tollipop

caroline's fête extraordinaire and the dynamic duo who pulled it off...

First, a confession:  I'm not one of those moms who craves hosting birthday parties.  I'm just not.  We could get into a long analysis of my reservations on the matter, but you really don't need to know about my childhood of being raised with wolves nor my abiding fear of a pack of sugared-up kids. 

And it's not like I haven't made the effort.  Because believe me, I've sewn scores of tiny aprons well into the night...only to watch in horror the next day as my visions of a quaint cookie decorating experience devolve into a Lord of the Flies scenario with little girls waxing territorial over the sprinkles and threatening one another with plastic knives.  I've done that.  And I've practically forfeited my eyesight in the quest to create matching paper dolls for each precious partygoer...only to field cries of distress once they realized that was the only favor.  And my signature mishap, the one I've pulled time and again: organizing a craft which is well beyond the children's skill level (as in: since when can't a four year old handle a glue gun??) and thus being confronted with ten budding Michaelangelos who expect me to assemble their miniature Sistine Chapels using toothpicks, crayons, and corrosive chemicals all at the very same time. 

So needless to say, it seemed as if the heavens had opened a few weeks ago when Sophie and Izzy approached me with the idea of planning Caroline's birthday party by themselves.   I honestly felt the weight of the universe lift from my shoulders.  And I am telling you, dear reader, the entire experience was a thing of beauty from start to finish.  The scurryings and the whispers, the huddled and hushed meetings, the lists, the diagrams, the rejected lists and diagrams, the starting anew with a fresh sheet of paper!  The girls did all this and more. 

And when they finally narrowed down their ideas and mapped the occasion just so, I took them to Target with a nominal budget and set them loose on the store.

It was a sight to behold.  The agonizing, the handwringing, the tallying of numbers in their notebook (and the clicking of the pen!), the placing and returning of items in the basket, the combinations and permutations of cheap, plastic goods!  And when it came time to check out, how they hovered over the unwitting clerk, eyeballing the total with clenched fists and pale countenances.  Would they come in under the limit?  It was getting close!  But they did.  They did!  They beat their budget!  And a cheer erupted at checkstand #6 the likes of which has never been witnessed in a Target store before nor since. 

And now I leave you with a brief, pictorial essay portraying the lovely time enjoyed by one and all, a celebration planned and executed entirely by my two sweet girls, which was every bit as much a gift to their grateful mother as it was to their delighted little sister.

The spread:

 

The salon (and Sophie's cast is off!):

  

The cakewalk:

 

The culminating moment:

Caroline said she wants next year's party to be exactly like this one.  Sophie and Izzy were speechless with delight.  

So was I.  

make one hundred somethings: an open invitation

Dear reader,

If you've spent any amount of time browsing through Tollipop, you may be aware that my mom passed away in January, just a little more than a year after she received the diagnosis of a particularly aggressive form of cancer.  Especially as of late, but even throughout these past eleven months since she died, I often find myself lost in a nostalgic gauging of time with thoughts of what she was doing one year ago from the present day.  The memories are visceral, sometimes sad, and always filled with a deep love and longing for her.

I mention this experience because of something amazing I learned from it.  One day, several months after my mom's death and while I was feeling quite lost in my sadness over the situation, I had the sudden inclination to make something. 

What was I going to make?  I didn't know.  But the thought was a lovely distraction and I still remember how it glowed in my mind like a tiny light, drawing me toward it.

I decided to unpack my paints, which had lain untouched during the tumultuous year of my mom's illness.  It was both intimidating and exciting to start drawing again, so strangely mesmerizing to mix the beautiful colors and watch them seep into the paper.  I was immediately aware of the zen quality of this experience--how it was able to take me away, or perhaps bring me into the moment without distraction.  Whatever it was, it felt wonderful. 

This story keeps going, but the point I wanted to make is how vital creativity is to one's happiness and ability to cope well through life's ups and downs.  It even seems there is something about sadness, as long as it isn't too severe, which oddly suits the inspiration to create.  I believe everyone is inherently creative, that the umbrella of creativity covers a wide spectrum, and that this world would be a healthier place if people took more time to develop this aspect of their being. 

With that said, I am extending an invitation to join me and others who have expressed an interest in the Tollipop Hundred Dresses project.  What one hundred somethings could you make?  It doesn't need to be elaborate or worthy of virtuosic skills.  Trust me.  It doesn't even need to be one hundred, for that matter.  But you might enjoy the challenge, the outlet, the deep sense of satisfaction that comes from making something exist that wasn't there before. 

Just think about it.  Your one hundred somethings.  One hundred somethings that didn't exist until you created them.  The thought alone brings good energy, a light in your mind.  You may as well get busy and follow it--there's just no telling where you might go!

  

p.s.  I should note this is hardly groundbreaking news, the notion of creativity as therapy, and I've always been aware of how good it feels to make things.  It's just I don't think I quite realized, until this past year, how much power lies within a single french dot to take one's mind off the troubles at hand. How it can, without changing anything about the situation, make one feel better in the moment and how that feeling lingers even after the embroidery has been set aside. 

and the winner is...

 

Rachel!  Fair Rachel!  To be specific, the lovely Rachel who left a comment regarding the tantalizing shortbread she planned to enjoy in celebration of St. Andrew's Day.  Congratulations, Rachel!  You are the winner of the fourth and final Tollipop Hundred Dresses giveaway!  Three cheers for you!  And how positively intriguing to note that the past two winners hail from Scotland, of all magical places!  What are the odds?  I assure you, Caroline conducted these drawings with the utmost care and precision, so I simply cannot account for the coincidence other than to say, isn't it marvelous?!  Rachel, let's get in touch, darling, and exchange shortbread recipes, addresses, and the like. 

To the rest of you, I extend my deepest thanks for visiting Tollipop and playing along so nicely.  I do so enjoy your company and the kind and amusing things you say.  I hope something lovely will happen to you today in lieu of this giveaway.  Something lovely, say, like a perfectly fitting pair of jeans, or a baby who agrees to sleep through the night, or the sudden discovery that you do have a fantastic singing voice after all.  Barring this, I wish you, as always, a prom date with Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy.  And may he show up on your doorstep bearing a nosegay of wildflowers accompanied by a bat-sized Toblerone chocolate bar! 

And now I must run.  Caroline is asking me to read Old Man Coyote (though I only get past two sentences before she barrages me with questions about forest animal hierarchy, food chains, etc.), Sophie has an appointment to get her cast removed, and there are piano lessons, dinner plans, and possibly some laundry demanding my attention.  Wishing you a lovely Wednesday!

thanksgiving feast

We spent the Thanksgiving weekend with Roger's family in L.A. this year--a lovely cast of characters who filled the gathering with a sense of the patrician as well as the...odd.  But delightfully odd, comfortably odd, as in: John Wayne impression of a turkey gobble odd! 

To be clear, the aunts are the patrician ones.  

   

Cousins play while a mysteriously miffed Caroline looks on.  Oh, the ennui of these childish games!

 

A rare sighting of the lone male in our nest.

 

Scumps!  (Meaningful to those of you who speak Middle English, are hobbits, or listened to Disney's Sleeping Beauty soundtrack as a child.  The question is, in which category do I belong?)

 

And now I bring you the John Wayne impression of a turkey gobble.  Look at that audience--they're enraptured, captivated, overly fed!  Which is nothing if not serendipitous, as the uncle off to the right (in the wings, as we say in the theatre business) is waiting to bring out his James Bond turkey gobble.  After that, we were favored with Donald Duck and an arsenal of impressions lasting until the aunts announced dessert.  Needless to say, we are terribly fond of our charmingly odd uncles!   

 

*******

Just a reminder that the Tollipop Hundred Dresses giveaway is still in full swing!  You can enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post!

happy birthday, caroline!

The party invitation:

 

Goodness gracious!  How time flew!

Caroline is four plus two!

Won’t you come and join the fun

With Caroline, who’s five plus one?

Her sisters plan to run the show,

It’s sure to be a blast, you know!

All kinds of secret thrills, a lark!

(Their mother’s rather in the dark—

Which she considered quite sublime

Until they asked for overtime!)

They’ll paint your toes red, orange, pink!

You’ll simply look divine, I think!

(Let’s hope your mother doesn’t faint

At toes in multicolor paint!)

They’ll do your hair in fancy styles,

And give you dainty things to eat,

So bring your pretty manners, dear,

This party will be such a treat!

On Saturday, as you shall see,

For Caroline, who’s three plus three!

******

 

Dear reader--I know, I realize I said I would not be back at the Tollipop helm before Wednesday, but the whirl of gaiety that is tearing through our house simply demands a certain degree of acknowledgement.  Miss Caroline is six years old!  She is my youngest and it fairly hurts to see her sprout up at this astonishing rate.  For the most part I consider myself a person who accepts the passage of time (partly because I don't make a habit of noticing it), but there are moments like this which catch me off guard and force my awareness, and I wonder that my sweet, chubby-cheeked baby has been so quickly replaced by this eager, delightful kindergartener.  How grateful I am to be sharing this ride with her, and as it shows no signs of slowing down, I may as well just hang on and enjoy.