friday i'm in love

June 24, 2016 Arlene Giddings

♥ with this photo...it makes me think of fairy tales and paths that lead to dragon caves and trails of breadcrumbs left by orphans looking for witches who wear silver sparkly shoes and sing songs about pirate ships that glow in the night but disappear during the day.

♥ that i have signed up to do this read-along-course again with this girl whose blog i have adored for years...& i love the look of her brand new site!

♥ this little doll's big and bright imagination..."shark girl has the power of sharks"

♥ dan mangan has a new EP!

♥ this website...i am enamored.

♥ and this letter to the female hat wearing dog in the PD Eastman book...gold. pure gold.

♥ and this...well this....broke my heart.

♥ sunny warm fridays off with stirling manning the bbq while i play on the computer in a house that has been freshly scrubbed and laundered...my absolute favorite.

♥ finding this old wedding photo of stirling and i...this just makes me incredibly happy :) :) :)

friday i'm in love (summary::may)

June 3, 2016 Arlene Giddings

i keep a gratitude list where
i try to write 3 things every day
that make me happy.

here are some of the things
that made the cut
in May:

watercolor robots
sunshine
no headache today
game of thrones with stirling
canned corn
pc points
perfectly cold coconut cream pie from water st bakery
a good hair day
chicken fricot
polka dot rubber boots
a new space to put my pens and stuff
emma's mother's day gift...so sweet
seeing my family out in the sticks
surprise smurfs at work
emma playing purple rain on guitar
got my new bullet journal
robot shoes and mismatched socks
blackberry gingerale
my bff starting working days
bridget left me a comment
living your potential course
an unexpected and very sweet gift of a zentangle book
5 days off in a row!
emma got accepted to a school
hiking adventures with an old friend & a hand drawn map
oreo cookies
bare feet
campbell treating to ice cream at dairy bar
felicia day liked my tweet!
canned corn
overboard with emma and stirling
milk duds
giggly texts with M when i was stressed out and needed a release (& also couldn't find a bathroom...which i also really needed...)
sunshine when they called for rain
a trip to kool breeze with my mom
recreating the "little red car" photo
bob's burgers
stovetop dressing
bare legs
emma and her 8 chocolate bars
stirling's bone crushing back cracking hugs ♥

friday i'm in love (on a saturday)

May 28, 2016 Arlene Giddings

♥♥♥ i am totally enamored of these 60 second videos...so beautiful and evocative.

♥♥♥ this movie trailer...

♥♥♥ this sneak peek that might have made me clap my hands a little...

♥♥♥ this post...love the words...sigh

♥♥♥ now THIS is a hosta...so pretty!

♥♥♥ this instagrammer...so light and pretty and sweet

♥♥♥ i'm coming back to flickr...and realizing how much i missed it...it was a staple for me when i first started playing with photography....and so many fantastic awe-inspiring images on Explore. Makes me want to grab my camera and play.

♥♥♥ there's a contest happening over here on this sweet girl's website...

and i've been playing with the timer on my camera...both the phone & the big camera...it's been fun...and fun is good. :) HAPPY WEEKEND!

#tbt that hits me right in the heart...

May 19, 2016 Arlene Giddings

where, where, where has the time gone?

our gap toothed little blonde diehard twisted sister fan
with a mouth full of chewing gum
and heart full of sweetness,
all sassy attitude and devil horns...

our big-headed boy
with the eyes so dark brown they looked black,
pudgy hands and big chubby cheeks,
all rough and tumble
and baby talk...

it blows my mind...it seems like yesterday.

i read somewhere when the kids were little
that the
days are long,
but the years are short...
and it is so gawd damn true
it hurts my heart a little...

but they also make me so unbearably happy today
all kinda grown up and still so sweet, still so funny...
still all devil horns and rough & tumble -
{but now emma has all her teeth
and campbell doesn't fall forward
when running because his head is too heavy}.
:) :) :) :)

all the things i didn't do...

May 14, 2016 Arlene Giddings

i had big plans when i got up this morning.
plans that involved
tackling the mountain of laundry
and cooking healthy food...
washing up a sink full of dirty dishes
and whipping the house
into a clean, uncluttered home.

none of that happened.