2012 Resolutions, Update

Happy Leap Day everyone! I think it's important for you all to know that I have down absolutely nothing exciting or out of the ordinary on my extra day. I hope you did. It’s been 2 full months since I made my resolutions. I thought you’d like to see a little update, a report card if you will, on how it’s going.


Stop spending money on Tall Caramel Macchiatos. Since the start of the New Year, I have not gone to Starbucks once. (Ok, that's a lie. I wrote this post a week ago and since then my espresso machine has mysteriously stopped working. For the past 5 days, I've been good and only had tea, but today, I broke down and stopped at Starbucks. But I figure, since it's Leap Day, it doesn't really count. I mean, next year, Leap Day won't even exist!) Not counting today, (which I won't because it doesn't exist 3 out of every 4 years), my homemade, morning latte has now become part of my routine (which, for me at least, is the only way to make a successful life change). And once I "troubleshoot" (seriously, that was the exact word the Customer Service Rep at Cuisinart used) my beloved espresso machine and hopefully have it back up and running, my routine will be restored. I bought a large bag of espresso beans for $25 and even after making a latte every weekday morning (I weirdly prefer tea on the weekends), I haven’t used nearly half of the bag. So, this new little habit of mine has helped me save enough money for…


Buy a pair of Frye Boots. …these gorgeous boots: 


Use coupons. I finally found the perfect solution to my never-remembering-to-use-coupons problem: Ziploc bags. Seriously. I took all the coupons that were laying around in my purse slowly expiring and put them all in one little sandwich bag. It reduces clutter and for some odd reason, makes me more mindful to use them. I have absolutely no idea why this might be, but hey, it works. 


Get a hubcap. I get a big fat FAIL for this one. At least so far. Did you know hubcaps were like $50? If I had known that, upon arriving home and seeing my hubcap missing, I would’ve gotten right back in my car and retraced my route to find it myself. $50? Seriously? For something that doesn't even DO anything but make your car look respectable? I might resort to asking for one for my birthday in April. I’m all for restoring my car to its rightful state of unghetto-ness, but there are so very many things I could spend $50 on…like 12.5 Tall Caramel Macchiatos.




And finally, for the last day of Beauty & Inspiration, here is a beautiful quote on life. Here's to being thoroughly used up.

Source: shaunaniequist.com via Amy on Pinterest

Wanted: Page-Turners

I'm sure you've all heard the big news by now: JK Rowling has announced that she is writing a novel for adults. To say I am giddy with excitement would be a severe understatement. Like everyone else in the world, I loved the Harry Potter books, got lost in the stories, wished I were a wizard (yes, as an adult – whatever, don’t pretend you didn’t), marveled at Rowling’s imagination, and hungered for more each time I finished one. I am beyond excited to read her next novel. I'm hoping it’ll captivate me just like Harry Potter did because right now, I am in serious need of a good page-turner.

It’s no secret I love to read. Part of this blog is even dedicated to that passion. I love finding a book I can’t put down, that I think about all day long, and get completely and utterly lost in. I can’t wait to finish it and yet I don’t want it to end. I finish and instantly become depressed. No other book will ever intrigue me like this one. No other book will captivate me like it did. No other book will be as good. But books like this are rare. Say what you will about the Twilight books, they were page turners. I couldn’t stop thinking about them during work, out with friends, while driving. More times than I’d like to admit, I arrived home from the train station not knowing how I had gotten there, because I had been so lost in Twilight daydreams while driving. The same goes for The Hunger Games, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and The Help, to name a few. I’ve read a good number of books since I put those down and have enjoyed many of them, but none have captivated me like those did. So hearing this news about a new Rowling book has me jumping up and down with glee. I have high hopes for Rowling's new book, but in the meantime, I need something else to read. Any suggestions?

A Surprise

Duke left me a nice little surprise in my gym bag this afternoon: his favorite toy, a ball of tin foil. He hides his foil ball in our shoes, under the bed, under the radiator, under the rug, so seeing his toy in my gym bag this afternoon made me laugh out loud - drawing stares from the other women in the locker room.

What Do You See?

Source: mmht.tumblr.com via Amy on Pinterest

Polar Bear Plunge, Seaside, NJ, February 25, 2012

Members of Team Freezing Bulls before jumping into the Atlantic Ocean at Seaside Heights, NJ to benefit The Special Olympics.

Day 24

Source: weheartit.com via Amy on Pinterest

{Sigh.}

C is for Cookie

It’s that time of year when you’re forced to rethink your habits and vices, test your willpower, and (for you Catholics) forego meat on Fridays. That's right, the Lenten season is upon us. I’ll be honest, I haven’t been to church in a very long time, so when Kurt asked me on Tuesday what I was giving up this year, I was surprised to learn Ash Wednesday had arrived so quickly. As I’ve mentioned before, I give up something for Lent every year. I’m no longer as religious as I once was, but as the saying goes, old habits die hard. Plus, it’s a way to test my willpower (of which I have very little when it comes to food). This year I racked my brain for something good to give up. Last year it was chocolate, the year before I vowed to only use one sugar in my coffee or tea (I usually use 2-3). I’ve also given up elevators, chips and dip, all sweets (never, ever again will I do this one. It’s too all encompassing). I try to give up something I’ve been indulging in a bit too much, but at the same time, it needs to be something that I CAN give up for 40 days.

I narrowed down my options to pizza, cookies, and buying lunch. Giving up pizza is next to impossible for me. We live within walking distance of a pizza place, so I indulge at least once a week, sometimes more. It’s the cheapest option around and at least a little healthier than fast food. Giving up bought lunches would be silly since I rarely eat out anymore for lunch, so that left cookies. Good. Cookies. I can do that. I’ll eat cookies if they’re there, but I’m not a huge indulger (unlike my former roommate who used to wake up in the middle of the night with a cookie craving and would eat almost an entire bag in a sleepy stupor). Ok, so I’m a huge indulger if they’re Girl Scout Cookies – Samoas to be precise, but I can say no to just about any other cookie. And then I realized on Tuesday, one day before this ridiculous test of willpower was set to begin, that we still had almost an entire bag of double stuff Oreos in the pantry. That just would not do. Since Kurt has agreed (against his will) to join me in my Lenten fast, we had to figure out what to do about those cookies. We couldn’t have them sitting in the house for 40 days getting stale and throwing them out and wasting them was just out of the question. So, we did what any two people our position would:  we finished the bag on Tuesday night. It was a tough job, but someone had to do it. Now, our pantry is wonderfully free of temptation. I understand we probably could have given them away, or fed them to the ducks on the lake, but this really was much more fun. Plus, I've found the best way to get rid of a craving for awhile is to overindulge to the point of being sick. Now, just thinking of Oreos makes me queasy.


Beautiful Thing, Day 23:
While browsing Apartment Therapy, I stumbled across a blog called Little Green Notebook  by an amazing interior designer. So, for your beautiful thing of the day, you get a whole blog's worth of beautiful things. I love her style. So. Much. Color! I cannot wait to buy a house so I can steal her ideas use her designs as inspiration.

Balloon Animal Bookends

How totally cute and whimsical are these bookends? I think I need them.

Source: 2.bp.blogspot.com via Amy on Pinterest

Words to Live By

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Day 20: Nonni's Sauce & Meatballs, c/o Dad

First attempt at Nonni's Sauce & Meatballs, c/o Dad

Every month or so, I'd wake up on a Saturday to the smell of onions and celery, my dad making sauce and meatballs. My Nonni was a phenomenal cook. Having grown up in a small mountain village in Italy, she learned to cook by sight at the age of 5. When I was about ten years old, my parents sat down with her while she made meatballs, sauce, homemade pasta (cut with a knife by hand), and gnocchi, and measured each ingredient. She'd throw a handful of flour on the table, my dad would scoop it into a measuring cup, and my mom would write the amount, creating a small collection of recipes. My dad made these recipes almost monthly, and as I've mentioned once or twice before, the smell of onions and celery still brings me back to those mornings.


A good friend of mine is having her baby this week (hopefully) and a few of our friends have gotten together to make dinners for her and her husband. My contribution is Nonni's sauce and meatballs, along with some gnocchi my dad whipped up last week. Like any kid growing up in a house where cooking and baking were passions, I had helped my dad before, but I have never tried these recipes on my own, until now. Today, making full use of a day off from work, I took a stab at Nonni's sauce and meatballs. 

Right now, the pot of sauce, filled with meatballs, is simmering on the stove, slowly cooking. My apartment is filled with the smell of tomatoes, onions, celery and simmering beef, bringing me back to my childhood.

I have no idea how this will turn out. It needs to simmer for another hour and a half or so, but I think it looks pretty good so far. It smells right at least. For now, I'll just relax, read a little, and keep my fingers crossed.

To see other beautiful things from this month, click here and scroll down.

Day 19

Source: night-onthe-run.tumblr.com via Amy on Pinterest

I am ready for Spring.

To see other beautiful things from this month, click here and scroll down.

Day 18

Flowers in February

To see other beautiful things from this month, click here and scroll down.

How to Stress While Planning a Vacation

After our wedding last year, Kurt and I decided to save up for a vacation this Spring. Meant to be a sort of a splurge before buying a house and starting a family, we wanted to go somewhere we’d never been before. I was pushing for Europe or San Francisco, Kurt wanted an all-inclusive in the Caribbean. Since our “splurge” is much less a splurge than a “we need to find the best deal we can possibly find” and because flights are so expensive, the all-inclusive won out.

We searched deal sites for months looking for not only the best deal, but the best resort for the money. A few times we almost booked a vacation at a couple of resorts, only to find upon doing further research that these resorts were rated very poorly by previous travelers.

Is it weird that I was extremely stressed while researching this vacation? I cannot tell you the stress I felt trying to find a good all-inclusive vacation. I found it much more stressful than planning a trip to Europe or California, and here’s why:

So many options

Do we go to Jamaica? Mexico? Dominican Republic? Antigua? Bahamas? I was getting so fed up with the amount of options I almost closed my eyes and pointed to a resort, just to get it over with.

“Don’t Leave the Resort”

Many of the resorts (ok, many of the cheap resorts) were in countries where it is recommended you do not go and travel on your own. I’m not a big fan of being told not to do something. I’m especially not a fan of being told the area in which we’ll be staying for 5 nights is dangerous. But this was the main source of my stress: if the resort is dirty, or the beach is awful, or the food is terrible and we cannot leave the resort, that makes for a very unpleasant vacation. When planning other types of vacations, hotels don’t really matter (at least to me). I’ve stayed in hostels in amazing cities and had wonderful vacations, because in those instances, you’re in the hotel to sleep, and that’s it. If your hotel is terrible, oh well. It doesn’t mean the end of your vacation.

I have control issues

The all-inclusive vacation has never really appealed to me. I see why it would to others and I’m sure I’ll be raving about its perks when we come back, but I’d rather have the freedom to explore the island. I want the freedom to choose where I eat each night and what I do during the day. The resort really has all the control.

I’m an all-inclusive virgin

While I love the adrenaline rush of discovering something new, I’m a creature of habit at heart. I like knowing what to expect. This type of vacationing is new to me. I’ve traveled in Europe and in the US, so if we went to one of those places, I know what to expect, more or less. I have absolutely no idea what to expect with this vacation. I know, I know. I’m stressed while planning a vacation.  What a problem to have, right?

Putting all your eggs in one basket

When you book a vacation, your money goes to the flight and hotel upfront, that’s it. Each day of your vacation, you decide where to spend your money, which restaurants to eat in, which activities to do, etc. With an all-inclusive resort, all your money for your entire vacation is taken away up front. While I know it’ll be great not to have to think about money for the entirety of the trip, the process of booking becomes all the more stressful. The idea of "You better know what you’re getting into, because we’re about to take ALL your money" really freaks me out. I spent about 20 minutes with the “buy now” screen open on my computer. Should I really do it? Are we ready? Are we sure? Yes, Kurt assured me. We were ready and sure. DO IT. I clicked the button, and immediately felt buyer’s remorse. What if it’s terrible? Did we do the right thing? Should I have bought vacation insurance? Are the flights REALLY included in the price? (I checked about six times to make sure they were).

Luckily, we found a resort that put my concerns to rest. We’re going to Antigua which doesn’t really have a “don’t leave the resort” disclaimer and because we have the freedom to leave if we want to, I feel less trapped. The resort got great reviews on all the travel sites I checked (and believe me, I checked A LOT of them) and most importantly, the beach got spectacular reviews. Now that the hard part is over, I’m looking forward to spending 6 days laying on the beach, snorkeling, and touring a new locale. We’re going in mid-April and at this point, mid-April can’t get here soon enough. It’s amazing how quickly stress dissipates once there’s nothing you can do to change your mind.

So, as a nod to our vacation-t0-be, here's a stress-relieving photo of a beach in Antigua to start your day.

Day 16: "Why I Plunge"

My sister will be participating in The Polar Bear Plunge with us on February 25th. It takes place in Seaside, NJ and benefits The Special Olympics. You’ve heard my account of the Plunge experience before, now you can read my sister’s reason for plunging. Click here to read her guest blogpost on The Special Olympics New Jersey Website.


To see other beautiful things from this month, click here and scroll down.

Day 15

Daily Chocolate Fix

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Hearts on Fire

Today, I came across an amazing photographer: Irene Suchocki. I had seen, and even repinned, a few of her photographs on Pinterest, but today’s email from ideeli (featuring her) caused me to check out her website. Her photos have a sort of dreamy, romantic, whimsical quality that I absolutely love and wish I could dive into. Here is one of my favorites from Pinterest, very appropriate for today, I think. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Source: Uploaded by user via Amy on Pinterest

To see other beautiful things from this month, click here and scroll down.

Two for One

Ok, I totally dropped the ball yesterday and forgot to post something beautiful. I’d love to say it was because I was doing something fabulous and enviable, but in reality, I spent the day lazing around in my pjs, cleaning, and doing laundry (Sidenote - while washing the sheets, I accidentally washed our TV remote. Fun times.) Anyway, today you get 2 beautiful things, you lucky readers you. Enjoy!

Thing 1:

I found this article yesterday while surfing the internet and I just love it. How many times have you seen a hateful message scrawled in graffiti on your streets and walked by, choosing to ignore it? I’m sure I have. The woman featured in this article has decided to take a stand against hate in her neighborhood. It’s so brave and inspiring. I want to hug her.

Thing 2:

Source: niuniusiaa.deviantart.com via Jhanna on Pinterest

I found this picture on Pinterest today. It makes me want to live in France – in a tiny village or in Paris, doesn’t matter – and get around only by bicycle. I don't own a bicycle. My two modes of transportation are limited to my own two feet and my car. There aren't many places for me to go by bike (without arriving a sweaty mess), so unfortunately, it really doesn't make sense in a "transportation sense" to own one. But I think there's something so romantic about riding a bicycle. I'm not talking about a racing bike or mountain bike, I'm talking about a biking-at-a-leisurely-pace-in-a-skirt-with-flowers-in-the-basket old-fashioned, up-right bicycle. This picture made me realize my happy place - riding along a cobblestone street in an old European city on my way to buy flowers in an outdoor market. Yes, my happy place is that 1950's...and that specific.


To see other beautiful things from this month, click here and scroll down.

A Rainbow of Options

More Beautiful Things:

Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10

Benjamin Moore Paint Chips

Every Color

Other Things of Beauty:
Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9

Source: afinefarmhouse.blogspot.com via Amy on Pinterest

Day 9: Can you tell I'm a morning person?

Click here for Day 1, here for Day 2, here for Day 3, here for Day 4, here for Day 5, here for Day 6, here for Day 7, and here for Day 8.

Kinda hard to wake up on the wrong side of the bed when this is the view from your backyard.

Winter Sunrise

Day 8: Sunrise

Click here for Day 1, here for Day 2, here for Day 3, here for Day 4, here for Day 5, here for Day 6, here for Day 7

This morning's sunrise in my mirror on the way to work.

A note on internet privacy

You might find this post odd, since you’re reading this on a blog, one that has minimal privacy and just about all personal information revealed, but here’s the thing: I choose to disclose information to the world. You, however, might not want your entire life accessible to anyone with access to Google.

A friend of mine called the other day to make plans for dinner. In that phone call, she told me she was updating her online privacy, Googled her name to see where it would come up, and found an online journal my sister had kept in 2004 that mentioned going to lunch with said friend. A PRIVATE online journal, that was password protected. Today, I told my sister. Here is how that conversation went:

Me: So did you know you had an online journal in 2004 that's still online?

My sister:  Huh? Its accessible?

Me:  Apparently

My sister:  Wow, just found it.  How do i delete that!

Me:  I don't know!

My sister:  Holy crap!

Me: Your grammar in it is horrifying

My sister: Oh, I know.

So, readers, you might want to go ahead and type your name into Google and make sure any personal information, like your diary from when you were 14, is not accessible to the public. Just a thought.

Day 7:

Click here for Day 1, here for Day 2, here for Day 3, here for Day 4, here for Day 5, and here for Day 6.

For dinner tonight, I met a friend at a little cafe we used to frequent in high school. The last time I was there was when my girlfriends and I got together during a break in college, about 10 years ago. The best part? Nothing has changed. It's still the hippie, eclectic, whimsical, cozy cafe it was when I was in high school. It's decorated for Valentine's Day right now with pink and red paper lanterns, which I love. So I took this fuzzy picture, awkwardly, while my friend laughed loudly, drawing attention to my creepiness.

Further proof of ghosts or goblins

I’ve spoken of our prank-pulling ghost before. He or she turns on the touch lamp in the dining room and the DirecTV box in our bedroom from time to time. Our upstairs neighbor wakes up every so often to find her (2^nd floor) bathroom window wide open. Well here’s further proof for you skeptics.

Every night, while we’re sleeping, our bed moves toward the windows. I sleep on the side closest to the windows and each morning, I wake up just a little bit closer to them. At first, it’s barely noticeable, but after a few nights, the legs on my side of the bed are completely off the area rug and standing on the hardwood floor and the space between Kurt’s nightstand and the bed has grown considerably. Of course, I blame it on Kurt and his tossing and turning, but here’s the thing: we’ve had the bed in other positions in the room and it didn’t move slowly to the right the way it does now. So either Kurt is moving the bed in his sleep (probable, but wouldn’t this mean our bed would have moved in the other places we’ve had it?), our house is slanted (very probable, but then wouldn’t all the furniture move slowly toward the windows?) or the ghost is just trying to let us know he or she is around. Kurt thinks I'm crazy, or as he put it, "a weirdo", but I’m betting on the ghost.


Thing of Beauty, Day 6:
If you missed them, you can find Day 1 here, Day 2 here, Day 3 here, Day 4 here, and Day 5 here.

Source: 29.media.tumblr.com via Amy on Pinterest

This is one of my favorite quotes from one my favorite authors. It's just perfect.

Day 5

Ok, I know this might not be the conventional idea of beauty, but I love this picture. I saw this tree and manhole on my run in the park this morning. They're in the middle of a field,. As I passed them once, twice, three times, I started to wonder about that manhole. I'd seen it hundreds of times on my runs in that park, but I never really gave it a second thought. Where did it lead to? Why is it positioned at the base of a tree? My imagination started running wild. Maybe it's a secret (or not so secret) entrance to an underground city inhabited by Keebler elves, or maybe it's a Cold War era bomb shelter, or the entrance to a tunnel that runs under the town. It made me feel like a kid again, playing make-believe, believing in magic.

Day 4

Source: i.imgur.com via Amy on Pinterest

Power is a Beautiful Thing

It has never been easier to communicate, voice opinions, or garner support, than it is right now. Social media has become influential in affecting change all over the world, from causing Bank of America to drop its debit card fees to the protests and government upheavals of the Arab Spring.

When I had first heard of Susan G. Komen’s decision to halt funding for Planned Parenthood, I was beyond disgusted. Here was an organization whose main philosophy was about providing quality preventative healthcare to women across the country, and they were severing their partnership with an organization that is effective in doing so. Let’s forget about the abortion issue for the time being (since many Planned Parenthood sites don’t even offer abortion services and its main focus is to help women get quality healthcare when they need it and cannot afford it), Planned Parenthood offers healthcare and breast cancer screenings to women of all walks of life, with or without health insurance (I’ll also forego discussing health care in this country because really, I could go on forever). Komen’s partnership with Planned Parenthood made sense. I couldn’t believe that a charity for which I had an immense amount of respect would bow to political pressure and bullying. They had decided to withdraw their money and support of Planned Parenthood, thereby hurting thousands of women, just because they didn’t agree (or more likely, had big-time supporters who didn’t agree) with one service Planned Parenthood offers.

So, how did I hear about this decision? It wasn’t from The New York Times or CNN.com. It was through social media, Facebook to be exact. Many of my friends had expressed their disappointment with Komen by sharing articles on the issue. Twitter just about exploded with responses, both good and bad. And today, just 2 days after the announcement that it would stop funding Planned Parenthood, Komen announced they have reversed that decision. I can’t help but think this is in response to the huge backlash they received via social media. Instead of writing letters to the organization in vain, a time consuming effort if nothing else, social media allowed the public to voice their disappointment and withdrawal of support within minutes of the announcement, allowing Komen to reverse its decision before it was too late. It’s a prime example of just how powerful people can be when they come together for (or against) a cause. Very inspiring. Very beautiful.

Thing of Beauty, Day 2: Monkey Bread

This might not look beautiful and I'll have no idea if it tastes beautiful for another 30 minutes or so, but this Monkey Bread sure smells beautiful. I wish you could smell what I'm smelling right now. It must be what Heaven smells like.

What I Learned in the Firehouse Gallery

One day a week, from the ages of 6-18, I had art lessons with a woman named Juanita. Until I was 13, these lessons were held in her firehouse gallery in Bordentown with about 20 other children at all different levels of experience. Juanita was a very special person. Not only was she a master painter and a wonderful teacher, she was one of those people who comes into your life and changes your outlook, for the better. She saw beauty in everything. Juanita had bright orange hair, wore blue eye shadow and two pairs of glasses hung around her neck with colorful bands. She always wore bright clothing and costume jewelry. She was living art. Her stories of her childhood always fascinated me: getting invited to the Academy Ball by handsome cadets, working as a makeup artist at a funeral parlor (yes, THAT kind of makeup artist), switching between the homes of her grandmothers (her mother died young and her father, whom she idolized, worked on the railroads), one of whom was staunch, Christian, and serious, one of whom was colorful and lively and let her wear all the makeup she wanted. I'm sure you can guess which one she felt more connected to.

Juanita's firehouse gallery was something to behold. It was old, dusty, with dark red utility carpet covering feet-deep concrete (which she never refrained from telling us anytime one of her students leaned back in his or her chair so the chair was balancing on only 2 legs. "I do NOT like the sight of blood," she'd tell us and push the chair forward). The walls of the gallery were wood-paneled, but that didn't really matter, since they were covered ceiling to floor with her paintings. It was an amazing array, from still lifes and portraits, to the huge painting of a bull-fighter and bull. Juanita had many, many friends and students, which meant she received many greeting cards, all of which she kept. And I mean she actually kept every single one. Before the word "hoarder" enters your mind, you should know that these cards were what her students used for inspiration and practice. We would rifle through shoe boxes of cards until we found one we liked, and that would be our assignment: to paint the picture that was printed on the card.

She taught me many things about art in my 12 years as her student, such as, but not limited to: there are no straight lines in nature, never ever use black or brown (in light, black is the absence of color, and white is the combination of all colors. In art, it is the opposite. To create black, you use every color. Creating brown is simpler: you use contrasting colors - purple and yellow, green and red, or orange and blue), how to create any color using only the 3 primary ones, when painting portraits, always start with the eyes. But what she taught me about beauty and life is something I take with me everyday.

During our classes in the firehouse gallery, we would take a break mid-way through for pretzels and Kool-aid. Her cousin, who lived with her in the apartment upstairs, would mix flavors of Kool-aid for us and we would have to guess the flavors. Our other assignment? To tell her something beautiful we saw that week. We’d each go around, crammed in the tiny kitchen with Kool-aid mustaches, and tell her our beautiful thing. She’d end the break by telling us a joke. I believe her theory was to encourage us to flex our beauty muscles, to be able to recognize beauty with each of our senses. As artists, she believed we needed to appreciate beauty in every way. A sense of humor is beautiful, food is beautiful, music is beautiful (we listened to old-time music on the radio during every class).

Juanita passed away when I was 18, in the beginning of my Freshman year of college. I think about her often and how important she was, not only to developing my talent, but to developing myself.

Every day during the month of February, I will post something I think is beautiful, either a story, or picture, or song. I hope it inspires you to stop and look around, and find something beautiful in your everyday life.

I'm going to start with this article my friend shared on her blog. Make sure to read the letter to the author's son at the end. Her message of acceptance and celebration is truly inspiring and heartwarming. And of course, beautiful.