pure sunshine

my little sister is here and it feels so....right.  i keep having flashbacks of our big white house in maine, when i would babysit her and dress her up, pack picnics, make dance routines and curl the hell out of her bangs . gosh, that seems like so long ago.  but, i look at who she has become, all she has accomplished in just 19 years and it makes my heart swell. i am proud.   she is pure sunshine.  mike and i laugh because she absolutely has a small part of each of her parents and her siblings.  she has the best part of us all...rolled into one beautiful woman. 

she and scott watched the pups this weekend so mike and i could hop over to Charleston for a wedding. and we were greeted by this sky...

it was a powerful storm.  dark clouds slowly crept in, allowing for only minimal beach time, before my-survivor-man/husband, deemed the beach unsafe...i think he almost dragged me off while i was trying to capture the intensity of what would surely come.

 the storm was massive, the kind you only experience at the beach.  and we drove, looking for the best place to eat and i would yell ''stop!, i have to get that picture"  and he would reluctantly pull the car over and i would dodge rain drops and huge puddles to snap a photo.  i love the contrast of greens and blues... i love a good summer storm.

we ate crabs... (which i think is law if it is your first time in charleston)  and shacked up at charleston crab house  where we ordered entirely too much food,  sipped cold beer and cracked crab legs until it was difficult move....all the while, watching lightning crackle over the ocean in front of us.

and, i still don't know how to take nice looking photos in the dark or of lightning, so if anyone has any suggestions...


it was a quiet night, early to bed -early to rise.  we had a wedding that afternoon, old friends to reconnect with and a beach just waiting for us to take advantage of it.  mike went for a run and i (honestly did forget my running shoes) walked the still morning streets, acquainting myself with the area.

i came across this hidden wharf and these little fisher-kids hunting crabs.

oh, the beach.  there is something about being in front of such a powerful body of water and not being able to see the other side....and wondering who or what is directly in front of you so many, many miles away....

we baked in the sun just long enough and surfed in the waves....and i do have the wounds to prove it, but they are the most unflattering pictures and simply cannot be placed on the internet....so take my word for it... there was blood and i was scared a shark would sniff me out.

can you spot the alli ?



and lunch was, of course, blood marys and tacos.

then, the wedding.  it was my first beach wedding and absolutely beautiful.  sara is all about details, and it showed.  she and arimin were all smiles and the love was in the air.

we stood with our feet warmed by the sand.... knowing we were witnessing something real.

soft smiles and salty tears...exactly the recipe for a delicious wedding

this is my favorite picture


and these little flower girls took their spot quietly in the background, soaking it all in and, i'm sure, dreaming of their wedding day.

the one on the left looks like she is meditating!

 thank you sara and arimn,

for letting us all be part of a day you will forever remember and we will not soon forget.

you gave us all a chance to reconnect at one of the most beautiful places in the south.

 deer.... at the beach!

we packed it up, after one more early afternoon of floating in the salt water....we climbed back into the car, sleepy from the sun and the long night with old friends... salty from the ocean and sand still clinging to our legs and flops...

and, were welcomed home by a smiling sister and happy dogs, homemade cookies (yes, lydia made cookies from scratch) and, of course, thai sunday!!  lydia had never had thai food so we introduced her to a mini brown- sunday -tradition.... pineapple stir fry, pad thai and green curry....yummy.

we soaked up her last days in the south...

i miss her already

and so does bella

i cried small tears after i dropped her and scott off at the airport and i had the same feeling i do after a trip to maine, when i'm sitting in the airport, flipping through the many memories we've made... i hate living this far from my family. i hate that she can't come over for dinner. i hate that i can't watch my little brother's baseball games.  i hate that my mom isn't able to swing by on the weekends and  i hate that tight feeling in my  throat when i write about it, because this is how it is, at least for now, for awhile.  and, i love my life down here (even if it is 98 degrees 99% of the time), and i am thankful that living so far away warrants so many trips home, coupled with the harder -and -longer-kind-of- hugs where we whisper little messages to each other like ''it's so good to see you'' or ''i'm going to miss you'' or, simply, ''i love you''.... we eat better (and more) food and celebrate harder each time we visit each other....it makes our time together more special...

lydia, i miss you already and it was SO good to see you. but, i'll see you in a few days because i'm going to boston :) and  i can't wait for our girls weekend and to celebrate with our big sister!