A Metal Mother's Day

Motherhood. "I love the universality of it. There are very few women in the world that I can't have a conversation with now." Wise, wonderful words spoken by relatively new mom Jennifer Garner. I love that statement, it is so true. Motherhood (or, parenthood in general) opens your life not only to new feelings you never knew you had and the experiences of raising a child that are simultaneously awe-inspiring and frightening, but it also opens yourself to others. Most of my dear friends I have I've met through my children. Children give you the excuse to talk to a complete stranger in a park, to strike up a conversation with someone that, for the mere fact that you both have children, you have something in common. Makes the world seem a little smaller, a little cozier, doesn't it?

I had a very nice Mother's Day. I really don't believe in making a big fuss out of these sorts of occasions, so we usually just keep things simple...but my family always makes a big fuss over me, and that is darn sweet. This morning I woke up to some lovely cards AND chocolate from each family member--Nice! I also treated myself to some perfume that I've been pining over since we did that 'smelling' on the podcast, I believe I mentioned it on a previous post. It's called Do Son, made by Diptyque. Heaven, my friends, pure spring-flower freshness heaven. I think I sprayed it on twice today, I couldn't get enough. I was worried originally that it may be too light, but actually a full-blast spritz does last quite a while. So that was a nice splurge for myself.

We started off at choich this morning, then spent the afternoon in Purgatory. It's true. There is this amazing wooded area with lots of trails to tread, and it's called Purgatory. You've gotta love that. We took Digby and we all enjoyed walking in the breezy sunshine. It actually got quite hot today! From there we went to the cemetary. The kids have wanted to explore the cemetary we see when we're at the lakes for quite some time now, so we thought today was a good day. We found Cory's grandma and grandpa's grave markers, it was nice. I used to be so afraid of cemetaries as a kid--too many ghost stories, I guess. Now I find them so beautiful and peaceful. And hey, it's not every day you get to purgatory and the cemetary in the same day....well, maybe it is!!!!

For dinner we perused my favorite Byerly's for a Bit of This and a Bit of That Dinner. I love those. Where you just go through the store and pick and choose things from the deli, chinese food counter, sushi counter, whatever...YUM. It feels so luxurious! Sushi, a bit of some Sunflower Pasta Salad, fresh pineapple and ice cream bars for dessert. All on the patio. I don't think it gets much better than that. What a lucky Mommy I am, not to mention the fact that I have the most amazing kids on the planet that have made Mother's Day possible. And I guess with Purgatory and the cemetary, it was a very Metal Mother's Day. Nice!!!

Can You Smell Me?

What a day! There it is, until it gets beastly hot around here (which sadly, won't be too long from now) I am going to make you all nuts by raving about the glorious weather on every post. I mean, who couldn't? Sunny, breezy, in the 70's...perfection. I would be a very happy camper indeed if it never got hotter than this. Do I really need to don a bathing suit?? nah. A t-shirt and shorts or a skirt do me just fine, thank you. Let's leave the bikinis for the young single-without-children ladies. Although...I do have to say I'm looking forward to some chillin' with my peeps by Stephanie's pool....!!


Our latest podcast is live, and I have to say, it was great fun this time. Who am I kidding, it's ALWAYS fun, but I got to be EXTRA girlie on this one and rave about perfume. I recently got in touch with Robin from Now Smell This, an amazing perfume blog, and we did sort of a perfume sniffing (sort of like a wine tasting!). I told her what I liked and disliked in perfumes, and she sent me some samples to try based on that information. Oh, I have some fragrances that I enjoy but a girl is always looking for a new scent. (at least this girl is.) I know my taste in perfume definitely has been changing over time, and often--like a cup of coffee--I never quite get to the bottom of a bottle before I'm done with it. Right now I would love a nice light spring/summer scent to celebrate this glorious season. I'm going to make you listen to the podcast to get the inside information--did Robin pick my new scent? How many tampons up did I rate each one, and why??--because I know you are all burning with desire to hear the end result. Let's just say I'm thinking a new perfume just might be the perfect Mother's Day gift...ahem...:-) Actually I could really and truly care less about getting gifts on those 'must prove your love' occasions...lets face it, when you are happily married with fabulous children you certainly don't need proof that you are loved. (lucky me!) That said, a new scent is my latest Quest. My poor husband....:-)

So! Stay tuned, not only will you get to find out the results of my perfume quest (lucky you!) but eventually you will get to hear Stephanie and Kim give their rants and raves over some samples as well. Huzzah!

Another Reason to Love Coach

Today whilst shopping at the mall for Vivian's upcoming birthday, Ms. Coach and I just HAD to stop in her mother store. I wanted to see if they had their new fragrance in yet, which of course they did. And of course, I love it. Ooooh, it has such a nice spring scent! It actually sort of reminds me of a more springy version of my beloved Juicy Couture scent. (which I have yet to buy...so far I've been living on 2 different samples. nice.) And of course it has amber in it, which is a note that seems to be included in every perfume a like. (but not Juicy, interestingly enough...)

After spraying it on, I asked if by any chance they had a sample for me to bring home. They gave me two. Total class! Reminds me of Nordstrom, when I went in there asking for a sample of the Juicy perfume I mentioned above. Where as the woman at the Macy's counter just shrugged and said "I'm sorry" when they ran out, the woman at Nordstrom just made me one by filling up a little blank sample bottle. Again, class! Those little things make a big difference when you are looking at quality service, no?