Weekend recap, April 8 edition

1. school | 2. the pit is not the pits | 3. recognize that signature? | 4. neel's favorite glass | 5. catch | 6. campari & blood orange | 7.- 9. front porch loving for Violet | 10. game time | 11. Chesapeake Bay | 12. another view | 13. Neel's lab | 14. Neel's office | 15. rocket man | 16. gargoyle | 17. leafed out | 18. tulip time | 19. Callum is taller than Ama | 20. new shoes, check out those big feet! | 21. practicing pitching | 22. our gorgeous front yard | 23. dinner | of COURSE Ama made pie

So what do you guys do when company comes? Drag them to two baseball games in 40º temperatures (one where it's sleeting) and an emergency orthodontist appointment? Cause that's the kind of fun we have around here. Don't I just know how to show people a good time? Seriously. Can I host or what? Cal had this funky wire pop out of his braces on Friday morning (parenting side note: why do these things always happen on a Friday?), so I made a quick call to the ortho. Of course he had two big tests that day, so we had to squeeze his appointment in between them. And of course the office we normally go to is closed on Fridays so we had to go to a different office about 5 million miles away from where we normally see the ortho. Of course. AND. When I picked him up he told me that his baseball team was taking a field trip at practice that afternoon that he very much wanted to be part of, so of course we had to hurry in both directions. Of course.

We made it. After we got him back in time for practice ("But not too soon, Momma, because I really don't want to go back to class..."), I took my mom and Mike on a tour of Cal's school. I might finally be learning my way around. Nearly three years in.

It's finally warming up here, so lots of catch was played in the yard this weekend. In between the two baseball games. Our Saturday game was on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, about an hour's beautiful drive from us. Thank God we won because A) I had a migraine and B) it was (as previously mentioned) 40º so otherwise I'm not sure it would have been worth it otherwise.

On Sunday, Ama got Callum new shoes (that's the thing she does when she comes, and he actually love the first pair he tried on), Neel gave a tour of his garden. His lab and office are all wrapped up for HVAC upgrades, so not open for tours, and afer hours more of pitching and catching in the yard (thank God Mike actually likes to throw the ball!), we had Neel's famous Beer Butt Chicken for dinner and Ama's now-famous Chess Pie for dessert. Guess what? More throwing of baseballs might have happened after that.

How was your weekend peeps? I'm worn out! Back to back company, no matter how lovely, can do that to a gal. I have a busy and fun week coming up and I'd better get cracking on it. What's going on?

five things, april 5 edition

1. I think I'm so excited to share that a photograph of mine has been included in an article on mid-century aarchitecture in a publication called Inform! The article highlights my friend Bill's work and uses one of his beautiful homes as an example, and I couldn't be more thrilled for him!

2. I think my friend Theresa wrote a wonderful and vulnerable post about blogging this week. Most of you have already seen it and I found the comments section just as thoughtful and moving as the post itself. We all go through these moments of self-doubt and self-reflection about why we're in these spaces, and Theresa captures those moments so beautifully. I'm glad she's here! I'm glad you all are! I'm committing to be a better steward of our relationships and my own space here. (Having trouble linking to Theresa's site right now, but as soon as I can get it up here, I will.)

3. I think I'll just have to say there's no shame in saying out loud that I adore diamonds. There. I said it. They are my birthstone, and I have always loved their clear bright fire. Neel and I just had some old diamonds of mine repurposed into some simple earrings and we finally picked them up this week. There's a lot of sentimental allure to these particular stones for me, and I'm so happy to have them.

4. I think I'm so happy my mom is here! She and her friend Mike arrived yesterday afternoon, just in time for Callum's game. We stood in the chilly 40º weather as our boys scored some runs and got out in front of this other team. Callum finally made it up to bat (he's one of the less experienced kids on the team, so while it happens every game, it doesn't happen often in every game) and got a walk-off hit to end the game! On the way home he told us he'd scored 100 on a pop quiz in math! What a day! That night at dinner he said that getting that 100 felt as good as getting that hit. I'm totally emailing his math teacher and telling him that today. And my mom was here for it all.

5. I think this is why I take pictures of food. Yesterday, after popping up a picture on facebook of the ham and bean soup I made using our leftover Easter ham, my friend Jan left me this note: Hambone soup. My sister in law Florence who passed away in December looked forward to a ham just for the leftover bone and she made the best soup with it!! Thanks for sharing this photo. It made me remember that the little things are the best way to remember someone. For me, food is all about connection and intimacy, and I try to capture that when I take pictures of food. This comment was honestly one of the nicest things anyone has ever said about one of my photographs. It says it all, doesn't it?

On our way to a great weekend! I'm the lucky loan-ee of a 40mm pancake lens thanks to a friend in my photography group, so you can bet I'll be trying that puppy out. Baseball game on Saturday on the exotic Eastern Shore (now hopefully arson free!), and lots of time with my mom and Mike. What are you up to my lovelies? Anything thing fun planned? Oh, and I still hate all my clothes. Given the fact that it was SLEETING by the end of Cal's game, I perhaps hate them even more now.

bittersweet {still + life}

Hi guys! Just popping on real quick with today's photo of the day. It's of my dad and Cal, right before Cal left for school (bedhead) and my dad headed out on his drive home. It's bittersweet because while we always hate to see Alfie go, we're turning around the B and B in just a couple of days for my mom and her friend Mike to arrive on Thursday. I have a few jobs in between here and then, so we're busy bees. Not sure when I'll get back here, but Friday for sure. Is it spring yet? Yesterday was gorge, but today? Chilly again. Thanks to Annie, I have Neil Young on in the studio, alternating with the Midnight in Paris soundtrack. And also, Boz Scaggs has a new album out. Music gets us through, yes?

Back soon, peeps. XOXO

Weekend Recap, April 1

1. Friday sunset | 2. Strawberry daiquiri, for Cal. | 3. Dinner tradition | 4. Spring springing | 5. Train day | 6. Weekend reading for a potential new project | 7. Menu @ Chow | 8. Beer sampler | 9. Clams | 10. Pennsylvania-bottled Gin | 11. Egg time | 12. Glitter | 13. Dye bath | 14. Easter sunrise | 15. Eggs | 16. Dutch Baby | 17. Neel's bloody | 18. Easter Dinner

It's been a funny weekend. Don't get me wrong, The four-day weekend is awesomesauce and it's always great having my dad here to visit, but on Friday I had a migraine that impacted the whole day. We went grocery store to get stuff for Easter dinner and I couldn't make decisions or commit to anything. Fuzzy headed and feeling crummy. Poor Neel had a 5:15 p.m. meeting Friday night (who does that?) and Callum was feeling overwrought with allergies. It was a funny day. Off. Saturday was better. Fun errands (train store!), spring training games, and dinner at Chow. We came home and dyed eggs. I always dread this, but it was surprisingly fun. Gin helps.

So Sunday. I made my first Dutch Baby, which was awesome. Totally in love and I can't wait to do it again. But that Dutch Baby. I just happened to grab the handle of my oven-proof pan right after it had been in my 450º oven. Not my best moment. I may have mentioned to my son a time or two that it hurt like a son of a bitch. There was some brief talk of going to the Emergency Room, but I shot that idea down pretty sharpish. What could they do for me, really, that I wasn't doing at home already? The pain has eased up, but I was hampered all day. Alfie (my dad) ended up making the lion's share of Easter dinner (even though he denies it), and let's face it, my mood was pretty poor.

Did you have a good weekend? If you celebrate Easter, was it spring-like and nice? Despite all of our my trials, it's been a great weekend though. Isn't it good when you can not be at your best and still have the best of times? That's what it's like when my dad visits. All good. We have one more day together, and we're going to enjoy it to the fullest. And then my mom and her friend Mike comes next weekend! Nothing but blue skies ahead.

Movies watched: four. Zero Dark Thirty, Midnight in Paris, Argo, Skyfall (I'm still gunning for Lincoln, but I'm meeting some resistance.)
Bloody Mary's tested and consumed: uh, 4ish?
Restaurants we've visited: five
Grocery trips: three
Baseball games watched: three, counting Callum's: four
Basketball games watched: bits and pieces of eight including one horrific broken leg which makes my burned hand look like a wax treatment at a spa day. Did you guys see that? Shudder.
Times we've listened to the Midnight in Paris soundtrack. Uh, not enough. Although I think Cal might disagree.

five things, march 29 edition

1. I think I can tell I'm ready for spring when I hate every single thing in my wardrobe.

2. I think one of the best things we did this week was surprise Callum by having Alfie (my dad) come up a day early. I was coming into the house behind him, so I missed the look on his face, but I could see the shock in the shape of Callum's body when he first saw Alfie standing in our living room. It was hard to do homework Wednesday night, but it was worth it.

3. I think that in all the significant things in a young man's life, there is little more significant than a relationship with a really good coach.

4. I think another lovely part of my week was spending a bit of it with my friend and fellow photographer Judith, who owns Fresh Look Photography. We had coffee and talked about life and photography and everything in between. She even interviewd me for her blog, which was weird and fun! Judith and I first met in an advanced photography class at the art center where she now teaches, and we're able to get together  each month with the photography group that has grown out of some of those classes. Meaningful collaboration can make such a difference. There's so much I need to learn and so much that I'm not good at. Our twice monthy group meeting, and the times that I get together with the others in the group, just one on one are so good for me. They energize me and lift me up. Being with Judith was like that. Even if all we did was talk about raising our kids and what our favorite lenses were!

5. I think we have a lovely weekend ahead. Callum is off today, and he's off Monday too. It's always so fun having my dad here, and let's face it, the days off won't hurt! It's bitterly cold (we nearly froze to death at Callum's baseball game last night), but Easter means spring, and all our limbs are stretching out, like those vines, reaching for the sun. However you celebrate, weather it be by egg-dye or solemn ceremony, please have a lovely weekend yourselves. XO

 Thank you all, for your kind comments on yesterday's post. I feel all sorts of good and hopeful things about our country these days, don't you?