Posts Tagged With: pressie

International Week of the Birthday ~ day seven

Posted on May 13, 2017 by robynbird

Well, my birthday night Nats game was a rain out. Postponed to create a double header for Sunday. I wasn’t even bummed! I totally expected the rain out.
But we didn’t find out till we were already on the road. It’s cool, with some quick thinking we decided on an early dinner at an Irish pub in Fairfax. I drank my fill of Harp and ate the most delicious grouper. (Not traditionally Irish I know, but good golly it was yummy!)
Headed back home in rush hour traffic in the pouring rain, made a quick stop for ice cream before coming home to open my pressie.

New (Nats) sneakers. Jammies. A book, two movies (La La Land included!) and a CD so Alan Cumming can sing me sappy songs whenever I want.

At school, the kids in the lunch room sang to me on two separate occasions. The boys in the classroom sang to me in the morning when I dropped off the cupcakes we would share that afternoon, and when we had the cupcakes! They even made me cards! Sweet boys!

I got “happy birthdayed” all over social media. Received many a text and phone call celebrating me with love. Precious Thing 1 even sang to me!
All in all, it was a great day!

For starting out slowly, and some disappointing bumps along the way, I have to say that International Week of Robynbird’s Birthday has been a success!
Most importantly, I celebrated myself!
I felt celebrated by those around me. Got to do, and eat things I love. Was able to treat myself to pretty purple toe polish, and a brand new handbag. Had to threaten to show my driver’s license to someone that didn’t believe I turned forty six. And over all just felt super-loved. Even by people who weren’t near me.

Today is the last day of IWotB and I intend to capitalize on it! That means special dinner (I’m not sure what it’ll be just yet.) and I’m thinking…angel food cake with fresh berries. Yum!
Happy Birthday to me!

Categories: me | Tags: Alan Cumming, baseball, celebrate, international week of the birthday, La La Land, love, pressie, Washington Nationals | Leave a comment

International Week of the Birthday ~ day four

Posted on May 10, 2017 by robynbird

Well, today isn’t super celebratory.
Thing 2 decided not to come this week. I am disappointed. I am sad. My feelings are hurt. But, what really strikes me is that I’m not terribly surprised. I’m not sure how I’m going to process this. Only, I do know that I can’t let it ruin Birthday Birthday week. I’m going to take time to be sad and then I’ll go back to celebrating myself.
(I may be writing a bit more optimistically than I feel.)

Oh my golly!
The UPS guy brought my first pressie!
This precious little hand carved duck from my friend and mentor Jessica!

Isn’t this the sweetest thing?
It comes from dcuk, The Duck Company in England. How precious!

I kind of love that this little boy duck is rocking the pink polka dotted wellies.

Breakfast for dinner will make this day complete. Breakfast foods are my all time favorites, and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate myself this week!

Categories: me | Tags: birthday, breakfast for dinner, celebrate, dcuk the duck company, disappointment, international week of the birthday, joy and sadness, pressie | Leave a comment

red like me

Posted on July 15, 2016 by robynbird

I bought myself a little pressie yesterday, and thanks to Amazon Prime, it arrived today.

They’re oil based colored pencils! They’re supposed to work like oil pastels without the mess…guess we’ll see about that.

Look! This one is red just like me!

Categories: me | Tags: color, colored pencils, coloring, oil pastels, pressie, red | 5 Comments

an unexpected gift

Posted on February 18, 2016 by robynbird

Sundance and I spent the afternoon together yesterday. We went to lunch, (Mexican, YUM!) went to get our hair done, (two cute new dos) and ran errands (to purchase ribbon at AC Moore).
We came back home and hung out while I made her some bows. YBW came home excited to see Sundance. (They were very close friends in elementary school.) There were hugs and kisses then he went into the other room. But the noises were not those of him emptying his pockets like he normally does. They were of metal banging and rustling plastic. Sundance and I looked at each other waiting for him to find the pressie I left on his chair.
He comes into the room with his hands behind his back. Then he presents us with the precious dollies we fell in love with when we went to say goodbye, Why Not?.

Redhaired “Adele” for me and brunette “Jeanne” for Sundance.
(Yes, there was squealing!)

After Sundance left I took my dollie upstairs to our bedroom.
I thanked YBW again and told him it was kind of him to get both dollies. He told he almost gave me mine for Valentine’s day, but he’s glad he waited because the look on Sundance’s face made it all worth it.
What a sneaky bugger my husband is.
What a precious, kind man my husband is.

I was all smiles this morning when little Adele greeted me from my comfy chair.

I picked her up and hugged her and started my day. Her face makes my heart so happy I can hardly stand it!

Categories: love, me | Tags: best friends, dollies, excited, friendship, gift of love, giggles, happy, joy, love, moulin roty, pressie, rag doll, Sundance, valentines day, why not, wonderful gift, YBW | 3 Comments

how ‘charm’ing

Posted on December 29, 2015 by robynbird

This gift was hidden in the branches of the Christmas tree.

YBW is quite pleased with himself for surprising me with it.

I expressed that just because I wrote about it didn’t mean he was supposed to get it.
He replied that he didn’t like that there wasn’t a surprise for me and the charm fixed that.

I worried for a while about it.
That doesn’t mean I’m not excited by or unappreciative of the gift! I adore it! And it was a lovely surprise.

I worried about whether or not it seemed passive aggressive. Did he think that I wrote about it as a way to get him to purchase it for me?
That’s not my style.
I know he knows that, but I did have concerns.

I know what motivates me.
I didn’t write about that charm to manipulate my husband into purchasing it.
He didn’t purchase it because I wrote about it.

I guess I should let it go…
I have this precious charm to add to my bracelet. We’ll be making a trip over to Tiffany’s after Thing 1 and fiance N leave.

Nothing bad comes in a little blue box and I have the sweetest man who knows that.

Categories: me | Tags: charm bracelet, charms, Christmas, Christmas tree, excited, gift of love, joy, love, pressie, Tiffany's, YBW | 2 Comments

Dude, I got mad skills.

Posted on December 10, 2015 by robynbird

Thing 1 sent me a message yesterday in the late afternoon: So, I totally didn’t inherit your wrapping ability.

This made me giggle.
It’s true that I have exceptional gift wrapping abilities.

I suggested it was because she didn’t have as many years of practice as I have.
She has fine motor dyspraxia. A condition that has plagued her all her life. I reminded her of this, and assured her that it’s not an excuse, but it can certainly contribute to having trouble.

She told me that she would wrap a gift beautifully and feel like she’s getting the hang of it, but then the next one would look as though a two year old wrapped it.

I think she needs practice. I offered to help her.
To which she replied the most Thing 1 thing: You must verse me in the ways of the present wrapping, oh mighty queen of the world.

Then she sent me a photo.

I think they look pretty decent. No, they’re not up to my wrapping standards…but that doesn’t make a bit of difference. I absolutely love that Tiffany blue paper with the white swirls!

I feel the same way about wrapping gifts that I feel about folding laundry. I love it! Everything about it. The orderly-ness of folding and stacking. Getting the seams folded just right and taped up. Then bows and ribbons to make it froufy.
I’m thrilled to help her learn to make fancy pressies! Moms should always attempt to pass their skills along.
I don’t know that I’m especially good at it for any reason other than my love of the process.

Here’s a sample from under our tree.

Does practice make perfect? Not always, there are times when I see a gift I wrapped and cringe. Then there are times when I’d like to start a museum for beautifully wrapped gifts.
I’m not sure it matters who wraps the prettiest gifts.
I don’t think N cares that Thing 1 may have wrapped his gifts a little wonkily.
I don’t think anybody I gift cares how much work I put into making their packages pretty.
I encourage the ripping of paper as gifts are being opened.
It all ends up going out with the recycling in the end.

And here’s a truth, that girl can out bake me eight times out of ten. Perhaps we’re just skilled at what we’re skilled at? Or are we simply better at doing the things we love?
Doesn’t matter.
I’ll wrap.
She can bake.
And that way, everybody ends up happy.

Categories: me, on being a mom | Tags: bake, baking, bows, Christmas, Christmas baking, Christmas gifts, dude I got mad skills, happy, love, pressie, ribbons, Thing1, wrap, wrapping paper, wrapping presents | 2 Comments

santa baby

Posted on December 7, 2015 by robynbird

I absolutely adore this holiday tune!
The original was recorded in 1953 by the ever fabulous Eartha Kitt.
You can listen here: Santa Baby ~ Eartha Kitt

She sings her wishlist to Santa in a playful and sexy way.
I like this combination of playful and sexy. She was a sex bomb! But she was also a down to earth kind of girl. I love that about her. I love that about myself. I’m playful. I’m sexy. And I’m not afraid to be either, or both.

She also asks for a sable which was much more acceptable in 1953 than in 2015, but like Eartha, I too, long for one.
She wants a ring, but not on the phone. How sassy is that?
(I don’t need a ring, Santa. YBW sorted that for me.)
I am, however a great big fan of things that come in the legendary little blue box, so if you’d like to decorate with baubles from Tiffany, I support that wholeheartedly!

In 2011 came an unlikely remake of Santa Baby. By the ever delicious Michael Buble.
Now at first, I was confused.
Then I listened.
You can listen here: Santa Baby ~ Michael Buble

The first time I listened I felt annoyed. There was a whole lot of me thinking: Lookahere, buster! Did you really need to remake this song if you were going to make all these changes?
But then I listened more and began to enjoy it.

He calls Santa: buddy, pally, dude and poppy. It’s obviously more “guy like” than calling him baby. But I think that’s a bit of the problem. It’s as though he and Santa are pals. It doesn’t seem as much singing a wishlist as much as talking with one of his buddies.
(Actually I rather enjoy when he calls Santa ‘dude’. It makes me giggle.)

Of course the things he asks for had to change, partly because he’s a guy and partly with the times. Almost sixty years later, we simply want different things. (A sable, for example, isn’t OK to want in this day and age and we all know why.)
So he asks for a Rolex instead. A fancy watch because he’s a guy. He also changes the car from a ’54 convertible to a ’65 convertible. This guy wants a muscle car not a big ol’ finned boat. Changes the color too, maybe light blue is too girlie for him? He asks for steel blue.
He wants hockey tickets and “cha-ching”. Apparently Tiffany’s isn’t up his alley, he opts for decorations from Mercedes.
But really, dude, why you gonna hang the Mercedes symbol on your tree, that’s just sad. Don’t you know all good things come in the little blue box?

So boys are weird. But this we know.
Anyway, I love his version of this song too. Not as much as the original…probably because I’m a girl. Though I am with Michael on one thing…I’d rather have a muscle car than a big ol’ finned boat. But I’d want mine BRG not steel blue. (I’m just sayin’)

Mostly what I’d like to say is this:
Thanks, Santa Baby. Because I’m getting the best pressie this year! And it’s not in a little blue box.
It’s having my whole family with me to celebrate my most favorite holiday. Two girls and three boys and a new part of my family too, one more boy.
But if you do think I’ve been an awful good girl, I’m open to a new (Tiffany) charm for my (Tiffany) bracelet…I’ll leave it up to you.

Categories: me | Tags: 54 convertible, 65 convertible, British Racing Green, celebrate, Christmas, Eartha Kitt, family, favorite holiday, little blue box, love, Mercedes, Michael Buble, muscle car, pressie, Rolex, sable, Santa, Santa Baby, Santa Claus, Tiffany's | 2 Comments

cookies = love

Posted on October 8, 2015 by robynbird

When Thing 1 was a little girl she loved all things chocolate.

Nabisco began to make seasonally themed Oreos, which presented my mom the opportunity to foster this chocolate love by sending Thing 1 a package of colorful Oreos.
This was sacred between Thing 1 and her Grandmommy.
Of course, Grandmommy would also send packages to Thing 2. She’d send things to her “grandbabies” Girlie Thing and Boy Thing. She’d even send things for the former husband.
I talked about it a little bit in blowing a kiss, that love of sending and receiving little trinkets in the mail.

I learned the word surcee when I lived in South Carolina. It’s a little something, a trinket, a surprise gift. I love that word, but never adopted it into my vocabulary.
I use the word pressie. It has the same meaning and rolls off my tongue with more ease.

I sent a little pressie to Thing 1. A package of Halloween Oreos.

I know it’s not quite right…I’m not her beloved Grandmommy…but I feel compelled to send them. To keep up the tradition.
Even though a part of me feels like it might be wrong. It wasn’t my tradition.
Perhaps it is simply that I understand the power of the love behind the act and want her to feel it.
But my girl needs cookies.