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pandemic purchases & pasttimes {part 1}
Well, some people said they were interested so today’s a good a day as any to start. Don’t worry, I’ll still be posting lots of pretty pictures from 2020’s family sessions and you won’t have to read about pandemic purchases too often. Or if you don’t care, feel free to skip it entirely.
You guys know I DO NOT EVER run, everrrr. Not even if chased. I’d rather just curl up in a ball and be killed quietly without sweating and being out of breath. But, that said- I do walk. Well, I should correct that to I used to walk. A lot. Like 3miles a day for a while there. That and WW helped me to lose about 75 pounds in the past. And I liked that walking (mostly). It was good therapy just to be outside in some sun with some awesome music blasting, actually moving my body. Well, sadly I gained back like 40-50 pounds of what I lost and I’m all fat and out of shape again. Beyond depressed from the pandemic and all that entails for almost a year, with the only fun to be had was eating and drinking so that’s pretty much all I did. All. The. Time. And no walking. So when I saw the Get to Sesame Street Challenge, I figured I’d give it a go. I mean, you know I may be old as shit but I will be immature forever- what better for motivation than some Muppets!? I signed up for the 100 miles (maybe I should’ve done the 500 miles to really challenge myself but winter and walking not so much.) and am happy to say I already reached Elmo for 15 miles. Every time a milestone is reached, you get a pin of that character mailed to you and at the end of the 100 (or 500) miles, you get a medal where you can pin all your pins on the ribbon. I am also a big fan of collections so this is an added good motivator. Its been pretty freezing again, so I haven’t put in any miles yet this week, but I’m hoping to get out tomorrow to walk a bit. I just want to not be hugely fat and uncomfortable anymore. Again. Also, I can’t wait to get the Cookie Monster pin!!! He’s always been my favorite (and matches my Cookie Monster pj’s!) for understandable reasons. The perks of the 500 are the Bert, Ernie, Snuffy, and Grover pins. Hmmmm…maybe I’ll have to upgrade to the 500 afterall.
If you’re interested in signing up, you can find the Get to Sesame Street Challenge here It’s $100 for either the 100 or 500 miles challenge and both include a tshirt, bib, the 6 milestone pins and the medal at the end. I’m using my very awesome and cheap $20 fake fitbit I found on amazon here and then logging my miles on my Spark Challenges app and in my planner. Omg, you guys the planner!!!!! But that’s a post for another day.
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merry christmas eve!
Another year with no card from us (shoemakers kid syndrome + 2020= totally unmotivated and no kids here at the same time) but here’s a look at all the outdoor decorations. Most of which I had to take inside because of the incoming storm with high winds tonight. Because 2020 can’t even let us have a nicely decorated house. Of course not. If you look closely, you can see the leg lamp in the upstairs window (2nd window from the left). “You should see what it looks like from out here!”
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jack & elizabeth @ pinehurst
Because the world is a giant mess and getting worse by the minute it seems,I’m escaping that reality and just posting pretty pictures instead. Last week Jack & I drove down to Wake Forest to clean out his dorm room for good. His girlfriend Elizabeth and her amazingly lovely mom, Anne, invited us to stay with them at their house in Pinehurst NC instead of having to go to a hotel. And I can definitely tell you, southern hospitality is TOTALLY a thing!!
First off, we made it to Washington DC in 3.5 hours (normally about 5 hours) and all the way to Pinehurst in 8.5 hours (usually around 10-12hours) including a 30 minute lunch break of no driving. I was doing 74mph on the Belt Parkway!! Unheard of and if you live here in NY or travel around here, you know that never, ever happens– not even on like a Tuesday night at 3am. This may be the only part of the “new normal” that I actually enjoy and find positive. I think we averaged around 82mph for the whole trip.
When we arrived, I had my own room waiting for me which was perfectly “my” colors (even matched my luggage!) with fresh cut roses and candy by the bed. And there were Hershey Kisses in the dining room. And she’s a Cure fan! Its like Anne and I were meant to be friends! (the only thing that she doesn’t enjoy is cursing. you guys know me and know that would be a problem for me. but i did it! no cursing at all for 3 days! its like a miracle!). So not only was their home at Pinehurst lovely, and the town and community they live in beautiful, most importantly Anne and Elizabeth were so super nice and sweet and genuine and welcoming. They even took us out to dinner at a real restaurant to celebrate Jack’s graduation (restaurant=unheard of here in NY these pandemic days) and drove us around everywhere. The thing that stood out to me in a funny so-not-happening-in-new york kinda way was that each person in their development had their names (first and last) and the address printed on their mailboxes. All I could think was why don’t you just post your credit card and social security numbers on there too! The south is so nice and so different. In the best way!
Anyway, I did a little shoot for Jack & Elizabeth and a picture or two for Anne too. The furry creatures are Fox Squirrels. I am so not a nature photographer, I definitely don’t have the patience. And let me say its really annoying when your “client” lives in your house and stands over you telling you what pictures you can and cannot post. PS. Isn’t Elizabeth gorgeous?
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jack graduates wake forest
So today, Jack graduates from Wake Forest University. Just like everyone else on this planet who is graduating from anything this year, this is not the celebration we had in mind. We would’ve all been at Wake to celebrate but instead we are going to be watching a virtual graduation at 7pm tonight. All these changes suck (those of you who know me know I don’t do well with change. “change is bad. we fear change.”) and are very disappointing for Jack I’m sure, but he doesn’t seem to mind all that much. I think he’s more disappointed in not being able to spend the rest of his “senior” year with his friends and taking his actual in person classes. They have rescheduled real, in person graduation to October and if that doesn’t work, to next May. So we’ll just hold onto that I guess.
I tried to make it as special as I could here without going too insane.
And despite all of the changes and let downs caused by the pandemic, it can’t dull how totally proud we are of Jack! Graduating in THREE years, with honors. He’s super motivated, smart and has a bright future ahead. Love that kid!! (he let me take some pictures, reluctantly because photographers kids syndrome, but at least there will be a few to remember this craziness).
Balloons: Maria’s Touch Events
Banner: designed by me, printed at MinuteMan Press in RVC
Cupcakes (not pictured because we ate them and they were so good!): The Cake Don
Cap, Gown & tassle in school colors: Amazon and Amazon
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the hera kids
When your BFF both helps you and laughs at you when you have twins, and somehow you just know that someday she’s going to have twins too, and then she does and you help and laugh at her too! Robin asked me to take some pix of her kids, especially the girls who need headshots to get started on possibly modeling. And I couldn’t leave out the miracle baby who is now so tall- its just a matter of time until he’s bigger than both of us and he’s still only 10! Robin’s son is her allllll over (looks like her, acts like her, his eyes disappear when really smiling just like her, has her unbelieveable artistic abilities- well, thats both his parents actually, but he’s got it in spades) and the girls are allll their dad (irish much?!). It’s a good combination all around!
