Easter

 Easter is one of the few holidays out of the year for which I get pretty excited. The other ones are

Flag Day ~ June 14th

Kansas Day ~ January 29th

Fourth of July

My birthday

Apparently I'm super patriotic.

I personally can't figure out why we have to celebrate so many holidays in the middle of winter. Christmas, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day (well, this year it was 80 degrees. Holla, climate change!), Thanksgiving...I like to imagine what Christmas would be like if it were usually 70 degrees instead of 7, and what I imagine is awesome. It'd basically be like Independence Day, but bunting would be red and green instead of red, white, and blue. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph weren't in 2 feet of snow, so why should we be? I suppose I could move to California, but....no.

{via Oh, Joy!}

 Anyway, I love Easter. For most of my life we've spent the day with close family friends. Their son and I met in a pre-preschool playgroup when we spent the day painting a cardbord box purple, and the rest is history. 20+ years later we've moved beyond egg hunts, but the day is still spent together, only now we drink lots of champagne and eat lots of amazing cheese and chocolate. And salmon. Did I mention cheese? 

{Martha Stewart}

One of my jobs through college was singing in the Episcopal Cathedral Choir in Topeka, KS. The Easter hymns are some of my all-time favorites. Alleluia, alleluia, give thanks to the ris'n Lord/alleluia, alleluia, give thanks to His name! In 2008 I was in Paris and I went by myself to the American Cathedral. Communion was port instead of wine! Since there's a cathedral in Kansas, there was a Kansas flag hung in the church. It was like going home, except for all the French sermon-ing. My throat was raspy from not singing for months, but my voice came back toute suite. Two French men in the pew in front of me even turned around and told me how glad they were that I was sitting behind them!  I might have even sung the descants. Afterward my friends and I  went to Angelina's by the Louvre and drank pitchers (literally) of hot chocolate. I doubt I will ever experience anything so decadent again in my life.  Church to me is about the music and people in it. I admit, I don't really think someone rose from the dead and all of a sudden all my "sins" are forgiven, but that's just me. I love how Easter isn't as much about presents as Christmas is and that the music doesn't get overplayed on the radio. Easter is also maybe one of the most kid-friendly holidays, and I can't wait to share it with mine. They can have all the chocolate they want.

parentals

My mom is so pretty. Always has been. She'll be 60 this year and I think she looks exactly the same as the day these were taken which was probably over 30 years ago. My dad also looks exactly the same and can be found making that face approximately 95% of the time.

My mom has magical olive skin that gets tan in about 30 seconds the first sunny day of the year.  I used to get asked a lot if her background was Mediterranean, but I'd have to say no, mostly Norwegian. My dad's explanation is that the Vikings up in Scandinavia plundered and pillaged all the way down to the Ottoman Empire and plenty of dark haired, olive skinned beauties were likely carried north when they went home again. Booty, if you will.

don't get any ideas (unless it's to give me four hundred dollars)

Dadgummit.

No, I'm not actively planning my wedding.

No, I'm not engaged.

No, I'm not one of those girls freaking out that she's not engaged yet.

But yes, dammit, I have a semblance of a dream of a wedding dress.

And it's on sale.

In my size.

{J.Crew $399.99}

Trust issues

Me: Are you hungry?
David: For what?
Me: Does it matter? Are you hungry?
D: ....why?
Me: Because I want to feed you! It's 9:30 and you've been at practice since 4, and you never eat! Have you eaten at all today?
D: I had a few pieces of pizza at the rehearsal...
Me: When?
D: What did you make?
Me: Are you hungry?
D: It depends on what you made!
Me: A poop sandwich. No you idiot, I made a pork tenderloin.
D: I'M STARVING.

mint sorbet

This color looks good with everything, from my puppydog to my checkbook.

universal peace

My dad was in a commune in the 60's. That's all I'm going to say about that.

My dad, seated, and Mehmet, the Turkish Ph.D student who introduced them to wine and Karl  Marx

My dad on the left

say what?

I've experienced a few WTF moments while shopping recently:



I don't know why this last one to me is so ridiculous. Maybe it's like that kid you secretly had a crush on in grade school: you tease him and pretend you hate him, but deep inside you wonder if he's your one true love.  Maybe that's how I feel about this coffee in a carton and I'm just afraid to admit it to myself.  But I think it's actually that there's little more sacred to me than cold press iced coffee and this is just blasphemy!