have courage, and be kind

geez, i don't know when i last missed two blog posts in a row.  it's been a busy several days around here, so it got to be a little rough trying to find time to sit down and get 'er done.  did ya miss me?  heh.

last week, the old lady and i attended a local art installation that sounded pretty cool.  the focus was on "bias, bigotry and bullying" and i'd heard that parts of it were modeled after the museum of ice cream that we'd been to earlier this year.  so while the bean was at a halloween party with her cheer team, we headed over.

there was a bit of a line to get in, but it went pretty quickly and we were at the front of it in no time.

as we entered the building, the first thing we saw was this neon sign that said "silence is betrayal."  indeed.

we had learned as we waited in line that the exhibit was divided into seven rooms, each with a different theme.  we were given guide books to explain them in more detail, and each room also had an iPad that gave more information about the meaning behind each exhibit.  the first room was dark and kind of haunted house-like.

from there we entered room 2.  a beautifully set table was in the middle of another dark room, with a phone at each setting that showed what each member of the family was looking at...instead of focusing on quality time with each other.  i think a lot of us can relate to this, yes?

bench seats were placed in the middle of the third room, with large screens that played three videos of testimonies given by locals who had each experienced bias, bigotry and bullying.

the lit path to the next room was really cool, yet also a little haunted house-esque.

room 4 contained three booths that were meant to be entered by one person at a time.  inside, you were surrounded by mirrored walls where everyone could see you, but you only saw a reflection of yourself.

the mood changed drastically in the next room, where the instagram-worthy main attraction waited for you to enter and take pictures.  there are over 18,000 hearts hanging down here, and when you're inside you're literally surrounded by love.  obviously, this was our favorite part.

room 6 was really cool to look at.  it was almost as if we'd been through all of the darkest emotions in the earlier rooms, a little self-reflection, and then there was love and now purity and cleanliness.

the last room was even more fun, with this swing and a wall full of little notes written from kids aged anywhere from 4 to 14 with reminders of how you can spread love and kindness in the world.

there was a gift shop at the end, which reminded me a little of disneyland, and then outside on a patio there was live music and refreshments, plus food for sale.  we didn't have time to linger, but it looked like a great setup for a lovely evening.

we thought it was very well done, really attractive with some positive messages and lots of food for thought.  it was free and open to the public for two nights, and i hope that they got the reactions and responses that they were hoping for.

now, go out in the world and spread lots of love and kindness!  we need so much more of it.

more hugs, less guns

every day on the way to school, the bean and i have a good 10-15 minutes together.  some days she'll crack open the book she's reading, on other days we'll sing along to whatever's playing on the radio, sometimes we'll just chat about what's going on that day and whatnot, or if she has a test coming up we'll go over the material one last time.

we listen to ryan seacrest's radio show every morning.  i mean, you know how much i love me some seacrest, right?  anyway, we happened to tune in yesterday when they started discussing that day's news headlines.  the topic of the wall came up, and when they moved on to the next thing she expressed her dismay over what she understood the purpose of that wall to be.  she's asked me before if that meant that her friends were going to have to go to another school and told me that she was worried about them.  sigh.

she'd aced a pretty big social studies test last week where they'd learned about some basics - the concept of government, the declaration of independence, the constitution, you get the gist.  and so we started discussing things like freedom of speech, citizenship, immigration, freedom of the press...and then i asked her if she knew what the right to bear arms was.

"that's about hugs, right mom?" she said.

oh, my sweet girl.  i told her that i much preferred her interpretation, and then explained what it really was about.

is there a bubble i can get to keep her in for a while?  i just want her to stay this innocent and optimistic for as long as possible.

it's the most wonderful time of the year

i know it's totally overused and tired, but hot damn. time really does fly when you're having fun. case in point: wan-niversary 8.0. eight years! so hard to believe.

you know what that means, right?  oh yes...it's twirlin' time. 

the bean was enchanted with my veil.  so i did what any of you would do - plucked it off my head and put it on hers. 

then we decided the hub should wear it, too. 

well, of course we had to make it a complete set. 

group shot. 

the traditional anniversary gift for year 8 is bronze. i'd jokingly told the hub that i ordered a life-size bust of my head to be delivered straight to his office, but my actual gift was much less grand. the teen helped me with it, pointing it out during a starbucks run.  the bean decided she wanted some credit, too:

after getting the girls situated with dinner at home, we hopped in the car to head out for a little wan-niversary celebration. our original plan had been date night in old town pasadena at the recently-reopened twin palms restaurant, site of our wedding reception. but sushi sounded really good, and we decided to stay local and hit up our favorite spot instead. 

it was delicious as always, and after making our way slowly back towards home, we decided to take advantage and sneak in a movie. i can't even tell you when the last time the two of us went to a movie theater together. 

it was a quiet evening at the local AMC, and the theater was empty when we first walked in. 

what did we see? well, the only one that worked was the hunger games sequel, catching fire. i'd already seen it with the teen, but i was more than happy to rewatch it. the hub had seen the first one, so it was all good. 

it's amazing that we're inching ever closer to our ten-year. we've often discussed going back to hawaii for that one, and if i'm lucky i can sneak my dress into my luggage and sweet-talk him into a vow renewal on the beach. 

happy anniversary, love. this is one hell of a fun ride!  i can't wait to see what comes next. 

sweet.

did you know that the traditional 6th anniversary gift is CANDY?

actually, you probably don't really care.  i don't think most people really bother to follow the traditional gift thing anymore, if they ever did.  but you know i'm all about that shit.  i know, it's silly, but it's fun.  the hub totally chuckled when i filled him in on this year's theme, because he was getting off so easy.  i, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky.  he's not a big candy fan, so i had to get creative.  you know we just exchange small gifts based on that tradition anyway - not really a huge deal.

and it was easier than i anticipated.  i turned to the google and in no time placed an order for my gift, which arrived less than a week later.  wan-niversary fell on a sunday this year, on the same day as the bean's preschool christmas program.  so with the teen and rock-ell home and willing to babysit the bean the evening before, we decided to take off and have a nice dinner, just the two of us - a rare occasion these days.

of course, we found ourselves in the same quandary as last year.  weekend evenings in december are booked solid for holiday parties and the like, and as we headed towards pasadena the hub struck out with three restaurants in a row.  d-oh.  but sushi was available, and since there's pretty much no time that it doesn't sound good to either of us, we were happily ensconced at a sushi bar munching on delicious tidbits of fish in no time.  not wanting to stay out too late, we strolled through old town pasadena after dinner, stopping in a store to browse now and then, and were back home before 10:30.

now i know what you fools want to see.  and i'm not one to disappoint.  so here it is: the annual bridal wan-niversary twirl.



you can see that i'm running out of ideas for this annual tradition.  forgive me.  i was honestly just thrilled to be able to put it on again and get it zipped all the way up and stuff.  ya dig?

the teen decided to join me in the silliness, and we decided to re-enact one of my favorite pictures from our wedding day.  then:

and now.

the bean woke up from her nap and was not amused.  "mommy, i don't LIKE that dress.  i like your regular clothes!"

much later, after the bean's triumphant turn in her program (which deserves its own post, coming soon), i found this waiting for me with a card.

and these were scattered all around the house in random places like this:

i'd asked the teen to pick up a gift bag for me on her trip to target the day before.  "something for a guy, you know, manly colors and such," i said.  this is what she came back with:

i couldn't stop laughing.  "happy birthday?" i said, and she looked at it again and realized her mistake.  "gah! i just saw "dude" and figured it was perfect!" she groaned.  i thanked her for grabbing it and told her it'd be fine - the birthday part would just add to the silliness of it all.  but then i decided to really make a joke out of it.

heh.  and inside?  fun boxers and pajama pants.

i've said it before, but i reflect upon our wedding and the time since then on every wan-niversary.  i love to reminisce about that wonderful time in our lives that kicked off the happiness we share today, and the walk down memory lane always brings on the warm and fuzzies.  i can hardly remember what life was like before i found the hub, and every day together is an adventure. 

happy anniversary, love.  it's been a fun, crazy ride so far and i can't wait to see what lies ahead.