5 things my mama learned me about writing

1. Avoid non creative words like a lot, very, and so much.

2. Start sentences with adverbs. Here’s how I remember what adverbs are: they end in “ly” a lot  often .

3. Be careful to not start sentences with same words. Common mistakes include, “I , We, and The” depending on the context.

4. Use adjectives and similes. But not 4000 (adjective!) or else you will definitely sound like (there’s a simile!) you’re attempting to channeling Jane Austen on expired crack. Does crack expire? Moving on.

5. Do your homework before adding a new blog post.

Oh well, 4 out of 5 ain’t bad.

Visitors! Part 1.

My aunts and mother came to visit me in Richmond this past weekend. Mom has been lots of times but it was Auntie M and Aunt K’s first time. They stayed at the Crown Plaza in Shockoe Slip (it’s quite nice) and we spent Friday night, Saturday, and most of Sunday together. These ladies are fun, folks. They look almost like triplets and each one has a completely different personality.  They have raised 20 children between the 3 of them and know so much about so much. Topics of conversation covered over the weekend included: child birth, labor and delivery, AIDS, Paris, art and little known artists, churches, divorce,  racism, food, fashion, appropriate wedding attire, Osama Bin Laden and midwives.  I just love them.

The ladies.

Here’s a bit of what we did and few pictures.

1. Talked and talked and talked. They have endless amounts of stories and I never get tired of hearing them.

2. Saw the VMFA’s Picasso exhibit. Everyone enjoyed it. Even after seeing it 6 times, I am sad that the exhibit is now done. Over 200,000 people ended up coming to see his work. Did they count me once or six times? Naturally we had to visit the gift shop post-Picasso and had a grand time reading the children’s books and shopping (the aunts are fantastic shoppers). Sidenote: I learned Picasso was 5’3, like me.

3. We left the Picasso exhibit starving (despite eating breakfast, so weird) so as I had hoped to, we went to Sprout–a terrific little farm-friendly/totally local place in the Fan (a neighborhood in Richmond). We shared a mimosa and everyone got the veggie sausage sandwich. And it was good.

4. We shopped and shopped. We stuck to Carytown and the great shops and boutiques that it posts. We ended up having the most luck at Clementine, an upscale, trendy consignment shop. Collectively, we found a bunch of new tops and, the find of the day, a gorgeous summer Eddie Bauer for just $39!

Pearl, a summer trench coat, and gold jewelry: classy!

Other stores we visited included Hip to be Round, Eurotrash (DROOL. MEGA DROOL. Way too many beautiful things), and Bygones. Did we all try on 1920′s flapper dresses? Yes. Yes, we did.

Auntie M in a gorgeous, bead encrusted purple flapper dress. Check out the neck detailing.

I think every wardrobe needs one of these.

Going to post more but in separate posts. Thanks for reading.

Straw Hats in Segovia

Segovia, Spain is a hot spot of art, fashion, architecture and history. Lived near there for a little bit when I was too young to appreciate any of this. Thankfully mom kept me looking nice while we explored; she looking to expose me to greatness, me looking for the nearest Popsicle stand.

Currently in the market for a like this.