Jillian and Ed!

I admit it freely ... I am a trash TV lover. Miami Social on Bravo is my new favorite, but this season's Bachelorette was right up there at the top of my list. Last Monday the Bachelorette-loving-ladies gathered at JoEl's for a fabulous dinner and the juicy finale. LOVE IT.

Enjoy the pictures from the night - yes, that is a bird hopping by a rose - ridiculous. We had to rewind so I could document it. Good catch by Katie!






Good luck, Jill and Ed - I, for one, am pulling for you...

Birthday Boy

On Saturday, young David Rietz reached thirty two years of age. We had two days of celebrating - first with good friends at Mac's and the Martin Disneyland and second, with Mutti at M5. Yum. Many thanks to Laurie for the panic about the Swine Flu and inspiring Swine poses, to Laurie and David for hosting the after dinner fun, and to Mutti for a delicious dinner out! Happy birthday, love...

Seven

On June 29th David and I celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary. To celebrate, we bought each other a new coffee maker - after seven years, our original gave out, sadly. Our new machine is the Coffee TEAM grind and brew - LOVE.



The following poem was read at my sister and John's wedding - it seemed appropriate to post it in this entry below.

Love you and am thankful for you, David Rietz ...

"The Invitation" by Oriah Mountain Dreamer
It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

Pickin'

Thanks to Katie, Grant, Megan, and Steve for hosting a pig pickin' for folks a few week back ... the swine was oh so tasty and the times were super fun. Kudos to Michael Brown for his mad baggo skills ...

Ah...

Few things in life make me happier than an organized space with no clutter and labels from a label maker.

I cleaned out and reordered our bathroom linen closet today and it's super pleasing so I have to post a picture. I used a Real Simple tip to use a kitchen expandable shelf organizer in the bathroom - love - and I packaged our sheet sets in twine a-la Pat Smith. Smile...

The Reluctant Baker

Last Saturday we attended a pig pickin' at the coleman's which was mucho fun-o and only slightly traumatizing. (When one little girl asked Steve if the pig, which was splayed spread eagle, would be ok, I admit, I cringed.) Anyhoo, in lieu of my normal Cabbage Crunch take, and in honor of the many children attending, I decided to try this low-cal Rainbow cake I saw on Carolyn's blog - thanks, Carolyn! http://carolyndaniel.blogspot.com/2009/06/rainbow-cake.html

Anyhoo...I tried it and it was going well until it came out of the pans - yikes. It stuck and stuck and I have to think they no-calorie part of it contributed - I should have used parchment. Also, the low-cal icing was not too spreadable so it turned out a little scary looking.

The kids liked it but most of the adult comments were: "It's not too bad." Yikes again. Here are the pictures of my attempt. Next time I will do it full calorie for shiz but again, I say, a baker I am not...

Sneak Peak

Ellen got a link to a sneak peak of photos from her wedding photog - they are gorgeous! check them out at: http://tanyamillsphotography.blogspot.com/2009/07/ellen-john-wedding.html

Wedding Pictures!

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Ellen and John are Married!

what an amazing six days we had in Dana Point, CA celebrating my baby sister's wedding. I could not be more happy for you, ellen and john, and feel so thankful I was able to share the adventure with you. ellen said the weekend was everything she and john could have dreamed of - at one point during the reception, she stopped me and said, "I wanted it to be a big garden party and it is. It's perfect." yea!

some of our favorite parts were the photo booth - i'll try to post those pics later - the blue bell ice cream, the dancing, beings with friends and family, and of course, the views of the Pacific...

Steamboat commentary...

Well...I couldn't get this to embed with the slide show so sorry for the separate post ... We had an absolutely fantastic week in Steamboat Springs, CO with the entire Rietz clan. I couldn't get the captions to work in the slide show so Ill include the highlights here: playing tons of ladder golf on the drive way in the cool evenings, conceding to Jon as the master gamer, going to the rodeo, scamping down the Yampa with Bill, Liz, and Dave, family dinners, Muttis "electric" birthday cake, and playing with our precious nieces. I can't wait until we can all be together again...

Steamboat 2009

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Summer Reading

So far, my short summer has been filled with reading. Love. I wanted to list the books I've read so far before I forget them...the ones with the * are the titles I particularly recommend. Happy reading!

Year of Wonders* by Geraldine Brooks - I finished this one right at school year's end - it is a glorious historical fiction about the plague in the 16th century.

Bright Lights, Big Ass by Jen Lancaster - her second memoir about living in Chicago. I enjoyed the story of Bitter... more, though the anecdotes in this one were hilar.

Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind by Ann B. Ross - set in Hendersonville, NC this is the story of the elderly-ish Miss Julia who is widowed and then discovers her husband fathered a son when he is dropped on her doorstep. A sweet story and an enjoyable character.

Misery loves Cabernet* by Kim Gruenenfelder- a cute beach read about a Silverlake/LA resident balancing working for celebrity boss and relationships with two men. This was mindless fun - I finished it in one day.

The Art of Mending* by Elizabeth Berg - a realistic fiction/drama about family secrets and sibling relationships. Critics like the Art of Mending least but I really enjoyed this one although it was a more somber read. Berg is the author of many books including Welcome Home which was an Oprah book club a while back.

Currently in progress: the absolutely delicious The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society* by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Despite the laborious title, I am loving it! Thanks to Kimmie and my plane friends for the recommendation. It is a collection of letters telling the story of people in London, Scotland, and Guernsey during the aftermath of WWII. I love the mix of history, relationships, and book talk.

Finally, a shout-out to my "I'm not really a reader sister-in-law" who just finished Twilight in three days. :)

I love it when a book captivates like that. Besides living life well with people you love, there is little better in life.

7 days!

7 days until Ellen's wedding!