things are changing around here. i don’t know if it’s the imminent seasonal switch but it has always felt to me that fall brings about change. I believe whole-heartedly that change is good.
so i just wanted to send out a little positivity to any of you out there making changes of your own. doesn’t it feel good? what transformations are you undertaking in your life?
and now for the more relaxing portion of our vacay:
this was the part i needed: these morning views, long walks and talks with cousinfriends, explorations in the woods, naps, family meals, cool night breezes, anne morrow lindbergh. we don’t take relaxation vacations enough. our travels always seem to be packed around some central activity, i.e. music festival, and i’ve been reminded that we need to slow it down every once in a while. at least i do. i would love a long weekend in the woods. or a few do-nothing days by the sea. it seemed to be good for darla, too. i forget that she gets shuffled around to lots of daily activities and maybe she just needs some time to be fluid.
thank you for being good to me for so many years, maine. we hope to visit you again in the near future.
hey guys,
so it’s been a bit slow here on the motivation and inspiration for the ol’ bloggy blog. i think it’s a combination of quite a few things: life spins outta control, busy schedules, self-doubt, feeling inauthentic, etc.
in all areas of my life i’ve felt like i’m running up hill all summer. in short, i haven’t felt like writing much so i haven’t. i haven’t felt like a source of positivity and authenticity for the past few months so i turned the flow of the blog faucet way down.
i’m sure i haven’t really ruined anyone’s life by not writing enough mundane posts for you to read. i feel like i’m ready to start putting some goodness back out there, though. i hope you will join me again. it’ll be nice to have the company ;)
what do i want to share about our weekend in maine? well, i have two main MAINE points:
1. my family is awesome.
2. GO TO PORTLAND. IT IS COOL.
that is all.
in all seriousness, i’ve rewritten this post numerous times. i have been having trouble figuring out what i want to say. i want to say that the weekend was wonderous and beautiful. i want to say it was a blast because my family is comprised of all-around stellar human beings. i want to say the trip was filled with lots of exciting new experiences for darla and i felt very lucky, once again, to be able to witness her intake of all the newness. i want to say that one very special person was missed through it all.
most of all i want to say thank you. thank you to my family, my parents, my husband, my daughter and the universe for allowing me to be a part of last weekend. the whole experience was exactly what i needed. it was where i needed to be when i needed to be.
thank you.
and once again, congratulations to erin & dave bartoletti. may you find happiness in all your years to come!
ps. and thank you to yeasayer for being in portland while i was. BONUS!
so….i’ve lacked some serious motivation lately.
or rather, my priorities have been elsewhere.
let’s face it, summer is busy and everyone is outside enjoying it and off on vacations instead of reading crazy blog entries.
so i’m just going to go ahead and state the obvious and say that momjeanz is on a hiatus until life gets more structure and balance. because right now i need to be able to just hop on RuJu and go wherever the day takes me instead of bending to some self imposed pressure to post.
i hope you all enjoy the rest of your summer. we’re headed up to maine this weekend where darla will be a flower girl. 3rd times the charm! i’ll be sure to share some photos when we return.
here’s just a bit of what we’ve been up to:
mustache parties
making pancakes for some old friends
discovering new breakfast digs
swinging in the park like a big girl
tea parties + music on the lawn
fudgesicles
summer is a melting fudgesicle
and state fair!
wow. we actually had a weekend at home. and now imma blog about it.
yez.
we took part in a moustache contest at a baby shower. sadly we did not win, but that’s ok because the victor totally deserved his prize.
my girl learned how to swing herself. it’s bittersweet b/c it’s further reinforces the fact that she’s rapidly turning into a big kid but i’m also pretty happy because it means i get to sit down on a freaking park bench for once and just wave while she uses up some of her own energy.
another important playground development was darla’s first experience with oreos. she would use her nimble little fingers to peel off the white filling and then give me the cookies. i think it’s the beginning to a beautiful new relationship.
and we finished the weekend with an extremely under attended jonny corndawg and the almond brothers. these fellas are some mighty fine human beings. i like them a lot.
ok, i’m getting pretty bad at recording these days and distances. next week i’ll be better. i’m combining last weeks distances and this weeks. i’ve been mediocre at best this week.
1 mi
15 mi
7.8 mi
4 mi
this week –
early part of week – 3 mi
7/20 – 2 mi
7/21 – 3.6
7/22 – 1 mi
bi-weekly total = 37 mi
grand total = 234.8
the goal for this next week is to put some serious miles on RuJu. i’ve been slacking.
no excuses. no fear.
people of forecastle, you need to know something: it’s pronounced “folksoul” not fore-castle. it’s tricky but you gotta get it corrected by next year.
it’s on the website, but no one reads that i guess.
anyway…here’s how the jam went down:
just another weekend that went by too quickly. forecastle really stole my heart. the setting was beautiful and things were FUNKY. in a good way. i’m using that as a good word in this scenario. just the right amount of quirky was applied to the whole entire place. my favorite set was deer tick. beach house sounded pretty good and my favorite new discovery of the weekend was JEFF the brotherhood.
but the whole dang festival really that would have meant nothing without our friends. these reunion weekends serve as reminders that we’ve met some pretty amazing people along the way. no matter if we see them everyday, once a season or once a year our friends leave me humbled.
i’m lucky to share such good times with you, friends. i love you all dearly. even down to the littlest one of ya!
speaking of the little ones, i’ve gotta give props to them too. they did pretty ok. i hope darla will appreciate this music festival weekends when she’s older and not resent us for schlepping her to all these different destinations. she’ll probably rebel in some weird and strange way when she’s older. and that’ll be ok. until then we’re going to fest it up.
this is a picture, albeit a not very clear one, of darla last year at pitchfork. she was running wild during tv on the radio getting as messy as could be with a yellow bandana tied around her cape-style.
i don’t know if it gets any better than that. i really don’t. it’s one of my favorite memories of her life thus far. i’m happy we’ve been able to provide her with such carefree moments.
we’re heading to forecastle this year instead of pitchfork. it’s a foray into new territory. i’m a little apprehensive that it won’t be able to compare with our previous experiences.
there’s only one way to find out!
we’ll miss chicago this year, maybe next year we’ll return. but we’ll be surrounded by our friends and good tunes in louisville so i’m sure the weekend will be tops.
at the very least it will be fun taking in a new festival. Pics and updates will be shared along the way. With that, I bid you adieu.
Louisville or bust.
i’ve been trying to take advantage of our front porch as much as possible during the warm summer weather. it seems like we are on the go so frequently that a nice front porch sittin’ session really revives me. whether it’s first thing in the morning for breakfast or in the evening for a beer after darla’s gone down.
the front porch has been good to us. somehow it always seems calm out there. it’s kinda my happy place. the porch has provided us with good conversations, helped us meet our neighbors, and has been a nice cool place to listen to some tunes or just sit and stare meditatively at the sycamore leaves blowing in the wind across the street.
that last one might just apply to only me.
i love sycamores. but anyway…
we’re gearing up for another festival weekend so i’ve been trying to catch some extra front porch time this week. i’d like to reach a nice, calm state of being before heading back into the frenzy. Last night definitely helped:
praise the universe for that front porch. won’t you come join me for a sit-sesh?
ps. take notice of our wedding poster we FINALLY got framed. almost 2 years later and i’m still in love with it. eternal gratitude mr. crothers!
momjeanz 