Merry Christmas

Love,

Us

November and early December update

So many things are a-brewin' here at the homefront, and honestly, I'd rather be doing those things than spend MORE time than I already do at the computer (love you, grad school), updating the blog. Oh well.

I'm in the home stretch of finals and at the end, along with passing grades, I'll be rewarded with 5. five. FIVE! glorious weeks off. Well, not off- no work is due, but I'll have plenty to keep me busy with in terms of school related stuff.

More importantly, though, my 5 weeks off will give me time to: clean the house properly, see friends I've been neglecting, watch a movie, make tamales, read a book* (*not a textbook), fully integrate myself into the world of pinterest, finish some painting projects, weed the garden, sew, and hone in on Mar's potty-training. Not so relaxing, but so critical- all of it.

In any case, I will proceed with a photojournaling sesh that documents our life since my Halloween post:

Marlowe had her (late) 2-year-old well-baby check up. We're still on the small side, but otherwise healthy and growing just fine.

After months of searching, and ALMOST settling on an overpriced loveseat at Goodwill, I found the settee of my dreams for Mar's room- and for only $25. Love is good furniture finds.

We spent some more quality time with our favorite friends.

Hen+Harvest Market donated this special succulent garden to a benefit for our sweet friend Stephanie- this thing sold for over a hundred bucks! Such great people, and a fabulous, successful night!

We spent some time at Grampy's house and uncovered a trove of books from my childhood library.

I managed to scrounge up a few good homemade meals from the garden. We also started eating gluten-free, more to come about that!

Marlowe had her debut in the form of a preschool Christmas recital. I died/cried.

Our super rad next-door neighbor/friend, Kristin, did a little Xmas shoot for us one afternoon.

This isn't the shot we chose for our cards, but it's my favorite for sure!

November flew by faster than ever, and December's already almost halfway over-yowza! Where does the time go? I'll wait until my last final is completed on Friday to ponder this question some more, for now it's back to the books!

Just Treats, no Tricks.

The term "Halloween" means something much different to those of us who went to college at UCSB (google it, or maybe you shouldn't)- there, it's not just a holiday- it's a way of life that, anywhere else in the world would be inexcusable, and culminates each year on October 31st (plus AND minus two days). Luckily, thankfully, obviously, I was able to rise above most of the shenanigans that went down in good old Isla Vista the other 364 days of the year, but celebrating Halloween the I.V. way was a right of passage I couldn't miss out on...

From Right: "Sarah Palin," "Taylor Swift," "Island's waitress," and "Amy Winehouse"

Love you, roomies!

Those were some good times with some great girls, but I am SO ok with how my Halloween is spent these days- thanks to Marlowe, we've brought the holiday back to basics, and it's just as much fun, if not more.

Not unlike a traditional UCSB Halloween, ours too was an event that lasted days...

We started off on Wednesday {10-26} by harvesting our first {annual} pumpkin patch, and having friends/neighbors over to carve and eat food.

Jack-o-Lantern greeters.

Aunt Molly and Uncle Mike scored us free Legoland tickets on Sunday to the "Brick-or-Treat" event. Marlowe debuts 2011's costume.

Cow/Paleontologist

Every sculpture is constructed out of standard legos. Nuts.

Big man. tiny airplane.

Non-threatening Lego ghost.

Old MacDonald had a cow.

We headed to Cardiff for some pre-gaming at Grampy's.

Then we jammed down to Old Encinitas to meet up with our best friends, Camden and Fitzgerald. Oh, I mean Hans and Franz.

Chivalry is so not dead.

Trick-or-Treating at the local chocolate shop {they gave out a passionfruit truffle, which I immediately claimed as my own}.

Then we happened upon my Pop's friend's band, 'Bucket Ruckus' who were playing the Lumberyard Plaza. Banjo, buckets, tuba, and guitar will conjure up some pretty awesome Bob Marley renditions.

Mar was really feeling the music. Or praying. Or sleeping.

Fitzgerald was inspired to do push-ups for a crowd of onlookers-there were about 20 people cheering and taking pictures!

I dressed as a pig to go along with the farm theme, but you'd never know from this picture.

The Samuel posse.

The Self Realization Fellowship had this going on.

The 'princess' gave all the kids these rings. So much better than candy!

And finally, one of my favorite traditions: the glowing pumpkins at the SRF. Works of art...

Halloween was good this year. Now let's get ready for Thanksgiving! I saved a few of my homegrown "sugar" pumpkins to try my hand at a completely homemade pumpkin pie. This should be interesting!

Inspired Friday Night Homework

This graduate school stuff is no joke; it's day to day living, sometimes just existing, but the SECOND I start to feel overwhelmed with everything, I think of my life- of the people/baby in it, of my opportunities, and I could just cry tears of gratitude. And sometimes I do.

So, before I get cracking on this weekend's massive amounts of take home tests, case studies, transcriptions...and the list goes on, I wanted to procrastinate just a tiny bit [more]. I opened iPhoto searching for one picture to inspire, motivate, and get me 'pumped' up for the long night ahead. This was a risky move; iPhoto is a dangerous place for a gal like me to be, especially when other, more important tasks need to get done- I get lost in my library of photos and can't seem to claw my way out until I've looked and re-looked at favorite albums, forgotten-about albums, and scanned the trash folder just to make sure that nothing has accidentally been discarded.

Of course I couldn't settle on one photo, but I made sure to keep it ultra conservative and stopped myself at two inspirations:

From our engagement shoot.

Nothing beats this.

Alright, homework, let's go.

to. too. two. tu. 2.

I had originally planned on blogging Mar's 2nd birthday on September 18- the day after the party- but that would mean that I would have achieved everything on my to-do list that weekend, so obviously something had to give. Only one month late (to the day!), that's not too bad, right? I know, it's bad.

It was fun, fun day. We always say, (always= all of Marlowe's two birthdays), that we will have a small, low-key, family get together with MAYBE a friend or two. This never happens. This is not even possible. Family alone takes the party size from an intimate gathering to a furniture-rearranging, paper plate-buying ordeal, so adding friends to the guest list always encourages us to take the festivities to the next level-and I love it, though admittedly, I should probably tone it down a little sometimes.

Things started getting out of control in a good way when I asked my Dad's 60s surf rock band to play. This established our theme: '60's retro beach party'- which everyone ignored, save for a few friends who came in straw hats and flower leis/dresses. We had about 40 people total- including kids- and I'm pretty sure, though I'll never truly know, that everyone had a great time...

Last year we bought everything we needed for a taco bar from a local taqueria...this year we cooked everything ourselves. Thank goodness for Grandma Leslie who flew in from Seattle, we needed all the help we could get in the kitchen the night before!

Aunt Molly came over too and helped us bake one million cookies.

Marlowe wasn't a fan of her cupcake last year, so we did a few varieties of cookies (oatmeal-raisin-chocolate chip) for the birthday dessert.

I also assembled the 'goody buckets' the night before...but then at the actual party I realized that I forgot to put them out when half of the kids had already left. Bummer.

We even found a jumper to go with our theme. This thing literally paid for itself the way it babysat every kid at the party.

The first guests, and can you believe that weather? It was a glorious day to turn 2!

I learned that 21st century jumpers have attached slides; where were these in the late 80s/early 90s when I was a child partygoer?

Sadly, this is the only picture of the amazing spread and set-up. I didn't have time to take all the photos before: a big lesson for our next party.

For the record, the menu included: kebabs of all varieties, rice, pasta and green salads, rolls, and corndogs for the kiddos-though they were a bigger hit with the adults.

To drink we served: lime+mint water, sun tea, STRONG mai tais (with umbrellas+pineapple), and a keg of Pacifico.

A tender moment with Uncle Kent in the jumper.

The second the little kids cleared out to eat, the big kids took over.

El's parents surprised us with professional photos of Mar that they had taken in secret.

'Superwave' plays the Happy Birthday Song to little M.

The cookies were a hit and a {possible} new birthday tradition.

Mingling.

Marlowe's cool Aunt and Uncles.

Chatting up her guests like any good hostess should.

We went green by using our arsenal of mason jars for the keg instead of red cups-which I wouldn't have felt right about having at my daughter's 2nd birthday party anyway; UCSB has scarred me.

If this is what 2 is like then she can stop growing now.

Like I already mentioned, my only regret is not getting enough photos of our guests-I will try to track them down from another camera, because it was our friends and family who really made the day so special for Mar {and us!}. We are so appreciative of the love and support that surrounds us, and the 'village' that has rallied together to be a part of our little baby's life.

Here's to year 3! I don't know how it can possibly get better, but Marlowe has a way of surprising us every day.