concrete jungle where dreams are made of...

post wedding bliss and being up for almost 36 consecutive hours {mini cat nap in between long-A drives with bestie holly} left me in new jersey. best time ever. sleeping in a twin bed given up by my favorite little chicken. waking up for toast and eggs. then back to sleep - no baby was waking me up this day. playing with ella & fia twinners {thanks for the hand-me-downs V - em wore the jean skirt today. drop dead gorgeous.} guest at arnold {other arnolds} family dinner. loved. great discussion with seminary peeps of common liberal ground. the church is good. more sleep. starbucks run after school drop off for the chicken. miss him. drive to new york. 2 wrong turns, even with my gps, & 3 radio listens to jay-z's empire state of mind later i arrived at kassey's casa in astoria, ny. what happened next was the stuff of babyless-mommy-on-the-town legend {i.e. nothing too crazy, everything liberating}. fun.

photo documentation

{sorry, none of the chicken family as i was too tired with photography from the nuptials}

my best little j impression {season one}

kass and nyc friend sarah
{total fun times girl - wish i could pull of the 2-toned hair - she be fierce}


s and i overwrought with celebrities on the street


finishing free marg #3


230 fifth
{rooftop}

{yes, they had snuggies gratis}


{yes JR} lothar made an appearance

i was scared for wolf mans in the lobby - damn you halloween

this last one reminds me of over 1/2 the pictures i took in college


with all the love in my heart and headbands on my head,
erin

Odoteis

took some pictures at the wedding i was at this past week. i had the honor of doing the bride's hair and getting to run around with the bridesmaids for a few days before. i love these people so much i can't even stand it. so much that i took five days leave from my preciousness. here are a few pics of the happy couple. taking pictures of them is so fun - they are so beautiful.

these shoes were a special gift from the groom's parents.
so she wouldn't be barefoot and pregnant {she's not pregnant btw, nor does she plan to be soon} i love that melissa is the kind of girl who would get shoes the day before her wedding then decide to wear them the day of ... plus they're fierce.

gorgeous.
e

what baby? GroBaby!

after much thought and trepidation, i am ready to take the plunge into cloth diapering. i have been afraid of the washing and cleaning of icky diapers. however, many friends do it - and successfully. and, i have made my choice in diapering goodness - GroBaby! i like the snaps. i like the colors. i like the inner liner-ness. seems like less mess.



and they're giving away a free bio soaker for posting! i can't wait to try them - being that i've been putting off making the leap for a few months now.


here's to the diaper revolution.
e

a battle i'm winning

while she looks unsure about it, i'm trying to convince my daughter that bows are awesome, bows are her friend, she should be glad she has enough hair to wear bows without bands, bows make an otherwise gender neutral outfit very girly and we like girly around here ... i think i'm getting through to her.
exhibit a.


exhibit b.


i can't believe i'm leaving this munchkin for 6 days starting tomorrow. argh.

but, i'll have some distractions :: miss lissa's getting married. hizzah! and i get to hang out with one of my favorite college friends kassey in new york city {she just may be both my most fab-fabulous & my most globetrottingest friend} AND, to top it off i get to spend a day with the chicken and his family!

what a way to avoid what will be the inevitable sadness
erin

bragging rights

{{taken by auntie holly this weekend}}

she's dang cute.

i want to eat her face.

don't you?

erin

seinlanguage

my baby's doing signs y'all. here they are in order of acquisition:

hello: waving like a royal - hand up, wrist a turnin' {just started to say HI}

goodbye: same as hello only with scrunched up nose and laughing eyes

fish: make a pa-pa sound {this is the most consistent sign} taught by grandma in hawaii - used for actual fish and goldfish crackers

you're-talking-on-the-phone sign: head cocked to one side, hand up to the ear, babbling.

duck: just the word. duc-duc-duc. often while grabbing her feet - she has yellow jams with ducks on the feet.

milk: i wanted to pick a different sign, but "milking a cow" just came naturally. you should know that she now makes this sign when she catches a glance of me in my all together. thanks kid. i know. i make milk.

blue berries: imagine you're making the 'b' sound, only remove the sound and just do the action with your lips. today she was insistent that what she was eating was NOT blue berries, that she wanted blue berries, and that grapes were just not cutting it.

she also dances. claps for music she likes. gives kisses on demand. and just acquired the emerging skill of standing no-hands.

i cannot believe she is this grown-up. i feel her moving further into herself and farther away from me. it's a joy and a sadness.

sorry no pics. in the move i haven't had time to upload. promise they are coming soon and very soon.

erin

annie to her friends

i've been reading anne lamott's book grace (eventually) thoughts on faith and i love it. i think miss lamott is genius {a word i use far too frequently to refer to everything from the salsa bar at maui tacos to the way my bro uses 'zor' to finish off words (btw, try this it's awesomezor) - however she deserves the praise i give her}. i love that she's intense about almost everything. love that she is self-deprecating in a way that always points back to the goodness and faithfulness of god. i love that she sometimes reminds me of the best parts of my dad & adore her openness while fervently disliking ALL things bush administration. and, i nonetheless (or nonethemore) get to sit at her feet and listen to her life. at this juncture i would say that she is my very favorite author {sorry c.s. lewis and j.k. rowling, but a non-brit with a sorry lack of an initialed moniker has taken your place}.


this portion of her book spoke to me this week which has been a different kind of week for me...

all i knew was that help is always on the way, a hundred percent of the time. Rumi said, "someone fills the cup in front of us." i know that when i call out, god will be near, and hear, and help eventually, although it is hard to envision this at the moment ... god always hears our cries, and helps, and it's always a surprise to see what form god will take on earth: the the old joke, a man whose plane crashed in the tundra bitterly tells a bartender that god forsook him - that he waited in vain for divine intervention & would have died in the snow ... if it hadn't been for some f---ing eskimos's who came by

to the tundra!
e

squawk squawk squawk

this is my brother. his name is mikey {{ but he'd rather go by 'mike' or 'dj mikezor' }}

he's a baller


he just graduated from high school and most recently fulfilled the requirements to become an eagle scout.


he's been a part of bsa since he was six.

my bro thinks he's pretty bad ass. and, he's right.
he also happens to be a pretty decent young man.



i love my little brother. very much.

we {{his family }}are very very proud of him.

b and i got to attend his eagle scout court of honor on our first weekend back in california.



scout master fog was in attendance.
{{high fives all around }}



little known fact: i was a girl scout until junior high when it became tragically uncool. so, {{ with great haste }} i quit. cross stitching, camping, roasting smores & sewing quilts was not considered hip {{glad these things have made a resurgence in my life... well, except camping }}i'm so glad my little bro stuck it out and stayed committed. i hope that he can continue to pick the unpopular thing when he knows it's the right thing. i am glad my daughter gets to grow up with such an uncle.



a excerpt from b's section "the voice of the eagle" read aloud while perched above the congregation
{{wink }}

And now, that you are standing at the summit of the trail, in the glory of sunshine and wind and cloud at the threshold of your goal, we applaud you and welcome you, for you have done your climbing in a true Scout-like manner.

here's to melodramatic rights of passage,
erin

acting from a place of anxiety

graphically yours,
erin

she loves the brine

em has a new love, and that love is pickles. she particularly likes the ones i picked up this week in nyc at the pickleguys.

the biddles {not unlike her mom} prefers the half-sours.



she'll suck on them until she's green in the face {pun intended}


warts and all,
erin

come on up mr. sun

{ from our hotel room in new york }

gorgeous
erin

three h's

{{ hem. hathaway. husband. }}

so in case anyone was wondering i may possibly have one of the better husbands around. it annoys me to no end when bloggers gush on and on and on about how 'hot' and funny and thoughtful and amazing and perfect their spouses are - gag gag gag. however, today is a day that i join ranks. why you may ask. well, on our last week here on the east coast mr. a is taking me and his-girl-friday to nyc for a chance at seeing my favorite folk band :hem: score the shakespeare in the park version of twelfth night with anne hathaway as the lead. he is so lovely, so lovely indeed, so much so that he will be studying for this while em and i visit here and here and here while pretending to be them.

he even got us a upper east side location so em and i can trip all over town and drink latte in central park, giving me one last day of city living before we go suburban for a while.


i really love this guy. he is like the very best ever. here are 2 more reasons:


to the big apple we go
erin

cheese penitentiary

em's first cream cheese.

loves it. of course.
her mother's daughter.

so messy, so good


we've purchased a mobile cage for children & small animals.

we call it: baby prison.

for packing and mommy sanity with our little crawler
{she's quick and loves cords}

here are some pics i took on a recent trip to rikers

{{ gang signs }}


{{ a hardened criminal in the yard }}


{{ contemplating her prison tat }}
mom heart or railroad tracks with an eagle...


it's good and cheesy on the inside.

erin

dontcha know

i got new hairs today alla vidal sassoon hair salon on newberry street (a great deal and an awesome cut/color)

here's a pic. because JR asked for it.


in other news: recently i have been trying my hand at more formal photography. i did an engagement shoot all over harvard square for miss lissa & odoi and a newborn shoot at home for my dogu & cass friends. it was super fun. here is a little taste of my faves.

m & o



{{below shot at my favorite: crema cafe}}


now introducing archer the extraordinarily cute baby brayley
{{previously known as spunk}}


{{gotta love the new mommy gaze}}


also, we move to cali in 2 short weeks. arriving oakland international from logan at 10:45 pm thursday the 16th of july.

get ready golden state the arnold's are comin' back.

enjoying all stages of family,
erin