zelda's first

There is a post rattling around in this tapped head somewhere about the past year, about having two children, about one of them being a daughter who is different than my son, about the passage of time or exponential growth of love or how you forget that babies are just so fucking cool and then you have another one and you're like how did I ever forget this? But instead, for now, here's our yearlong documentation of one Zelda Marigold LeJeunesse, cat lover, daredevil, yogurt fiend. When she was first born, I kept saying, "someday we'll have a three year old and a one year old," like that's when we'd be legit. Legitimacy is pretty rad.

Happy birthday, Goldie. 

the spinning kind

So much going on.

Most of it good. Really good.

I love this season. The weather. The holidays. The happenings. 

There are lots of ways to dance and
to spin, sometimes it just starts my
feet first then my entire body, I am
spinning no one can see it but it is
happening. I am so glad to be alive,
I am so glad to be loving and loved.
Even if I were close to the finish, 
even if I were at my final breath, I
would be here to take a stand, bereft
of such astonishments, but for them.

If I were a Sufi for sure I would be
one of the spinning kind. 

- Mary Oliver, from her new collection(!), A Thousand Mornings

Never die, Mary Oliver. I simply won't allow it.

on offbeat mama!

One of my very most favorite pictures of George (in case you couldn't tell by the banner) is in Offbeat Mama's roundup of reading-related photos to celebrate banned books week. Both the holiday and the subject matter are near and dear to my heart, so I'm stoked to see my formerly-much-littler dude included.