Figaro-ed {still}

Weekend Recap April 29

1. Coffee | 2. Bloodys | 3. Pedi | 4. Sunny morning | 5. Civic duty | 6. Family duty (Neel's favorite pie!) | 7. Pizza on the grill | 8. The start of something good | 9. G&T weather | 10. Me and my boy | 11. Kate Spade wedges | 12. Lauren and Neel | 13. Can Can | 14. Brunch menu | 15. Waiting to order | 16. Bacon Bloody | 17. Breakfast martini | 18. Brown Sugar Latte | 19. Flower Vendor | 20. Richmond Center Stage | 21. Opera time

Well this was one of those weekends where we definitely had more good than bad. Way more good. It started Friday with brunch with my friends Marianne and Lisa. And yes. There were bloodys. And yes. There were mani/pedis. I can't tell you how long it's been since I've been with these two smart, sassy and delightful women. Our kids all used to go to school together and since Callum moved schools nearly three years ago now, we kind of lost the thread. I'm so, so happy we've picked it up again. Being with them did me a world of good. And the mani/pedi? I never, ever, ever do that unless it's for a special occasion, and yet it's such a pleasant experience and it feels so nice to have it done. I really should do it more often. It's especially nice to do it with some girlfriends. Lisa and Marianne? I'm putting you in charge of making sure I do more of that. Please and thank you.

Our boys lost a heartbreaker of a game Friday night after battling back to almost tie and afterwards we had a chilly cookout. And that's all we'll say about that.

Finally, finally it was warm enough for me and Neel to enjoy our morning coffee outside on Saturday. (Today is chilly and rainy, so there you are.) We had an odd day because Neel had to give a quick talk at work late in the afternoon and everything we wanted to do had to be worked around that. But the sunshine and the the music wafting over our neighbor's fence was just the best way to start the day. We voted for our sheriff in a primary at a local high school in a total low-tech, drop-your-ballot-in-the-box fashion and it was awesome!

And then Sunday. Birthday redemption, I like to call it. As I told you, Cal's studying Mozart in Music Appreciation, and our Virginia Opera is performing The Marriage of Figaro. We'd just missed the Norfolk weekend, but snuck up to Richmond yesterday to see it there. We decided to make a day of it, and hit our favorite Richmond restaurant, Can Can, while we were there. I'm hoping to post about our day tomorrow, so I won't say much here except: awesome. wonderful. better even than I expected.

Only I wish I were better at walking in heels.

five things, april 26 edition

1. I think I'm horrible at shameless self-promotion, and yet here I go again. Our May Food Photography Workshop looks good to go, and local folk, it's not to late to register! I think this session will be particularly fun with all the fresh produce available. Come have some fun with us!

2. I think as birthdays go, I'm not going to rank this one and instead let it slip on by. I worry, as always, the impact my actions have on my son who is now thinking, "Grownups have bad birthdays?!" And still, the bright shining light was all the lovely notes you left me. It was so wonderful to have them come trickling in. They meant the world.

3. I think I was smart to heed Leah's advice and ditch the planner I mentioned last week. Her suggestion? Recycle it. Who needs a planner they hate? Since Erin is never wrong (ahem), I'm going with a Moleskine weekly planner (on sale! who cares if it's almost May!). It'll take some re-training, but what the hell. It's almost May.

4. I think none of you had any helpful suggestions on creating a good schedule and were instead looking to me for advice which is laughable. Ha! Seriously, people. I have a very flexible life. Here's my Thursday, for example: After I got Neel and Callum of to school and work, I took a quick shower. I took a little time for domestic endeavors (laundry–I always start a load as soon as I get up and usually have another load to fold in the morning too) and to send some emails and check some blogs. Spent about two hours in the studio styling and shooting the photo you see above and another half hour to an hour editing it and popping it into photoshop for the text. Had a chat with a client mid-day and spent a bit of time doing a final edit on a newsletter for that same client. By 1PM I had to start dinner so it was ready to pop in the oven as soon as we got home from Callum's game, and at 3PM Neel rolled in so we could leave for the game. All in all not a bad day. Today will be entirely and delightfully different. But. It felt scattered and reactive rather than steady and scheduled. And I never, ever get enough done. Ever. And I end up not knowing when best to work on things I have deadlines for and thing get left hanging. Not the best way to keep it going. Would I benefit from a set time to check blogs and send emails? Probably? Still, I'm going to try some experiments next week (new planner!), and I'll let you know how they go.

5. I think things are looking up for the weekend. We're have a quiet day tomorrow, but on Sunday we're headed to The Marriage of Figaro. I can't wait! What's better, Callum can't wait either. He had to write an essay answering two questions on Amadeus for Music Appreciation, and his teacher asked him, "Did you get that off the internet?" Having watched the movie three times at home and written the essay entirely himself (duh), he was not amused. I'm kicking the weekend off right by meeting some girlfriends for brunch today, and I honestly can't tell you the last time we've been together, all three of us. I might even have a Bloody Mary. And who knows?! We might get mani/pedis after.

What do you lovelies have going on?

urgent cared {still + life}

Last Wednesday was already one of those days. I'd had this post all set to go, and then there were more explosions (West, TX) and after that we were all caught in the grip of watching the manhunt in Boston. I pulled my post after that. And I almost didn't repost it. But I have to remember. This blog is, as much as anything, the story of my family. I don't want to forget about that as I take pictures and test recipes. Sometimes our day to day is everything. It's all we have.

So Wednesday. Last Wednesday. Met a friend for coffe in the morning. Ran home to meet the pest control and do some work for a client in the afternoon. We already knew the evening was going to be a juggle. I had a meeting, and Neel had extra work to do to get ready for an event he has today. At the last minute we decided I'd pick Cal up from school, so before I left I threw our sausage and bean go-to dinner together for Neel to warm up as we were on our way home. The plan was I'd dash in the door with Cal after baseball practice, snag a bowl of supper and dash out, and Neel would either head back to work or try to work at home. All good, right?

It's often true that sitting in carpool is one of my favorite times of the day. It's weird. I get to school early to get Callum. To miss the worst of the traffic, I have to. It's either leave later, sit on the freeway and zoom in late or at the last minute to grab him, or I leave a bit earlier, actually drive my car (rather than sit in it on the freeway), get to school a bit early and sit there. Sitting there, I can catch up on twitter, flip through a catalog or magazine or read a book. You can see why I choose the latter. By 5:30 all the practices are letting out and the kids come streaming past me. Baseball is always last, and soon enough Callum's capped head appears in the passenger window. He's always peering into the passenger seat to see what kind of snack I've brought (Cliff bars, usually.)

Today I could tell right away that something was wrong. "I think I have an ear infection," he told me. It had been clogged all day and started hurting in baseball practice. Ear infections are not uncommon around here, and my boy knows his symptoms. Right then I made the decision. The pediatrician was closed by that time, so we'd head straight to urgent care before going home. Not worth messing around. I called Neel, who was already home and ready to light a fire under the soup, and as soon as Callum grabbed his backpack we were off. Mentally, I kissed my meeting good-bye. Mwah. Bye.

Three hours, one very nice doctor, three attempts to take his temperature because he kept accidentally drinking cold water, a whole host of meds, and one clearly innacurate measuring thingy (since it said he's taller than me) later, and we headed home. Ear infection. While we were there he got numbing drops, antibiotics, nasal spray and a strong suggestion to see an allergist. Once he got home he got dinner, a bath and a cozy bedtime. Still my baby. Even if he's officially taller than me (totally demanding a recount).

43 {still + life}

So apparently today is my birthday. It kind of snuck up on me. I mean, Tuesday birthdays? Not entirely worth celebrating, right? Plus it's an off year. When you have a school-aged child, you learn that time speeds up in the spring, and the days grow shorter (not longer), leaving little time for reflection and self-probing as we hurtle toward the end of the school year. My head is full of thoughts and ideas as I face the coming year, but in truth, I've had no real time to make any plans or even fully formulate what I'm thinking about.

And in truth? We're keeping things low key. I've asked for it that way. I have a meeting tonight, so no birthday dinner. We'll save that for the weekend. I asked Callum to get a haircut and he did, and I asked to get my car vacummed out and Neel and Cal took it yesterday after the haircut. It's the little things, right? What I *did* do is find the poem my mom mentioned in the comments last week. It's by Thomas Wolfe, and it's quite beautiful really. It's called Spring, and since it's still National Poetry Month, you could call this my little present to you.

Spring

Autumn was kind to them,
Winter was long to them—
But in April, late April,
All the gold sang.

Spring came that year like magic,
Like music, and like song.
One day its breath was in the air,
A haunting premonition of its spirit
Filled the hearts of men
With its transforming loveliness,
Working its sudden and icredible sorcery
Upon grey streets, grey pavements,
And on grey faceless tides of manswarm ciphers.

It came like music faint and far,
It came with triumph,
And a sound of singing in the air,
With lutings of sweet bird-cries
At the break of day
And the high, swift passing of a wing,
And one day it was there
Upon the city streets
With a strange, sudden cry of green,
Its sharp knife of wordless joy and pain.

Not the whole glory
Of the great plantation of the earth
Could have outdone the glory of the city streets
That Spring.
Neither the cry of great, green fields,
Nor the song of the hills,
Nor the glory of young birch trees
Bursting into life again along the banks of rivers,
Nor the oceans of bloom in the flowering orchards,
The peach trees, the apple trees,
The plum and cherry trees—
Not all of the singing and the gold of Spring,
With April bursting from the earth
In a million shouts of triumph,
And the visible stride,
The flowered feet, of Springtime
As it came on across the earth,
Could have surpassed the wordless and poignant glory
Of a single tree in a city street
That Spring.