Tuesday, February 21, 2012

We Are The Weirdos




As a teenager, I spent most of my time driving all over Denver with my three best friends, in one old Honda or another, seeing movies and eating Italian food and daring each other to do things like go through the drive-thru backwards or take the forbidden bus exit off the highway, the one that goes underground and says BUSES ONLY(scandalous, I know). We called ourselves The Blood Sisters, and liked to pretend we were the girls from that 90's girl power gem, The Craft. We each had a direction. I was West (I lobbied hard for West) and when we needed a little magic, to make doors swing open at school or to become impervious to unrequited love and popular-girl disdain, we would chant "North, South, East, West, Craft, Craft, Craft!!"

So as you can see, we weren't going on a lot of dates. My friends did occasionally, but never me. I can say this now because of years of therapy high self-confidence. When we weren't out, awkwardly trying to make some coffee shop "our" place (like on 'Friends')by over-staying our welcome and over-tipping, or "crusing", in the technically illegal sense, around the Arvada mall or sitting in King Soopers eating Ben & Jerry's and browsing Teen Beat for pictures of boy bands, I was content to be at home with my family.

My family isn't exactly normal either. We sing in restaurants and talk to each other in accents and the first time I brought my now-husband home to meet them, we all thought it would be funny to pretend my parents were alcoholics and scare him. It made more sense at the time. But before that, back in high school, if I wasn't out dabbling in witch craft I was at home, where every Saturday smelled of barbecue and the soundtrack to every evening was Garrison Keillor. I was content at home, penning damply emotional poetry, or gleaning a rich sexual education from novels, or spending my requisite hours on the phone. My sister's room was right next to mine. "I can hear everything you're saying," she would taunt me. We got along, mostly, in high school, and if we weren't driving around together listening to Save Ferris and Aqua, my sister would sit in her room and make things. The first thing she made me was an Altoids tin covered in pictures of moons and stars that she'd gleaned mainly from the Delia's catalog. She didn't have modge-podge then, so she'd stuck the pictures to the tin with clear glittery nail polish and presented it to me. It was lovely. It was so me, back then. I still have it.

Now my sister has refined her artistic talent and uses it to run a small business and throw incredible parties. On Sunday she threw a Red Riding Hood themed party for her daughter Violet's very first birthday. Violet has red hair, and I am sick with envy. I wanted a little ginger kid, someone to smell like sunscreen and stay inside with me year 'round, in the dark, where it's safe. There, there now. Safe little ginger. Mommy's got you.

Anyway, my blonde sister got the red-headed child who earned the nickname (what else?) Little Red. And the red-headed child turned one. Below are the results.




Ayla, Cousin Eisley, and Owl Indy


Who doesn't love a craft? (Besides me.)



I make funny expressions when I talk to people:




Me with my lovely sis and the birthday girl, Viv. (Short for Violet).


(My style secrets, you ask? I have two hippie tunics and one hip-modest cardigan and I wear them to every single holiday, party, and wedding. Done.)


My mom, my grandma, my daughter


My mom and dad



Red Scares The Wolf



Look, I might spread Nutella on a Wal-Mart croissant and call it a work of art, but my sister is the real deal. You can visit her blog here, where I'm sure she'll have a party post up soon, with lovelier pictures. (Vintage photos are probably out now. I'll be the last to know it). Or you can visit her craft blog, Lark & Lola, where she does amazing things like turn tea towels into pillows I covet, and is kind enough to tell you how.

Now hipsters, please excuse me. I have to go pen some damp emotional poetry and steer backwards through the Wendy's drive-thru window.

XOXO
-V

10 comments:

  1. I can't express how much I'm loving your blog... Your writing style is perfection! So glad I found you!

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  2. Nicole, you are so sweet. I'm glad we've inter-met. Thanks for reading the blog!

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  3. It was so lovely to meet you and your family. I am pretty sure there are a lot of people coveting your childhood memories. Aren't sisters the best?

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  4. Kellee, it was great to meet you too. Your cookies were gorgeous.

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  5. Bea, this post was lovely. I made me both laugh out loud and tear up.

    Thank you :) I love you and... anytime you're up for cruising the town blasting Come On Eileen, just so you know, I'm still game.

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  6. Oh, my god. I loved every word of this post. You are MUCH younger than I am, but I would have joined your weird club. Your "exploits" reminded me of mine with my best friend Audrey -- we were such nice, good girls who thought ourselves so wild when we went to the movies ON A SCHOOL NIGHT!

    This post also made me wonder if you've read the book "The Family Fang." If you haven't, you should. Now I'm going to check out your sister's blog. That cake was outrageous, and I do love a themed birthday party.

    The word verification thing has gone nuts: bykesia DISORDER

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  7. Hea, if you ever finish my book, you'll get to 'Barbie Girl'. Love you.

    Elizabeth, The Family Fang is one of my favorite books ever. I haven't enjoyed a book that much in a long time. I hate word verification. I'm turning mine off, too.

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  8. What a great post! You guys have such a fun family. It was great to meet you. I also love how Heather has been crafting cool little things since she was young. :)

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  9. Jan, it was so great to meet you, and thanks for trying to help me with my photog skills!

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  10. I am just now catching up with some reading/commenting, as you may have noticed. I checked out your sister's party pics on her blog and seriously, every single one could be on Pinterest! It makes me feel highly inferior, since I usually just throw some cupcakes at the kids on their Birthday and call it a day. ;)

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