christmas tree.

on saturday we fell in love

with a tiny christmas tree at eastern market.

so we brought her home to camp out

in our living room for the next month or so.

she's very colorful and sparkly.

eleanor can't stop reaching for her and giggling.

merry christmas!

please check this out!

some of our dear friends have started a nonprofit organization, the foundation for survivors of abuse, in the hopes of bringing awareness to and help with removing the statute of limitations for sex abuse crimes. these laws are in need of change and i commend deondra, desirae and melody for their courage in coming forward to share their own painful story and also for their efforts with this organization. please check out their new website and help spread the word! josh and i know the 5 browns personally and they are some of the most down to earth, loving and kind people we know. i was talking with deondra last week and her positive outlook during our conversation about all of this was so inspiring to me. i'm just really proud of them and the difference they are making.

you can read more about their story in the daily beast. and also follow updates on their progress through their facebook page, www.facebook.com/survivingabuse.

eleanor's first thanksgiving.

thanksgiving day was wonderful this year.

eleanor did this really kind thing where she slept in until 9am (which meant we all slept in until 9am.... ahhhhh-mazing) which started our day off quite nicely.

we then spent most of the day cooking, eating, skyping with family and checking out some monuments together in glorious 65 degree weather. we loved having my little sisters come to town. they are always a lot of fun (and such big helps in the kitchen). and we loved polishing off left overs all weekend long, too.... turkey and stuffing is somehow always better the second day. it just is.

hope your thanksgiving day was great, too!

this is what happens when you set up the self timer on your camera but suddenly notice it's on the continuous setting.

we hope you had a happy thanksgiving weekend!

we got to host these pretty girlies, my little twin sisters.

so basically, we laughed a lot this weekend.

here's to happiness - holiday edition {by jacqueline}

here are 10 things about the holidays

that make jacqueline terribly happy:

1. secretly listening to holiday music in mid-october...
2. ..and hearing your favorite holiday songs for the first time all year
3. getting december holiday issues of your favorite magazines
4. saying "happy holidays" and giving a big smile to everyone when you're out and about (and having the sentiment returned!)
5. that first bite of pumpkin pie
6. making a stocking for your pet
7. tracking santa's trip online
8. watching elf and home alone repeatedly, because once is not enough
9. finding that perfect gift for a loved one...
10. ...and the look on their face when they unwrap it

thanks for sharing, jacqueline!

find more happy lists here.

photo by jacqueline, too.

gratitude, part III

i love having a holiday completely dedicated to sitting back and taking into account all that we truly are thankful for.

i am most thankful for the people in my life...

i am grateful to be a daughter of God and to know that i matter to Him, always.

i am grateful to have a husband who is patient with me, quick to forgive, always willing to serve everyone around him. i am especially grateful for his love.

i am grateful to be a new mother. the past 9 1/2 months have been so humbling. and special. and magical. and beautiful. and gosh, i could just squeeze eleanor's baby cheeks all day long.

i'm grateful for family and friends who are always supportive and encouraging.

i'm grateful for all the wonderful people i have "met", too, through this blog. what a crazy world, right? but so many of you have really touched and inspired me through your blogs, photos, words, emails and comments. i'm grateful for you.

when i think really think about it, my relationships with my loved ones, my family, my new baby girl, my relationship with my heavenly father... these are the things i am most thankful for in life. what a wonderful world. happy thanksgiving!

ps. our lovely friends andrew and carissa brought home their daughter rinah last week from uganda. it gives me goosebumps to see them as a family together in their home. (remember how it all began, here?) what a perfect time of year to really step back and tell the ones you love how much they mean to you. congratulations to the gallo family! your daughter, rinah, is beautiful!

see gratitude part I and part II.

...

a little q&a with the washington examiner.

last week i had a little phone chat with the washington examiner about my faith and motherhood. the q&a was featured in this past sunday's paper. i think eleanor looks pretty darn cute mid-wave in her first official newspaper photo. ;) also, always a privilege to get the chance to talk about what matters to me most, and motherhood in a positive forum.

if you'd like to read my q&a conversation, go here.

gratitude, part II

{eleanor, last june in her bumbo seat when we were moving into our new home.}

things i am thankful for, around my home:

-a home!... we maybe be renting, but we've worked hard to make this little space feel like our own. so i'm thankful for it. for the old wood floors, the squeaky staircase, the cracks in the walls because it's so darn old. for our own little parking spot out back (bless you, parking spot!), and for that little teeny tiny yard in front for mister kingsley to play and eat grass and run around like a chicken.

-new crisp white bed sheets... even if they are the cheapest and lowest thread count sheets i can find at target (because that is the only kind i buy) they are still crisp clean perfect sheets in my opinion.

-the little messes... the ones that show eleanor played here. and there. and over there too. even the messes i make, i don't mind so much (though i should note i am not speaking for josh here) because our home is lived in. and i like that.

-hot water... it's nice to take a shower and not run out of hot water. love!

-the linens closet and that glorious thing called a washer & dryer... we've lived without both before (hello new york city living!) so i don't take these things for granted. and i'm completely aware that if we keep up this city living thing, our next space or the one after that could very well not have that fancy linens closet...so i'll just keep on singing the praises of my tiny linens closet while i can. it's a big deal here.

what little things around your home

are you thankful for?

gratitude, part I here.

gratitude, part I

*image by a girl and a camera photography

with thanksgiving approaching in just a few short days, i thought it might be fun to put together a few things i'm thankful for.

here is a random list of little things i'm thankful for today:

cameras

skype

christmas trees

kisses

light

pancakes

colorful leaves

potbelly's oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

snowflakes

smiles

cinnamon rolls

dancing

books

singing

the earth

orange juice

car seat heaters

music

the color yellow

a fenced in dog park for kingsley

bulldogs

hardwood floors

the nutcracker ballet

paper

crisp new bed sheets

eleanor's two little teeth

cuddling

what random little things are you thankful for?

happy thanksgiving!

...

ps. i finally got around to announcing all 10 winners from last weeks giveaway.

click here to see if you're one of them.

it's amazing what you accomplish on a saturday morning before 11AM when you have a baby that wakes you up at 7.

in other words.... a breakfast run, the dog park for kingsley (where he ran into his bulldog pal also named kingsley!), a family morning walk around dupont, 2 loads of laundry and 1 dishwasher load completed plus a nicely scrubbed home. we really hope this means a family nap is on eleanor's itinerary for us this afternoon.

life lately, according to my iphone pictures.

ps. josh joined twitter and instagram last week!

(his username is @tiesandfries for both)

so a few of these photos are from him.

kind of love that he has caved.

i mean, who doesn't wanna flirt with their significant other

over a tweet or two. ;)

"guess why i smile alot? uh. cause it's worth it."

hooray! marcel the shell is back!

thanks to olivia on twitter for letting me know.

ps. did you know there is a book, too? and talk of marcel's on tv show. yay!

rockstar giveaway! (closed)

today we have 10 gift certificates to giveaway to 10 different winners from our sponsor, paper coterie! each certificate is good for one free product of your choice, plus free shipping! check out all of paper coterie's products here-- they make for the perfect holiday gift!

paper coterie is "passionate about documenting the beauty of life well lived." they offer the most beautiful photo books, journals, custom calendars or memory boxes and holiday greeting cards!

to enter to win a product of your choice, please visit paper coterie and then come back here to comment below telling us which product you would love to win! the 10 winners will be drawn at random and announced this coming friday!

good luck!

UPDATE 11/22 :: CONGRATS to our winners listed below:

please email me your contact info naomi.megan{at}gmail.com

so we can get you your gift certificates!

...

a baby lives here.

i'll be the first to admit our house is never very clean....i've never been a very tidy person (why fold clothes in your drawer when you can just mash them all in there?) ...and while i do make an effort to pick up my clothes on our bedroom floor now and again since marrying josh and learning it's one of his biggest pet peeves, our home will probably always be a little bit messy.

adding a curious 9-month old baby to our home has produced even more little messes. but it's quite endearing to follow a trail of gerber puffs across the nursery floor (and once upon a time find a handful inside my shoe) or to witness eleanor's discovery of the toilet paper roll. i hear the messes get a little bigger and messier as the baby graduates to toddler stage. i'm kind of really looking forward to that.

...so long as marker never makes it to the wall or onto kingsley. :)

waking up on a wednesday.

yesterday josh woke up at the crack of dawn for his morning run. in the process, another person who lives in this house and who doesn't quite yet understand what a beautiful thing sleeping in can be also sat up wide eyed, ready to play. i looked at them both and just rolled over. noooooooo. i can't do this yet. please don't let it be morning.

and somehow, within the next 3 seconds i was back asleep. so josh kindly skipped out on his run and managed to shower and shave all while holding eleanor. he also bathed my little girl and then, as i was finally waking up, he suggested the most wonderful thing i could hear at 7 in the morning... "let's go to mcdonalds for breakfast."

that man sure knows how to steal my heart.

and that, my friends, is how a pretty rockin' wednesday began. sometimes starting the morning off with a little mickey d's together is the only way to do it.

rockstar giveaway! (closed)

today we have a rockstar giveaway for you from our sponsor ONA!

ONA is giving away the venice bag in the color of your choice! the handcrafted venice bag is a naturally milled full-grain leather SLR camera bag designed to hold a camera body, 3-4 lenses, small personal items and even an iPad all at once! to see all of the color options, go here.

to enter to win, please visit ONA and comment below telling me which color venice bag you would choose if you are the winner. the winner will be drawn at random and announced this coming friday.

you can also follow ONA on twitter and facebook for more info and updates!

good luck!

...

update // 12/1 i never heard back from our first winner so we've drawn another!

congrats to our winner below!

please email me your contact info- naomi.megan{at}gmail.com

burger tap & shake. kinda sorta our new favorite place.

last week we tried out the new burger tap & shake in foggy bottom for lunch and loved it. i have a feeling we're going to be finding a lot more excuses to hang out in foggy bottom over the next few months... ;)

an afternoon together in richmond, virginia.

last week, when we drove down to richmond virginia to see beirut perform, we arrived a few hours early so we could explore richmond together as a family. did you know josh lived there for a number of years when he was little? it's such a beautiful little city. i'd love to get to know it better.

hope to see you again soon, richmond!

ps. our giveaway winner (that lovely $250 shopping spree to loving eco!) is announced here if you'd like to see if you're the winner!