see you in seaside

last weekend i went on an early birthday get away 
with my two closest friends to seaside.

cruising down Highway 101 with taylor swift
dresses, sunnies, and i'm wearing cami's hat
also, i drew on a beauty mark because why not?

raspberry pie at sweet basil in canon beach
there was a live band and they sang me happy birthday :)

the sea!
it was surprisingly lovely for seaside in april
we came here last memorial day and we lucked out both times
and #sorrynotsorry for my compounding navy polk-a-dot patterns (thank you, target)

just for a comparison shot, here we are last year
#whydoesntanyonewannadancewithus
i love seeing how our hairs have changed...
but some things haven't.

so grateful for these friends
we are each really different and yet we get each other
it is unbelievably wonderful to be accepted entirely as you are - no judging!

isn't cami just too adorable back in her hat?    ^
v    and beks smile in the upper left

i love that we can be classy... and silly
the bottom right is us and our emperor palpatine hoods

and she bought us best friend t-shirts that are so accurate!
sorry if i don't look as enthusiastic as i felt...
we kinda partied-hardied the night before and zzzzz...

thank you, ladies, for such a wonderful weekend away!
i just feel so lucky to have you. lovoo!

Birthday Blog Day!!

[via]

Today marks six on the blog. It's a special place and I'm happy to share it with you :)

24.

You're raising these twenty four voices
With twenty four hearts
With all of my symphonies
In twenty four parts
But I want to be one today
Centered and true

5

[via]

Today is my blog's 5th birthday!

5 years ago, in my "Introduction," I shared,

"words help me process things - and this will be where i'll place the words

that don't seem to have any other home."

Through many phases and changes and far more page views than I ever imagined,

that still remains a pretty accurate description of my blog.

I apologize for the times it feels scattered, but it's not a niche blog.

It's just a space for the homeless words in my head.

When I created this, I really didn't think I would be able to keep it up.

I was like that with pen-pals as a kid.  I would be all enthusiastic... but then

get behind after 2 or 3 letters and be too ashamed to finally write back 6 months later.

So I was more shocked than anyone that 1 year, 2 years in I was still blogging.

Now, it's a rare day I don't get on to check the blog or start another draft.

And though it took me 4 years of blogging to actually admit that just maybe I was a writer...

I am more enthusiastic about it than ever.

I hope to continue to expand and develop both this space and my writing

[keep an eye out in the future - wink, wink]

I want to thank everyone who has followed my blog at any point these past 5 years.

Writing and crafting this has helped me become more of who I am supposed to be,

and your encouragement of that means the world to me!

So, merci beaucoup, my friends.  Merci.

* Interesting fact - I didn't put this together till yesterday, but, though done unwittingly, I think it was Fate that I created this blog on January 28th, as it just happens to be the date Pride and Prejudice was originally published.  And I'd like to think that is a good omen :)

Jack Valiant

Yesterday we celebrated the birthday of my youngest nephew, Jack.  He is such a precious guy!

I have to say, I love my niece and both of my nephews... but Jack and I have a special connection.  I think it's because we're both "thirds."  I didn't really appreciate how significant being a "third" was until I read Ender's Game.  And it's hard to articulate, but it's something special.  On top of being "thirds," I'm pretty sure Jack will end up as one of, if not the, middle child.  (I'm here for you, Jack!).  So, yes, because of birth order and probably several other reasons yet unknown,  this little man and I have an extra something.  It's not exclusive... it's just special.

Here's a look back at Jack's first year.  [All pictures were taken from iPhone or Melissa's blog.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy 1 year, Jack Valiant :)

23.

"I don't know about you, but I'm feeling twenty-two..."*


Not anymore, Taylor. But thanks anyway.

So my birthday was already 2 weeks ago. Wow!

And yes, I'm just now getting to the post about it. But you can blame that on the fact that my family has 5 birthdays to celebrate in 11 days. So I was kind of busy eating cake.


[having my cake and eating it too]



I've had quite a few people as me lately, "How old are you?? ...Oh! You're so young!" Yes. Yes I am. But I don't feel "young." Not in the "you're young" sense of YOLO/you should do whatever you want/you can make totally irresponsible decisions because you're "young." No thank you.



[Lunch date - isn't she stunning? :P]



But I've always tried to be/act older than I actually am. A lot of my "peers" are actually older than me. I spend a lot of time with the 26-27 year olds... so each birthday feels more like a "finally!" than an "already?" I knew it was bad this year when in November, I had to intentionally remind myself that I was 22, not 23. I've even threatened to jump a year when nobody's looking. Just start tell everyone that I'm a year older than I am and then reclaim that year when I'm 39 ;) So I feel older... at least in comparison to contemporary 22/23-year-olds. But...I still get carded at the movies :/ Seriously? And when people find out I was born in 1990 - they cringe. As if a great cavern exists between 1989 and 1990 - a whole decade's worth of change between those two years.



[Truth.  Oh, and Mumford is ringing in 23 later this month]



All my life, I've had the overwhelming sense that "there's not enough time." There's not enough time to waste. There's not enough to read all the books - I actually teared up in a bookstore the other day realizing I would die with a long, long "to-read" list. Trying to decide what shouldn't be left on that list? "I could no sooner choose a favorite star in the heavens." But isn't that tragic when you think about it?  Anyway........



[10 years I've had this ring.  Oh... and there's my favorite freckle.]

I'm ready for 23.  Ready to see all sorts of adventures it possesses.  I've been enjoying 23's books already.  And 23's new car :D  But there's so much about 23 I can't see yet... and I'm eager to discover.

23, it's a pleasure to meet ya.

36 for 36: Happy Birthday, Benedict Cumberbatch!

July 19, 1976. Special day. Special because Benedict Cumberbatch came into this world. I am particularly grateful for this one incredible actor.


So, for his birthday, I give you, 36 things I appreciate about Mr. Benedict Cumberbatch:


1. Sherlock.
I will never stop being grateful for the entirety of this show--but especially the dynamic Benedict brought to life through his performance.


2. How self-deprecating he is


3. His impersonations

[just one example :]

4. Gratefulness - He is continually expressing gratefulness for the roles he's been given, the praise he's received--He is still genuinely shocked when other people appreciate his work


5. His relationship with his parents - Benedict is the only son of actors Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham (still married)

[Wanda and Benedict - via]

It was a performance of Glengarry Glen Ross

...that he broke his father’s heart with pride. “After the show he told me I was a better actor than he had ever been or would ever be. He was tearing up as he was saying it.” He has continued to be “terribly proud and utterly selfless”, revelling in his son’s success. When Hawking was well reviewed in The Sunday Times his father framed the drawing that accompanied the piece as a 28th birthday present. “Mum gets a bit emotional on first nights,” he says, “but Dad... he started to weep at the first night of After the Dance when he was telling me how proud he was. I didn’t know what to do. I just held onto him. I said, ‘You’re not crying out of relief that I got through it, are you?’ And he said, ‘No, you stupid boy. I’m crying because you were so wonderful.’

6. The way he so badly wants to be a dad


When asked his greatest disappointment, he responded: "Not being a dad by age 32."


7. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. 

[While filming, Gary Oldman had to swim in a freezing cold lake. Cumberbatch offered to jump in first... verifying the water was, indeed, freezing.]

8. Hair - in a variety of styles

9. He looks good in period clothing


10. His funny faces

11. Amazing Grace.
When I first saw this I had no idea who he was, nevertheless it was my introduction.


12. Full name: Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch [Benedict is his, but the rest of the name is his dad's]

Benedict means "one spoken well of" and Cumberbatch comes from a Welsh word for "one who dwells in a wooded glen." haha

13. That his first stage role was as Tatiana, Queen of the Fairies in Midsummer Night's Dream.
He went to an all boys boarding school, okay? Haha... what I'd give to see that.


14. Voice.
It's been described as "a jaguar hiding in a cello..." ummm, yes =)


[Now, Benedict, will you please stop smoking so you and your voice will last longer??]


15. The Reichenbach Tear!


16. That he rejects celebrity.
His life isn't all out there for the public. As much as I wish I could follow his every move (more easily, anyway), I'm grateful he doesn't have a twitter or anything. It keeps him more mysterious.


17. That he gives everything to a role. I mean, the dude studied Komodo-dragons at the London Zoo to prepare for his role as Smaug.


18. His favorite poem is "Ode to a Nightingale" by John Keats. [I think the reason he lives in Hampstead is at least partly due to Keat's house there]





19. That--though he impersonates them--he's always respectful to Directors.
In interviews it's always Mr. Spielberg, Mr. Abraams.


20. That he's so awfully gangly.


21. That he really does look like an otter


22. That he's great on stage as well as screen. 

Three BAFTA nominations and an Olivier award on the shelf--not to mention a host of other nods??

23. Frankenstein. Brilliant and chilling in both roles.


24. His amazing displays of strength.

He's portrayed multiple characters who's muscles fail in some way (Frankenstein, Hawking, etc.) and he has such incredible command over those gangly limbs!

25. His buddies

[Tom Hardy - costar in both Stuart: a Life Backwards and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy]

  

[Jonny Lee Miller - co-star, and co-Olivier Winner, in Frankenstein]

[Martin Freeman - Sherlock, The Hobbit, need I say more?]

[Tom Hiddleston - War Horse]

[James McAvoy - Starter for 10 and Atonement]

26. His handling of the car-jacking situation

While filming To the Ends of the Earth (2005) in South Africa, Cumberbatch, along with some friends, were car-jacked. He was tied up, beat, and had a gun held to his head (you can read more details here). But he left that night not with bitterness or fear, just an intense desire to live. In one interview: "It’s made me want to live a life slightly less ordinary."

27. That he loves London and Great Britain so much =)

28. He's complained of the shape of his head, comparing it to Sid the Sloth's


29. The crow's-feet, because it means he's smiled so often in his life...

30. That even though it terrified him, he was willing to dare the runway for his favorite designer, Spencer Hart


31. He's still a fanboy

32. The suspenders - he openly admits his interest in fashion is relatively new... and he blames it on Martin Freeman. "There's a man who knows his threads," he told one interviewer

33. His thoughtfulness - in an interview with the guardian, he offered to share a tea-bag with the journalist while sounding off on the subject with everything from "tea ceremonies to post-colonial theory..." Moreover, he spent his gap year teaching English in Nepal, contemplating his decision to pursue acting.


34. Humor - if it isn't obvious through other things posted, the bloke is hilarious! He's constantly cracking jokes about himself, his colleagues, impersonating people, dancing, etc... he just enjoys life and enjoys making other people laugh.


35. Intelligence - a "public school" education, a passion for research, and an expansive vocabulary all contribute to his knowledgeable approach to roles and interviews


36. Just him =)

Benedict, 35 was a fabulous year, but I'm hoping 36 is even better [of course an Emmy nomination isn't a bad way to start]! Here's to another fantastic year - Happy Birthday!

Celebrating someone very special today!

Today my younger sister is Sweet 16!

So grateful for this girl!!

She totally cracks me up:

Sarah,

I love and appreciate you so much!

I have high anticipations for all that this new year will bring you.

I'm really excited that next year I'll be freer to do lots of fun sister-dates =)

Thank you for being your precious, hilarious, adorable self.

Love you TONS,

Samara

Happy Birthday to such a favorite =)

Audrey, thank you!

Much love,

Samara