• a variety of fine pickles •

how adorable is my family!?

hasselblad 500c, shot on ilford delta 400 120 & processed at home.

congratulations, mr & mrs gildon!

congratulations to my sister megen and her new husband kirk!

the wedding was a success! we had a few bumps in the road mainly because i was in the hospital the week before the wedding and didn't get to rehearse. but other than a few "uh-oh" and "oops" moments, it was absolutely beautiful.

my back yard was lit by twinkly christmas lights wrapped in yards and yards of tulle, and beautiful wrought iron torches lit the path that megen walked to the altar, and there were silver paper lanters hanging in my apple tree. my back yard was definitely transformed and i thought it was just beautiful.

my house was packed full of people; so many people that at times you had to elbow your way through the crowd just to get where you were going. i loved having that many people in my home! the food was fantastic. my mother really outdid herself with the stuffed mushrooms and the pork loin and i heard the groom's cake, a german chocolate cake, was out of this world.

dylan looked so handsome in his suit and tie and little kirk and gracie were adorable, little kirk in his suit and curly hair and gracie in her little black & pink frock with curly pigtails. she was dressed to party.  and my cousin will was there with my uncle butchie & aunt dyan, and kirk, gracie & will played all night, running up and down my hallway and laughing. adorable, the pitter-patter of little footsteps in dress shoes.

gracie sat on uncle butchie's lap and ate wedding cake. actually, true to mcgee woman form, she ate the icing and left the cake on the plate.

some of my favorite photos from the wedding:

the matron of honor, tina; the bride, megen; the maid of honor, my sister kristen. this photo is way washed out due to the flash i used, but there's something i just love about it.

megen, cloistered away in my bedroom trying not to be nervous before the wedding. she was wildly unsuccessful.

my mother awaiting a dragon to land on her finger, gracie peeking in a box and dylan getting busted picking at the reception spread.

my back yard as the sun was setting, and my good friend craig standing on my deck. i was standing behind where the wedding was to take place, in front of the oak tree tied with tulle. another photo plagued by lighting issues, but again, i just love this photo.

the bride and her bridal party acting like goofballs.

megen said she learned this pose on america's next top model.

my nephews dylan and kirk junior in his daddy's arms. kirk made such a dapper groom!

my little sister. she's married now. :)

i  have to say a very heartfelt thanks to some wonderful, amazing people without whom this wedding wouldn't have happened:

amanda, you are the hardest working woman in the wedding business. sit down!
craig, you're my bitch and you're damn good at it. your help was immeasurable and hilarious and kept us all from cracking under stress. you know i love ya. new york, this is your last chance!
tina, i didn't even have to ask you to jump, you did it on your own.
fosheezee, where would i be without you?
scotty & chris, amazing hair. fabulous lighting. world class bows. it was like a wedding on broadway.
bino, i'd lay my life down for you, chola. thank you for EVERYTHING. la raza!
doel, you're now a master of all things electronic and you're awesome in a pinch!
marcus, what can i say but it's not the first time you've been there for me...
megs, you shouldn't have had to lift a finger but you did anyway.
nash & kirk, you guys turned my yard into a wedding wonderland!
mom, you rock, plain and simple. we'd all be starving if it weren't for you and your amazing kitchen-witchery. nobody does it better than you, mom. nobody.

i know there are people i'm missing and they definitely deserve a huge thanks... if i left you off of this list it was completely accidental, and thank you very much for helping make my sister's wedding day so very special!

aaaaaaannnnnndddd scene.

my beautiful best friend

for as long as i can remember, my grandmother has been my best friend.

 

my grandmother and i have had a special relationship since the day i was born. by virtue of my having been born the first grandchild, i was automatically special, but being born a girl made me a legacy. my mother was the first born child of her generation, my grandmother was the firstborn child of her generation, and it goes on and on like that. unfortunately, the legacy died with me. but i now have the distinction of being the last in a long line of women who began their generation.

after my father passed away when i wasn't quite two years old yet, my mother and i moved in with her parents, my grandparents. my earliest memory of being in my crib is at my grandparent's house. my grandfather would take me to the police department where he was a police lieutenant and show me off (i threw up all over the chief of police when i was just a few days old) and when i was a little older he would drive me around in his squad car, which was the coolest thing when i was little. he would take me to the creek across the street from the house to play in the muddy water and catch crawdads with bacon on a string. i was always his "helper" out in his woodshop, where he taught me how to use a sander and that everything had a place. my poor grandfather had eight granddaughters, and no grandsons (until i was thirty-one years old) but i was his little tomboy. my grandmother would color with me and let me help her in the kitchen, and she always made the most wonderful dresses for me and my dolls. i had a great life as a very little girl, because not only did i have a mother who loved me more than anything else, i also had two grandparents who thought i had hung the moon and stars myself.

my grandmother was my earliest running-buddy, and if we'd ever gotten into any trouble together, i'd call her my partner in crime. some of my fondest memories involve sitting in a booth at chubby's or carnation with my grandmother in downtown irving, eating toast with jam or a biscuit with gravy and discussing the events of my day when i was in preschool. my grandmother always spoke to me like i was a person, and gave me credit for being intelligent and made me feel like what i had to say was very important, no matter how little i was. she helped instill in me the importance of using proper grammar and speaking eloquently, yet made clear the knowlege that, used judiciously, a well placed "ain't" will help get your point across in some specific instances. she taught me how to stand up for myself, and made me understand that being a lady doesn't mean having to be a doormat.

my grandmother makes the best chicken & dumplings you've ever had, and although she has given me the recipe, it's under lock and key. that's a family jewel, that recipe.

i don't think either of my grandparents ever met someone who didn't consider them a friend. they'd give you the shirt off of their back, then sit you down at the table with the family and welcome you to dinner.

one time, we were sitting at the kitchen table (where we always congregate) laughing (which we always do, there at the kitchen table), and my grandmother told me "oh, you do my heart good." while she wiped tears of laughter from her eyes. i'll never forget that as long as i live.

she does my heart good too, this woman, my best friend. my grandmother.

the incarnations of wedding invitations

so i wrote the other day about how i've taken on the daunting but exciting task of planning my sister's wedding, including making the invitations by hand and several other little handmade projects. the invitations are far and away my favorite part. something about paper just does it for me. i like paper. i like to fold it and cut it and i love it when things just... fit and turn into something. the best part is when that something is exactly what you pictured in your mind.

after about 7 "prototypes", the final invitation finally came together the other day. although megen's color scheme is chocolate, blush (light pink) and ivory, we waffled between ivory and white for the base of the invitations. for some reason, ivory cardstock, no matter how airy and light it was, always ended up looking like a manila folder. so white it is; and it's beautiful.

i'll try to put a photo up of the invitations soon. they're just really pretty, and i'm so proud of them. i've only got the one made so far, and it took me about an hour to make, but that hour included making the templates for the different pieces of paper and cardstock, and printing the text-portion of the invitation. all that stuff, now that i've got a system for it, is easy. it's a matter of getting all of those pieces ready and folded and cut and in order, then putting them all together in an assembly-line fashion.

for the next few weeks i'm going to be folding and cutting and corner-rounding (with the coolest little corner-rounder punch i bought at hobby lobby) and eyelet-setting (i'm using eyelets! little grommets set into the paper with this really heavy-duty tooling stuff that you first have to use to punch the hole in the paper, then set the eyelet in the paper with the setter and a hammer - really cool. thank you SO much, jann for the use of the tools and the know-how!) and vellum trimming/ripping... something else cool. the invitations include a response card and envelope, and a directions card to the wedding. i'm also making "save the date" cards and invitations to a swanky bridal cocktail soiree we're throwing for my sister. all of those other things are already designed and ready to go, it was the invitation that took the longest to get right.

they're going to be lovely. no, they're not the engraved kind of invitations, or the kind with the really cool raised, embossed lettering, and part of me wishes i could afford to give those kind of invitations as a gift to my little sister for her wedding, but unfortunately it's just not in the budget right now. but she does love the invitations that i've dreamed up for her, and she love-love-loved the one i took to work to show her yesterday; the final incarnation of the "possibles" that turned out to be the one.

i'm having a blast doing it. i can't wait for the wedding!

birthday parties ROCK with photo goodness

my very dear friends bob & mary threw a birthday party for me last night (my birthday is monday, so friday just seemed a natural for a party) and a great time was had by all, and i had a little too much to drink. yay, me!

bob got some amazingly attractive photos of me (sarcasm) looking like an escapee from some sort of institution. seriously, i have a knack for just looking completely nuts in candid photos. but he did get some photos that my mom wouldn't balk at.

big thanks to everybody who attended my party last night, and for all the goodies! thanks to kata, john, erica & ellie, steven & becca, joe (and the conspicuously absent and terribly missed lynn), monique (thanks for the picadillo!), jaz & nico, mariah, aislyn & ian, mark, and bob & laurie in absentia. and a humongous, ginormous thank you to bob & mary (the cake was gorgeous and delish!) for such a great time.

fuzzy navels are awesome. candles that don't go out even on the 5th try suck.

bob was kind enough to snap like a mad man during the party last night, and then give me permission to use them on my blog. here are some of the highlights, and a few lowlights:

mary made me a birthday cake!!!

good lord, somebody call the fire department.

wish made: check.

wait a minute... are these those wacky re-lighting candles?

yeah, i guess they are. you people suck.

alright, i'll play along.

okay, are you kidding with this? what the...

okay, one more time.

oh COME ON. I'M NOT GETTIN' ANY YOUNGER HERE.



mary tried to stab me but i was able to talk her out of it.

sometimes opening presents makes me giggle!

and sometimes it makes me look nuts.

i like to pose in an adorable fashion with new gifties.

i like to smell my presents.

and sometimes i like to smell my friends.



sometimes, i channel the spirit of peewee herman.

i get really excited about ceiling fans for my tent!

my favorite little evil faerie! really.   

i had such a good time. thanks again to all of you for making my birthday so special.

gracie & the sunbeam

i went to my mom & dad's house today and got to see my neice gracie. she had a bad cold, and her sweet little cheeks were flushed bright red, but she hadn't lost her urge to laugh and play and run around, and pose in a sunbeam for her aunt lissa's camera. she even got the hang of putting the lens cap on my camera. maybe she was trying to tell me something.

   

i can't get enough of her. she makes my heart smile.