Things I Love Thursday // 5.1.14

• Having had my brother here visiting from California for a long weekend of sunshine, soccer, long walks, boating, and just catching up ~ It was pure joy to watch Uncle Bobby kick the soccer ball around the back yard with the girls or to watch him play "lacrosse catch" with G. 

• John Oliver's new show on HBO, Last Week Tonight ~ This show premiered on Sunday evening and it was terrific. The promos leading up to the broadcast were hysterical and the show itself did not disappoint. Do check it out.
• This song that P wrote ~ I wish you could hear her perform it. It starts quietly with melancholy and tenderness, her earnest voice quivering, "I look at you. Your [sic] like flames in my eyes… Your [sic] so beautiful…" her hand on her heart. Then POW! She breaks into a rock and roll growl, "but not as beautiful as everybody else!" "Other person" (her sister) breaks in, "ha ha ha ha ha oh oh!" And together they finish, shouting, "YOU ARE NOT MY CHOISE! [sic]" Too much.

• The super comfy-looking Cherokee short overalls that I found for the girls at Target ~ Very recently, I was delighting over the absurdity of Guess Jeans "sexy" overall campaign. Contrary to those abominations, these little fashion statements read "I'm super comfortable and ready to get dirty!" Unfortunately, I cannot find them at target.com (to provide you a link) so you will have to go there and look for them yourself. I encourage you to do so.
• Playing and having fun with these three biggest loves of my life 

• The journaling that the girls and I have been doing off and on with one another since each turned seven ~ With some help from Meredith and Sophie Jacobs, who wrote Just Between Us: A No-Strees, No-Rules Journal for Girls and Their Moms, the girls and I take turns writing back and forth to each other. It's not constant. We go in fits and spurts. For now, our topics are typically light and silly. (There are great prompts in the book to get you going.) Every once-in-awhile, the topic turns serious. (As was the case when we moved from Oregon to North Carolina. G wrote that she was feeling nervous about making new friends.) I'm hoping that by opening our communication in this way, we are establishing a foundation of our mother-daughter relationship in which the girls feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, feelings, fears, and dreams. It's a pretty grandiose idea. Cheers to the optimism that it will influence the outcomes I'm imagining.
• Spontaneous picnicking on the porch steps when these rascals get together ~ Please note the fully functioning outdoor dining table that sits unused just over their shoulders.

• Snaplock--my new replacement for all the tupperware and plastic food storage containers I had ~ These are so great! The dish part is heavy glass that goes from the dishwasher to the oven, refrigerator, microwave… The lids seal tight enough to pop into a lunchbox and the sizes are just right. 
• Thai Tea popsicles from King of Pops ~ Have you ever ordered a Thai Iced Tea? I always love the first few sips but then it gets to be too much-- too sweet, too creamy, too chai. It tastes like dessert and I don't want to sip my dessert while I'm eating my curry. NOW I can enjoy the amazing flavor of Thai Tea AS dessert! It's lovely. I'm hooked. Can't get enough.