{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

{pretty}

Last week we spent a few days in Big Bear on our first-ever family vacation.

Wedding planning, Sukie style

I feel silly talking more about the weddings, but on the other hand, who isn't interested in 120 home-made napkins?

The super fabulous photos in this post are from Nicole Montmarquet Photography.

Crazy.

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter! 

I've been thinking about why it is that we have this little corner every Thursday here -- {pretty, happy, funny, real}.





I wrote about it the first time.

I mean, I'm happy for you to do whatever you want with this idea. I always enjoy your posts.

Ask Auntie Leila: Picky Eaters, and the best beer batter recipe.

These days, if you are new to the blog, you might think that Like Mother, Like Daughter is all about who got married, who else got married, who had a baby, blah blah blah. (Won't bother hyper-linking -- just see this summer's posts!) Seems like only the day before yesterday that I was the one trying to get the baby to eat something, and now Rosie is there, with her cute painted high chair, trying to get Pippo to eat.

So I thought I’d take a tiny break from breaking news (although I know that a good portion of you are also hoping to see some more details of various fun wedding-type stuff – so torn am I!) to get back to the nitty-gritty job that I gave myself of handing out advice.

{pretty, happy, funny, real} ~ Extra! Baby!

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

Phil and Nick, more than 31 years ago.

It's hard for me to believe that my little boy is a Papa.

It's wonderful to see him so happy. You don't get from there to here in a day, and there is no way for me to tell you how the journey of those years goes, except to say that if it's not about trust in God's goodness -- trust in something more than yourself and your ability to do, well, anything at all --  I don't know what it is about!

Nick and Francis Xavier, just the other day.

To read more about this little wonderful boy, Francis Xavier, go to Natasha's blog! And you can leave your comment there!

That he was born on our anniversary (and the anniversary of Natasha's grandparents, David and Inez), is just icing on the cake of our grateful lives!

And you can still link up at Deirdre's {pretty, happy, funny, real}, of course, until Sunday!

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

Deirdre here!

The Artist and I are still getting settled here in our new just-outside-DC home, which we have fondly named The Corner Pocket. It truly is a slow process, I'm finding. Fortunately for us, there are still a few more weeks left in the teacher's summer vacation and I didn't have to rush back to any full-time job after our honeymoon, so we've had room to breathe.

I don't know how new wives manage to get things together when they and their husbands have to both rush back to work... being a housewife is keeping me busy! I can't help but feel behind on tasks like furniture hunting (more on this topic later), name-changing paperwork, thank you note writing, etc...

{I'm afraid that my photos won't be up to the standards that you're used to seeing here at LMLD, but the Artist and I don't have the skillz and equipment that Mom and Rosie do.}

{pretty} 

As faithful readers know, we spent our honeymoon in Paris, a trip generously sponsored by my father-in-law as his wedding gift to us. We were there for the better part of three weeks, and we only left the city once, to go to Versailles. {To some people, this seems like a crazy amount of time to spend in one place; but it really was perfect. We absorbed the city and truly lived in it during that time, and when you have a pad of paper and paints with you, Paris could never get old!)}

Versailles

{happy}

On this trip to Versailles, we decided to bypass the standard bistros and take a chance on an out-of-the-way, teensy Mom-and-Pop type place for dinner. It turned out to be a rewarding, if somewhat questionable, choice. There were a grand total of maybe six tables in the place and we were served by the owner himself, a man of Vietnamese descent who favored New Orleans jazz (how would we know? Why, because he regaled us with his guitar as we ate, of course!).

The downside to the experience was hearing about some of his personal story which might have been better left untold (with me doing my best to translate for my ever-patient husband), as well as watching the only other couple in the restaurant scamper away in politely disguised fear and disgust when they noticed a "cockroach" in their chips (it wasn't really a cockroach, but it was a big enough bug to make me lose my appetite nonetheless).

Anyway, one of the better parts of the evening was that this curious character threw in a free appetizer for us, which was something resembling this:

My attempt to bring some French cooking to The Corner Pocket

We enjoyed it so much that I did my best to recreate it when we were home. Basically just a pie crust spread with a mustard-type spread (I would tell you more, except that I forget what I did exactly) and then baked with some olive oil, tomatoes, herbs, and Gorgonzola. This earned me many points with my husband.

{funny}

In other cooking adventures, I've been doing my best to master the roast chicken. However, I struggle with cooking times. One of the things I hate the most is overcooked, dry chicken, so I have a perennial fear that I will cook mine too long.

The first time I attempted this whole-bird approach, I misread the recipe: you know how, after a certain time passes, you're supposed to take the chicken out and assess whether it has reached the proper internal temperature of 170 degrees?

Well, as I was distracted at the time, I interpreted this to mean that the oven should be adjusted to that temperature for the remainder of the cooking. I couldn't figure out WHY it was taking so darned long for the dumb thing to get cooked!! The Artist finally pointed out that it struck him that the oven seemed to be on really low....

Well, the next time I didn't make that same, silly mistake! I kept the oven nice and hot for the whole time! I was so proud of myself and of my chicken that we took several pictures. Of course, the light wasn't cooperating and we were having some issues, so this is the best I can give you:

This photo doctored for effect. It reminds me of an 80's Betty Crocker cookbook illustration, or something.

Of course, since I have a problem with just letting meat cook, I hadn't spaced out my food prep time very well and by now it was getting late and we were quite hungry. The Artist was so very patient as we took these pictures, so you can imagine my dismay when we finally sat down and actually took a good look at the slice we were taking out of it...

... and had to put it back into the oven.

So what you see pictured here is an undercooked chicken! Sigh.

{real}

I had John take some "before" pictures of our apartment so that, later, when we'd purchased furniture and decorated and made everything lovely and homey, we could look back and laugh about how extremely pathetic and drab it looked the day after we moved in.

Pretty darn drab, am I right?

But this Daughter shall not be daunted by drab! Pretty soon I'll show you some pictures of how homey it's looking, already (despite linoleum and faux-wood cabinets, over which I have no control)!

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

{happy}

 

When we walked in after bringing Daddy home, I didn't have time to grab my real camera before he and Pippo were reading one of their books, so this cell phone pic is all I've got.

Dark, blurry, and very happy.

Homecoming!

I am very happy to report that the Lt and all his Marines made it back home safe and sound last week!

Thank you to everyone who has been thinking of us and praying for us these last seven months. We have been so blessed by all your support and encouragement!

Waiting with my sweet deployment buddy Dawn.

This, of course, was our family's first homecoming, though I've been to two others to take pictures for friends. Even when it's not your husband coming home, it's always a fun and joyous day to see families reunited!

(I confess: it's even happier when you get to bring your husband home at the end!)

Homecomings are notorious for involving a lot of waiting around -- sometimes hours and hours! Ours was unusual in that our boys actually arrived two hours before we were expecting them, which caused a little panic among the wives as we quickly tossed the kids in our cars and practically raced the buses to the barracks.

(I heard that the Marines actually stalled a little while at the armory, to give the families a chance to get there. No one wants to get to homecoming late!)

Pippo and I got there in plenty of time. We had to leave the cake unfrosted, but remembered to bring some cold Dr Pepper in a cooler. So not bad.

You know they're really and truly almost there when you hear the motorcycles -- they had a Patriot Guard Riders escort for their trip from the Air Force base where they landed. There are few things more exciting than the sound of those engines coming down the road and knowing your husband is marching behind them.

Then you just need to search that sea of uniforms until you find your own Marine!

There he is!

(I should say: my good friend Tracy, her husband, and their two sweet children came to help welcome the Lt home. Tracy took all these great photos for us. She's the best!)

(I've always said I will happily look at an almost unlimited number of almost anyone's wedding photos, regardless of whether or not I know the bride and groom. I feel sort of the same way about homecoming photos. Hopefully you do too, because we're not done yet!)

Pippo was a bit overwhelmed by all the commotion, but recognized his daddy, and was excited to see him. He was shy at first, but as soon as we got away from the crowd, he started beaming huge smiles.

We brought Daddy home, along with all his gear, and spent the weekend spending some good family time together and helping him adjust his internal clock twelve hours. And, of course, plying him with all his favorite foods.

It sure is good to have him home!

DIY Roman Shades: My Tweak: Big, Cheap, Sturdy.

What you have to understand about my house, besides that it has fifty-four windows, is that most of the windows are three feet by six feet, and six of the rooms have four of these windows per room.

Let's just quickly do the math, altogether now... Wow, yes, lots of fabric, at X dollars per yard (insert high price for anything remotely like what I'd want to spend money on, like, um... linen??), oh my.

And here's the thing. Even though for the most part I agree with all the advice about covering your windows, putting your rods up high, puddling the fabric on the floor (well, I don't know about that one, seems spider-webby to me), etc. etc. -- the fact is, I have fairly deeply recessed windows with gorgeous, imposing molding. I don't really want to cover them up, I don't need to make my ceilings look higher (in fact, I find the ceilings imposingly high and would like to cozy things up a bit), and the windows already end at my knees.

My windows already seem big, okay? Because they are.

Sukie's bridesmaids' dresses.

Before I get too deep into girly stuff, I have to post this of my handsome sons. Their ties were chosen to go with the overall palette by Natasha, who was at a tie store in Manhattan (a store devoted to ties is not something I have access to!) and graciously did the honors.

Photo from Nicole Montmarquet Photography.

The whole issue of what everyone (of the female variety) wears at a wedding is so very fraught with peril, don't you think?

The problems are 1. expense, 2. modesty, 3. actual prettiness and flatteringness, 4. not getting sucked into the bridal world of costuming, and 5. sheer amount of time it takes to figure it all out.

Of course, as soon as the girls got engaged, the palettes started flying, the dreams started being dreamed, and the possibilities were emailed. And if there is one thing I can NOT stand, it's trying to find a dress online, let alone three dresses.

I am going to try to round up what we did here in this post and another on Deirdre's dresses, and maybe little by little show you some other aspects of the wedding planning/execution -- now that we have photos! 

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

{pretty}