beaches, weddings, breakdowns...will the fun ever end?

pardon the space between posts....i have been a busy bee!

on june 17, my sweet friend doggie and i set out to meet up with katherine and the girls for our annual ladies' beach trip. though there were several omissions this time around, what with new babies and moves and the like, we still had an amazing time. the girls who were there (myself included) REALLY needed the break!

as always, we ate like queens: homemade waffles with a dollop of fresh amish cottage cheese and raspberries, cracked crab, fish tacos, grilled corn on the cob...it was as if the deliciousness never ended. plus, the weather was perfect and i got to warm the bun. apparently, babies in utero see rose colors when you lay out in the sun...who knew?



(beach babies circa 2004)

a couple of days after the beach trip, my tanned butt (along with brian, heather, and the biscuit) made its way down to wv for the wedding of my little brother chris to the little firecracker. i don't think i can find the words to describe how thrilled i am to have jen as part of our fold. jen rocks. she is sweet, funny, smart, a lover of all creatures, and an amazing woman. she's truly one of those people who can light up a room. a total catch. and little bro, of course, is no slouch himself.

i managed to offer a toast to them at the rehearsal dinner without losing my sh*t completely and dissolving into a puddle of tears (a big accomplishment for me, considering that i had not managed to do this at my sister's rehearsal dinner, wherein i had a bit of an emotional breakdown). anyhoo, the dinner was lovely and the wedding even more beautiful.

jen was one of those radiant brides who had a great time at her wedding and seemed to be more concerned with how everyone around her was doing rather than anyone "spoiling her special day" or any of that crap. of course, i did finally manage to lose it at the wedding....what can i say? i am a sucker for a photo montage. damn the background music and the dissolving frames! and why did they both have to be such cute kids? i was putty in their hands and can only pray that i didn't make too much of a blubbering fool of myself.

and here we are , back in brooklyn. the newlyweds are probably sunning their hides on a pebbly hawaiian beach as we speak. beth and the kids are still in morgantown, and my mom will head back to lake tahoe with them. i miss them already, as everytime i see them, they're different people. i feel like sadie had just warmed up to me (allowing me to soothe her, wrapping her little hand around my finger) and poof!! i am gone. it sucks, but such is life. hopefully, it will not be the better part of a year before we see each other again, so long as someone is a good traveller (max, i'm talking to you, buddy).

precious little thing

don't know if i announced this to the world of my blog, but my little bro and his lady, the little firecracker, are getting married this summer!

and it's about *bleepin* time.

my nephew jasper is to be the ringbearer for this affair and since i have the line on the latest in children's attire, my mom has put me in charge of outfitting him. no small task, lemme tell you, especially as this is a child who (bless him) has taken to wearing his batman pajamas 99% of the time, or whenever he can get away with it.

exhibit a:





exhibit b:





exhibit c:



actually, i think that he currently has several superhero t-shirts in rotation.

exhibit d:


this is as it should be for an imaginative four and a half year old, and my point being that this is not some precious, impish, little lord fontleroy of a boy we are talking about. this is jasper, and jasper rules.

so with that in mind, i was on the hunt for appropriate, cool, comfortable children's wear. i was thinking semi-casual, because i think the jazzman has a bit of a surfer boy edge to him. high and low i have looked for drawstring linen pants (heck, i would even settle for seersucker at this point), perhaps a raw, loose white tunic and some leather sandals to go with.

what i found astounded me. this, for example, is terrifying:




of course, the wedding will be in wv. maybe jasper would be open to channeling his inner garth brooks?




(that look is described as the "junior cattleman" on the website. puke.)

as a last resort, there is also the option of my mom busting out the old sewing machine and making jasper's attire herself. plus, if a tuxedo weren't going to cut it, he could always go as a revolutionary war boy and walk down the aisle ringing a little bell ("the british are coming!"). i also LOVE the uncle sam option! cute!




of course, i'm just kidding around. i think it'd be fine if we went with a nice --OH DEAR GOD!! WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO THAT POOR KIDDIE MODEL?!

a letter from home!

this email was in my inbox tonight:

"Dearest Mother,

I love the Country Retreat. The company is delightful, food is good, and there is always something to chase (most recently the butterflies in the yard). I sleep well in bed with my people, and thoroughly enjoy cuddling and kissing them both. Have a lovely trip in Europe, I await your return, but don't come back too soon, because this place friggin rocks.

All my love,
The Biscuit."

au revoir! tschuss! auf weidersehen! see ya!

i am OFF to europe!

le petit bisquit is at the lil bro's and the lil firecracker's. he is having a heck of a time...he actually "rooted", as in rooted around burying his plump little body into brush and grasses along a pond. how cute is my little country dog? his cousin, jackson, is a shining example of an exemplary canine, and is not afraid to put him in line with a bark or two...i expect the biscuit to return to me having learnt all of jackson's tricks as well as his good listening skills.

not too much excitement to note about my weekend, which is just how i wanted it: a couple of trips to target (where i did NOT get into a "targument", as jen and i like to say, with any target employees. on my last trip, i engaged myself in a debate with a target employee --think the pimply-faced "i'll have to ask my supervisor!" clerk from the simpsons-- over whether or not i should have to pay for a trashcan lid, despite my not having the faulty lid with me to exchange.




i think i made a pretty good case for myself....). in addition to tarjay was lots of laundry, mending, dog romping, eating.

on the way back to new york, i stopped and visited my sweet katie swartz, who has transformed her culinary prowess into
quite the small business. she's, like, already famous and she hasn't even been doing this for six months (she has scored the catering/personal cheffing for a reality show in her area! crazy!). it is completely NOT surprising, i'm sure, to anyone who knows her that she would suddenly be thrust into something as insane as a reality show. and did i mention that it features sextuplets? they were all swarming around her like a little hive when she showed up: "are you our chef? is this your car? what's on your car?"




i think i am, finally, almost ready for my trip. the only loose ends i have are transport-related. i used a service called hitcher.com, which connects people looking to share rides to the airport with each other. if you don't get a match (which i'm pretty sure i won't, as i don't think many people use their site yet), they send you a regular car service. however, i haven't heard a peep from them, and this concerns me.

more concerns involve finding my way around zurich. i am a hot mess. i have to pray to the good lord above that i can manage an early check in ( very early, like 8 am ish), catching the train from the airport to the city center and then on to the hotel, and then navigating to the hotel by foot.

thank god i have a sister and a good friend who let me cry all over the phone to them. i think i am seriously in over my head, but atleast i'll be here:



i am trying to master my swiss german before i go....did you know that THIS is actually a word?

"CHUCHICHÄSCHTLI"

yes. that is the swiss german word for "kitchen cupboard". i am so screwed.

this post has been edited to be nicer to my dear husband.