GRADUATION PARTIES AND SUCH

June, is that really you?? SO glad to see you; May was quite the month there, with Ken out of town for over half the month and strange illnesses and other bumpy road type things. I loved the month anyways, the whole month kind of was like a toast to good friends; my sisters came to town, two graduations, a baby shower,  one of my best friends celebrates her birthday this month, and there were those Memorial Day get-togethers.

Now it looks like June is going to be a month of weddings. We already went to one of them this past weekend, and there are two more to go! And another baby shower. And more friends coming to town.  Hey! I love summer.

But back to the graduation parties, because all the pictures in this post is about one of them. I am just so dang proud of the friends that graduated this month. They are husbands and fathers and worked their butts off while their wives cheered hard from the sidelines and picked up any slack. So I am really dang proud of the wives, too. We had hoorah'ed Robert and Kevin at a party the week before at this beautiful house filled with people so proud they could burst, and then the following week we had another party for Ian at his parents' romantic backyard.

It was one of those lovely hazy early summer evenings -  there were tables set up in the garden, the plants were lush and the babes, plentiful and adorable.  How lucky we are to celebrate in such ways.

i could hang out with this girl all day and follow her on all her adventures

i could just eat her up

this was so. good. there was a chorizo sweet potato thing, coleslaw, fresh corn and bean salad, guacamole, all wrapped up in there.   

sloane has been asking to be held 'like a baby' recently.  also, matching bobby pins! 

LITERATURE AND FOOD STYLING IN ONE SMASHING BOOK

Check out these photos from the book, 'Fictitious Dishes: An Album of Literature's Most Memorable Meals'  by Dinah Fried! As a person who loves to both literature and food, this project makes me feel happy all the way down to my toes.  Dinah Fried is a designer and writer and has put together these meals and table settings imagined out of the great books of literature. The book has 50 of these scenes, along with an excerpt from the book to go along with the photo. Below are some of my favorites so far, and I can't wait to see more!

The Great Gatsby:



The Catcher in the Rye:



The Bell Jar:



Alice in the Wonderland

Moby Dick:

P.S. Go here for an interview with Dinah Fried about her process.

STRAWBERRY PICKING

One of the greatest things about being a parent is being able to introduce your kid to new things. Since Sloane loves fruit so much, taking her to pick apples or grapes feels equivalent to taking her to a magic kingdom where jewels and sweets grow on plants far as the eye can see. I love sharing it all with her: 'Sloane, this is our world, isn't it amazing?!' 

On our way to the farm, we could hardly contain our excitement, me for the prospect of getting lots of strawberries, but also for the joy of showing Sloane a giant field of strawberries that she could roam around in.  The fields were plentiful with ripe strawberries and we went right to work. She loved helping, and was diligent in her task of bringing back handfuls of strawberries back to our box. When we told her we had to leave, she was aghast and tearful. We assured her that a big box of strawberries was coming home with us and you better believe she kept her eye on that box next to her in the backseat the whole way home.