Memorable Memorial Day...

I think it happened the day I found out I was pregnant: all of a sudden, I became really into holidays (remember my Easter jello-mold?). Maybe it is because children bring out the desire in parents to create recurring memories and traditions, but whatever the reason, I really dig an excuse nowadays to think about how to celebrate.


The day was lovely, and crazy. While Marcos took off in the morning to play Ultimate Frisbee with some church friends, I met my lovely friend Katherine for breakfast. She graduated with me last year from the UNC Master of Social Work program, and she is now running a community center for low-income immigrant families in D.C. I wish we had more time to catch up!


Have I mentioned how much Giovanna eats? She went through a brief but beautiful stint of normalcy a week or two ago, and is now back to eating all. the. time. Hello chins! Hello little leg rolls! Good-bye breasts! It was a great friendship while it lasted...


And then the bar-b-ques began... Our friends Tracy and Austin hosted a really great gathering of friends, and their home was absolutely perfect for the crowd: plenty of air-conditioned space inside with countertops full of potluck beauties and great company, and a wide open grassy space outside for croquet, bocce ball, and all sorts of rompings...


This was my creation of the day: Strawberry Tall Cake. I won't go into detail about the fiasco it turned out to be, but I learned something about myself in the process: I have very little natural skill. But what I do have is a good eye, so when I run things amok - whether it be desserts or artwork, or handiwork - I just keep working at it until my good eye says "stop". Then I stop. And then I get things like Strawberry Tall Cake, which I humbly add, turned out to be a success.


Can you catch my Memorial Day drift? A red and white cake on a platter with blue stripes, and Squeeker wearing a red, white and blue dress (thanks Linds!)? Who am I? What am I turning into?!


And to top off a great day, we headed for our friends the Hill's home in Raleigh for their family bar-b-que, complete with root-beer floats. Being there must feel like family for us because we completely neglected any photo taking, but they made us happy to be spending our holiday evening in their company.

We have the best of friends...