Earlier this Spring we spent an afternoon visiting Harpers Ferry in Jefferson County, West Virginia. Sitting at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers is a quaint, historic community.
Our Everyday
Sharing our stories, big and small.
“I come home in the morning light
My mother says when you gonna live your life right
Oh mother dear we’re not the fortunate ones
And girls they want to have fun
Oh girls just want to have fun
They met when they were four months old. Her mother and I quickly bonded over recent staycations at Starwood properties in DC and the nightmare of our recent deliveries at the hands of the same ObGyn. Future coffees and playdates were quickly scheduled and unbeknownst to them a lifelong friendship was being forged.
Six years later my daughter asks me two days before their visit “Mommy, are you excited like me?” Six years later I see her face light up like with no other. Six years later I witness my daughter having her first best friend.
Bain Dance Academy present their 4th Annual Dance Recital. For the past five months Penny has been dancing in the ballet/jazz combo class. Her class will perform a jazz routine and a ballet routine for the recital.
I love art. I love visual art and performance art; the Caravaggio hanging in the Galleria Borghese in Rome, the saxophonist in Central Park, the cow sculptures that grazed New York City streets in the summer of 2000, Frida Kahlo’s letters to her secret lover José Bartoli, the play “Astro Boy and the God of Comics” directed by Natsu Onoda Power, “The Goldfinch” by Donna Tart. Art is what makes me feel more than me, more than a software sales professional, more than a mother living in the suburbs of Northern Virginia. Art connects me to something beyond my circumstance. When I find myself in a moment of art that moment is transformed from ordinary to memorable, adding nuance to the experience and settling itself deep down in the foundation of me.
I want to give my children a box full of crayons, with every color imaginable, so that they can create out of nothing, think beyond the lines and transform ordinary into art.
You love your pink doggy. Your faithful companion who comes to life just for you, sharing secrets and kisses. You love to snuggle. With thumb in mouth, pink doggy tucked under your arm and your blankie trailing behind, you make your way into my arms. You love trains. Thomas, Chuggington, the Monorail at Disney World, the Metro train, any train. You could challenge Tommy from 94.7 with your knowledge and love of pop songs. You shimmy your hips and belt out “Fancy” by Iggzy Azalea, “Lips Are Moving” by Meghan Trainor and “Sugar” by Maroon 5, the Kidz Bop version of course.
In an ideal world all of our favorite people would live close enough to have monthly Sunday dinners, meet for coffee on a Tuesday, drinks on a Thursday, celebrate every birthday and see every playoff game and recital. In my children’s ideal world every cousin and friend would live next door. It isn’t an ideal world but every once in awhile we get to not just be neighbors but live under one roof. Our weekend in New York allowed us to have Friday, Saturday and Sunday dinner and be there for two very special celebrations.
Jonathan’s First Communion
For one day of the year our children are trained to keep whining to a minimum, direct demands at Dad and shower Mom with handmade gifts, hugs and kisses. It is the one day of the year we can selfishly require our children to be well behaved, any misdemeanor greeted with a reminder of the name of the day. It is the one day of the year my family spoils me rotten and in return I linger; I linger in a conversation about video games, I linger in a game of tetherball, I linger after the stories are told, looking at their sweet faces as sleep comes.
Austin is the state capital, home to the University of Texas and lays claim to being the “live music capital of the world.” Some Austinites have adopted the unofficial slogan “Keep Austin Weird” referring to a desire to protect small, unique, local businesses from being overrun by large corporations. Originally known as Waterloo, Austin is situated on the Colorado River. Congress Avenue Bridge, the first bridge across the Colorado River, is home to the world’s largest urban bat colony.
Stripped of the distraction of routine, blissfully ignorant of the people, politics and pace, three hours behind home we can live in the past and in the moment all at once.
Our Everyday 