some things I love today

today I love. . . .

Sharing art with my daughter. Watching her observe, interpret and create. it's magical!

The cool, fall weather that is starting to happen. So in love.

Kitschy big eyed paintings from the 60's and 70's.I recently found one in a nearby thrift shop and I have the biggest crush on it!

Chocolate coffee. normally not one of my fave flavors, but I'm lovin it today.

Homeschooling my kid. So glad we decided to go this route. I love being there and being a part of her learning process.

I'm addicted to taking photos with my cell phone.

These are a few of the recent cell phone pics that I've taken. my slr is off at the shop.I still have my fuji,a couple Holgas, and a gazillion polaroid cams. I'm not sure what the appeal is of my cell phone camera, but i'm addicted to it!

today I am in love with. . . .

1. Family time
2. Iced Coffee
3. Home decorating projects
4. Bjork
5. Kokeshi dolls
6. Headbands
7. Harajuku Lovers Lil' Angel perfume
8. Little Miss Lila, the cutest chi in the world
9. The color pink
10. Sunshine

carny loooove

I'm a sucker for a good carnival. I met the prettiest boy when I was seventeen. He worked for the carnival and I almost ran away with him. I've always wondered how it would have turned out if I did.
a few snaps from my first, of hopefully many carnivals this season.

girls day out

Today was one of those magically wonderful days for me and Jillian.

We went downtown New Haven for a children's film fest. It was a bunch of short, indie kid's films, and the unifying theme was 'using your imagination'. There was a live puppet show beforehand. Jillian and I both really enjoyed it. She was craking up through the whole thing. Afterwards we went to Starbucks and had our drinks inside. This thrilled Jillian, because we usually just drive through. And after that we went to an art supply store down there and I bought her some watercolor pencils. After dinner tonight we sat together on the floor and drew pictures of hearts and flowers with her new pencils.

So it's not that we did anything so out of the ordinary, but for some reason it was just a special day. The kind I hope she looks back on fondly when she's all grown up. I get really weepy thinking about how these days are slipping by. I cant believe how quickly six years have passed. I try really hard to remind myself every single day how insanely lucky I am.

Hello again me, it's me.

Wow. So it's been quite a while since I've updated this thing. I guess it's easy to let it slide when there's not too many people really reading,(Christina, you're probably the only one! <3), but this is something I wanted to do for myself, sooo, I'm back.

Things here at home have been good. Nick and I are doing really well, trying to move past everything that's happened over the last year. Jillian and I completed our very first year of homeschooling, and it was a success!! It was fun, exciting, hard, stressful,CRAZY,wonderful, tiring. . . at times I thought my head might explode if I didn't get five minutes to myself, but in the end it worked out well, and I really feel like it's the right choice for us at this time. We're still going to take it year by year, but as far as first grade goes, we're going to give it another whirl.

So lately we've just been hanging out, enjoying some free time, going to the beach when the weather is nice.We also spend a lot of time in thrift stores finding things for the house that we can purchase and then bring home and revamp. Jillian is developing quite an eye for design, and will often point something out to me and say "mom, this will look really cool if we bring it home and spray paint it pink. we should buy it.". I love her so much. <3 <3 <3 <3

Nick and I are still making sure to make time to spend alone together. Yesterday was a lovely day. He got out of work early and he and Jillian and I went to a nearby pond to feed the ducks and swans and take some pictures. Here are a few snaps from the day:








So overall things have been good. I can't complain. we are in a better pace than we were last year at this time, and that's something. Life is good.

christmas

Christmas this year was lovely. Truley, one of our best ever,I think.Just very relaxing and laid back.
On Christmas Eve evening we went to church. Jillian was in the pageant.She chose to be an angel this year (she was a sheep last year). It was very cute.
Afterwards we went to my mom's for food, drink, and presents.Kim and Sam came over, as well as Stacy and her husband and kids.
On christmas morning my mom and brother came over for breakfast. I've always wanted to do a big Christmas morning breakfast, and I'm so glad I finally did it this year. Definitely a new tradition.I made a french toast souffle,eggs,sausage,cinnamon rolls,toast.I think everything ame out pretty good. I was a bit proud of myself. ;)
After breakfast my mom and brother went home, and Nick and Jillian and I just spent the rest of the day relaxing and being together.Something we rarely get to do considering Nick's work schedule. It was really nice to have that much needed, well deserved family time.
I have a few pics to upload, but honestly, I didn't take that many this year. I was too relaxed to worry about running around and capturing every moment on film the way I normally do.
So now it's back to business as usual. It's always kind of sad after Christmas, but I'm ready to get back into our normal swing of things I suppose.