So... I didn't exactly mean to take a two-week blogging hiatus. That's just how it happens sometimes.
Last week while Todd was away on a spring-break trip in Costa Rica I took my mom and little one down to Birmingham, Alabama, while I attended a wedding photography workshop. I had a fabulous time learning, growing, thinking deeply about what I do. Plus, I made new friends. And it was good to get out of town. Todd, meanwhile, spent his week in a fever-ish depression. Now we know he has pneumonia.
We reunited at home this weekend and had the best time relaxing, cooking, cleaning, buying flowers for our pots out front, teaching our daughter how to hunt for plastic Easter eggs. My doctor's office instructed me not to kiss Todd's pneumonia face for a while, but other than that challenge we had a pretty perfect couple of days. Plus, he brought home a dozen bags of Costa Rican coffee, which we love. Springtime is wonderful in central Virginia.
Polaroid from Birmingham, Charlottesville, VA, April 9, 2012.
Instagram.
(Follow me on Instagram! My username is mermont)
-- I read Mira Jacob's Babble article about falling in love with your child a couple of weeks ago. I was just sort of reading along, ho hum, until I got to the third-to-last paragraph, the one that begins, "I mean, that's the kicker right?" And then I was crying. Because... wow... what she says is true.
-- I'm thinking about getting an e-reader. I'm a huge fan of actual books, but I'm thinking I'll save time, save money, and read more if I use a tablet. After looking online briefly, I'm leaning towards a Kindle Touch so that I can get e-books from the library. But with a Kindle Fire I can get color children's books to share with Flora (like when we're in a waiting room and I want to intelligently distract her). Thoughts? Recommendations? I could splurge for an iPad, which would have other uses, too, but maybe just focusing on books is best for now?
-- I read this article about Hipster Brands before my workshop last week, but I find it even more interesting/amusing now since we spent a fair amount of time in Birmingham discussing branding. It's a powerful thing, you know.
-- Jhumpa Lahiri is one of my favorite writers. She tells stories in the most vivid and moving ways. My friend Caroline shared this article on Facebook over the weekend and it really resonated with me. Perhaps because I think as a writer and know the pleasure of crafting a sentence. What Lahiri says about reading in a foreign language, how she has to work for each sentence, look up unknown words in the dictionary, and puzzle together the syntax rings so true! I was a French major in college and the experience of reading in French was somehow more 3-dimensional than the same experience in English. It also took me forever and by senior year I'd learned how to read about 1/3 of each assignment and still be able to participate in discussion afterwards. If you haven't read any Jhumpa I highly recommend her short stories in Interpreter of Maladies as a starting place.
-- Two weeks ago I learned that I won a gift certificate through a giveway on the blog SF Girl By Bay. My prize is $100 to spend at Serena & Lily. How nice is that?! I have spent a little bit of time perusing the Serena & Lily site, thinking about how I might best spend this gift. Something for baby? Something from the Bazaar? Throw pillow(s)? This week I'll make my choice. But what would you pick? And would you buy something for exactly the amount you have ($100) or use that money towards the purchase of something more out of reach (like this pouf, which is whispering to me, despite the heeeefty price tag)? <--Todd don't look. You don't want to know.
Have a great week. That wedding I promised last time is still in the queue! Here's a hint: it takes place in Maine! Ahh!
