My sweet girl is just so pretty (totally unbiased opinion). I mean, come on:
I cannot believe this critter turned 11 months this week. She was JUST BORN!
This is her "looking at daddy" face. She is smitten (she takes after her mommy in this way).
I am still loving my new office. Look at this view! So happy.
My old office had a window into a sad hallway. Definite improvement.
Also, note the Disneyland book in the basket. That is my "waiting area" book that I hand to people when I need them to wait a sec for me. It has awesome fun facts in it such as "The vegetation that lines the moat around Sleeping Beauty's castle primarily consists of junipers because it is one of the few types of foliage that swans will not eat" and "Tom Sawyer's Island was officially annexed and recognized by the Missouri State Legislature in 1956." Now you know.
Both funny and real:
I now have to fold pretty much everything at least twice, as "helping mommy" is her favorite game.
Tuesday night my mom and I headed down to South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa and saw a play I've been looking forward to seeing for ages: Pride and Prejudice. I am calling this a "quasi-review" because, let's be honest, I have very, very little objectivity when it comes to Jane Austen. I love her. I also love anything that falls into the British-period-romantic category. I cannot help myself.
With that in mind, let's begin.
The show is a period-correct, faithful adaptation of the book with one caveat: there is a brief "contemporary" opening in which a teenage girl is given a copy of the novel and then takes part in the action of the play as an observer and a reactor. This, to me, was the single most distracting aspect of the entire play. At one point she jumped into the carriage with Elizabeth and the Gardiners as they were heading to Pemberley. Ack. The actress playing the role, Claire Kaplan, brought as much as she could to it, but ultimately it was just incredibly annoying.
I enjoyed pretty much everything else about the play, though: the acting was good; great in some cases. Mrs. Bennet, played by stage veteran Jane Carr, was perfect in the part, as was Randy Oglesby as Mr. Bennet and most of the other principle actors. Mr. Collins was an absolute highlight as well. Scott Drummond was perfectly awful as the socially awkward vicar and clearly delighted in every bit of it.
To me, the best part of seeing Pride and Prejudice live was the energy of the audience. On a Tuesday night the show was just packed with Austen die-hards (as evidenced by some particularly nerdy bathroom-line conversation: "I agree that the '95 is vastly preferable to the '05 but have you seen the Olivier?? Oh you must, you must!"), and everyone in the room was clearly waiting for their favorite lines and scenes. As each favorite was delivered ("An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth...") the room tensed with anticipation and howled with laughter. It was truly an Austen geek-fest, and that is what made it such fun.
Pride and Prejudice is onstage at South Coast Repertory through October 9th.
I am so ready! Ready for the crisp air, the decorations at Disneyland, the birthdays and holidays we have coming up. I LOVE fall. It is my very favorite season. I recently found this on Pinterest:
And it reminded me again of how much I love everything about this season. I want to go back to school again (and Hogwarts, but that's a totally different post)!
So in honor of my favorite season, one of my favorite poems:
To Autumn
SEASON of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; Conspiring with him how to load and bless With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run; To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees, And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core; To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells With a sweet kernel; to set budding more, And still more, later flowers for the bees, Until they think warm days will never cease, For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.
Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store? Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find Thee sitting careless on a granary floor, Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind; Or on a half-reap’d furrow sound asleep, Drows’d with the fume of poppies, while thy hook Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers: And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep Steady thy laden head across a brook; Or by a cyder-press, with patient look, Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.
Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they? Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,— While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day, And touch the stubble plains with rosy hue; Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn Among the river sallows, borne aloft Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies; And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn; Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft; And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.
Thursday evening the hubs, J and I set out for Disneyland. We hadn't gotten to go in a few months, and though she had visited before (proof:
)
this was the first time she was big enough to go on anything and potentially enjoy it. Stephen wanted to take her on the carousel, so that was our first stop. I was not completely convinced that she would be allowed to ride, but was quickly proven wrong. We found a horse and strapped her on and started documenting her first ride with all the thoroughness of a moon landing. I remember when I was young and would ride the carousel thinking that it must be no fun for the adults who had to tend to their kids instead of getting to ride.
How wrong I was. We probably had more fun than she did. It was so precious.
Next up was a trip on Small World, which is something of a sensory overload for a seven month old, I think. She sort of like it. Sort of.
A rare mom-baby photo. Usually I wield the camera.
Earlier, when we had arrived at the park, we could see there was some sort of media event going on, but I didn't do my due diligence beforehand, so we didn't know quite what. Had I done any research I would have known Thursday was the opening day of the new "Mickey's Soundsational Summer" Parade and they were having a huge sort of VIP opening for it.
Lots of media guys.
Normally we're not huge parade-watchers, but my sister's boyfriend's mom was involved in a flashmob which opened the parade (we knew there was going to be a flashmob, we just didn't realize what it was for).
Finally the flashmob began. They faux-interrupted a speech.
Don't they make you want to dance? Between this and the return of So You Think You Can Dance, I'm one step-ball-change away from signing up for jazz class.
By the time the flashmob was over, I was SO stoked to see the parade, which ended up being pretty great (not surprising, given it was Disneyland). The floats are themed to look like pop-up picture books, and were really gorgeous.
This week I went to yoga. I love yoga. I am not very good at it (Ali would say I need to have "compassion for my practice," and she'd be right, but my faint competitive streak comes out in these situations), but I am always calm and sore after, which is a nice combo. Anyways, she kicked our tailfeathers on Saturday morning, making us do things like dolphin:
When I got home I realized I had somehow managed to skin my elbow during all the dolphin-ing. It was weird.
As further evidence of my definite inability to be able to do any sort of freestanding armstand, today I attempted to use my very broken Starbucks cup (I dropped it on the way to work and the inner cup separated from the outer cup). I filled the sad cup at the water cooler (yes, we have a literal water cooler. No, no cool gossip or American Idol chitchat occurs there) and started on my way back to my office when I dropped said sad cup (I would like to blame this on its being broken, but let's be honest) and it bounced and then splashed ALL OVER my sweet, pregnant co-worker who was using our copy machine. Also, the whole office is carpeted. I'll just let all that sink in.
I got her some paper towels, I sopped up the water, I furtively swiped at the copier (I'm sure it's fine...), we laughed and moved on but seriously. I cannot be trusted to do peacock scorpion! It's a very, very bad idea!
UPDATE: Ali informed me the above shots are of something called "scorpion," which sounds rather more unpleasant than peacock, but is perhaps more appropriate.
When I was pondering over what I could post for this week's installment of pretty, happy, funny, real, I worried because it turns out there is only one thing I have taken pictures of this week. I'll leave it to you to guess (how could you possibly) what that might have been. After despairing for a few moments, a light went on (I decided to cheat). WHAT could be more real than a mom who incessantly takes pictures of her child? Nothing, I tell you. So here we are.
Here you have the "evocative black and white quasi-profile shot."
I like to call this one "Mommy please put down the camera and play with me."
This one is my favorite:
There are more (oh, there are more. We're just scratching the surface here, people) but they're all from the same baby photoshoot, so I will spare you!
But oh! I just remembered I took some pictures at our church fair last week. And, is it just me, or does this:
I'm adding an eighth because Becky made me cry today too.
--END UPDATE--
Listen, it doesn't take a whole lot to make me cry. I can think of three things just today that did it (Note: this has not always been the case. Getting married nudged me in that direction and having a baby pushed me over the edge. I now cry with almost no prompting). Most of these are sweet, happy things. I actually think things that are sweet and happy make me cry more than sad things, which probably says something about me but I'm not sure I want to figure out what.
Simcha's post on Robins. I understood it so well, and I've only had one, and that one only for six months!
~3~
There is an older woman whose home is adjacent to the parking lot I use at work. The area is a beautiful "old town" with 100 year old homes and huge trees and antique stores. This woman's home was once beautiful too, but has fallen into disrepair. She has many, many (many many) cats running around her property and a good deal of broken down stuff in her front yard (imagine a scene from "Hoarders." It's like that.). The house gives off a smell that makes me think it isn't ever cleaned. Maybe not in a decade or two. She is cheerful and always says hello when she's outside, but isn't outside often. The last couple of days I have noticed a dumpster out in front and today as I was walking to lunch I saw that all of her things were being piled up on the sidewalk and a man (who looked like a city worker, not a relative) was busily sweeping and throwing things away. She was sitting on her rocker, looking scared and sad. It was so heartbreaking. I hope very much that she is getting some help, as I think she needs it, but it was so hard to see.
~4~
This song:
I am so late to the Mumford and Sons party. I love this album, though. Total roll-down-all-the-windows-and-sing-loudly music.
~5~
PW's post about her boys at Universal Orlando. Okay, this is an older story, but I cried lots when I read it the first time (and I just read it again and I misted up so it counts for this week!).
~6~
My hubby and I watched Pride and Prejudice last Friday (he lost a bet) and I cried. Can't tell you how many times I've read that book and watched that movie and I still cried. The end gets me every time (and several parts in the middle, but that's neither here nor there). I'd link to it, but I can't find it, so just go and watch the last five minutes of the 2005 version. I know that version gets a lot of hate because of no Colin Firth and all, but I still love it and the (admittedly somewhat cheesy) ending.
~7~
This picture:
I mean, what is she, three?? Five and a half? Voting?? Going to college??? (at least I'm not dramatic about it, am I right?)
That was fun! Cathartic, anyway. Go see Jen over at Conversion Diary for other 7 Quick Takes that hopefully won't be about crying.
All rights reserved by 
