This weekend Matt and I are going to a wedding out of town and Sunshine will be spending the holiday weekend with her Uncles.

I am not worried about Sunny but I am deeply concerned for the sanity of her Uncles.

They hate to hear her cry, buy her everything that she picks up, and while they’ve babysat hundreds of times before, an overnight might be asking too much.

So she and I had a little talk yesterday over a snack. It went something like this:

ME: “Mama and Daddy are going  to go bye bye and you are staying with JC and Chris!”

HER: “Jazzy & Kiss???”

ME: “YEP! And you’ll be a good girl right?”

HER: “Cubby?”

ME: “Yes, Cubby’s coming too.”

HER: “OH! CUBBY, DOGGIE, RUFF!”

ME: “Are you gonna be a good girl”

HER: (see photo below)

(This is her attitude pic. where she raises her hands and argues with me like JC)

(This is the signal for ALL DONE, which is the point where she finished telling me off)

ME: “You know Gracie, that’s a lot of attitude for a 17 month old, you might be spending too much time with your uncles.”

HER: “Jazzy! Kiss!”

Pray for us!

Sunshine has one face, that reflects her pure wonder and amazement at the world around us. We call it her WOW face.

She recently got a Mr.Turtle sandbox and while playing with sand in the box is exciting, tossing  he sand outside the box onto the concrete is WOW worthy.

I’ve decided I need to approach my day to day life with this same look of wonder. Wow!!! This coffee is amazing! Wow!!! You have three teeth coming in and a fever!!!! Wow!!!!!My babysitter canceled and I have 800 million tons of work to do!!!!  WOW!!!!! PRESCHOOL COST HOW MUCH??????

When you are granted the opportunity like I am to peer into the lives of complete strangers, I am often struck that a few things will always hold true.

1. Weddings are and always will be the biggest moment of any persons life.

2. Family is important, in the end.

3. Love, above all else, always  wins.

This week has been full of getting back to work, re-establishing norms and routines, and coming down from the high of Chris and JC’s wedding week.

Perhaps this blog would be more interesting if I posted the photos and videos of my clients lives- but somehow that would seem like a violation of their trust in me. So instead I will continue to blog about my life, my child, and the people in my life that effect the way I see the world. Chris and JC see a world full of color and beauty. It is them who can turn a single fabric into a design, and them who have stocked my daughters closet full of neatly pressed, nearly perfect outfits. It is also them who FINALLY gave me permission to post their happiest, most  important day of love.

They designed the dresses, the tents, the lighting, the music, the day that will remain in our hearts as a beautiful reminder of the power of love. As one guest stated the beauty of their wedding was that it didn’t feel like a “gay” wedding, but rather just a wedding. Two awesome people, joining their lives together for eternity, vowing to put each other first above all others. Isn’t that what it all comes down to in the end? Don’t we all want happiness for one another and the people that we love?

I have a friend who took a chance on love. She traveled across the country in search of what she knew was true. She would tell you that her search turned out to be a bust- but I am here to tell you that it was in fact a leap. A leap of faith, an investment in a possiblitiy, a seed planted.  We drop everything for the possiblity of love, we do the impossible, lay our hearts on the line, search online and in line for the one we will someday claim as  our own. So yes, marriage is and should be the biggest day of your life- you finally get to stop searching. You can hold this one hand forever and yes it should be celebrated- so we celebrate Chris and Jc and the thousands of others out there. Congratulations on finding your love.

A little advice- don’t let go.

My job day in and day out is to glue the pieces of peoples lives  together. The years, the memories, the moments that you never ever want to forget- I get to live in those places with my clients and that might make me the luckiest person on Earth, so thank you very much for reading, sharing, recommending, and making my life so rich with expressions of love.

I know, I know everyone wants to see pics from the wedding but I risked my life putting up photo of the Bridesmaids dress, so we have to wait until Chris and JC give me the go ahead for any more pics…they’ll be back this week so I’ll see what I can do. ***These are just pics from around Mexico- you’ll know the wedding pics- way more glam!

Mexico was fun and beautiful and warm…basically everything that NY isn’t right now. Delicious brunches, lots of beans and rice for my little one, and some very affectionate cuddle time for our little family- we should go to Mexico more often.

Pool, sun, beaches, new friends…why do we have to wait for a wedding to take a vacation?

I’ll post more pics soon, promise. For now these are from our friend Seri who was gracious enough to take lots of pics, because I of course, was video taping and forgot to take pics! Let this be a lesson to all of you Mama’s out there- don’t forget the camera!

The wedding itself was incredible. It was more of a glamorous event! There were lots of tears, and hugs, and love just flowing. Not to mention champagne, crab cakes, and fireworks. Uh huh- I said Fireworks 3 ROUNDS! The music was unreal, the atmosphere was ridiculous- and the dresses(all weekend) were awesome! It was really an Alice + Olivia fashion show- wait till ya’ll see the pics.

But we’re back in New York, which means back to the grind. Someone has to pay for this life of leisure. More than one time I found myself telling Matt that we should move down to Mexico and start a boat rental business, he wasn’t so into the idea so we’re back here..go figure!

Be back soon with more pics!

My Mother’s Day was lovely thanks to my husband & Sunshine.

We had an Italian brunch, waited in a LONG line for cupcakes, and this is what Sunny looked like after she devoured hers…

The wedding is now just a few days away! I really really can’t believe it. I’m so excited, but I know that time on that gorgeous beach will fly- so I’m already working on staying in the moment and enjoying our vacation.

And since Christopher and JC are now safely in Mexico and will not be reading this blog- I’m sneaking you the only picture I have of my bridesmaids dress.

What do you think? Does it get any shorter? I’m afraid to bend over to pick up Sunny, so Matt is on baby duty. We’re just praying she actually walks down the aisle without greeting everyone with a “Hi” or “I like dat!” or her sassy talk- “Lea me lone! Stop it!”

I got her some cute sparkly bracelets to wear and a baby fedora from Gap- she thinks she’s the shhhhh**!

We’ll  be back with sunshine, photos, and a much longer post soon.

I’m not much for Hallmark Holidays, and Mother’s Day is no exception. However now that I am a Mother, the holiday bares a new and special meaning. I look forward to the days when Sunny gifts me a paper plate with her hand prints in blue accompanied by a note at the top that says Happy Mother’s Day- written in her teacher’s hand writing. I always loved to make crafts at school and proudly brought them home for my own Mother. I remember one  particularly amazing ceramic plate that I had drawn all over in hot pink markers that later got hung on display in the laundry room- I thought that was so very special. Of course I also thought that my homemade Christmas Ornaments were pretty awesome, but some years ago my Mother started to decorate our tree in the style of Neiman’s and Saks, so my homemade ornaments never get hung for public viewing anymore.

I see slight resemblances between my own mother and me now, with age. Sometimes I’ll see a picture of myself now and see her face. On my desk there is a picture of me age 7 months or so, with my Mother looking right at me smiling. We’re both dressed in our Easter Sunday outfits and it seems rather fitting that I’m trying to sit up and she is kneeling over to meet me. They say once you have your own child you suddenly will know how much your mother loves you- I suppose that’s true but it wasn’t ever a shocking realization for me. For years now she’s been the only person who will sit and listen to my inner thoughts swirling around my head searching desperately for someone to listen to. Now she calls every morning to hear what mundane and often boring things happened in the last 10 hours since we last talked. She’s also is the only person who asks me to share every single thing Sunny does hour to hour. I call her so much that it’s sort of like she is here- only she is not. So no, it’s not shocking that she loves me as much as I love my baby, I always knew how much my Mother loved me, I’m blessed in that way.

We’ve had our ups and downs, often times I act more like a therapist than a daughter to my mother whose own mother was less than ideal. Once in high school I gave a speech where I stood up in front of complete strangers and announced that our family was not “affectionate.” To this day my Mother regards this as her worst parenting moment ever. The truth is, that that IS the truth. We aren’t- but ever since then she tries to give hugs and kisses ( occasionally) at the airport. Oddly enough one of the most distinct memories that I have is her sneaking into my room when for years kissing and hugging me goodnight and her breath always smelled like mint toothpaste. I can remember pretending to be asleep- but having my door open so she would come in and steal kisses.
Maybe I should have said that while I was making my speech…

Differences aside all of our pointless conversations have helped me to understand life, and people, and relationships. I had another moment today where I got some news and I thought, she was right. “She” being my mother, the news being that someones husband had left them, and the right part being that she always knows when something “just isn’t right.”

I’m not sure if I need now or ever needed a holiday to tell my own mother, thank you- for picking up the phone 8 times a day, caring if I got my edit completed, wondering what I’m cooking for dinner, calling to check if Sunny slept through the night, listening when my friend moved away to California, panicking when  we discovered we had no suitcase the night before our last trip, and reminding me that NO ONE loves me more than she does…NO ONE.  That last statement use to freak me out till I gave birth to my own kid, and now I’m like…She was right!

Happy Mothers Day out there to each of you reading. We’re part of an elite group of women who sacrificed our whole lives for the lives of other people, and I bet, we’d all do it again willingly, lovingly, and without hesitation.

This weekend I led the life of a jet setter- well sort of.  I headed to Chicago to celebrate the pending arrival of my best friends baby. It also marked the first time I flew without my daughter. Getting on the plane I thought I might throw up- so its no surprise that 10 minutes into reaching a cruising altitude I ordered white wine, which helped rid me of the shakes.

Before I left town, my husband asked me if I would honestly be “happier” to be on a plane that crashes with Sunny, then without her. I told him NO! Of course not! But….that’s not completely true. I am not  crazy, I do want my Sunshine girl to have an amazing life full of love and friendship and perfection- I just want to be there for every single second of it. So, if I were to die in a plane crash over lake Michigan then she would be left motherless and how could her life be perfect if she is motherless? Right??!!! You guys get it….Matt doesn’t get it, not even a little bit.

This isn’t the first time we’ve had this sad talk. We disagree about most things concerning death. He is more accepting and more faithful then I am. I am holding on for dear life- not mine, mind you- but hers. I don’t want a miss a second of her life, not one second.  But that’s Motherhood right?

Anyway….I landed and I had the best time ever. I rubbed Andrea’s belly ( her belly is probably so grateful that I left), went out to clubs, and dressed in clothing that were not form The Gap or  made of cotton! I felt like my former self- and it felt really good. My Chicago girls are all doing really really well. This was the first time I left my girls and did not cry and I think that might be progress. I miss them, each of them so much, it makes my heart hurt. But while I’m there they all come together, all take me out, all catch me up, all introduce me to the people in their lives that show them love and respect. I left this time around feeling like we’ve all grown up a bit and become more of ourselves. Everyone is happy and joyful and maybe most important to me- they are all together, taking care of one another. Last week I posted a little love story about my city New York- and it is an awesome place! But Chicago will always have my heart, because here in NY  it is the energy that makes this city move, and there in Chicago it is the people. My friends are so important to me. Who they are, how they are, what happens to them;  effects and happens to me.

The new baby will be here soon, and I will be back to hold her/him and that will be when it will be hard to leave once again. I’m certain there will be tears upon that departure- BUT in 13 years I have never missed an important moment and I never ever will- even if it means boarding a plane and leaving my baby behind.

Erin, Andrea, Tricia, Moe, and Heather & Michael- thank you for an unforgettable weekend. My heart grew 10 fold just being in your presence and I am so very grateful that you have chosen to be my friend; how very very proud I am of each of you. You’re made of magic, every single one of you.