you down wit OPP? (other people's parties)

can i just say that i'm loving these new tin plates (and bowls and mini plates) that my dad picked up for me, in all the colors of the rainbow? it makes breakfast all that much more pleasant. and the mushroom mug doesn't hurt either.

oooh, it's really the summer of OPP (other people's parties). but isn't that what life is all about? celebrating other people's accomplishments and eating in the company of friends? yesterday was spent driving around the state of MA in search of cookout food and bouncy castles. the kiddies were fabulous- gray got the workout of a lifetime between the bouncehouse and the slipandslide, and pum got a little red-nose being out in the sun. meeting john's co-workers was not only pleasant but enjoyable. i felt calm and happy being out in the sun, being a mama, breatfeeding in the bathroom (don't ask- i always insist on this-), and being hot and dirty. last night i went solo into the city for name's 30th birthday party and for some reason left my mojo at home- i was the most socially awkward and painful person at the party- i literally couldn't get out of my own way, i was dehydrated, horrible to talk to. i had to scoot early to get home for the 11p feeding but probably would've left anyway because i am so not a happycoolhipsexy party person like i wish i was sometime. name, however, was rockin' the house in her sexy birthday suit and the mojito's were flowing- minty goodness.

been harvesting out of the garden like crazy. using the veggies in any and every dish that we eat. even though i have a love/hate relationship with summer, i do love my fresh veggies. and drrrrty toenails.

acumama, i'm sporting your wee one's headband today as part of my outfit- gray was finally able to open her package this morning (she took a nap yesterday in the car!). we decided to "share" the headband because "it goes" with my hair. hum.

today is planning and working on a major crafting extravaganza that needs to come to fruition later in the week for a dear friend's surprise. i work best under pressure and the pressure is on!

speaking of, had a wonderful adventure with auntiejojo and etsy on friday- driving around searching for fabric deals and napkins and smurfette folders. all with two kiddies in tow. there's nothing like a bargain adventure with fun and fiesty ladies to make the friday fllllly by.

off to the sewing machine. fabric awaits!

photobooth friday and some manic madness-

aaaah. things have been a bit scatter brainy here. and toss is some 100 degree heat and you can just count me out for intelligent conversation and blogging. first let me just say thank you to boo who went out and got us a fan for downstairs the other night, and for bringing me coconut gelato (this may have been last week). i don't do well in the summer. i'm not a good person in the summer. so thanks for taking caramel and showering me with cool treats.

second, i got the job. a massage job exactly .5 miles from my house. i'm a little scared and overwhelmed but trying not to get consumed by it. it's going to be a couple of hours here and there (if i can get clients, eek!) so it's really perfect. i'm not complaining. let it just be said that it's a valley version of the bravo show "blowout". not sure if i can hack the salon atmosphere. eeks. not to mention the fact that it's a kids/logistical/babysitting nightmare. but anywho!

acumama, i haven't gotten a chance to thank you personally but the scarf is exactly what i've been wanting in the exact color that i dream of and i can't wait until the fall so i can strut my employed-ass around in it. thank you for your extreme and hardcore generousity. you rock. (gray hasn't gotten the treats yet because every day i say to her- if you take a nap, you can open your package, and it's friday and she still hasn't taken a nap- so no package. she may never get it :)


pumbaggie update: he's full-on crawling. he's pulling himself up into standing position (as has smashed his poor little chin many times already). he's sitting up like a big boy. he eats any and all table food which is really scary at times, especially since i'm used to being the mama as grace who still rarely eats table food without issue. it's amazing to me how each and every kiddie is completely different, even with the same set of parents. gray and pum couldn't be more different in every single way. never mind the fact that pum's got bright red hair and white white skin and gray is the darkest thing you've ever seen with dark hair. hum. i love this tiglet shot and his little ho-hum face- always watching his sister, always storing things up in his brain for later.


photobooth friday- another nina and shanna shot. i love this picture- we were trying to look "tough"- well, jokingly of course. the back reads "april 20, 1995- we are the easyriders." we went to some cheapy beach shot (btw- i'm so glad you got to hampton photobooths, angela!- reading that post made me so happy!) and bought these fleecy ear-warmery thingies that said "easyriders" on them. of course we thought they were absolutely hilarious and the perfect photobooth accessory! a must have! hence this photobooth pic.

my girl has a new-found love for shirley temples, just like her mama. i drank many a shirley temple when i was pregnant with her and joey, as we went to about 50 million weddings and celebrations. i got a chance to introduce her to this sugary goodness this past weekend. this picture about sums up the blissful happiness that overflowed her little being as she drank the night away. eyes rolling back in the head and all. she kept saying "mama, it's just like soda!" (soda is something i don't like her having but all her grandparents think is the funniest thing to give her because she gets all scandalized by it).

pum eats french fries.
taking pum to a restaurant is tiring. he wants to eat the whole restaurant.
pum also likes lettuce.
lettuce dripping in middle eastern goodness dressing.
my little seven month old scares me.

yesterday we had lots of playtime with our buddies. it's been lots of playdating it up lately- raspberry picking with a&a, forest hunting, park-going, and then yesterday it was the ultimate kiddie-fest over at shanshan's. the girls are finally old enough to play on their own- doctor, tag, and snuggle-on-the-beanbag-chair-under-a-comfy-quilt. i had to snap this pic (see gray's earrings, too) because of the sheer freakin' cuteness of it. my girls are growing up.

here's to a wonderful weekend (more parties for us, and for you?) and a garden full of redred cherry tomatoes and bottomless cups of your beverage of choice. meow!

holy sleep deprivation- and some self portrait tuesday, too

me as a road trippin' mama- been spending lots and lots of time in the car over these past weekends, especially this weekend. lots of miles overdue for an oil change. lots of iced coffees. lots of money on gas. but it's all worth it- seeing my peeps makes it all worth it.

when it rains (metaphorically speaking) here in gilbertland, it sure does pour. pile on a super-sized order of nosleep onto an already gargantuan order of nosleep, and you've got one tired, saggy-boobed mama. hence the lack of blogging. spent the weekend at prewedding and wedding festivities for brian and jenn. the best part of the whole wedding was their song- "annie's song" by john denver. you know it- "you liiiiiiight up my seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeenses!" oooh, it got us, right there where it counts. john and i (and most everyone else) were balling the second the first note hit us. and watching them dance and be so in love in front of a beautiful sunset, seriously setting right between their heads on a dancefloor perched over a lake, in a window-filled room- aaah. i told you that i love weddings. and i love the debriefing afterwards even more.

so things are pretty crazy here after the weekend of being away from my littlest milk-drinkin' boyfriend. he wasn't bad but wasn't too happy being away from his main source of nutrition. so he's having some babypaybackfun with his mama by keeping her up all night with the feedings. and this mama looks reeeeeally bad. bags under the eyes bad.

in other news, gray got her ears pierced on friday night. it's the big joke when we go to the loop and walk by claire's- we always say "hey, gray, wanna get your ears pierced?" and she's always like "NOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooo!" and i get all happy inside. well, the other day, i took the kiddies, and i was like "hey, gray, wanna get your ears pierced?" and she was all "yeah, sure, of course i want to." um, ok? so literally THIRTY-FREAKING-SIX dollars later (and that's with FREE EAR PIERCING, PEOPLE! FREE!)- she had her first earrings. little pink sparklies. how did i get the girlie-girl? that's what i'd like to know. but seriously, the earrings take her cuteness-factor to a dangerously high level. i didn't think she could get cuter. but she has.

i'm off to a last minute doctor's appointment (my first physical in about four years- it's been on my to-do list, i swear) and then tomorrow i have a real-life job interview. i don't want the job- i don't think. i'm not ready to leave my babes quite yet. but i'll give the interview a shot! who wouldn't want to hire a massage therapist who hasn't practiced since she graduated over a year ago and who doesn't have any real-life experience? wink wink. :)

pics to come, they are currently all snuggled up in my camera, location unknown.

photobooth friday: mother and son edition

taken on july 15, 2006- pum and mum
rockingham mall, salem, NH
while daddy had uncle brian's bachelor party at our house, pum and mum went out on the town for some mother-son date time.

happy friday, happy almost-weekend, happy overcast day (finally) and happy gardens!

oooh, and see my self portrait up at self portrait challenge! gush, gush.

things i love thursday, late edition

the best vintage photo ever invented from pancakemama, originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

*i love the vegged-out milk-filled look on the baby's face- like it's saying "duuuuuuh-"

this thrifted photo, gifted to me from pancakemama

fresh mint and lemon water, although i think i'm developing a sensitivity to mint (just like my sensitivity to tomatoes and oranges that i choose to ignore)- right now my lips are all swollen and around my mouth is all itchy

fudgeicles (not the right spelling, but it's late)

homemade guac in big ceramic bowls

project freakin' runway, and getting my mother-in-law addicted and debriefing on the phone with her about it today

watering my plants with the water from my dehumidifier (not the plants we eat, though)

the cool breeze tonight

the weekend wedding rain

borrowed clothes

a fridge full of fresh groceries, finally

just finishing "three weeks with my brother: a memoir" by nicholas and micah sparks- you'd think it would be kinda cheese, but seriously- another really good book. inspired me to life more fully and really live my best life

rolling into bed right now after one of the longest days ever

oh, and mail love- i got FOUR wonderful treats in the mail today- more to come on this. but db, THANK YOU. i love each and every piece of my goodness. and when i go to bed right now, i'm going to re-read my little booklet.

and hildy, my daughter loves her stickers, and i can't wait to use my "grown-up" one. thank you lovely ladies.

self portrait tuesday: me as transportation

i'm a hip, originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

me as....transportation

at any given moment in the day, i am used as transportation- a means for getting around. at times i wish i had even bigger and wider hips than i already have. and shoulders. and legs to hang onto. and crotch bone to be slammed into with tiny little skulls.

i'm getting off track here, aren't i?

more self portrait lovins at www.selfportraitchallenge.net

a journal a day keeps the doctor away

mail love

sweet and lovely amanda's package- a journal with the best inscription and tags and pony-licious stickers for the babe. thank you my keelers- every time i use it i will think of you and your cuteandedible children. especially thank you for thinking of gracie and making her happy for the whole day, talking and dreaming about ponies.

michelle's package: a loved copy of "the prophet" which i've never read, a great postcard with a message from her, too, and then lots of wonderful bits and bobbles- treasures that gray can't wait to get her grubby paws on! i loved seeing your handwriting and the excitement of opening up each and every little package inside. and the cigar box just about stopped me in my tracks because of the freakin'coolness of it. thank you.

angela's sweetsweet package- filled with love and homemade goodness- how perfect is her watercolor? now i'm on the hunt for the perfect frame. i want to eat the pieces of paper she sent, and her painted cards, and the bitsies, too.

mindy sent me a wish jar that brought tears to my eyes- filled with a touching message and wish for foreverfriendship, and a beautiful shell necklace and the best part was one of those little coins that you can make at the beach (or arcades in general i guess, i just associate them with the beach) that says "nina beana wish 2006 xo". lots of people call me nina bina but i especially love that mindy has taken on calling me this. it holds a special place in my heart, because in the begining of my relationship i told john this story about how every time i went into the orthodontist's office for a checkup on my braces, he would (loudly) say "NINA BEANA, SOMEONE'S BEEN SUCKING THEIR THUMB!" (mind you, his office wasn't private, it was a big room with all his patients in chairs listening to him interact with all the other awkward teenagers). and john pretty much thought this was the funniest thing ever and immediate took to calling me nina beana all the time. and randomly screaming out "nina beana, someone's been sucking their thumb!" anyway, thank you mindy, your package brought not only tears but also all these delicioso memories.

oooh, and ani at pancakemama sent me the best vintage photo i've ever laid my eyes on. of course you can't see it here, because like i told ani, grace is trying desperately to snatch the fresh flower seals that she also sent. and my family is bugging me to make the rice krispy peanut butter ice cream sandwiches (hello!) and the buttons are so yummy i also want to eat them. you can see a close-up of the vintage goodness over at my flickr account.

thank you to each and every one of you for sharing such special parts of yourself with me.

until i write again

Video Hosting - Upload Video - Video Sharing

here's a little video of the diva passing out from a weekend of fun (not this weekend, maybe a couple of weekends ago?) while eating her dilly bar. she managed to get most of the cherry coating off but couldn't keep up her stamina to eat the whole thing. listening to my own voice in this video is like hearing nails on a chalkboard, esp. with my kickin' accent, but you gotta love how my girl just sleeps through my annoyingness. happy monday morning-! i'll be spending the weekend doing damage control with gray because she was gone all weekend- i need to reprogram her and despoilbrat her and try desperately to get her back to normal. maybe i'll be back at naptime (ha! i wish).

seriously heartalicious

i'm seriously hearting this comic person/illustrator/funnyassperson. see it here. well, here will take you to a specific strip that just had me laughing. here will take you to the main site. kawaii not: the comic of cute gone bad. love it! not sure how i found this- so if i found it through big bad beautiful you, then thank you!

off to bed to rest my head. but before i go, let me tell y'all that i just finished reading such a good freakin' book called "the magician's assistant" by ann patchett. (thanks steph!) i thought it may be a chicky poop shoot but it was so powerful to me. i feel like i'm still living in the book. i never wanted it to end. i love when i'm there with the characters. although the whole book has a pretty sad feel to it, it was sort of magical. ok, enough from me.

quick things i love:
picnics at the park
debriefings with mother in law
gardening with gray
buying herbs and "saving" onions from horrible greenhouse fates because they look pathetic
swimming with naked pum
dirt lines in sweaty necks
wonderful, glorious mail. thanks forthcoming, but my sisters, just know that i'm in mail heaven

holy pho-ly and photobooth friday

photobooth details unknown- nothing on the back. high school? college? i'm thinking college. summer. grateful dead t-shirt with rainbow. hair slicked back in usual tight braid. trace looking sweet-as-pie and sassy as usual. innocence. pre-kiddos for me and pre-hubby for trace. the good old days. the epitome of summer.

last night i discovered, thanks to kim, my new favorite restaurant. pho in dracut. the most deeelicious food i've had in a long time. after my day yesterday, i needed a break. rarely do i get out for myself without the little ones in tow. and last night i reaaaaly needed it. gray had the toughest day- screaming and yelling, eyes rolling back in head, saying mean and hateful things. i have no idea where this is coming from. early rebelling against the hippie establishment? i had some scary flash-forwards yesterday to her teenage years. so last night, every bite of pork dumpling was that must tastier, every sip of limeade that must sweeter.

johnny, if you're reading this this morning, i really miass you. i know you're going to be busy this weekend, but can we have a family meeting? can we have fun? can you take caramel? can we go exploring and have fun-ness? i need you. meow. (it's obviously been one of those weeks).

trip to connect-i-cut and all the other stuff in my head

here's all the things i have to say:

1. holy comments! i send a special thank you to each and every one of you fantastic people who took a second to pass on a kind word about my nursing shot. you never know how others will react- and each comment was like a little shot of tequila that i threw back and savored. wonderful, powerful, perfect. thank you for looking at my peeking little man and getting enjoyment out of it! you can even see my boob up at self portrait challenge.

2. i'm wicked behind on emails and phonecalls and dishes and keeping-life-together activities. i go through this sometimes. (esp. sara m's sweet email today-, and erina's invite- we wish we could come, but johnny is hosting his brother's bach party this weekend- oh lord- but thank you and have some fun for us!). please bear with me. vacations and showers and parties and get-togethers and mini-day-trips throw me off. i'm like a little kid that needs to stick to a schedule. except we really don't have a schedule here. being in the car throws me off i guess. i'm sorry. i'm tired. i love you all. i love your emails and your faces. i will get to you when i pull my head out of my fanny. and kristen, laura, and michelle, i put your swappie packages in the mail today. it's the one thing i promised myself i had to do. that and take a shower. which i just managed to do and it's 2:06pm. it's one of those days.

3. yesterday i had the best day, spent in the company of boo and mama al and her wee ones. i would love to write about it eloquently here, but alas- i'm going to resort to posting scans of my journal. if you would actually like to read some of the words, you may need to click on the images to enlarge them. all i have to say is i heart mama al, i heart m+t+baby makes three, and i heart little ones running around with no shoes, i heart communes, and i heart cake batter ice cream.


4. tonight i'm going out with some of my girl-lady-friends. i'm taking jess's lead (no make-up though, i'm not quite ready for that!) and dressing up just because. just because i just took a shower and need something to feel pretty about. we're going out for vietnamese food, which i'm very excited about mainly because the only thing i ate today was plain pasta off the floor. so it's pretty much uphill from there.

self portrait tuesday

self portrait tuesday: me as a milkin' machine

for all of you who know me, you know that i'm constantly nursing- joey is grabbing and pulling and yanking the old shirt down. this pic was snapped as joey was peeking out from a blanket at steph's shower over the weekend. i love the sweet innocence. just a little guy trying to get his milk on.

since there's no real way of knowing if joe will be my last, i try to savor every minute of breastfeeding- the quiet, the letting down, the calmness. just in case he's my last nursin' man.

slow joe

slow start today. a large part of this past weekend was spent driving around MA and RI. showering it up. showers of love for steph and brian and their twin little peas and then yesterday was jenny's wedding shower (wedding in two weeks). i was social butterflying it up all weekend. john managed to squeeze in some taking-care-of-nina-time amongst the craziness and took me out for coffee cookies and cream ice cream at hodgies on friday night, and then last night (after being the driver for his whole fam to RI) i came home to this wonderful and elaborate meal, perfectly cooked, with my favorite drinkies and all.

my body feels tired and run-down today. sleep doesn't feel like enough lately. grace is all thrown off from being away from mama all weekend and being spoiled (not in a bad way, but spoiled nonetheless). so today my goals are simple: to stay home, to reset my family, to get back into a routine that will help us get through the week, to get into the garden, to cut vases of flowers and put some next to grace's bed to help her stay happy, maybe to swim, to cook some banana bread, to craft some gifties for my lovelies, to plan for my trip to CT on wed., to look forward to thursday night dinner with my girls. to get through the week. to have another cup.

just as an fyi- i read the best book the other night- it's called the three incestuous sisters: an illustrated novel by audrey niffenegger, the same woman who wrote the time traveler's wife. i am blown away, completely in awe of these illustrations. and the words; so simple, yet devastatingly beautiful. i want to eat this book.

jess and nin photobooth friday

jess and nin photobooth, originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

aaah, the beach. and my bad perm. and jess. good times.

i especially like how the curtain in the back gets progressively more messed up as the pictures are taken. the beach is where i got my nose pierced at some really scary place (dreadz) and my parents almost disowned me. in these pictures i think jess is wearing a necklace of safety pins. we were always a little off. and i guess we still are a little bit, too.

i love photobooth friday. that's no secret (thanks hula seventy!). but i also love the process of photobooth friday- looking through all my old photos until i find yet another strip sandwiched in among the other embarrassing pics. last night i had jess (and boo) over for an impromptu dinner- i made some spinach and ricotta pies and jess brought a trillion delicious desserts from my favorite bakery and yummy wine that looked like perfume. until everyone else came, jess and i drank drinkies and caught up and debriefed like old times. and then had more drinks. we ate and laughed and got a little silly (the kittykats went to bed early). then we had to bust out some pictures- all my old polariods from the beach cottage, and i found a huge motherload of old photobooth strips in the bottom of one of my boxes. i laughed so hard my ribs were hurting me this morning (along with my head). jess is glowing. she's serious good peeps. i'm considering inviting her over for dinner every night.

also, a p.s.- four more pins left up for final swappies at swaparama mama

how my brain works

how my brain works, originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

here's a little glimpse into my world, and how my brain works. it's very messy and cluttered in there, but somehow it all looks beautiful and perfect to me. move over the picture to see notes on each little doodad.

also, new stuff up for swappies at : www.swaparamama.blogspot.com

corny

taken at jen's house under one of seth's toys- joey was in heaven

i have a crush on seane corn and it has only been made worse thanks to acumamakiki. i was lucky enough to be sent seane's dvd's- 2 of them! last night johnny and i sat on our fannies and watched her interview. and stared at her. and laughed at ourselves to watching a yoga dvd while sitting on our fannies. but she's incredible. really, really incredible. i would like to be her someday when i grow up. or maybe just hang out with her forever and maybe take some of her classes. is it possible for someone to be that glowingly, naturally beautiful? and i love her even more because she's totally honest about how non-perfect she is- she's just a woman living her best life, being herself. thanks acumama for the videos and the inspiration! john and i also watched part of her "breath session" and it looked really strange when my dad came over only to see us staring at the tv.

lots of stuff to do today, like keep the kiddies happy. which should be a task in itself.

send love and energy into the universe to my girl boho. she's a special one. her "swirly angels" post is the best- and the picture is even better. i could look at it forever. keep her in your heart today and always.

swappie update later on today. maybe.

my trip in real words: journal excerpts

a peek into my journal because i'm still too tired to write it all down here again. don't mind the crazymanic handwriting please. and hopefully the charlton's don't dispute my facts! :)

my head's still stuck in my fanny

reason number 1 why my head is still stuck up there


in the meantime, until i can muster up a real post-, some of our vaca pics are up at flickr

with that being said, we're off for another day in the sun (or shade, preferably)- pools, berries, blankets, various meat products, tube tops (eeks!), and general debauchery.

hope you all are getting out there for the 4th! meow!

one freakin' tired mama

this was me today. this afternoon. after spending 13-14ish hours in the car over two days. with two kids. one of which is a breastfeeding on-demand ravenous 6 month old, and another who is a precocious, question-asking, make-believe playin' little three year old mama. our trip to watertown, NY (right up there near the canadian border) was wonderful, perfect, and all those other words i always use but don't quite describe exactly what i want to say. i'm going to write all about it tomorrow or the next day, along with pictures, as soon as i get some sleep tonight. truth be told i'm very sleep deprived. and have a serious case of the poop-shoot riots. i'm hoping that it's stress-induced because i'm hoping i didn't infect the charltons (sorry guys!). neighbor stuff reached a critical crazy point last week, which ended in me actually going outside and meeting her face to face, talking to her rationally, listening to her talk in tounges and tell me i should call the police on her, and me sticking to my hippie peace-love-togetherness lingo. she must think i'm a complete pot-smoking lovefest 2006. you should've seen the looks on her face when i threw around words like "community" and "respect" and "neighbor". so between that situation, some family drama thrown in, and the car-ride (along with hours and hours of banging)-my insides are paying the price. but the kiddies are great and for the most part were well behaved. seeing ro and jen and holding seth was like a strange dream that came true. being in watertown was like being back home.

just got in from long picnic day next to a castle, and then fireworks with the kiddies. my life is a dream. this is how happy it is-


it's almost sickening.