A big month

Hard to believe it's already closer to the end of August than it is the beginning...

It's been a busy one. Always a busy month for birthdays from all sides, Dan turned 32 on the first and I hit the big 3-0 on the 12th. After celebrating in '70s style with my fam the week before, Daniel invited friends over on the 9th to celebrate with a little more debauchery and a lot less children.

There was beer, cake in my favorite colors of black and white, sparklers and far too much Dorito dip. It was a great party, with my work and social lives meshing in equal parts.

(Not a day over 29)

My birthday bash also proved to be the last party at "The Manor" as many have known to call and love it over the eight years Dan has lived there. We've already moved a handful of boxes (and by "we" I mean Dan. He called me out tonight on carrying a single binder and a football tonight). The U-Haul trailer is reserved for Saturday, when we officially leave Ferndale and become residents of Royal Oak. We can't wait.

In fact, we couldn't wait. We got the keys last Friday evening and late Friday night we decided to camp out over there. We grabbed our futon mattress, some sheets, a candle, some easy food, whiskey and a computer stocked with TV shows and headed over for a little sleepover in our new living room.





Our super shaded house was nice and cool -- almost too cool. Maybe we won't even be needing our new central air. But the extra counter space? You know I need it! I can't wait to cook in my new kitchen and entertain in the new house -- it's much more appropriate there than The Manor. Not that I won't miss The Manor, because, in my own way, I will. But I'm ready for the new house and our new adventure.

Two years in the making...

Two years ago, Daniel submitted an article to TapeOp Magazine -- geared toward the technical side of music recording and production.

He interviewed musician Adam Franklin, former front man of one of Dan's favorite bands of all time (if not the favorite) Swervedriver, who's now a solo artist also.

He originally submitted his interview, along with amazing photos shot by his friend Matt Nistor, a truly amazing photographer.

Dan posted a blog over on Wingstroke about how the article came to be -- check it out HERE. Though it's not online yet (but you can see the magazine and the fact that it's listed on the over at the TapeOp site), if you go into the fan forum Dan links to in his blog, one of the band's fans scanned it in and posted it.

I'm so proud of him and I'm so glad it finally ran!

You can check out some of Adam Franklin's music HERE. I especially like "Morning Rain" and "Seize the Day."

30

My birthday's not for another week or so, but in honor of my 30th, Cousin Jeff threw me an awesome 70s-themed bash today, complete with Charlie's Angels on the tube, ABBA blaring out of the speakers, fondue and macrame. What more could a girl want, right?

Many of my family members dressed up in their own (yes, even my mom still had some old plaid maternity pants) or newly-purchased garb from Salvation Army. I went as my mom -- I had a T-shirt made to look just like one she wore to a picnic just before I was born. She had really short hair in 1978, so I just pulled mine back. Someday, perhaps when we unpack our belongings at our new house in a couple of weeks, I will find the photos from that picnic way back when and can do a side by side comparison.

In the meantime, here are a few shots of my whacky fam, in all their glory. While everyone contributed something, Cousin Jeff was really the genius behind it all -- he's the one in yellow.