Bits of my weekend vol. 75.

our good buddy winston's neighbor jack was having a birthday party, and his mom let us come over early to test the bouncy thing.

it was a space theme. so while the kids bounced, winston's mom and i helped with hanging the decorations.


jack's mom had space stations set up everywhere and the kids had little rocket packs they got to take home.

so adorable.

wish i'd gotten more pictures.

after that, winston and the boy went on a picnic and played at the park.

did you know macdo's has pumpkin pie right now? well they do. and it's pretty yummy.

here's winston's precious little sis lilly. i just want to just dress her up in bows and ruffles and sparkles and giant tutus and fairy wings.

she would hate that very much.

but an auntie can dream.

we came back later to jack's party to bring him his gift. it's hard to tell, but the yard was magical at dusk.

the boy bounced a little more.

and then we headed for home.

how was your weekend?

Bits of my weekend vol. 70.

we went to a fun free event for kids this weekend called the we care for kids day, sponsored by the children's hospital.

clearly it was a raging success, since we came home with this gorgeous pumpkin.

which he painted gold.

and stuck glittery stickers all over.

but let's not dwell on that.

there were loads of games where kids could learn about health and safety and win prizes (my boy is all about winning the prizes) so it was a really fun time.

his top prize? a set of six matchbox cars! it was like christmas.

and did i mention it was perfect fall weather?

fantastic, sun shining, cool breeze, leaves falling kind of day.

my favorite.

there were tons of folks in costume, from darth vader (or "dark" vader, as the boy calls him) to wonderwoman, and the kids could get their pictures taken with their favorite characters.

but i have no photos of them because the boy wanted to have nothing to do with anyone dressed up in any kind of costume.

nuh uh.

he was all about the crafting ...

and the sliding ...

and the gaudy pumpkin painting.

huzzah for fall!

how was your weekend?

my latest sin.

when i bought this bird pillow from pangaea, i thought of my lovely friend rose, a woman i knew growing up in illinois. she shared a modest historic home in peoria with her husband and three growing sons.

she was on a tight budget, but when we visited her, she always got out her china and finest stemware to entertain. the time with her was always transformed into something enchanting, and beautiful, and filled with love.

rose understood the art of finding beauty in the little things.

once, she showed my sisters and me this tiny china pitcher she had found at a thrift store. it was delicate and lovely and so very rose.

she smiled shyly and said, "this is my latest sin."

i understand now that passion for beauty, and realizing that when you find it you have to hold it tightly.

rose, i miss you. where ever you are, i'm sure you're wearing a crisp cotton dress and drinking tea from a proper cup.

going home.

can't wait to fly home tomorrow to see my family.

there's also going to be an impromptu facebook-driven grade school reunion, as in anyone who ever went there, so that is going to be something.

then next week we're all going to my sister's in south florida for some beach time.

i can hardly believe it's finally here.

this image, by the way, comes from my 1970 yearbook, the year my twin sister and i were in the first grade.

can you tell which one's me?

i will try to post as i go, but i may be having too much fun to do daily updates. i'll do my best!

peace and love,
joan (the one on the right)

our first urban cocktail party

i was too shy to take pictures of our fabulous guests, but here's the aftermath. what a glorious thing to be with people so sincere and beautiful and full of wisdom. sometimes old friends (and their significant others) are the best friends.

ava: updated

Our dear little friend Ava is out of surgery and the doctors believe they removed all of the tumor. Her dad was able to speak with her and she is doing well. Thank you for praying with us, and keep on praying, if you would!

UPDATE: John and Beth have spent time talking with the doctors and the prognosis is excellent. Ava has complete use of her hands - no weakening, as was originally thought. The mass seems to be benign at this point and Ava will likely be released today! Ava is in great spirits. This could not have gone better. Thank you all for joining me in prayers, good wishes and good thoughts for our dear friends!

Now this is what I call a holiday weekend

Check out the fabulous Kelle Hampton's photos from her weekend at the Isle of Capri, near her home in Naples, Florida. She is an amazing mom, photographer, writer and chronicler of all things LaineyLove (her adorable tot). I wish I could take pictures like that!

We're getting new neighbors!

The house across the street is nearly done. It's big news when somebody builds around here. Mostly the lots are 2 - 10 acres a piece and nobody's selling what they've got in hopes of keeping the neighborhood quiet. But this adorable place is nearly built and we were excited to find out it's soon to be inhabited by a family with two kids - an 11-year-old girl and 5-year-old boy. A potential playmate and a future babysitter for Jack Henry? Could be.

PS I've peeked inside and love their custom kitchen cabinets, open floor plan, vaulted ceilings and hardwood floors. I've got the building bug real bad.

Cutie Patootie

My friend Kelly's little boy Jack. Totally the cutest ever.

How lucky am I?

... to have such a talented photographer for a friend?

John Russell (a famed Associated Press photographer whose work was recently featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated) works right in my suite and offered to snap this. I must say this shot is a little better than the ones I take with my crappy BlackBerry.

The St. Patrick's Day-themed March birthday office party was a success.

The menu included chocolate cake with dark chocolate chunks, as well as white sour cream cake. The icings included plain buttercream icing, Bailey's Irish Cream buttercream icing and dark chocolate mousse buttercream icing. Oh, and Vegan chocolate cupcakes too.

Toppings included green sprinkles and Lucky Charms Cereal.

The dark brown baking cups were from Cupcake Swirl. The sprinkles and leprechaun toppers are from Sweetwise.

All in all, a great celebration. Thanks, John for this excellent photo!

PS Another talented photographer, Jenny Mandeville, also works here. She's an NYU grad and has done product photography for Real Simple magazine. See the photo she took of my cupcakes here.

Southern Fried happiness

Here's a couple of shots of the meal we had for Antwan's send-off. (I had to take these photos surreptitiously as the server announced that talking on cell phones, checking voicemail, texting, or even thinking about one's portable electronic devices is simply not done at Monell's. It's called manners, y'all.)

Anyway, our friend Antwan is just about the smartest guy I know and the best tech guy a technically challenged gal like myself could ask for. While he's just changing departments, we won't see him as much, so we had to mark the occasion in the best way we knew how: Lunch at Monell's in historic Germantown.

It was a traditional Southern meal that included fried chicken, fried catfish, cole slaw, corn pudding, biscuits and preserves, cornbread, broccoli salad, green beans, white beans, mashed potatoes, collard greens, sweet tea, and banana pudding.

Monell's is in a renovated four-square and you sit in a parlor at a long dining table and pass the bowls of food to whomever you're seated with and eat family style. It was a thoroughly satisfying meal.

Then I forced the guys to take me to Cupcake Collection down the street. (Well I couldn't just drive by without buying a few, now could I??)

Now I need a nap. Zzzzzzzzzzz.


PS Oh - Antwan, can I still ichat you when my computer doesn't work? Just wonderin'.

Three musketeers

Jack Henry, Ryan and Winston wore their matching V-day shirts today - Thanks, Kelly - But we never did get a photo of the three of them together. By the time us three mommies arrived to this afternoon's Valentine's party, they were on their second or third cupcake, so you can imagine the state of mind they were all in. By the end of it, at least two of them were in tears and one had sand up his nose ... we'll leave it at that. As Winston's mommy says, it's not a party until somebody's crying. Here's our precious angels. May they be best friends forever.

Happy V-day, Ya'll!

PS the red beards are not courtesy of my red velvet cupcakes. Another mom also brought cupcakes and they had about a six inch pile of red icing on top. For some reason the kids wanted these instead of mine. Boo.

Hey, Dudes!

In the past week I've noticed Blog of Joan has a growing number of visitors from California! Welcome, friends, from San Francisco, Claremont, Pomona, Mentone, West Hollywood, Huntington Park and San Diego!

This is what I get for being on Facebook

My past has come back to haunt me. This and many other of my college cheerleading photos have begun to surface. I look like I'm 12, but actually had just turned 19. I'm on the bottom right if you can't tell. Sadly, we all seem to have the same hair-do. But hey, it was the '80s. What can you do?

Blue Cupcakes are Grand

Our friend Winston's 3rd Birthday party was a success. Everyone seemed to love the blue (lemon) cupcakes, and the red velvet and German chocolate weren't bad either. Happy Birthday Winston! We love you!

Happy Birthday, Winston!

Jack Henry has two best friends: Winston and Ryan. Winston is the youngest of the three, and he is turning three today! Jack Henry's first and only sleep-over took place earlier this year when Hubz had nasal surgery and it was clear I wasn't going to be able to care for both Hubz and child at once. After getting a frantic call from me from the hospital recovery room, Win's mommy Sheryl gladly agreed to keep Jack Henry over night. Though 2 and half is pretty young for a slumber party, my boy had a blast with his buddy Winston, and was never aware of the post-op drama. Happy Birthday Win, and we look forward to having cupcakes with you tomorrow!

Happy B-day Miss Kelly!

Jack Henry's beloved former teacher Miss Kelly (second from right) is a dear friend. Here's the gang celebrating her birthday just hours ago at P.F. Chang's. In case you wondered, that's the Great Wall of Chocolate we're working on. Rock on Miss Kelly!

Bunnies at work

Faithful BOJ reader John did something pretty cool for his daughter Ava. He took her bunnies to work and showed them a good time. Visit here to see what the bunnies did.

Oh Baby!

Look who came to visit yesterday! Faithful reader Antwan stopped by with his cutie-patootie two-year-old Braden. He went around pushing buttons on my computer and printer. Just like his papa.

Welcome to the world, baby Reed!

Congratulations to loyal reader Jessica who brought into this world baby Reed at 2:28 this morning. 7 pounds, 13 ounces, 30 hours of labor. Jessica, you're my hero!