My Heart Can't Even Believe It

I hope Amy doesn't mind me swiping her cover photo now that she's hit the BIG time with her new book. An amazing writer (and teacher. And friend.) with one of the best, sweetest, most intuitive kids, ever. 

I stood alone in the Phoenix airport on a hot June night, giggling, having just discovered the going away gift my barely 10-year-old daughter Sophie left on my phone, in the form of 39 self-portraits and a two-minute video.  

The photos are all close-ups of her face – slightly crooked bangs, more-than-slightly-crooked teeth, smiling, frowning, goofy-with-her-tongue-out. In the video, Sophie alternately sings one of her favorite songs, “Gangnam Style” and begs me to take her along on this work trip to New York City, but mostly she talks about how much she loves me. This is a familiar refrain, and one that for me never gets old. Not yet, at least. 

"You are the best mom I ever had,” she tells me. On homemade cards, in handwriting only I can read, she writes, “I love you because I love you because I love you.” 

And this time, on the tiny iPhone screen: “I love you so much my heart can’t even believe it."

Bar Flies at Valley Bar

Another night of storytelling - funny, deep, personal, but so relatable.

Secret room, stolen seat, douchey guy, fried pickles, first BFF, Let's Talk About Sex, Baby, Let's Talk About You and Me, condoms on the counter, Missionary from hell, like a suitcase without a handle, how a five year old girl can turn your life around, and this one here, the blonde,

who said, "I feel so hip," there in the bar with her Mama and Heather for a late din din.
Perfect ending.

Northern Exposure

Whoot of a good time at Cecily's new Toasted Owl and a weekend of fun in Flagstaff with the book club - Do Flagstaff, Do B, bras and beer, micro penis, say cheese plate, slumber party, snow on the pines, mini me-s and pooches galore.

Stories with a Splash

Canal Convergence

2/26 at 7

Movie Madness - Youth

1/24, Shea 14 - 16:05

Third Friday - Cats and Guitars

I'm one cat away from being a crazy cat lady, so seems like Cats & Guitars is the place for me to be.

Totally hip happy hour at The Side Bar, followed by a here kitty, kitty stroll through Chartreuse Art Gallery for an hilarious look at feline adventures.

Check out www.hauspanther.com/ for cool cat stuff

Kachina Country Day School

Kachina's gone. I hadn't thought about the school in years until Shana texted me yesterday to say that it was gone. Fenced up, no building visible, just gone. Shana started out there.

So did Shawn. I even worked there part-time for a couple of years running some developmental testing on the preschoolers. But all I could think about was my book club. That's where we all started, back in 1995. We were just a bunch of moms, getting our kids settled in their cute classrooms with non-traditional, warm and fuzzy teachers, then circling each other in the courtyard, wondering if we could be friends since our kids were, grabbing some tea at the café down the street and then, eventually, leaving the kids with the hubbies once a month and driving out into the night to meet for book club, where the words and wine and laughs flowed. Next up, planned after a dozen more texts with stunned and thankful we're still around  Divas, a mother-offspring Champagne toast on the closed campus.

Georgia On My Mind

The little peach is back in Atlanta.

This time, though, I know it's not for good. When her company, NYSE, decided this spring to shut down their Phoenix office at the end of year and move out east, they desperately wanted Shana to go with them, so she went to check it out. They lavished her with praise. Told her she was the one person out of the entire department that they really wanted. Promised her the moon. I got worried. It was a long couple of weeks. She started out telling me that she would never leave home. She wasn't ready, had too much here that she couldn't leave behind. Agreed! I figure I need her here for at least a few more years. I'm not ready for her to be so far away. I like being able to stop by and snuggle on the sofa. Or have a "work from home" day with her. Or scoop her up and drag her to some downtown event with me. Shawn, the grandparents, BF Scott and all her friends feel the same way. But, along the way, she changed her mind and actually considered taking up Corporate America on its offer. She came to the conclusion that she could, in fact, pack up and leave, and, maybe, there was a tiny part of me that wanted to cheer her on, too. Slowly, though, she realized that this job, with this company, in this city, wasn't the right fit. She told me one Sunday morning she was going to decline the offer. If it was the perfect job in a city she loved, she could manage to tear herself away from home, but it wasn't.

 

 

So now she's just there for a little fun (and to help train the new team) before she heads home for good, where she belongs.

 

Austin Circuit of the Americas

It's been another great year for Lewis! Last weekend in Russia, the Mercedes team secured enough points to win their second World Championship Constructor's trophy. Next weekend, we're off to Austin to see Lewis and, with only four more races left this season, he has a chance on Sunday to rack up enough points for his third Driver's Championship win.

I wanna be there for that!

Elton John, too!

COTA

The Lost 80s weekend

Sweatin' to the oldies!

Always such fun with these die-hard 80s fans :))

When in Rome - I Promise You I Will
Lost 80s - great line-up!