things are better with a parrott

Remembrance

This past July my Memere, Beatrice, passed away at the age of 98.  Last week, just three months later, my Pepere, Leo, passed away at the age of 97.  They were married for 72 years.  It has been incredibly heartbreaking to loose both of them in such a short period of time, but as much as they loved their family, we always knew after that many years, they would not be apart for very long. 

I shared the story of how they met in 1935.  Shortly after they started dating, Pepere earned his degree in mechanical engineering and was Valedictorian of his class of 1938 at Wentworth Institute in Boston.  They got married in 1940, went to the World's Fair in New York City for their honeymoon, and lived in Dover, New Hampshire.  Pepere was a Mechanical Engineer, P.E. at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, and Memere raised their four daughters (my mom being the youngest). 

My Pepere was always building and fixing things.  He built his family a summer camp in Milton, New Hampshire.  His greatest pride and joy was watching his family enjoy every summer there for over two decades.

In the early 1970s he built a beautiful home on Dover Point on the Piscataqua River, where he and my Memere lived for over 40 years.  This was the home my whole family would gather in almost every Sunday where Memere would fill us good food and plenty of dessert.  A meal was not a meal without tea and dessert for Memere!

My sister and I were so fortunate to be a part of those Sunday gatherings, only living an hour away.  We would spend special weekends with Memere and Pepere where they took us everywhere, from the Hilton Park to York Beach in Maine; The Woodman Institute to Chuck E. Cheese's; as well as their condo in Florida, where they wintered for almost 20 years. One of our favorite things to do was walk down to their dock and watch the boats go by.

Memere and Pepere were there for all of their grandchilren's weddings.  Seven weddings over 19 years!

I am going to miss them so much, but I know how lucky I am to have had such amazing granparents for 30 years, and take comfort in knowing they are together once again.

End of Summer + A Little Vacation

It has been pretty quiet here the past few months, but even a blog needs a little summer vacation, right?  Not to say we have not been busy in the studio, designing and printing invitations for weddings and parties, re-printing greeting cards, & gearing up for the holidays. 

We took our annual end-of-summer vacation a couple weeks ago and it was a good one!  Rich rented a little cabin on a lake in Maine for the week where we watched the sunset everynight, drank morning coffee on our dock, took the paddle boat for a spin each day, fished, swam, ate s'mores with homemade marshmallows.  Oh, and I may have turned 30 and had an amazing surprise party on the lake in between.  Yes, it was a GOOD vacation!

My sister posted some photos of my party on her blog.  It was so beautiful and so much fun.  I had friends and family from all over New England join in the celebration - a perfect way to start my 30s!

So, the blog will go back to school next week, and I will get back to sharing invitations I printed this past Spring and Summer, and preview what is to come for the rest of 2012!

Lately :: Instagram

May and June have gone by in a flash.  It has been a busy Spring and I am so glad Summer is finally here!  Days around here are full of printing, assembling, eating sweets, enjoying our front porch and garden, and snuggling with our pups (of course!). 

For more updates, be sure to follow me on instagram. 

Sunshine Needed

I am not sure about you, but for the past few days I had had to turn lights on around 2:00 pm in my house and studio.  I love Autumn, but where did the sun go?  Today, I could not take it, so I turned on some of my favorite Mediterranean music, looked at photos of our honeymoon, & went off to package shop orders with happy, warm thoughts in my head!

29 & Holding

Last week, I turned 29.  Rich planned the perfect day at two different beaches.  The sky was full of clouds, but it was bright & warm, making it a perfect day to explore.  Rhode Island is full of beaches, but there are a lot of small, little-known spots that are also free. 

We started our day at the Quonochontaug Breachway in Charlestown, RI.  It is a popular boat launch, but we were there looking for quahogs.  Actually, Rich did most of the digging, & he only found one under-sized one so he threw it back. 

We then headed to Watch Hill, a totally quaint seaside village.  We walked to Napatree Point, a wildlife preserve home to piping plovers, osprey, swallows, & other migratory birds.  

We were able to see hundreds of swallows as we walked along the point.  It was amazing to see so many in one location.  At one point we were practically surrounded by them.

On our drive out of Watch Hill we passed by the luxury hotel, Ocean House, where Muffy & Barnaby still play croquet each afternoon {actually, I love croquet.  My sister & I used to play all the time}.


It was a wonderful & completely relaxing way to begin the last year of my twenties.  Rich then surprised me with a night out to see some of our favorite local musicians & our friends.  I am a lucky lady!