So, all I can say is thank goodness we're off school today to recover from the weekend. Oh, but it was a good one. I have to wonder, are you tired of pictures from my Friday hikes? #3 is actually of the (dying) tree in our front yard, but the place where I hike each Friday is so beautiful that I can't help whipping out my phone to try to capture it. Every week that we go, and these hikes are a true highlight of my week, there's some fresh beauty. Each weekend I want to get Neel and Cal out there, but it wasn't happening this weekend. Too busy. Didn't I say I wasn't going to do this anymore? Apparently not yet.

I have a horror of running into people I know at the grocery store (What's up with that? I like people?), which is where I went after Neel and I took a long Saturday morning walk. These need to happen more. We have a beautiful neighborhood, surrounded by water with gorgeous, quirky houses and yards. I look at the houses and Neel looks at the yards. We like to talk to each other too. I had to get a new phone. It was probably long overdue; it was long overdue. But because my phone wasn't actually dead, it was hard for me to pull the trigger and get a new one. But still. I was getting the black screen of death more and more often, and by not waiting until that screen became permanent, the nice people at the Apple store transferred everything from my old phone to my new phone. Right down to the last pages I'd been looking at on the internet. It was a chore I was simultaneously looking forward to and dreading, but it was all much easier than I'd anticipated. New phone means new cover, so of course hello, J. Crew. Poulet. In beret!

My friends at MOCA were teaching a class on Photographing Children and asked Callum to help them out. They had plenty of younger kids to use as models, but needed an older kid for the students to work on. Working with older kids is a very different bear than little ones, so if you're in a class such as this, it's good to have experience working with both. Cal's too easy! I'd just said to him a few days ago that we needed to get out to get some photos of him, so I dragged my camera along too. He's a good egg.

Oh, and hello Laura Mercier. I love you.

We had a birthday celebration Saturday night. Three of us started at a tapas restaurant I haven't been to in ages. To drink, I ordered a Ginger Bling Bling because I find that I'm drawn to cocktails that are "topped with champagne." After dinner, we met up with another girlfriend a new urban winery. More champagne! Cheese plates, wine flights, 80s music (the good stuff), and much laughter. Those are the things of celebrations, in my book at least.

Sunday was really special. (Aside from the call we got from our bank saying that Neel's debit card had been compromised. Yikes! Bottom line: I'm paying for everything until he gets a new one.) We drove to Williamsburg to meet a friend from college that we hadn't seen in nearly 20 years. Likely since our wedding 17 years ago! Seeing her again and meeting her young son for the first time was a delight. (She lives in D.C. and the bonus was that she wouldn't talk much about her work, so Callum thinks she's an assassin.) There was much catching up to do (and one of my favorite restaurants, bliss...), and we talked for hours before the boys headed over to William and Mary to throw the football. Perfect fall day. I'm so grateful for times like these. Old friends, present day friends. Wild (!) girls' nights, and quiet Sunday evening snuggles. I'm a lucky woman.

People, it's gotten cold here in Virginia. We love it. Bring in fall. Callum's only complaint is washing his hands. It takes forever for our water to warm up. That, and our bathroom floor is I.C.Y. Brrrrr. I had to wear gloves on my Friday hike (hence, no photos). My friend Tracy was bundled and hooded and gloved. She's a Southern Californian at heart. I don't want to tell her that I think we're in for a cold winter. I went for a mall night with my friend Jean on Friday and that was quite lovely. Callum needed jammies. I needed things too, but Callum came up trumps. Dinner was a bonus. When I got home, Callum, Thea and Neel were snuggling in front of Passage to India. Have you seen it? Neel's been meaning to rent it all year because Callum has a teacher named Mrs. Moore. "Mrs. Moore!" You'll have to have seen the movie to get that, but there you are.

Neel got back in his garden this weekend, but we also had an unexpected trip to the park and lunch with some friends. Callum doesn't go to the park anymore, so he stayed home with some friends his own age. ;) It's funny standing in a park with a two-year old. How many times did we do that over the years? Up the ladder, down the slide. Up the ladder, down the slide. We never did it in the cold though. There was a special angel smiling over me when I gave birth in San Diego. Raising a small child there was easier. No coats. No mosquitoes. No rain. I finished up the switch over from spring/summer to fall/winter, and, as promised, a lot of brown and a lot of cords. I also pulled out my Uggs. Because I am still, apparently, a teenage girl.

Saturday night, Neel and I had our make-up anniversary dinner. We went to the Vintage Kitchen, where we haven't been in ages. It has amazing views of the Elizabeth River, and we got there just as the sun had set but still with a deep pink glow in the sky. We usually do small plates and share, and that's what we did last night. No dessert. Coffee though, but Neel still fell asleep on the sofa before ten! It felt good getting out and going someplace nicer than our usual family fare. We decided that we need to do it more, but that we need to do it as a family too. I think it's important for kids to learn how to eat out in nice restaurants. So maybe just us one month and with Cal one month. Until we run out of money.

Lazy Sunday. Except for Neel who moved the pad for the grill and the grill and created a whole new flower bed, but whatever. I had pictures of that but my phone ate them. My phone's been doing that lately. I cleaned. No photos of that. It was shivery cold and grey and if you looked outside, you'd think it was about to snow at any minute (really, it was like 50°!). Callum said today, "Really right now, I'm liking politics better than football." So when he wasn't doing homework, we switched back and forth. Two more days and it's time to vote.

And how are you, my lovelies? For my friends in the US, how does the time change impact you? I won't feel it until later in the week. But I love it. I love cozy time.

monday mash up, november 12

monday mash up, november 5