And maybe this...

This CD would also be quite great...

Birthday Wish List...

Oh, my stars! My birthday is coming up so quickly - and I've given folks so little time to prepare...but this year - these are the things for which I pine...

This delicious necklace

This slick camera

This CD - which, please note, is the Dirty Dancing 20th Anniversary edition. It has all the music from the movie - instead of the two tapes we used to have...

This pair of Dansko Roz sandals, size 8.5

This subscription

and this one, too.

This game

This Fiskars paper cutter

Some of this fun hair stuff

One of the funniest things...and I'm talking EVER.

Go here and enjoy. You'll thank me later...I promise.

A visit to the park.

Yesterday afternoon we decided to take a trip to the park...and just as we were walking out the door, the skies opened and buckets of rain began to fall. So, to make lemonade from the lemons of rain - Seth opened the back hatch of the Expedition and let the kids play in the back of the car while the storm blew over. And then after that...we played in the puddles. Because that's how we roll...

A lovely day. Just right for a splashfest in the street.

A perfect puddle, right at the end of the driveway

Bennett leaps - but will he stick the landing?!

Splash-tastic!

We all know how this one is going to end...

Just in case you need the PERFECT gift to say "I love you."

Head on over here and buy you one. Or me one. Whatevs.

A statement of fact

Folks, I iron my sheets. This is not a confession or a guilty pleasure or a secret. Just a fact. I also iron clothes that need ironing but I do not iron my underwear or other things that do not usually need an iron. I prefer the way that iron sheets feel and that is why I do it. That may be why I'm really loving these pictures of Extreme Ironing found here. A few faves:

The Taste...

So - on Thursday afternoon we went to the Taste of Chicago - or "The Taste" as it's known by locals. I had such a delightful time - and we ate our way up and down the aisle of wondrous food. The event was really well run - and here are my two favorites - which is not to say that I ate anything I didn't like...

Crab Rangoon - oh hold me

Strawberry kabobs swimming in dark chocolate by the Chicago Chocolate Company. Now, folks. I really don't think I've ever had sweeter, juicier strawberries in my LIFE. And the fact that they were swimming in chocolate didn't hurt either. Di-vine.

I had such a good time - but by the end I was so full I wanted to die. Once we'd reached our limit we headed home - and basked in the glory of our cuisinetainment. The highlight (other than the food) was overhearing this family discussion:

A mother with two daughters (one 13 years old and one 9 years old) approach the Ferris wheel. Clearly the 9 year old wants to ride the Ferris wheel:

Mother: NO, look at that line - it's like 20 minutes long!

9 year old: So?

13 year old (wise beyond her years): Don't you know what you could EAT in 20 minutes?!

Truer words were NEVER spoken.

Double Oh My...

I'll trade this post for a...

I sure do love these great brooches over at Paraphernalia . Such a cool idea!

A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success.

-Anonymous

Welcome back, Matt!

I'm sure I posted about Matt and his dancing around the world - but that must have been a while ago. Well - Matt's got a new video - and I love it. It makes me so happy and, frankly, emotional. But I'm also a goof - so what can you do? Please do enjoy.


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.