Last weekend we had the treat of my dad and stepmother visiting us in Phoenix. Max was in charge of showing them a good time. He did a swell job.
We participated in our community yard sale while there were here and got to know lots of our new neighbors. They are all awesome, by the way, they organized a BBQ, bouncy house for the kiddos, and all manner of games and frivolity. Max had a blast. He also snagged this new desk from the neighbors yard sale. The most fun was getting rid of an entire ROOM full of clutter at our sale. It proved to be a wonderful kick-start to my many life and home simplification goals.
We took Max to the local train park, too. He loved the train but hated the carousel. He loves the nice, shiny horse until it began bobbing up and down. Then he yelled, "Horsey, NO!" He was clearly in it for the balloon. If you're ever in the area, it's an amazing park.
I'm posting this look especially for the shock value it will bring in future updates.
Mostly because I cut off all my hair.
It is very, very short.
But not because these looks are no longer weather appropriate here.
Because it's springtime all winter here, people.
Tragic for those of us who'll ever only know a tan of the spray on variety.
This picture makes it look like I have a gap in my teeth. I'm so Lauren Hutton right now. I know that's what you were thinking. Me = supermodel. Well, perhaps a late-model supermodel. No?
Whatever.
I love stripes and polka dots together. Note to have more of that in my life.
We all panic sometimes.
Today I panicked.
Panicked about our new house.
Panicked that no body loved me.
Panicked that I'm driving across many states alone with the baby.
Then I saw some old friends and their super cute nuggets for lunch.
Then, I bothered Christina at work.
Upon our departure, I let the baby lock himself in the car in 110 degree heat and convinced him to open the door while on a stranger's telephone to the fire department.
I could see a large metal rod across the street and was preparing myself to grab it a break a window.
It's good that Max is smarter than I am.
He had a big laugh over the whole thing. I needed to be tranquilized with a dart.
Instead, we went to visit my friend Amy, my little sunshine when the world gets dreary.
Then, I passive aggressively purchased those shoes that have toes in them because Mr. Newsfeed hates them with the fire of a thousand suns.
BTW, my feet feel awesome in them and I think they help my back.
So, that's why you don't have pictures of Max putting his little car together yet.
Except this one.
But it's also why I'm so, so greatful to have the most wonderful amazing friends ever. EVER. I absolutely do not deserve them, but I'm glad they continually see fit to ignore this fact. There's so little in life that means as much as a sincere hug from the people who love you on a terrible day.
This is Max. Max is waiting for his ride to be washed and buffed to a high sheen at the car wash.
This is Max having a keen time in the IKEA.
Until...
We're ready to leave, and while we're checking out, a massive cloud of dust rolls into the automatic doors of the store and cover everything in sight. People are running for their lives into the doors from the parking lot because there's a
HABOOB!
This is a giant dust storm that we sometimes get in the desert. This one was by far the worst I'd ever seen. It consists of two seconds of rain followed by a cloud of dust that coats the entire city.
Including Max's freshly sheened vehicle.
Uncool, Haboob.
I stole this photo from the Assosicated Press so that you can get a better idea of this cloud of dust engulfing the nugget and I-- along with the rest of the city.
Deal with it, Assosiated Press.
So, Max and I were trapped in IKEA eating hotdogs and sitting in all the baby chairs for another TWO HOURS after our shopping was complete waiting for the storm to die down enough so that we could make a run for it. I placed Max in the shopping cart and ran as fast as I could while telling him to close his eyes and mouth.
Of course flying across a parking lot in a shopping cart makes Max laugh hysterically.
Basically, Max loves haboobs and I do not.
Hope you enjoyed all the baby curls, team. Because in tomorrow's pictures, they've vanish.
Some people teach their children to read at two. I play a game with Max wherein I say "baby HAT" and he has to put whatever he might be holding onto his head.
Then we both shriek with laughter. Watch out Harvard Law.
Oh, and I've also trained him to carry my purse in the crook of his little arm.
Mr. Newsfeed HATES this. You are welcome, Max's future wife.
We spent the 4th with all my favorite ladies. Christina and Emily held an Americana party at their house.
We planned to wear aprons and Christina made amazing homemade pie. AMAZING. I have dreams about that pie. We also ate every delectable treat Trader Joes produces. Because what's more American than gluttony?
Nothing.
That was until..
Max and I went home to change clothes for the party.
We live on the farming side of town. We were headed down our street, back to the party when out of nowhere, a renegade chicken (who'd OBVIOUSLY been celebrating too much* glug glug)
scampers out into the road. We see him and try to swerve.
Feathers. Everywhere.
We'd only lived on our street for a few days before I had to go door to door admitting to the neighbors that we had murdered someone's chicken with our Jeep Grand Cherokee in order to find the chicken's family.
When we got back to the party, everyone was very sensitive about the whole ordeal. They all made dead chicken jokes at my expense culminating in an elaborate paper chicken greeting card that Emily made me.
The pie was the only thing that could calm my nerves.
What is your most embarrassing awkward neighbor moment?
Everyday this week, we'll have a fresh batch of the Nugget-lovin' you've demanded.
Here's what you may look forward to this week on the Newsfeed:
Today- The Nugget Drives to his new home in Arizona
Tuesday- The 4th of July: My LittleYankee Doodle Nugget
Wednesday- The Nugget Takes Over IKEA During the Haboob!
Thursday- Max Builds His Own Car and Drives Off Down the Street
Friday- General Nugget Antics
Saturday-- It's Back to Business as Usual: Outfit Post!
The week before we leave Oklahoma, we hang out with some of our favorite peeps. Max plays house.
Max says good bye to his best little buddy in the world. Don't you want to squish his chocolatey little face! In case you are wondering how any baby could be so super cute, it is because he has the most adorable momma EVER.
Along the way to Phoenix, we stopped to see one of my BFF's 4L, Tina Bond. That is not an alias. She's a real life Bond girl. (i.e. She's fantastic and Max and I got to sleep in the super sweet princess room of her palatial mansion.)
We, of course, had the obligatory stop at a Cracker Barrel that one must make on a long, interstate voyage.
Max spent much of the drive rocking out to the sweet tunes I was spinning. He was bobbing his little noggin to this classic of course until I got the camera out. Then he began to smile and "cheese it" at me. Little ham.
This is Max reuniting with his Arizona aunties for the first time. Allow me to answer your questions preemptively. Yes, those are tiny moccasins. Yes, that is, in fact, the exact face people make when greeting Max. He's like a giant kitten that people have to get their hands upon-- even if they aren't that into kittens.
This blesses us in many ways because we have a never-ending supply of babysitters. I've honestly never had a single soul turn down a request to watch Maxwell. More often than not, people say something to the effect of "I was only going to a wedding/funeral/birth. I can cancel. Please bring him over as quickly as possible."
Max and Polly resting up from the trip in their new abode.
We've got a week of Max-o-palloza coming up so stay tuned.
Coming up this fall... you can look forward to:
Adventures in Phoenix (i.e. Max and I mapping the best cupcakes, vintage shops, farmers' markets, theaters, etc. in this town)
Photography and Photoshop shortcuts: Max and I have finally learned to shoot outside the realm of the Automatic camera setting and it's not nearly as difficult as we had imagined.
Detailed ways in which we've simplified our lives lately and the subsequent freedom and happiness it's caused us. (We wish all the same happiness for you.)
but what you'll really see a lot of is...
lots of goofy stuff we make up along the way.
What are some funny things you'd like to see the Nugget try out this fall?
Does it hardly seem fair that I have a friend who takes great pictures and you don't?
Meet C. Palmer
TWO amazing photog friends who put up with my antics?
Hello S. Bushman
Would you believe I have THREE?! Well then check out these amazing shots of the nugget and meet one Rian Hansing. That's right.
We all know why you're here: the nugget. Just admit it.
I've been harassing Rian about making Max and his best little buddy C. Hansing play baby croquet for AGES. She finally gave into my demands the week we were moving from Oklahoma to Phoenix. She's pretty much the greatest lady ever and the results were devastatingly adorable even though Max was a total Cranky Pants McGee the whole time.
It should also be public information that the night that our moving truck was packed up and we were deathly tired of packing and hadn't noticed we were starving to death-- Rian just happened to popped by (on her way to take her babies on a fun outing) with the most amazing dinner of chicken enchiladas and brownies and lemonade AND everything needed to warm and consume these unimaginable treats. Did I mention I have the greatest friends on the planet? I said that, right?
Rian Hansing Photography is for rock stars. Clearly you should call Rian and schedule a round of baby croquet. Babies not included.
*All photography proprietary property of Rian Hansing Photography and if you steal them the nugget will whack you with his croquet mallot. All of this beautiful shoot is public on our flikr stream this week only. The ones not included in this post will be made private next week to help protect Rian's work.
There is no time like the present to start doing something you love... again :)
I've been stalling the return of posting after my little summer break out of fear:
Fear that I won't know where to start and skip over something exciting that happened in the last couple of months.
Fear that I'll start and then punk out again.
Fear that no one is reading anymore.
But I'm over it now. I'm biting the bullet and jumping back in. The Elmos are back in action "blogwise." Hopefully we can entertain you with our antics once again.
Even if I can't, I know a certain nugget that can melt your heart with a devilish smile.
In my defense, we've been settling in after our big move to the desert. New house, new job, ONE car. A little hectic, to say the least. We've been having a wonderful time making new friends and catching up with dear friends from the past.
However, there are just some Oklahomans that we miss terribly.
Here are a few that I'm thinking of at the moment as I review photos of the past few months.
Max's Big Brothers of the Palmer variety and
Aunt Pauline (who's going to kill me for posting a photo of her with no make-up on)
*Forgive me, Aunt P. I just love this photo too much not to share. Little baby and his auntie sharing a pillow in the morning sunlight.
This post is dedicated to my all time style blogging hero: Meredith of Yours Mine, and Ours who demanded Elmo updates and got them.
the Elmos are officially moving to Phoenix, Arizona. We're very excited and looking forward to a new adventure. I'm especially ecstatic to return to my college town and my dear friends who inhabit the desert. We are going to be sad to leave the bungalow and our wonderful friends and church family and especially...
our amazing aunties.
Aunt Dean
and Aunt Pauline.
It has been wonderful being so close to them these past few years. They were there when Maxwell made his grand appearance. Max adores them as well as his uncles and the rest of our family here. We're heartbroken to have to take him so far away from them, but I always managed to talk them into making the trek to Arizona when I was in school so perhaps they'll be doubly attracted to the heat with baby Max as a draw. We also plan to have many Skype dates and blog updates to help to close the distance.
I love fashion magazines. Always have. When my monthly dose of Vogue shows up at my door, I flip through it inhaling deeply. Issues of Vogue smell like my first grade reader, and I LOVED my first grade reader. Next, I wait for a quiet moment to present itself and lovingly poor over the editorials, colorful advertisements, and the artistry of commercialism that is Vogue. Only after making it through the magazine once or twice, do I return to read any articles, however well written they may be. When it comes to fashion magazines, the clothes are the thing.
There've only been two non-political periodicals I've sought out and purchased for the written word. "Sassy" of the 90's and "Jane Magazine" of the 2000's, both the creations of Jane Pratt. I loved the cool, enjoyable way in which these magazines were written, completely down to earth pieces written by women you just knew didn't take themselves too seriously. The articles were somehow just as relevant in my twenties as they were when I was in high school, no small feat for a product as subjective as a monthly glossy. When Jane was canceled several years ago, instead of my monthly Jane fix, a copy of Glamour arrived in it's stead with a card attached that said (I'm paraphrasing here) "Jane's over. Enjoy this dumb substitute that you've NOT asked for as a consolation prize". I immediately called my friend Lydia and wailed my disgust. I took the loss pretty hard.
The point I'm trying to make here is this: after a long absence Jane Pratt and her beloved handiwork is back in my life. Even better, this time it comes to me free anytime day or night via her new blog. I'm ecstatic. I'd heard whisperings around the internets that this was happening, but I just put my email on a notification list and forgot about it, not really getting my hopes too high. Well, the day has finally arrived and I'm doing a happy dance. The site looks great and the staff of writers seem just as real and just as hilarious as in previous go-rounds. I feel like I've just run into an old friend with whom I grew up and now we're going to be having weekly lunches. In the same way that Jane and Sassy were the Un-Fashion Magazine- fashion magazines, xojane.com is the Un-Fashion Blog fashion blog.
In case you're not familiar, here is a sampling of articles to get you started:
Some of the most wonderful things in our lives are here and gone so quickly. I was thinking about this as I tossed out my lovely mother's day roses. They brought me so much joy all week as I enjoyed the burst of color on my kitchen counter. I especially loved the note:
"To the best wife and mother in the world"
Be sure to be thankful for the wonderful people in your life today. Try to spend some time nurturing those relationships and less time fretting about things and worries that don't really matter.
PS. I appreciate all of you still tuning in after our short absence. Hopefully, we can redeem ourselves with all the fun we have coming up this week.
The Nugget and I have been hatching a plan to go on an adventure. Everytime I've ever seen a beautiful, gleaming silver Airstream, I've fantasized about traversing the country dressed as Lucille Ball in "The Long, Long Trailer."
Then, more recently, I've been inspired by Elizabeth of Delightfully Tacky, who for lack of a reason not to, took a voyage in a Winnebago Brave. Amazing. You have to check out her story!
Elizabeth and her Brave
More and more lately, Max and I have been talking about embarking on our trip sooner rather than later.
Here are some other folks who also love the Airstream lifestyle. All these photos are from "Airstream Life's" flikr stream. It can be accessed by clicking on any of the images.
This is an amazing slideshow you have to see about a fellow who completely redesigned his Airstream to fit his needs and personal style.
There's just something so completely appealing about stripping your life of all unnecessary belongings and hitting the open road. Max and I would love to redesign one of these bad boys from the sixties, hook it up to our Jeep, and be on our way for a month or two. Maybe we'll even hit some campaign stops to knock doors like the old days ;)
Now, we want to hear about your craziest dreams. Let's hear it, come on...
