the good stuff

lori's 50th

If you are a regular reader of the good stuff, and ever read the comments, you know Lori.  She is often the first person to comment on a post, and I am always inspired and uplifted by what she writes. 

How do I know her? She lives in my house.

Okay, so it isn't my house. 

When my mom decided to sell our house in West Roxbury, I happened to be at a friend's house where I met Lori. A casual conversation with Lori went something like this:

me:  So, my mom is selling her house.

Lori:  Really?  We are looking for a house!

me:  You should come over and see it!

Lori:  Okay, I think I will!

And she did, the very next day, and bought the house.  That day.  I am one hell of a real estate agent, don't you think? 

My Auntie Pam also happens to live right next door, and threw a surprise (ha, I use that word lightly, as Lori is very sneaky and suspicious) 50th for Lori last week, and Jane and I were in attendance.  My Auntie Pam throws a GREAT party--she always has, and this was no exception.  There was an entire table dedicated to a chocolate fountain (yes please) and savory snacks and a CRAZY good cake.  She doesn't forget about the little guests, and Jane and Bridget Ball got fizzy pink lemonade in plastic champagne glasses...Jane pranced around the house with her "champagne" like she was the queen...it was awesome.

Pam and Georgina also have the BEST PLAYROOM in the greater Boston area, with dress-up masks that Jane and Bridget were thoroughly into...

ANd I had to add, I adore Lori's mom.  She saw Jane for the first time and as my daughter pranced by with her champagne, Lori's mom said, "THERE goes a little Norwegian, huh??"  She then tried to teach Jane this little phrase, and I am going to continue to try and get her to remember it:

One hundred Swedes
Were chased through the weeds
By one little Norwegian.....ME.

Be sure to check out the entire album on the left, but I had to post a few from the evening!

Pam, it was a WONDERFUL party!

Lori, Hope your birthday was memorable--we love you and are so happy we were there to share it with you!

The NEW Sweet Jane Photography!

Sweet Jane Photography has a BRAND NEW LOOK.  And it is LIVE, and waiting for you to have a peek!  I hope you enjoy it!!

(Back with lots of photos from last week.....lots to share!)

hello, summer.

It's a month early...but it was HOT today, and we busted out the sprinkler.  And the camera.

Hello, summertime, we sure have missed you.

walking lessons

And another Avon Walk has come and gone.  I am blistered and a little sunburned, but inspired, amazed, and grateful too.  Thought I would share the few iPhotos I snapped along the way, and some valuable lessons I picked up along the 39.3 mile journey...

~ Walking in the sunshine is MUCH preferable to rain.  This was my third walk, but the first that didn't involve a poncho from the first moment, and wet sneakers by mile 1.

(look at that glorious blue sky!!)

~  WEAR MORE SUNSCREEN.  My shoulders and neck were a little toasty by the end of day 1....darn sunshine.

~ The camel-back type backpack, with the sippy straw was quite possibly the best $35 I spent towards the walk.  No doubt.

~ Keep your eyes peeled...you never know who you will see on a motivational poster along the route...

(yep--it's the Hopefuls from 2007...though they CUT KATHY OUT, the bastards.)

~  A Dunkin Donuts stop at about mile 16 is ALWAYS a good idea, especially if you use the bathroom.  There is nothing like a weekend of porta-potties to make a girl appreciate a good flush.  And running water.

~  Having great teammates is KEY.  I can happily say that I have lucked out every year, this year being no exception.  Jess and I giggled our way through nearly 40 miles, when we weren't being slowed down by a blister, or a shin splint, or a patch of weeds in someone's garden that I had to drag jess away from.

~  The Avon folks have GOOD snacks.  Really good snacks.  And we never turned them down.

~  When coming upon a rest stop, if there is a costumed volunteer shouting about "PIRATE'S BOOTY!!" around the corner, they mean little beads and coins and stickers.  NOT the delicious cheesy puffed corn snack.  We had to learn this the hard way.

~  Approaching mile 20 is a BIG DEAL.  Something about hitting that number makes a big difference mentally, like the finish is right around the corner....

~  The mile dedications were awesome.  We looked at them throughout the walk, and could talk about whose mile we were on, often stopping to call them to let them know.  I can't tell you how amazing it was to be EXHAUSTED at mile 22, and think about Uncle Larry, and how wonderful he was, and how much I miss him, and my steps were just a little lighter.

~  THE LAST THREE MILES REALLY STINK.  I don't know why they are SO much harder, but they are.  MAN.  But I tell you, coming to that last mile marker is CRAZY CRAZY GOOD.

~ Having Tim, Kate, and Emily meet us at the Day 1 finish line was THE BEST.  Luggage carrying, tent-retreiving, stretch-directing, and laugh-inducing, they were the perfect end to a VERY long day.

~  We need more time in the morning.  Although there were only a few things to do-pack up, take tent down, dress, tend to blisters and sore knees, and eat breakfast-when one takes MINISCULE steps, because of sore legs, EVERYTHING takes longer!!

~  Bring more tissues.  No matter how many times I make this journey, the emotional factor never diminishes.  There were so many inspiring women, so many crazy good cheering folks, and it's nearly impossible NO to let it get inside.  More tissues.

~  Wendi wins the prize for unsung hero---she surprised us at mile 9 on sunday, as we were coming out of a rest station.  her car was decked out in pink tulle, the windows were down and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" was BLASTING.  She jumped out of the car, gave Jess and me pink boas, and without question, gave us the boost we needed to finish the second day.  She drove along with the walkers, blaring the music, handing out boas, and the entire crowd in our proximity was totally uplifted.  It was nothing short of miraculous!

~  Even with two walks under my belt, there is NOTHING better than crossing the finish line.  NOTHING.  Crowds of people lined the walkway at UMass Boston, clapping and cheering, looking us in the face and saying "THANK YOU".  It was amazing.

One think I was acutely aware of was the number of women, my age, who were walking with bald heads, or t-shirts that said "only 2 more treatments to go!"  There are times on this walk where every step forward is painful, and Jess and I kept quoting a sign we saw along the way, which kepy us going.  It read:

BLISTERS DON'T NEED CHEMO.

No, no they don't.  It is three days post walk and my blisters are healing.  My heart is full. I am more hopeful than ever that there is a cure for this terrible disease.  And I am starting the preparations for NEXT YEAR'S WALK....

Mark your calendars, the crusaders are taking their show on the road and storming the big apple:

MANHATTAN:  OCTOBER 16-17, 2010

Who's with me??

LET'S WALK.

Heading into Boston this afternoon to check in for the Avon Walk.  The crusaders are a team of two this year, and Jess and I are very excited about the weekend.  The weather looks perfect tomorrow--mostly cloudy, 69!  A little rain is forecasted for Sunday morning. but that's perfectly fine by me.  We'll be equipped with ponchos...

This year we decided to dedicate each mile to someone who has touched our lives, and inspires us to walk...I wanted to post mine here. I have added an incredible song to listen to as you read...it hits it RIGHT SQUARE ON THE HEAD, why we walk (though Melissa Ethridge is running...we'll be walking!)

I need about 100 more miles to dedicate in order to properly acknowledge everyone who inspires me...but I only had 39 to work with... ;)

 

everything I wanted

The night before mother's day, I was snuggling with Jane before bed, Sam curled in the crook of my knees.  So warm and cozy that we all fell sound asleep.  As in, at 7 the next morning, Jane was still in my arms, Sam curled and fast asleep at my knees.  Even though I was FULLY DRESSED, (a horror--i LOVE being in jammies), that feeling of my sleeping babies all over me was the perfect way to start Mother's Day.

Once we were all awake, I slid back into my own bed, and the kids and TK headed downstairs, ate breakfast, and marched back up with all of my mother's day goodies.  The kids are old enough to GET what the holiday is, and they were so excited to give me cards with their own signatures. Sam was especially happy about giving me the card he made at school, a flower on the front with a photo of him in the middle, and painted-thumb prints as the petals.  I LIVE for those things.

Jane and Sam kept saying, "you can have WHATEVER YOU WANT mom, it's Mother's Day."

When we were deciding on lunch, Sam said, "You can have WHATEVER YOU WANT for lunch mom, so do you want to go to the mall and have pizza?"

Uh...I don't think so. 

So off we went to TK's and my favorite local spot, where I had a glass of prosecco, and a gourmet lobster roll, which I split in half and traded with TK for half of his RIDICULOUSLY good burger.

As we were finishing lunch, Jane said, "mom, you can do WHATEVER YOU WANT, so can we go to the playground?"

uh...yes!  A starbucks coffee in hand, we played and played. 

Back at home, TK got them showered and jammied before I put them to bed.  I said I wanted to pick out the bedtime books to read, to protests from the kids, to which I replied, "It's MOTHER'S DAY.  I get whatever I want, remember?"  And Jane said, "mom, I don't think it's mother's day anymore."  (But I won in the end.  Rules are rules.)

Before bed, TK asked how my mother's day was, and how did I like getting EVERYTHING I WANTED?

Wonderful, of course.

But the truth is, the dream for my mother's day was fulfilled at 7 that morning.

I already had everything I wanted, fast asleep in my arms and in the crook of my knees.

I hope all of my mommy readers got everything THEY wanted too.

puddle love

lovely day here, lovely enough for TK to wash the cars, making two extra lovely mud puddles. 

Knowing that a tubby was in the near future, I grabbed the camera and let them have at it.  They were tentative at first, possibly because I normally threaten them with bodily harm, should the wander even NEAR a mud puddle, but once they realized I was all for it, and that it wasn't some trick I was playing ("go ahead, kiiiiids, jump in the puuuuuddddleees....I'm sure nooooothing baaaaad will haaaapppen....") they were all for it.

Sam made only one stop before puddling, running inside for a crocodile and shark. Why waste a golden opportunity to play "predator and prey" in an actual dirty muddy puddle??

Had some fun with these photos in the post-processing. 

As a side note, I spend so much time taking photos for other people, it was nice to snap a few for no other reason than BECAUSE I WANT TO.  And know what I remembered?  I LOVE taking pictures.

I had a dream

I had a dream, a fantasy even.

And it was about pants.

See, I am a wedding photographer (yes! it's true! I am!).

As such, I bounce all over the place, trying to get the perfect shot, and at the same time try to stay out of everyone's way.

This means I spend a lot of time squatting.  Squatting at the front of the church, on the side of the dance floor, under a table drinking a martini as fast as I can--whoops, did I let that one out?

The big problem here, people, is my pants.  The fact that pants these days are all made for people NOT built like me (and whoever invented low-rise pants should be SHOT) and provide people behind me with a lovely view of my UNDERWEAR is the problem.

I have been working on this.  I wear LONG shirts, and carry a bag that lands right there at my backside. But I am SO self-conscious about it that I spend half the night tugging at my pants.

I tried to tell TK that there had to be the perfect pair of pants out there for me.  And I had only a few requirements--soft waist, long enough for my legs so that they don't look like high-waters, soft and drapey material, so that they look dressy enough for a wedding....this isn't too much, right???

Except that the search has been going on for MORE THAN A YEAR.

I have looked everywhere, tried on a million pairs of pants, none are even close.  Every time I leave a store empty-handed, I tell TK, "you won't believe it, but I didn't find a pair."  He is NEVER surprised.  Maybe because I have spent two full years looking for a new winter coat, and still spend the winter in an old helly hansen jacket that has lost almost all of the down feathers ("TK, why do you think the wind is coming straight through my jacket??")

But he wasn't expecting a text on Friday that said, "You won't believe it, but, I FOUND THEM!!  I LOVE THEM AND THEY ARE PERFECT!!"

His reply: "Is this Sarah??"

I thought I would give my search one last try, knowing I had a long wedding day ahead of me the next day, and went to the mall.  I came out of Nordstrom and spied J. Jill, I've never been in there, and thought I would just SEE.

THEN I FOUND THESE.

Soft elastic at the waist, drapey soft material, and LONG.

When I put them on, I actually DANCED in the dressing room.  A full on happy dance.

I told the lady at the checkout, and she humored me and laughed through the story, then asked if I might just want another pair or two before I left...um, at $70 per pair, I'll come back.

It felt like I was in jammies all day on Saturday, and NOT ONCE did I have that feeling like the guests were subjected to my underwear. Which is always good.

Thanks, JJill.  I'll be back....for more happy-pants-dancing....