love and happiness...

my dad and me (1980-ish)

there are a billion reasons why i love my dad. here are 10: 

1. he is the best cook in the world

seriously. ask anyone who has ever eaten his food. he makes things from scratch (i.e. pizza dough, tacos without using the pre-made seasoning packets or hard shell kits, chicken stock...). he can time a meal perfectly so that everything is done at once. if he wants to make a turkey dinner on a random tuesday night or make hot dogs for a special occasion, he will. he's been a line cook (among many other jobs) in a restaurant, he's been in cookbooks (written recipes, was featured in photos, created "how to" illustrations, and in an upcoming cookbook even has a "with" credit next to the author).

2. he is talented

a cook (see above - also writes recipes, food stylist), an artist (paints, draws), a musician (piano/keyboard, clarinet), musical engineer (owns a recording studio), director at the high school's performing arts center, just to name a few. he is always learning something new and i always tell him it's just another thing to add to his resume.

3. he is humble

he's confident but not a jerk about it. he's excited and proud of his accomplishments and you can't help but be excited and proud too.

4. he is young at heart

people don't believe he's really 61 (i'm glad i have some of those genes). picture the above photo, shorten the hair and add a touch of gray, take away the mustache, turtleneck and jean jacket, add a flannel button-down over a t-shirt - that's pretty much what he looks like now. OK, maybe add 10 years. yes, in 30 years i think he's aged 10. he's a freak of nature!... besides looking young, in the past 3 years he got married, had a baby (yes, i have a younger brother who is 2 1/2), and started a new career.

5. he is really cool

he listens to all kinds of music from jazz to the beatles. from stevie wonder to outkast and radiohead... he was in a rock band with guys my age & was still doing gigs up until a few years ago. he totally fit right in. he likes cool movies, he likes cool things, he knows cool people, he has cool stories... yeah, he's just cool.

6. he is really funny

my husband has a big personality and is very outgoing and entertaining. my dad is more quiet. they get along great and like to make fun of each other. my husband was jokingly giving my dad a hard time, then my dad mooned him. my husband was speechless.

7. he is supportive

my husband called him to ask for his blessing before proposing to me. my dad said something like, what are you asking me for? it's up to echo... he doesn't judge. he has always encouraged whatever decisions i have made, even if he didn't agree. he offers advice but in the end, leaves it up to me.  

8. he likes simple

he has never had a dishwasher or microwave. he owns 1 suit (which he got married in). he'll buy 1 pair of shoes, 1 - 2 pairs of pants and 1 - 2 shirts and wear them until they fall apart. he still reads the newspaper. he's not on facebook or twitter (not because he doesn't know what they are but because he chooses not to). he doesn't have a smartphone or even text.

9. he saves things

mostly typical stuff from when i was a kid - drawings and other artwork, books i "published" in school, toys, photos... he has also saved wrapping paper, grocery lists and random notes...

 

10. we don't have a typical father/daughter relationship

we are incredibly close. i'm the oldest of his 5 kids and the only girl. we have a lot of similarities - our interests, our mannerisms, our calm and laid-back disposition. we talk on the phone a lot and have really long conversations. but we are so not mushy and i'm so not "daddy's little girl". at my wedding, we danced to a fast song - "love and happiness" by al green and it was perfect. 

happy father's day to my dad! (it was really hard to just limit myself to just 10)...

the SHOES!

i can't believe my sister-in-law's wedding is in a week and a half! i wanted to show you just how much i love her...

these are the bridesmaids shoes...

sold out in pink, still available in black through www.macys.com

first of all, yes, they are fabulous! we're all wearing long metallic dark gray dresses so you'll just catch a glimpse of them peeking out the bottom as we walk and think of the cute pictures!


back in april, the bridesmaids dresses were ordered but we still didn't know what we were doing for shoes. then my sister-in-law bought these shoes to wear to her bridal shower. of course we all loved them but at the time they were $90. oh, too bad because we would totally wear them for the wedding. but $90 is just too much to spend on shoes. well, then they went on sale...

i don't know if you can tell from the picture but these adorable shoes have 4 inch heels. for those of you who know me, i am not really a heel person. in college i wore huge platform shoes (even while working at a busy restaurant for 8 hour shifts! ah, to be young). at the time i had a bit of a complex about my height (i'm just under 5 feet tall) so the taller the shoe the better. yeah, i got over that. now that i am chasing a 25-lb toddler, i alternate between flip-flops, sneakers, uggs, proper restaurant shoes (non-skid soles and all), flats and the occasional sandals or sling-backs with a very low heel.

i'm a little afraid of walking in 4 inch heels. in a long dress. outside. and did i mention we'll be on grass? oh, and there are 2 stairs involved?!

i wouldn't be strapping these to my feet for just anyone... yes, i will be practicing in them and yes, i look crazy tall in them (5-foot-4 woo-hoo!). i keep telling myself i just have to get down the aisle and back, stand for the ceremony, stand for the pictures and then i got these 3 1/2-inch platform flip-flops to change into from victoria's secret (in fuchsia) which are super comfortable:

wish me luck on those stairs!

may 22, 2004

yesterday was my 7th wedding anniversary! my husband and i have actually been together since college (me a sophomore, him a junior) and took our time getting married so we've been together for a total of 13 years! i always like to include the grand total because i'm pretty proud of the fact that we've been together for so long.

in honor of our anniversary, i had this whole post written in my head where i showed pictures of all the things i made for the reception including the seating cards, the table numbers, mirrored stands for the centerpieces, the guest book, and also show the invitations. then i went into storage to get the wedding photos to scan in and... ok, i guess i haven't been in there in a while and i somehow forgot about the infant swings, carseats, strollers, bouncy seats and everything else our daughter outgrew that had to be put away. so onto plan b - i'm going to talk about my DRESS! awwww, look how cute (and young) we are:

finding a wedding dress was a daunting task. the first place i looked was at a pretty well known bridal salon in boston (sorry, not giving the name), where they basically asked for my budget, didn't find out what i was looking for, showed me 2 dresses, didn't help me get into them and were just plain rude. then, i tried david's bridal and was almost wooed, after trying on dresses that actually FIT me (well, besides needing a hem) and the price tags weren't so bad either. i was this close to buying this ivory dress with a lace top and a belt and the bottom was tulle and HUGE. it was a cinderella dress and sooooo not me. after my maid of honor showed me that dancing in that big dress would be nearly impossible, i decided to keep looking...

next i tried vows. it's an outlet so they sell the actual dresses that were used in bridal salons for customers to try on, at a discounted price. so i had my entourage, i tried on a million pretty dresses but it was getting down to the wire and i was feeling the pressure to get a dress ASAP. i ended up getting a dress that day. i found one i really liked and since it's all samples, there is only one and it can't be ordered, you have to just buy it. i didn't have that feeling of "i just knew it was the one!" but it was really pretty and what if i couldn't find anything better...? the dress i happened to pick had what looked like a stain on the front of it. all of the dresses are cleaned and pressed once you buy them and they assured me it would come out and most of the dresses come back looking brand new. i wasn't worried, i left excited that i found a dress!

then i got the call...

the dress was back from the cleaners and there was still some sort of stain on the front of the dress that didn't come out. did i want to come to the store and look at it? then i could decide if it wasn't noticeable and i wanted to keep the dress or i could get my money back.

i stopped by the store after work to see the dress and was pretty much convinced that the dress would be fine, how could it not be? but then i saw it, that ugly mark on the front of dress was still there and totally noticeable! ugh... i wandered around the store, in denial about the fact that i would have to go dress shopping. again. i kept telling myself that no one would notice that ugly mark on the front of my dress on my wedding day. maybe my bouquet would cover it up...? i was casually looking at the dresses in the store when i just happened to see it... halter top (love!), silver embroidery with beading, an a-line with a slight flare at the knee and more embroidery and beading at the bottom, simple but elegant... did i want to try it on? no way! i'm totally not wearing the right undergarments (literally wore black underwear that day), not to mention the fact that i was there alone. i can't try on wedding dresses alone! i finally got over myself and tried it on anyway. as soon as i had it on, i knew... it was the one! of course, i was still feeling neurotic about making the decision myself, even after the sales people were loving it on me and even another bride in the store and all her girls loved it too. i was frantically making calls and got in touch with my future mother-in-law... 

i know this sounds weird but i'm at the bridal salon and the dress i got has a stain that won't come out and i found this other dress that i know is the one and so perfect for me but i'm by myself and i really need a second opinion so can you come here please?! 

the weird thing is, that dress with the stain led me to my dream dress, which wasn't in the store when i went shopping the first time. that dress was meant for me and it was going to find me somehow!

happy mother's day!

in honor of mother's day, here is my favorite picture of my mom & me...

i had a great day! after sleeping late, this is what i woke up to:

my husband made chocolate chip pancakes (with extra chocolate chips!), warm syrup, strawberries and coffee. he even used our good china and a cloth napkin! those pictures of my daughter were gifts for my mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law that i hadn't wrapped yet. it was very sweet...

i hope all you moms had a great day too! xo

busy, busy, busy...

what am i working on right now? seating cards and table numbers for an upcoming wedding, rehearsal dinner invitations for another upcoming wedding and menus for a local restaurant. so i am busy, busy, busy. new posts & pics coming soon but for now, back to work!