say yes, you'll play...

last night, my mary ruffle texted me. can you take a photo tomorrow for the sweeterie?

her text was longer than that and included apologies and an if not, i can totally wake up at three a.m. and set up a shot...and one or two lmaos.

kidding about the lmaos.

anyway. i texted back something like no worries! it takes me, like, one second!

and therein lies the problem, yes?

so. while mary's schedule is insane crazy full-stop mad, we thought it might be fun to invite you to be a t.ruffle girl for a day. say yes, will you?

all we'd ask is that you send one photo to trufflegirls{at}gmail{dot}com - with enough space for my words and 640 pixels please! and with a link to your site if you have one. or at least your full name so we can give you proper credit. plus can you name your photo? i'm not good with icky numbers and random letters.

i think this could be great fun, don't you? oh, you do? ok, then. let's play.

loving the jellybeans from gillian/cycling trivialities and the strangers tee by don cox. you may buy them both.

a few bits of nonsense...

some of my words are supposed to be on contented me today. i believe i was in a mood when i wrote them.

i was perhaps also in a mood when i wrote these, as well...

sometimes, words meant for uncle sugar make their way to the sweeterie. it happens. especially when he grows a beard. which takes him about ten minutes.

speaking of growing hair, wouldn't this loveliness be swell?

it's exactly my hair's texture and way it naturally wants to lean: thick stick straight. i've even placed my thumb over her face to be sure i'm not coveting her kissable lips and fat lashes.

i found it on it's mary ruffle. and speaking of my mary ruffle, her work schedule's turned up insane crazy full-stop mad. this keeps her away from her camera, which makes her sad. me, even sadder.

so we're thinking of a few guest t.ruffle girls. want to be one? think about it. mary and i will give you more details next week, ok? ok, then. see you, friends! xoxo.

a soft spot...

i've been trying to run twice a day for the past two or three days. no reason for it, really, unless you count the two new shortie short skirts i just bought from j. crew or my j brand skinnies.

if you're counting along at home, that would be three wonderful reasons.

last night, after my quickie evening run and shower, i was slathering on lotion and chatting with uncle sugar. i am a multi-tasker like that.

have i ever told you how insane i am about lotion? i love soft skin so much, it's almost a sickness. from bliss to clarins to jergens to neutrogena and philosphy and straight back to bliss, i'm obsessed.

but last night, i decided to use uncle sugar's stuff. and - no surprise - that boy has good stuff.

do you always use my lotion? he asked, clearly annoyed.

never. only when you're sitting here watching me. i tried to smile my most charming, most moisturized smile.

he nodded like he believed me. then he narrowed his eyes and frowned and inspected how much i'd used and how much remained in the bottle and i don't think he believed me anymore. what can i tell you? i can't be trusted when it comes to kiehl's.

tell me i'm not alone. tell me you're a moisture and fragrance freak, too, will you? desktops from inside out.

either or...

in between sweaty runs and sunny swims and uphill through the woods bicycle rides, uncle sugar and i watched babies and invictus with our girlies three.

lillie and grae understood it all. esmé, just enough. deep down in their hearts, they felt all the love and pain and injustice and bravery and goodness in the world. we could see it.

of course, as soon as i write this all perfection and sweetness will transform into petty and bratty, yes? it's always the way. either or, i like to call it.

about a minute after i met lillie for the very first time, my mom said something like "well...here you go!"

i wondered what she meant, and she explained it sort of like this: "from now on, you'll make the wrong decision for your baby. you'll either doubt yourself as a mother or someone else will. but every so often, you'll see a sign that you're getting it right. wait for those moments."

well. this was one of those weekends when i felt like we're getting it right, uncle sugar and i.

both movies are must-sees, i think. and i'd be interested in who your favorite babies prove to be. as for the girlies three, they loved the two from mongolia and namibia, and frowned without knowing why at the couple from san francisco. isn't that odd? i thought so, too. have a sweet week, you! xoxo.

happy weekend...

this morning, lillie asked me "why do people say 'have a nice life' when they really don't mean it?"

i didn't even need to respond since grae was in the room. "because they have sad little lives and only want you to be just as sad. losers love company."

i thought it was misery loves...oh, whatever. grae-rose rocks.

do you have grand or petite plans this weekend? i'm hoping to read a lot in the sunshine if the weather cooperates. i feel like the cold is coming to the east coast, so i'm stealing sunshine whenever and wherever i can. but first i need to get my eyes checked. i'm in desperate need of spectacles. i may ask for your help next week deciding on a pair.

i like this quote, don't you? the whole blog is pretty cool, and i find myself wishing they'd update more or aggressively seek out fresh content. like she does. i just can't get enough of the bookshelf, can you?

uncle sugar has a saying kind of like this. something about "build a man a fire and you keep him warm for a night. set a man on fire and you keep him warm forever."

he's a treasure, that one. sweet weekend wishes to you all. xoxo.

just so i remember today...

the summer of 2010's been a stunner. and unforgettable. but just in case i do forget...

esmé grabs my face every morning and tells me how utterly cute i am. even when i am nowhere near cute. i can tell she believes it by the forcefulness of her clutch. she also pronounces feather like fevvah. i'm grateful she uses that word a few times daily.

grae-rose thinks she's perfection, inside and out. if you ask and even if you don't, she will tell you. and if you catch her in front of the mirror, she'll be the one smiling. last week, she told me how lucky she felt to be born a blue-eyed blondie. minus the usual aryan nation concerns, i'm grateful she loves what she sees.

and, oh, my lillie kate. in less than two weeks, i'll have had a lillie kate for twelve years. she started out looking like a little old man with horrible skin and an unusually large melon, but now? that chandelier smile guts me daily. even when i find one. forgotten. frog. from our creek adventure. last week.

in her backpack.

clenched jaw, slightly nauseated, obsessively washing my hands...i am still grateful.

the girlies three are celebrating their birthdays all september long. i'm dreaming of cake already. photo swiped from here.

friends and family discounts...

the other day, two friends and i were chatting about another woman who was not present. this is called gossipping.

i don't really feel badly because i wasn't contributing much. i don't even know this lady. and while it's not beyond my talents to enthusiastically chime in and fabricate something pretty sinister and memorable about her? i was uninspired that morning. not even a "...and what's up with her skeevy husband?"

i blame my caffeine and sugar and alcohol detox.

but here's my point, if you can call it that: one of my friends said "she doesn't get along with her family. and she's one of, like, seven kids. doesn't speak to them. at. all. not even her parents. ever. not. ever."

all those full-stops were in my imagination, i'm sure.

her point was that if you don't like your family, chances are you don't like yourself very much. and that that's a bad seed in any growing friendship.

i wouldn't know. i love my family, and you know i had a really idyllic childhood. it was a lot like that line in a weepies song: when i was a child, everybody smiled...

but i wonder about that. whether someone who has such a disconnect from where they started can be a friend until the end?

in my own experience, my favorite friends through thick and thin all love their families. through thick and thin. and the ones who've been the biggest nightmares? sort of don't speak to their families. like, ever.

did i tell you we went back to illinois last week? our families' homes in illinois are really as close to a home as uncle sugar and i have, wanderlusters that we are.

anyway. for the first time since my oldest sister died, i felt like i could breathe. sitting and giggling with my family, i missed her. of course i missed her. but i could breathe.

and i think all that extra oxygen was coming from my family.

i'd hate to not have that. i'd hate if you didn't have that.

loving this artist called parn. be sure to read the genius descriptions he's written for every one of his genius prints. and i'd love to hear your thoughts on the whole love your family, love yourself, love your friends deal. also, xoxo.

dog days...

i saw a leaf fall on our stroll to the pool, and i gasped.

autumn's far away, isn't it? say yes...

i think this winter costume would make me laugh daily. cuteness snatched from underground mess via tumblr.

a postcard, of sorts...

i'm at momtastic today, which is for sure a pretty fantastic sight. heaps of solid ideas and cool features. plus she's brand new, which is one of my favorite ages.

you can read about my beliefs behind decorating for my girlies three right here. if, that is, you can get past my giant melon at the beginning of the article.

seriously. every momtastic photo is big enough to kiss. you'll see...

and speaking of photos, this one illustrates perfectly the dichotomy of my lillie kate and grae-rose. look closely.

an old-fashioned bingo set, the hundred dresses which still makes them cry a little every time it's read, one solitary fake nail, britney spears' perfume aptly called circus fantasy, and a madonna and child carving from venice.

uncle sugar despised that perfume, by the way. so much so that he bought them a rather large vessel of something more appropriate this weekend. it's a classic, and reminds us that we need to live in paris someday. preferably soon. and i also think part of him wants to see if they'll wear the scent from now all the way up to old fancy lady...which is another of my favorite ages.

still missing you all like mad. xoxo.