Best Buddies

Jon's work supports a number of charities and this morning we were invited to the annual Leadership Awards breakfast for the Wisconsin chapter of Best Buddies, an organization created to build friendships, life skills and opportunities for individuals with learning and developmental disabilities. A pair of high school best buddies spoke, Corey and his BB, Peter (simply adorable - a swimming and spicy wings fanatic), followed by the keynote speaker, Anne Ballantine, a former local news anchor who was born with one arm. I straight-up thought she was speaking about someone else until she brought out her old prosthetic, since her new one is so lifelike. Anne was incredible - she grew up thinking having only one arm was truly no big deal, thanks to a caring, supportive family and community, and has lived her whole life in that same vein.

Jon and I have been talking about volunteering since we arrived in Milwaukee and it is officially time to stop talking and start doing. We're thinking Best Buddies or the Boys & Girls Club. If you want to learn more about either, check out: BestBuddies.org and Boys & Girls Clubs of America (their 'Be Great' campaign is really neat). 

It was such a nice way to start the day. Hope you are having a good morning - try and do something for someone else today, even if it's simply giving up your seat on the subway car. Little things add up.

And No.

Just out! Huggies Jean diapers. 

Silence.

And silence again.

And . . . still silent.

Baby One: I think these make my butt look big.

Baby Two: Mine's full. I need a change.

Baby Three: Hey mom, is that the eighties calling?

And lightwash? Honey, no. Waiting for Huggies Jeggings next. (Jean leggings, people.)

Wow.

No Words

RHONY (Real Housewives of New York, for those of you not addicted to their marathons) has done it again:

http://dlisted.com/node/37450
 

Countess LuAnn's video. Oh jaysus. As the Huffington Post, put it:

Awesome, Awesomely Bad or Just Bad?

Happy

 Image via The Quadfather 

For all the barbecues and beach parties that make us think of Memorial Day weekend, remember the reason this holiday was created . . .

Just Add Stylist

Great news! I'm joining the menswear-focused wedding blog Boutonnieres & Bow Ties as a stylist! 

Along with blogowner and 9tailors founder Samantha, and fellow stylists Makiko and Muchieh, I'll be creating design boards for real grooms. The first one is up next week, for a groom with an upstate New York 'garden and barn' wedding this September. Cowboy boots and leather ties, anyone? Hope he's the adventurous type!

View of a Yard

Here is Houston at work, lounging like a furry orange lizard off to the right. I've been mowing every other day since the grass grows like its on a diet of Creatine and crack. I missed one week and it was literally 5 inches tall. A dangerous gamble when you throw in Houston's "leftovers."

Wood table and chairs from Ikea and red ceramic garden stool/side table from Big Lots, all for less than $150 total. 

Love the shadows the chairs make. Hello, Summer.

Bring On the Paper (And Hopefully the Green Kind)

Sunday is my and Una's 1 year anniversary!

Holy crapballs, where did the last 12 months go? Seriously, we went on our honeymoon (ridiculously amazing), came back, I quit my job in NYC, drove halfway across the country with an insane car passenger (Houston), settled in Milwaukee, started this blog, finally sold our old apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Una started a new job, I'm still in the market looking, and now we're getting ready to move out of our house into a new one. For the second time in 365 days. I think we jam-packed this year.

As the old, married couple we are (been together over 7 years), we gave each a new couch as our joint gift. Thrilling, yes. And since it came wrapped in a cardboard paper box, I'm calling it our traditional first anniversary paper gift.

Now if the lotto would come through and deliver us a green paper gift as I've requested on our registry with them, I'd say this year had pretty much gone according to plan. 

Happy almost anniversary, my fave!