A (BELATED) OSCAR RECAP
Aside from the telecast being SUPER long and a little heavy on the music and bad jokes (okay, so that's every Oscars telecast), I was pretty pleased with the winners and fashion this year. I thought Jessica Chastain was flawless - perfect hair, perfect makeup, and that dress! The fit was incredible. Kristen Stewart's tailor could stand to take a few notes. I thought K-Stew looked like a complete train wreck - even more than usual, which is saying something. It must be nice to get paid millions of dollars and still be able to look like a hungover mess any time you show up to a fancy event. Also, what was she even doing there? As my friend Ailsa said, "Kristen Stewart has no business being at any event purportedly rewarding good acting. No business!" Amen, sista. Anywho, my other favorite looks of the night were Naomi Watts, Jennifer Lawrence, and Jennifer Garner.
As for our menu... this is the second year in a row I've made an Oscar themed feast, and while my names were pretty weak this year, the food - thankfully - was not. We had (brace yourselves) Seth MacncheeseFarlane (using our go-to Alton Brown recipe), BroccoLincorn (which was basically just broccoli and corn... we needed a veggie that Emma would eat), and Life of Salted Caramel Apple Hand Pies.
Obviously, the hand pies were the best part of the menu. The recipe was surprisingly easy to follow, despite my perpetual fears about making pie crust from scratch. I definitely recommend eating these warm, though... they were still good cooled, but they were heaven when they were just shy of piping hot.
How did you spend your Oscar night? I'd love to hear what you thought of the fashion!
Thoughts on Oscar
It's Oscar weekend!!! I've mentioned before that the Oscars are one of my favorite nights of the year. I love it all... the dresses, the glamour, the cheesy jokes and heartfelt speeches. My husband has the Super Bowl, I have the Oscars. And I'm so excited that this year we were able to see all but one of the Best Picture nominees. It's so much more fun watching when you know what the heck everyone's talking about! I'll post a recap next week about all the Oscar themed food we make, but I thought I'd share my thoughts on each of the BP nominees...
Argo: This is my favorite kind of movie... smart, thought provoking, dramatic with just the right amount of humor. It was easily one of my favorite movies of the year, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if it wins. I do think that Ben Affleck got robbed on the Director nod. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to both act in and direct a movie. The boy's come a long way since Voyage of the Mimi! (Anyone else have to watch that in elementary school??)
Beasts of the Southern Wild: Holy water works, batman. This movie was so beautiful, so heartbreaking. I really can't believe that an 8 year old was capable of that kind of performance, just incredible. I'm a mess just thinking about this movie.
Django Unchained: This was a flat out fantastic movie. Yes it was hard to watch at times, yes I had to cover both my eyes and ears during certain parts, no it wasn't supposed to be 100% factual... but it made me think about race and slavery in a way only Tarantino could. This is a must-see, in my opinion.
Les Miserables: I'll start by saying that I've never seen the stage performance of Les Mis, but I've been obsessed with the soundtrack since I was a little girl so the music is very close to my heart. I thought this film was so gorgeous, complete visual eye candy, and the performances by Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway were flawless. The only thing I didn't like about this version was Russell Crowe - he was a strange casting choice, and his singing left a lot to be desired. Otherwise, I really loved this film.
Life of Pi: I had no idea what to expect of this movie as I hadn't read the book and wasn't familiar with the story, so I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. Ang Lee can do no wrong, and this movie was no exception. His visual execution really captured the emotion and intensity and magic of the story. Another favorite of movie of the year for me.
Lincoln: If Daniel Day Lewis doesn't win the Oscar for his performance in the movie it will be an outrage. It was a master class in acting, and I truly can't imagine anyone else having even come close to the caliber of his performance. As far as historical biopics, this was about what you'd expect from Spielberg, and I don't mean that in a bad way - just that it's great but predictable. I don't know if it should win Best Picture, but it's definitely worth seeing.
Silver Linings Playbook: I'll be honest, I don't know why this movie was nominated. It's a good movie, don't get me wrong, but I watched it after the nominations were announced and my expectations were pretty high. I actually think I would have liked this movie a lot more if it hadn't been nominated, if that makes sense. I applaud the academy for trying to acknowledge a less traditional film, but I'm just not sure what all the hype is about with this one. Sorry.
Zero Dark Thirty: I loved this movie right up until they brought in the Navy Seals. I have no idea what the actual Seal team was like that carried out this mission, but I have a hard time buying that they were all a bunch of stereotypical meatheads ready to shoot 'em up fer America. Other than that, I thought this was a very well told and important movie, and I think Jessica Chastain's performance was fantastic. She's quickly becoming one of my favorite actresses.
Amore: Didn't see this one. Sorry!
So that's that! I'm pulling for Argo to take home the big one. Who do you think will be the big winners?
PS... I'm a big fan of these Oscar bingo cards. They help you stay interested during the more boring award categories. Seriously, though, why do those guys always have the longest speeches?
BUGS, BIRTHDAYS, AND BALSAMIC
How's that for a post title? This past weekend was Jared's birthday weekend and we were supposed to go to the cabin for a long weekend. That is until Emma came down with a nasty stomach bug at school on Thursday and was a total heartbreakingly sick mess the rest of the day. Our friends that were meeting us at the cabin also have little ones, and everyone agreed that it was too risky to have us all cooped up in a cabin together (without running water), so the cabin trip was scrapped. To say Jared was bummed would be an understatement. He'd been looking forward to this trip for months! I promised I would try to salvage his birthday, so we planned a day trip to Annapolis for Saturday afternoon. Now, Emma gets pretty restless if she's stuck in the car for more than half an hour, and it takes a little over an hour to get to Annapolis - so the car ride was less than stellar. But I was still optimistic the rest of the day would be okay. The sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, the weather was perfect... except it was freezing cold and our dear daughter happened to be at the tail end of an "I don't want to wear my mittens!" phase. She also happens to be in an "I want to walk on my own but I don't want to hold your hand" phase. Ahhh, life with a toddler. 98% of the time, Emma is a truly awesome and great kid... but that 2% she's not is pretty dang miserable for all involved. We were quite the spectacle walking around the Naval Academy with our half frozen baby being carried against her will. Yep - we were those parents. Did I mention it was Jared's birthday? Yeah.
I will say that Bancroft Hall was really impressive (just a little fancier than my dorm at MSU) and Memorial Hall was somber and powerful. (Thanks for the recommendation, Jill!)
After touring the Academy, we made our way over to the shops and restaurants of historic Annapolis. Emma was still pretty miserable at this point, so we made a stop for something sweet and to warm our bones a bit. Things started to pick up after that, and before we headed to dinner at Joss Sushi (heads up if you go there that they don't have high chairs or booster seats, but are otherwise family friendly) we stopped into an oil and vinegar shop called Seasons. Jared and I are pretty big fans of anything balsamic, and had a field day tasting all the different flavors. We walked out with an 18 year aged Balsamic, an amazing Black Cherry Balsamic, and a Tuscan herb infused olive oil. It was kind of the highlight of our whole day, and we spent a good part of Sunday planning out how we would use our new purchases at dinner that night.
We decided on homemade Focaccia bread to accompany a simple roast chicken dinner, and for dessert - ohhhhh, this dessert... vanilla ice cream topped with fresh cherries cooked in a black cherry balsamic reduction. It was heavenly. HEAVENLY. My mouth is still watering looking at the picture.
So, all in all, Jared's birthday was still kind of a bust... but Emma has worn her mittens every day since Saturday, and we had some seriously kickass food on Sunday night thanks to our Seasons haul. And there's always next year.
Letters to My Daughter: January
Hello, sweet girl. I haven't written to you since you were a few weeks old, when I was still so overwhelmed with the joy of your arrival (and with figuring out this whole parenting thing!) I held you in my arms and couldn't imagine life getting any better. But it has... in the past year and a half I've watched you grow into this amazingly smart, silly, and ever-curious little girl, and I find myself in a state of perpetual awe.
You bring so much joy and laughter to my life every single day... and since we don't get to spend that much time together during the week, I pretty much live for the weekends. I love our morning cuddles, having breakfast together in our PJs, going to the park, throwing the ball for Rocco... your excitement to play and learn and find new adventures is so infectious. I love watching you "read" your books aloud, in words I can't quite make out, wondering what story you're making up in your head to go along with the pictures. And I love how determined and focused you get during your independent play... it amazes me how creative you are with your toys, and how quickly you learn to use and manipulate them.
Mostly I love how completely and utterly silly you are. You're constantly singing and making up sounds, or dancing to whatever music we have on with the most ridiculous dance moves I've ever seen. Even after you've gone to bed, your dad and I find ourselves still laughing about something you did during the day, or because when we check the monitor we find you in your signature sleeping position - on your back with your arms folded behind your head like you're lounging poolside. We find you endlessly entertaining, and your love of life endlessly inspiring. I feel so immensely blessed - not just that I get to be a mama - but that I get to be your mama. So thank you... thank you for being you and for bringing me so much more happiness than I ever thought possible.
I am joined in this “Letters to our Children” blog circle by an amazing group of photographers and moms. Together, we'll be writing these letters every month in honor of our love for our sons and daughters. I encourage you to head over to Davina's blog to read her letter, and then continue on around the circle!
Goals for 2013
This was our NYE this year, right after the clock struck midnight at The Avett Brothers' show in NC. Ah-mazing. More on that soon!
Happy New Year! I don't know about you, but I'm very happy to see 2012 go. It was a roller coaster of a year and I'm hopeful that 2013 will be a bit more balanced for me and my little family.
As in prior years, I made a list of goals for the coming year... I definitely took on too much last year, and while I have a lot I want to accomplish this year, I really tried to narrow this list down so that I could focus only on the things that are most important to me:
{Family}
- Take a class with Emma (we're all starting Music Together next weekend!)
- Go on a weekend away with Jared, sans kiddo
- Have more play dates with Emma and my nephew, Zachary
{Personal}
- Cross 3 things off of my Life List
- Finally give my home office a much needed makeover
- Get healthy and toned (or at least healthy)
{Photography}
- Take two more Clickin' Moms workshops (already signed up for Shooting 201 at the end of January)
- Participate in a Project 52
- Print and store our family photos in albums every month
{Blogging}
- Rebrand Made by Bird (very excited about this one!)
- Get a blogger I admire to participate in Desert Island Discs
- Gain 100 new Facebook followers (have you liked MBB on Facebook yet? If not, click here!)
What are your goals for the coming year? I'd love to hear them!
gift guide: BFF edition
I love shopping for my BFF! Well, really I love shopping for all of my friends. They're easy because they don't ask for anything and there's nothing they really need, so I can just get them fun stuff I know they'll love. The key to shopping for your BFF is to give her something that makes her feel special, but that she probably wouldn't buy for herself. Like these luxurious Hanky Panky boyshorts (the best boyshorts in the history of boyshorts)... they're awesome, but I have a hard time spending $30 a pop on underwear. Or the Capri Blue candle from Anthro... the best candle in the history of candles (noticing a theme here?) but again, I have a hard time spending $30 on a candle. Okay, maybe I'm just cheap. All I know is that any of these would make a great gift for the gal who knows all your dirty secrets and loves you anyway.
Stay tuned for the final gift guide next week... gifts for (almost) anyone!
gift guide 2012: husband edition
I don't know about you, but the man in my life is rather hard to shop for. He buys classic things that last and don't need replacing very often, which over time means that the list of things he "needs" gets pretty slim. And what's worse, he already has most of the things on this list (1-3) so my own gift guide doesn't help me much, but hopefully it will help you!
I can't recommend the Red Wing boots enough… they're classic, and of impeccable quality. And the lip balm is one of the few products I can get Jared to use on a regular basis. Now let's chat about #5, since I know this one is probably a little controversial… but there isn't a man alive that wouldn't want photos like this of his wife! The trick is to find a really high quality photographer who specializes in this type of photography. I haven't done a boudoir shoot, but I think I would someday… I think it would be fun to get my hair and makeup all done up and pretend I'm a Victorias Secret model for an afternoon. You know, a VS model who has barely worked out since she had a baby and shows only the teensiest bit of skin. Hot! But seriously, you should go for it. I've heard from several women who said it was a huge ego boost. And I'm guessing it would be your husband's favorite gift ever. :)
Stay tuned for next week's gift guide for your BFF!
gift guide 2012: toddler edition
Every Wednesday until Christmas I'll be posting a gift guide with shopping ideas for all of your favorite people. I'm starting off with a guide designed for my favorite little gal.
We try to keep Emma's play space clean and uncluttered so we decided not to get her any toys this year. (We realized this is probably the last year we'll get away with that, so might as well take advantage of it while we still can!) We asked family members for board books (we loooove the Pigeon books) and art supplies for her, and we're giving her the Learning Tower (#1) and made her a personalized mini book of names & faces (#3).
What are you getting for the toddler in your life this Christmas?
have a great weekend!
No Wear + Share today because Emma and I are boarding a very early flight to Michigan to visit my BFF for a couple of days. Would you believe she hasn't met Emma yet? Craziness. So I'm beyond excited for this weekend. We're going to do nothing but play with our kiddos, not shower, and eat lots of cheese... and I can't wait. I hope your weekend is as great as I know mine will be! :)
a better place to play
I never in a million years thought I would be a play space in the living room kind of parent, but here we are... and you know what? It works for us. Well it was working for us. After a few months with this setup, it became clear that our little galley play space needed to be re-thought. And last weekend I finally got around to it...
Before the redesign we had everything lined up against the wall, and Emma would inevitably get bored and start digging all of her toys out of the bottom of those mesh bins. It made for very unfocused and messy play. We also had a lot of toys from when she was younger that we needed to weed out.
Now Emma's toys are all within view, and mostly organized by type of activity. I know what you're thinking - there's no way it still looks like this. Well, I'm happy to report that it does! It's surprisingly much easier to clean up than before. Maybe because everything has its own place and the shelves aren't overflowing with toys.
What I love most about our shared living/play space is that you can't really see it when you first walk into the living room. And I finally found a place to display my beloved Penguin Classics collection of books...
I still have a couple of To Dos for the space, including some art in between the windows and a little upholstered chair to replace this pillow in Emma's reading nook:
What are your thoughts on having a play space in the living room? Major faux pas or an inevitable fact of life with kids?
(PS... try to ignore all the beige-overload. Oh how I can't wait to be a homeowner again.) :)
Resources:
I brought my camera to the pool yesterday...
...for the sole purpose of getting this:
And this:
Happy Monday, everyone! :)
you think you know, but you have no idea
Yep, that's a reference to MTV's Diary, and it's exactly how I feel about blogshop. It was two jam-packed days filled with all the stuff I never knew I didn't know about Photoshop. And how to do all that stuff super fast. I have to be honest, my expectations were pretty high for this class, and it surpassed all of them. I was also super nervous and intimidated, but Bri and Angela were fantastic teachers in addition to being super sweet and adorable. I thought I knew my way around Photoshop, but it was clear after the first hour that I didn't have a clue. And that things I thought I knew how to do, I was doing completely wrong. Thankfully, Bri and Angela showed me the light.
I learned how to do this...
And this...
And I made this from scratch in under 10 minutes (something that prior to blogshop would have taken me a good 2 hours)...
And that's really just a fraction of what we learned. Masking, liquify, templates, retouching, gradients, levels, I could go on and on. If you ever have the opportunity to attend blogshop, I highly recommend it. In addition to all of the Photoshop content, we got great little goody bags, BKR glass water bottles (which I'm now obsessed with), delicious food, and mimosas. (C'mon, at what other class would you get a mimosa?!) It was such an amazing and inspiring weekend and I left feeling tired but so excited to apply what I learned. Look for some new features on the blog very soon. Maybe even tomorrow! Okay, definitely tomorrow.
Thanks again, Bri & Angela!!!
Lil' Red
Happy Halloween! Well, first I hope everyone is safe, sound, with power, cell service, etc. Second, Happy Halloween! I'm so glad the kids around here will still get to go trick or treating tonight. Emma's still a little young for that, but I made her a costume anyway because we all know I just couldn't help myself.
I used Simplicity 1774, red fleece for the cape, and blue gingham for the dress. The pattern could not have been easier, especially with fleece because that meant I didn't have to line the cape. I did add some topstitching to give it a more finished look. And I used buttons to fasten the shoulder straps instead of hook and loop tape. Mostly because I forgot to buy hook and loop tape.
We were late getting out the door this morning, so this was the best I could get. (Note to self, learn how to use my Speedlight. That grain is killing me!) What you can't see here are the adorable new white chucks I got her to go with her costume, which of course are her favorite part.
Have a happy, safe, and sugar-filled Halloween, everyone!
a shot for Jen
Jen Burgess Thompson was a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend, and a photographer. She was 37 years old and last Friday she lost her battle with ovarian cancer. I did not know her personally, but I found myself so profoundly moved by her story... and brought to tears at the thought of her husband and two young boys. Jen's message to all of us moms was simple - get in front of the camera with your kids. Too many of us, whether we have a fancy camera or not, are so busy taking photos of all the milestones, all the funny faces, that we forget to get in the frame.
So, Jen... this is for you. It's not perfect, but I love it. And I hope that one day Emma can look back on this photo, and the many more I plan to take with her, and see how much I loved her. Thank you.
To learn more about Jen's story, click here.
Here's a video Jen made with her kids not long after she was diagnosed.
And here are other Shots for Jen, by women who are way better at this than I am.
fall is in the air
It is officially Fall here in Maryland, and as much as I love Summer, I really really love Fall... it's one of the few things I was looking forward to about coming back to the east coast. The crisp air, apple cider donuts, the leaves changing, apple cider donuts, apple cider donuts. Yeah, I'm kind of a fan. And we didn't really get Fall in Portland... once October hit, it was cool and rainy until the following June. Bleh!
So as all parents do this time of year, we welcomed Fall by taking Emma to the pumpkin patch. She LOVED it! We went to Summers Farm here in Frederick, and in addition to the pumpkin patch, they had this giant in-ground moon bounce, a little train ride, pig races, a petting zoo, putt putt, and loads more. Did I mention they also had the most deeeeelicious apple cider donuts I've ever had? I could have eaten a dozen but I restrained myself to 1. At least while we were still there. ;)
We let Emma pick out her own pumpkin, but she decided she'd rather bob for it instead of pick one up with her hands. What a goof.
What about you... What's your favorite thing about Fall?
my grandmother
I got to thinking the other day that I don't recall ever seeing a photo of my mom with her mom... she died of breast cancer when my mom was in her early 20s. My mom was her rock through surgery, treatment, and ultimately death... and as much as I wish she'd talk about my grandmother, I understand why even after 40 years it's still too painful. Given that it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I decided to ask if she'd be willing to let me photograph her holding a beloved photo of her mom... surprisingly, she said okay.
I realized after I uploaded this photo that my mom was wearing the necklace she had made from her mother's engagement ring diamond. She gave me and my sister necklaces with that same diamond when we graduated from college, and it's one of my most cherished possessions. I love that my mom wore it for this photo.
date night
Before Sunday night, Jared and I hadn't been on a date in seven and a half months. SEVEN AND A HALF MONTHS, people! That is craziness. But with all the chaos of the move it just wasn't happenening... plus we both work a lot, and we get such little time with our boo boo. It's really hard to sacrifice any time we get with her, so it has to be for something really good. And this past Sunday was just the excuse we needed. Our favorite band, The Avett Brothers (more about our love for them here) was playing in Baltimore and we knew we had to go.
We ramped up a sitter over the past month so that Emma would be comfortable with her, we really liked and trusted her, but when the time came to leave we were so nervous. No one had ever put Emma to bed besides us! So for the first couple of hours I was definitely that cliche mom on a date night who was checking her phone every few minutes. All I wanted was that text saying she was sleeping soundly. And right as we were walking into the venue, we got it. Best text ever!
Once we could finally relax, we had SUCH a good time. I can't tell you how great it was to be out just the two of us, especially seeing our favorite band. We had great seats, the set list was nearly perfect, and it felt great doing something that was so quintessentially us. We've been seeing The Avett Brothers live since 2007, and this was show #12 for us... in that time we've gotten married, had a baby, and moved across the country. They've been a constant in our relationship and something that always brings us back to each other. I can't think of a better way to spend our first date night in what felt like forever.
Now that we've ripped off the babysitting bandaid, we're hoping to make it a regular thing. Any recommendations? What is your favorite thing to do on a date night?
cabin bound
Sorry there's no Link Love today! We're heading up to the cabin for a long weekend and I got so busy getting things packed up last night that I ran out of time to get all my weekly finds together. There weren't that many anyway because I've been super busy with both work and my photography class - which is going awesome, btw. I've learned so much just in the first week! I can't believe I'm actually shooting in manual mode now. I honestly never thought I'd see the day. In lieu of links can I make it up to you with a cute baby? Here are a couple of my favorite shots from my assignment this week:
Oh, that face. What's a mother to do? ;)
Have a great weekend, everyone!
swim survival
[embedplusvideo height="365" width="600" standard="http://www.youtube.com/v/0lojev5QRb0?fs=1" vars="ytid=0lojev5QRb0&width=600&height=365&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=0&autoplay=0&react=1&chapters=¬es=" id="ep4660" /]
Before Emma was even born I knew I wanted to enroll her in an infant swim survival class. I had a coworker who did it with her daughter and the stories she would tell me of how her baby could float on her back before she could even walk blew me away. If you've never heard of it, infant swim survival teaches your baby to roll over to their back and float independently until help can arrive - it essentially teaches them how to save their own life in case of an accidental fall in the water, which is pretty critical for us considering we live 100 yards from a pool and the cabin has two ponds and a stream. Emma has been practicing these skills since she was almost 5 months old, and her ability to turn and float still amazes us - not to mention the peace of mind we have knowing our baby can self rescue. If you're thinking about signing your baby up for swim classes, I highly recommend going with a swim survival program.
