Kelle, Author at Enjoying the Small Things

A Proper Tea

October 7, 2011 By Kelle

We had a proper tea yesterday.

I happened across an Internet list of all the tea rooms in South Florida recently. Not cafes. Not restaurants. Tea rooms.

It was as if I found a treasure map, and I couldn’t get gloves on my girl fast enough. Because I will forever be entranced with scenes from old books like Anne of Green Gables where raspberry cordial and fruit cake are things one talks about in everyday conversation.

Mr. Brambles, the tea room’s resident bear, joined us, looking dapper in his velvet vest, complete with pocket square.

We talked in British accents, and I could not contain my laughter when gushing things like “Oh this Devonshire cream is so delicious, dahling.” Because it was funny and yet so delightfully not-funny at the same time.

I love to celebrate the ordinary, but I also like making room for the imagination and fantasy of unordinary occasions–like wearing satin gloves for tea with jam and bread and pretending like a good currant scone recipe is something I’ve been perfecting for years.

Childhood is such a magical place…it’s a shame it doesn’t last forever.
…or does it?

And it is such a delight now to have Nella leaving her role of baby-who-totes-along to accept her position of baby-who-participates. The best way to learn and grow.

We will, for sure, be returning to Brambles.

Afternoon tea was accompanied by some local window shopping…

…and a park & beach night cap.

Back to the ordinary this weekend. Less fancy, just as delicious.

*****

Last year, I participated in Dove’s Self Esteem Weekend, and I’ll be doing it again this year. Dove invites you to join this powerful campaign by asking you to pledge an hour in a self-esteem buiding activity with a girl in your life during the weekend of October 21-23.

Check out their pledge map, and suggested ideas for activities here.

Having girls, this mission hits home, and I am so grateful for what Dove is doing to show that beauty comes in all sizes, shapes and colors…but mostly, it radiates from within.

I’ll be writing more about this movement later this month.

*****

Friday Phone Photo Dump:

*****

Hot weekend plans? Do tell.

Have a delicious weekend, dahlings. Pip pip, cheerio!

Hello There, Random

October 6, 2011 By Kelle

Sometimes when I speak, I talk fast–barely pausing to take breaths and certainly not breaking at obvious places for thought consumption. I’m realizing the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree because my girl’s mind gives her mouth a run for its money. When Lainey tells stories, they often come out in an enthusiastic string of words–a race of thoughts that get jumbled and are finally interrupted with the longest, most dramatic inhalation you’ve ever heard. Like a kid who’s been under water too long and breaks the surface with a theatrical gasp for breath.
And then she continues on.

This is all to say this post is me speaking fast. Breath will come at the end.

*****

“Mama, come look! Nella blows bubbles!” Lainey was holding a dripping bubble wand this morning and motioning me to follow her toward where she and Nella were sitting by the front door. And I recognized her enthusiasm as the same exaggerated kind that delivered the news the other day that Nella said SophieandLatte. “Perfectly,” as Lainey described, wide-eyed. So I, of course, expect to walk in and pretend to be overly excited when really Lainey’s just very generous with her praise for her sister. But this time she was right. Sister purses her lips and gently blows when Lainey holds up the wand. Perfectly. Iridescent bubbles grow and float. And I am laughing and clapping and praising not only the little sister but the big one whose lavish praise means something, you know?

Bravo, little bubble blower.

*****

I got super twitchy tonight. I realized I hadn’t had alone time in over a week and suddenly the walls of my house were closing in. And I don’t know if Brett was just overly understanding or if maybe it was obvious I needed an hour, but I barely raised an eyebrow early this evening and he was all “Just go, babe.” I decide, five minutes out of my driveway, that the great mission of my outing will be finding the perfect sexy red for my lips. Because, even if you’ve found the perfect red for your lips, you should never give up the challenge of finding a better one. Got the meaning of life figured out? Great. Keep seeking. The joy lies in the search, KWIM?

I find what is the perfect red for the time being. At a make-up counter in Kohls, of all places–between one aisle of granny panties and one aisle of men’s polos that are eternally “on sale.” And I think this red is so fabulous that I generously smear my lips with it once I get to the car. We’re talking multiple layers of thick and sticky, and I am feeling sexy. So sexy that I walk in three more stores to run some errands and don’t realize until I get home that my teeth look like I just stepped out of the ring. I might as well have just scribbled on my teeth with a red Sharpie.

I still love this gloss though.

Within seconds of picking her up when I got home, Sister smiled, noticing my lip gloss, and tried to swipe it off.

*****

Insert random picture of Lainey in a moment of “Stop getting into my stuff.”

*****

The little Ginette doll my mom found when Lainey was a baby has made a comeback–and all the clothes my mom made for her.

My new favorite thing to do is sit and watch Nella attempt to dress this doll. It reminds me of these precious days, not so long ago.

And I have a feeling it won’t be long before Lainey comes running. “Mama, Nella dressed the doll all by herself…perfectly.”

*****

Found this adorable talented girl yesterday after my cousin saw her on Nate Berkus. And her Instagram frame idea was so awesome, I printed 60 of my favorite phone dump photos today and am thinking how we’re going to transform her idea into something that works for us. To come, to come.

*****

I am in need of a deep inhalation.

But first.

My girl’s got moves.

Poor girl is aching to figure out this hula hoop thing. She throws that hoop and gyrates and nothing happens.

Soon. It will happen. Perfectly.

Tonight, under a clear blue Florida sky and entranced by fall’s preview breezes, I watched, smiling, as two people I love had a moment.

You can’t plan that. You can’t pose them. It’s just….magic.

He is humble and pretends it’s no big deal when I swoon.

*****

Loving our October breezes.

*****

October’s going to be crazy for us. But good crazy. We’ll be in San Diego later this month for something I’m really excited about. Check out the Just BeCause campaign being launched by Infantino and Step 2 Toys. I’ll be guest shooting for them, and I couldn’t be more honored to be a part of this. They are supporting children of ALL abilities in an inspiring way. If you are in the SoCal area and are interested in your child being a part of the shoot, check out the casting call here. More to come.

*****

Finally, welcome back to a familiar friend now, Independent Scentsy Consultant, Jessica Clough, who returns for another month in sponsorship. Girlfriend’s got it on! She has me hooked, and this season’s just begging for candles and scents and the art of home. Jessica has done an amazing job communicating with her clients, and every time I get one of her cards in the mail with a new sample scent, I’m on line checking it out minutes later. Case in point: Autumn Stroll and Cozy Fireside. Contact Jessica at jessicaaclough@gmail.com about her specials.

Loving my new Bamboo Tali warmer.

’tis the season.

*****

It is time for deep inhalation. It will come in the form of cold sheets and warm babies.

Good Night. Happy Wednesday.

Bringing Fall: Hallmark

October 4, 2011 By Kelle

This post is another Hallmark sponsored post. I am being paid by Hallmark to write it, but all writing, ideas and opinions are mine. Thankfully, Hallmark and I share the same idea–that little moments are to be celebrated and that good people, good efforts and good intentions deserve a spotlight. See Hallmark Life is a Special Occasion for more details, like them on Facebook, and/or sign up for their e-mail messages HERE.

There are three things in life I really, really like: babies, fall and holidays. And if you have a baby on a holiday in the fall–well, hallelujah. You can call it a day.

I don’t know exactly what it is about fall. I mean, summer’s so live-it-up with its bathing suits and lemonade stands and late night barbecues, spring is renewing, winter has the whole Christmas thing going for it, but fall…fall is home.

The thing is, I’m raising my kids at a latitude that doesn’t include so much of my childhood fall associations. No leaf piles, no scarlet maples, no chilly football games with steam that rises from my hot cider cup. And that is exactly why it’s even more important for me to bring it. I enjoy a good challenge. And, as it has been in other areas of my life, I find out what really matters when I have to work a little harder to create my intended outcome.

It isn’t leaves and temperature drops and cold rosy cheeks at a football game that make fall what it is. It is the grounding rituals of tradition, the return to the foundation of what matters most…our home, our family, our stories.

It did’t hit me until I had my own kids–the impact of all the traditions my parents created for us. For all the times I returned back home–even long after I had grown up and moved on–and relied on my past for the good feelings of seasons and family…I now hold the torch.

The story my kids will tell someday depends on me. I am writing their book, and I want their childhood chapters full of traditions and stories and memories of the comforts of home.

When my siblings and I get together, it isn’t long before we’re recalling childhood memories. And, out of all the painful ones we could tell of the divorce years, you know what we remember? We remember holidays. My mom’s cinnamon rolls. My dad’s creative ideas for Halloween costumes. Having company. Cider mills. Trips to Greenfield Village.

And I think about that a lot. What will my kids remember? If it’s measured by present enthusiasm, I’d say Lainey will remember decorating the house for Halloween. Because she ran into the kitchen today, excitedly out of breath and smiling. She carried a mummy candy dish she found in the garage. “We have to decorate the house,” she announced, “because Halloween’s coming this soon.” And she demonstrated just how soon by holding up her thumb and forefinger with a tiny space between them.

I hope my kids will remember the way our kitchen smelled in October when their hard work of measuring and stirring paid off with rising pumpkin bread that seeped a preview scent through the oven.

I hope they will remember how I let them make messes.

…how the inside of a pumpkin feels.

…how slimy seeds transform to something good and crunchy.

It might seem silly, all the extra work. I mean, for God’s sake, our pumpkin patch is practically a movie set erected in the middle of a simple field behind a church. But sometimes I think that makes it even more special. It’s called making lemonade. And I dig that.

I love the challenge of creating seasons my kids will remember. And I had to smile this weekend when I found an old dress I had long forgotten, hidden in my closet. It’s brown and orange, cozy and warm. I was so excited to find it, I pulled it out and squealed. Lainey, behind me, smiled and said, “Mama, are are you excited because that dress looks like fall?”

And right there, I felt I did my job as a fall-loving, celebration-creating mom. She gets it. My little Florida cracker understands fall because I make efforts to deliberately deliver season changes when they don’t come naturally for us. And I think that’s what I love so much about fall. I feel my power as a mom more–that honor of writing the pages of their childhood. With cozy nights and candles, baking and gift-making, setting the table for holiday meals, and planning–always planning for more opportunites to be together. With neighbors, with friends, with family.

In Naples, Florida–34.5 degrees north of the Equator–we are making fall memories.

And I am so excited about the coming months. Blank pages–that’s what they are. I will fill them with good things. Things my girls will remember.

Cozy, comfy, homey.

I am looking forward to our first fire in the fireplace, choosing which neighbor we’ll ding-dong-ditch in our attempt to leave candy at their doorstep, more crafting, more baking, soups and bread, and the magic of Halloween night.

What’s your favorite fall tradition? Hallmark and I would love to know. Bring it.