For about a year I’ve wanted to update Hairdresser on Fire. I have had this vision of black and white photos in the header and having really dramatic lighting. I don’t know what took so long, but we finally shot a bunch of images for it on Monday night. It will probably be a few weeks still before the new look is up, because we are both so busy, but I’m so excited. I love taking photos with Jake. It always goes the same way…in the beginning I’m not really feeling it..I get impatient and have to be talked into continuing. Then we get a good flow and start having a good time. Then neither of us want to stop and we are literally looking around the room and brainstorming for new ideas so we can keep going. The above pictures wont be in the header, but it was one of those last minute ideas Jake had. “Use your comb like Holly Golightly’s cigarette! Put on sunglasses!”.

It’s funny, I know Jake and I both have our “real” jobs away from each other, but we still work together a lot and I definitely consider us business partners as well as in love partners. I never really imagined working together, and it’s cool/funny to look back and see how it has slowly, naturally fallen into place this way.

It’s better than mangoes.

They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, but I refuse to believe that because I’m not a very good cook. Thankfully, I have learned to cheat by using butter, cheese and gravy.  I breaded and fried up some chicken, along with homemade cornbread, mashed potatoes and mac ‘n cheese for a birthday dinner fit for a southern king. The only non-scratchy on the list was the gravy, which was a powdery substance that came from some kind of envelope.

If only Jake was a sweets guy. I can bake much better than I can cook, and my specialty is Key Lime Pie. Jake’s favorite. The only thing better than making key lime pie is also making the crust and the whipped cream. I love to bake. I wish I had more time to do it and also more people to eat it.

In recent beard news: as an attempt to be professional at his new job, Jake has shaved his beard. don’t worry it will grow back.

Happy birthday love!

On Sunday morning, Jake and I drove upstate to Storm King Art Center. It is basically a huge outdoor museum in the woods, with fields and fields and ponds full of sculptures. It is unbelievably beautiful there this time of year, and so big that we weren’t able to stay to see the whole thing! We will have to go back another day.

Here are some photos!

I’m not sure if you can tell, but I’m tickling this guys foot. Clever?

I thought of how fun it would be to go to Storm King as a little kid. My parents used to take me to all kinds of crazy places like SK when I was little. I especially remember it when I lived in DC and Oak Ridge. My favorite places were the ones that involved climby things like this. Most of the sculptures aren’t supposed to be climbed on (and I obeyed!) but this one was open for climbing. There were a million kids running around and it made me smile. I thought about a giant sized Albert Einstein in DC that we used to climb on. My brother found an acorn in his ear and we never got over how funny that was.

All photos by Jake except for the ones that aren’t.

So, the scariest thing in the world, is moving the car. When it’s my turn, I wake up early and start the pity party.

“Jake, I’m too scared to move the car. What if someone tries to club me?”

“Jake, I’m really scared. What if I get murdered?”

“Jake, I’m pretty sure last time I moved the car I offended someone and he wants revenge.”

I think these things early in the morning when I’m walking in the dark to the car. Any time I see someone, they could be across the street or all the way down the block, I jump completely terrified and start running fast towards the car. I resist the urge to yell “PEOPLE ARE GOING TO LOOK FOR ME!!!” and I try my hardest to look like the kind of person who is really really good at Karate or Tai Bo.

I’ve had this routine for a few years now, and I’m still scared every time.

And that, is why most New Yorkers don’t have cars.

(Wish Jake luck everyone! He is going to Chicago today to run the big Chicago Marathon!)

I’m sure we’ll (Piper) adjust quickly. The good news is that they are caring for her like they should, and she still has the same therapists and teachers as before. Hooray. I’ve been feeling just so bummed about it the last few days, and writing it all down helps.

The weather is still yoo-mid here! It seriously feels like the depths of summer! I bought one of the jackets from the Alexa Chung for Madewell line, and I want to wear it! (see my segue from serious to silly in just one paragraph? I hate sad/serious dwelling.)

Yesterday, I made the cutest salad for lunch. I packed it up all nicely and had a tiny container filled with dressing all ready to be mixed in. About half way through my subway ride, I realized I had left the adorable salad on the counter. WAAaaah. But it was there for dinner when I got home. (Jake gets home earlier than I do, and he put it in the fridge)

This picture above of me and Jake dancing cracks me up. He was mostly taking pictures and I begged him to come and dance. He really didn’t want to because no one else was, but I got him! And then I made him do some ballroom moves. When I want to do a fancy dip, he has to oblige, otherwise I will get hurt! (also it looks like he has antlers made out of human arms)

A few weeks ago I finished reading “One Day” which I loved, and now I’m a little more than halfway through “The Help”. I know I’m late on the Help train, but I tell you, it’s intentional. Riding the subway in NYC, you are definitely always aware of what the most popular book is. It was like, at one point in my life, every corner of the train was reading “Eat, Pray, Love”. Another time it was “The Girl With The Dragon Tatto” series. There was also “The Help” and “Bossypants” and “The Hunger Games”. Aside from Bossypants, I’ve waited to read all of these books very late. I don’t know why, I just wont read a book at it’s peak of popularity. Maybe it’s because I want about 100 people to tell me they liked it before I’m going to invest hours and hours of my time reading it? Not sure. But one of you commenters recommended “The Paris Wife”. I’ve got it downloaded on the iPad and I’m reading that after I finish The Help. (Which I’m loving!)

Yay..we’re friends guys.

Also, thanks for all the London tips!

Radio Shows.
This American Life. I download and listen to the archives every day on the subway or when I run. The stories are so interesting and you are sucked in. Are you an TAL listener?

Food.
Roasted Seaweed
Homemade Smoothies
Avocado Sandwiches from Lenny’s.

Apps.
Instagram
Tap Zoo (I know, I’m a virtual world loser!)
Twitter. After having an account for over a year, I FINALLY use it!
Yelp. I probably use my Yelp app every day.

Make-up.
Basically any Pink Lipstick. MAC Pink Nouveau is my favorite.
Benefit-High Beam
MAC Paint Pot in Soft Ochre. It makes it so you don’t get lines on your top lid. It’s amazing!

Shopping.
TopShop
Pinkyotto

Running Watches.
My new Garmin running watch

Blogs.
Jake’s new new blog…which is not called Jake’s new blog, It’s called Jake’sMag.

Facial Expressions.
Smiling. Smiling is my favorite.

Children.
Piper Jane. Specifically Piper Jane in her nosey mode.

They flew in Jake’s dad’s plane. This is some kind of lake or water or something. Not sure where, but it’s pretty!

Manly fishing.

Cute manly fishing. (jake is so cute and proud here. It makes me want to take the subway right past my work to his so I can hug him.)

And quads.

I think it was good for them. Jake is back to his life of working hard and dealing with my crap. I am so crazy and silly and annoying and spoiled and hyper (plus double all of those things and add my new talent of whistling loud and tons of crying and throwing things because I’m on my period and that makes me an insane person). He deserves a vacation like this every weekend.

I only have one Europe vacation day left to post about. And it’s of our amazing trip to Girona, I’ll do it tonight because it’s awesome there and then we’re all done with vacation posts.

Well that’s a lie because I’m going on a girls trip this weekend with Melanie to Chicago and I’m sure I’ll post about it next week. Did I mention she completed her final round of Chemotherapy? She is done with chemo and hopefully done with cancer forever. I can’t wait to see her this weekend and celebrate her body’s hard work. The end.

On Father’s day, I basically sat back and watched. I didn’t really hold Piper Jane except for when she’d curiously leave Jake for a few minutes and flit over to me…check me out, poke my toes, then remember how funny dad is and rush back over to him. He was making her laugh so hard while she was sitting on his shoulders. It’s silly because the harder he makes her laugh, the harder she pulls his hair. He doesn’t mind though, it’s one of those things where you weigh the pros and cons and the pros blow the cons right out of that water. So his hair gets pulled? So what? It means Piper Jane laughs and laughs and laughs.

It has to be said, that if someone was acting like they were going to eat my feet, I’d probably freak out and be really scared. I use my feet constantly, but Piper Jane definitely only thinks it’s the funniest thing on Earth.

The whole visit was adorable and it never hurts to see Pippy in her PJs. We were there until 9pm. That might sound like it’s past her bedtime, but one of the perks of being the Mayor of Blythedale is that you don’t have a bedtime and you make up your own rules.

These photos are from our visit on Saturday. We got there in the afternoon and stayed for a long time. Jake missed her after he had been away in Utah the weekend before, and I miss her always now that I only get to see her three times a week (since I now work Fridays). Pip’s nurse asked if we wanted to give her a bath, and I’m never one to turn down bathtime with my Pip. She usually really enjoys the tub and it’s pretty funny. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but the second you take off Pippy’s diaper, her hands go straight for her bum. She explores her bum the entire bath time. I don’t blame her, it must be such a mistery to her, it’s always covered except for bathtime. I love in these piptures you can tell her hands are behind her back. They didn’t come up for air a single time while she was in the tub.

The best part of bathtime, is when I pull pip out of the tub, she is all slippery and cold, and I get to wrap her up in a fresh towel and hug her lights out. They are practically my favorite hugs.

And then I get to see Pip look like ET for a few minutes while I prep her trach ties and and get ready for all of her post bath care. There are a lot of different things that have to be done and I remember when I used to need help with all of it! Now I can do it by myself in a matter of minutes. I don’t even know when that happened, it’s obviously been a few years, but I still like to feel satisfied after doing all the trach care/post bath myself.

I wish I had some Reese’s Pieces. And I wish I had ET to watch right now. I haven’t seen it since I was a kid! (and to be honest most of the movie used to scare the hell out of me)

There you have it. Most of this post was pics of a Pip in her jammie-jams. That makes for a pretty good post if you ask me!

One of my MOH duties was to host a Bridal Shower. I have been really excited about this one for a long time. I have been planning this in my head for probably a year, and actual planning it probably since Christmas. We did the party on my fabulous friend Holly’s rooftop. It was risky being outside, but I didn’t even let the thought of rain enter my mind, and then rain it didn’t. Hooray.

If there was a theme, I’d say it was girly-girl. I had the thought of little girls dreaming of their wedding day, and this being their idea of bridal shower decor. Pink gingham, pink lemonade, cupcakes, bubble gum, white lace gloves, wild flowers and polaroids (i still need to scan those in!).

Sarah came looking gorgeous as always. Sarah is the kind of friend you can easily feel jealous of all the time. So you just try your hardest not to, because at least you can reach things that are high up and she can’t. So, there’s that.

We didn’t do much in the games department, but we did tell our favorite stories of Sarah, listen to her wedding plans, give her marriage advice AND have an impromtu bubble blowing contest. We tried to take a picture of us all blowing big ones at the same time, but that is basically imposs’.

Sar’ opened presents and got some adorable stuff. No pictures of what I got her. Because I don’t want Jake to blush while he reads this at work. (Don’t worry, it was tastful and quite beautiful if I do say so myself.)

A bottle of Bubbly for the limo ride.

I’ve never seen these hangers before, but they are so cool!

It was a great afternoon on a beautiful rooftop with a slight breeze and perfect shade (thanks to Jake for setting up the tent!). There is nothing like spending time with girlfriends, nibbling on goodies, chatting and sipping cold drinks. It was a complete honor to throw this party for Sarah, and I’m so proud to have such an amazing bestie-pants.

I have to point out that this was accidentally planned on Father’s day. I didn’t realize until it was really too late to turn back. I’m so amazed at what a good sport Jake was. He did so much of the work, and didn’t say a word until we were done cleaning up. (I could see he was about to come apart and said….I quote “ok, now it’s time to see my little girl”).

He did most of the lifting and assembling and took all of the beautiful pictures. Jake made the day better.

On that note, I leave you with the most darling parting shot of all time. The Bubble Blowing Bride.

The end. (until the Bachlie party.)

If you want to know where I got anything for the party, check my HomeGoods giveaway and review page. Many of the party items were purchased there. Otherwise, ask away in the comments and I’ll do my best to write back!

Shot guns
Fished
Camped
BBQed
Hiked
Grew Beards
Drove quads
Road tripped to Arches National Park (I’ve never done this!)

It could not have been anymore manly, and I’m glad they got to do it, and I’m also glad I wasn’t there.

While he was away, my bestie Sarah stayed with me for the weekend. Here is what we did..

Ate sushi for two different meals
Saw Bridesmaids (and hated it. sorry, but we both hated it.)
Shopped
Practiced wedding hair again (she is getting married in a few weeks. and I’m the MOH!!)
Ordered in all of our favorite take out from when we used to be neighbors
And had a great visit with Pip

Sarah left on Sunday morning because she had a wedding make up trial, I had a nice long visit with Pippy that ended like this.

In fact, Monday’s visit ended like this too.

Sunday night I hung out with Jen and played with her hair since she was going to a big fancy Tony party

And Monday afternoon I completed the most incredible parallel parking job I’ve ever done. I look at this and it almost makes me cry, I’m so proud. Jake could get in this spot with his eyes closed, but it has taken me 6 years of living in the city to master parallel parking. I think I’ve finally done it.

PS click here to see how you can win a giftcard to HomeGoods!