I Heart Faces: Celebrating Teens

This week at I Heart Faces, the challenge is all about teens. This photo of two of April's besties, Sarah and Rosie, was taken at our Christmas Party a couple years ago.

In just a few days, the four of them (April, Sarah, Rosie & Andrea) are headed on a wild adventure across Europe. Have so much fun, girls!

(and be safe, too...)

Love,
the traveling stahr... 

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For You, Daddy

Here I am, sitting on my terribly uncomfortable Ikea couch, in my soon-to-be-old Melbourne apartment. The one I’ll look fondly upon years from now, when I remember the leap of faith—and geography—Curtis and I took in the year following my graduation.

The carpets are tattered and the mold spreads out in faint paisley prints across the bathroom ceiling, but in time, I won’t remember these discomforts. I’ll feel instead the warmth of the beach that was right across the road, and hear the dull roar from the bars on Fitzroy Street, where the locals and backpackers and junkies and lawyers all mingled to breathe in the air that is St Kilda.

Here I am, miles from you and so far away, and yet, every day we are connected. Because it was you who two years ago so plainly suggested that we “go away somewhere,” over lunch at the cozy Irish Pub in Tremblant. It was you who imbued within me a sense of adventure so strong that I begin staring into the distance, searching for a new journey on which to embark, merely months after settling into patterns, still fresh. It was you who showed me a world so big, and a world so accessible, requiring only the courage to reach out and touch it.

So thank you. Thank you for bringing me along to Take Your Daughter to Work Day at the White House when I was nine (even if I paid more attention to the free souvenir backpack than I did to Hillary Clinton’s speech). Thank you for always making me feel safe, not by shielding me from the inherent dangers of life, but by giving me the skills to tackle them head-on (or at least to try). Thank you for guiding me every step of the way on my path to the present (even if that guidance was requested the day before a big paper was due). And thank you for always believing in me.

From Melbourne, Australia, and from the bottom of my heart, happy Father’s Day, Daddy. You will always be my hero. And I will always be your little girl.

I love you,
Lolo

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Happy Birthday 'Lil Bro

Dearest brother,

Today, you are Seventeen. Seventeen!

Seriously though, how did that happen? It seems like just yesterday you were but a bump in Mum's belly, and April wanted to name you Abu, after the monkey in Aladdin.

Do you remember when you were so small and I pretended you were my very own American Girl Doll so I could dress you up in outfits matching mine? (I really hope not...)

Or when you were almost two, sitting in your high chair and we would never tire of asking you what sounds different animals make. You knew them all. Especially the grand finale of our little show, "what sound does a garbage truck make?"

"Pew, pew," you would say, pinching your little nose with two tiny fingers.

But then you grew up, as little boys do, and learned to do some incredible things. Like this:

I know there is nothing on this earth you can't do, no feat you can't conquer, no dream you can't achieve. You greet life head on, shouting, Take a look, World, because here I am.

And I grow more proud of you each passing day.

Happy Birthday Abu.

I will always love you.

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I Heart Faces: Yellow

This is Curtis' twin Corey. They are like two peas in a pod, and I know they will both be very happy to be reunited with their "better halves" when we get back home to Canada.

For more yellow-themed pics, head on over to I Heart Faces!

Love,
the traveling stahr...

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I Heart Faces: Celebrating Mom

This week at I Heart Faces, the challenge is Celebrating Mom. My Aunt is one of the most amazing moms I know - here she is with one of her beautiful, lucky girls:

You can see it in their eyes,

in tender hugs and long good-byes,

a love that only moms and daughters know... 

(Anonymous)

♥ Lulu

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Dear Mum,

I love you.

I’m pretty sure you knew that already, but I thought I’d take a minute to tell you why.

I love you because you are an unending source of support in my life. You have always believed in me, even when I’ve had a hard time believing in myself. I love you because you are honest with me, and because you encourage me, in turn, to be open and honest and unguarded with you. I love our relationship—our friendship—that blossoms with each passing year, and each passing Skype date.

Thank you for being my hairdresser, my chauffeur, my photographer, my psychologist, my best friend. Thank you for loving me and listening to me and laughing with me. Thank you for teaching me how to mend a pair of jeans, a broken heart. Thank you for showing me how to tackle all things domestic, and how to reach for the stars in my professional life. And thank you for telling me that I can have both, that I can make it work, that I can do it all.

Thank you for being my Mom.

You will always be the most beautiful woman I know.

Happy Mother’s Day!

I love you,

♥ Lulubelle

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I Heart Faces: Smiles

It's "Smiles" week over at I Heart Faces, and after wading through many, many happy grins, I decided upon this one taken of April a couple of Christmases ago.

♥,
ts...

P.S. The first installment of Tales from "Down Under" the Table is coming soon. (In the next couple of days!)

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To My Favorite Sister

It’s your twentieth birthday!

You are officially two decades old. TWO DECADES. How did you get so old? Remember when you were only this big and I could still pick on you?

Those were the days…

But then you grew up. And now I can’t blame you for the mistakes I make, like I did that one time I wrote all over my bedroom wall in permanent marker, and swore to mum it was you.

Look how we grew up!

Now you’re not just my sister who stole my things without asking (and whose things I stole without asking, too). You’re my best friend. A girl I’ve cried with, laughed with, gotten drunk with, gotten sick of, yelled at, learned from, envied, despised, and missed tremendously.

I miss you tremendously.

Love,

your favorite sister…

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