Alive and Well in Georgia!

Hi everyone!  I'm back from a totally unintended blogging break, which was the result of accidentally leaving my backpack (including my laptop) in San Francisco!  I had it all packed as my carry on--laptop, books, work, phone charger, etc . . . and left it in the car when I got out at the train station.  Thus, I've been sans internet for a while . . . can't wait to catch up on all your blogs!

As soon as I got home, my mama, sis, and I headed to Tybee Island for a little beach trip.  It was good, redneck fun. ;)  I'm really grateful to have had time to spend with them--we never get time just the three of us!  Plus, the overcast weather led to much Sons of Anarchy watchin.' :)

We drove back on Saturday for my cousin Stevie's wedding:

my beautiful cousin, Stevie, and her new husband, Josh

Mama, Kate, and me at the wedding

the bride with her two sisters (we're all girl cousins on my mama's side!)

sisters: Aunt KK, Aunt Pat, my mama

uncles ;)

Daddy and me 

The wedding was beautiful and fun, and the next day I got to hold this sweet baby (my cousin Jennifer's half-sister's brand new daughter):

Emma Kate: 6 lbs 12 oz of CUTENESS

Today, after accompanying Jason, one of my bffs, to his radiation treatment (he has testicular cancer; he's gonna be fine, and he has the most incredible attitude about it), we stopped for brunch at Social House, where I had the southernest of breakfasts:

fried green tomato crepes, cheese grits, sweet tea

And then I spent the afternoon with my 91 year old grandmother, who advised that instead of seeking romance and passion, I begin to look for a man who is "rather dull."  

Off for a ride on my dad's Harley . . . so grateful he's willing to feed the obsession!

Boots with the Fr

Two things you should know about my nephew, Ethan (my cousin Jennifer's son) to set up this story:

1. He is six years old and working on writing in his class;
2. He's been a hip hop fan since birth.

The other day, Jennifer and her mama (my aunt KK) were driving to our Nana's house with Ethan in his car seat in the back.  Prior to getting in the car, Ethan requested his notebook so that he could use it in the car.

All the way to Nana's, he was quietly scribbling away in his notebook, practicing his writing, except for when he paused to ask, "How do you spell big?"

When they got to Nana's, Jennifer asked Ethan what he'd been working on, and he proudly presented her with this:

Enlarge it if you can't read it.

I don't think Ethan understood why Jennifer burst out laughing . . .

Pictures from Napa Valley

I'm back from my little blog hiatus--my cousin Jennifer is in town visiting, and we've been so busy drinking wine, eating great food, and seeing the sites that I've been absent from the internet entirely.  She's still here, and we're headed out in a minute for a day of seeing some of my favorite San Francisco spots, but I wanted to pop in to say hi and post some pictures from our time in Napa yesterday:

at Cakebread, home of my favorite wine of the day (a 2006 Cab)

Jennifer at our first stop, Baldacci, a charming little family owned winery

me in front of Raymond with some awesome construction going on in the back ;)

cousins in the swanky Raymond lounge

Napa

We had a perfect Napa day: visited four wineries, shared tastings so as not to overdo it, and had lunch at my favorite spot, Tra Vigne Pizzeria.  To finish an already incredible day, we drove over to Cari and JJ's for dinner, where we grilled out over some more wine and laughs.  It's been wonderful having my cousin--who is like a sister--out here; I don't want her to go home!

What I Learn about Ignatius through Facebook

Most of you probably remember Ignatius, my dad and Amy's horrible beagle.  If not, here's a visual aid:

 

His antics are never-ending.  Most recently, he stole his sister Lola's food, resulting in a throw-down between the two of them, which then resulted in Lola accidentally biting their beloved dogwalker, Trish (a good friend of my dad and Amy's).  

This is what I saw of the situation on facebook yesterday:

Amy Hutsell Kiefer

Really hoping that today was the last time I have to send an "apology gift" from Ignatius R. Kiefer.

Ignatius R. Kiefer

If I were properly cared for, none of this would be an issue....I am sorry Trish

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Mama's Day

Happy Mothers' Day to my sweet little mama.  I'm so sad I can't be with her today, but I'm thinking of her nevertheless!

my mama and her mama this Easter

mama and baby Claire circa 1982

cute mama with cute puppy

she loves beach paddleball . . .

. . . and hiking!

mama and her daughters

Thank you for being so stable, wise, consistent, and good.  I love and miss you!

Happy Mothers' Day to all of your mamas and to all of you who are mamas yourselves.  Lord knows it's the most important job in the world.

The Holiday Blues

Every year I go home to Georgia for Christmas, but the other holidays can be hard.  I always call my mama's house on Easter, where the entire family has gathered, and she passes the phone around so I can say hi to everyone.  I love getting to talk to them, but it inevitably leaves me feeling a little depressed that they're all together and I'm thousands of miles away.  Would that I could just wiggle my nose and transport myself home for every occasion.

My auntie Pat posted these picture of our family's Easter celebration yesterday:

my sisters

(Jennifer--on the left--is my cousin, but we grew up like sisters.  Lil sis Kate on the right)

sweet Nana on the left and my mama on the right

this year Nana will be 80, Mama will be 50, and I will be 30!

Uncle Mike & pretty cousins with spread of food

Uncle Ted on left, brother-in-law Andy on right

love the twin crossed legs, boys

Jennifer's son, Ethan, and our Auntie Pat

Ethan hunting for eggs in Mama's back yard

I would have loved to be there with them.  I miss everyone exponentially on holidays.  But although it was sad that I couldn't be with my family on Easter, I did the next best thing and headed up to the Freitags to watch Milo and Jude hunt for eggs:

the Freitags on Easter + the view from their backyard

Milo furiously hunting eggs

me and my little love

JJ and Judebug, both sporting seersucker

Thank goodness for the Freitags aka my home away from home!  It was a gorgeous day outside, and those boys always put me in a better mood.  Plus, after the uncles and aunts and cousins went home, Cari and I did something very Easterly: we watched a very intense, violent movie about post-Apartheid South Africa.  ;)

Notice anything about the cast?  Particularly the guy standing in the middle?  Yes, ladies & gentlemen, it's Tim Riggins.  And despite the fact that he had to lose 30 pounds to portray strung out combat photographer, Kevin Carter, he was just as fine as ever in this movie.

All hotness aside, it was a great movie, although devastating.  The story centers around four photographers who are trying to take the best pictures of the violence going on around them.  Kevin Carter (played by Taylor Kitsch--it's a true story) eventually took the following photo of a starving child in Sudan being stalked by a vulture:

from

Although Carter won the Pulitzer Prize for this photo (taken in southern Sudan in 1993), it was obviously surrounded by controversy.  The public questioned him: did you just leave that girl to die?  What did you do after you took the picture?  Unable to face these questions and the ethics of his job in general, Carter kills himself.  And while it was tough to watch Tim Riggins go through all that . . . it was worth it.  

Sorry for the downer.  Probably should have ended with Jude toddling around in his seersucker suit clutching plastic eggs.  What did y'all do for Easter?

Brandon

Perhaps obsessiveness runs in the family.  I myself have not escaped the curse; as you know, I've watched this video about 864 times, lately I can't stop ordering takeout from Currylicious, and let's be honest: I still remember my 7th grade crush's home phone number, for that was the depth of my obsession (notice I said crush--this dream was never realized).


But I think my dad is worse than me.  His most recent obsession?  A termite-sniffing beagle.

from

My dad travels a lot for work, and claims that he found an article about "Brandon" in a hotel magazine.  Evidently, Brandon and his owner are the greatest new thing in pest control; the owner walks Brandon through the inside & outside of the house, and Brandon scratches wherever there are termites.  He is allegedly far more effective than humans or machines.  

It all started when my stepmom, sister, and I received this email from Dad:

Kit Kiefer to Amy, me, Kate

show details Jan 18 (9 days ago)

You have to watch the video! Unbelievable!

http://www.pestfree.com/meet-brandon

I couldn't get the video to load, but I figured it was just another one of the billions of dog-related things that he sends us all too frequently, so I shrugged it off.  However, Dad fired back:  YOU MUST SEE IT!  GOOGLE "BRANDON PEST CONTROL!"  So I did, hoping for something amazing.

Well . . . I mean, it is what it is.  I suppose it is mildly entertaining that this dog is so well-trained that he can detect termites.  But my enthusiasm for the whole thing gets me about as for as 0:24 into the video.

But my dad's outta control, y'all.   He's been signing emails to me: 

"Love you! (and Brandon),

Dad"

After fielding a couple phone calls from him just to talk about Brandon, I answered his last one, "Dad, is this call about Brandon?"  To which his answer was, " . . . . yes."

All of us but one have dismissed this as a period of temporary lunacy.  The one who's holding out?  You guessed it--Ignatius.

not a happy camper

Ignatius is pissed that all of Dad's attention is now on another beagle, and one that he's never even met, at that.  Ignatius is supposed to be the star of the show!  Who cares if he can't sniff termites??  

(This next part requires me to confess to y'all that Ignatius has a facebook page.  But by now my dad's sanity has already been discredited, so it should come as no surprise).  

Prior to checking out Ignatius's facebook page in the heat of all this "Brandon" stuff, I figured the funniest part about the whole ordeal was that the beagle's name is "Brandon."  Isn't it funny when pets have totally human names?  Cracks me up.  In any case, then I saw Ignatius's facebook status, and I laughed hard enough to see the value in all this: 

• 
  

  Ignatius R. Kiefer

  Brandon sucks.

  January 22 at 11:53am ·  · Comment
  

Old Photos

When my mama asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I told her that what I wanted most of all was a photo album with copies of all our old family pictures.  And sure enough, it was my very favorite gift.  I think I appreciate them even more since I live so far away from everyone in my family.  And while the second disc is currently MIA (traveling/packing/unpacking/traveling), here are some of the photos from the first one (she gave me a photo album with pictures, and included a couple cds with some of them scanned digitally):

baby Claire and mama, August 16, 1981

baby Claire & daddy--nice to meet you!

cousin Jennifer in the foreground, baby Claire with crazy hair in the background

with Grandpa

gazing at my daddy

baby bffs:  Claire and Lesley

don't you recognize her bright red hair?

all baby pictures with Lesley in them are cheerier :)

I'm gonna upload some more as soon as I find the second disc . . . I promise I have a sister. :)

Do y'all have your baby pictures and early family photos?  If so, I wanna see!  (Micaela, you should do a baby picture themed Wanting to Know You Wednesday!  We could even play a guess who game!).  

Three Random Pictures

hope I don't get coal!

Ignatius's elf costume 2010

William Jonathan Drayton, Jr. and Kit Kiefer

aka

Flava Flav and my daddy

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

Too much Napa + concrete floor = busted grill!

Lordy.  So, bright and early Saturday morning, Anna and I drove up to Napa to meet my daddy, who was in town for the annual culinary conference at the CIA in St. Helena.

I couldn't quite capture the CIA in all its glory--it is such a gorgeous building!

We stopped at the conference and picked up Daddy, then drove to the house he and his colleagues were staying in . . . I don't think I can adequately describe its splendor, so here are some pictures of our weekend crib (owned by San Francisco fashion designer Rebecca Beeson):

lounge area/formal dining room

pool & hot tub--see the stone hot tub at the far end of the pool?

chicken coop where you could fetch fresh eggs every morning

looking out from the back patio the morning we left

I'm clearly not kidding when I say that this place was palatial.  It was 5600 square feet, complete with every luxurious amenity you can think of, pomegranate & Meyer lemon trees, a garden from which we picked vegetables, spans and spans of land, and a sprawling industrial kitchen overlooking the exquisite wine country landscape.  Unreal.  

Daddy fed me an heirloom tomato sandwich and some choice Gewurztraminer before we headed out to some wineries.  He kindly served as our guide and chauffeur.  First stop (after Cakebread, where they were kinda snobby and told us we needed an appointment) was Sequoia Grove, where they totally hooked us up with some fancy reserve wine:

Daddy and me outside Sequoia Grove winery

After which we continued onto Provenance, where dad slept in the car while Anna and I went into the tasting room!  We were just tipsy enough to buy a bottle of expensive Merlot before heading out and back to the house, where we poured some of our newly bought wine and got into the hot tub.

Somehow, between not eating much all day (no dinner is always my downfall), drinking a few too many pours of vino, and dehydrating ourselves by lounging in the hot tub, things took a turn for the crazier (by this point, my dear daddy was long asleep, leaving Anna, his two colleagues, and me to our mischief).  My share of the shenanigans was perhaps the greatest, because I ended up tripping and falling onto the majestic concrete of our palace and busted up my grill!

not good, y'all

But thanks to my lovely & talented dentist, Dr. Ann Donnelly, DDS, my smile was officially back to normal as of today at noon:

would you believe she did it on my lunch break so I didn't even have to get a sub??

But it was totally worth the chipped tooth and punchout lip, cause I've never seen anything like this place in my life.  The wineries were delightful, the weather was perfect, and we even stopped at the BCBG outlet on our way home, where I bought a darling winter sweater.  

Now, returning home to a flooded apartment was a different story.  YIKES.  At least the Saints crushed the Panthers yesterday (like there was any doubt)!  Hope your weekends were just as fantastic as mine!