Li'l Sebastian

First of all, yes I did some sort of weird adjusting of the layout of the blog. I realized there were still some computers/browsers that would not adjust the size of the photos as I instructed it to do and I just don't know enough about html to figure out why or to know how to fix it. So I just changed the whole layout instead. Obvs I still need to fix the banner and I may tinker more. Just haven't had the time.

Meantime, happy happy birthday to my awesome nephew Will! He's the best. This is what I did to his present with my new alphabet stamps. Oh my gosh, you guys, I love stamps.



Then I put it in a box and sent it off on its journey half-way around the world. I hope he's having a great day!

Also discovered recently that I still have in some dusty corner of my brain the lyrics to the entirety of Fiona Apple's 1996 epic album Tidal. Ahh, high school.



Every. single. word. I suspect this is the reason why I haven't been able to memorize my bank account number in 6 years. wtf?

Lastly, I just love this in every way:



Are you guys watching Parks and Rec? Generally I'm so behind in my TV watching, but that show is just a big ol' ball of joy for me. What can you say about that cast?? And when they add to it, they add so wisely. I'm looking at you Adam Scott.

Just because you're 30 doesn't mean you have to grow up

I did it! I'm 30! I gathered with friends at a bar on Friday night to drink a toast to the decade that lies ahead. I decided I wanted a Fluffernutter birthday cake.



That's mom lighting the candles. Peanut butter and Marshmallow Fluff (which Super Target didn't have, so Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme subbed instead) on Mrs. Baird's bread. Cut into triangles and stacked. Topped with pink icing. It was my homage to Amy Sedaris. I feel like she would have approved.



Have you ever had a Fluffernutter? They're amazingly delicious. I had my first one at Peanut Butter and Co. in Greenwich Village in New York City and have had them lurking in a corner of my brain ever since. But when do you have an excuse to make something so indulgent and obviously lacking in nutritional value? They're right up there with cookies and ice cream. And cake. How appropriate.

So far 30 feels exactly the same as 29. Hopefully 31 will feel that way too. Also, did you know that Julie Andrews turned 75 on Friday? She looks fabulous.

16 going on 17

Thursday is CJ's 17th birthday! Can you believe it?



What to get the cat that has everything? He would like cans of tuna or packs of Greenies cat treats. Monetary gifts are also welcome and accepted.



How are we going to celebrate, CJ? Not every cat gets a 17th birthday. That's quite a feat. Just think, one more year and you can vote. Oh my gosh, that's rad.

Sorry to just throw up some pictures of my kitteh, but work/life is keeping me busy these days. Plus it's football season... and the State Fair... and it's the fall - my favorite season. The Arboretum is FULL of pumpkins. And I'm in planning mode for my annual NYC trip in just over a week. I can't wait! Oh yeah, and my meatloaf's done. Laytah.

Happy Day

Today is my mom's birthday! Yay! Happy birthday mum!

At around midnight last night I called her, where she was already at her desk all the way on what is nearly the other side of the world, and sang to her. We always do this for each other.



For the life of me, I can't put a date on this photo. Can you, mom? We're at the Camp, obvs. And you look awesome. And it looks like my braces are off. I want to say... oh gosh. '94? '93?

We are a tight duo. Always have been. My parents divorced when I was quite young, and my brother left for college when I was 8 or so. So from 8 to 18, it was just me and mom. With my brother dropping in from time to time, of course. We were sorta like roommates then. Me, her, and a kitteh.



I do have a date for this one: 1997 - Christmas in Jamaica. I feel like that idea came to us during one of those gray, fall afternoons watching TV together in the living room. A commercial with a beach came on, and it was like, yes.

If I thought being a single mother all those years, or even an Army wife in the Middle East in the 70s, was the bravest thing she'd ever done, well I had something coming. We all did. It just blows my mind the stuff she's done over the past few years. She is constantly reinventing, seeking out the next great adventure. She is changing and learning, still. You better hope you're kicking that much ass in your 60s.



And next birthday will be the best one yet. Mandatory retirement! Well, as mandatory as she wants to make of it. She's never been one to sit still for too long.

XO mumsie.

All things Julie

Today is the birthday of Julia Elizabeth Wells. Or you might know her as Julie Andrews. Or Dame Julie Andrews, if you want to be all formal about it. It's also my birthday, but who cares about that. I'm not big on birthdays. But I do love Julie Andrews and prefer to focus on her today.



Here she is as at 14 or 15. She had quite a set of pipes even when she was young. Mom sent me an Amazon gift certificate today, and one of the things I'm definitely going to get with it is her latest book, Home: A Memoir of My Early Years.



You do know that she was the original Eliza Doolittle, right? But the studio wanted a big name star for the movie version (and she wasn't back then), so Audrey was put in instead. It all worked out though, because then Julie was in Mary Poppins and got an Oscar for her role. Here they are in 1965, Julie was just 29. The Sound of Music came out that same year and there was never any more doubt about her star power.



More pretty.

Wanna hear a funny story about The Sound of Music? From this book, which is to die for if you're a fan of the movie:

Still, if writing "Something Good" was a comparatively easy task, performing it for the movie was not. The gazebo setting had been reassembled back on the Fox lot, and its many glass panels required the director of photography, Ted McCord, to employ complicated lighting effects. He positioned some extremely powerful, old-fashioned Kleig lights to point directly downward along the columns of the gazebo. Unfortunately the Kleig lights worked by shooting carbon arcs against each other and they made a terrible flatulent sound every time they were fired up. This noise sent Andrews into gales of laughter, while Christopher Plummer started giggling at the idea of the Captain and Maria proclaiming their eternal love for each other nose to nose. ... The two of them lost it. Wise called "Cut!" and set up the cameras again. Frrrrrmpff! went the carbon arcs, and the giggling began all over again. Wise called a two-hour lunch break, prevailing upon the actors to curb their "unprofessional idiotic laughing." Once lunch was over, it was back to the set and again the carbon arcs made their flatulent sound. More laughter. Wise, normally the most patient of professionals, threw up his hands--after all, by this time he was behind schedule--and decided to shoot the entire sequence in silhouette, so the camera would not catch his stars' childish misbehavior. It turned out to be a happy accident.



They do seem a bit giggly in that scene. She's such a whiz with comedy too. I love this bit with Carol Burnett:



All I can say is, pray you age this well.



Happy 73rd darling.