Things I Love Thursday // 5.22.14

• Writing up another installment of TILT! ~ It's been so long. I swear, the end of the school year is 10x as busy as the beginning. Cheers to summertime: sleeping in, lazy days at the pool, twilight spontaneous cocktail hours, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera… I really do value this time to reflect on the simple things that make me happy.
• My little people rocking their aviators (and Waterlogue) 
  
• Our new Roomba ~ I had given up on the idea that our kitchen table and chair legs might someday sit upon the dark hardwood floors sans tufts of Richard Parker fur. I cannot express to you the delight I enjoy in seeing these 28 wooden legs stand hair-free--especially when this condition comes as a result of my effort in pressing a button. 
• The sweetest little handprint molds that my friend Sarah sneakily orchestrated with the girls for my Mother's Day ~ Honestly, it's going way too quickly. 
  
• Fearless Geneva ~ I loved receiving a couple shots of G on her field trip from her teacher. She had said in the note that the tigress was really "interacting" with the kids (through the glass). Everyone had instinctively backed up, except Geneva--who moved forward. 
  
• The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd ~ I just finished this book for my book club. I love when historical fiction just gets it right. It was also great to be reminded of some of the amazing historical figures I had been introduced to in one of my first graduate school classes, "Communication and Social Change" which focused on the Suffrage Movement. I will surely revisit Charleston, South Carolina with a new eye on our next trip.
• The magnolias coming in ~ This bud is almost double the size of my fist. I can't wait to see the whole tree in bloom again. 
  
• Lumiere ~ Far and away the BEST meal we've enjoyed in Charlotte, thus far. I talked Greg into the Chef's Tasting Menu with wine pairings and we could not have been more impressed. Our server, Ramsey, pushed the experience over-the-top and we were completely sated. 
• Fresh strawberries from the farmer's market 
  
• Discovering The Gashlycrumb Tinies and ordering a copy of the book for our home ~ Written by Edward Gorey in 1963, it is a morbid, humorous, and sarcastic account of 26 children (each representing a letter of the alphabet) who die in different scenarios. The "story" is told as a poem. The part I've come to love best is that Geneva has memorized the entire book and will recite it on demand. So good. (Or bad?) 
  
• Reaping the rewards of all the prep and hassle of hosting a garage sale over the weekend ~ It is so nice to have finally opened those boxes in the basement (it's been 15 months!), cleared through the girls' closets (and my own), purged so many things that have been collecting dust, and best of all: counting the cash at the end of the day. 
• When I casually comment to Geneva that her pillow-hair looks a little like Medusa and she really embraces it as a compliment 
  
• The puppy-sitting we got to do for our friends ~ While it did confirm that a puppy is not in our immediate future, it was a terrific experience. We loved all the belly rubs, puppy-breath kisses, and enthusiastic tail-wagging. Someday… 
  
• The prospect of catching up over drinks with one of my best high school friends tomorrow night ~ Woot woot! Cheers to keeping in touch!
• The fact that we've been living cabinet and drawer-front free for the past 4 days… because I know it means that our kitchen "facelift" project is underway ~ Yahoo!