Do Fun Stuff

Yesterday Emily came home from school "sick". Of course she miraculously healed when she was picked up. And I should have been upset, but she's been having a rough time adjusting to kindergarten. She has the same teacher that Chance had, and I adore her. But it's still hard core compared to pre-school. More kids, longer hours, endless directions. She keeps asking, "Do I have to go back after tomorrow's tomorrow? And the next day's tomorrow?" And as someone who hates (and has mostly succeeded in avoiding) the world of M-F/9-5, I can relate to how she feels. So we took the day to enjoy some time together. 

Looks like if you want to take an extra day off school, all you need is imagination. (And a faux belly ache).

Untitled from maile wilson on Vimeo.

The song she was singing is from Do Fun Stuff. I purchased it after reading Rachel's post about Ryan Marshall, whose son was diagnosed with a rare disorder called Smith Magenis Syndrome. All the proceeds go toward a grant fund that he established so that grad students can study and research SMS. 

But, I'm the mom who takes out the batteries of noise-making toys the day after Christmas, "Aw, sorry honey, looks like that trombone is broken." God help you if you give them a non-battery-operated drum set. And when they ask for that Kid's Bop album "because look Mom it's only $9.99!", I tell them I would get it, but I can't because kid's music makes mommy's ears bleed.

So honestly, I had no intention of ever listening to the album. Until yesterday when we were making (okay lie, heating up the previous night's) spaghetti. I turned on iTunes to listen to my new favorite Jillian Edwards (thank you Tara and Melissa). It was set to random and this song accidentally came on. 

Which is "really inappropriate". 

I would say that I love this song only because I'm partially a ten year old boy. Except that my actual ten year old son told me it made him never want to pee again. Of course that made me turn it up louder and march around the kitchen singing "Everybody does it can't you see!". Even Jason (who tries to keep my potty humor in check) said, "Oh, I can think of so many people I need to gift that song to." See? You don't even need kids to buy this.

My ears haven't bled once, because the album is really well done. My favorite song is Ladybug, which I've listened to even when the kids aren't around. And I'm obviously not the only one who thinks so because since Ryan's original post, the album sky-rocketed to the #2 most downloaded children's album on iTunes. Amazing. 

I love it when people think of, and follow through with, creative ways to make changes... especially when those ways are slightly inappropriate.  

Have a fun weekend everyone!   

Oh wait, one more thing since we're talking about music. Did you guys see this? Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake's History Of Rap? It rocks too. K. Bye. 

I'm pretty sure this means I'm famous.

This day started normally. I woke up, grabbed some coffee, checked my email, got dressed for work. I was heading into the office when I got a call from my friend DD, "Mai Tai! WE'RE GOING TO HAVE LUNCH WITH GRETCHEN AND SLADE TODAY GET READY I'M COMING TO GET YOU!!!" 

The next thing I know I'm at the JW Marriott surrounded by women in mini skirts. And not just mini skirts. These mini skirts would make Barbie look amish, and which also, in the sitting position made me wonder way too much about hygiene and the general safety of chairs. Then again, I told DD that if I had a body like the girls that were there, I'd be walking around naked with nothing but neon lights flashing around my neck. So, really they were being conservative.

I loved being snapped out of my routine. It was like falling down Alice's rabbit hole. Only in this scenario the Treasure cat is exceedingly tan, all the creatures have boob jobs, and the tea cups are serving mimosas for ten dollars each. 

Want to see pictures?

Don't tell, but we totally stood there like ding-dong groupies waiting to have our picture taken. Because duh, how else am I going to blog about it?! Notice the curly hair? That's for Erin. She's the Queen of Everything Cute. The other day I was telling her that I could never cut my hair short, because then people would notice that I need to lose twenty pounds. As it is, I'm TOTALLY camouflaged. Erin rocks, (and pulls off beautifully) a daring pixie cut. And she's writing a book called Autohairography. I read the intro to the first chapter yesterday, and can't wait till it's out. I love the concept, and that someone is articulating the strange messy love/hate relationship we all have with our hair. 

But, back to Slade. Here he's thinking, "Where is that other girl in the mini skirt?" 

There was another shot of me with my eyes open, but this one is way better. I love the palpable awkwardness, as if they were in the middle of an interview when we freakishly ambushed them. DD from behind, popping through the hand-to-knee love chain that Gretchen has built to reassure herself that it will be over soon. While Shelly politely obliges me as I mash my sleep-walking zombie body into the frame. Slade is still wondering where the hell those girls in the mini skirts went. 

Framer.

Mighty Summit

I have a bad habit of ignoring things in proportion to how much they mean to me. I think it has to do with the disease of perfectionism. If you send me a benign email that can be answered in one word, you'll probably get an immediate response. If you send me a beautiful heart-warming message I'll say to myself, "Oh wow, this is so lovely. I'm going to have to wait until I can send back the PERFECT, most well-thought-out response in the history of mankind". Translation: It will sit in my inbox for so long that responding feels asinine. And as a result, the people who mean the most to me become neglected. Boo. Right? I think I need to order Brene's book asap.

Because the same thing goes for blogging. I've had some of the most life-changing experiences over this past summer, yet I've had such a block up when it comes to writing about them. It's like, there's so much I want to say that my mind short-circuits into silence. 

But I'm working on it, starting right now with The Mighty Summit. So let me tell you how it happened. One day, I was reading Maggie's blog about last year's Broad Summit, and she mentioned that this year they were opening it up to applications. Never one to turn down a girl's trip, I immediately applied. And then I forgot about it because I was 99% sure I wouldn't be selected.

*Note* Tara wrote a fantastic post about putting yourself out there "how the 'no' we hear should never come from our own lips." Amen sister! And it turns out that sometimes the answer is yes! Because weeks later, an email appeared saying that I'd be joining these incredible women in the redwoods, to drink wine and roast marshmallows. And by the way it was paid for. DUDES. I'm sure I screamed for five minutes. 

And then I stressed over losing weight (of course). And finding the right outfits to wear (of course). 

And then I got there and realized I'd been stressing for nothing (of course).

This group of women is so remarkable. I adore, and was so inspired by each and every single person there. I know that sounds so shmoozy. But it's just true. I love them. And ever since I've been back, I've been wishing the internet would please just move into my neighborhood already. 

Thank you Maggie, Helen Jane and Laura for creating this incredible experience, for allowing me to be a part of it, and for inspiring so many women to live their lives more courageously. It was a gift. And for anyone who wasn't able to go this time, guess what? I think next year it will be open to anyone!

Okay, now this is the part where I mention that my other bad habit is not taking pictures in proportion to the level of fun that I'm having. I literally forced myself to grab it a few times, so these are just a bunch of random moment snapshots (cleaned up in PS). If you want to see more, you can look through the Zan's flickr set. She photographed the whole weekend, and I was lucky enough to have her as a roommie too. 

 

What's not pictured here (that you'll see in Zan's set) is the highlight of my whole trip when we were in the wine cave. I mean, for one WHO KNEW THERE WAS SUCH THING?! And second, who knew how amazing it could be to talk about your dreams in one, especially with a group of women who was so willing to offer up ways to help you achieve them. It was nothing short of magical. And if you want to read more about it, mostly everyone who was there (aside from me) is a real actual writer. Maggie has a great wrap up with links to their posts here. 

I have to also mention that another (slightly unrelated) highlight for me was driving RIGHT PAST our old house on the way in. It's been seven years since we left, and I feel like I've lived fourteen lifetimes. It felt somewhat serendipitous for a separate event like this to be swinging me right back where I started, like a reminder of how far I've come from the sad, home-sick girl crying on the laundry room floor when we first moved away.  

The little house that used to be painted pink, is now beige and being guarded by a doberman pincher with anger issues. Oh well. It was still a moment. 

Next up, why I've been traveling almost every week since June, plus photos and stories from Paris and England! 

Shutter Sisters book!

We got home late Sunday night, then yesterday morning Emily wasn't feeling well. So I spent the day patting her little back and trying to type with her head on my neck. Honestly, it was bliss. Not that I like it when my kids are sick. But it's nice to hold them for more than two seconds without them running away. Especially when you've been gone for a week. 

And then look what was waiting in the mailbox!

YOU GUYS. I know I'm biased, but this book is so BEAUTIFUL. I spent all day staring at it, petting it, being amazed that I was lucky enough to be a part of it. And I'm not saying that to sound modest. Last year when when we were writing this, it was during one of the most stressful periods of my life. I was working 16-20 hours a day, routinely going to bed between 4 and 5am. I'd taken on way too much, but nothing was expendable. So I was half-assing my life, feeling like an absentee mom, wife, daughter, sister, friend, you-name-it. There were so many moments I thought I was going to really crack. During one of them, I emailed Tracey through tears to tell her there was no way I could meet the deadline for my chapter. I felt like I was failing at everything. Then she emailed the sweetest note to say that she wasn't going to let me go that easily. 

Knowing the women who were contributing, I knew the book would be incredible whether I was involved, or whether I wasn't. So her words meant a lot. And her confidence was enough to make me pull my puddle self off the floor to keep going. Because dudes, I'm not even going to front. It was HARD. I've never seen myself as a writer. I love fragments and run-ons, and I routinely abuse bland adjectives like "awesome","amazing" and "totally". Is "totally" even an adjective? To make matters worse, I find it really hard to write about photography (which is why I don't teach workshops). I know after fifteen years I must know some stuff about taking pictures. But when someone asks me about it, the only thing I can think to say is, "Umm... just click the shutter a lot and delete the bad ones." Sidenote: In the book, I managed not to say that even once!

So this is my long way of thanking Tracey for letting me be a part of this. And not just the book... the whole amazing (see? still too lazy to pull out the thesaurus) community.

The publishers sent me two copies. I'm guarding one with my life. But if you want the other one, you can enter to win here. You can also ORDER IT HERE.

And while I'm thinking about it, don't forget tomorrow is the last day (for the year!) to purchase an Epiphanie bag with the discount code!  

Paris and London photos and stories soon. Right now I'm trying like a mofo to get caught up before I leave again on Friday. (So excited!)

*Just looked it up and "totally" is an adverb. I'm sure you were on the edge of your seat about that.  

Bonjour!

 

We've been in Paris and London all week. Just dawned on me that I never mentioned that here. Nor did I set up an out of office voicemail. Sorry! If you've been trying to reach me, I'll get back to you by Wednesday. This week has been incredible. Will be back soon.