A Rainy Day surprise

when charlie got home from school yesterday, 

she was met at the door with a lovely polka-dot box.

inside she found a giant bird's nest of woodshavings.

and after digging her way to the bottom, she discovered tucked away a 

GOLDEN HORSE WEARING A PARTY HAT.

and in invitation to a birthday party from our friends at Land Of Nod .

i love it.

but not as much as she does. (she now totes her ratatouille in one arm and the horse in the other)

(...and I seriously need to step up on invitation design after seeing this thing)

some outtakes from their shoot last year at camp:
a great little review on their visit to camp on their blog

TODAY IS DAVIDS BIRTHDAY.

for the rest of us, it's valentines day.

he is at home with the charliegirl- and im stuck on the other side of the world working.

because we wont get to spend the Valentines day or his birthday together- i wanted to give him a shout out post

if you see him today, please try not to make fun of him too much that his wife had to blab this all over the internet (Im sure he will be a little shy about it) but it had to be done

TOP TEN REASONS DAVID IS LOVED

1. he is the best dad in the universe as we know it. (or at least the charlie, frankie and my universe).

2. resourceful. he can change your carburator, fix a flat and run a dumptruck.

(although i give him lots of grief for his ebay motors addiction, the fact that he is a country boy at heart is one of my biggest reasons to love him)

3. he is pretty smart. (and wont get a big head when someone tells him so).

4. extremely humble (see rationale for number 3). 

5. patient. nobody else in the world with put up with me. i am still amazed at his capacity for this.

6. he is as handsome today as when we met. (he will be embarrassed that i posted these photos, but what the hell- you only turn 45 once)

7. he insists on learning something from everyone- and admires those who know a trade that he doesn't. (mechanics, like my dad. builders- like my brother in laws, lineman, like my brother... anyone from the dumptruck driver to the hog factory workers fascinate him. he respects everyone and makes an attempt to learn from their individual passions and expertise, whatever they may be)

8. he is compassionate beyond words. he loves his mom. and tells her so all the time. always feeds the random stray dogs, even the scary ones who look like they want to bite your face off.

9. he is relentlessly optimistic.  

10. he is the best possible husband in the world for all of these reasons, and too many more to list.


happy birthday tater.
charlie and i are very lucky girls

CHARLIE IS NOW TWO.

last year's birthday theme was 'away in the woods'.

this year had to be a little princess themed, a little Ratatouille inspired, 

(& honestly mainly driven by what I could pick up the store an hour before the party).

you don't have to spend alot to get interesting gifts (that hopefully will get saved and someday become heirlooms)

case in point. some of her toys:

(found via found free and flea)

an austrian dyrndl (traditional costume) $14  

a marionette (hand carved found in prauge) $30  

a pan flute from peru $5

a collosal set of hand made doll house furniture from the 40s (ebay) $40

a stack of antique books from the Czech republic $10 e

hand made gingerbread cookies from Prague $2 

a crown with tuil from London $12

a set of russian nesting dolls $15

(stay tuned for next post with shots of her birthday take)

I try to apply the filter of 'new vs old' to everything.

reality is, we couldn't walk into a Barnes and Noble and buy a new kids book for under $15.

and yet you can pick up a gorgeous letterpress book from 80 years ago with hand painted spot color illustrations at a flea market for $10.

crazy.

new dollhouse furniture at ToysRus(the plastic, bad, disposable versions) will run you $25 just for a bedroom suite. on ebay, you can buy an entire household for little more.

but all she really wanted to play with was the bag in came in. (of course)

her little crown with the veil train trailing down the back...

the roses her aunt mary picked for her out of garden (the last two for the season) to match her dress.

10 minutes and a bag of jewel balloons later, we had an impromput table.

our friend patrick gifted us this amazing handmade vintage tablecloth- each side features a nursery ryhyme built out in parts of felt sewn together on a netting base.

charlie spent a good chunk of the morning, walking around the table inspecting each story, trying to pull wings off ducks, hats off of cows, etc.

inspecting the cake with dad. where to start??

do you remember the scene from Rataoullie, where the main character tastes the cheese with the strawberry to get an explosion of tastes...? that was the theme for her cake. 

cheese in one hand berry in the other. she acted out the whole scene...

kissing the rat's nose, (just before she bites if off)

...contemplating which to eat first. the strawberry or the cheese...

she loved the rat so much she lifted him off the cake and carried him around the house, eating off limbs one by one.

the last two roses from aunt mary's garden....

birthday cookies! picked up at the market in prague-- a traditional style of intricate icing 'lace'.
(only about 8 of the 14 survived the trip home, even though i wrapped each like a sumo wrestler in bubble wrap.) alas....

the best part of charlie's day was the friends with babies....
its like an explosion of kids all of a sudden!


happy birthday, charliegirl..

xoxo