happy birthday, moron

My little brother, Kyle, is 20 years old today. WHAT. It's weird being just that much older than your sibling that you're able to vividly remember their entire life. It seems like just yesterday that he was sitting in a high chair with food all over his face, so it's just super weird that he's 20 already. Still with food all over his face.

We've ended up being ridiculously opposite in almost every way imaginable but somehow we're still really close. He's like my honorary big brother, he's always looking out for me and trying to protect me whenever he can. Despite the arguments that ensue over what music to play in the car, we're great road trip buddies and just in the last year we've been to almost every state on the east coast (and Canada!) I say it all the time, but I am SO lucky to be so close to my family, and Kyle is no exception. Even though he can annoy the heck out of me and has obsessions with things I can't wrap my head around (I'll NEVER understand his fascination with freight trains. ever.) I am super lucky to have him for a brother and even luckier to have him for a friend.

happy birthday daddie

Today is my dad's 60th birthday! I don't want to get too mushy*, but my dad really means the world to me and not a day goes by that I don't think to myself how lucky I am to have hit the parent jackpot. We talk constantly and conversations with my dad are never boring. I usually drop by his office to complain about how much I have to do and how I'm never going to get it all done, and then end up hanging around for two hours talking about hypothetical solutions to world issues or the possible consequences of traveling back in time.

This is a man who sat me down in front of the tv when I was barely three years old to watch Nelson Mandela's release from prison, and explained to me the significance of the event. In the car on the way home from elementary school he would use stop lights as an opportunity to demonstrate, with pieces of fruit, the way the solar system worked. Growing up he constantly encouraged me to be intellectually curious, aware of current events, and conscious of history, and to this day I think our conversations are what keep me on my toes. He challenges my opinions even when he agrees with them, not just to play devils advocate but to spark more debate about the topic at hand.

He is thoughtful, kind, generous, big-hearted, incredibly smart, and he has fantastic taste in music, movies and books. He's dealt with some hardship and failures over the years but he remains remarkably optimistic and idealistic. He is a hard worker and, despite major bumps along the road, has managed to own his own business for over 30 years. He never fails to cheer me up when I'm blue, and -- possibly aware of my fragile ego or maybe just blinded by fatherly pride -- I can't remember one instance in which he ever did anything less than gush over anything I painted or drew. And when my world shattered in February when Hypatia passed away, he sat with me night after night helping me to work through my grief. He's the most patient, level-headed and decent person I know, and no matter what happens in my life, one constant will always be having an incredibly amazing father.

Obviously -- if you couldn't tell-- I think my dad is pretty awesome. I am SO thankful that we are such good friends and that he's given me so many amazing memories over the years. Here's to many more :)



*well, that worked well. oops ;p

I miss the 90's.

I miss the 90's. Like, a lot.

I always do, but every once in a while that ache for days gone by seems to overwhelm me to the point where I feel genuinely upset that I can't go back. I'm going through one of those phases right now. Part of it is about being a kid... having a relatively carefree existence and having none of the problems that come with adolescence or adulthood. I look at the face in this photo and think "Oh gosh, young Kate. Enjoy your life now because in 2-3 years you'll have acne and periods and bras and unrequited crushes and terrible, terrible hair."

But it's also THE NINETIES. The decade itself. I am so incredibly happy to have been born just in time to have had a childhood completely devoid of anything related to the internet. Don't get me wrong, I do like the world wide web. I met most of my closest friends online, google searches have saved the day more times than I can count, and I make my living on etsy.

But I miss doing things without feeling that urgent need to share online. I miss waking up and NOT immediately checking my emails. Going a whole day without looking at my iphone or uploading something to instagram, or updating my facebook page. I long for a time in which none of my time was devoted to online sharing.

I miss the simplicity of early 90's technology... MS Paint and The Oregon Trail! And WordArt! I miss VHS tapes! I miss the video stores like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video. Going there always felt like such a treat, and the whole place would smell like popcorn. I miss the ads for movies coming soon to home video in 1993.

I miss scrunchies, peace signs, smiley faces, yin-yangs and daisies. POGS!! Remember Pogs?! I miss the mail order ads in magazines like Teen Beat. I always wanted glow in the dark lipstick but never got up the courage to ask my parents to let me buy it.

I miss jean jackets and tye dye. I miss Drew Barrymore with light hair and dark lipstick. I wanted to look like that so badly. I miss the commercials on tv that STILL are more cool and cutting edge than things that try to seem cool and cutting edge today. I miss the macarena.

I even miss school. Not middle school or high school (Dear God NO) but elementary school, where everything I learned still comes in handy to this day, where learning was fun and my teachers were all super friendly (if Mrs. Copeland is somehow reading this, you were my favorite!!) I miss the book fairs (obviously), recess, school trips and lunch. Airheads, pop tarts, dunkaroos, fruit roll ups, gushers and capri sun!

Thank goodness for modern technology, though. Oh, how terrible life would be if I couldn't watch old back to school commercials on youtube or Aaahh! Real Monsters on netflix instant. The internet allows nostalgia to thrive, so for that above all else, I love the world wide web.

flashback friday

A couple months ago my mom found two giant boxes of photos from when me & my brother were little, and I've been trying to think of something to do with them (besides, obviously, scanning them and saving them) ... I was originally going to do some kind of series where I recreated the photos now, but I'm having a hard time figuring out the logistics of that one. In the meantime I thought I'd just start posting some of them here every so often :)

If anyone has a clever name for this series I'd be so indebted to you... I don't want to go overboard on alliteration, and naming things after days of the week. And it also sounds kind of silly to do a "friday" something post anyway when I also do Posh Frock Friday in the morning lol ;-D

35 years

Today is my parents' 35th wedding anniversary! I might be a bit biased, but they're seriously the best people I've ever known. They have the biggest hearts on the planet, and they're just so sweet... they are a perfect match, and I feel so lucky that they found each other. Me and my brother always feel like their anniversary is really something WE should be celebrating, since their marriage has given us the best parents any children could ever hope for.

outfit photo, circa 1991

My mom found a bunch of old photos today, and I couldn't help but post this one! The dress I'm wearing was my favorite when I was little... my mom saved it for special occasions like pre-school graduation, Easter and birthdays. She called it my "posh frock" which is where I got the name for posh frock fridays :) My parents took so many photos of me modeling my clothes, I'm tempted to do a bunch of old outfit posts. Some of my dresses were so cute I wish they still fit me! ;-D

Style Idol - My Grandmom

My grandparents got married and had my dad a lot later than most people at the time; I think they were around 40 when he was born. So I never got to meet my grandfather, and I only knew my grandmother for three years before she passed away. My grandfather was reportedly the king of corny jokes (a trait my dad has inherited) and my grandmother was a sweetheart who didn't know how to cook, and loved to play the piano. My mom said they were deeply in love for their whole lives-- when my grandfather died, my grandmother did not stop mourning him. It was over a year before my parents could even get her out of the house to a restaurant.

My grandmother also loved fashion. My mom doesn't like clothes at all, so she's always saying I inherited my sartorial interests from my Grandmom Eve :) We also look really alike.. in some pictures I feel like I'm looking at a photo of myself taken in 1939! I love that through these photos, and the stories I hear from my parents, I feel like I've gotten to know her so well. She just seems so spunky!