thanksgiving photo essay

a few scenes of thanksgiving (aka darla at thanksgiving) franklin, tennessee style

1. can-can thanksgiving 2. lovely new dorothy costume

3. curls, curls of a girl

4. aunt jemima 5. darla’s “helping” stool

6. turkey  7. table

i wasn’t successful in getting any family photos taken. i wasn’t successful at much yesterday. just eating. and sleeping. sounds like a pretty good thanksgiving to me.

traveling tomfoolery

road trips are getting really interesting for the wruckers. to quote myself, which i LOVE to do, we had “a heater and a daughter that would not turn off.”  ahhhhh. such is life. and i love it. i just laugh inside my head all day. maybe i shouldn’t be admitting that out loud.

a few snaps.

packing for nashville instagram

that’s supposed to sound like the before and after category on wheel of fortune. just imagine some overly excited texan shouting this phrase into pat sajak’s face. yeah. now it’s funny.

all i can say is it’s going to be a very patterned thanksgiving.

and OF COURSE the cowgirl boots are coming.

happy packing to all you travelers!

ain’t no halloweenies!

i’m finally recovered from halloween out-and-abouting. i gotta say that it seemed like it was all hard work for mom and no payoff until the kiddies really got into it. AND now i get to type with one hand while the other feeds a snickers to my belly!

these first few are taken at my mom and dad’s. we came straight from the HOOT film series to my parents so darla rode 3 hours in her costume. it didn’t look too worse for the wear.

she’s a tightrope walker. see those balancing skills! maybe? inspired by this post and accepted by me as a cosmic sign from the universe b/c my favorite band in the whole entire universe has a song titled “tightrope.”

watch it!

sooooo good. ahhh, i used to say that if they invent time machines or portals that i would want to go back to woodstock but these yeasayer vincent moon sessions are really in the running. why wasn’t i in that apartment that night!!! gaaarrrrrr!!!!!!

but i digress. back to the pics of mi amor.

so, action shots were hard to get that night. we went around with the burkeybuns crew (minus working momma = sadness) and this was all i got. oh, and a boatload of candy.

adam went as paul from sgt. pepper’s lonely hearts club band and his costume was outta sight! he and darla were somewhat coordinated but you couldn’t tell through the overcoats and pieces of costume falling off all the time and kids never in the same spot for longer than 2.35 seconds. i, me, myself personally, went as a flower garden. to achieve this i put on every piece of floral patterned clothing i own and stole darla’s flower headband. it really ended up looking more like a bag lady getup. other moms were not impressed.

in short, it was fun. i think i’d do it again. maybe in about a year.

weekenders

when i was a little girl my dad had an old knit hat he called his “weekender” that he would wear around the yard while working and doing chores.  i would tag along “helping” with some chores which pretty much consisted of me picking up all the tiny sticks all over the yard. well, now it’s darla’s turn to be the stick-picker-upper. this past one was definitely a “weekender” weekend, reminding me of saturdays and sundays long gone.

here’s our indiana-ing.

feeding the birdies with grandpa

our marshmallow ghosts. can you tell which ones darla did?

chasing bubbles with grandma

repurposing an old toilet paper roll as a peanut butter bird feeder

and oooohhhhh the leaf piles!

i didn’t take any pics of our wilderness trek but that was kinda the point. to just get back to investigating nature. we found a huge beaver dam! i haven’t seen one since i was a little girl. i love having those moments with my little girl. grandpa came too and he was able to pass on more information than mommy. he’s the real wilderness expert. i’m just a fake. other than that trek my favorite part of the weekend was right here:

i love sitting next to a fire, indoor or outdoor. especially with a cup of coffee with chocolate milk, bailey’s and whipped cream. or with a hocher schorr weiss.

i’ll try to get pics of our trick or treating up later today or early tomorrow. i know you are looking for them, hubster.

los angeles lied to me

los angeles told me that it was always sunny and balmy. los angeles told me my friends are right around the corner and ready to meet up for decadent dinners and uniquely concocted cocktails on a daily basis. los angeles told me i could sleep in until 10 every day if i wanted to. it also said i could shop constantly and not worry one bit about my credit card bill.

all of those things became sweet nothings once my plane touched down in indianapolis.

these things happened on my sabbatical: shopping, food, friends, laughs, sun, shoppping, drinks, sightseeing, ocean breezes, more shopping, more food, delicious food, oh-my-god the food, walks, rest, snuggles, friends, new friends and missing my little mini-me.

it was just what i needed and i can’t thank enough all the dear friends who took time out to meet up, catch up, and house me. this trip was just what i needed. i’m always very bad about taking a moment away to take pictures when it comes to myself. here’s the tiny, tiny amount i captured from the most optimistic city i’ve yet to encounter.

friends and sunshine on a venice beach bike ride

does a beautiful back deck make beautiful people more beautiful or vice versa? PeeR At THis PaiR OF PEErs ON thE PieR. my radical flight partner rode on the wing. i hope the stewardess’ didn’t take him down!

i’m already looking forward to planning another trip out to la la with little da-la. also looking forward to planning my next adventure. where should we travel next? where will you travel next?

cheers to adventures dreamed by you and by me.

link section: here’s a few links to places we encountered on my trip:  venice ale house …. the tasting kitchen – in care of LA’s best bartender …. huckleberry ….peek, aren’t you curiousintimacytownhousegjelinakid fireflyborder grill and pinkberry!