That City Girl: Album Update (and other life happenings).

Hi there, blog world! I am feeling a little sheepish to show up here again after so (SO) many months of silence. Seriously, since having a child, my days seem to fly by at warp speed. I wasn't feeling too badly about myself and my lack of writing because didn't I just write one a couple of months ago? Right before Christmas? Umm no, apparently. Not at all. June 17th! Wow.

So to catch you up on the happenings since then, I'll briefly(ish) recap the last 7 months:

~Early June we found out that the owners of house we were renting from here in Orlando wanted to sell. Which meant that after only one year of living there we were getting the boot. This might surprise you since I've moved so much, but I *hate* moving! It is exhausting and I end up losing stuff for months and months, only to find it weeks before we move again. Ugh. We decided we didn't want to risk getting kicked out of another rental, and since we were liking Orlando pretty okay at that point and didn't have any plans to relocate, we decided to buy a house! Whoa. It wasn't Dan's first time buying a home, but it was for me. I was a little giddy about the whole thing :) We stayed in the same neighborhood which made things easier. But a move is still a move and man, I hate moving. I had recovered pretty well from the last move just in time to do it again, and so my brain fatigue was triggered once again. This time, however, it's been a much more mild case, thankfully. And it was all worth it to finally have...our very own backyard! Miles spends as much time as possible out there and it feels good to finally have space to let him (safely) run around.

{Some shots of our backyard on a very rainy afternoon}

{I kinda love having a detached garage. Feels old fashioned. And with that ivy growing up the side? Love.}

~In the midst of moving madness, in fact only one day before our scheduled move date, my papa passed away on August 11th. He lived a full and happy 96 years and I was so fortunate to live close to him the last year of his life. I knew that time was precious and fleeting, but the loss still hit our family hard. He was sick for 2 weeks leading up to his death and so there was a lot of sweet family time and opportunities to say goodbye. He passed peacefully in his home, with my mom and my aunt by his side. The afternoon my mom called to say he was gone, I sat on the couch next to Dan in our nearly empty home, boxes stacked around us, and cried. Miles saw me, and without a word, climbed the stairs to his bedroom to retrieve his beloved giraffe (his lovey), brought it to me and said, "it's okay mommy," and climbed into my lap (ahh, that kid). Having to move while grieving is the worst. When you lose someone, all you want is comfort. And comfort for me is, of course, my family, but also home...a familiar place with all your stuff. Your own private place to just be and grieve. But we moved the day after he died. So there was no space or time. The viewing was the day after we moved and then the funeral the day after that. I didn't know where anything was and I felt so out of sorts. It was just a surreal, sad, sad week. But I am thankful for all the visits I had with him leading up to his death. How special to get to live close to him and see him interact with his great-grandson. He loved Miles so much and told people that he felt that Miles was going to grow up to be somebody special.

{love this pic}

~Miles turned 3(!) on September 1st. The Terrible 3's started right on cue, fierce and storm-like. But poor kid, he'd been through so much transition it would have been shocking to NOT see the effects of that. I am happy to report that things have calmed down quite a bit (knock on wood!!). And he.is.hilarious. I am telling you, life with a 3 year old is FUN. The things that come out of his mouth...constant entertainment. He also started pre-school a couple of mornings a week and is thriving there.

{first day of day}

{third birthday}

~we made it back to NYC right before Christmas and it was the best. Miles was a rockstar traveler and couldn't get enough of the subway, taxis and buses. The kids loves his vehicles. It snowed the first night we were there which was maybe Miles' favorite part. And mine :) Running through the snow under the Brooklyn Bridge is a moment I will never forget. So beautiful and dreamy. We did airbnb and stayed in Dumbo which was SO GREAT. I've always loved that 'hood (see previous post) and so it was fun to get to experience 'living' there (albeit for only 3 short days). And then, of course, there were all the friends we saw and the Christmas magic we soaked in. A good, good trip. And this will shock you, I know, but I miss it.

~I decided in November that my artist soul felt like it was dying and so, even though I knew it was going to be crazy-busy, I decided to start making things and filling up my Etsy store for the holidays. I had a decent amount of orders that made for a pretty busy month but it felt so good to be back to art-making again. I did a custom collage piece for a customer and I loved how it turned out. I'd love to do more like it, so if you know anyone looking for a unique, custom gift for Valentines Day, graduation, anniversary, etc...let me know! :)

~and now for the big news. MY ALBUM! It is DONE and for sale! They arrived right before Christmas I couldn't be happier to finally have this out in the world. Dan did the cover design for me, using the photos that were taken by the incredibly talented Bliss Katherine who was a dream to work with. I am so happy with how it all turned out. You can purchase the album through iTunes, CD Baby or my website. And be sure to visit and like my Facebook page. Okay, that's enough plugging for one day, I think :)