Thankful

Sometimes it is good to remember things that you are thankful for. Today, I am thankful for cooler weather. Helpful strangers picking up glass at the park. Fast dinner. Friends coming home. Parents and birthdays. Good books.

and a little color for Anne*

On the topic of white dresses

I really truly wish I had an old-fashioned washline. But until I do the fence is a nice alternative. These looked so lovely blowing in the breeze.

My Beautiful Boy, Favorite thrift treasures and gratuitous flower shots

My smile inspiration

For those of you, who have patiently waited for picture updates, there are more coming. For those of you wondering why after months of very minimal blogging, today June 26, I have posted 4 times already... well I can't really explain it. Maybe I finally sat still enough to upload pictures, maybe I feel like I have something to add to the conversation, maybe I am stuck inside doing the piddly household chores that I usually love and just wanted to distract myself... Who knows.

Without further ado, here are some thoughts floating around in my brain.

Summertime for me is the combined sense memories of my childhood and the present. Everytime I smell that certain hot whoosh of air opening the door to the backyard, or here the buzz of winged, six-legged friends, or see the light reflecting on the petals of the lilies growing rampant in my tumbling stone flower bed, I feel connected to the little girl who would make tent castles in her (un-airconditioned) bedroom on the hottest days of the summer and read Dorothy's adventures in Oz or Anne Shirley's on Prince Edward Island. When I took Everett to the library for the first time it was a sacred experience because I have so many special memories of going to library with my mom and picking my reading for the coming week. Books open doors into the most amazing places. I truly believe that there is a book that will inspire everyone to love reading--they just have to find it. I have so many favorite books I couldn't even begin listing them. Some are deep and hard, often making me cry. Others are pure escape, and I am a little embarrassed that I love them so much. Currently I am glutting myself on Terry Pratchett. I enjoy his cleverness, his British-ness, his satire. His books make me laugh and right now, laughing is what I need most.

Watching my little boy explore summer is amazing. I taught him how to have pretend sword fights and how to kick a ball. Thank goodness I have brothers, without them and the childhood we spent being bestfriends, I wouldn't know a thing about what boys do. Everett teaches me more about who I am than any class or book ever has. When I see him smile or laugh or scream or cry, I feel like my heart will burst. He is the most beautiful present my husband has ever given me. We talk about having another baby, but sometimes I think we should just love the one we have as much as we possibly can.

My sewing machine is playing mean, mean tricks on me. I have three projects started, which is probably bad sewing karma, and in the middle of stay-stitching, my machine starts throwing stitches--I can't figure it out. I think it might be the tension on the bobbin, because it is the underside that comes out a mess--maybe it is the needle, or how the bobbin is wound, or the fact that I completely messed with all the exterior screws one day hoping to fix it... So for now, my machine is pouting on my desk and all my lovely projects are languishing in a basket.

Does anyone else love sundresses? I have dresses that I have owned since highschool that I still love wearing, dresses that I wear for special days, dresses I wear every week, dresses that have very special memories of hot beaches, parties, graduations, birthdays. I love white dresses, white skirts, pretty much white anything during the summer. It feels so old-fashioned, like an edwardian or regency lady. Or the jazz age flappers-- White dresses are pretty much the epitome of summer elegance. Even as the mom of an almost 2 year-old, I love them, because mostly you can bleach them!

"I do hope that some day I shall have a white dress. That is my highest ideal of earthly bliss" Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables. White dresses represent the perfect glass of lemonade, fresh homemade peach icecream, Italian rendevous with red espadrillas and a vespa, Brilliant lilies, rain on green, green grass, fireflies and front porches, sandy sunsets on the beach, summer tans (with SPF of course), and of course feeling invincibly beautiful because YOU are.

My dad turns 50 in three days and he is hopefully, fingers crossed, going to finally purchase his dream car. He has researched and test driven, and researched and waited--but this is his year! So please send all the happiest thoughts to him on the 29, and hope that he finds that little ragtop he has been wishing for.

Also, not last, and not forgotten, Happiest joy and smiles to my sweet Anne, who is currently enjoying the sand and friends in Florida. She shares a birthday with my dad, and so I hope for her that this year is gracious and giving, that she continues to get more beautiful and wonderful, that the deepest wishes of her heart and all her hopes are realized in a more amazing way than she could possibly imagine. I LOVE YOU. HAPPY 25th Birthday!

Before your eyes start to bleed, from too many words, let me enclose one more delicious picture. Of course I promise more, and they will probably come today, but for now I leave you with this.

More smiles

Keeping my Promise

Thousands of Words

The beginning of the Picture onslaught

Conversations

My cousin Joseph made an interesting comment last night prior to the tornado and stormy weather that drove us to the crawl space at Nicole's house--he said, blogging is a full time commitment, and if you can't decide to do it for the rest of your life in a consistent manner, don't bother. I get his point, and honestly--I know I am not ever going to be a well read blog--simply because I choose to spend my time differently. For example, Russ has been gone for about three weeks--prime writing time in theory-- I should have finished my grad project and blogged consistently. But I didn't feel inspired or driven--so instead I have thrifted up a storm, hung out with my darling friends, cuddled my son and generally been somewhere inbetween really stressed (because my other half is a couple oceans away) and really content and peaceful. A good place to be--but different than I anticipated.

So once again--good bye for now, I am going to fix two vodka sours (truly delicious summery beverages) and watch a few movies with Nicole--instead of catching up on my blog. Here is the moral tumbling in my head--make time for friends, face-to-face, because those are the memories that will fill in the pages when you begin your memoirs.