coburg: vintage fun with...friends

our 2nd annual come play: september vintage field trip to coburg
was just so fun...
the loads & loads & piles of amazing stuff was great, of course
but the big old group of girls were really the best part...
so let's start with them shall we?

we all started off from the same place at 6am
& then throughout the day
we would run into each other in this booth or that...
'what have you found?'
'have you seen any ______?'
'oh, you have to go check out that booth over there'

at 9am we met for 'show & tell (& eat)'
i love to see what everyone got...
that first picture isn't everyone
(of course, as always
i said
'let's get a picture' after about 6 people
had already gone back to the hunt
oh well....)

& here's michelle
who was our teacher on saturday
(more about that awesomeness later this week)

she scored this amazing ledger book
that had entries not only of
every single grocery the person had purchased throughout that year
but also all of the things you can do with potatoes
& the best colors for painting a landscape
it was quite entertaining...

& this is kelleigh
she was looking for locker baskets
& boy did she find them :)
& darling jill, who never ceases to amaze me
with her ability to find incredible stuff at awesome prices...
she's just the queen, i must say...
here's sarah & casey
these cuties made numerous trips back & forth
to their car with some really awesome stuff
(& had to make a trip to one of their houses
to drop off treasures
& then back to coburg to get another load...
i love that :)& this little umbrella looks super sweet doesn't it?
well, don't let it fool you!
it bit casey when she opened it for this picture...
but she toughed it out, found a band aid
& forgave the umbrella
so that's a happy ending...

these were the only pictures of actual people that i got
because hello, there were deals to be had
& vintage goodies to be seen...
more about all of that tomorrow...

thanks girlies...
i love this tradition!
:)

ps
kate & jessica!
next year!
put it on your calendars!
it's the sunday after labor day!
every year!
it was not the same without you two!
(the exclamation points agree with me!)

or maybe i could just follow it on twitter...

if it was possible to befriend an article of clothing
then this dress & i would be fbff
(facebook friends forever)

& the little jacket & purse could come along sometimes

when we go out for chocolate fondue

& chat about project runway...

picture from lucky magazine
dress is jillian lewis
bolero jacket is philosophy di alberta ferretti
purse is nicole miller

sadly out of everything in this entire outfit
the only thing i could afford right now
(or ever in my life) are the tights
& possibly the lipstick, though i'm not making any promises...

:)

ps i'm working on a post
about my lovely
crafty-vintage-super-fun-girls-&-stuff weekend
it was such a nice time :)

meanwhile i will keep dreaming of that

strapless sweater dress...

with pockets, even...

can you imagine...

*sigh*

everything old is...still old & stinking cool...(the ones that got away...because they were expensive!)

everything old is...still old & stinking cool...(display)

i think, therefore i am wrong (about my kindergartener)

what i thought: Q would be super excited to go to kindergarten
what actually happened: he said he was nervous (because he didn't know math yet :)

therefore
what i thought: on the first day of school we would walk together hand in hand, with me reassuring him about how it would be fun & he would really love it & do great
what actually happened: he rode his bike & i walked pushing miss m in the jogger...& he was always at least a block ahead of me (he did wait at every corner to cross the street with me & then he would take off to the next corner)


what i thought: when we were in sight of the school he would slow down & be more nervous & i would tell him how it would be fun & he would really love it & do great
what actually happened: when we were in sight of the school he went faster & yelled over his shoulder 'hurry up! we're gonna be late!!'


what i thought: we would walk into the school together, hand in hand. i would look lovely, like a wonderful, caring mother, who just strolled to school with her son while reassuring him that school would be fun & he would really love it & do great
what actually happened: by the time i caught up to him, he already had his bike in the bike rack, his helmet off & was heading to the door. kindly he waited for me to park the jogger & get miss m out but the minute she was out he was on his way. ps i was sweaty, hot & red faced from trying to keep up with him the whole way to school...pps i do not glisten


what i thought: when we got to his classroom he would need help remembering where his cubby & desk were (after all, it had been a whole week since we had been to meet his teacher & see his classroom)
what actually happened: he walked right in, put his backpack in his cubby, sat down at his desk (after all, it had ONLY been a week since we had been to meet his teacher & see his classroom)


what i thought: he might not know what to do once he got to his desk or might not talk to his teacher or any number of crazy things a mom can think of in the days before kindergarten
what actaully happened: he put his name tag on, wrote his name on the paper on his desk, listened to his teachers instructions & was all ready for whatever was going to happen next (of course)

what i thought: he might ask me to stay for a minute, or say goodbye with a little sadness in his voice, or look at me as i left, or acknowledge me at all as i exited the classroom
what actually happened: nothin'. zilch. zero. nada. bubkis.


what i thought: after school he would tell me everything he did at school, with full detail (okay, honestly this was much more of a hope because he has never done this ever, not even in pre-school, unless i tricked him (which i may or may not tell about some other time)...thankfully,
what actually happened: pop (my dad) called & Q told him all about his day & i eaves-dropped ...hey, you do what ya gotta do

what i thought: i would get some pictures of Q's actual face
what actually happened: i got one (on purpose)

what i thought: Q would love school
what actually happened: Q loved school (& it was really fun & he loved it & did great :)

1 out of 10 ain't bad?

:)

i wonder if: constant comment

i wonder what might happen if...
i comment on every blog i visit

i've been thinking about this for a while...
once per week
i am going to pick one day &
i'm going to leave a comment on
every blog i visit that day...
& since i tend to visit the same ones over & over
i'm going to choose one blog
(maybe one i visit daily, maybe random)
& visit the blogs that they have on their sidebar
& comment on every one...

i'm not sure what this will accomplish
or if it will accomplish anything
but i do know that i tend to visit blogs
& just look around
& sometimes i comment
but more often than not i don't
& for me that is just silly...
i know what it takes to write a post
& choose a picture
& i love it when someone comments
whether they are frequent visitors
or they just found me by clicking here & there...

i also think that it might be a bit of a challenge
because usually those lists are a bit random...
cause you want to put the blogs you love to read
but then there's also your cousin
who has a blog dedicated to her kitty
& doesn't uncle ed have a blog about nascar?
(you can't leave out uncle ed)
& so i will get to be creative
& possibly try to find something good to comment on
when there may be nothing at first glance
(look deeper!)
& so there it is
my first 'i wonder if '...

i will report back & let you know how it goes
& if you end up trying it
let me know what you think
goofy or great?

& off i go...
:)

ps i think i might limit myself to doing this
on just 10 blogs at a time to start
so i don't get burned out...
but if it's super fun
i will allow myself to do more
(nice of me to be flexible with myself, huh? :)

UPDATE: that was really fun!
i got to see so many new blogs
(one in french, even!)
& i bookmarked a few to
go see again...
i used the 'check out' list on the
sugar city journal blog
& it was great...
i am going to do this again for sure!

who knew?!

:)

mer's hair: an ode to lost curls...

there was a little girl who had mounds of curls
all over her sweet little head....

& her mommy would braid it & clip it

& always brush it right before she went to bed

& then one day, while she was playing

that darn hair got in her way

so she grabbed her scissors & started to cut

with no thought to what her mommy might say

well, her mommy she gasped & did what moms do

she grabbed her camera & took a few clicks

then mommy tried to even it out but was sad to report

the girls hair looked like it was from 1986

then two days ago the girl greeted her mom

with more hair in her hand than her head

so off went the curls, those beautiful curls

'i want my hair back!' the girl said

but did that stop her again from just one more cut
yesterday when she was supposed to be resting?

now all the scissors are stored up high in a box
so her mom's patience she will no longer be testing

so now she pretends she has long hair

with ribbon & anything she can gather

& by now it's clear the story's moral is:

when you're this cute your hair doesn't matter

:)

ps i'm baaaaaack
:)

just you wait...

i'm just about ready to come back to
my sweet little blog


& when i come back


i'm going to be SO back...


see you soon...
:)

deep breath

we've had a rough last few days
as those of you that know me in real life
(& on face book:) know..
i'll be back soon...

world wide wonders: awesome wedding entrance

i can't even say how much i love this
i even teared up watching it
of course i did!
i always do
when i see people doing something original...



add it to my list of
things i want to do at my next wedding
(same guy!)

:)

some good words & yummies....

i'm still buried in a sea of summer fun & whatever
but i thought i would share a couple of
good quotes i came upon recently
&
what is a good quote without
an assortment of delicious savory pastries?
so dig in & read on...

"If we're not loving the process then what are we doing? It's not going to get better at the end of this list, because there is always another list. There is always going to be more, so the trick is to love the tasks as much as possible." Which is another way of saying, let's love each moment as much as possible. I can see how simply doing what's in front of you, with as much mindfulness and joy as you can is a piece of the puzzle. Maybe we should trash our to-do lists and create some to-be lists instead.

from andrea of superhero journal

"Attention is the most concrete expression of love. What you pay attention to thrives. What you do not pay attention to withers and dies."

mama zen
(found through the superhero blog
coincidentally enough :)

& those delicious looking goodies up there are from
sweet life, of course!
(the best little bakery in eugene, oregon
& we have lots of good ones, believe me!)

:)

the same but different....

this morning on the way to church
brian & i were talking about something
very exciting & romantic like
which bicycle tires need to be pumped up.
one of us said something like
'Q's tires are pretty full'
& Q yelled from the back seat
(with a huge scowl on his face)
'STOP TALKING ABOUT ME!!!!'
& quick as can be
miss m yells
(with a huge smile on her face)
'TALK ABOUT ME!!'

:)

of course, it's a girl!

dear miss blog,
though i have been neglecting you lately
you are never far from my thoughts
(let's hope i never say that to my kids :)
you have no idea what a crazy two weeks it has been...
you have no idea
because i haven't been here to tell you!
but believe me
the posts i have been writing in my head have been awesome!
as we camped at loon lake
(sand beaches, bloggie! & a roped off swimming area for
little elves & a bigger bald elf,
a mom who couldn't sleep & just listened to 'this american life'
over & over all night long)
& as we walked to the wading pool three times last week
i thought of clever blog titles
('wading on the world to change'
'can't hardly wade')
watching 'nim's island' for free family summer movies
(very cute)
& now that i am thinking of it, blog-a-roo
it seems that the first few weeks of summer can be
summed up in three words
water
movies
headaches

water....
*loon lake (right after school got out)
*plant watering (every day, thank you very much)
*wading pool (x3 as mentioned)
*our back yard teeny tiny pool
(only when we aren't schlepping to the wading pool)
*amazon pool (with grammy, kate & my nephews, so so cute :)
*camp harlow pool (on the 4th...so awesome)
(seriously i am starring in the new movie
'so i married a fish...& then we had two more fishies'
it is sure to be a hit)

movies...
*17 again (again...for $1.75 just try to keep me away)
*music & lyrics (i love hugh & drew)
*my sister's keeper
(sad & completely infuriating for two girlies who read the book)
*nim's island (cute, fun, abigail breslin for the second time in three days)
*silence of the lambs
(bg's night of 4th of july pick...happy bday america! nightmares for everyone!)

headaches...
i may just dedicate an entire post to this subject, b
(i know, can you just wait?)
let's just say
i'm trying to figure out
why
&
what
&
if
&
please!!!!!

& so i just wanted to check in
let you know that even though i'm not in touch
& will probably be even less so in the next week or so
(three words
V
B
S)
it doesn't mean that i'm not thinking of you...
i also wanted to just thank you
for never making me feel guilty for not checking in...
thanks for trusting that i will be back when i can
& knowing that what we have is solid...
water, movies, headaches, vbs
they might keep me away for a few weeks
but i will always come back
overflowing with lowercase letters,
poor grammer
misplaced sentence breaks
& alarming amounts of sideways smiley faces...

love you...
em :)

no overdue fines...

one of the coolest shower invites i've seen in a long time...
& the real date stamp!
it's the baby's due date :)
love it!
(click on the picture to see it bigger)

(from the merry mishap blog
designed by jen's husband
found through simple lovely
i love that blog:)