{ tara frey }:: typing out loud

my view of Whoopi...

 

In 1985, I was in New York City on one of those class trips {the kind with the caravan of buses}. My friends and I somehow got lost from the pack..and unfortunately, lost from our poor chaperone. {who probably went into cardiac arrest}. Unattended youngsters on the streets of New York city!  Instead of being scared {as we should have been} we soaked it all up.  The sights, the sounds, the excitement and total exhilaration of being on our own in the big city. 

After wandering down many streets we came upon a commotion of some sort, it was dark by this time, but there were these giant lights...and...people. lots of people... and...what is that?...MOVIE cameras?...and is that some director chairs?..we started screaming..."Oh my god, who is it? is it someone famous?" a passerby said "it's Whoopi Goldberg". huh? who?  whoopi what?  who the heck is that? we had no idea.  But didn't care.  A movie set!  Oh this is soooo New York and I felt ultra cool.  I took out my camera and started snapping.  Then all of the sudden someone yelled screamed into a bullhorn "CUT! CUT! CUT!" then the scary bullhorn screamer shouted, "who the hell is taking flashing pictures?!" all eyes turned to me and I wanted to die.  just die...and be dead...from dying.

Oh no.  the woman they call "Whoopi" is walking over to me...is she going to beat me up?  throw my camera? Should I run?  There wasn't enough time.  There she was.  This person with the weird name. right in front of me.

She said, as she lit a cigarette, in a voice I'll never forget, "Baby doll you go ahead and take a picture, take it now, and don't be afraid of all these a$&%*#%, especially that one" as she pointed to the bullhorn screamer. My hands were shaking and I snapped the photo above.  She then asked if we were having fun in New York and to make sure we go see her movie that she was filming, Jumpin' Jack Flash. 

man.  that Whoopi chick was awesome, whoever she was.

from the land of mini's...

 

     A friend of mine sent me this link to the cutest little letter writing and oh so adorable "World's Smallest Postal Service".  Wouldn't you love to receive a tiny letter like this? or send one?  Imagine the squeals of delight from the kids if a mini envelope arrived for them.  I just love mini things, there's something so sweet and "awwww" about them.

 

a bullet list to my husband...

hey hon, just some notes that may explain why I bought you this t-shirt today:

 

• you vacuum without asking
• you COOK. and do it well.  If you weren't designing patios and landscaping, you would be off in some fancy restaurant cooking for celebrities.  But I'm glad you're the top chef here at Casa Frey
• you put up with my crap, which seems to be endless these days
• you think I look nice even when I have worn the same jammies for 72 hours straight
• you have no problem going to the drugstore and buying my "feminine products"
• you fix things
• you make things
• you let me sleep-in on the weekends and have coffee waiting for me
• you never get sick
• you let me put eyebrow gel on you once because I wouldn't shut up about it
• you're building our son the most "awesomest" tree fort ever
• the kids think you are a rock star, and so do I
• you take our daughter to the store to pick up beer and pizza while she is wearing a wig, high heels and a pink boa.  You don't care who stares.
• you're a leaf Nazi and keep the grass clear of leaves (although I like the lawn covered in leaves, you've explained -many times- how leaves are baaad for the golf course type of lawn you got going on here)
• you let me take control of the remote and put on yet another re-run of some Bravotv show that I've seen a million times
• you never complain
• you always help me see the other side of a situation (which really came in handy this election)
• you're so damn handsome without knowing it, which makes you even cuter
• you cut flowers for me from the garden
• you can appreciate pink Limoges and tear apart a car engine all in the same day
• you love my parents as much as I do
• you're good to our babies and always up for silly games with crazy rules 
• you're king of the "tickle torture" bedtime ritual with the kids and I love hearing the giggles
• you like flea markets
• your hands have huge blisters and calluses and reminds me how hard you work (or maybe you should try wearing gloves?  I'm just sayin)
• you can install cable, illegally, in rooms that don't have the little cable plug thingie
• you've put up with chandeliers in every room of the house, including the one in our closet that you always hit your head on
• you always believe me (or pretend to) when I wear something new and I tell you it's old and was just sitting in the closet
• your patience with the kids is to infinity and beyond
• you light up a room and have a magnetic personality 
• i'm proud of the life we built together and are still continuing to build
• i love how our son is the spitting image of you and often think of how cute you must have been at his age
• you always changed poopie diapers and were a hands on daddy when our babies were babies
• i love that you want another baby {even though you know that I don't}  
• i love the sound of the garage door opening at the end of the day and hearing the kids scream "Dadddddyyyy!"
• you love me (and said so in front of 305 people on October 7th, 1995)

so, do you get it? you're kind of a "big deal" around here, and you better wear the t-shirt

my basket runneth over...

    So I'm going a little yarn crazy and starting multiple knitting projects.  All of them have one common theme though--scarves.  Seriously, it's neck warmin' wooby city over here.  I need to sit and learn to read a pattern and make some hats or gloves, anything besides a scarf.  I'm in need of a bigger basket, for sure too.  Love this yarn I picked up (and of course started making a scarf) It's kind of Anthropologieish. What are you knitting or crafting today?

 

Stitched in Time...

    I got my copy , did you get yours?  Alicia Paulson's book is here! and it seriously even SMELLS good.  Like pine needles on a Christmas tree (you all know my obsession with book smells, remember?)

Must. Get. This. Book.   Stitched in Time Memory-Keeping Projects to Sew and Share ~ Enjoy!

Because every mom is doing it...

    sneaking into the kids left over Halloween candy....  I guess I could go out and buy my own, but the candy seems to taste better stolen.  Maybe it's the thrill of the tip toe into the kitchen, then into the cabinet where they think they hid it from me (under stacks of empty Target bags) and me trying not to make any sounds (those darn wrappers can be soooo noisy!) then there's the "what ya doin mom"? that comes from the family room couch . "oh nothin, just seeing what to make for dinner" says the thief.  Why does every kid know their exact Reese's peanut butter count but they can't remember that they have a math test the next day? 

Short hair syndrome...

  

It was the seventies, and I was so excited to go get my haircut and look just like Dorothy Hamill, the ice skater.  Instead I ended up looking like, umm.. perhaps her boyfriend? (with major bedhead).  I'll never forget my dad coming home from work and spazzing out on my mom. I can still hear her saying "but Jim, she wanted to look like Dorothy Hamill"  and him whispering under his breath "well she looks like a damn boy!", thinking I couldn't hear them in our kitchen (which was 70's orange).  I didn't know what to think about my new hair, except it wasn't like Dorothy's, but I loved the big pink ring the hairdresser gave me.  Isn't it cool?  I look pretty happy in the photo.  My Dad snapped this picture on the same day of my "Dorothy do", and tells me now that he is so glad he did, because this is his favorite picture of me when I was little and he keeps it on his desk.  It makes him giggle thinking of that day when his little girl turned into a boy for a little while.

I believe this is what started my "short hair phobia".  Don't you just dig that yellow outfit?

Cozy place...

     One of my favorite places in the house is this window sill in our dining room.  A sweet little spot to curl up on and take a rest. Especially on a rainy November day like today. Right now I am using the dining table to write this book.   It's kind of strange, knowing I have an office with an actual desk like most normal people, and even a studio with a big table.  But for some reason, I feel good sitting here under a large vintage and sparkly chandelier, close to the kitchen and all the hub-bub, a nice space with high ceilings, surrounded by my plates and trinkets.  Yes, this book will be written on a Swedish dining table and not on a desk.  The window sill is a good place to take a break, the room is a good place to write.  And an even better place when my little one joins me with her own pink quilt.  I usually leave it on the sill all day as a reminder that she and her brother will be home soon from school and the wild noise that I love will fill the house and disrupt for a while.  She'll crawl under the quilt which she left early in the morning and tell me about her day and ask me about mine.  We talk, giggle, have those thought provoking conversations and watch the leaves fall.  A good cozy place indeed.

Red White Blue and the Zoo...

   

    It wouldn’t feel right to not post about yesterday’s events. This election has been such a part of our lives for what seems like, geez, I don’t know, an eternity? Red states, blue states..whichever candidate you voted for...I know we are all proud to live in the United States. My daughter had some interesting questions, I thought I would share...here’s how the conversation went:

her:   "mommy are we red or blue?"

me:    we are red white and blue, just like the flag.

her:    "well are we elephants or donkeys?"

me:    we are Americans.

her:    "so americans are a type of animal?"

me:    no, it’s all the people who live in the United States. People, not animals.

her:    "ok..... {insert long pause here} ....Mommy, can we go to the zoo soon?"

me:    sure sweetie

her:    "Yay!"

and she skipped out of the room to eat some left over Halloween candy and draw the doodle above.

Peace, hope and love to all of you and God bless the USA. ~xo

Blurry...

 

Well ladies, Mama Bev feels like a rock star!  She {and I} were amazed at all of your beautiful comments.  She was SHOCKED to wake up and see the post, we got her good! So thank you.  And while she was here today, I helped her put together the wordle above to show her emotions.

Things have been extra blurry around here for the past week as Chapter 1 of the book had to be turned in yesterday.  I hadn't showered or dressed in days and was shuffling around in my big pink fuzzy slippers like a zombie for the better part of the week. 

   

I came downstairs into my office, again blurry eyed, with a giant cup of coffee and found this above, a "go mom go" note with some pretty flowery wild pickins left by our son.  It's all that I needed to get me going and made my heart melt.  He has such a sweet and gentle spirit.  One day he will make a wonderful husband to a lucky girl. {they are already calling the house for him now! I would never have called a boy when I was 11, would you?} I would love to know if you have/had the same problem in your house. Girls today are more forward then I was, that's for sure. And like most love stories, the girl he actually "likes" doesn't call him and he wouldn't dare call her...so typical! 

Tonight, the kids have sleepout and party plans so my husband is taking me to the movies to maybe see this, then off to The Cheesecake Factory  because I am jonesing for their fried macaroni & cheese and a big glass of wine.  Now that's a good kind of blurry~ xo