happy holiday weekend!!

Friends, I hope you are heading for a fun and fabulous weekend. The hubs and I are heading off for a bit of an early-anniversary mini-break to Holland, MI. I am beyond excited! I am going to hurry off to finish packing...see you next week!

Easter Hat

I believe I have stumbled upon a new (well, to me) Easter tradition: hats!

My 87 year-old grandmother was cleaning out her closet last week, and she asked me if I'd like to look through her hats. I jumped at the chance and left with a big, round box full of half a dozen of her vintage head-toppers, including this bright, spring-y number. I wore it to church, even though the church we attend is the opposite of dressy--you'd see mostly jeans and such. What fun! 

Despite all expectation, Easter in the Mitten this year was gloriously warm and sunny. (it hardly ever is!) We had our annual family feast at Grandma's, and she must've told everyone, twice, about how I wore her hat to church. (I think she was happy to see it in use once more...) The food was delicious, and the atmosphere was relaxed. It was great to catch up with my cousins and enjoy the easy flow of the humming house--conversations, delicious food, a game or two of ping-pong, a glass of wine...and the coming, at last, of spring. 

saturday snapshot

What a great, sunshiny day today! Spring is coming. It has to, or so help me...

My saturday is shaping up beautifully, if I do say so. Here's a little snapshot:

This illustration by Chris Silas Neal caught my eye and led me to this funny, sharp essay by poetry critic David Orr. 

I may have found a new blog addiction: pretavoyager. This entry snared me with two things that I can't get enough of--travel and journals. Fantastique!

Since we've decided to stay in the mitten this summer, I've been researching funtivities, because I'm obsessed with planning, mostly. But I'm learning lots about local parks and destinations. For instance, I'm thinking we definitely need a permit for Kensington Metropark. It's so close to us! We could hike and bike ride all summer long. Sigh, summer...is it here yet?

I'd better get going on my grocery shopping. Tonight, we're having a little double-date fiesta with my sister and her hubs. Jake and I love hanging out with them! I think I'm going to make these carnitas. 

What are you up to this weekend? Hope whatever it is, it's relaxing and delicious!

sang a song so beautiful

I have been loving this cd by Sara Groves, one of my favorite songwriters/singers ever. The lyrics to this song have been floating amorphously in my head today, the perfect backdrop to all the "sitting-tight" I've been doing (more on that later...) and the chilly spring sunshine I've been blinking in. After this dark, grey, heavy winter, I feel like a strange, bald creature in the light.

I was about to give up and that's no lie

cardinal landed outside my window

threw his head back and sang a song

so beautiful it made me cry

took me back to a childhood tree

full of birds and dreams

from this one place I can't see very far

in this one moment I'm square in the dark

these are the things I will trust in my heart

you can see something else

something else

I don't know what's making me so afraid

tiny cloud over my head

heavy and grey with a hint of dread

I don't like to feel this way

take me back to a window seat

with clouds beneath my feet

from this one place I can't see very far

in this one moment I'm square in the dark

these are the things I will trust in my heart

you can see something else

something else