Happy Leap Day!

The Shadow of the Day

will embrace the world in gray.

My Masterpiece

A Budding Shopaholic

Bande Abru

Four years ago, we discovered an Ancient Indian tradition right here in Gainesville: eyebrow threading. Also popular in Persia , Bande Abru ("Abru" means eyebrow, and "Band" is the thread) was used to signify when a little girl was turning into a woman. Practitioners use a pure cotton thread. They generally twist the hair and threading pulls out a whole row of hair, as opposed to tweezing where only one single hair is pulled out. Threading is often preferred to tweezing because of the naturally straight lines of hair removed by the thread. It is pulled out from the follicle. Vena is our amazing practitioner! It instantly completely changes the shape of your face and you are always guaranteed perfectly arched eyebrows! (Carly's right brow is threaded)...

Taste Tester

I've baked Funfetti cupcakes every holiday for the past three years. With green/red sprinkles for Christmas, orange/black for Halloween, green for St. Patty's, and most recently red sprinkles for Valentine's Day, it's really the only thing I have mastered how to make in the four years I have been responsible for making my own meals. I enjoy cooking but am quite incapable of cooking anything else without overcooking, undercooking, burning the ingredients. Kate indulged in the batter as we made her first batch of Funfettis last week for Valentine's Day! 

Bubbly Toes

While running the Disney Marathon could possibly be my greatest accomplishment (see medal and sweet t-shirt below), I incurred a sustaining injury from my endeavor. The blisters encumbering my toes (seen left) made it impossible for me to stand on my feet for almost a week. It didn't help jet setting to Vegas the following weekend which entailed a great deal of walking as well. Now that a full month has gone by, I still have no desire to run even though my feet are healing but I have lost three (almost four) toenails in the process. I am confident in the fact that they will grow back and feel as though this entitles me to 30% (almost 40%) off my next pedicure! =) I'm pretty hardcore.

You can't have your cake and eat it too.

I had to laugh when I came across this picture of Kara's delicious graduation cake I accidentally indulged in on my drive up to Tallahassee...

Date Auction

Carly participated in a date auction Wednesday night in order to raise money for Relay for Life/American Cancer Society. She, being a hot commodity, went for $180!! In all, the event raised almost $1800! Carly spent last night cooking her "Valentine" a gourmet meal complete with chicken Parmesan, angel hair pasta, Caprese salad and red velvet cake for dessert.

My Valentine

Thanks for the memories.

And now that this scared little girl no longer follows me wherever I go, I miss her. I do. 'Cause there are things I wanna tell her-- to relax, to lighten up, that it is all going to be ok. I want her to know that meeting people who like you, who understand you, who actually accept you for who you are, will become an increasingly rare occurrence. These people who contributed to who I am, they are with me wherever I go, and as history gets rewritten in small ways with each passing day, my love for them only grows. Because the truth is... it was the best of times. Mistakes were made, hearts were broken, harsh lessons learned, but all of that has receded into fond memory now. How does it happen? Why are we so quick to forget the bad and romanticize the good? Maybe it's because we need to believe that the time we spent together actually meant something, that we were there for each other in a time in our lives that defined us all, a time in our lives that we will never forget. I can't swear this is exactly how it happened. But this is how it felt.

Kate Alexandra

Lower 9th Ward

On our way out of New Orleans on Sunday, we took a sobering detour through the Lower 9th Ward.. the area of New Orleans hit the hardest by Hurricane Katrina, most of which was completely wiped out when the levees broke. Many of the neighborhoods have not even begun to be restored and all that is left is cement slabs where houses once stood and families once resided. Brad Pitt has founded "Make It Right" to aide in the restoration of the unique spirit of the Lower 9th, which symbolizes the soul of New Orleans. One of the Global Green homes is almost finished (pictured above). http://www.makeitrightnola.org/

Mardi Gras 2008

Happy Mardi Gras!!

Kara and Kelley karaoking at the Cat's Meow on Rue Bourbon..

Catching beads at one of six parades we attended..

The Best Mirror is an Old Friend.

The search for the perfect bridesmaid's dress continues. I brought Kate along yesterday to try on even more dresses. Wouldn't she make the perfect flower girl?