i love coffee...

i mean i really love coffee.
so of course i want to think about designing coffee cups.
i don't know about you but i'm in a much better place once i've finished my coffee.
that's sort of the idea here.
i hope it's coming through.

enough about the snow...

i've been married a really long time. my husband and i are at the point in our marriage where we joke about getting divorced.
we've even talked about who gets what...so far i think i get everything if i just set him free--ha! believe me at times it's tempting. but on mornings like today, when he volunteers (sort of) to walk the dog so i can relax with the paper and coffee---well, that's about as good as it gets.

and where do you think you're going...

um....nowhere.

if you parked a car on the street on wed you're not going anywhere until maybe april.

if you've got a canoe or amazing boots then you're in good shape. because every time you cross the street, you're waterborne.

how many more days of winter...

winter wonderland or hell?

my first headline for this card was, winter sucks.
and then i thought that wasn't interesting enough.
hmmm...

happy engagement cards..

it's snowing again.
which is precisely why i am posting engagement cards.
winter, snow, white-outs everywhere, bride.
makes perfect sense.

look familiar?

i took this photo on my birthday and thought it would make a good card.
i suddenly looked down at all the crap i use on a daily basis and just laughed.
age defying. age repairing. ageless eye cream. skin tightening.
of course i know all this stuff isn't going to do what it says it's going to do.
but i love these products anyway.
but i'm so not loyal.
the minute something new comes on the market--i want to try it.
as you can see i've got a lot of the new oil of olay rx stuff now.
i like it.
but it's not altering or shifting or defying (yeah, right) the 49 years i wear around my eyes, my mouth, my neck.
what would really be age defying is if i didn't buy any of this stuff.
but why would i do that?

the day after...

i went through all the things i've learned in 49 years and put together a list of my fav's. and because i am exhausted from all the celebrating this blog post is going to be very short.

Happy Birthday to me and David Lynch!

this birthday i have been dreading is finally here and it's been great!

coffee and scones for breakfast and some gorgeous presents. big thanks to sam and zoe for decorating the kitchen and just making the morning so special. and huge hugs to jimmy for basically everything.


so, i'm almost done with this list i started a week ago---49 things i've figured out in 49 years. today's seven will complete the list. writing these blog posts this week has been somewhat cathartic. it's reminded me of all the experiences i've had and that my life is more than just the day-to-day----which can sometimes feel a bit static. 49, 49, 49---it just doesn't seem possible. oy veh. the final seven.

Seven More Things I've Learned in 49 years


Blogging on a regular basis is really hard.

There are some things you can never take back.

Sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down. But most of the time you're somewhere in between.

Everything is so much easier when you're just who you are.

You will learn more from your kids than they will learn from you.

Most people are kind.

It never hurts to pray.

almost 49..

i am so regretting ever even thinking about this list.

over the years i guess i've had a couple of profound thoughts and the rest have been just kinda no brainers...

maybe this says something about me. i don't know.

seven more things i've learned in 49 years...this makes 42.


the surest way to bore someone is to talk about yourself.

the surest way to impress someone is to let them talk about themselves.

the surest way to kill a great dinner party is to start talking politics.

don't repeat yourself.

the more talented somebody is, the nicer they are.

there's no one to blame.

god is out there.

and the list continues...

This brings us to 35 things i've learned in 49 years...


If you can name all the kardashians, don't.

Movies with subtitles usually have a lot to say.

CPR is really good to know.

Listening is more important than speaking.

Being depressed really sucks.

Good coffee and dark chocolate equal happy life.

Stay away from the neon colored alcoholic beverages.

and these seven make 28...

i guess all this time hasn't been for nothing...

seven more things i've learned in 49 years...

no one is ever happy as they seem.

everyone always looks better on the internet.

the older you get the more you need to spend on clothing.

the more grown-up your kids, the more they need you.

if you want to lose weight, eat less.

when someone fake and phony acts fake and phony, you can't be surprised.

when you're wrong, admit it.

and seven more things i've learned in 49 years...

(so, i think this makes 21.)

Quality parenting is quantity parenting.

Gossip is verbal prozac. Sometimes it just feels good.

Don't believe everything you read on the internet.

The more you drink the less you sleep. The less you sleep the more you want to drink.

Be careful who you fall in love with. They better be worth it. (From the movie Blue Valentine)

Tell the truth because then you never have to remember what you said.

Just because something's on sale doesn't mean you should buy it.

7 more things i've learned in 49 years...

yesterday's blog post continued....


Your children are not you.

There are always three sides to every story.

Don't litter. Someone might have to sleep there.

Vegan is short for hungry all the time.

When someone starts a sentence out with 'honestly'....stop listening.

Wait ten minutes before doing anything rash.

Eating bad food, drinking crappy wine...why?

on turning 49...

in seven days i will be celebrating my birthday.
this birthday, with its close proximity to 50, is throwing me for a bit of a loop.
i wish i was so self-actualized that i could embrace this birthday.
but i can't.
and so i am over processing what this birthday means. where i am at. where i am not.
it's torture.
so, for the next week i will be posting things i've learned along the way.
Seven thoughts for the next seven days.
i thought i could organize my thoughts by category (great suggestion zoe) but i think it will be more interesting if i don't.

so, here it goes.

49 things i've learned in 49 years.
(the first seven)

Spanx and concealer are proof that there is a God and she's a woman.

The hardest thing for a woman to do is ask for what she wants.

Let your children know what you believe in. It gives them something to rebel against.

The only person brave enough to answer the 'does this make me look fat' question is no one.

If it doesn't fit in the store it's not going to fit when you get it home.

Your children will do stupid stuff even if you teach them not to do stupid stuff.

Jeans don't shrink that much.

new year resolutions

i didn't make any new year's resolutions.
but in the back of my mind i've been thinking about things i would like to do this year.
with my kids a year away from going to college
one of those things i am mulling around is what's next for me.
to that end i have resolved to be more open minded and less judgemental.
we'll see how long that lasts.

finally back to blogging..

so, the last time i posted i was packing up my drugs for south africa.
everything in that ziplock was unnecessary.
and just added a lot of unnecessary weight.
we all felt a bit foolish, too, taking the malaria tablets given that there were no mosquitos whatsoever.

south africa is so beautiful. i know i will be back. the whole time i was there i kept wondering why i had never been there before. yeah, it takes like forever to get there and there's a seven hour time difference but once you meet the people there and breathe the air, you forget about all that.

and now it's back to real life.
everybody's back in their groove.
time to start figuring stuff out.
more on that.