hotels, a yacht and has no bills, apparently) that April asked, "Where's my wine, bitches?!"

They were so proud that we "hung with them to the end," but with such wonderful comapny and so much fun to be had, who wouldn't? I always knew these women knew how to have a good time, and I was glad to show Neel just how much. I was honestly touched that they wanted us, and had such a lovely, lovely time. It was easy like Sunday afternoon.

Monday Mash Up, September 17

1. New planner | 2. Magazine heaven | 3. Dinner out | 4. Lining up for the race | 5. Traffic hell | 6. Photography practice | 7. Autumn weather | 8. Wine tasting yummies | 9. King Neptune

You guys. You guys. Oh gosh. Are we all in a funk? :) So many of you left amazing comments or reached out to me privately. I can't tell you what it meant to me. If anything, me saying that I get stuck with this sometimes and how you responded, reaffirms that I need to stay in this space. I needed you, and you (as always), lifted me up. You do it every time.

So how was everybody's weekend. I promised I'd show you my new planner, and that's it in the first photo. I'm really happy. It's nice to be carrying some of my photos around in planner form. Should you get one and go with the photo collage option, I would caution this: my photos feel dark, so maybe do a little lightening of your pics before uploading them. Just sayin'.

I feel like I started my weekend early with an awesome birthday lunch with my friend Tracy. How is it that being with your girlfriends can lift you up so much too. That and a honkin' big stack of magazines. I went giddily crazy, and yay for me! It was my first time with Garden and Gun, and already I'm a fan. It reminds me most of Sunset, which I still miss from our days out West, so I'm mulling over a subscription. I may give it another issue before I decide.

We had dinner out Friday night (I love Friday night) after a nice evening in the hood. It's cooler here now and everyone is coming out of their houses to mingle in their yards. When we first moved here our realtor called this a front-yard neighborhood, and Friday night is a good example of why. When we were at dinner, Neel saw one of his students (this happens quite a lot actually). This person, now a fourth-year medical student, shook Callum's hand and said, "Your dad's a great teacher." That wasn't a bad moment at all.

And then Saturday. Well. Callum had his first cross country meet in Williamsburg, which is about 45 minutes away from us. The bus left school at 6:45 a.m., so we were out the door pretty early. He ran at 8:30 and didn't do too badly for his first go, especially given that this course has hills and we don't grow those where we live! What we do grow around here is water, and you have to go over a bridge or through a tunnel to get pretty much anywhere around here. The bridge/tunnel we take to get home was closed for repaving, as was another. So all of the traffic traveling from one side of the water to another was funneled onto one bridge. We got caught in that traffic and sat. And sat. And sat. A car two in front of us over heated, and by the time all was said and done, we passed three accidents, including a charred out minivan. Nice. At one point Neel said to Callum, "We've seen worse. We've been in traffic jams where people get out of their cars and walk around." About ten minutes later he said, "Why don't you get out of the car and walk around?" We finally pulled off for a bathroom break and a quick bite to eat, and got right back into the mess. By the time all was said and done, it took us five and a half hours to get home. For a 45 minute trip. The only thing that got us through was Vanity Fair! (Of course!) I read Neel and Callum the absolutely amazing article that Michael Lewis wrote on President Obama. If you haven't had a chance to read it yet, I simply can't recommend it enough. We were rivited, and I read it right up until the car came to a stop as I finished the last sentence.

But. Back to work for me on Sunday. Did I tell you I'm taking one of Nicole's Classes? Tabletop Photography. I know, I know. I already do a lot of tabletop photography, but my skills could always use work, my styling skills especially. Some folks cautioned that it might be a bit basic for me, but I've already learned a lot...the trickiest part is finding time to fit it all in. I will do anything, really, if it will help me feel more confident, both as a photographer and a human. Perhaps in a week or so, I'll wow you with my prowess!

It was gorgeous and cool all weekend, so the windows went up and the house felt delicious. My lovelies at Simply Selma's invited us to join them at the Neptune Wine Festival, and how can you say no to an invitation like that? I took tons of pictures, and if I can get all my editing done tomorrow, I'm hoping I can treat you to a Tuesday Wine-Tasting Post. Its working title is "Where's My Wine, Bitches?"

So perhaps things are on the upswing. I think the thing I realized that I need to remember is to be authentic. Don't be afraid to say, "Yeah, I'm not not great. I'm okay, but not great." And let the people who love you lift you up. They want to. I know that when my friends are down, when any one of you is down, that's what I want to do. So maybe I'm not 100%, but it's a new week. I'm a lot better, and what I know is this: more authentic is where I want to be.