sara without an h

texas y ' all.

these are two of my favorites from the past week. she's a big ball of personality while awake, but still my squishy baby when sleeping. we're packing up for our big holiday trip down to texas! i'm beyond excited to spend sylvie's first chirstmas surrounded by both sides of our families. i hope houston, dallas, and austin are ready for us. stay tuned for updates from the lone star state!

the windy city.

last weekend we ventured north to chicago for my cousin's wedding. i finally got around to uploading the pictures. the snowy view from our hotel room: sylvie got all dolled up for the rehearsal dinner: we got all dolled up for the wedding (which was adults only): the wedding was in the beautiful blackstone hotel ballroom: the beautiful bride: if you've never been to a traditional jewish wedding, here is a slice of the fun you're missing!: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OESX9F96_w] that's my aunt and uncle up in those chairs, holding on for dear life. travis and i opted not to do the chair thing at our wedding, and i am seriously regretting that decision after watching this. i did do it at my bat mitzvah and can honestly say it is equal parts super fun and super terrifying. we were supposed to head back home the day after the wedding, but everyone got snowed in! it was fun to spend another lazy day with family. we finally got to drive home on monday. on the way home we stopped at the triple xxx diner in lafayette, indiana for lunch. apparently, this place was featured on diners, drive-ins, and dives. it's not my favorite food network show, but my burger was good! travis and sylvie hamming it up at the triple xxx diner: my first trip to chicago was so much fun! i hope we get a chance to visit again before we leave the midwest.

revamp.

i made a few small changes around here. the ABOUT page is now up to date. i hadn't changed it since i was pregnant and sylvie is almost 4 months old. there's no excuse for that! i also added a page with weekly and monthly picture updates of the girl. i've been meaning to do that for a while now. posts may be slightly infrequent this week, but i will do my best to keep up. i'm super busy with commissions, which makes me happier than you could ever know. my cousin is getting married in chicago this weekend, which also means i have to get the three of us packed for a few days away. on top of that, travis has his big painting critique on friday morning. he practically lived in his studio all weekend! i'm ready for you, winter break!

louisville.

i apologize for my blogging absence. i spent the last several days with my little family in louisville, kentucky! travis was down there to take (and pass with flying colors) his first level sommelier exam. sylvie and i tagged along because it's BIRTHDAY WEEK! what is BIRTHDAY WEEK? travis' birthday was tuesday and mine is today. we both turned the big 2-5. to celebrate the three of us went out to a nice dinner at proof on main in downtown louisville. sylvie slept in her maya wrap the entire time. after dinner we took a walk down the block to the louisville slugger museum. travis snapped a picture of me and my girl in front of the world's largest baseball bat. the rest of the time we were there it was super hot outside. 97 degrees is far too hot to walk around downtown louisville with a little baby! we spent the next couple of days at various indoor places. i read magazines in a borders for hours while sylvie did this: it was heavenly to read magazines at a leisurely place and with BOTH HANDS. we also walked around a random mall for a couple of hours. again, she slept in the maya wrap while i scored a peacoat sweater for her at old navy. old navy is having a FANTASTIC sale right now. all clearance is an additional 50% off. i got this peacoat for...wait for it...$2.98! TWO NINETY-EIGHT. say whaaaaaat?! we got home fairly late last night after a delicious dinner stop at an all-you-can-eat-for-$9.99 family-owned buffet. amazingly, sylvie slept 5 consecutive hours the last two nights! i feel like a new woman. she and travis were still recovering from the trip this afternoon. she is snoozing on her daddy's chest as i type this. we're going to put her down and climb into bed. goodnight!

blog love.

what do you do while your baby naps? if i'm just being honest, when that day comes i will probably nap with her. adele of mila's daydreams takes that time to imagine what her slumbering daughter is dreaming, create the dream scene from household items, and photograph it. the results are both whimsical and beautifully serene. see? do yourself a favor and pay a visit to mila's daydreams. you'll be glad you did. ******** with all of my illustration commissions complete, i spent my evening working on some of the decorative aspects of sylvie's nursery. i made some substantial progress on her crocheted blanket and finished painting a world map for the wall above her crib. stay tuned for pictures of both tomorrow. speaking of tomorrow, travis and i are taking the day to have our last out-of-town date before sylvie's arrival. our plan is to drive the hour to indianapolis, eat lunch at a small french restaurant, and spend the afternoon walking along the canal. i am 35 weeks today and don't plan on venturing too far from home after this week. travis and i are so excited to welcome our daughter into the world, but we're happily enjoying our last few weeks as a couple. this coming fall promises to be a busy one, with little time left over for leisurely strolls around our for-the-moment hometown. sylvie will be a well-seasoned traveler by the time january rolls around. we are planning her first airplane ride for sometime around 6-8 weeks. our plan is to fly to pennsylvania so she can meet her aunt rachel (my big sista), uncle rich, and her cousins, sophie and zack. she will also meet my best friend, her aunt cara, on this trip. next in line is the four hour drive to columbus ohio to visit grammy and poppy for thanksgiving. after that we're going to bundle her up for a december trip to chicago for my cousin's wedding. last, but certainly not least, is a trip down to texas for the holidays. on this trip she will meet her daddy's family including his grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles. she will also meet her uncle mike (my big brother), aunt melissa and cousins tessa and sam. i firmly believe in bundling her up and taking her along for the ride. i'm sure that traveling with an infant will be challenging, but these experiences as a family are too precious to miss out on. as a kid, i was always taken along wherever my parents went. i quickly got used to being the youngest person in any given room. as a result i learned early on how to mind my manners, relate to adults, and adapt to many situations. these are all skills which have served me well in life. we don't want to leave our daughter out of so-called "adult" activities. we want to share everything we can with her, as a family. i just can't wait for her to get here. my arms are aching to hold her and rock her softly. i cannot believe how much and how unconditionally i love her already.

eastbound.

i leave for my hometown bright and early tomorrow morning! i can't even begin to tell everyone how excited i am. we have so much fun stuff planned including my parents' 40th anniversary party, our baby shower, my sister's birthday, lounging by the pool, and trivia night at my favorite bar (i'll have the root beer, thanks). my posts will probably be short and infrequent over the next week. i apologize in advance for this, but life is for living. and i have a lot of living to fit into the next seven days. i'm all done with my packing and ready for bed. it was a LOOOOONG day today! auggie had to go to the vet and he did his best to make the experience as unpleasant as possible. he's pooped. I'm pooped, and i have my alarm set for 6:45am, so i'm going to call it an early night! goodnight and a pleasant tomorrow!

shifting priorities.

this jar was our paris fund.  our plan was to put in whatever we could spare, a few cents here and there, to save up for a trip to paris.  you see, my sweet husband has never been out of the country, save one trip to canada.  i have been blessed enough to travel abroad a great deal.  i lived in paris for a month a few summers ago and have since made it my mission to take him there. tomorrow this jar will get a new label.  4 small letters:  B-A-B-Y.  paris is on the back burner for now.  don't misconstrue this to mean that we are feeling regret or sadness over this change.  rather, what we are feeling is a new sense of responsibility, a shift in our priorities. i think, when the time comes to save for paris again, we will purchase 3 tickets. P.S.  YOU STILL HAVE ALL DAY TOMORROW TO ENTER THE CAFEPRESS GIVEAWAY!  YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO.

pretty darn good.

today has been a pretty darn good day.  i have been craving green beans for days now, and finally satisfied that longing at dinner tonight.  more importantly, travis got one of the coveted teaching positions at his school!  next year he will be at the helm of fundamentals of drawing.

GO, TRAVIS.

in another news, my mom is traipsing around hong kong with my aunt susan.  she emailed me the first pictures from her trip today.  here she is with a giant, technicolor lobster: check that thing out!  i would love to tour the fish markets there.  i'm sure they're incredible!  the next stop in their trip is china and then onto japan.  i photoshopped this picture (poorly) to get an idea of what my mom will look like on the great wall: she looks happy.  this must be where i get my love of travel.  i hope our baby shares this trait. tomorrow is the first day of my second trimester.  i have slowly been feeling better and growing bigger.  it feels good.  really, really good.  baby will be 13 weeks tomorrow.  i can hardly believe 9 weeks have passed since we found out about our little lime.  only 6 more weeks until we find out if lime is a boy or a girl.  i still think she's a girl, and i've now had a few dreams to back this up.  only time will tell...