i wanna dance. i wanna dance tonight. i wanna put on sequins and high heels and hail to christmas and the new year and thirty and love and babies and friends and all that is good. and i wanna do it tonight. but i have shrimp chowder up to my elbows, i’m wearing brett’s old stained gator championship t-shirt, and there’s no one to dance with. so, i guess i’ll have to do the next best thing.
all hail to the small things i love today.
10. i curled her hair today. i’ve never done it, and i don’t know what became of me, but i saw an old tiny barrelled curling iron in the bottom drawer of my bathroom cabinets (mind you, half-covered in old toothpaste and hairy ponytail holders) and i thought, “hey…i bet…”. and it worked. i hereby promise not to curl her hair too much lest i ruin it. but it’s pretty cute…i have to admit.
9. her little fight for kisses tonight. brett was holding her after he got home from work, and i kissed him…after which, we looked down to see her, in his arms, puckered up. she didn’t want to be left out. she replayed the whole thing for a video. check it out here: (embed is poopily not working again)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NghxrFaz1fY
8. the giant pot of shrimp chowder i made tonight. it’s this sinfully fantasic blend of cream and shrimp and crab and corn, gazillions of green onions and curly parsley…and three different kinds of cheeses. (props to sister on that one)
…lainey took a late, late nap, so i had the kitchen to myself…made a nice mess of it while i drank a beer, watched top chef, stirred, chopped, tasted…oh, i love to cook.
7. the girls are home.
after a week of being away from them….the boys’ mom is always so nice to watch them, but i missed them terribly this time. upon their return, i put their bed by the christmas tree so they lie all cute under the lights. and sophie, in the heavenly glow of christmas lights, actually looks like a purebread.
and lainey was so excited to have latte back, she crammed her in a stuffed puppy carrying case she got from uncle bubby and aunt dahna, and that was that (or, i didn’t know how to finish this sentence and “that was that” sounded cliche and capable enough to do the job).
6. her “scrunchy face.” if you ask her to make it, this is what she does…
…and it melts me to my knees and gives me fun little butterflies in my tummy. like i-cannot-believe-this-child-once-lived-inside-me kind.
…and then after the “scrunchy” when you think you couldn’t possibly think she’s any cuter, she throws ya this one:
why, hello there, unearthly happiness.
5. christmas cards. you don’t even know what 12:45 p.m. means. it means i’m pulling the blinds back and watching as our red mail jeep drives away. it means i scream “MAIL!!!!!” across the house and lainey slides her cowboy boots on and clomps as fast as she can to the door, smiling, to meet me. it means i say “are ya ready?” and she answers with a crazy grin. and we run together (sometimes with lily glued to my hip, smiling…sometimes with her sleepin’ inside) to the dented metal box and pull out a hopeful pile. and we leaf through until our heart stops at the sight of colored envelopes. hand-writing. address labels with holly and candycanes and little snowmen.
i love snail mail. i love it so much i re-read it. and pictures included? oh, died-and-gone-to-heaven. seriously. when i was in college, my cousin and i would send collages to each other…big spreads of paper with magazine pictures glued to it and top ten lists and quotes and love notes and, i swear, that is the sole reason i didn’t go crazy living in the middle of nowhere going to a christian liberal arts college…okay, that and the fact that i lived with my blessed grandparents and will never forget how wonderful that was…especially since they’re not here anymore.
but, back to christmas cards…i love them. i eat them, in fact. well, not so much eat them as tape them to my wall and look at the pictures until february. and my friends and i have a “contest” of who has the best card wall. and i cheat and put dumb cards from my dentist and dog groomer that say “happy holidays from the staff” to make my wall look cooler…unless i get enough pictures from “real” people to make it honorable. it’s the eighteenth, and we’re a little meager, folks. step it up.
4. the feeling that i’m a kid again. because i can’t wait ’til december 25. and i’ve been stashing 5’s and 10’s from photography jobs for months (with the help of poppa rik & gary’s christmas present) to buy her what i’ve been dreaming of forever:
i have been looking at this kitchen since before we were married. and it’s in boxes in the garage, and i refuse to open them until after she goes to sleep christmas eve…
…and i seriously feel like santa is coming. i can’t wait to stay up late with my mom, christmas music playing, and we will stock the fridge with play food and set her little table with her teaset. and i know i will cry when she sees it christmas morning and runs to play with it.
thank you, dad.
3. my new vice. my sister just gave it to me, and it needs a commercial. cliniques’ secret product. men’s bronzer. forget the “men” label…it’s sheer, it’s washable, it’s natural, and it makes you look like you just got back from st. tropez. props to sister again.
2. hats. coming home from michigan, i can’t stop. can’t give it up. and lest i be caught in palm tree paradise wearing a ski-cap, i’ve settled for this little tweed newsboy. and it stays on all day.
1. if you haven’t read this book, check it out today. it’s moving me incredibly.
my sister told me to read it a year ago (holy sister props!), and i waited for the hype to die down…or the urge to read to come back. being that i bought it on a front “best-seller” rack in an airport bookstore, i’d hardly say it’s died down.
however…it’s beautiful and moving and is shaking up all these inner parts of me…on spirituality, on pleasure, on love, on life…she is an amazing writer, and trust me…it is a beautiful read. i’m happy to pass it on when i’m done. (if you promise to read it properly…and that means in a bathtub of suds with a glass of wine and a plate of pears and bleu cheese, please)
…and “that’s that.”
oh, and speaking of sister…her cute post of us overtaking a coffee shop here.
tomorrow is friday, the eve of brett’s vacation. he saved his time this year for christmas…to just be home with us, watch movies, bake and do family stuff. i’m so happy.
…enjoying the small things. ~k
I know that crunchy face and I love that crunchy face. I want to be a Christmas mouse and watch her find the kitchen…will you use a string, that winds around chairs and couches and ultimately leads her to the kitchen…maybe covered up with a big sheet that the boys can help her pull off…oh, it’s the magic of Christmas…build it up, make it dramatic. Leave the letter to Santa, the cookie, the milk…this is the stuff that, as an old lady someday, she will tell her great grandbabies and softly smile, with the sparkle of the morning still in her eyes.
Hello Kelle,
I’ve been reading your blog for a while and thought it was time I left a comment, so I’m sending you season’s greetings from over here in the UK! I can’t remember how I stumbled across your blog, all I know is I’m glad I did. I love the photos you post and the way you write so eloquently. I love your passion for life and your family and friends! Of course, it goes without saying that you have a beautiful daughter in Lainey! I myself have a nine-month-old daughter and she, to borrow an Americanism, rocks my world! In fact, she is my world. I love her to the moon and back and beyond. I look forward to continuing to read your celebration of all the small things (I also love the small things) and would like to wish you and your family a healthy and happy 2009!
Kelle,
I just finish the same boook two weeks ago. I too was a little discouraged by its popularity, but having now finished it — I can understand why so many people have found something in this book to call their own. It made me consider things I haven’t taken the time to before. Glad to hear you’re enjoying it as well.
I also start my Christmas holidays today (when 5pm hits!). SO excited for 16 days off — I can’t believe it! I am heading home to my mother’s home and am bringing card-making supplies for the children of my extended family so they can make cards for their parents! 🙂 Pure pleasure.
Enjoy the next few days! (although I know you will… you are appreciative).
Can’t wait to see the pics of Lainey playing with the kitchen set 🙂
Oh, my anonymous friend, your comment, to borrow a Britishism, has me feeling jolly good. I love these connections, around the world, with other people who just love. Thank you for your sweet greetings. And being that you are from the UK is the icing on the crumpet because I’m quite sure I was British in another secret life. I frequently ask my parents, “are you sure I’m not English royalty? I am, aren’t I?…and you’re just waiting to tell me.” Your accent has me flat out jealous. Must chivvy along now…Cheerio. Say hi to the queen for me. And ask her if she has a distant grand-daughter somewhere in the states. tally-ho.
(now, i’m just obnoxious, aren’t i?)
I’m giddy with excitement today too!! I feel like I’m going to be sitting outside Christmas Eve looking up into the sky waiting to see Santa’s sleigh!! Babies do that to you.
I know someone else who likes that newsboy hat. Just sayin.
i love the curls!!! that black and white of her little smile is precious!! i can almost here the excitement of your house at mail time!!! MEMORIES!!!! enjoy all the great family time…can’t wait to “see” it!
kelle-
i ADORE this post! i think it is because christmas is coming and your post has that undercurrent of excitement!
knew you would love the UK comment! you really were bristish in another life!
chritmas wall pic…esp…just took a pic of mine last night to post. wierd.
totally tryin’ out the men’s tanning tonic.
xoxo
Hi again Kelle,
Seriously, give up on the English royalty dream and stick with your own, clearly wonderful, family! If there’s ever an example of a family who could do with a good dose of American-style talk-it-out therapy, it’s our Royal Family. Instead they, like most of us Brits, have opted for the Stiff Upper Lip method hence the reason they are the car crash/soap opera they are today!
Have a magical, marvellous* Christmas!
Brit Girl
*I’ve noticed that some of your readers have a keen eye for typos, but I would just like to point out that this is not a typo, it’s the UK spelling!
To al those readers with keen eyes for typos. I would like to make an agrument for the fact that ‘boook’ (see my earlier post this morning) isn’t a spelling mistake either! Really.. honestly — it’s not! 😉
Kelle, how I love this post! Well I love all of your posts, but this one especially: cooking with a beer, eat.pray.love (loved it, BTW-and I can fully support enjoying it with a glass of wine. In fact I think it’s a must), and of course sweet Lainey and her stylish do (and duds – adorable!).
As always, thanks for your words, inspiration, and daily reminder to enjoy the small things. I’ve tried to do that more lately, and for that I thank you.
BTW, we’ll be in Naples after Christmas….do you do photo shoots around the holidays?
I love Lainey’s hair…..it brought back memories of my girly’s when they were little Amanda had the exact same hair. I think I’m going to go look for some old pictures! Johns last day of work until after Christmas is today…..he saved up too! Love the little kitchen too how fun! You are going to LOVE Christmas morning this year!
Oh, happy, happy Holidays!
I love all this Christmas excitement here at Enjoying the Small Things! I, of course, love Kelle’s posts and find myself hoping each day for a new one! And I love all the comments, too. For it is so nice to ‘mingle’ with people from all walks of life, near & far, who enjoy all that life has to offer!
Merry Christmas (from a Chicago suburb)!
If we are gonna talk about typos . . . the other day when I typed “bloog” I was obviously referring to the British way of spelling it . . . right Brit girl? Come on, back me up on this. Can’t you just imagine the Queen saying “Oooh a bloog how marvellous” (use a Julia Childs voice, that’s what I have in my head) . . . and yes, Kelle, i LOVE your posts!! And the excitement for christmas . . . and the fact that if your post doesn’t get me all teary and choked up your Poppa’s comments do . . . when is he gonna start his own blog, seriously! Oh and now I really want some of that chowder . . . and maybe a beer . . . 🙂
Kelle!!!!
A few things and I must tell Carin this.
My deliciously metro husband has been using Clinique “man glow” for about two and a half years. HE LOVES IT and now SO DO I!! Ironically, I was using another Carin suggestion, Bonnie Bell Bronzer for a while and the metallic glow of it is beautiful but not in the creases of my 35 year old wrinkles. So I had to make a switch and I rooted thru hubby’s bathroom drawer and now I am hooked!!
I too, have not received the Christmas cards I have hoped for and i am thinking this darn economy has tripped us all up.
The kitchen.
The kitchen makes me wish C and E were 4 and 6 again. Love it and remember giving Chloe the Fisher Price doll house (the upscale townhouse version with working lights, toilet and furniture with actual bedding and blankets) when she was two and just DYING for Christmas morning.
The soup. Had it. Loved it. If I remember right, at a dinner in honor of my birthday when they lived on Luce….YUMMY.
Eat Pray Love….i don’t know. I sorta just kept wishing it would end. I dunno. Something must be wrong with me. I will however recommend another “pop” book that I have ADORED especially being a dog lover…”The Story of Edgar Sawtelle”. Amazing.
Oh, your post just made me soooooo happy today. And especially comments from England. I love blogging.
Oh, and when you curl Lainey’s hair like that, it takes me back to Sydney and Savannah when they were maybe 3 and 5 ish???
Blessings on you today.
Thanks thanks thanks for the cheer. I needed it.
When did the memo go out that comment section is now a chat room? You are all blog clogs! I could be guilty too.
I think it is “bloog cloogs” (he said with a distinct British accent.)
i couldn’t get past the first 2 pages of eat.pray.love. but i promise to try again … in a bath with wine.
if you promise to try reading Moloka’i by Alan Brennert …
i got lost in it.
what’s up with the chik lit shame. every girl likes a fairy tale and a happy ending once in awile.
ENJOY!
oh and how about that secret recipe? your chowder sounds declious right now.
your blog/bloog is always LOVELY and makes me smile.
I’d like that recipe too! Yumsville!
Loved the post, loved Lainey’s curls, the pic of the chowder (even though I don’t care for seafood – it looked super yummy). I look forward to your words of inspiration every day.
And I too, enjoy everyone’s comments nearly as much as the blog itself.
And wow – you’re even getting popular in the UK 🙂 How nice is that?
From the other sister in the Chicago suburbs, with the 1/2 inch of ice on her car this morning! Gotta love Chicago in the winter.
Love love love your blog.
Heard about you from the Rosie blog and her interview with you.
Just read this blog whereby you talked about the Shrimp Chowder…did you post the recipe?
I am sure this is something my family would love too.
i’m glad that i found your site. i’ve been reading it for the last two hours now. i love how you write and i love your heart and i love the names of your daughters so much that i want you to name my own children someday. ; ) and your blog helps me dream of the family i will have someday. your life is beautiful.