Mike and the Potter's Cat

There is a pottery studio in our neighborhood with a beautiful resident cat. Mike often peeks through the studio's front door on his way to work to catch a glimpse of the cat, and the cat seems to love the extra attention. It rolls around on its back on the paper-covered studio tables to look at Mike upside-down and prances over to the door to sniff his hand through the mail slot. Mike's always at work while the studio's open, so he hasn't gotten to meet the cat's owners, but this past Christmas, he talked about buying his tortoiseshell friend a present and just slipping it through the door. And one morning as he packed his bag for work, I caught a glimpse of gifts and a note to the shop's owner in his backpack:

I have wanted to take a class at this studio since I first saw it, so one of these days, Mike is sure to get the chance to do more than pet his pretty walk-to-work friend through the mail slot. And if there weren't a landlord-enforced one-pet-maximum policy at our apartment, he would be sure to beg me to bring home not just a finished pottery piece but also his "other" cat. ♥ 

Walk in the Sun

One of my favorite things about my walk home from work is the morning sunlight. I look up after turning a certain corner and am momentarily blinded and more-than-momentarily dazzled.

Stuffed with His Easter Duck :)

♥

Anniversary Love from Aunt Laurie

Mike and I stopped at my parents' house on Sunday the 15th for what we thought was going to be a simple one-year wedding anniversary dinner with my family, but my mom and my visiting-for-the-weekend aunt Laurie had been working like elves since Friday evening transforming my parents' kitchen and dining room into a Daffodil-Filled Pink Party Central in our honor. :) While I wait to collect everyone's photos from the day, I can show you two of the gifts Aunt Laurie made for us, a beautifully matted and framed photo of me from my wedding day and a scrapbook marking our first married year.

Aunt Laurie said this was her favorite of all our wedding photos, and she trimmed it in a pretty spring green that matched my wedding outfit. :) Since my bridal bouquet was mostly yellow Daffodils, she pressed some silk ones under the glass too. What a treasure she and her gift are. 

And tucked into a gift basket Sunday was a 40-page scrapbook she had made filled with images depicting our wedding, our life together, and our pink first anniversary party. There is even a page in it with a magazine clipping of a black and white cat who looks like Stuffed. :) She and I and my mom have been creating these little books for each other for years, but this one is one of my all-time favorite gifts, period. She outdid herself.

The pages above are my two favorites. She even created those paper doll-type cut-outs to look like my wedding dress and jacket and Mike's tie. :) And my Daffodil bouquet! Love, love, love.  She managed to find pictures of not only my bouquet's Daffodils but also its Cattails and Pussy Willows. "My" Daffodils are on almost every page. :)

For traditional first anniversary gifts of paper, her book and matted photo take the prize. They are just the dearest, as is she. ♥