Thank You Mom

Happy Mother's Day to my one and only Mom 

Thank you for your undying love and support

Thank you for teaching me to power walk through the mall

Thank you for asking the tough questions

Thank you for letting me take vintage things from your closet, and advise you what to get rid of

Thank you for letting me quit that tap class. Even though you hate quitters (and the word 'hate')

Thank you for supporting your family and keeping everyone together

Thank you for mani/pedi outings

Thank you for family dinners every night

Thank you for making us that B52 shot that one time

Thank you for the cases of water, rolls of toilet paper, and endless Wheat Thins

Thank you for being a Cheer Mom

Thank you for praying to God for blue eyed blonde haired babies

Thank you for learning to say "goodbye" when you hang up the phone

Thank you for accepting my gift of a stray cat on Mother's Day like 9 years ago

Thank you for always telling us how wonderful New England is ;)

(But thank you more for being from New York)

Thank you for taking us to Disney World, even when I cried and cried and 'couldn't walk another step'

Thank you for being such a great parent, because I really don't know how you did it.

(^with Daddy's help of course. Hi Dad!)

Thanks for dancing...

...and being the best at air guitar to Bruce Springsteen...

...and for being a beautiful woman.

I love you, Mom

Happy Mother's Day

(Top two photos, credit to Meg)

The Empty Nest

This weekend, my parents came to visit from New York.  We spent a wonderul day in Maine on Saturday, and came back to Boston in the evening. By the time I woke up on Sunday morning, my mother had done 2 loads of my laundry and gone to church, and my dad had fixed our clogged sink.  Not to mention they fed and entertained my roommate's 1 year old kitten, while she's away on business.  (My parents have a very fat, mean, old cat at home.)  On top of all that, my parential unit (as I like to call them) bought me presents on Saturday and took my man and I out to a nice dinner.  And I thought I was really roughing it living on my own up here...

This whole visiting parents phenom got me thinking about a racdical new business model for a bed and breakfast.  I call it "The Empty Nest". 

 At The Empty Nest B&B, couples who have no more childeren at home to take care of can spend a weekend tending to pretend offspring.  I'll design little apartments with leaky faucets, overdue laundry, dirty dishes, and pets the kids have left behind.  Parents will be overjoyed to come to my little retreat and take care of something, since it is missing in the own home.  They can stock the kitchen with groceries and the bathroom with toilet paper.  They can bring 5 cases of water and claim there was a super sale at Costco.  Upon booking their vacation, couples could express interest in their favorite chores, so that I may set up their room accordingly.  Maybe they'd even try to go out on a Saturday night date, but get a phone call from a frantic nanny that cuts it short.  The possiblites are endless!  The Empty Nest B&B would be a haven for all those mom and dads whose children 'no longer need them'.

I think my Mom would pay top dollar to stay at The Empty Nest for a weekend.  When my parents claim to love their empty nest in New York, I laugh.  There's nothing they love more than having my sister and brother-in-law over for dinner, babysitting nieces and nephews, and visiting me in Boston (obviously).  Why not just create a resort they could go visit to experience all this without the hassle of actually dealing with their biological children!? 

~~~~~~~~

I'm kidding of course, I would never create this place.  While I firmly believe it would be quite the profitable niche, I don't want anything stealing business away from my own lucrative parential visits!

Home

Reminiscing about how not cute the '90s were.

Fiestaware in a vintage shop (Ballston Spa, NY)

Treasures from Grandma's jewelry box.

     Going home to New York is always .... a process.  There are always too many people to see and things I want to do in a few short days.  Arriving in Manhattan makes me seriously question why I ever left, every single time.  But, coming back up to Boston and my simple little life, is a sigh of relief each time too.  I don't expect those feelings to ever change.  When I am in NY, I call Boston 'home', and when I am in Boston it is the other way around.  I'm obviously conflicted (but aren't we all??).
     Anyway, the highlight of my Thanksgiving weekend trip (on top of yummy food, playing with godson, and hugging my parents) was rummaging through my Grandma's bedroom.  She passed away in July from Alzheimer's, and my Grandpa asked me to have a look through her things.  I love vintage, especially sentimental vintage, so I was in heaven on Sunday.  My sister and I went drawer by drawer uncovering earrings, beaded necklaces, fake diamond bracelets, and colorful scarves. Her statement necklaces screamed '60s, and the stacks of bangles reminded me of the sound she made walking around the house.  Her 'arm party' was the original.
    Grandpa stood by watching us, sharing stories about his wife as we pulled things from her dresser. In Grandma's bottom drawer, we found a large green jewelry box.  In the box I found her wedding band- a thin gold loop, engraved with my grandparents' initials and the date.  "Take it," Grandpa hurried.  He could not remember exactly how he proposed, with the engagement ring that cost him only $175 in 1954.  The ring is now mine; it was gifted to me on my Sweet 16, which was totally unexpected and I had been afraid to wear it until a few months ago. 
    Now, I've stacked her diamond, wedding band, and another patterned gold band I found on my left middle finger.  I carry with me the only family heirlooms we really have, besides pictures, which I plan to keep safe until they are due to be passed down again. 
    It is these parts of 'home' that I miss while living in a different city. But, it forces me to truly treasure my time with my favorite places and, more importantly, people when I visit.  Not to mention I carry pieces of home with me everywhere, and there's no getting rid of a New York state of mind. 
   

Nostalgia

Holidays make me nostalgic.  Without fail, that yearning for home creeps up in me at Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, my birthday, Memorial Day, and Labor Day.  There are memories associated with each day that I play in my mind each year and smile.  Labor Day is the worst, because it’s the back-to-school time that I miss so much (nerd alert).  
Reflecting makes me extremely thankful for the life I have lived, the friends I have made, and the experiences I’ve had. This feeling seems to grow each year and I’m wondering if that will continue, morphing into a nostalgia for different things as I have my own family, get older, become a grandparent...  I don’t see this as a bad thing, in fact it seems like a blessing to be able to look back and sigh at the amazing things you have done.  Wrapped up in memories like a fleece blanket that just never seems to hold tight enough.

I am thankful4: 

pretty flowers

my mother's obsession with clean windows

Brant Lake, NY
the ocean