mother of mine

The most important thing this weekend was celebrating Mom's birthday. Celebrating Mom...who takes care of all of us and doesn't ask for anything in return only to delight in seeing us happy. In her sixty two years so far she has finally let us look out for her a bit and doesn't seem to mind having three daughters who act like three mothers sometimes. This year she had quite a scare with her skin cancer and I'm so grateful I got to take her to her appointments and support her when she was frightened by what could go wrong. Luckily it all went right.

Mom is truly my best friend, having a uniquely special relationship with each one of her girls. I can share any secret with her. She knows if I have a headache or if something is wrong within two words of a conversation, this always amazes me. She encourages me to create and continue to grow. I am me because of her.

Mom lets me know every single day how much I am loved and that is a gift I hold tightly to my heart.
Happy Birthday Mom! xo


10.07 to 10.09

celebrate

The last few days the sky has been painted in streaks of pink before the sun sets and bursts of raindrops have visited throughout the afternoons.

As I was icing Case's birthday cake today I could hear bursts of thunder in the distance. It felt perfect. I couldn't imagine anything else I would rather be doing in that moment.

We saw a quote the other day, "If you love me let me know." I wrote it down, it was so simple and beautiful. We know and I hope we always let each other know. Happy Birthday Case! xo

9.22 to 9.23
...

xoxo

Aunt Chris, Uncle Tim, cousins Timmy and Missy 1973

at Campbell's Pottery 2006

Kadee and Aunt Chris on our moving day 1981

Today is my sweet and beautiful Aunt Chris' birthday. Just to hear her voice and giggle makes my heart sing. Her love is generous and warm, if you are lucky enough to be in her life you know you are loved. When we travel to Pennsylvania we sleep in her home and it feels like home. She even has Little Debbies and Hank's peanut butter frozen custard for you if you let her know you are coming for a visit. 

Happy Birthday Aunt Chris, I hope you had a wonderful day! I love and miss you oh so very much! xo

lately...

morning

kitty drawings

my dad

Three days. 

Summer lovin'...warm humid morning air, then it feels like summer for real.

Dad's three birthday celebrations... (since we couldn't all get together on one day). This year it was with a mocha ice cream cake, an afternoon walk, Five Guys and lots of love. Dad is truly the very best dad, he could be celebrated every single day. When Dad was little he dreamed of raising baby skunks. I think if he could he would have an owl, skunk, crow and Hermie farm today. xo

Comic Con...it has grown way beyond the comics, we are so lucky to have it in San Diego. I saw stars (yay!) and costumes, parades, art, and people everywhere, too many really...by the end of the day they are just annoying, ha ha. 

{7.21 to 7.23}

pamela stephanie

                                                                          german chocolate birthday cake

This morning I took a walk with Dad and Hermie. I asked Dad about today, the day my older sister, the firstborn came into the world...her birthday!

Dad was in the Navy at the time and heard by telegram. He said he was so happy and excited to meet her
and shared his news with his Navy buddies. I like imagining Dad the day he found out he was a father. He would have to wait several months before he met his redheaded sweet perfectly beautiful baby.

Luckily Mom had dear friends to be with her while she settled into being a new mom. Most of Pam's early baby photos have sweet notes and dates written on the back from Mom to Dad. She would take pictures of Pam napping, stretching, napping some more...and send them to Dad.

Thinking about Mom capturing sweet newborn moments and tucking them into envelopes sealed with love makes me happy and teary-eyed at the same time. 

Tonight all of us were under one roof, just as we once lived so long ago. I took a few polaroids and as they developed Mom wondered aloud where the time had gone, how did it go by so fast...



I don't know, but it just keeps going faster and faster.
Sometimes I just need it to slow down so I can soak it all in, before it is gone.

Happy Birthday Pam!!! xoxo

...

kadee-did

Happy Birthday to my sister Kadee! She is preparing for a big exam that medical students take between their second and third year, it is pretty serious because she has taken a vow of studying until the big test. We get to see her if we bring Sprinkles cupcakes or offer to do the dishes.

Her life is about to change in a big way, not just because she is going to begin that third year toward doctorhood but because she's getting one of these tonight!

Kadee collects quotes the way some may collect seashells or buttons. They are on her fridge, shelves, mirrors, computer desktop, inside books, under the bed...this one was on the back of driving directions she wrote out for me one day, then later she wondered why I had her quote on my fridge.

Well, I found it inspiring for one but more importantly because I had a little bit of her right there with me everyday when I go to get my orange juice and I love that.


After a long day of studying we get to celebrate with her! We will eat tuna and noodles, sing, eat chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, watch her open presents, maybe go in the spa...wrap her up in comfort before she must leave to sleep then study some more.

Oh how I love her. 
...

Cora Jean

That's my gramma as a little girl.

She grew up and married my grampa, they raised my aunt and mom in Pennsylvania. Years later Mom was married with three girls of her own and we lived just down the road from them. Gramma rubbed rose lotion on my hands, sewed dresses for my dolls, gave us candies that tasted like coffee and made sandwiches for whoever was hungry.

After we moved away Gramma and Grampa would send us cards filled with newspaper clippings, polaroids of kitties and snow, and love...always much love.

Today Mom makes Gramma's lasagna recipe, remembers how much she loved Tom and Jerry cartoons, shares stories about walking her home from work in the snow, sifts through her albums of recipes, remembers our history in the tins of black and white photographs and tells me I look just like Gramma ...especially when I sleep. When I make a pie crust I think of Gramma while rolling out handmade dough with the same wooden rolling pin she used.


In honor of Cora Jean's birthday today, she would've been 86, this new custom photograph & word pendant is in the shop. You just email your own photograph and choose a special word cut from a vintage book of poetry. Enter the coupon code CORAJEAN to get free shipping through May 31st.


Gramma's 7-Up Salad, perfectly refreshing for summer!
...

mum

On Saturday we sang happy birthday to Mom... after a festive dinner of sweet potato fries, burgers made from veggies, more fries, and a single shared vanilla shake with sprinkles on top...between laughter, photos and stories...before delighting in cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery (carrot for Mom)... a surprise. 

She is quite special, too much so to even write here, that she really should be celebrated every single day.

About a week ago I was doing an interview for a volunteer position I'm interested in. As part of the interview I was asked about my childhood and parents. When I started talking about my Mom I got teary eyed and quiet, and simply had to explain to the interviewer how truly wonderful, dedicated and loving she is. How she genuinely cares and listens. How she calls just to see if I got through the rain okay. How she knows exactly what I need, even if I say I don't. How just trying to tell about her to someone who doesn't know her swells my heart up with joy, because I know how very lucky I am.

Happy Birthday Mom! xo!

{10.9 to 10.10}

sugar + a wish

This morning Case woke up one year older than he was when he went to bed. But not too old for fruity pebble treats to share at work, a garland with sweet notes (one for each happy year), lots of happy birthday wishes, a polaroid of his birthday self, cards arriving in the mail, his desk decorated in streamers, and later...dinner out, presents and a banana cake with milk chocolate frosting and walnuts

Happy Birthday Case!

♡

♥♥
yesterday

autumn said a very dainty hello.

{9.22 to 9.23}

last bites...

{matcha green tea kit kat and lemon birthday cake 8.23}

...

...

on sunday

our walk took us by a cemetery plot piled high with pastel flowers, doves, ribbons and banners... tears, love and sadness... {8.22}

...

...

love + family

surprises + kit kats

beach + pringles

polaroids + flip

burgers + fries

kitties + cake

star candles + a wish

singing + presents

a beautiful birthday!

{8.21}

happy very much so.

...

Instead of sixty-one candles we went with just one perfect one on top of a chocolatey chocolate cupcake (from here) for our sweet Dad. Dinner, stories, laughter, sharing, a light, then singing... to celebrate his day of birth. He has spent his life building with brick and stone, building a marriage with Mom, building lovely relationships with each of his three girls and building a beautiful life for all of us.

...

Thank you Dad, Happy Birthday! xo

fly ...with a carefree spirit, a soft pillow to fall back on when the days are very long, movies seen and movies yet to be seen with all of us, just the right amount of PHP, kitty pets, late night chats and sips of tea, a warm bath to nourish you right down to your bones, seeing that all your hard work is culminating into something brilliant, knowing that we will all be singing you a happy birthday in just a few days when the world stops spinning so fast.

...

Happy birthday my dear sister, Pam! xo

leap

...with a singing heart, thai leftovers for later, a netflix queue, a slice of Mom's chocolate cake, blueberry tea, an owl story from Dad, beautiful music, knowing that anywhere with all of us is home, and the belief that wishes made do come true.

...

Happy Birthday Kadee!! xoxo

grampa hugs, garden gnomes, polaroids of snow scenes, riding on the lawnmower, feeding bunnies by hand, and wishing I had gotten to know him better as my adult self before he was gone too soon

my mom ...is a lover of squirrels, her Wheetie boy, took me and my sisters to New York City for the first time, eloped with Dad to North Carolina, sings while she drives, is a pyrex collector, writer, lived on the corner of Front and Ivy in downtown San Diego, is a little sister, nicknamed "Pog" from her parents, was a cheerleader, loves a spice cake on her birthday, shares the very best old movies with me, grew up in Meadville PA, worked at Johnny's in high school, helps me at the farmers' market every week, has a special place in her heart for Niagara Falls, used to have slumber parties with her girlfriends, has always had kitties, makes the most delicious chili, loves and adores her three girls, is just a phone call or quick drive away, knows me much better than I know myself, and makes the most beautiful memories everyday, as I grow older-I see more and more clearly how hard she worked to raise us all up with grace and build wonderfully close, unique relationships with each one of us, thank you, Mom, I love you... happy birthday! xoxo

1:41 pm Happy birthday, Case...football fan, lover of lemon filled donuts, scientist, smartypants, makes the very best german chocolate pancakes, patient, the boy I married, generous, Hermie snuggler, night owl, Dr. Pepper drinker, the biggest kid with his nephews, the only person who could ever get me to wear a football jersey or enjoy a game, laughs at Demetri Martin and Flight of the Conchords, loses his voice during Charger home games, sleeper inner, a daydreamer, receives a call every year on this day from his mom at 1:41 pm....the moment he entered this world, and how very happy I am that he is here. xo

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the birthday girl Happily celebrating this wonderful day all about me!

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: : : Thank you for such sweet birthday messages! : : :