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Kidless, Will Travel
As Bug gets older Toby takes her more and more. She used to just spend Friday night and most of Saturday with him and that at first seemed unbearable to me. But then over time I began to love my kidless night of the week and Sunday morning chores to myself. (It’s amazing how much cleaner your house can get when you don’t have a little person messing it up.)
Lately, Toby has been taking Bug Friday night, Saturday all day, Saturday night and most of Sunday. It’s been hard giving up our fun and crazy (garbage) pancake-making Sundays and trip to the farm together to get our weekly CSA boxes but it’s also been really nice to have long romantic weekends with a certain someone. So I guess to sum it up: it’s been a bittersweet change. She is growing up and becoming more independent and so am I. And of course she loves her dad and her dad loves her and it’s super wonderful that they get to spend so much time together.
This Spring Break Toby expressed that he would like to take her the whole week so I decided I might as well take a little trip myself! I got online (way back in December when tickets were cheap) and booked myself a quick flight to Grass Valley to visit my friend Susan. Eighty bucks round trip! Gotta love JetBlue. So here I am missing my girl but having a lovely time with my fairy godmother who spoils me rotten. We’ve had long talks and long walks, lots of shopping and eating amazing food. It’s always so good to have special girlfriend time.
Of course being in her lovely home surrounded by her many many trinkets and art and lovely things to look at reminds me of the last time I was here and I’m missing all my Camp Midlife Crisis buddies. We had such a good time.
<begin personal rant> If you ever find yourself moping around wondering what you are going to do for a milestone birthday, I cannot recommend throwing yourself a party enough. Because get this: you know what you would like best. Stop waiting for your significant other, best friend or whomever to read your mind. Just throw yourself a party. I thought people would think I was self-centered and big-headed to a make a weekend all about what I wanted to do but you know what? Nobody actually did. At least they’re not telling me to my face any way. And still, to this day I’m hearing that everyone had a great time. I had a great time. I thought about what I really wanted and then I made it happen. I wanted to be with all my best friends, hang out and eat delicious food and drink wine and….well you get the picture. Maybe you want to spend your day shopping for hair dryers. I don’t know! Just do it because throwing yourself a party is better than pity party any day. And when you are turning 40, that’s the last thing you should be doing. <end personal rant>
So speaking of doing what you really like, I want to share some of the things Susan and I really like and that is FLOWERS! She took me to a yoga meditation center up here in the hills that is known for it’s amazing tulip gardens terraced on the side of a hill. It is AMAZING. It’s almost like the Getty gardens, where every twist and turn offers a new and amazing view. I know pictures of flowers put some people to sleep so I am kindly putting it in a slideshow so I don’t take up too much real estate on your computer screen. But if you love flowers like I do, please enjoy!
If you live near here you should find a way to come visit. And do stop into the little center for a maple scone and tea! Just do it.
I’m just here for a few days but guess what Payam surprised me with? A trip to New York!!!! Yes, I’m flying there this weekend. Stay tuned! Or better yet, keep up with me on instagram.
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Lubna, Lubna, Lubna…
I love photography. I often fantasize about opening a modeling agency and scouting for beautiful people. But not the clichéd version of beautiful people that you see photoshopped in magazines. I would find people that photograph well in all shapes and sizes. I love the challenge of it. Everyone has a story. Everyone is beautiful. It’s just up to me to find that angle and tell their story. That is fun to me.
It happens to me all the time. I’ll be out at a coffee shop and the woman next to me will have the most interesting eyes with wizened smile crinkles at the corners. She’ll be wearing a bright gold coat and her blouse underneath is vibrant purple. I can’t help but stare and think about what a cool photo she would make. I just want to stop her and say, Can I take your picture for my collection? But that’s tacky. Of course, I rarely ever do ask people because that’s just weird and they’ll want to know what I’m going to do with the pictures and they might not have time for such a conversation, etc etc… Some people do like their pictures taken though. I love those people.
One of those people is my drop-dead gorgeous neighbor, Lubna. She always wants me to take her picture. She wants to be a model so that helps of course. I don’t know how I feel about that though. It’s such a harsh industry to be in. But if I can help her put together a portfolio I’m happy to do that. She’s a lot of fun to shoot.
Her face could sell a million products. But what makes her interesting is that she’s Muslim and she can’t show off her body. She has to be covered from head to toe. (Though sometimes she sneaks in some shoulder and when her shirt accidentally falls when she’s doing a cartwheel she really doesn’t want me to throw out those pictures.) She wants to be American and wear tank tops and bathing suits but she’s only 16 and she has to respect her parents rules. So it’s an interesting push and pull between her desire for attention and her good heart that just wants to be a good kid
We had fun splashing around in the waves. The water was surprisingly warm. And dangerous! Well, not really. But the waves have a way of sneaking up on you and getting everything wet. Thankfully, the camera did not get wet.Since they only have one car in Lubna’s family and they have strict rules about always going places chaperoned, Lubna never gets to go to the beach. She’s a California girl at heart and she loves the water but she doesn’t get to see it much. I always want to throw her in my car and take her places but it’s tricky getting around the entourage that has to go with her. (Believe me, they take forever and it totally cramps my style. I’ve tried.)
Her mom came with us and watched from the shore. I did manage to get one photo of them together but her mom is really camera shy. But I think this photo is my favorite one.
You can see where Lubna gets her beauty. I’m sure Raffa will not like this photo and she’d rather be made up with a lot of make-up but I think it shows so much more of who she really is. That patient worried mother who comes along on her daughter’s crazy whims to be photographed. There’s a lot going on here…
That’s the story I want to tell.
