dancing

ann and dabney just love this and wish they had thought of it on their global adventure.

as seen in the boston globe:
meet matt...

son of a bad ass

see this little guy? this little wholesome, sweeter than honey, number? you'd never guess that his mom was out chugging beer and martinis AND rocking out to bon jovi live at gillette stadium last night. but rock out she did. which meant that ann and dabney got to babysit her son for the evening.


evan loves all sources of light, including the flash on the camera. dabney took so many pictures, she fears she blinded him.


dabney singing "little bunny foo foo," which proved less popular than the old classic "itsy bitsy spider," but perhaps slightly more popular than "i'm a little teapot."


kickin' it in the crib, dreaming of the days when he too can go see the jovi.

float trip(s)

yep, it's true. last week while dabney was in boston sweating away while walking the dog, filling orders, and cleaning the closet, ann figured out the best way to endure the 90 degree heat (but no humidity) of eastern washington state -- tubing. back home in missouri, this activity (make that inactivity) is appropriately called "floating." and that's exactly what she and her best bud, jb, did for a day -- bobbed around the icicle river.

and, no, they didn't have the big, black (ergo hot) tubes that leave smudge marks on the back of your legs. they spent the day in a modern-day innertube complete with backrest and cupholder. fancy.


jb also fashioned a cooler/ottoman for her strenuous day of floating


that's the look of pure content

yesterday, on a quick day trip to vermont to bid adieu to dabney's mom who is moving to hawaii, ann made the suggestion that they go floating all together. and once again, fun was had by all -- despite the shorter trip, shallower water, plentiful rapids, and old-school innertubes. unfortunately, they have no pictures to share from their vermont excursion, but ann does have a small bruise on her bum from a darn boulder.

birthday tee

thanks to ashbloem and american boy, this cool shirt will be the first threadless tee in ann's wardrobe. click below to see details.

busy birthday beaver

after her red eye on thursday night, ann slept most of friday morning away, despite the fact that it was her birthday. while she snoozed, dabney toiled away in the kitchen cutting, slicing and dicing. for ann's big day, dab planned a whole day of ann's favorite things- that is, food, beginning with a lakeside picnic in larz anderson park in nearby brookline. ann thought she had been there before, but upon arrival, realized she was getting her urban oases mixed up. they picked a nice spot under a tree and away from the mowers.


larz anderson park

it was the first time they used this oh-so-colorful chinese-style lunchbox that they picked up in bangkok back in may. they thought it so cute at the time that they swore more picnics would be in store for them this summer. eh, one is not so bad.


lunchbox


pictured (clockwise from left to right): zucchini pancakes, egg salad, tomato/mozzarella/basil salad, carrots, and spicy cucumber salad.

and as if that weren't enough, dabney planned a special meal later that evening complete with festive handmade decorations. and to prove her unconditional love for her annie, the girl cooked meat - a very rare occasion indeed. ashbloem and american boy added the party zeal and appropriate meat lovers' appreciation.



between all the menu preparations, shopping, marinating, and requisite chopping, dabney also found the time to create ann a one-of-a-kind birthday present - her very own tee bag, shoe bag, and beaded stroke counter for her favorite pastime. ann just adored them all.

happy birthday annie!

dabney loves you very much sweet girl.

okay, she admits it.

dabney isn't as good as ann is about updating the blog. in her defense, she has had A LOT of movie watching to do in ann's absence. and wine drinking. and watching movies while drinking wine.

ann returns tomorrow and you can bet she'll crack the blog whip again. and then fun will be had by all.

feidler and the fan. a love story, interrupted.

as ann was getting ready to leave for seattle, dabney stupidly opened her mouth and said that she'd try to clean the bedroom closet this week. so today, while feidler hogged the circulating air, dab slogged it out in the heat to get it done.

the before:



the after:



halfway through all the cleaning, ann pix messaged a photo of herself tubing down some river in the middle of washington state, with butt and feet immersed in ice cold water. when dabney told feidler this, his already hot hairy little body threatened to out and out combust, starting with the eyeballs. not even his fan could sooth him.

see feidler, mad:

uggh.

ann left boston this weekend for the lovely northwest, while dabney remained behind to sweat it out in the heat and humidity of the northeast. so far she's already seen one movie in the theatres and about fifteen by pay-per-view. quality was not a consideration when choosing said movies, only air conditioning.

how to get an old dog to eat his supper, (a.k.a. recipe for "magic" sauce)

1. fill dog bowl with his plain old regular dogfood.
   


2. reach into refrigerator for a bottle, preferably with something audibly sloshy inside.
   


3. without removing cap, vigorously shake bottle over dog bowl, all the while making lots of liquidy-good noises, as dog watches.
   


4. enthusiasm works well here in getting the dog's attention by adding "look, feidler, magic sauce! umm. good."
   



5. watch dog eagerly munch away.



6. laugh at stupid old dog.



7. repeat twice a day.

new family member

last week, dabney had to do it. her ibook has been a sick puppy for a long time now: it puttered along at yawn-inducing leisure, its lid couldn't close, and its trackpad button made an unusual crunching sound each time it was clicked. so without further ado, she went out and purchased a shiny-new laptop. ann was a little green with envy but soon warmed up to the newest member of the family.

while ann was gawking at the macbook's intel core duo with its nearly 2 GHz CPU speed and its glossy wide screen, dabney couldn't get enough of its photobooth feature.




then, ann couldn't help but join in on the funhouse silliness.

cinderfugerella

while rooting around in her mom's house this past weekend, dabney found a few gems hidden in the back of a closet.

behold, a vision of dabney on the night of her junior prom. imagine a french braid, dyed-to-match shoes, and some peach-toned makeup, and you've pretty much got the picture.



apparently, chloe sevigny has an equally hard time letting go of the memories of her big night in high school:



soon after these were taken, the white limo pulled up to take dabney and chloe back to 1989. the driver was more than happy to swing by cinderella's magic castle to return dab's loaner dress.

which is a good thing, because dabney couldn't wait to take that plum velvet number off. which, come to think of it, was just like her prom night.

videos from last week

Route 100 on Vimeo




make new friends on Vimeo




Sailboat on Vimeo

another vermont 4th of july

10 days away and no explanation, no warning, nothing. it's shameful really. but ask ann and dabney where they have spent the last week and you will have to hear about the splendid landscape of rolling hills, the sparkling weather, the artisanal cheese, and microbrewed beer of their favorite state that is vermont. they played tennis, golfed, basked in the warmth of the campfire, wallowed in swimming holes, and generally enjoyed the company of folks who accompanied them this same time last year. they love this new july tradition.


jess, ann, dabney, and girlladyfriend

just as last year, dabney's mom kindly hosted a summer barbeque complete with burgers, dogs, corn, pimm's cups, and of course, a baby to pass around and cuddle.


it just seemed right to have a texan manning the barbie.


nebraska and will


jess & isaac


in the hammock that everyone was convinced had sedatives pumped into its fibers are philipp and carmela.


evan and dabney

over the next few days, the group splintered off into sporty and sunning groups but reconvened one afternoon to practice their alpine sledding technique.


the u.s. national alpine sledding team


american boy coming down the mountain with jenbrown hot at his heels, ok, make that butt.


carmela at the finish

the cold waters of vermont didn't detract this hardy group.


swimming at buttermilk falls

and what's a visit to vermont without tasting the fruits of the state, namely maple syrup and cheese?

the syrup tasting twins, ashbloem and girlladyfriend


a quick stop at the simon pearce glassblowing factory for the view

after wednesday, ann, dabney, and jenbrown found themselves all alone and so spent the rest of their week in the green mountain state driving around looking at views and searching the area for more swimming holes.


montpelier


one of the swimming holes ann, dabney, and jenbrown scouted for next year. tubing will definitely make next year's agenda.


a morbid sign near a pretty waterfall

and just when they thought they had experienced all that vermont had to offer, a new adventure -- sailing on lake champlain with al, leandre, and evan!


first mate, evan


flaking the sail, whatever the hell that means


ann couldn't help but hum a little christopher cross while aboard


lake champlain at sunset

it was a superb outdoorsy kind of week. that said, it was exhausting, too.


feidler and his roomie, jenbrown