I don't know what's sweeter: UCLA's win to advance to the Sweet 16 (it was ugly, but we won...and my family is still teasing me about how loud I screamed at the end) or USC having their ass handed to them in the first round by Kansas State.
My cup runneth over.
When I made Brady's 2nd birthday invitations, I also planned ahead to Ethan's dinosaur party invites as well. You would think that with all that lead time, these invitations would be ready well in advance. You would, of course, be wrong. However, they are done and they are here. I'm totally not happy with them but he LOVES them. So, I'm happy enough. It's not about me, right? I've had a couple of moms tell me how cute they are. It's so great for the ego hanging out with non-crafty types. The paper is from Around The Block and the bone punch is an EK punch I borrowed from my LSS. I'm on the prowl for a cute dinosaur stamp to make the Thank You notes with. Maybe I'll find one before the thank you cards are 6 months late going out.
With blue skies (finally) and gorgeous weather, not to mention blossom-covered trees everywhere, spring has arrived at last. This point was brought home to me last Sunday, when my family participated a number of spring traditions all in one day.
Our day started out at a local Purim carnival. I love living in an area of the country where my Jewish kids have plenty of other Jewish kids around. When I lived in the Northwest, it was very isolating to not be part of a larger Jewish community. I either felt really lonely, or like an animal in the zoo as I was subjected to the fascination of several people who had never met a Jew before. So our t
rek to the carnival took all of 5 minutes and we played, bounced, jumped, rode a poor, sad pony and ran into lots of friends we knew.
From there we had lunch and headed to our former neighbors' home for an Easter bash. It never occurred to me just what a pretty holiday Easter can be. While the religious meaning of the holiday is completely lost on me, I love the pretty pastel colors, the flowers, the signs of spring everywhere and little kids dressed in pretty clothes running around in the sunshine. Besides, who doesn't like bunnies, especially the variety who bring chocolate. Our friends went all out: each child got his or her own half-dozen eggs to dye before heading out to hunt for 350 eggs! I think we adults had as much fun hiding them as the kids did searching for them. Brady LOVED sidewalk chalk and Julia and Ethan rode their sugar high well into the evening.
Just as the party started to wrap up, we headed home to get read for Julia's 3rd softball game of the season. Their coach says they are steadily improving. Their score has gone from 4-0, to 12-2, to 13-0. I don't see how allowing the opposing team to score more runs in each successive game is an improvement, but I'm not a math major. That's right friends, Julia plays for the Bad News Bears. The games are not only boring, but just bad. We have games each Saturday and Sunday, and Ray and I trade off going so as to not subject ourselves and the other spectators to Brady's incessant screams throughout the game. While it's quite an occasion when our pitcher manages to throw a strike (rather than pitching the ball behind the batter) there are small signs of progress. Besides, sitting outside watching a ball game definitely feels like spring. And the score isn't all that important, right? I know this because after every game Julia has asked us hopefully, "Did we win?"
Another spring occasion is upon us today with the celebration of Noruz (nowrooz), the Persian New Year. I wrote last year about how much I love celebrating a new year in the spring instead of in the middle of dark and gloomy winter. Being spoiled, lazy and overwhelmed with the rest of the chaos in my life, I've left the work to others this year. My sister made the traditional sabzi polo because she enjoys spending an entire day to make one pot of rice. More power to her. We will be celebrating at my parents' tomorrow night, and the eggs my kids dyed at the Easter party will be adorning Goobie's haft seen.
It occurs to me that I've gotten away with doing very little work for any of these holidays this year. No matter, I don't feel guilty. Someday I'll be the grandma or the hostess or not nuts and go all out. For now I'm happy to enjoy the fruits of others' labor, happily buy my carnival tickets and transport my family from one location to the next. However you celebrate, I hope your spring is lovely and full of sweets.
Many thanks to macieklew for his stunning photo. Check out his other work; you will not be disappointed.
You know when you're not looking for something and something kind of finds you? Anyone who knows me knows that the last thing I need is a new job or to spend money. But a couple of weeks ago I was invited to a friend's Uppercase Living open house. You know the story: eat some food, drink some wine, buy some obligatory stuff to support your friend. The end.
Only problem was, I fell totally in love with these products. I'd been looking for something like this to decorate my sad bare walls with that was not expensive and easy to install. Besides, this totally appeals to my scrappy side, too. I love the idea of making my home warm and personal and basically, I love words. Plus it's all customizable with a variety of colors, sizes and fonts. And you know I love fonts. So after some thought and market research, I've decided to become an Uppercase Living Demonstrator. I'm really excited to see where this leads.
I'd love it if you guys would look around the website, check out the catalog and tell me what you think. You can access the entire site with the following information:
Go to: www.uppercaseliving.com
Click on: Customer Corner Login
Demonstrator's ID: 157487
Registration Token: tsp
Of course, feel free to share my ID & registration token with anyone you think is interested. If you're in Southern California and would like to host your own Open House, it's an easy & fun way for you to earn some half-price and free products. You can also host a show online if you're not local. I've promised I won't become that friend. The one who is always trying to get her friends to buy stuff, host parties, sign up for every little thing. If I start acting that way, you are hereby permitted to smack me up side my head and say "What the hell is wrong with you?" Otherwise, thanks for looking and thanks to all of you who've been so supportive so far. This should be a fun ride!
P.S. As I get some of the Expressions in my home and clients' homes, look for a new blog from me showcasing pictures and ideas. More to come on this.
