Bopril

A Day for Me

It was a good day.

I woke up, and even though I was still fighting some sort of cold/bug, I felt excited. I went into the kitchen for water and discovered a series of my photos, hand-picked by Hubby (some of his faves), matted and framed. They were arranged along the counter with a card from the fur-babes, calling them a selection of some of my most "wooftastic" images. Heart = melted. 

To be honest, I figured I'd get a handbag, or shoes, or jewelry or perfume - and let's face it, I LOVE all of those things - but this gift kind of blew me away. You see, I love photo walls - I like to frame photos and hang them in some sort of symmetry, forming collages that line the walls of our home, telling our stories to all who visit. Hubby knows this, and decided that the next wall should feature images of my own. It's something I likely never would have done for myself, but now that I have them, I can't wait to arrange and finish the new wall. Stay tuned for photos of the photos in their place on the wall. (say that 3 times)

After that, I went to work where I was showered all day by my colleagues first with a balloon, and then with cards, well wishes and more sweets than I've seen in months. There was a fun lunch with a piece of cake and a birthday song, a meeting with delicious cupcakes and another with a platter of every imaginable cookie. I was on a sugar high, sure, but also...I just felt special.

And of course, throughout the entire day a steady stream of good wishes and greetings poured in through Twitter and Facebook, voicemail, email and text. I know there is much debate about technology and the social networks that now occupy so much of our days, often replacing real connection with virtual ones, but if you're going to analyze the negatives, you should also look at the positives... and at the heart of all of it is community. Easy access to share our lives and provide support however we can, stay linked and connected and in the know for each other's stories. I can certainly appreciate the gift in that...and so to everyone who stopped by my virtual world on Tuesday, thank you. I was wrapped in hugs from waking to slumber, and it felt terrific.

Another year has passed. I'm not as far as I thought I'd be in my life's journey, and yet I'm also much further than I could have imagined. My circle of support expanded in some aspects while shrinking in others and I stand in the center, happy to be here, grateful for the moments, recognizing the blessings as they come. 

It was a good day.

Martha Stewart Called, and She'd Like Her Kitchen Back

For some strange reason, I woke up this morning, sat straight up in bed and thought "I really need to bake Valentine's Day goodies today." Given my lack of talent or even interest in the kitchen, this was very unusual...but also not an instinct I wanted to fight. When I get an urge to cook anything, I know better than to fight it.

So after completing a few normal Sunday morning activities (you know, greeting the landlord to fix our heater - because really, who needs heat in February? In Chicago? No one!), I headed to the grocery store to secure the necessary ingredients.

Because I am sports adverse and Hubby is out of town, I completely forgot that today was Super Bowl Sunday. Allow me to share a little hard earned advice with you - DO NOT - under ANY circumstance - EVER - go to the grocery store on this particular day. Every aisle was 3 to 5 carts deep, practically everything was out of stock (even bell peppers, WTF), and the lines were seriously obscene. Thank God for Twitter and my iphone; its all that kept me sane while I waited.

Anyway, I came home, took the fur babes for a brisk winter afternoon walk and then got down to business. I made red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and sprinkles (my fave) and a huge vat of sugar cookies - also with icing and sprinkles. I'm quite pleased with myself and hoping my colleagues are ready for a major sugar high tomorrow.

Hubby finally returns (feels like he's been gone FOREVER) tomorrow night and I'm going to greet him with a huge cookie and all the cupcakes he wants. Then he'll be my valentine. For sure.

And you? I hope you had a lovely weekend. If you'll excuse me, I now need to go back to not watching the super bowl and not eating the insane quantity of sweets taunting me from my (er, Martha's) kitchen. 

PS - I was caught up in the baking excitement and forgot to take any photos - you'll just have to use your imagination to know how drool-worthy my treats are. Sorry!

About That Time...

I was on a roll there for a bit - what with my fairly consistent posting schedule and all - and then...chirp, chirp...crickets. Silence. Sorry! Sigh...

I've been around. I've been meaning to post - really, I have - but you see Internet...it's about that time.

That time of year when the need for sunshine and time spent outdoors is so strong, it is physical...god, it is visceral. It's that time when I'd give absolutely everything and anything outside of Hubby and my fur babes to return to sunny CA. I want to ditch the bulky, messy boots for dainty, fun ballet flats. I want to walk down the street, fur-babes in tow - and feel the sun on my shoulder, the wind in my hair.

I want to gaze at a horizon so familiar, I can recall its every minute detail.

The curve of a path, traveled so often, lined with brush, a lush and green rolling hill that gives way to the steepest cliff sloping right down to the urgent PCH below:

 
The feel of a weathered white fence against my hand, my knee, my foot...years of rest and thought and wishing/hoping/dreaming done in its company.

 
And oh, most of all - the expanse of shimmery, rolling calming blue-gray that dances with the sun and soothes all in its presence:

 
So lately, instead of coming here, I've been going there. In my mind anyway - I've been watching the birds swoop up and down, in search of a snack, the dogs, cyclists, runners, walkers, gazers - all mingling on the winding paths that connect beach towns for the entire length of a coast.

 
I can smell it - salty air carried on a crisp wind, and I can hear it - thunderous waves crash mightily, again and again, to create what is - to me anyway - the quietest and most healing sound in the world.

 
Ah, mighty Pacific...what I wouldn't give to stand at your shore. I'd tell you every secret, turn every burden over to you. And I know you'd carry them...just as you always have.

 
As they say, California dreamin...

Hope for Haiti Indeed

This rocked my world. Seriously, I cannot stop watching it. I was already a Timberlake fan and now have added Matt Morris to my fan list. Genius - pure joy to watch.

Justin Timberlake - MTV Shows

As a former entertainment industry employee, I am proud of this effort from some of the world's biggest stars. Grace looks good on us - one and all.

There were a lot of moving performances - if you missed the telethon, you can catch up here.

And please, if you can, donate. The people of Haiti need our help.

Mindful

Over the past several years, I've given a lot of thought to the concept of time. More specifically, of its passing.

Like almost everyone, I happily wiled away many youthful years oblivious to this reality. Time's passing left no mark on me. I was young. And happy. And completely immune to nostalgia and age and the act of present being quickly swallowed by future.

I can't say for sure exactly when I began noticing - feeling time's aggressive pull - thinking that all of this has its limit. Acknowledging that in every beginning, there is most certainly an end. But it happened - an almost imperceptible shift - and I started to think (albeit in brief flashes of moments that so far, I'm able to shove back down into the dark where they belong) that it was maybe possible that my best days were behind me.

Of course, the logical side of my brain recognizes this as ridiculous. I've just entered my thirties after all - life is still completely mine for the taking! Still, I see the signs. They're everywhere really. People I love, their faces lined and taut, hair peppered with grey. Creatures that colored my childhood happy - now rambling slowly from point A to point B - still sweet yes, but energy and passion and joie de vivre distinctly lacking. Even the mirror tells the story. Softness where I used to know firm. Lines where smooth previously reigned. Circles and fatigue that once knew only fun and late nights under bright lights. People - both admired from afar and loved deeply, up close and personal - no longer here.

Lest you think this is a sad, whiny, nostalgic post, let me be clear: I'd change nothing of the passage of time, and nothing of my life today. Except maybe my own practice of being mindful of it.

Because maybe - just maybe - living mindfully will color time's passing with deeper meaning, more relevance, more gratitude.

Every moment is a blessing and I want to squeeze each drop from it. To that end, I'm selecting a couple of projects that I'm attempting to embrace for the year ahead. There are so many of them canvassing the interwebs, but I'm keeping it simple. I've chosen two in particular that resonated with me and that, I hope, will help me take 2010 as it comes - but also to revel in each moment and live it fully. A mindful year - that's a concept I can really get behind.

If you'd like, you can follow along. I'll be participating in Shutter Sisters' annual 365 project - combining my love of photography with my need to pay attention - every day. It will result in a photo for each day of the year - sometimes I'll post daily - other times weekly (or even monthly) but I'll be taking at least one photo a day. And I look forward to reliving 2010 via one of my most treasured mediums - photos.

And I'm participating in the lovely Glen Bell's #mindfullist project - I'll follow her prompts and think long and hard on each day's topic. Mostly, I'll post quick thoughts via twitter, but when I'm particularly inspired, I'll post about it here.

And you? Do you think about time's passing? Do you yearn to document it any way? Or are you content to roll with the punches and take it as it comes?

Gwen Bell says often on her blog that our lives are as good as the quality of our attention. I believe that - this year more than ever.

Here's to living mindfully.

 

Weekendings: The New Year's Version

We sat around the table and laughed like children, shouting with glee phrases like "dump," and "peel," and "banana!" The competition was fierce of course, and we teased one another mercilessly, all the while toasting with wine and champagne. Such nostalgia in those sounds - fun and hope and memories galore. It was a first for me, ringing in a new year with family game night at home, but I'd happily label it tradition and spend many future new year's eve nights exactly the same.

Dick Clark and his New Year's Rockin Eve provided a festive backdrop as we sat around the fire and chatted (J-Lo's outfit, WTF), laughed at our combined SIX dogs and their antics and watched the littles among us get gussied up and excited to see one year bleed into another.

In between game night festivities and the ball dropping, a couple of us entertained the kids upstairs and playtime morphed into a game that required each munchkin to jump over a large basketball and pose for the photographer (yours truly). Destined to end badly, it still provided a fun photo opp (and a lot of laughs):

 

The game began to go south right about...NOW:

 

And....yep, we're done. (he was completely fine - just a bit stunned I think)

Pardon the lack of my usual photo of the ball dropping. My last memory is 11:42. I opened my eyes after that and it was 12:35. For the first time in my life (that I can remember), I was asleep when 2009 yielded to 2010. I'm still deciding what this means and whether or not it is a good sign for the year ahead. For now, I'm going with YES - and maybe it means I'll be quicker to relax? Here's hoping.

New Year's Day brought frigid temps and a beautiful, steady snow. Most of the time, we enjoyed the icy views from inside, snuggled by the fire, but we did venture out to let ALL the kids (fur and human) enjoy a little romp in the snow.

 

 

 

In summary, we enjoyed each other's company and relaxed with peaceful, wintry views like this one:

 

A few of us partied 'til we dropped:

And we celebrated a new year and all the light and wonder it will bring.

I can't wait to see what's next. And you?

*I am in the process of uploading my full set of photos from the weekend, so if you want to see more, you can click on the photos link at the top of the site and see all of our adventures (I will hopefully have everything uploaded by tomorrow). Especially if you can't get enough of my adorable niece who ALWAYS obliges my need for a photo shoot. She's fierce that way.           

Cozy

We're snuggled by the fire watching snow blanket everything beyond the frosty window panes. The night is quiet and still, streets snow covered and icy. The fur babes are cuddled onto our laps and movies are in constant rotation. 

This is the way to begin a new year. I hope you and yours are just as cozy.

 

Break Out Your Manolos!

I'd be lying if I didn't admit to being pretty excited for this. The trailer is giving nothing away...except for fierce fashion and the promise of drama, travel and intrigue of course.

I raise my cosmo to Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte & Miranda once again! Cheers.

Giving Thanks (and Weekendings)

I am melancholy. The minutes are ticking by and fatigue is setting in as evening gives way to night, but I am reluctant to call it a day. I want to hold on to this particular weekend - this specific holiday - just a little longer.

How fitting that this was the official holiday of gratitude...I was thankful every waking moment. And I truly don't recall enjoying a stretch of time so immensely in a long while. 

Our turkey day at home was its own special blessing as were the days that followed. Quiet moments to highlight family and love and all that spells joy to me. 

Hubs and I saw a movie on Wednesday night to kick off the festivities - Blind Side - see this film immediately. It was a beautiful story - a touching message - and at its center, featured such a special family. It warmed my heart and was the perfect way to kick off a few days of being thankful. 

We awoke on Thursday and played with the fur babes a bit before heading to the gym to earn those extra calories we knew were coming. Then the cooking began in earnest! With many kudos and much thanks to P-Dub, we worked away in the kitchen, listening to our impressive itunes library all the while.

Hubby was quite studious in his pursuit of the perfect feast:

 

Meanwhile, I happily busted out the china and crystal:

 

And our home smelled lovely for days thanks to the yumminess we prepared! A small turkey for Hubby:

And a plethora of sides to enjoy:

 

Hubs decided last minute to whip up some gravy (which meant I got to bust out the gravy boat from our china collection - squee!):

 

And of course, I slaved ALL DAY over the perfect pumpkin pie. And by SLAVE, I mean I studied the selection at Whole Foods VERY intently:

Bon Appetite! 

 

And of course, the fur babes enjoyed quite the Thanksgiving feast along with us:

 

After dinner, we did a quick kitchen clean up and then enjoyed yummy wine and treated ourselves to a very relaxing "concert" of some of our favorite tunes (and enjoyed fur babe snuggle action):

 

A lovely day, a hearty meal, the perfect evening, very full hearts and plentiful blessings. Life is good. I know this, and I give thanks.

The rest of the weekend was a blur of dinner dates and movie nights, a trip to the burbs to hang with our niece and nephew, more yummy food, holiday shopping and OF COURSE...the long awaited, much beloved transformation of Casa Carretta into holiday central:

And you? I hope your holiday was lovely and a that it was (just a little bit) hard to let it go.

Love Paints the Best Pictures

Last night as I was perusing my 4738476251 feeds, I noticed an interesting trend.

It's no secret that I'm obsessed with photography and therefore, shouldn't be surprising that I follow a large number (and variety) of photography related blogs. But all of my favorites have a common theme: they beautifully and artfully capture love. They are the kinds of images that will leave you breathless, punch you in the gut and elicit an immediate and powerful emotion (for me usually tears - SAP alert!).

I stumbled upon this image during our morning commute today courtesy of this awesome Tumblr feed:

Tell me you don't feel sucker punched right now. I do NOT believe you. Emotions still running a little high from all of yesterday's celebrations, this hit me particularly hard. Sobbing ensued, but in the best way possible. What an awesome moment - captured forever.

In an entirely different way, the following two images have the same effect:

Please visit this blog immediately - I love everything about his work. Beautiful.

Another must visit site - I die regularly over the amazing, stunning work they do with weddings and other key life moments.

And then one of my own faves - shot in the park on one of my favorite trips:

I watched these two for quite awhile; their glee was catching.

Happy Love Thursday; I hope you're remembering to paint your own pictures regularly.