Things I want to remember about June

Coming back home from a blissful May in New Orleans was kind of difficult.  Lucky for me June turned out to be more than a little alright.  Family, friends, music, celebrations.  Keep it up, Summer 2014!  A few really special things I don't want to forget...

This is indeed a right of passage for any Nolan girl.  Lucky for Lenny, Aunt Mo runs the Social Media initiatives for Silent Sundays at the Revue and just about the whole clan came out to join in the fun.  I've been sitting on the fence for years (for real, that's crazy) about what Lenny's first in house movie experience should be.  Buster Keaton's The Navigator was the perfect choice.  She's been playing Buster Keaton games for weeks. Success! Team Buster!

Aunt Paddy, who happens to also be the excellent film blogger Caftan Woman, chronicled the day here.  She says it better than I could.

Soul Rebels in the house, y'all!!!  My favourite brass band in the Tdot just a few weeks after I saw them in Nola?  Yes, please! Lenny showed them how she's been practicing her 504 chant.  She was a big hit.  They were on their way to Europe after this show and joked that they were going to take her with them.  Something tells me she'd be into that.

Elvis Costello played 2 1/2 hours of some of the most hauntingly beautiful music I've ever heard at Massey Hall on June 15th.  His endurance and musicianship and humanity...just wow.  Also, a rare date night with my BFF.  A perfect evening.

And then, there were the birthday celebrations.  Viv turned 2!  There was a wonderful backyard BBQ with great friends.

2 year old DAREDEVIL!

Lenny loves Sarah so much she literally says things like "I wish Sarah Sisko was wiping my mouth"

And yes...the glasses are fakes.  But she continues to wear them all the time :)

With Kath in her beautiful backyard and Desi AKA The Farmer's Only Daughter (Thanks for the pics Sarah!)

Then there was Céline's birthday party at the Jazz Bistro during the Oliver Jones show. I've already talked about how great the music was but the company was killer too.  I was so focussed on capturing the band with my camera I forgot to take any fun party pics.  Thanks to Rosemarie and Mo for these awesome shots.

Surprise!

With the birthday girl and the awesome and talented Rosemarie 

One of Lenny's besties, Sully Cooper turned 3 this month and he invited her to join him on a trip to Ripley's Aquarium.  It was amazing.  We adore Sully and his whole family.  It was a great day.  I didn't manage to get many pictures because they were total moving targets.  I Love their friendship.

Bring it, July... 

Daddy Jackpot

I called it, you guys.

It was Lenny's fourth day on the planet and our first full day at home with her.  I was exhausted, disoriented and not that I knew it then, in a weird, muted state of panic.  Pretty much the only thing that made me feel better was watching The Robeau scoop our crying infant up and walk her around the living room singing her Tea for Two.  

She responded to him fully, right from the very beginning.  She just sort of melted into him.  Her whole tiny body would just relax and I could exhale.  At least a little bit.

I'm not gonna lie.  I felt a little left out at first.  For a while, their bond was so strong I felt like a third wheel. Of course, over time dynamics shifted, I got well (err - or at least less not-well) and as Lenny grew we developed our own bond.  Now we feel like a trio.  I'm with the band! 

Still, nobody makes her smile like her daddy does.  Nothing sounds as wonderful to my ears as the belly laughs that he elicits from her.  He is totally, completely, one hundred percent dedicated to her happiness and wellbeing.  What a gift.  

When I asked him what he wanted for Father's Day he made a face.  He's not in it for the glory, people.  Hanging out with his daughter is gift enough.  But then he said we could make him eggs.  And then they wrote about it on the Huffington Post...so...there I go cocking up the "no glory" part.  

I took that totally adorable photo in New Orleans just before we headed to the courthouse to get married.  And now, I've been referred to as "his wife" on the Huffington Post so it's really official.

We love you to bits, Jim Clayton.  Thank you for always making us feel loved and safe.  Today, we'll make sure you get the big piece of chicken.

Legit.

On Tuesday, The Robeau, Lenny and I got dressed up and went to the courthouse in New Orleans.  After almost 12 years together, a house and a baby we made it official.  I can't really say why we did it, I mean, it is a little...anticlimactic, right? I can say though, that it felt right. And that it really was a perfect day.

After the ceremony we took Lenny to Subway (she wanted a cookie!) and then we called our families to let them know the news.  We went back to the house, spilled the beans on Facebook and soaked up all the love and good humour from our friends back home while Lenny napped.

It felt nice to celebrate our little family this way.

That evening the three of us went on a carriage ride around the French Quarter and capped the night off with a trip to Cafe du Monde.  Like I said, perfect.

Ain't love grande?

Diamond Jubilee Tea Party!

I won't lie to you, I've taken to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations this weekend like a fish to water.  True, I'm on board for just about any holiday but this one is hitting me right where I live.  I was raised in a household that had a great deal of respect and fondness for the Royals and I carry that with me today. 

Isn't she lovely?

I know she isn't even 2 years old yet, but I wanted to try and make the occasion fun for Lenny.  Even though she won't remember the specifics we'll have the story and the photos.  I want to share this with her not just because it's of significance to me, but because her heritage is deeply rooted in the UK.

Lenny's "official" name on her birth certificate is Eileen.  She was named for the Robeau's mother who was in turn named for her mother.  She's a third generation Eileen.  The first Eileen met her husband (Lenny's Great Granddad) when he was a young Canadian soldier serving in WWII.  Eileen was a young British woman working in the canteen.  Family legend is it was love at first sight.  They were married shortly after.

Alan Angus Sloss Peterson and his bride Eileen on their wedding day.

Eileen, Alan and their first born, Eileen Jean (Lenny's Nana!) at home in England

So, this afternoon, to honour HRH, we had a Diamond Jubilee Tea Party.  I even made bunting!  Thanks to Wee Birdy's charming (and free) printables.  Isn't it festive?

On the menu were Funfetti Cupcakes which we decorated with sprinkles and these amazing toppers - another free printable, this time from the good people at Crumb.  I can't get enough of these!

Also on the menu was homemade Butternut Squash Soup (served in my favourite depression era teacups - thanks Mo) and open faced Cucumber Sandwiches which Lenny devoured.  I mean devoured.

The sandwiches were served on one of my favourites, a vintage Ridgway Ironware platter (in the "Espresso" pattern that was very popular around the time the Queen had her Coronation).  I got it at Value Village last year and just love it!

Lenny had a blast. She kept running around the house chanting "Tea Party!" and "Queen!" I look forward to sharing these pictures with her someday and the story about the Tea Party we had (with not a drop of tea) to celebrate a lady named Elizabeth who didn't expect to get the job she did when she was a little girl, but took it on with grace and courage and continues to do her duty every day sixty years later.  If that isn't worth a cupcake, I don't know what is.  Hooray for Lizzy!

The Men In My Life

Anniversaries are strange things.  I don't go in much for observing or celebrating them, but today I'm sort of backed into a corner on that one.  

25 years ago today my Dad died.  I remember the old man fondly, his love of baseball, big bands and us.  But my memories of him have grown weak with time.  I guess that's to be expected.  I've done a lot of living in the last 25 years.

I think my fondest memory of my Dad is that when Glenn Miller's version of The Anvil Chorus would come on the radio he would run around and turn up the volume on all the radios in our apartment.  Loud.  Loud and Joyous.

In a pure coincidence, 10 years ago today, I threw my lot in with the Robeau.  I didn't know then that we'd stick together this long.  That our future would hold so much happiness and a wonderful little girl.  What I did know is that he made me laugh and he liked me.  And really, isn't that what it's all about?

The other day the Robeau and I were watching Step Brothers on TV.  There's a scene when Will Ferrell and John C Reilly's characters come to realize how much they have in common:


Dale Doback: On the count of three, name your favorite dinosaur. Don't even think about it. Just name it. Ready? One, two, three. 
Dale Doback, Brennan Huff: Velociraptor. 
Brennan Huff: Favorite non-pornographic magazine to masturbate to. 
Dale Doback, Brennan Huff: Good Housekeeping. 
Brennan Huff: If you were a chick, who's the one guy you'd sleep with? 
Dale Doback, Brennan Huff: John Stamos. 
Dale Doback: [stomps foot] What? 
Brennan Huff: Did we just become best friends? 
Dale Doback: Yep! 
[they high five each other] 
Brennan Huff: Do you wanna do karate in the garage? 
Dale Doback: Yep! 

I looked at him and said, "that's kind of what our courtship was like."  It really was.  Except we were talking about jazz music and The West Wing instead of dinosaurs and John Stamos.

High Five.

I'm a lucky girl to have had such wonderful, loving men in my life.

If I could, I'd make you look at these in my rec room after dinner.

I've got a busy week coming up with a couple of meetings and a couple of photo shoots so before all of that fun started, I wanted to share some of the photos from our trip to New Orleans.  I'm going to treasure the memories of Lenny's first vacation forever.


Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.

Somebody had a birthday weekend!

Happy Birthday Mumsie!

Little Dickens

Our happy little band lost a member last week and we miss her a lot.


The Robeau had to take Dickens to the vet last Friday evening after we found her suddenly dizzy and listless. We didn't know if there was anything really wrong with her, but she didn't seem herself and we were worried. The vet did a number of tests and tried to re-hydrate her with an IV and after about an hour of this they realized that her organs were shutting down and that we would have to have her put to sleep. The Robeau was with her the whole time; I was home because I am, apparently, terrible in a crisis. They don't know what happened, it could have been any number of conditions that she was living with, but I guess the diagnosis isn't the important part. The important part is that she was her same old self all day long until the very end (she even had "soft food" that afternoon).

It was an absolute joy for us to share our home with her these last seven months. We're heartbroken that we didn't get to have more time with her. During this move she's been utterly relaxed, making friends with everyone. We had a house full of people just last Wednesday night and she stayed and mingled with everyone. I remarked to my sister that "Dickens is everyone's favourite and all she has to do is show up". I thought it seemed a little unfair to the other cats, but nobody else seemed to care.

Dickens was their favourite.

DICKENS RIEDLE - super cute roommate.

Updates have been light as of late. Lots going on at the new house and at CSIS. Had a great photo session with the Pena-Doll family last weekend (pictures to come) and have been giving a lot of thought to the legacy of Senator Kennedy. But right now I wanted to take a moment to share some super cute photos of our newest roommate taken by The Robeau on the back deck. She remains friendly and fearless. We think she's going to love all the space in the new house.

Visitor from the South!

My Uncle Mike from New Jersey came to visit this weekend and we got to have the whole family over for dinner. What a treat to hang out in the backyard, just us and that weird, possibly stray cat that keeps hanging out in said yard. I really just got to know Uncle Mike last year and it's one of those great situations where you realize that even if you weren't related you'd probably be friends anyway. I could talk Apple Computers and Jazz with this guy all night!


View slideshow

One request: come visit more often, Uncle Mike!

Splattered!

I woke up this morning to a message from my Mother. “It’s nothing important, dear,” she said “There was some action in your neighbourhood and I just wanted to make sure you weren’t splattered all over Yonge and College”.

It wasn’t till I read about the 12 car pile up / police chase that happened last night that I knew what she was talking about. Here I thought it was a typical "you don't call enough" guilt trip.

I love my Mother’s use of colourful descriptives.