list forty: some things I did on the last day of the year

1. jumped on a trampoline

2. spent a little time in the car

3. but with the windows partly rolled down

4. introduced my niece to the fine music of blondie

5. played several rounds of I SPY

6. marveled over bright blue skies

7. sampled a coca-cola flavored cupcake

8. watched cousins hop in and out of a photobooth

9. yelled YOU GUUUUUYS! IT'S THE LAST DAY OF THE YEAR!

10. yelled it a lot

11. maybe a hundred times

12. contemplated the making of party hats

13. contemplated the purchasing of party hats

14. laid on the trampoline with ezra and looked up at the sky

15. watched the light turn gold

16. then blue

17. listened to him talk about the moon

18. reveled in that moment, that really really spectacular moment

19. discussed the merits of 2011 over mexican food

20. blew off resolutions

21. went on a double date

22. somehow ended up at waffle house twenty minutes before midnight

23. considered ordering waffles

24. and/or grits

25. ordered coffee instead

26. played al green on the juke box

27. fished a pink plastic party horn out from the bottom of my purse

28. counted down the last seconds of the year

29. counted them down with my husband, my brother and my sister-in-law

30. and a restaurant full of strangers

31. blew that pink party horn

32. blew it loud

33. kissed my husband

34. loved everyone in that waffle house

35. for a second, loved everyone and everything inside (and outside) that waffle house

the good bits

these are times we will remember, times we will talk about when we are old. these are photographs we'll want to climb inside and relive.

happy happy

to you, friends! to you, to you.

merry merry

well, in a last minute turn of events, we ended up someplace completely different for christmas. two airplanes, one bright red rental car and a few days of rigorous traveling found us on the opposite end of the country. and it's not what I planned, it's not what I'd originally hoped for but it was good, it was solid. it was time with family, with people we love. copious amounts of that joyous thing called merriment. I miss my mom and dad but I am thankful.

and I know I am late with this but merry merry to you! the merriest, friends.

photobooth friday

on a sunday, because that's how I'm rolling these days. this was my favorite birthday present, by the way. my absolute favorite.

last day

(super happy 2-for-1 sale ends tonight at midnight, west coast time)

(fyi)

roller happy

because I just had to share more roller rink photographs. I had to.

p.s. thanks for all the birthday wishes, peoples. thank you so much.

p.p.s. I can still totally rock the backwards skate.

birthday number 41

I never took the forty paper stars down from last year, you know. just couldn't ever bring myself to do it. so look what I found hanging from the ceiling sunday morning. a sweet little addition, compliments of the husband.


and look what I found on my desk. a mess of fresh cut paper snowflakes, compliments of ezra.


you know what else? we went rollerskating.


and consumed the following: onion rings, cherry slushees, cotton candy. in that order.


then, downtown-- to cargo, to cargo.


cargo, where I filled my basket with metallic paper party hats and neon balloon horns and mustache straws. well, and then I put it all back, since we are saving our pennies and all. though not before I tried out a few of those balloon horns AND LET ME TELL YOU THOSE THINGS WERE LOUD. I did not know they would be so loud. this made ava laugh. and pretend not to know me.


after cargo and just before dinner, the photobooth! naturally.


money well spent, kids. money well spent.


alas, my birthday restaurant of choice was closed so we opted for takeout. boo, birthday restaurant of choice. boo.


BUT. a chinese takeout floor picnic? next to a crackly fire in the fireplace? with fizzy raspberry lemonades and paper straws? better than any dinner in any restaurant, any day or night of the week. sorry, birthday restaurant of choice. it's true. I still love you, but it's true.


and then, a question. do I like being 41? yes, I think maybe I do. for the most part. but not more than your fancy loopy letter Ys and your gold paper snowflakes, ezra. I'd take those over 41 anyday.


hey, how about the cake. the red velvet cake, which I sort of botched this year. something went wrong with the frosting, I don't know. and then all those candles nearly melted the cake, nearly reduced it to a pile of goo. but whatever. I earned those candles, every last one of them. I refuse to skimp on candles. you shouldn't either.


after cake came presents-- the vintage kind, the handmade kind. win win. win win win all over the place.


finally, the aftermath. red velvet birthday cake for breakfast monday morning. double triple quadruple win. and birthday number 41=properly celebrated.

I really needed a day like this, friends. I cannot tell you how much I needed a day like this.

over at habit

hey friends, I'll be posting over at habit all month long. habit= lovely little internet space where people pair photographs of daily life with 30 words or less. wasn't sure I was up to it this go round but it's a practice I've come to love. and I think maybe this month will be one to document.

(many many thanks to emily and molly for having me)

unofficially official

it's my unofficial biannual super happy 2-for-1 holiday sale, friends. buy one print, get one free. buy two prints, get two free and so on and so forth. super double happy, see? new prints added to the shop and everything. order the print (or prints) you'd like and then, in that handy 'message to the seller' section, specify which print (or prints) you'd like for your freebies. special runs one week only-- today through thursday, december 8th. and I promise to enclose a little extra special something in each package. baked goods excluded. but you know, if I could mail out a red velvet cupcake with each print order, I totally would.

p.s. proceeds from said sale to benefit the emergency we-need-to-get-back-home-asap fund. looks like we might be packing up our little car and heading east for christmas. if all goes as planned, we'll be sailing through five states sooner rather than later. it's a crazy, crazy idea. but then, when love and family are involved, sometimes a little crazy is required.

(sale details here)

spirit

and so it is december. apparently, I am the last to know. am mustering up everything in me to make christmas magic around here, I am tapping the reserves. not sure where it's all going to come from but there are two children here and they are waiting for the little forest that lives on the mantle. they are waiting for the kooky little gold glittered santa boot that I bring out every year, for the santa mugs that line the bathroom window sill. they are waiting for christmas records and christmas picture books, for shiny old bulbs and sparkly white lights, for the scent of fresh cut christmas tree to fill the house. they are waiting for the jolly and the merry. my head is worlds away but I will get there this week. I know that I will.

thank you

for your kind comments, your encouraging emails, thank you. I know I've been vague about things but I'm just not able to share. yet. anyway, your prayers mean the world to me. I just wanted to say that.

vantage point

over at shutter sisters today with a few words about unexpected angles. hop on over, if you like.

one

from the archives. because that's just about all I can manage today, friends.

this is a picture I did not take

of hundreds of birds in trees just outside the hospital entrance. hundreds. and the pop and flutter of wings, staccato-like songs bouncing off evergreen branches onto concrete walls. for a second, there was nothing else. nothing but that swarm of birds and the sound of hospital doors opening and closing. for a second, everything else fell away.

(forever inspired)