Amy and Jeff- a beautiful day in Michigan

sleeping with grandpa

hiking with Grammy, Grampy, Dad and Rocky ( Mom was taking the photo)

Dancing with Amy

My cousin Amy was married on August 1, 2009 in Michigan. That trip was alot of firsts for Elliot…first trip, first plane ride, fist time to meet his cousins and aunts and uncles, first ranger ride, first tractor ride, first hike…it was even his first dance and guess what it was with the bride!  For a truly beautiful and creative view of Jeff and Amy’s day visit the photographers blog.

E with uncle Wren

Our First Anniversary – June 29, 2008

This post is about a month late but what can I say…we’ve been busy. James and I ( Rocky too) went to Savannah for our anniversary. We had a wonderful time. We did all of the things we used to do together, ate at the restaurants we would frequent and walked around having a great time. We went to Belford’s for champagne brunch (something we never did in the 6 years we lived there) and went to Gallery Espresso for coffee and to read the paper (something we did often). We of course had to go to Juarez for Mexican and JUMBO Margaritas and Sakura for sushi. the highlight for Rocky was swimming in the fountain of Orleans square. Which is by the way one of my favorite Savannah squares.

Photo Friday…I mean Monday

I wanted to post this on Friday in honor of Oyster girl’s long abandoned FOTO FRIDAY but I got too busy and before I knew it …it was Monday.  This is a photo that my husband took on his trip home to Uganda in January.  It is his sisters and cousins at a resort on Lake Victoria. I like how the focus is on the straws and the lades are in the background sipping their sodas.

Aloha- great vacation read(s)

The time for James and I to leave for Hawaii for our honeymoon  is quickly approaching.  10 days to be exact.  I am pretty darn excited.  This week I have been contemplating what books I need to gather for the trip.  I posed this question of a few friends and these are some of the answers I recieved.

I love the old “trashy” novels like Valley of the Dolls.

If you haven’t read “My Sister’s Keeper” that one is fantastic. I liked “Vanishing Acts” too. And I’m dying to read “Nineteen Minutes”

Also if you haven’t read Kaled Hosseini’s (sp?) books, The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid suns, I would definitely say those are good reads (I haven’t read Splendid Suns yet, but I hear only good things!)

Jennifer Weiner (Good in Bed) has written several other books. They’re probably all good light vacation reads, too.
A lot of the chick lit lovers also love Phillipa Gregory’s books (The Other Boleyn Girl, The Queen’s Fool, The Constant Princess). I haven’t had a chance to read any of her stuff, but I have several on my PBS wish list.
You also might like Emilie Richard’s Whiskey Island series. They are about a group of sisters and one of them has a relationship (won’t tell more b/c that might be a spoiler) with a guy that fixes up old houses as a job. Since you’re in a kinda related field, it might be a sort of fun little extra to have in a book.

• Julie & Julia by Julie Powell – its a true story about her cooking every recipe in Julia Childs’ Mastering the Art of French Cooking w/in a year. Very funny and cute, especially if you’re into cooking
  
• Time Traveller’s Wife – can’t remember the author. Its about a man who inadvertently travels through time, and his relationship with his wife as he visits her in different stages of her life
  
• Anything by Marian Keyes. Its chick lit, but not really as light. Love all her books
  
• I haven’t read it, but next on my list is Bitter is the New Black by jen Lancaster. I’ve heard that its really funny.

Books – Janet Evanovich series (One for the money, two for the dough, etc) is good stuff…I usually laugh out loud while reading them…

These all seem like great suggestions to me.  I am very interested in Julia and Julie…or is it Julie and Julia?  It is available in both  hard cover and paperback. 

Book Description
Nearing 30 and trapped in a dead-end secretarial job, Julie Powell resolved to reclaim her life by cooking, in the span of a single year, every one of the 524 recipes in Julia Child’s legendary Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Her unexpected reward: not just a newfound respect for calves’ livers and aspic, but a new life–lived with gusto.
Another beach read I have been recently introduced to”Lifes a Beach”

About the Author
Claire Cook is the author of Must Love Dogs, Multiple Choice, and Ready to Fall. She lives in Scituate, Massachusetts, with her husband, were they are occasionally visited by their borderline adult children and their laundry.

Redbook Review
“Dive into this gleefully quirky coming-of-age story centered on . . . a 41-year-old. With the help of her hippie parents, Boyfriend the cat, and a shark-crazy movie crew, Ginger Walsh is finally growing up — and there’s no escaping a few growing pains.”

Bon voyage…Buon viaggio…Safari njema!

Have a great trip oyster girl!