the best boys

I was home this past weekend to meet my best friend's new baby, Owen, who just so happens to be the younger brother of my godson Jackson. Sunday was his baptism day!

I asked Jackson if I could take Owen back to DC with me, and he said that I couldn't, because "Owen is his favorite person in the world and he'd miss him too much if he was gone."

I melted.

Love those boys!

tea time!

How gorgeous is this?!

The tea time chandelier from Anthropologie (of course).

It is totally on my Christmas list.

LOVE!

wild wild wednesday

Recently, Steve and I began to notice some noises coming from the attic at night. It isn't much of an attic, really just a crawl space. He noticed that a piece of paneling on the side of the house was loose, so he thought it might have been a squirrel that had gotten in. After a few "visits," he realized that it was probably larger than a squirrel.

Over the weekend, we went out and bought a large trap.

He set a bait with cheese and croutons (ha!) and set it up.

Yesterday morning, this greeted him when he looked-

Rocky the raccoon!

I thought he was kind of cute and suggested we keep him, but Steve thought it was best to drive him to the woods and release him back with his friends, which he did.

He suspected that there may be a second raccoon, so he set the trap up again yesterday afternoon and just now texted me to say that a second raccoon was caught in the trap! Crazy, eh? Once again, he will drive Rocky II to the woods for release.

Next step? Repair the loose paneling on the side of the house :)

holidays...together and apart

Since September will be here in two days (wait, WHAT?!), I began thinking a bit about the upcoming holidays. I want to try to get things arranged a little sooner this year, as I always seem to wait until the last minute and end up super stressed. Of course, I know I am far from the only one who does this, but I'd like to avoid it, if possible!

We have a trip to Iowa in October for a wedding, and then there is Thanksgiving and Christmas. We also have a wedding in London, Ontario the weekend of Thanksgiving.

Since our very first Thanksgiving as a couple, Steve and I have spent the holiday together. We began dating in September and two months later, he came home to NH with me for the weekend. Since then, we have alternated Thanksgivings; one year in NH and the next in Iowa. It has worked out well. I think we've actually driven to both places most of those years. Yes, both are long drives, but worth it to not have to deal with airlines! Also, I like the adventure of a roadtrip.

As for Christmas, we've always, up until last year, been apart. We would do our Christmas together here in DC, and then go to our respective homes. It was never an issue and has always been just fine. Last year, Steve was graduating from Iowa State with his Master's and walked in December. The ceremony was the week before Christmas, so we flew to Iowa for that, spent a few days there and then I flew to NH. Steve actually flew to NH late Christmas Eve and was with my family on Christmas Day.

Now, Steve is telling me that we are going to Iowa for Christmas, since we were in NH last year. I suppose that makes sense, right? It is only fair, right? Still, I can't help be sad about it. It would be my first Christmas without my family. Even when I lived in Poland, I came home at Christmas and was with my family. That was also the worst Christmas in my memory, as my beloved grandfather passed away very suddenly and unexpectedly just a few days before. We were like zombies that year, I have very little memory of that day, which maybe is a good thing.

Growing up, I was so fortunate, I will admit. When I say that, I mean fortunate in the sense that my family was all close by. I grew up in the same town that my father grew up in, so his parents still lived there. My aunt lived about an hour away and my uncle was just a town over from mine. My mother grew up about an hour south of my hometown, but my grandparents moved to the town next to mine when I was six or seven. I have vague memories of their old house, but I really don't remember too much of them not being right there. My aunt, my mother's sister, lives about an hour away, not too far from my other aunt, my father's sister. Everyone has always been within an hour of my house. Christmas Eve is always spent with my father's family and Christmas Day is spent with my mum's.

I know how lucky I am to have had my family so close and was able to spend holidays and everydays with them. It really makes me sad that my children won't have this. With my family in NH and Steve's in Iowa, we will always have to choose.

How did you choose? How do you and your significant other decide where to spend holidays? Was it an easy decision? How do you make it easier on you, when you are away from your own family?

love letters!

How gorgeous is this bedding from anthropologie?

I want it!

Fond remembrances and glimpses of emotion layer romantically on Mise en Scene by Ruffian's soft sateen set. Actual missives collected from a vintage shop in Brooklyn create this swoon-worthy print, as silk trim ties them all together like a stack of notes from a loved one.

I wonder what Steve would think if he came home one day and found it on the bed???

Would he kill me?

how charming

Beth over at Social Climbers recently posted about charm bracelets, and it got me thinking about my own charm bracelet. When I was younger, my Meme gave me her own charm bracelet from her younger days, and gave me my own, adding charms to it as the years went on. It has been living in my jewelry box, rarely seeing the light of day, until now.



This bracelet was my Meme's-




It includes a few charms that my aunt gave her in the early 1970's for Christmas, as well as charms from trips she took to Louisiana and Florida as a young girl, among others. Those older charms don't have dates!


Here is my charm bracelet-



It includes charms from my First Communion, from a Christmas or two, my 13th birthday, my middle school graduation (1994!), a sand dollar, a horse shoe and a small silver pig, from my days when I was really into collecting pigs.


I also found these two, which were never attached, for some reason-



From my sweet 16 in 1996 and my Confirmation, also in 1996.



I remember how exciting it was to get a new charm. We'd take it downtown to the local jeweler, who would attach it for me and then polish it up so it sparkled and shone in the afternoon sun. Walking out of the jewelers with the bracelet tinkling on my wrist, I always felt like such a fancy, grown-up lady.


I also found this, a loop to be worn on a chain to hold charms. Meme bought this when we realized that the bracelet was about full (maybe that is why the other two were never added?). This one includes a field hockey stick (I played in high school) and a charm for my high school graduation in 1998.





Those are the last charms I have. My Meme was diagnosed with lung cancer when I was in college and passed away in July 2003 while I was in Poland. My father called me and told me that I needed to come home. I arrived at the hospital one night where Meme was asleep and surrounded by family. She never woke up. I'd like to think that she knew I was there, that she waited until I could get home. I wish I could hear the stories of her charms one more time.



Perhaps I should begin collecting charms again, after more than ten years, and add them to a new bracelet, something I could give to my own daughter one day. I think Meme might like that. Perhaps also, I should begin a similar tradition for a niece or god daughter, should I have one someday. Then they could one day give it to their daughters.



Did you have a charm bracelet? I'd love to see photos and hear its story.

Friday photo love

I went home to NH the other weekend and had the chance to see my godson Jackson. He's going to be THREE in July! Insane.

Here we are!


You can't tell, I'm sure, but the band-aid has little sushi rolls all over it! I bought them for his mother, my best friend. (he was totally fine, by the way, just liked the band-aids!)

Is he not the cutest boy in the world? :)

goodbye June, where did you go?

It's July? Really? How did that happen? Wasn't it just the middle of April? Alas, July is here, what more can I say?


This past weekend was really, really lovely. I was home in NH, just for Saturday to Monday. Of course, trips home are never long enough, but that is what makes them so very special, because I appreciate them that much more, I think. One of my very oldest and dearest friends turned 30 last weekend and her husband organized a big fiesta for her. She is a French teacher at the local high school and one of my favorite Francophiles, but hey, even they need a margarita once in a while ;) It was so, so nice to see her though. She has two babies, a four year old and an almost two year old and I can't get over how much they look like her! Some other old friends were there, including one who had a baby in February, so I got to hold and play with the cutest, chubbiest baby you've ever seen! Laughing and sharing old stories, being surrounded by old friends, it was just what I needed. There is something so special about old friends; the ones who have known you the longest, long before you were who you are today. They are the ones who have helped you get there, and I am so glad to have these people in my life.


Of course, I saw my grandmother too, who is doing so incredibly after her surgery last February. She's amazing, she really is. I went to my best friend's house and had breakfast with her and her husband, and little boy, my godson, who will be two this weekend (4th of July baby!). Since I am brilliant, I left his birthday presents here in DC, so I'll need to mail them and they'll be late. Well, one of the gifts is a savings bond, so that will take some time anyway. Once he is old enough to understand what those are, he will probably hate me for sending such boring gifts!


My mother also brought out her old sewing machine and I made a few more potholders. I'll post pictures later. My cousin is flying home tomorrow and will drive back with the machine next week, as he's bringing back some furniture too, and a few other things. I acquired a good bit of kitchen items too (long story), including a cast iron meat grinder! I have no idea what I will ever use that for, but it amused me too much to leave behind! Now I just need a bigger kitchen....


In other news, I decided at the last minute to take two classes during the second summer session. They begin next week, so from 7/6-8/14, I will have classes Monday-Thursday, 6-9:30pm. Awesome. At least that will complete my requirements for the degree....


How was your weekend?


PS. I think my blog might need a makeover. What do you think?

le sigh

Sad news. I didn't bring my mother's old sewing machine back to DC with me :(

I was planning to, and my mother pulled it from its hiding spot in the closet of my old room. We dusted it off and stitched a few pieces, to be sure that it is still working properly, and it is. Unfortunately, it was a bit larger then she remembered. I was convinced that I could fit it under the seat in front of me and use it has a carryon, but yeah, that wasn't happening. Then we thought maybe I could just check it, but my father advised us against that, as baggage handlers may not be so gentle.

I guess this means I need to drive home one of these days and bring it back with me, along with a bookshelf and several crates full of books that are still at home (yes, I have even more books, still at home...these include most of my childhood books!).

So, no potholders anytime soon :(

**** EDIT!!!

I've discovered a place nearby where you can rent sewing machines! I can go there and rent them by the hour! I can also buy adorable fabrics there :) So, all is not lost!