Once upon a time, I thought I could be a dancer. Hah. Haha. Hahahahhaha. Yeah no, I am way too uncoordinated/inflexible to ever be a dancer (although I took a year of ballet when I was 6! That counts for something right?!). But my little sisters are ballerinas and so is my best friend, so obviously their danciness (making up new words here, okay) rubbed off on me. I love nothing more than going to the ballet on Sunday afternoon and getting lost in a dreamy, twirly world.

Callyn and Stasia wanted me to capture their gorgeousness and document their dancing.
Stasia (top picture) is such a sweet, sweet soul; her crazy beautiful long hair and her little wispy self is so fairy-like. I just want to hug her to death!
Despite beyond drop-dead gorgeous, the thing I love most about Callyn (bottom picture) is her laugh. It's all cute and scrunchy and genuine and makes you want to laugh right along with her. And she gives the best hugs! I love me some Callyn time.
And Callyn and Stasia are the cutest best friends. It's so adorable to watch them interact and make each other giggle. Oh, and how could I forget their dancing?! Their love for their craft just radiates and it's so beautiful to watch.

Enjoy ♥
 

    For the past three days, a storm has been brewing, gathering strength in gray clouds and humid air. Soon it will come crashing around us, but right now there is a calm. If I lay very still, the birds will perch near me, twittering and fluffing and pecking; if I make the slightest movement, though, off they go. I can taste the rain in the windless air. It won't be long before fat drops start falling through the newly-leafed trees; perhaps the tornado siren will sound, as it so often does during infamous Oklahoma spring storms. I crave the sunshine, but sometimes I prefer this pallid kind of light and the way you can hold the thick air in between your fingers.

    In jest, I have often said that I like the idea of living in the country, but if it came down to it, I probably wouldn't like it much. But no matter how much I joke about it, I am an outdoors girl through and through. Perhaps not in the hiking, climbing, bug-loving, kayaking-down-white-water-rapids sense--because okay, let's face it, I am a total city girl--but I am rooted in sunsets and sunrises, the first droplets of rain splattering the cement and humidity that clings as a second skin. In the city, I oft feel cooped up, held in by boxes of trees and telephone wire and gray roofs; still, I don't let that stop me. I am the dirt-on-the-soles-of-my-bare-feet, aimlessly-wandering-and-wondering, tilting-my-face-to-the-sky, paint-smeared-shorts-wearing, skin-that-smells-like-the-earth, more-graceful-sounding-than-she-really-is kind of outdoorsy city girl.

    Perhaps one day I will have a slice of earth, sky, and trees of my own, but for now, this will do perfectly well.

(standard flower picture to serve as a visual pick-me-up for a text-filled post. you're welcome)

"Instructions for living a life:

Pay attention.

Be astonished.

Tell about it."

//Mary Oliver//

things I will never understand:

i. how there are people in the world that live their entire lives while I sleep (and vice versa)

ii. the way the future is made up of a series of nows

iii. the way a song/sight/smell can trigger deja vu

iv. people who don't like to read (it's like going on an adventure without having to get out of your pajamas! how much better can it get?!)

v. the way bobby pins can disappear at lightning speed

vi. how we can be so privileged that waking up in the morning is taken for granted

vii. the way folks can live next door to each other for years but can count the number of conversations on one hand (they all lasted less than a minute)

Part of my quest to pay attention, be astonished, and tell about it. Feel free to adapt this idea for yourself, or, answer in the comments. I'd love to hear what astonishes you.

"Cause I'll know my weakness, know my voice, and I'll believe in grace and choice." --Mumford & Sons

When I was little, I thought my parents stayed up all night. Those are the kind of thoughts that befall the oldest child, because there is no one to tell her otherwise.

M is far wiser than I ever was at her age, and she makes the best sort of model (because sometimes you need to satisfy that itch to go make images in the rain).