mother's day is every day

the latest issue of bust magazine (my newest addiction) had a great article about how mother's day came to be. contrary to popular belief, it was started by woman who wasn't even a mother! she just wanted a day for everyone to celebrate mom's greatness, and the commercial companies took off with it. she was incredibly upset by the consumerism and the men who tried to make the holiday about greeting cards and candy, insisting that these things don't show appreciation.

we always buy my mom something for mother's day, but she's getting increasingly more difficult to shop for. val got her a couple of books, and she already had one of them (see!). i splurged on these cute little bud vases from red envelope, another tschotsky for our house... she liked them, but i see where this consumerism-backlash comes from. neither vases nor books seem enough.

since we were down in dc working on the bathroom renovation (by we i mean my dad; my mom and i did a lot of sitting. and we went grocery shopping), we got to celebrate as a family. instead of spending the money on an expensive dinner or something, we made a really good red-pepper pesto chicken with grilled corn and baby potatoes. but brunch took the cake. we whipped out the big guns and tried the smoked-salmon and goat cheese quiche recently posted on simply recipes, paired with peppered turkey bacon and fresh fruit from whole foods (the whole thing, with the dinner the night before, ended up setting us back like $100, which was still less than one meal in dc -- victory). oh yeah. and belinis with peach nectar and bebe prosecco. i also probably ate an entire watermelon, which left me feeling like a very happy oompa-loompa.

but all of that aside, i wanted to post a little tribute to my mommy. she's put up with me for 21 years, and she deserves all the praise in the world for that. i can be exhausting; i would know -- i live with me everyday. i've also had my share of problems that my mom's had to deal with... i tried to be born like 2 months early; i sustained a few injuries as a child; i cried and protested school for an entire year; i chose an expensive hobby (dancing); i picked an expensive college with expensive internships; and i got this crazy illness that's been the biggest headache for the past 2 years. and that's just me. i also have a dad and a sister and a whole, crazy extended family that have made my momma's life harder than necessary.

i also like to think we've made it better, too. but this isn't about us. it's about mommy. mommy who sees my name on the caller id for the fifteenth time in one day and answers anyway. mommy who sorts through the mountain of socks and always knows which ones are mine (and always finds the matches). mommy who pays my credit card bill (this is big). mommy who has EVERYTHING in her purse (seriously: i needed q-tips, splenda packets, bandaids, and something else this weekend and she had ALL of it)... i think the card i bought her from afavorite on etsy really summed it up:

this was epic. i couldn't pass it up.

i'd like to end with a little montage of my favorite mommy moments:

hershey park chocolate world. no, this ride doesn't really move. we just like to put up our hands and scream.

those are the same egg cups we've been using since we were little. and even though we're 20 and 26, my mom still gets them out, boils 2-dozen eggs, and lets us dye them. she won't hide them anymore, but i still get to be offensive and make my "yay jesus" egg, much to her dismay. i might be going to hell. it's okay.

sharing the tradition of baking the non-dairy pumpkin pie. i got to cut out the crust decorations;

mom divulged her technique for the perfect crust:

and the day that mom gained a son. a rare moment of perfection in our usually hectic lives.

thank you, mommy. though you don't read blogs and the internet beyond google freaks you out, this is out there. and it's for you :).

go. love your mommy.

ciao,

j

(oh yeah, i'll be posting more later. i just got home late friday, was in dc all weekend, and had to unpack all of my clothes yesterday. that nearly killed me. look for some goodies -- and a barefoot thursday!! -- soon!)