A cold day for the Balloon Parade

Stamford has a balloon parade every year the weekend before Thanksgiving. It's very similar to the Macy's Thankgiving Day Parade, well except there is no Macy's and it's not on Thanksgiving. It's sponsored by UBS and it's on a more local level. We really wanted to take Nolan this year because we thought he would enjoy it. He actually like the drums in the bands more than the balloons. We didn't get to stay very long since it was a balmy 38 degrees outside, but what we saw was fun and cute. Enjoy!

Christmas Catalog HELL

I love catalogs. I love leafing through them, dog earring them and saving them for Christmas orders. I really do. But this year, for some reason....I AM IN CHRISTMAS CATALOG HELL. (insert dramatic sound effect here...DUM DUM DUM!!) They have taken over my mailbox and my house. I would usually hoard some of the ones I know I will order from, but this year they hit the recycling box quicker than you can say 'Santa Claus'. I've been complaining about this to a few of you, but that was when there were 5 or so hitting my mailbox a day. I get into the mail today and I find not 5, not 10, but 13 catalogs!! 13! Do you know how much paper that is?!?!?! It's actually a stack of mail difficult to pick up. I have noticed something quite interesting. The catalogs don't have just one name anymore...they ALL have a subtitle. So, I am going to list the ones I got today, including subtitles. Once you see it all in one place it gets quite amusing:

1. The Wooden Soldier - Holiday 2008 (this ones sounds kinda dirty, but is actually overpriced kids clothes) 

2.Wine Enthusiast - Holiday 2008

3.grandinroad -affordable style (that's not a typo but how it actually appears on the catalog, no capitals, no spaces)

4.Hearth Song - Toys You'll Feel Good About Giving - Holiday 2008 (have you ever felt bad for giving a kid a toy, any toy??)

5.Hammacher Schlemmer - America's Longest Running Catalog - Offering the Best, the Only and the Unexpected for 160 years (i didn't make this up. who gives a sh*&?)

6.CB2 - and to all a good light (what!?!?!)

7.Eddie Bauer est. 1920 - THE GIFT BOOK - The Original Outdoor Outfitter

8.CHEFS - The Best Kitchen Starts Here (so, where does the worst kitchen start?)

9.Plow & Hearth - Holiday 2008 

10. F*A*O* Schwarz - Good Play/Great Gifts - Holiday 2008

11. Bounty Hunter - Fall & Holiday 2008 - Rare Wine & Provisions

12. American Girl - FOLLOW YOUR INNER STAR (if they had done their diligence...they would probably realize that nolan is a BOY, it's not even a gender ambiguous name, nolan)

13. Foods Across America - A culinary road trip featuring America's legendary foods (who knew you could order 3 lbs of corned beef and a cheesecake from carnegie deli for $100?)

Do you see my point? Is it me they are targeting? Do they think for some reason I am the only person in America spending any money? Do I have sucker tatooed on my forehead? If you noticed, Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, Restoration Hardware and Williams-Sonoma aren't even in my list of 13 and we all know how often they send out catalogs!! Like every 2 weeks. So tomorrow I expect to receive my 5th Pottery Barn catalog of the season, plus Napa Style, Crate and Barrel - Best Buys, Red Envelope, Orvis and Orvis - the Dog Book.....AT LEAST!!

Hugs and Kisses XOXO

Right now, Nolan is into hugs and kisses. Of course, I'm addicted to it. I must ask for hundreds of kisses a day. In actuality, I probably receive somewhere between 10-20. Look at that face! Wouldn't you LOVE to get 10-20 kisses from him a day? But at the same time it slowly breaks my heart, because I know the day will come when he won't be so excited to kiss and hug his mom. There will be a time when he might not want to be seen in public with his aging, uncool, clingy mother. I know it's there and it's inevitable. It's just a line drawn in the sand and everyday we get closer and closer. He won't hate me, dispise me or even blame me for messing him up, but he will have friends in high school. It won't be 'cool' to hang out with your parents anymore, let alone give them hugs and kisses. So, I soak it up and relish in the fact that right now he asks to get on the couch and in my lap, so he can declare 'HUG!' in his cute little voice and proceed to give me the most pure and honest little person hug imaginable. And for that I am thankful.

Nolan and Mommy say Hi!

PS: We had a complete and total meltdown over YOGURT mere minutes after this video was taken. You get to see the pleasant part of our evening.

Mr. President-Elect Obama (my one and only political blog)

I just like saying it..."Mr. President-Elect Obama". Soon it will be Mr. President Obama and then we can really celebrate. Chris and I were talking today and when Obama's administration is over (hopefully in 8 years) Nolan will be approaching his 10th birthday. My son will not know a world without an African-American President. He won't understand that the free world has been ran by old white men for the last 200+ years. And he will never really understand the enormity of this past election and the lengths that many went to to get Barack Obama elected. I, for one, know that JFK's assassination altered this country forever, but I will never know what my mother and father felt the moment they heard that news. Nolan will know that his mother volunteered for a campaign for the first time in her life because she felt that his future depended on it, he will know that his father and I donated money to a campaign (on numerous occasions) and that his mother and Auntie Alison travelled to Pennsylvania to knock on doors ourselves. What makes me sad is that he will not remember the night that Obama was elected. He'll never understand absolute historic nature of that day. He won't remember his mom and dad jumping up and down, looking like fools, popping champagne and toasting to his future. His mom crying at the gracious John McCain, then crying at Oprah and Jesse Jackson in Grant Park and nearly sobbing during Obama's election speech. I was watching history and what's more I was actually a part of it. I had been in campaign offices and on phones and on doorsteps. I spoke to a 70 year old republican couple in PA who ran out of their home to tell us they were voting Democrat for the first time in their lives. I spoke to undecideds who knew that it was time to change. For the first time I felt like part of something, the part of something really big. He will never truly understand, but Nolan will know that I did it all for him. And I'll do it all again in 4 years, Mr. President-Elect Obama.

Halloween Party Pics

Halloween Activities

We had a great Halloween this year. Nolan had 2 costumes. On the 30th we went to Alison's house for a babe Halloween Party. Nolan went to Alison's as a cowboy. For his birthday his Aunt Susan got him a buckaroo outfit with cordoroy overalls. I found Nolan a hat at Gymboree and added a bandana. SOOOOOOO cute! Nolan's Halloween night costume was white and I planned on taking studio pics of the kids so I didn't want him to get pumpkin innards all over his white costume. After the party, we went to an annual event called the Jack O Lantern Blaze. It's a maze of thousands of Jack O Lanterns, some set up as huge installations. I've taken Nolan 2 years now and will continue to do so as long as we are here. It's really an amazing event. On Halloween night we had a party for all of Nolan friends and had a great turn out! I put up a backdrop and took studio pics of all the kids. You will find slideshows of both events on the right.