Best Shot(s) Monday--Smiles Abound

For this week, I give you three of Cadence's smiles from the past week. This one above is one of her sweeter ones.

And this one is sweet in more ways than one. This smile is covered in chocolate!

And here's a dimply one. Probably one of my favorites ever. Folks have been commenting how much older she's looking. I guess that's an inevitable part of growing up...*sigh*...It's been good times, fer sure.

Go see other folks' Best Shots on Tracey's Picture This.

In Recovery Mode

Slowly but surely, I'm making a comeback to my semi-normal self. Thanks for all y'alls well-wishes. Cadence and I have had a relaxing Saturday morning, and that helps. We picked up our share of our CSA from Uncle Dave & Auntie Becki's right after we woke up. I realized that if I waited just a little while longer, the Unique Thrift store on Sheridan and Montrose would be opening. This provided a good excuse to grab a latte and bagel from Beans and Bagels on Montrose right under the Brown Line.

I've never been there, but knew it was just the place for me because a) there was a big WLUW sticker on the door, b) they were playing the latest Camera Obscura album in its entirety(I got in at the first track, no less!) and c)they serve Metropolis Coffee. Like what more could I possibly ask for at 8:52AM on a Saturday morning?

After enjoying our bagel, latte (for me) and apple, we piled back into the car and headed east on Montrose for some Unique thrifting. I found this little toy camera for Cadence, which entertained her in the cart for a bit. The nice thing about Unique is that there are so many toys that there's usually something that will keep Cadence happy in her cart while I shop. I don't buy 75% of what she plays with during our visit.

Although I would prefer to go on Mondays when the whole store is 50% off, they always have certain colored tags at half-off on different days. Today, it was green and pink. Unfortunately, a lot of what I wanted to buy had yellow tags, but we still made out okay. We paid an average of $1.50 for each clothing item we bought. Not bad, eh?

Cadence is napping now and on her 2nd play of her Sleepytime Songs CD. I can usually get her sleep for a couple hours when that album is playing. I think I'm going to grab something to eat for lunch and start tidying up around here. TTFN (Ta-Ta For Now!)

I'm So Tired I Could Cry...

And no, it's not because Cadence smothered herself in butt cream the other day, although the fact that I didn't notice she was being unusually quiet under the table (which usually means poop or trouble) should be an indication of my current state of exhaustion.

I thought that once the wedding was over, I'd be able to catch my breath, but I was busy editing photos all week after the wedding and fretting over what processor to use for printing the photos (which if anyone has any suggestions, I'm totally open to 'em), and then we've had tons of family related stuff since last Monday, with cousins in town, birthdays, Belgian Beer tastings, etc.

I guess I just have to accept the fact that I'm not a superhuman and that my body and mind and emotions can only take so much fun and drama before I begin to fall apart and start doing things like almost missing my stop on the train or nodding off at my desk mid-email (both of which I've done today).

Our friend (and my cousin Jeannie's boyfriend) Erik has been staying with us since last Monday, and my cousin Jeannie has been staying with us since she flew in on Wednesday. There have been many hours of talking and laughing and beer drinking since, and I guess there's only so much fun you can have before you start losing your ability to function.

I feel really bad for Cadence. No, feeling bad is an understatement. Plagued by guilt is probably more accurate. I was so busy with all the wedding preparations, and then editing photos, and now hanging out w/ guests and family. I think I've totally screwed up her night-time schedule as she hasn't been going to bed before 11:30pm for almost a month now, and it's totally not her fault. What toddler could resist all that stimulation when there's so much going on?

And still, she is such an awesome kid. Yes, she's demanding and opinionated and spirited, but what I've learned is that if I give her focused attention, without rolling my eyes or giving her attitude, and I do what I can to meet her needs in that moment, she is perfectly agreeable and in fact a very sweet kid. Children are so forgiving of their parents' shortcomings.

I've got several hundred photos from the past weekend that I need to get through. I'm going to take my time, though. I mean, who really cares about my Garfield Park Conservatory photos anyways? Or snapshots of family? Those photos will still be around in another week or two. Of course if I take another few hundred photos this week, then I'll REALLY be digging myself into a hole. I guess I should just hide my camera for a few weeks then...And I should probably stay away from the Hideout's annual block party...

Best Shot(s) Monday--Back to Your Regularly Scheduled Programming

I did an impromptu photoshoot of Cadence in her "new" vintage red dress while I was getting her dressed. The light was just right in her room, not that it matters so much when you're shooting raw and editing in Adobe Lightroom.

Here's a full view of the dress. It's pretty short, as you can see. I had her wear it over a pair of jeans, and it works well as a blouse too.

I'm kinda tickled at how good she's getting in front of the camera. Sometimes she runs, but sometimes she actually cooperates. She likes looking at the photos right after I've taken them.

I've got a dozen and a half of these Red Dress photos, so if you wanna seem 'em all, the flickr set is over here.

Speaking of that Red Dress, Cadence actually wore it to the Elizabeth Michell and Family show @ Ravinia on Saturday. In case you don't know, Elizabeth Mitchell, her husband Daniel Littleton and their daughter Storey have a series of kids albums that are THE BEST children's music you'll find in records stores these days. Their music is such a gift to true music lovers who do not want to have to resort to Barney or The Wiggles when it comes to listening to music with their kids. Cadence LOVES their music and sings along to all the songs now. I can't tell you what joy fills my heart to hear my daughter singing songs by The Carter Family and Woody Guthrie and Elizabeth Cotten, to name a few.

We met up w/ our friends Ada and her parents Jenn and John at the show. They are also big Elizabeth Mitchell (and Ida, Liz and Dan's grownup band) fans. Our friends Felix and Zarah and their new son Asher were also there. Zarah is actually cousins w/ Dan Littleton, so they got special passes and all that jazz. When Z invited me to hang out with them after the show, however, I got too shy and declined. It kinda would've been like having lunch w/ Bono for me.

Anyhoo, rest of the Elizabeth Mitchell and Family show photos can be seen over here.

Check out more folks' best shots on Tracey's Picture This.

From Listening Too Long to One Song

Help! There is a guinea pig, turtle and duckling peforming an operetta in my head, and they won't stop!! Someone sing me Spanich techno, NOW!

Alas, I suppose I deserve it, considering how many hours we've allowed Cadence to watch that show during the past week. There must be something like 8 different episodes on one DVD, and that is ALL she wants to watch these days. We find ourselves singing the theme song at random moments throughout the day. Cadence's affection for this show far surpasses any previous obsessions.

Simultaneously, she's developed quite the thing for Winnie-the-Pooh. She'd always been more interested in Tigger, but lately it's all about the Pooh.

*sigh*...It seems that we have sold our souls to the media devil...Heaven help us now...

Hopefully, once we start acting like sane people again after the wedding this weekend, we'll actually do things that require putting on real clothes (or bathing suits) and maybe smelling some flowers or something. For now, though, those Wonder Pets have sure got the right stuff.