This weekend was filled to the brim with activity, most of it with the scoobs up in Boston. So much activity, in fact, that I am dragging and tired on this sunny Monday morning, and feeling slightly congested like I might get a cold at any moment. But it was worth it, because I had so much fun! It almost makes up for having to attend nine solid hours of classes while everyone else enjoys their Columbus Day.

First, I received two very important packages in the mail on Friday: both my Spoonflower order and my Ponoko order! Great excitement. I haven't photographed the fabric, but I went a little nutso over my fancy yellow stars:

On Friday I headed up to Boston and, among other things, had lunch with the ladies of the scooby clan:

Then on Saturday Matt, Lizzi, and Julie came into town to see Waterfire and get a taste of the RISD atmosphere. I was running around a little crazed for a portion of it, but eventually got all my to-do items checked off, and we enjoyed a delicious dinner at the Red Fez before walking over to Waterfire. I even managed to get us all onto the roof of the Design Center so that we could see the whole thing! Very cool, and we only had to climb out of one window to do it!

And then on Sunday I drove back up to Boston to attend Charlotte's first birthday party. She started taking her first steps just this week, so of course there had to be repeat performances for all the grandparents. And a huge pink piggie cake to be smushed and consumed. Lottie didn't really know what to make of all of it, but she was pretty cute anyways! I drove home and went immediately to bed, I was so exhausted. Birthday parties take a lot out of you!

My grandmother passed away this week, following complications from surgery a week before. I'm at home with my family, and its been good to have everyone around. Inurnment and memorial services are this afternoon, and so this morning everyone is taking it easy. Below is a retyped version of the obituary that ran in Thursday's paper:

"Dottie" was born January 3, 1927, in Omaha, Nebraska, to Edgar and Mildred (Bliss) Ernst, and passed away on Sunday, August 24, 2008 in Dallas, Texas. She grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas, where she graduated from W. B. Ray High School. She attended Colorado College before transferring to the University of Texas at Austin and earning a degree in Psychology. Following several years in Chicago, Illinois, she returned with family to Corpus Christi, and was active in the PEO Sisterhood there. She lived for a time in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she performed with the Bob Laughlin Singers, then later settled in Rancho Bernardo, California. She had a deep love of music, and became engaged in all forms of creative writing, from country music songs to humorous poetry, and taught classes in writing at the local community college. After retirement she moved to Dallas, making many more friends at Town Village Retirement Community, enjoying numerous activities and family events. Survivors include her daughter and son-in-law Jennifer and Roger Harris, grandchildren Katy and Jeffrey Harris, sister and brother-in-law Virginia and Mark Bigelow, and cousins Richard Nelson, Stuart and Bruce Brown and their families. She leaves behind many close friends and extended family who will miss her quick mind, cheerful nature and sense of humor. The family would like to extend their deepest gratitude to the doctors and staff at Medical City Dallas for their continuing kindness and care. A memorial service will be held at 3:30pm on Saturday, August 30, 2008 in the Chapel at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church of Dallas, 9800 Preston Road at Walnut Hill Lane. If desired, donations may be made to the American Cancer Society or to the charity of your choice.

(originally printed in the Dallas Morning News)

I've been out of school for two months so far, and yet it feels like more than one summer's worth of excitement has taken place!

• There was a month of recuperation in Providence: getting back on a decent sleep schedule and hanging out with the surprising number of people who stayed in town for the summer.


• Then there was the much-anticipated week in Cape Cod with the Scoobies (and now the second generation, the Scrappies), who never fail to come together and feel like a zany and entertaining family despite living so far apart from one another.


• Then I flew home and spent a few days in Dallas, where we were treated to a surprise wedding!


• Today we drive south to spend two days in San Antonio before heading up to Austin for three days. Plans are very free form at this point, but I hope that we'll get to visit the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center as well as wander around Austin's myriad cool neighborhoods. If you have any suggestions for food or frolicking, send them my way!

A friend of mine was getting rid of this little beauty before she moved to a new apartment, and I offered to give it a new home.

I am currently packing up my car to drive out to Cape Cod tomorrow morning to spend the Fourth of July with the Scoobies, and I couldn't be more excited! I have books and I have cameras to entertain myself while hanging out on the beach, and I am compiling a mix cd to play while driving tomorrow. I hope to have lots of good pictures to post when I get back on Sunday...

Continuing in my family's birthday season, next up is my awesome brother Jeff, who is hopefully off enjoying an Old 97s concert instead of actually seeing this blog entry.

This photo is of us this past summer, when my family came to visit Providence and explore the surrounding area. Jeff has also spent the last few years in grad school, and although his field is architecture as opposed to graphic design, it was his vision and determination to pursue a creative career that inspired me to send in my own applications not so long ago. And while I am only slightly miffed that he beat me by a year in becoming the first person in my family to get a masters degree, I am mostly just proud of him for the blood, sweat and tears he put into making his goal a reality, and for the amazing work I have seen so far. Happy Birthday, Jeff! :)

So its my dad's birthday. Notice I don't say "today," or "yesterday," or "tomorrow" even, because he's in Singapore and the whole time thing gets a little tricky. By the time it was his birthday here, it was already over there, and this has been a source of great confusion for all of us. So I'll just say Happy Birthday, Dad. I love you!

I am including one of my favorite recently-located childhood pictures, taken at a State Fair photo booth (1979? 1980?). My parents were doing everything in their power to get me to smile, but apparently I was having none of it then. 29 years later, though, it is definitely working. :)

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent
To blow up King and Parliament.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England's overthrow;
By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!

Welcome to the world, Charlotte!

My cousin Alison firmly cemented her status as Favorite Harris Grandchild two years ago by giving the family its first baby to play with in a long time, and early this morning she lapped the rest of us yet again! Happy zero-eth birthday to Easton Rex Willard, who arrived a couple weeks early, but is otherwise doing great.

The name Rex comes from my grandfather on my dad's side. The observation has been made, however, that once Easton gets a little older it might be more fitting to spell it Wrecks, since there's hasn't been a boy toddler at the Homestead in, oh, 25 years. :)

Update: Easton with his great-grandmother. Yay for cameraphones!

Its not often you get to play tourist in your own (temporary) hometown, but thats exactly what I got to do last week while my family was here visiting. We took tours, went on drives, tried out restuarants, and ogled at countless home, buildings, and churches along the way. And I craned my neck and snapped my camera enough to make even the most shameless of tourists proud. Here are a few of my favorites:

We explored a sculpture installation on the Brown quad:

And walked around the canal area before Waterfire:

We saw lots of fire, intentional or otherwise:

There was a pilgrimage to see the Corbu:

And a burning desire to eat seafood by an actual body of salt water:

We took a road trip along some amazing, time-forgotten highways:

And stayed in a Revolutionary War-era inn:

There was a lovely state park:

With spectacularly picturesque ruins:

We ate at an equally photogenic diner:

My parents capped it all off with a stay at the Renaissance Hotel Providence. Their view was also not too shabby:

View the whole collection on flickr.

Or, rather, my family's flight has touched down at the Providence airport. We will spend the next week bopping around New England and eating copious amounts of food. AND I don't have to go back to work for a solid week. Life is pretty darned good.

the scoobs, originally uploaded by Twilight Invasion.

Matt has posted his awesome gallery of photos from our weekend in Cape Cod. They are over at flickr!

I'm back at school after my much-needed holiday break, and am trying to go through all of my photos to put them up here. The one above is one of many trees that go up in the Homestead around the holidays. The beauty of this one is that it can stay up past Epiphany because its so patriotic. I'm such a sucker for low light photos.

The infamous Allsorts dollhouse was set up in the studio for everyone to come and look at!

Early on Christmas morning, savoring the yearly treat of Sara Lee Butter Streusel Coffee Cake in front of the fire.

Early Friday morning we flew to Dallas to prepare for the much-anticipated wedding celebrations for Laura and Scott. Adam got to hang out and read a lot, while I joined the rest of the bridal party for all manner jobs like sorting programs and filling sachets with lavender. We did take some time for manicures and lunch at PF Chiangs before the big day:

Saturday night we had our rehearsal at PHPC before a wonderful dinner at the Iron Cactus downtown. Adam took this one for me while I was up being told where to go:

Scott's parents fed us a marvelous dinner of fajitas and enchiladas, with an endless supply of frozen margaritas to quench any thirst we might have after all that rehearsing. There were lots of speeches and a lot of laughter as stories were told and retold. I surprised even myself by giving a short toast!

The wedding was Sunday night, but Ellen, Laura, and I met up at the church after noon to get our makeup done and get some early pictures taken. Aside from the ceremony itself, one of my favorite memories is spending those last few hours with all the women congregating in the bride's room as everyone's anticipation grew.

The ceremony was everything I had hoped for Laura - she looked beautiful and happy, and of course Scott looked over the moon the whole night! Elizabeth McLean, who presided over the ceremony, tipped us off on rehearsal night that one of the best people to watch during the wedding march (we couldn't see Laura at all because of where we were standing) is the groom's face because he's usually looking pretty thunderstruck. Another memorable part of the ceremony came when Elizabeth had Laura and Scott (and all of us on stage) turn towards the pews so that the congregation could recite a dedication. It was a powerful moment for me, looking out on everyone gathered there, so obviously filled with love and hope for these two people.

And then we were done! Another reason Presbyterians rock - the entire ceremony clocked in at under 30 minutes. We gathered all of our stuff, and rushed downtown to Union Station for the reception. We had some funny moments in the waiting room, trying to figure out the various ties for the bustle of Laura's dress, but ultimately we get it all sorted out and it was time to party!

I didn't get to see the two of them much after that, but I did get to dance with everyone from PHPC and a few people I knew from my earlier years at Preston Hollow and Franklin. The band was playing some great music. When it came time to leave, we all lined up on the DART platform outside of the station, and then threw lavender at Laura and Scott as they ran towards their very own train car that carried them to their hotel! As far as wedding exits go, it was pretty darn cool.

And right now they're probably still in the air en route to Thailand for their honeymoon! I guess I'll have to wait until they get back for pictures, but I have some great memories for now.

After lengthy delays in DFW, I finally made it home to Virginia in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. But, hey, I'm still at work and almost functioning! Caffeine is my friend.

The rest of my trip to Dallas was a blast. We did, indeed, head out to IKEA and wander around the showrooms a bit. We also got a look at the coolest minor league baseball stadium thats right next door - when its not 104 degrees outside, I'd love to catch a game there.

Sunday was a leisurely day of reading and watching movies. Storms blew in that afternoon, and we spent some time sitting on the front porch doing something quintessentially Texan: speculating on the rain. When it did finally come, you could see movement in houses all down the street as people watched. Across the street, our neighbors came out into their courtyard and started cheering. Its been a long, dry summer in Dallas.

Sunday night I got my Tatum fix while the family gathered at Buca di Beppo for dinner. She is still the cutest baby ever, and I don't care what you say, I swear she understood the drawings I made for her on my menu. Our family is growing by leaps and bounds again - my aunt Nancy and her boyfriend Jim announced they were getting married! Jim's family was there as well (this should have tipped me off, but I was oblivious) and they fit in well with our loud and raucous group. Afterwards Jeff and I met up with Laura, Scott, Ellen, Steve, and Wes at the Old Monk for drinks.

I took the day off on Monday, so I was able to enjoy a delicious breakfast with my mom and brother at Cindi's - a vintage Dallas eatery that hasn't changed much since Mom and Pop used to take me there as a kid. Even after all these years, Jeff and I still giggle at the unfortunate combination of the Casket Store and the Boxes To Go outlet next door.

No trip to Dallas would be complete, however, without a little Boggle. So we met up with my grandmother for lunch at her place, followed by some serious Boggling. Gramma, Jeff, and my mom are some of the few in the world who will actually still play Boggle with me (my Aunt Virginia being one notable exception, but she's notorious for making up words) so I enjoyed myself thoroughly.

It was one of those perfect weekends where you see everyone you want to see, but still feel like you have time to relax and enjoy yourself. And, even better, I get to go back in three weeks!

I flew by stealth to Dallas yesterday morning in order to surprise Laura and Scott. A lunch of the PHPC gang was planned in lieu of a shower, and so Judy and Ellen conspired with me to come join in the fun. Ellen and I, without intending it, ended up sitting one seat away from each other on the same flight, so we were able to ride in to El Fenix (where else?) together. Our group consisted of Dr. Bill, Judy, Steve, Laura, Scott, Ellen, Margaret, and me. It was really fantastic to sit down with all of them again and reminisce.

Afterwards Ellen and I scoured the swanky new Northpark Mall for silver shoes to go with our bridesmaid dress, courtesy of Scott. :) And of course a homecoming wouldn't be complete without a dinner at Angelo's with my family.

Today is a little more loosely scheduled, although the idea of a breakfast excursion to IKEA has been floated. Tonight the larger Harris contingent is descending upon Buca di Beppo to see each other - I'm just glad I could be here for this one!

I didn't bring any form of camera on this trip, which feels a bit odd but also freeing. I'm here to just enjoy.

I've been back a week now, after spending a week in Dallas hanging out with my family. I went up on Memorial Day weekend, and stayed until the following Saturday. It was such a nice vacation! I liked not feeling like I had to cram tons of activities into my typical one weekend trip, and I got to catch up with a ton of my extended family too.

First and foremost, my house had been infected with a crazy case of Maverick fever. I've never watched or talked so much basketball in my life! Every morning the Dallas Morning News would have huge, blown up pictures of Dirk Nowitzki (who is, I have to say, a really scary looking man) with dramatic 60-point headlines like "50!" (when they won) and "Never mind" (when they lost). This pride and excitement for a basketball team is a relatively new sensation for longtime Dallasites, a situation underscored at work when a coworker admitted he'd never even heard of a team called the Mavericks. But, for the sake of my dad and brother, I am rooting for them in the playoffs this week. :)

I went down to Dallas with a project already planned - because what is a vacation without a project? I wanted to archive all of my family's old vhs and hi8 videos onto DVD, and I had bought a dvd recorder online in preparation. Things didn't quite go as smoothly as I would like, but, four trips to Best Buy later, we had a decent vhs capturing setup. I spent the whole week dubbing home movies, church musicals, graduation videos, and tapes from our summers at Skyline. It was fun watching home movies, and my inner librarian had a blast sorting and archiving everything.

Another project for the week was spiffing up the courtyard on the east side of our house. On the morning of Memorial Day we all trekked down to the Dallas Farmers Market, where there is a whole street just filled with plants from local growers. I wish I had such a resource here! We filled the Explorer with all sorts of azalea bushes and hanging baskets and flats of annuals, and then spent most of Monday outside planting.

Monday night we had a lovely dinner with the whole big family at Macaroni Grill, minus Alison and Eric and Tatum. But I got my Tatum fix a day later at lunch with my mom, aunt Carol, Alison and Tatum. We ate at local Mexican food restaurant who's claim to fame is that the owner invented the frozen margarita machine. A generation of college students on spring break thanks him.

My grandparents came into town Wednesday, and although Jeff had started his summer semester, and my dad had to go back to work, Mom and I had fun touring the Arboretum and going over my granddad's home movies. We even endured a little "adventure" while eating breakfast at La Madeleine, where we were pooped on - twice - by pigeons. Apparently its good luck when this happens, but I'm reserving judgment. Of course we had to cap a visit from Grandad and Meemaw with a big dinner at Angelo's, which was, as usual, delicious.

Jeff also turned 25 while I was in Dallas. With all of those home videos lying around, we just had to drag out some of our favorites from over the years to torment him. My favorite is from the Christmas where he got a big, red plastic guitar. He spent the whole Christmas day perfecting his rock and roll boogie, and my dad spent his preserving this embarrassment for future generations. I'll have to put that one online for all to enjoy at some point!

Our last bit of excitement came later in the week, when my mom happened to look out the front window one morning and notice 4 Channel 11 News trucks in our front yard. Turns out they'd been broadcasting the news from our front lawn since 5:30 that morning, and none of us had noticed! We tuned in only to see that the one distinguishing feature of house visible in the broadcast was the pile of leaves that hadn't been raked up yet. Oh well. ;)

Adam and I are headed up - weather permitting - to Portland, Maine, this afternoon. Matt and Lizzi are hosting their traditional seder dinner (God was consulted, and doesn't mind us shifting the dates a bit), and scoobies from all over are making their way north for the occasion! Can you say brisket? :) Really I'm excited to hang out with everyone before the craziness of moving and school takes over, and I want to see this great little town that Matt keeps posting gorgeous pictures of!

We fly back from Maine on Sunday, and the following Thursday my parents are coming to visit! We'll have four days to explore the area and eat lots of food. Although my mom stayed with us during the moving week, this will be the first time my parents have seen the apartment really finished without boxes and paint everywhere. A day trip to Leesburg and the Virginia wine country is being planned, and of course time to wander around DC! I can't wait!

• Big news
• Flowers from Adam
  
• Photo montage!
• Lunch at Anita's with the Web Team
• Pile of loot from my Amazon wishlist (thanks Mom!)
• Dinner at Bonefish with Adam and Go
• A trip to Media
• A morning at Longwood Gardens (see more photos)
  
• A quiet Sunday evening at home. :)
  

Last year we started the holiday weekend in Media, so this year Adam and I flipped it around and started the holidays off in Dallas. Unlike last year, we had no problems with airline strikes or cancelled flights or missed family gatherings, and had a really wonderful couple of days in Dallas.

We flew in Thursday night and had a low key evening of sub sandwiches and catching up with mom, dad, and Jeff. Friday we spent hanging out with family members as they got into town. Grandad and Meemaw came in from Lake Charles, Lousiana, and my geat aunt Virginia and her husband Mark came in from Oakland, California, so there was a lot of hugging and exclaiming going on. :)

Friday night we had a family dinner at Cantina Laredo (the restaurant I worked at during summer breaks in college, although a different location). Looking back, it ranks in my list of top ten most memorable dinners I've ever had - the atmosphere was really nice, the food was delicious, and I got to have lots of long, meaningful conversations with people I really love. Living so far from home I don't get that all too often, which makes me appreciate it all that much more!

Since Adam and I were splitting our time over the holiday, my extended family had decided to have the big dinner and present opening shindig on Christmas Eve. This year there were 22 coming for dinner, so my parents were in their typical pre-family-dinner stressed out mode. Consequently, they kicked Jeff, Adam, Grandad, Meemaw, and I out of the house all Saturday so that they could prepare in peace. I took everyone out to lunch at Panera and the spent some time at the mall with Grandad and Meemaw. Meemaw and I were exploring the home decor section of Anthropologie, and my Grandad kept making these funny comments about everything. I'll never look at beaded pillows the same way again! :)

My parents once again pulled off an amazingly lovely Christmas dinner this year, despite the dining room bursting at the seams with 22 people - 24 if you count Laura and Scott joining us for dessert and the tradition burning of the cookie wrappers. The Italian Feast theme is alive and well, and we feasted on huge, heaping bowls of salad and pasta, grilled asparagus and sausage. Pellegrino and wine flowed like, well, wine. Adam and I shared a table with my cousin Clint and his girlfriend, Lisa, as well as Jeff.

And of course we finished up the meal with the traditional burning of the cookie wrappers. I love this tradition - it is the ultimate bonding material for extended family members who might not know each other very well, and it appeals to all generations. And hey, you get to light stuff on fire! Jeff and I tag teamed to try and get cool pictures of this tradition. After dessert we did a secret Santa gift exchange, where I got an awesome book about modern farmhouses from my grandmother - a very hip grandmother, I might add, who ordered my book on Amazon. ;)

Christmas morning we did all of my favorite rituals - opening stockings in pajamas, breakfast of coffee and Sara Lee Butter Streusel Coffee Cake, fire in the fireplace, and general glee and silliness while opening all of the presents. I got a box filled to the brim with needle felting supplies and in all imaginable colors of wool roving from my mom, two gorgeous sage green vases from Laura, and a cool iron candle-abra that I think I will hang with the swing on the back porch for late evening lounging.

You can check out the entire photo set on Flickr.

At 5:57 AM this morning, Tatum Harris Willard made her official debut, surrounded by family and friends, at Baylor University Hospital in Dallas, TX. Congratulations to new parents Alison and Eric, and new grandma Carol. Welcome to the family, Tater! :)