just for the beauty of it

“I loved autumn, the one season of the year that God seemed 

to have put there just for the beauty of it.” 

― Lee Maynard

It has been a challenge for me to write lately. Its hard to find a reason to do anything other than kiss that little face and spend every spare moment making her eyes light up with laughter (the girl makes you WORK HARD for her giggles). 

She is changing so much and I continue falling so hard. Time is flying fast and the flood of thoughts continuously whooshing through my mind don't linger long enough to be described. 

At first, I worried that becoming a family of three (well, I mean four...we can't wait to get back to our Lucy in a few weeks) would be hard on our marriage - a marriage that was still so new when we found out we were expecting. That first year of marriage had been so good - dating this man who I was lucky enough to call my husband. And I initially mourned the imminent passing of our "single" married days. But that all seems so silly now. 

I have never been more in love with my husband. We are closer now than we've ever been...and we have this little girl...this little life that I can't imagine our family without. I can honestly say she is the best thing that has ever happened to us. This fall seems more beautiful and life so, SO much more full of joy. 

We love you, Lyla Bird. 

In Autumn

“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, 
and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.” 
― George Eliot

I could kiss every fallen leaf and sing aloud for every tree aglow in the light of Autumn. 

As we drove along the highway toward Vermont this weekend, 

I couldn't help but feel inexplicably at home.

It is in Autumn that I was born, 

that I fell in love with my husband

and only Autumn last, that we found out our family would soon grow.

I am completely enamored with this season

and the man whose hand warms mine among the fallen leaves and cool, crisp breeze. 

Mondays are always a little harder than the rest of the week for Lyla Bird and I...

we wait anxiously all day long for Mr. D to come back home. 

We sure do love him so. 

a summer spot in September

“If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.” 

― Lewis Carroll

Lake Winnipesaukee is fast becoming one of my favorite places on this green earth. 

We've just returned back to Boston after a weekend full of

boats, the warmth of a new autumn sun, delicious food and heavenly ice cream, 

a very successful football Sunday, long afternoon naps,

and the company of friends. 

With a cool breeze woven through the sun's slowly distancing rays --

there is something magical about the perfect summer spot in September. 

Boston > DC > Tampa > Orlando > Boston

“He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream 
and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it.” 
― Douglas Adams

[a bird with her wings]

We are back. Again. 

Lately, it seems we spend more time pulling clothes out of suitcases than drawers. 

And once again, it feels good to be home. Sweet, sweet home. 

The beautiful 70 degree weather here is a welcomed respite from the Florida heat. 

Fall is my most favorite season, after all.

 Apple cider, pumpkin patches, boots and crackling fires.

Bring on the bundled babe and bright array of colorful leaves floating from the trees.

Hello, September. 

here in Boston...

“I want 

To do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.” 

― Pablo Neruda, Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair

Mr. D didn't get home until a little after 11 pm last night.

I haven't quite gotten used to missing him all day long...

(and it actually makes me quite sad to think about getting used to it) - 

so this spring weather is just the thing I need to distract and lift my spirits. 

Also, I have a batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies in the oven and its not even 10 am

(one of the joys of working from home)!

Whenever life seems a little daunting, 

it helps so much to focus on those little daily things that make me smile -

like long afternoon walks under the blossoming trees lining brownstone streets 

and the smell of warm cookies filling the air. 

a January thaw

“Your hair is winter fire
January embers
My heart burns there, too.”
― Stephen King

 As an early birthday present to our curly-haired, four-legged friend, 

a January thaw gave way to a 60 degree day this past weekend.

We celebrated at a park along the Potomac River.  

And even as our house sat tucked beneath a blanket of snow last night, 

I have never loved a January more.

As warm as it is, as cold as it is, as round and curvy as it is...

the moments that fill the days that comprise this very January

have never been better.

 

How I welcomed December in...

“That is why, walking across a school campus on this particular December morning, 

I keep searching the sky. As if I expected to see, rather like hearts, 

a lost pair of kites hurrying toward heaven.”
― Truman Capote

 This morning we ate Belgian waffles with raspberries on top while still cozy in bed

and laughed as Lucy howled about welcoming the new day.

Later, I opened the window in our bathroom and watched the steam from the shower 

puff up and swirl against the cold air.

And that is how I welcomed December in...

with warm steam filling my lungs and cold air simultaneously taking my breath away.

 Happy December!

photos talen by Mr.D

happy little things

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”
― Albert Camus

Waking up to a crisp blue autumn sky peeking through bright orange and yellow leaves

and Moose's head resting on the edge of the bed 

is a great start to any day...

but it was an especially welcomed treat this morning.

Today I am focused on the little things making me smile:

- flirting with Mr. D at the red light before he turned left toward downtown 

and me, right toward old town

- the colorful trees like bright flower bouquets lining the streets

- the warm smell of a fire burning in the cool fresh air

- holding hot chocolate in the warm mug between my hands

- my grandmother's turquoise ring 

- Thanksgiving around the corner and Christmas songs in my head

May your day be filled with lots of happy little things!

wednesdays.

“Wednesdays were the best thing about Atlantis. 

The middle of the week was a traditional holiday there. 

Everyone stopped work and celebrated the fact that half the week was over.”
― Walter Moers

 Some days there is just nothing better than pulling your hair up 

and feeling a cool autumn breeze tickle the back of your neck.

This morning, a single bird sang a soulful harmony to a chorus of dry, colorful leaves swaying 

just outside our bedroom window. Its so dark in the mornings now 

and the alarm seems to sound so frightfully soon each day...but this morning I awoke to 

this lone little bird's tune filling our room and making its way through the somber sky's moonlit hue.

Happy Wednesday!

photo from weheartit.com

who could not?

“With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?” 

― Oscar Wilde

Geesh...turns out you can't mention not feeling well in the blogging world

without people immediately assuming you're prego. 

The good news is I feel much better and this beautiful fall weather has my spirit soaring.

I just got the new She & Him Christmas album...and I highly recommend it.

Its a little early, but Ive got Christmas songs stuck in my head and I like it. 

Now if Halloween would just hurry up I could start decorating!

magic, dreams and lots of good madness.

“May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. 

I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, 

and don't forget to make some art -- 

write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. 

And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.”
― Neil Gaiman

 I have really never been happier or more surprised than I was yesterday. 

A joy that is too hard to ascribe feelings to in the form of those simple lines and curves 

that come together to make words...

I am so happy and thankful to be sharing this adventurous life with the man I am married to - 

there is no one else in the world that I would rather spend days like yesterday with than him. 

This is my very favorite time of year...

and it is proving to be even grander than I had ever hoped or planned

and that is what makes life especially beautiful - those unexpected gifts.

Photograph by Amber of Live It Out Photography

hot chocolate.

“He stared at his hot chocolate like it held the secret to the universe.”
― Lilith Saintcrow

 Yesterday, Mr. D and I both were feeling under the weather

so on this chilly October morning the warmth of hot chocolate in my hand is almost as good 

as a warm bath or a big cozy towel just out of the drier. 

The weekend came and went so quickly that I am just barely able to digest 

the word "Tuesday" on my calendar staring back at me, not to mention "October."

But this is my very favorite time of year and I am looking so forward to the days ahead.

Sick or not sick, I am sure this wont be my only cup of hot chocolate today

and I am already looking forward to the next one...

however careful to slowly enjoy every warm, smooth sip of the one currently nestled between my hands.

It is only Tuesday, after all.

When it rains, it floods....

"It always smelled like it was raining outside, 

even if it wasn't, and you were in the only nice, dry, cosy place in the world."
— J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye 

 

 It has been raining. Seriously, raining. For days and days. 

Poor Lucy (or Moose, as we have somehow begun affectionately calling her)

has been stuck inside for days as flash floods of rain whoosh down the streets past the full drains.

But it is oh so cozy in our house during the nightly storms

and it really truly has begun feeling like fall...almost as if the very passing of Labor Day 

was its summoning call. So the windows have been open in our tree house - 

the sound of rain and rumbling thunder echoing off the walls.

 Thankful today for the smell of rain,

my husbands arms and Moose's soft fur,

for bright raincoats and tall rainboots.

For warm soup and our very first hot chocolate of the season! 

September, dear.

"I don't even remember the season. 

I just remember walking between them and feeling for the first time that I belonged somewhere." 
— Stephen Chbosky

 I am always so thankful for the approach of a new season. And this coming season, 

is by far my very favorite...it welcomes the changing colors of leaves and 

sets the stage for my favorite holidays.

Ive spent the last few days at home with husband 

and it has been so wonderful to simply relish in the remaining days of summer.

I don't believe I have ever slept as much as I have the past 48 hours.

And while my body is feeling a little wonky,

my mind is overjoyed that it is finally September!

Happy September, dears!


photograph by Live It Out Photography

we walked to dinner by way of a playground...

"If it comes to a swinging, swing all, say I."
— Robert Louis Stevenson

 Last night, we walked to dinner by way of a playground. 

While Lucy girl chased after her tennis ball,

I went swinging.

When is the last time you sat on a swing? 

I closed my eyes and let my long (too long?) hair fully take flight in the wind.

It was freeing and exhilarating to feel the
weightlessness of the height and the gravity of the fall...

Only to be caught up in the air once again.

And so I became lost in the momentum -

forcing the hot, heavy summer air to move around me.

 It was just the thing I needed:

some carefree swinging.

But afterward, I paused for a moment while sitting across from Mr. D - both of us

sipping on delicious peach milkshakes with Lucy girl at our feet -

and found that I would not trade that moment for a thousand swings.

----------

Happy Weekend!

May it be at least a little carefree...

winter's return

"You expected to be sad in the fall. Part of you died each year when the leaves fell from the trees and their branches were bare against the wind and the cold, wintery light. But you knew there would always be the spring, as you knew the river would flow again after it was frozen. When the cold rains kept on and killed the spring, it was as though a young person died for no reason." 

— Ernest Hemingway (A Moveable Feast)   

       Last Friday, it was 75 degrees in the District.

This morning it took me 20 minutes to get ice off of the windshield.

[I wonder if the birds feel as mislead as I do.]

But there is something sincere today about the 

snow dusted streets and frozen branches.

Like splashing cold water over your face after you've spent all night crying,

an attempt to heal, or at least numb, your swollen eyes.

Everything is visible in the snow, no foot print goes unseen -

even those who are silent and struggling clearly exist.

very much alive.

"May you live every day of your life."
— Jonathan Swift

 I spent all weekend out in the country with the flu

and Mr. D has been out of commission, too.

So it was nice that we were home with my parents who took care of us, 

but now we are back to city life.

It was so beautiful here in the District on Friday, 

and Mr.D sent me the best email explaining how good he felt

about living where we live.

Who knows what the future might hold, but for now...

there is no where I would rather be than exploring the Nation's Capital with husband

(and maybe with our dog, too?!)

Photograph by Carin Davis

red wagons and a bucket of sidewalk chalk

"Sitting quietly, doing nothing, Spring comes, 

and the grass grows, by itself."
— Basho

 I made it home before the bells rang, so it must have been about 5:30 pm.

And the house across the street looked like the sun had set it on fire. 

I laid on my back across the bed just listening. 

Coat-less children screaming with joy- their feet pounding the sidewalks

and a mother's gentle reminder just before a foreseen skinned knee.

Birds singing the sun to sleep and welcoming the buds on the trees.

And if I breathed in deep enough I could smell sidewalk chalk

and the worn wood of the well-loved wagon...

its red paint beginning to peel.

I ran my fingers along its rough and familiar edges.

And just as I felt my body lifting weightless off the mattress

the bells began to play Amazing Grace.

So... this is Spring on 22nd street. 

[happy weekend, friends]

cold.

"Winter solitude-
in a world of one colour
the sound of the wind."

— Basho

Did I cry all night long? Even in my sound sleep?
I awoke this morning very aware of the weight of the skin on my face. My eyes feel hollow and heavy in their emptiness. My head aches and my body creaks with every movement, even in stillness I feel the inevitable uncomfortableness that will soon take hold.
Oh, how I hate the onset of a wintery cold.

if only birds thought outloud

"This autumn-
why am I growing old?
bird disappearing among clouds."  — Basho

 [There is a line of trees just like this out by my parent's house in the country]

 

 Never before has a Wednesday tasted so sweet - and not because of the spontaneous cupcake tasting that just commenced in conference room three, although that does help a little - 

Did you know that as we process things our brains learn faster and faster

so time eventually does seem to fly as we age.

If only I could simultaneously slow some things down 

and speed others on ahead...

Happy Hump Day. 

Hope its sweet.

 

PS. My dad is doing well after his surgery yesterday and headed home today! Hooray!

 

 

image spotted here.