friday felicitations #15

-Daisy, Julia, Nathaniel-

Happy Friday!

After much impatient waiting, Daisy was recently able to bring Julia home! Don't they look happy? This weekend, I get to meet her at last.

I'll also be attending Black and White, the final performance of the season for the Boston Ballet. The program premiered in Boston in February 2009, and Celeste and I agreed it was our favorite of the season. It was so esteemed by audiences and critics that the artistic director brought it back.

Hope your weekend includes delightful introductions and beloved favorites!


(photo by Edward [is my guess])

oh, the cuteness

-Kayleigh and Aidan-

So far, it's all love, no jealousy from the Boy to his New Baby Sister.

It is, admittedly, still very early on.

(Man, do I envy the Boy's eyelashes.)


(photo by Sachi)

weekend notes #16: wedding weekend, part 2

-Bouquet-

The wedding was simple and beautiful, so I've endeavored to minimize my gabbing and let the pictures speak for themselves.

-Vineyard-

Elliston Vineyards was lovely.

-Waiting-


-Arbor-

The ceremony took place outdoors, in a lush green clearing surrounded by flowers.

-Pat, waiting-

Pat looked pretty composed, don't you think?

-Procession-


-Flower girl-


-Here comes the bride-

Wasn't Alice breathtaking?

-Grace, reading-


-Borrowed Bible-

Grace did one of the readings. She'd forgotten to borrow a Bible from Joyce so instead read from her Blackberry, which she cleverly hid behind a Bible (not the version she needed) borrowed from Shuaib's hotel room. No one suspected a thing.

-O mio babbino caro-

A string quartet played, and partway through the ceremony, a soloist performed "O mio babbino caro."

-Exchange of vows-


-Exchange of rings-


-The smooch-


-Now presenting . . . -


-The newlyweds-

Hooray!

-A serious camera-

We were all impressed by Robin's camera. (Imagine how fantastic her blog post must look.)

-On the grass-


-Groomsmen (Eddie, Michael, Richard)-


-Joyce and Grace-


-Guestbook-

After the ceremony, we gathered on the terrace to sign the guestbook and eat far too many h'ordeuvres before moving inside for the reception.

-Here they are!-


-Flowers-


-Salad-


-The fish option-


-The beef option-

The food was delicious. I regretted my abandon with the h'ordeuvres.

-Chatting-


-Dancing-


-The cake-


-The cake, close-up-

So lovely.

weekend notes #15: wedding weekend, part 1

The California wedding weekend was so friend-filled and eventful that I'll tell you about it in two parts. Today's unifying theme is "everything but the wedding." Tomorrow's will be "all about the wedding."

-Olive Kittredge-

The round trip to California required many hours of flying time and therefore a lot of time to read. I brought all novels (non-fiction just doesn't distract me enough from the discomforts of being squished on a plane) and was lucky in that all of them were great. I read Little Bee (sad, beautiful, funny), Revealed (witty, original, happy), Olive Kittredge (poignant, insightful, bittersweet), and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (stylish, dark, adsorbing).

Actually, I purchased the last book at an O'Hare newsstand because the gate agent in San Jose (curses upon his mean, smug, condescending head) had forced me to check my carry-on, thus depriving me of my intended fourth book. The silver lining was that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo lived up to the hype. It reminded me of Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne series, and I'm now looking forward to reading the remaining two books in the series.

-Labeled-

The long journey between coasts was made ever so much better by the company of my friend, Grace. She's just the sort of travel partner you'd want: uncomplaining (unlike me), fun to chat with, considerate. A glance at our TSA-compliant toiletries (mine on the left, hers on the right) shows just one of the many reasons we get along so well: we're both deeply fond of our Brother label makers.

California, perhaps in honor of our visit, was just how I like it: sunny, cool, verdant. Northern California has such a unique feel, a breezy, open-windowed, laid-back yet vibrant vibe. I do miss it. But I realized that it no longer feels like home.

-Joyce's flowers-


-Joyce's balcony-


-Breakfast-

Grace and I stayed with our good friend, Joyce, in her lovely, plant-filled townhouse. She'd thought of everything to make our visit comfortable. She had bagels, fresh fruit (California produce is so good), and even my beloved Fage yogurt for breakfast. She'd borrowed the largest, plushest Aerobed I've ever seen for Izzy and me to sleep on.

On Friday night, we were all invited to Sharon's house for dinner. In my discombobulated post-travel state, I sadly forgot to bring my camera, so I can't share pictures of the delicious dinner she and her husband prepared (grilled chicken and sausage, grilled squash, garlic bread, salad). It was a wonderful, relaxed evening full of conversation and laughter.

The next morning, we had a bit of a rocky start when Joyce's car wouldn't start. Fortunately, a jump start from her neighbor, Peter (for whom she'd provided the same service two months before), worked immediately, and we were soon on our way. We had dim sum in Dublin (not the first food you'd think of when you hear the name Dublin, huh?) then hung out with our friend, Shuaib, until it was time to head to the wedding.

-The newlyweds-

Fast-forwarding to Sunday morning, here's a picture of the newlyweds. (You'll get to see them in all of their wedding finery tomorrow.) We met for brunch at the hotel where most everyone else was staying. I took a picture of my food but am too embarrassed to show how much I ate; I'll just say that I required two plates and that an entire Belgian waffle, one of my breakfast favorites, was involved.

-Grace, Joyce, Shuaib, Eddie, Claire-

Here are Grace and Joyce; aren't they lovely? Half-hidden behind Joyce is Shuaib, and next to him is Eddie. Claire, the cute little girl at the end of the table, is the daughter of my friends Richard and Christina, whom I met in medical school and college, respectively. (I like to think that I had an important role in bringing them together.)

Stuffed and rather somnolent (at least on my part), we headed back to pick up Izzy and our luggage before Joyce dropped us at the airport. I was sad to say good-bye, but many hours later, bleary-eyed and travel-weary, I was happy to return to Maisie and my little apartment in Boston.

may bliss

Bliss equals . . .

1. flow. (May 15)

2. sweet potato fries. (May 26)

(photo on Wildlife Archives)

introducing

-Kayleigh-

. . . Miss Kayleigh May Webb!

My new niece, born earlier this at 4:58 this evening.

Weighing in at 6 pounds, 13½ ounces and measuring 18½ (or maybe 18¾--we're still confirming the details) 18¾ inches. [Details verified!]

With cheeks as chubby as mine (so much cuter in a baby).

Little sister to Aidan, whose life has just radically changed!


(photo by my brother-in-law, Erik? Or, perhaps, Sachi's mother-in-law, Kathy?)

friday felicitations #14

Happy Friday!

Isabel and I will be in northern California this weekend! Izzy gets to go, too, because no one else can administer her daily medications and fluids without risk of severe bodily harm. Poor Miss Maisie must stay home, but she'll be looked after by our cat-loving downstairs neighbor.

I haven't returned to California since moving to Boston, and I'm wondering what it'll feel like to be back. The occasion is a wedding on Saturday--not mine (I would have warned you, promise) but that of my friend, Pat, whom I met in medical school. The wedding will take place at a vineyard that looks simply gorgeous.

Beyond the lovely venue, I'm excited about reuniting with friends and meeting Pat's fiancée, Alice, who sounds smart, cool (a fellow runner!), and easy-going, as evidenced by her ability to cope with Pat's mumbling and otherwise indirect communication style--read their funny "how we met" story here.

Because of the trip, "weekend notes" will post late next week but will be an extra-special California wedding edition! (I already packed the camera.)

(pretty photo by polkadotandplaid on Flickr)

thinking

As a rule, I don't reblog from other blogs, but I keep thinking about this post by the incomparable Jane Flanagan of ill seen, ill said.

The vacation she describes sounds so incredibly good to me. She got everything right: the setting, the weather, the reading, the sleep. Oh, the sleep. It's like she took a peek inside of my psyche and described my deepest yearning. The woman is brilliant.

I am very much a be-er rather than a do-er when it comes to vacations. My family is quite the opposite. My parents and I went to Hawaii a few years back (the excuse was a conference that I attended for work). They wanted constantly to see and go and do--to make the most of our time, as they saw it. I kept lobbying for more time to just sit on the beach.

I have a subscription to O! magazine (thanks to my dear friend, Irene), and the focus of this month's issue is adventure. Oprah admits that she chose this theme to inspire herself.  She writes,

My life is overwhelmingly busy, just like yours. And filled with so many responsibilities and must-dos that when I stumble across some free time, I just want to sleep. Or read. My favorite place to be in the world other than reading under the oaks at my house in California is anywhere in Italy. And even then I'm looking for a good place to nestle in with a book.

I see nothing wrong with this.

My life is pretty busy, by choice. Not busy like Oprah--she's in a league of her own--but busy enough that I, too, rarely stumble across free time. In my day-to-day, non-vacation existence, I tend to gauge my self-worth by what I've accomplished. Nothing wrong with that, in general, I believe, but of course, one can go overboard. My perfectionism tends to be a force for both great good and great frustration. It's the perennial problem of balance. I'm saying nothing new here.

On Tuesday night, because my exhaustion finally overruled my will, I got about nine hours of sleep, and it felt really good. I was noticeably more peppy yesterday. I need to do that more often, and I know it, but I don't listen to myself. Much as I wish I were one of those endlessly energetic people who seems never to require rest, I am not. I absolutely need down time.

I need to work on some concrete strategies for how I structure my time. (I am quite good at organizing things in space and quite awful at organizing myself in time.) I lately chose to give up one of the three weekly ballet classes I was attending, and I'm happy with this decision. The pace at which my ballet skills improve will undoubtedly slow (and believe me, it's never been blazing), but having an additional night at home each week is a valuable trade-off.

Recently I learned this amazing blogger requires a lot of sleep and schedules naps and time to read, and I felt comforted and inspired. If Rachel can be so awesome (she crafts, she cooks, she sews kerchiefs for the most endearing terrier ever, and she's a laboratory scientist) while still managing to sleep and read, then perhaps there is hope for me.


(photo of Tudor Lodge on Under the Thatch, via ill seen, ill said)

night owl crashes

Ack!

Too many late nights followed by early mornings caught up with me.

Back tomorrow, dear readers.


(great photo by mattljs on Flickr)

found:

-Pair of vases-

This little pair of vases, at a local thrift shop, for 50 cents apiece.

I'm not someone with experience or expertise in the art of thrifting, but I've realized that thrift stores are a great place for gradually and inexpensively acquiring containers for flowers. My plan is to stop by occasionally and see what treasures the universe chooses to send my way.

You see, aside from this pair, my entire collection of vases consists of:

• 2 simple medium-sized glass vases (from flowers sent by friends)
• 3 Ikea bud vases (costing a whopping 79 cents each, these were leftover favors from a baby shower I helped throw a few years back)
• 1 blue glass Clearly Canadian bottle

I'm quite pleased with my new additions. Blue and white is my all-time favorite color scheme.

-I am Maisie the model-

Maisie likes them, too.

weekend notes #14

-Dead in the Family-

1. Imprudent. I stayed up until the wee hours of Saturday morning, reading this book, the tenth novel in Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series. Even after ten books, I'm still eagerly following Sookie's story.

-Tinka in motion-

2. Adorable. This is Tinka. She's three months old and teeny but not the least bit yappy. She's not blurry in real life but rather in a state of constant movement; she doesn't so much walk as gambol.

-New shoes-

3. Fortuitous. On a whim, I looked for shoes (for a wedding next weekend) at Lord & Taylor and found this pair, steeply marked down and in my size.

-Dexter-


-Doctor Lovington and Storm-

4. Industrious. I spent a good deal of Saturday night assembling adoption updates. I loved the e-mail from the boy with the bird. He wrote, "I've spent lots of time by his side and now his favorite spot to sit is on my shoulder. He and I are going to be really good buddies."

-Balanchine-

5. Enraptured. I loved all three parts of Ultimate Balanchine. Breathtakingly lovely choreography, beautifully executed. It was so good that Celeste made little involuntary exclamations of excitement and awe.

-Maisie's hideout-


-Izzy's nest-

6. Cozy. Because kitties are inherently so.


(Ultimate Balanchine photo from the Boston Ballet)