Behind the scenes

If you live in San Antonio, maybe you noticed that the Living show has a new format now. On Monday, we went down to surprise and congratulate Shelly. Then she said if we promised to turn off our cell phones, we could watch the whole show from their new prop couch. It was fun. And she was so cool under pressure, even after the main feature of the show had to be cancelled. They'd originally planned to interview a bunch or mommies at a coffee shop about the first day of school. But the truck broke down, and she had to fill five minutes on the fly. That's when I would have broken into terets and passed out. But she filled them up like it was nothing. Go girl!

The groupies.

Congrats again Shell!

Life in the fast lane.

Surely makes you lose your mind.

One day Emily is turning three.

The next day, we're celebrating 14 years together.

Well, kind of.

Emily's birthday  was celebrated almost a month late. I had some mommy-guilt about it, because Annie's Princess Party was such a big deal. But the weeks got away, and all I could pull off was a cake and some toys for Emily. I know it's not exactly scarring. But you know we moms find all kinds of reasons to beat ourselves up.

This shot above, is us on the way to dinner. The sitter had waited for a half an hour while I tried not to get mascara in my bangs, and pretended my Spanx wasn't cutting off circulation to my toes. It's not ideal. But I guess it's better than our past "celebrations", which consisted of "let's save money and just buy each other cards." Then we'd forget and pull them out of a drawer a week later, "oh yeah, I meant to tell you I still like you, and I'm glad you're here."

Then there was the first day of school on Monday...complete with "I hate your camera" second grader; and "cheeeeeeese" KINDERGARTENER.

Made me feel like crying to type out that big huge kindergarten word. And I'm not sure if it's because my baby is growing up. Or if it's because THEY ALMOST SHIPPED HER OFF TO A RANDOM DAY CARE YESTERDAY. I know everyone gets overwhelmed on the first day. And God knows I don't want to be "that bitch mom" that the they talk about in the break room. But it's scary when your 5 year old almost gets shipped across town without your knowledge. When I asked her how that happened, she said that since I "hadn't turned in my paper, she didn't know where Annie was supposed to go". PHONE CALL WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE.

And as if writing that paragraph hasn't gotten me wound up enough, I'm now going to make MORE COFFEE, and say a prayer that my daughter makes it through another brave day in this crazy, way too fast-paced world we live in.

Crap Shoot

Come post "crap" shots with me over here today!  :0)

Gotta get the kids off to school and all that, but I'll be back later with more.

The Bruner Fam

If I had time, I'd take a picture of the rain drops on my window. They're making me so happy. I hope it storms while I'm reading later. Even though I finished The Glass Castle last night. It was so good that as the end approached, I was counting down pages. Thought I had three left, only to find out that the last two were BLANK! Don't you hate that?! It's like being immersed in the best conversation, only to have someone run abruptly out the door. I wanted to hear what happened next, and next, and next. So I ran upstairs and googled everything I could about Jeannette Walls. I wish she had a BLOG! I would totally stalk her. And anyway, now I'm in the zone. I need another book recommendation! Michelle said to get this one, and she's the book guru, so I will. Any other ideas? I want a page turner!

Now meet the Bruner Family. I knew I loved her when she suggested dragging her gorgeous couch out onto the front lawn.

Aren't they the sweetest?! Thanks you guys! And thank you Karen and Carrie Friesenhahn for the referral.

Have a fabulous weekend!

I Heart NYC.

I let New York slip by without getting any spectacular shots. Seems a little tragic now, because that city is a photographer's dream. Everything is interesting. So I can't explain why it felt like a chore to take out my camera.

As DD would say, we were "tourists on crack". I've always wanted to get on one of these.

So we paid the $40, and got the cliff notes version of the city. It took us everywhere from Central Park, to China Town, to Times Square. We looked like the bus dorks, but it was a great way to navigate through the city.  

Told you we'd find a Statue of Liberty hat... :0)

Even though this is as close as we got to the Statue of Liberty.

 

Even saw people filming something!

We did NOT get raped and killed in this staircase. And the risk was totally worth the handbags we found!  :)

There was really no limit to the cheesy tourist activities. I really don't know what possessed us, but DD and I had our portraits drawn together...like junior high lovers at a harvest fair. And let me tell you that as soon as I sat down I regretted it. The only thing worse than having someone staring at your facial features intently for five minutes, is having a CROWD stare at your facial features for five minutes. I'm totally canceling that appointment I have at the college to be a nude model for the art students. haha!

We tried to go to the Museum of Modern Art, but it was closed on Tuesdays. So we ended up going to the Jewish museum, which was amazing. The tour guide had to be over 60 years old, and had been working there over 15 years. But her enthusiasm for all paintings and the artists was contagious. She made you want to live your life more passionately.

After that, we found this little cafe called Square Meal. It was so cute. And of course I have no pictures of it. NOR do I have any pictures of Marissa Tomei who was sitting one table over from us! Yep! We even had a celebrity sighting...well DD recognized her. I would have never, except her voice is unmistakeable. There was so much more...shopping, and great restaurants. I can't wait to go back and experience more than the touristy stuff.

OH, and on the way home I started reading The Glass Castle and have nearly read it through. It was originally recommended to me by my friend Michelle (hi!), but I was reluctant to get it because I already knew the story. So I started telling DD about it in the bookstore and she swooped it up. When we got back to the hotel, she read the first page out loud, which said  "To John, for convincing me that everyone who is interesting has a past". Well, I knew I had to get it and have not been able to put it down. I know half the world has read it, but if you haven't YOU MUST GO ON AMAZON RIGHT THIS SECOND AND ORDER IT. You will read it from cover to cover, I promise. It's a true story, and it is completely mesmerizing.

Okay, back to work, and see you again soon!