There once was a babe from Tempe, Whose parents called her Anna B. ‘Cause they just couldn’t tell If the name Annabelle Would fit their girl quite perfectly. With that name, see, they took quite a risk, For they knew other parents would tsk. It would be hers for life, Would it bring joy or […]
“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” — Carl Sagan We got busy with the fondant over the weekend. And the fondant smoother and the lazy susan that lets you turn the cake as you ice it with the special spatula so it looks perfect, like […]
One of Sophie’s wishes for her 8th birthday is to stay up all night. I’ll let you know how that goes. This song by Frances England is in heavy rotation on the kids channel on satellite radio — and every time I hear it, I think of Sophie. Oh, Sophie. You do have a mind […]
Sophie’s birthday is Saturday. Yep, Rapture Day. Just to be on the safe side, we had an Unbirthday Party in her classroom earlier this week — with dancing, party hats, blowers, glow sticks and enough candy to secure my place in hell. It was fun.
Spring is here, and the fig tree in my front yard is covered in fresh green leaves. Phew. Not long ago, the yard guy told Ray that the tree won’t last much longer. It’s got some sort of incurable something. We’ve grown accustomed to losing our favorite trees. Fourteen years ago, when we moved into this […]
Much of Phoenix has come to admire Georganne Bryant, the owner of two treasured little boutiques, and there’s more to love than just the stuff she sells at Frances and Smeeks. Consider the post yesterday on her blog, in honor of her 50th birthday. Now, this is a woman who repeatedly tells me she can’t […]
It was one of those what-have-you-done-with-my-sister moments. “I’ve started calling this weekend ‘Jennypalooza,’” I told Jenny, as the umpteenth preparations were made and remade and finessed a little more, in honor of her Birthday Weekend. “Good!” she replied. GOOD?! Jenny, the little sister who shirks from attention? Who was too embarrassed to take the flowers […]
On Sunday afternoon, our little family was invited to celebrate with a good friend of Annabelle’s. It was the best idea for a birthday party, ever, and the simplest. Play-Doh. That’s it. Just two huge tables and dozens of containers of Play-Doh. The adults had as much (more?) fun as the kids. I made a […]
Tomorrow is my birthday. Typically, today is the day my sister and I start bitching, via text message, about how much we hate our birthdays. About how mere mortals (our husbands) can’t possibly match the glittery, over-the-top festivities thrust upon us, year after year, by our mother. About how we hate the attention, yet somehow […]
I left school yesterday morning with a knot in my stomach, for the dumbest of reasons. There were plenty of good reasons, trust me. It wasn’t because I’d had to practically peel Sophie off my leg and push her up the stairs to get her to go to class — for no particular reason. It […]
