maggie meggie

I suspect that my children insist on having birthdays only to keep me feeling old. Today is Megan's 24th birthday. Meg has spent a lot of time with us in the last couple of months and I'm so very grateful for that. She's one of my very best friends and I could not be more proud of her: smart, energetic, resourceful, beautiful, kind, compassionate and simply one of the funniest people I have ever known. Happy birthday, Meggie!

Happy Thanksgiving

This is my grandfather, cutting a turkey in his kitchen in West Virginia sometime in the late 40's or early 50's. I suspect that he looks so stern because someone has snapped him wearing my grandmother's apron. Happy Turkey Day!

you've got a friend

One last wedding-related photo -- I promise no more until Erin's wedding photographer gives us her photographs. This is my near-life-long best friend, Sharon, as my Maid of Honor at my wedding. Gorgeous, no? Many, many years later we're still best buds, confidantes and frequent partners in crime. In fact, we're going to New York City in a couple of weeks to see what kind of trouble we can stir up there. I consider Sharon to be the keeper of parts of my personality that only emerge when I'm with her -- she takes good care of them.

the good, the bad and the ugly

This Thanksgiving-themed fashion ad appeared in the November 1967 issue of Seventeen magazine. I'm loving the dress, the stockings, the hair, the shoes and the colors .... those forked turkeys are a tad scary, though.

there's a kind of hush

The wedding is over and it was beautiful! Since we had a professional photographer and videographer, the only photo I snapped myself was this one of Emma, my niece and Erin's flower girl, taking a nap amidst all of the hustle and bustle of the bride and bridesmaids getting dressed for the ceremony. The nap was an absolute necessity since she spent rest of the day expending a great deal of energy charming everyone who crossed her path.

darling, you send me

Continuing my stroll down the nuptials memory lane, this is my baby sister, Heather, and her hubby, Steve, at their wedding in New Orleans last December. It was truly one of the most memorable, unique and from-the-heart weddings I've ever attended -- as anyone who knows my sister will tell you, Heather knows how to do things in style. Heather and Steve's absolutely perfect little girl, Emma, will be Erin's flower girl.

you've made me so very happy

Since I'm all sentimental about weddings, I guess I'll go ahead and post this photo from mine. That's my wonderful husband and me on our day almost 29 years ago. Four kids (and a wonderful stepdaughter) later, we're still going strong. A piece of fabric from my wedding dress has been sewn into Erin's dress -- I'm happy she's a sentimental fool like her old lady.