Life, as we love it

I saw this picture recently and immediately loved it.

I could "read" an atlas for hours - literally.

How fun is it to travel to a new city and on your way get a feel

for the layout and location of the places you want to see?

Hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend.

We had a nice long weekend and fun trip up to Scotland (more to come on that tomorrow).

This week is only a three day week for me with another 4 day weekend to look forward to!

Thank you Wills and Kate for planning your wedding on a 3 day weekend.

I feel so close to all the mayhem, yet so far away.

I can't wait to watch the Royal Wedding, but I will be far away from London on Friday.

I'm not a big fan of crowds, and I would like to actually see the whole event.

I will live vicariously through my friends who will be there (in London not at Westminster).

Speaking of weddings - there is another wedding in England coming up which is only 100 days away. Yikes!

Trying not to stress.

More soon!

Helmet Chic, part deux

Warning friends, this may be becoming more of a Vespa blog than anything else:)

You will recall I bought a purple helmet in Paris and love it!

Well, have you heard of Ruby Helmets?

They are THE Parisian scooter accessory.

Take a look

There is one in every color and for every personality imaginable.

Ruby helmets even make it onto the Parisian catwalk. Hahaha.

But I guess if you spend so much time on your scoot, you may as well make it look good.

Not sure if this last one looks good per se.

The Vespa has arrived!!

I had an exciting delivery awaiting me this evening with my name on it.

Pretty much the largest delivery I've ever had.

It wasn't the easiest to open. (Thanks Neil!)

But once we got the crate open, it was so fun to unwrap!

Please ignore the ironing board holding up our garage door.

We are having issues with it.

Isn't it a beauty?

Mr. Smith did such an amazing job restoring it. 

It looks brand new.

I can't wait to ride it.

But for now, we have a Vespa in our living room:)

I may or may not just hang out on it while watching tv. 

I should be all set for the open road in a few short weeks. 

Ah- so excited about this addition!

Packing List

Ever wonder what kind of packing list a Vespa makes for traveling across the pond?


The Vespa was delivered this morning and is waiting in our garage to be un-crated this evening.
Pictures to come soon.

April Showers

Last weekend I co-hosted a baby shower for Henry's mom, Meghan.

It was a beautiful day, 75°F or about 20°C and sunny.

Our house was full of dear friends and new friends,

wonderful food and yummy drinks.

Meg, my partner in crime is a professional baker. No really.

Guests were offering her money on the spot for a box of her macaroon cakes!

You can check out her new blog here.  

Naturally she was in charge of baking (and a million other things).



Cake, Meg's photo and baking



Macaroon cakes, Meg's photo and baking



So as not to inundate our guests with paparazzi style picture taking,

I let Meg take the lead on pictures at the shower.

So I'm using all of hers:) Thanks Meg!

I was in charge of drinks and other food.



Sparkling lemonade, Meg's photo



Menu, Meg's photo



We had great fun creating the menu together and decorating.

It was a very successful collaboration, I must say.

Hosts with the Guest of Honor, Meg's photo

So check out Meg's blog and you'll want an invite to our next event for sure.

M&J events coming soon in 2011.

In transit

The Vespa has his passport all in order.

I've been excitedly tracking his progress.

Let's hope he gets through customs without a glitch.



All Smiles

I received this precious picture in my inbox last week.

It is Neil's Mom.

I find that it's not always immediately obvious who someone is when you look at their baby pictures.

It sometimes takes a double glance as we all change and our features look a bit different.

But I must say that Mrs. Smith looks exactly as she did as a young girl.

And I'm so glad to finally have some old pictures from Neil's family.

You all know I love pictures, and well old pictures are even more special. 

Shabby Apple

One of the blogs I read, CREATE, is hosting a giveaway from Shabby Apple,

but unfortunately it is for US residents only (so US friends, go check it out).

The giveaway is for the dress pictured here.

The Vespa alone sells me on the dress.

Have you seen Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck?

It's one of my favorites.

 I think Shabby Apple may love it too because they are running a great

Roman Holiday inspired campaign right now.

I've still never been to Rome, but it's on the top of my European list.

I hope to get there soon while sporting a Shabby Apple dress.



Projects

My photography class encourages creating and working on projects.
Especially to take a step out of my comfort zone of travel photography and random picture taking.
So I asked my friends (who are expecting a baby next month) if I could take some pictures of them.
And they kindly agreed.
The hardest part about doing this type of project is giving direction.
You can't just say to "act natural" because let's be honest,
it's not very natural when someone is taking pictures of you.
But it's much easier with friends.
So I tried my best and had some fun with it.
For my next project I will challenge myself a bit more
and try to work with people I don't really know and see how I do...

 They are photogenic - which makes it easy too!

 Trying to get a little creative

Daffodils are in full bloom here
Oh and Henry is his name

Thanks to Meghan and Rob for letting me take some photos
and to have a little project to work on.
I can't wait for Henry to arrive!