Holy Matrimony

{Congrats K&A! Baby Bean loves his godparents. He can't wait for a slumber party at your place. hehe.}

I love "love." 

The real deal stuff. Purely redeeming, all encompassing, and utterly overwhelming. 

The "L, is for the way you looooook at meeeeeee," kind of love. 

 

Love is alive.

Peeking through the little details. 

The twinkle lights and floral centerpieces. 

Captured in camera flashes and swirls of cupcake frosting. 

Love is sweet. 

Sun-drenched wedding guests with a splash of liquid courage on the dance floor.

 Ah'moving and ah'shaking to Flo Rida. 

Love is raw. 

Witnessing "the" moment. 

You know,

the moment of all moments of all time in the history of ever for eternity and beyond, pleaseandthankyouverymuch.

Clocks cease ticking. 

Planets slow orbiting.

Even that used-to-be-a-planet Pluto. 

 standstill.

hear a pin drop.

heart on a rollercoaster.

here we go.

She walks towards him, 

in a surreal and breathless pace.

Eyes fixated.

Nothing and everything being said, in those soul-stealing glances.

Eagerly grasping the promise of a future. 

The promise of a forever. 

That's when I know. 

Without a doubt. 

Love is here. 

xoxo

{Bon Bon}

Nailed It

My Grandmother signed me up for art lessons when I was 10 years old. 

The constant pen to paper-napkin-scrap-wall-skin-anything doodling during my first decade of life, was perhaps alluding to some deeper prodigious talent churning within. 

perhaps.

By the time class #3 rolled around, I was over it. 

Too many rules and still-life fruit bowls. 

 I packed up my charcoals and pastels for another day. 

A day when something chained inside has to be set free, with depth and light and a few of those other silly rules. Maybe one or two.  Staying in the lines, or something.

...

That artist mentality is still going strong to this day,

scattered within the drawers of watercolors and chalk or

simply peeking through a colorful  Jackson Pollock smattering of nail polish. 

   {white, lavender, coral, and mint}

What is art looking like in your life these days?

xoxo

{Bon Bon}

 

 

Recouping

We came, we saw, and we conquered {our first road trip as a family}.

With only a mini-meltdown from the Bean during the last 15 minutes of travel, of which watermelon and a rousing rendition of David Archuleta's "Crush" via iPod shuffle easily remedied.

Root beer floats, mom's chicken parmesan, strawberry shortcake, a "Girls" marathon, and cup after cup of Stumptown coffee are currently fending off the reality that after-vacation life tries to throw my way.

You don't want to know how many root beer floats I've had. 

xoxo

{Bon Bon}

Green Grass

On any given morning, I wake up truly content. How could I not. With the daily reminder sweetly planted by my husband's good morning smooch, only to be one-upped by a slobbery smoochy mimic attempt by our baby.

Jolting my early a.m. reality yesterday was a bite on the butt.

from baby. 

Suffice it to say, "content" is an understatement.

a la living fully in the here and the now.

Of course, my Something Somewhere Someday dreams are floating about, as carefree and innocent as those fuzzy dandelion seeds blowing by the winds of hopeful abandon.

A few are silly. Anne of Avonlea-esque. Full of drama and spirit plus a tinge of sarcasm. 

Some are sincere. Stemming from grace filled experiences and brimming with mad scientist-ish inspiration. 

Many are secret. Even yet to be discovered by me. 

"Until the stars align just so," taunts the world. 

"We'll see about that," declares you know Who. 

A promise I cling to, deep within my core. 

Yet,

late at night, most nights, since before I can remember, my mind races furiously against time. 

Spinning and churning.

My main competition is myself. 

Occasionally, I lose.

With a knock on the door of my heart,

those unwanted guests Fear and Doubt enter in, crashing my party. 

They eat the last piece of cake and comment on how lame the DJ is. 

And for a moment, I believe it. 

For a few moments. 

Many moments. 

"girl's just wanna have fun" turns into "it's my party and i'll cry if i want to."

crap. the DJ is lame. 

Thankfully, Truth, although fashionably late, always shows up. 

Spikes the punch. 

Gathers a conga line, busts open the pinata, and pins the tail on the donkey. 

Truth always wins. 

Ushering back in contentment. 

Peace. 

Joy. 

Party {and Dream} on. 

xoxo

{Bon Bon}

Summer in the City: Oregon Zoo

 

 

Off to the zoo we went. 

We didn't buy it, {ba dum tssss}

The Bean must've known something exciting was happening, because he stayed wide awake the whole entire afternoon. 

Feigning interest from exhibit to exhibit.

His crocodile shorts probably clued him in that this was a day not to be missed. 

Crocodile shorts are for special occasions, naturally.

xoxo

{Bon Bon}

Book: Worm or Snob

Long ago, I embraced the fact that I am indeed, one of "those" people in a lot of ways. 

Especially when it involves reading material. 

Books, I don't just read. I devour. 

Ever since that fateful summer of '94 when my imminent switch from public to private school proved that I had indeed spent all of kindergarten learning how to make macaroni art, trade my applesauce for a fruit roll-up at lunch, and play a mean triangle solo during music class. 

Those placement tests made sure that I would spend the next three months buckling down every day with PB&Js and phonics, with a few super soaker breaks in between. 

By September, I read "Charlotte's Web" all by myself and became the self-proclaimed captain of the blue reading group in Mrs. T's 1st grade class. 

Followed by an intense bout through the thick spine of "Little Women," in preparation for Christian Bale. I mean, the movie adaptation. of the book.

with Christian Bale. 

After, in which I spent the following summer belting out Celine Dion's "To Love You More" and shaking my tiny fists at the sky wondering why I hadn't been born 14 years earlier. 

Christian Bale.

The stuff legends are made of, right there. 

...

All this to say, 

I need some vacation lit.

Any suggestions? 

{and for the sake of not making Louisa May Alcott roll over in her grave, let's not go down the Fifty Shades of Grey road}

xoxo

{Bon Bon}

Boom. Pow. Sparkle.

 

What's a little family to do {when baby bean is bouncing off the wall at the booty crack of dawn, the cupboards offer dust bunnies instead of coffee grounds, and someone or two woke up on the wrong side of the bed} on miss America's big day? 

Why, bust out our finest red, white, and blue

and pledge allegiance to buffalo wings, huckleberry lemonade, and ice cream cones. 

of course. 

And even though my allergies decided to disrupt the annual love affair with sparklers, piccolo petes, and grand finales,  

good ol' George Washington heard my prayers and

a few of those TNT pop-its just so happened to be tossed under my feet by some charming {feral} children.

I'll take it. 

God Bless the USA

xoxo

{Bon Bon}