Fairy princesses and such

Warning: this post is all about me (but it is my blog). Anyhoo, I've never been a girly-girl. Even though I have two sisters and was raised by a single mom, as a kid I preferred buiding forts and riding bikes over barbies. Have always been a jeans and sneakers girl. Yes, I wear make-up and jewelry (minimal to both), but I'd rather put hot pokers in my eyes than to sport pantyhose or uncomfortable clothing (guess it's good that I'll be working in a field where I get to wear scrubs - SWEET!). OK, I digress.

The real girly stuff is foreign to me and low and behold, my daughter LOOOOOVES anything princessey. If I dare try to put sweat pants on my daughter, watch out - like cryptonite to Superman. Oiy, the drama. THE DRAMA. It's all about the dresses. Again, being raised in an only female household, you'd think I'd be prepared. Well, I'm not. But I'm trying. Every day I put my game face on and act (act, being the operative word here) that I enjoy playing princess and prince make-believe with Allie. It's hard to hold my tongue and not say "don't wait for your prince to come honey, you just need to rely on yourself & if he shows up ask him to join you, not rescue you." But, of course, I just smile and play along. It's just a game, right? I REALLY want to be supportive of ANYTHING my children love (anything legal, that is). But, this issue rips me from my comfort zone.

Note the picture of above with Princess Allison is sleeping in her favorite attire - tutu, high heels and necklaces. Her tiara fell on the floor. Seriously.

I've had this discussion with a dear friend (hi KatieJ) about what the label "princess" entails - weakness, sense of entitlement, bratty. And although my daughter prefers to wear aything pink, frilly or gaudy, she is none of those things. Miss Allie fell asleep in the playroom yesterday after an afternoon playing outside - she was flying a kite, riding her bike, playing tag and getting dirty with her brother. Cool.

I'll never enjoy the girly-girl stuff, but I'll always like seeing my daughter find things that make her happy. And how cute is that picture anyway?

Ooooh, I can't wait...

Oh man, I just got Jodi Picoult's latest newsletter & a description of her newest book (due out early March). I CAN NOT wait to dive into this one. Sounds riveting. Can you tell I'm a HUGE fan of hers? Yep, sure am.

I copied & pasted this from the newsletter:

Shay Bourne - New Hampshire’s first death row prisoner in 69 years – has only one last request: to donate his heart post-execution to the sister of his victim, who is looking for a transplant. Bourne says it’s the only way he can redeem himself…but with lethal injection as his form of execution, this is medically impossible. Enter Father Michael Wright, a young local priest. Called in as Shay’s spiritual advisor, he knows redemption has nothing to do with organ donation – and plans to convince Bourne. But then Bourne begins to perform miracles at the prison that are witnessed by officers, fellow inmates, and even Father Michael – and the media begins to call him a messiah.

Could an unkempt, bipolar, convicted murderer be a savior? It seems highly unlikely, to the priest. Until he realizes that the things Shay says may not come from the Bible…but are, verbatim, from a gospel that the early Christian church rejected two thousand years ago…and that is still considered heresy.Change Of Heart looks at the nature of organized religion and belief, and takes the reader behind the closely drawn curtains of America’s death penalty. Featuring the return of Ian Fletcher from Keeping Faith, it also asks whether religion and politics truly are separate in this country, or inextricably tangled. Does religion make us more tolerant, or less? Do we believe what we do because it’s right? Or because it’s too frightening to admit that we may not have the answers?

A Spoonful of Sugar...

My Mom turned 60 last month and instead of a party, my sister and I treated her to a day in the Big Apple - which included her first Broadway show, Mary Poppins. The show was FANTASTIC! Nothing I could say about the Mary Poppins could do it justice, except if you get the chance, see it - I'm still humming the tunes.

We ran into Samuel L. (although, everyone runs into him outside of THE waxy museum).

Since we were in Times Square, we had to check out the LITTLE ice rink (pics a little dark, but it was, well, dark out).

Couldn't visit NYC without strolling in THE Park. I took many pics of this area, Bethesda fountain. Beautiful!

This is me & the birthday girl, just after indulging in the BEST Tiramasu EVER - we were still amped up from the sugar and coffee - YUM! We ate at the brick-oven pizza restaurant near 42nd & Broadway (behind Hard Rock) - everything was scrumptious, especially the Tiramasu.

Anyhoo, for a few country bumpkins, we navigated the city well on the subway - a far cry from the way I'm used to getting around. The pace is fast, but exhilarating. Thankfully, I wore comfy shoes, cause we walked our asses off (well, I wish I walked some of mine off). Good times!