LU COUNTRY BOIL

To commemorate the end of summer, we threw a shrimp boil with friends. We were first introduced to the concept by Autumn and Garrett, who threw one a few years back, and we fell in love with the whole idea and everyone was on board to try to have one every year if possible. The year after that, we pulled off the genius move (I think it was Autumn's idea) to ask each person to contribute money to the dinner and for the hosts to do the shopping and cooking, instead of trying to facilitate a sign-up sheet of people bringing separate things. It solved so many logistic problems, it allowed everything to be more cohesive, and since this is an adult-only event, it served as a cheaper date night out with friends than if we had gone out to a restaurant. Everyone was willing to pay and did so quickly!  We volunteered to be the hosts this year, and I loved every moment of it.  It was a joint effort: with Ken doing the shopping and cooking of the giant shrimp boil for 20, and me doing the shopping, arranging and set up of everything else: the layout, decor, cocktails (whiskey sours and gin mojitos), wine, glasses, napkins, appetizers and sides (subrosa bread, butter and heirloom tomatoes) and dessert (fresh fruit and caramel chocolate pretzel bars).

A big shout out to my Ken who agreed to put up these string lights on our back driveway, without complaining even once, being a more evolved man than he was a few year ago, because of course it made the biggest difference in atmosphere. The night was perfect in weather, company, food and conversation.  Here are some photos and then a video below of the evening.

KEN AND CHRISTINE'S MARRIAGE TURNS 9

This is what nine years looks like.  I am grateful and let's be honest, relieved, to report that I am more in love with this guy than ever before.  Like, every day I work, I miss him. And I always want to be talking to him. These times are interspersed with other moments when I can't stand him, or I am annoyed or hurt or angry, but marriage is the rubber band that snaps me right back.  Not the marriage itself, but the ecology of a marriage. Its ecology of commitment and investment means we keep trying and growing and forgiving and repenting, and that the other person plays a critical role in all that. As does our friendship. We keep remarking aloud recently how much we like each other as friends; it feels like a pivotal thing. 

We celebrated our anniversary with two meals out, which was very luxurious of us.  We started with brunch at Brunch, where we would normally not go with our kids because they don't take reservations and are known to be really busy.  The breakfast board at Brunch was so good, as was the bourbon coffee cocktail.

For dinner, we went to Dinamo, an Italian place I have been wanting to try.  Dinamo is the sort of Italian place I love: good negroni, mussels in delicious sauce, whole fish, and simple pasta.  The best thing about two meals out, just the two of us, meant we could keep talking.  That's probably our favorite thing to do with each other these days, have conversations about what we are reading, noticing, thinking and wondering about.   

This day also included beer on Triple Crossing's patio, a visit to Red Eye for cookies, and then we ended the night by visiting friends who had just moved into their new house.  It's a privilege and pleasure to be able to do life with another human; I'm glad my human is this one. 

SLOANE TURNS SEVEN

Our first baby turned seven last month! She's in second grade now as of a couple of weeks ago, and it still feels strange whenever that leaves my mouth. Second grade was when I started to have some of my more distinctive memories, and it is so striking that I now have a daughter this age that is amassing her own set of memories which will shape and form her. 

She is a dreamer, a thinker, a great-idea-haver. She loves her friends and her sister, directs games, tells stories, and has a blossoming artist's perspective. She can sit for hours listening to me read a book aloud, and also loves playing volleyball, tennis and doing BJJ more recently. She is kind, silly, and often gets deep in thought or a task and won't be easily pulled away. She plays with kids who aren't included and cries at almost every movie.  What a girl we have. 

On her birthday we spent the morning having a pool party with her friends, and then in the afternoon she got her ears pierced (!) followed by dinner with my parents, my sister and her kids, who happened to be here on Sloane's birthday (which is so rare!). I loved getting to celebrate Sloane with everyone, and there's a video below that summarizes our day. 

CHRISTINE TURNS 36

This post was meant to go up sooner than now, and closer to the day of my actual birthday, but the end of summer was especially full of good things and I struggled to find the words or time to update this blog.  But I have many updates!

As we're in September now, I'm mourning the end of summer, as I usually do, holding on to the last vestiges of warm weather, and hyping myself up for fall activities, trying to ignore the inevitable winter beyond that. It will be good for me to look back on memorable moments of the end of summer with these posts, as a way of reliving and cementing.

My birthday this year meant I turned 36, and happily so.  It's been better each year, the experience and lessons really showing up with their value, and me being able to access the confident parts of myself with more ease.

Each year on my birthday, I like to take the day off work and then spend the day doing something that I have been wanting to do throughout the year but hadn't done yet.  This year, I wanted to spend some much needed time with Ken and also to try one of the RVA Bike Share bikes I've been seeing pop up downtown.  We did just that: starting with breakfast at Subrosa, and then rode to Potterfield Memorial Bridge next to Brown's Island, rode across the bridge and then biked up to Perly's, one of my favorite spots, for lunch.  It was a spectacular way to spend the morning. 

I also spent some of the day pickling things and reading Ruth Reichl, which just felt right. 

Later that day, we went out to Carytown to Garden Grove with the girls and my MIL, mostly for their ginger ale, which is made in house and oh so good. 

And finished off the day with Benny's giant pizza slices. Ken and I agree it's one of our favorite places for pizza these days. 

The next day, our friends came from out of town and we had a relaxing day hanging out by the pool and ended the day with a dinner outdoors in the backyard on a long table, which was my dream - the weather was perfect, the food delicious and company delightful.

I always prefer pie to cake for my birthday and my cousin Lois delivered with her signature blueberry pie, which we stuck with candles, sang over and enjoyed for breakfast the next day. My birthday extravaganza lasted over several days this year and this pie was the perfect way to end it!

WHAT I'M READING V. 55

1. Florida by Lauren Groff

I loved Lauren Groff's "Fates and Furies" - she somehow has this ability to connote with the words she uses so what she doesn't say is just as important as what she does say. There is a sparseness and exactness to her writing, which is a pleasure to experience and immediately inspires me to try again at writing.  This one was a collection of short stories, which I listened to on audiobook, regretfully. I think this is one of those that would have been better served read from the book with my own eyes and pacing. I really liked the collection and the writing too, just as much, but it feels as though I missed a lot. I'm going to pick this one up again in book form to re-read.

2. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett 

This was a delightful read. It's short, and I wish I could remember who recommended it to me so that I can talk to them about it. It's about a queen who all of a sudden gets very interested in reading, and everything that happens as a result. It's funny and endearing and I recommend it to anyone who needs a little boost in their week. I read this one when I was having a particularly tiring week, while sipping a glass of rose on the sun porch, and it did the trick.

3. The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker

I was excited about this one, with the expectation of philosophical waxings about gathering and its meanings and implications. It does some of that, but it's more of a practical how to; starting with her own experiences, groups that she has worked with, and ways to make gatherings better.  It remained interesting to me throughout because as someone who thinks a lot about gatherings, it was refreshing to know that there were other people who are very intentional about such things.  I think it is a great conversation starter for businesses, organizations and individuals to take a step back at how they gather - if at all, and if not, why not - and assess ways they can make it more effective and meaningful.

4. Paul, a Biography by N.T. Wright

This one was a tome of a book - not necessarily because of it's length, although it is a longer one at about 500 pages - but because there was so much deep and rich content.  Wright goes through a thorough and detailed analysis of Paul's life, starting wit how he must have been raised, his influences, his passions.  He paints a vivid picture of Paul's background and then walks through Paul's conversion and journey throughout Asia Minor to visit churches. It gives such a rich picture of that time period between 5 AD to 65 AD and helped me understand more deeply how his work was impacted who he was, and in what ways that impacted and grew the early Christian Church.

LOGAN TURNS FOUR

I love this girl, I love talking to her, I love talk about her. She is so funny and extremely boisterous. When she is upset about something, she'll be upset about it long and loud.  When she gets her mind set on helping you, she'll help you whether you like it or not.  She is a quick learner, learning as she does the thing.  She is determined and she knows what she likes and doesn't like, and is not shy about telling you. She no longer wakes up several times in the middle of the night - thankthelord - but she does sneak into our bed early in the morning to get another snooze and snuggle in, and it is one of my favorite things about my day.  

She turned FOUR last month, and we were so pleased to be able to celebrate her.  She requested a pool party with friends, a balloon game, and banana cupcakes (she was fine with the chocolate and vanilla ones we ended up with) and that she got! Along with a surprise big present of this balance bike, which she has been practicing on diligently since. 

She was just as pleased with the red balloons as she was with the bike and played with these balloons for a solid half hour by herself while I set up for her party. 

The birthday girl got to have her breakfast on the unicorn float. 

Sloane's present to Logan was this shirt that she designed. Isn't it great? Logan loved it. That's Logan's face looking at the gift giver. 

Logan recently changed daycare to one that is closer to us and it's been a good transition overall, but she misses her friends at her old daycare.  Happily, a few of them got to come to the party, including Logan's BFF Avery.

We ended the party with a balloon game that Logan requested wherein everyone keeps the balloon in the air while the music is going and then has to grab it and freeze when the music stops. Balloon games are always such a hit with kids! 

I'm still processing the fact that my youngest is four and occasionally mourning the end of the toddler era, but getting to know how amazing she is at this stage is easing all that into sweet memories. I'm caressing the present with all my might and I'm so grateful we get to have her as part of our family.