Late April Weekending.

It's been a while since I posted about a weekend at home; this one was pretty special. We started with Friday night snacks and actual cocktails.

That's my Negroni (and popcorn); Marc's Seabreeze was out of frame. We watched some crazy movie that Marc recorded last weekend when we had a free HBO trial. I couldn't tell you anything about it except that it was hard to follow ... and I knitted.

Saturday morning was chilly and bright and I ran to the lake and back. for the first time since January 3. Yep, nearly four months!!; it felt great. The midpoint view was pretty spectacular, too.

I spent the day catching up with friends and knitting. Then I grabbed a quick nap to get ready for the weekend's highlight - a wedding!

the chuppah - with the ketubah in full-on sun

This is the first wedding Marc and I have been to since Katie got married (almost five years ago!). 

The bride is the stepdaughter of one of Marc's good friends (and the bride's mom is a friend of mine). We went with two other couples who were also at Katie's wedding ... so much fun!

the bride's mom is 3rd from the left (showing off the pockets in her dress - very smart design element!) and her husband is standing next to her

♥ Marc videoing their first dance

#selfie

the bride and groom - fun fact - he was her younger brother's best friend growing up

tradition! the bride and groom are carried on chairs for this dance!

Needless to say, we were toast yesterday. Holly had more energy than the two of us combined.  ...and only when I poured out her entire toy stash onto the floor.

I took this photo when I got into bed. I did actually read a few pages past this point, but the photo is timestamped 8:11pm. 

As Bright as Heaven ... very good so far

Thankfully, we felt like ourselves again today!

I hope you had some fun this weekend, too ... but maybe not so much that you were toast yesterday 😉. Happy Monday!

Mother's Day.

Holly and I arrived safely home this afternoon; we did not travel the newly-reopened I-85, but the traffic on the other highways seemed to be responding favorably to having that thoroughfare back in business!

I have a few more stories to tell about the rest of our time in Florida, but for today, how about a quick re-cap of Mother's Day. At this point in my life, it is especially dear to me that I got to spend the day with my mom. We finished up the last to-do on her List (2016 taxes!) yesterday morning and celebrated that accomplishment with lunch out at one of our favorite places. Of course we had to "cheers" 

and then I'm so glad I remembered to ask the hostess to take our photo!

The only downside to being in Florida yesterday was that I did not get to see my favorite little guys in person. Katie made it a little better - she FaceTimed twice - first with Sam

and then with Charlie.

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching sports (bowling, baseball and golf ) and working the Sunday crossword (which we finished). Along the way, I also managed to finish all of Clue #4 on Thistle Rambles! One of Mother's friends joined us for happy hour and the day ended with more Yahtzee - and Mother's third time rolling a Yahtzee of ones!

I lost track of how many Yahtzee she rolled overall. We played every night I was there - maybe 20 games total? and I'm guessing she had about that many Yahtzees!! (Happy Mother's Day, right?!)

It was a wonderful day. Happy (belated) Mother's Day to each of you!

Karen's Fiftieth.

We celebrated my sister (I guess we can still call her the baby of the family even now that she's 50?!) Saturday evening with a fun group of family and friends.

Karen and Lydia

And of course cocktails and party food. The highlight of the bar was champagne punch (I followed the recipe exactly, except I made an ice ring instead of cubes - highly recommend - easy and delicious!)

For the food, I went with a throwback theme - potato chips and onion dip, pigs in blankets, cocktail meatballs. you get the idea.

My mom couldn't attend the party, so she sent gifts. Karen had a great time opening them (a mix of funny, thoughtful and beautiful); it was perfect party entertainment!

Of course the cake was the main event. Completely inspired by Karen's 14th birthday cake (my mom baked that one) and a vintage copy of Bon Appetit (that's also where I found the meatball recipe - chili sauce and grape jelly ftw!)

Of the 50 or so photos that were on my phone from the party, easily half were of me, Karen and Steve, trying for a decent sibling photo. Hands down, these two were my favorite.

Clearly we don't know how to have fun together!

p.s. Congratulations to the Patriots and all their fans - it was a good game ... we just enjoyed the first half more than the second 😉

Happy Birthday.

...to Katie! Her arrival ... way back in 1987 ... changed us from a couple to a family.

February, 1987

And since I last shared birthday wishes to her on this blog (for her 25th), she's gotten married and made a family of her own.

photo credit Rylie Hitchner

Best wishes, Katie for a beautiful day and a wonderful year. We love you!

Scenes from Yesterday.

Thank you all for the birthday wishes! The day was full of family, fun, laughter ... and of course cake!

I can't remember the last time I had the pleasure of making two wishes.

salted caramel cheesecake for lunch

fruit tart for dinner

Love all the greetings that came via text, email and phone, but real mail is still the best

as are real flowers

and squirmy toddler photos.

I think that lower left one is my favorite - Charlie discovered that the cushion at the back of the chair let him go "boing" 😉... and of course little Sam slept soundly through the entire thing.

It was a wonderful day and for once, I have the photos to prove it!

Happy Anniversary!

...to my brother Steve and his wife Lydia - celebrating 25 years together! I have fond memories of their wedding day (I'm not sure if that's because or in spite of the fact I was three months pregnant ;-) and two of my favorite family photos were taken that day.

This first one sits on the bookcase in our living room. This is the whole family; what a treat we could all be together. left to right, bottom to top, Grandpa Blinn (my dad's father), GG (my mom's mother), Lydia and Steve; me, my mom and Katie peeking out the side; Marc, my dad, Karen, her then husband John and their daughter Jillian.

And this one sits on a side table in my study. That's my grandmother with her two great granddaughters. Jillian was just three months old and Katie was four. Love the dresses! (I made Katie's).

The family looks a lot different now...but Steve and Lydia still look great! Here they are last Memorial Day weekend.

Wishing them cheers and best wishes for many more years of happiness together!

Celebrating the Good Stuff.

I added another MantraBand to my stack today. This one in honor of my 2016 intention for more celebrating the good stuff.

The card that accompanied the band included these "instructions":

Celebrate love.

Celebrate family.

Celebrate friendships.

Celebrate small victories.

Celebrate courage.

Celebrate life, and you will always

have more to celebrate.

(see why I'm a fan?!)

I love how thinking about things in the frame of "celebrating" helps me focus on the good stuff. And in the spirit of beginning how I mean to go on, here's a short list of what I'm celebrating right now.

• Katie was home sick today (not the reason to celebrate!) so I had the opportunity to bring her soup for lunch ...and she just texted it was delicious (yay Costco!)
• Today was a newsletter Thursday and my part was done early this morning. Someone else pushed the "publish" button. (and that same someone else is also posting on the shop's Instagram feed and blog). That's not even a small victory - it feels huge!
• Only forward progress on the purple sweater.
• It's bookclub tonight - no book, but we're still getting together for a chili potluck. I've wavered about going (Marc just got home from Asia last night), but now I'm showered - and soon I'll be dressed and made up. Celebrating neighbors...who are friends.

How about you - what are you celebrating right now?

Throwback Thursday | M and M.

...M and M. Marc and Mary. Married 32 years today.

I spent a few hours this morning with Katie sorting through photos. So many memories captured in 4x6 or 3x5 frames.

And we found the photos I had wanted to share last year.  So here you go - a walk down our memory lane!

at Katie's wedding, May 2013

Christmas, 2012

2003

1996

1980

...and finally...one I always think of as "the beginning"

Georgia Tech Homecoming, October 1979...our first "big date"!

Fifty Years Ago.

.

..I was three. and had a party at my grandparents' house in Alabama.

out front at my grandparents' house, holding camellias

I never noticed the camellia's around the cake until this morning. My grandmother had huge camellia bushes at the front of the house. I'm guessing they bloomed all winter.

Charlie and I have a busy day planned and then Katie's making a pizza party. Sounds like a perfect 53rd birthday, don't you think?