lupita!!

this week, people magazine made oscar-winning actress
lupita nyong'o the cover girl for its annual 50 most beautiful issue.

she may not be the first person of color to hold this particular honor,
but she's definitely the first person of this particular color.

"what is fundamentally beautiful is compassion for yourself & for those around you,”
nyong'o said early this year. "that kind of beauty enflames the heart and enchants the soul.

“i hope my presence on your screens & in the magazines may lead you, young girl,
on a similar journey [as mine], that you will feel the validation of your external beauty,
but also get to the deeper business of being beautiful inside.
there is no shade to that beauty."

i hope ms. nyong'o knows it is not only young girls of dark beauty
whom she inspires. this middle-age white mama is moved by her, too.

big finish.

performance poet jesse parent,
addressing his namesake issue – parenting – particularly of a daughter,
at the 2013 salt city slam team selection finals.

watch it all the way through – the punchline really delivers.

unequal pay = cray cray.

today, two days beyond [un]equal pay day, musician pharrell williams of "happy" fame
sat with one of my personal heroes, ellen degeneres, & talked about
why he named his latest album "G I R L".

the predictable reason? he likes women. well, duh.
the not-as-expected reason? he's fed up with gender inequality.

"still to this day, what is it – like 73 cents to a man’s dollar?
what is that?
the last i heard, the whole reason this entire species can come into existence
is through the portal of a woman’s body."

ok, who loves pharrell? mmhmm – raise those hands up high, ladies.

seriously, it's 2014. are we really still debating
the appropriateness of equal pay for equal work?

yes. yes, we are.

because these, ladies & gentlemen – & especially the gentlemen:
heads up, please – are the facts:

:: women must work about 60 extra days to earn
as much as men did by the previous year's end.

:: the pay gap – women's 77 cents to every man's dollar – hasn't improved since 2002.

:: at our current pace of progress, we can expect pay equity around 2058.

:: the average american woman loses $431,000 over the course
of her career due to the pay gap.

:: the u.s. is ranked #23 globally in terms of gender equality
[which includes pay equity]. burundi is #22.

:: thanks to u.s. senate republicans, the paycheck fairness act is still not law.

as president obama says in response to those who claim pay equity is a "non-issue,"
"it's not a myth. it's math."

& it's not a women's issue, either. it's an issue about the american family.
because how many working women are working mothers, their paychecks going
to help house, feed, clothe, keep healthy, educate & otherwise support their children,
who, incidentally, will be the future of our country? most of them.

again, the inspirational president of these united states:

"the time has passed for us to recognize that
what determines success should not be our gender,
but rather our talent, our drive & the strength of our contributions.
so, today, let us breathe new life into our founding ideals.
let us march toward a day when, in the land of liberty & opportunity,
there are no limits on our daughters' dreams &
no glass ceilings on the value of their work."

amen, mr. president. you & pharrell go get 'em.


p.s. my new mantra: my body is a portal of life.

secret no more.

a week ago, an infamously thick glass ceiling was shattered
with president obama's selection of veteran agent julia pierson
as director of the u.s. secret service.

pierson is the agency's 23rd director & its first woman leader.
the key responsibilities of the secret service are protecting the president,
& investigating counterfeiting & fraud.

a native of orlando, pierson was an explorer with
the boy [yes, boy] scouts of america,
in a post chartered by the orlando police department
specializing in law enforcement.

she earned her degree in criminal justice
at the university of central florida,
& became one of the first women to serve
as an opd patrol officer.

pierson joined the u.s. secret service in 1983 as a special agent
& has steadily climbed the ranks of the agency,
serving on the presidential protective details of
both presidents bush, as well as president bill clinton.

since 2008, she has served as the secret service's chief of staff &
assistant director of the office of human resources & training —
already the agency's highest-ranking woman.

president obama chose pierson as the woman for the job
following criticism that his second-term picks for high-level posts
have not been diverse enough, & criticism that the secret service's
notoriously male-dominant culture has gotten out of hand.

a year ago, the agency's reputation was sullied when
several secret-service agents took prostitutes to their hotel rooms
during preparation for the president's visit to cartagena, colombia.
in all, 13 agents & officers were caught up in the scandal.

pierson — who as a high-schooler worked at disney world
as a parking & watercraft attendant, as well as in costume
in park parades — is now tasked with turning
her agency's fratboy image around.

it's no secret that this woman — whom her colleagues call
smart, experienced & even-keeled — is up for the job.


image source: www.heavy.com.

hey, pope francis . . .

i'm not catholic [thank god].

but i love the concept of patron saints,
good guys [+ gals!] turned super-specific guardian angels,
available at a prayer's notice to help a believer out
with anything from girl scouts to lumbago.

lately, my work flow has been awfully, painfully s . l . o . w.
like, leech-like-money-bleed slow.
& candidly, i'm just about drained dry.

so, today i'm calling upon a sainted trifecta:
nicholas [patron saint of money problems];
cajetan [patron saint of job seekers]; &
john the baptist [patron saint of prosperity],
to send mama some good money-making opportunity.

& while i wait for my prayers to be answered,
i'll send up one more prayer, one of gratitude
that i don't live in one of the ten worst-paying u.s. cities for women.

for the past five years, the u.s. pay gap has remained
essentially unchanged: women earn not quite 79% of what men earn on average,
which comes out to an annual difference of about $10,000 less.

based upon a review of america's 100 most populous metro areas,
24/7 wall st. has identified the top ten worst-paying cities for women.

24/7 wall st. compared the median earnings for the past 12 months
of both men & women working full-time, year-round in the country's
100 largest metropolitan statistical areas, based on u.s. census bureau data.

& i'm seriously relieved to reveal texas has no cities in the top bottom ten.
can i get a yeehaw, y'all?!?

the winner biggest loser [spoiler alert!] was provo-orem, utah,
where being a homeschooling mom apparently pays better than professional employment.
women there earn not quite 62% of what men earn,
which calculates to just about $20k less a year.

*sigh.*

here's the rest of the list of cities not to go to for a self-value lift, ladies:

2. ogden-clearfield, utah [women earn 65 cents for each dollar men earn]
3. lancaster, pennsylvania [almost 69 cents]
4. baton rouge, louisiana [69 cents]
5. palm bay-melbourne-titusville, florida [almost 70 cents]
6. colorado springs, colorado [70.5 cents]
7. wichita, kansas [almost 72 cents]
8. bridgeport-stamford, connecticut [72 cents]
9. tulsa, oklahoma [almost 73 cents]
10. seattle-tacoma-bellevue, washington [73 cents]

& again, i'm pleasantly puzzled by the scarcity of southern states represented here.

now i'm wondering how "we" get a patron saint of women's rights named? hmmmm . . .


image source: mary's prayers @ etsy.com.

celebrate a woman.

what happens on a mama blog
when international women's day
happens during spring break . . .

we honor! we celebrate! we sing! just a dozen days later.

a pair of iwd items i must share,
both courtesy of the huffington post:

she's the reason:

a call to honor the unsung women who have helped shape us,
the ones who changed our life path in some essential way,
who made an important difference for us with their
presence, words, works, kindness or example, but might not know it.

huffpost requested readers to submit their "she's the reason"
stories via email & twitter for future publication up on the website.

but i'm going to go much more personal with mine.
this month, i will write a personal note to three such women in my life
to let them know they're the reason for something i cherish . . . & thank them for it.

wouldn't it be amazing to receive a letter like that? i think so, too.

one woman, y'all:

25 songstresses from 20 countries around the world
come together to sing a song of solidarity.
"one woman" was written for un women,
the international organization for women's rights.

it's beautiful & moving & available for download internationally:




image source: brazilian artiste bebel gilberto.

just indulge me ... one more day.

my top six runners-up for the greatest moments
of the 57th presidential inauguration [in order of appearance]:

6. kelly clarkson [texan] wowing the crowd
with her *live* version of "my country 'tis of thee":



5. beautiful beyonce [texan], amazing as ever, delivering
our national anthem [lip-synch? who cares? look at her!]:



4. our first lady epically eye-rolling
at boehner's luncheon banter:



3. nbc's al roker getting a presidential thumbs-up
& a vice-presidential handshake during the inaugural parade:



2. big first sister malia obama hilariously photobombing
little first sister sasha's shot of their smooching parents:



1. jennifer hudson, doing right by the reverend al green
with her first-couple's-first-dance version of "let's stay together":



aaaand . . . my favorite moment of the 2013 inauguration?
the one captured at the top of the post —
president obama, as he exited the ceremony,
pausing & turning around to take a moment to take it all in.
"i want to take a look one more time," he said.
"i'm not going to see this again."

watch the video of it here.


image source: the white house.

let's stay together ... four more years.

we, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths —
that all of us are created equal —
is the star that guides us still;

just as it guided our forebears through seneca falls,
& selma,
& stonewall;

just as it guided all those men & women, sung & unsung,
who left footprints along this great mall,
to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone;

to hear a king proclaim that
our individual freedom is inextricably bound
to the freedom of every soul on earth.

it is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began.
for our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers & daughters
can earn a living equal to their efforts.

our journey is not complete until our gay brothers & sisters
are treated like anyone else under the law —
for if we are truly created equal,
then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.

our journey is not complete until no citizen
is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote.

our journey is not complete until we find a better way
to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants
who still see america as a land of opportunity —
until bright young students & engineers
are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country.

our journey is not complete until all our children,
from the streets of detroit
to the hills of appalachia,
to the quiet lanes of newtown,
know that they are cared for & cherished & always safe from harm.

that is our generation’s task — to make these words, these rights, these values
of life & liberty & the pursuit of happiness
real for every american.

america’s possibilities are limitless,
for we possess all the qualities that this world without boundaries demands:
youth & drive;
diversity & openness;
an endless capacity for risk
& a gift for reinvention.

my fellow americans,
we are made for this moment,
&we will seize it — so long as we seize it together.

president of the united states barack h. obama
his second inaugural address
january 21st, 2013

different is beautiful.

i am sick.

not with the dreaded flu that's so widespread,
thank goodness.

just a cold.
a bad cold.
a miserable cold.

yesterday, i was coming down with it.
today, i'm down with it
[& not in that "i'm cool wit dat" way;
in that "i'm down for the count" way.]

i loathe it even more than i loathe lance armstrong.
which is considerable, as i've forever considered lance armstrong
an egotistical asshole. & now, at last, i'm not alone.

regardless of how vindicated i'm feeling, however,
i'm still feeling crappy.

i've got an asshole cold.

i blame lance armstrong.

still, watching this 3 minutes + 19 seconds of
different, beautiful, vulnerable, confident, breathing, wonderful women
makes me feel just a smidge better.



that, & knowing the obama family
will knock lance armstrong totally off my tv screen
come monday.

happy friday, y'all.


image source: old-fashioned days.

american woman proud.

oh, what a night . . .
what a ladies' night!!

last night, american women — voters & candidates alike —
kicked some serious patriotic ass, & yes, gentlemen — we took names.

on election day 2012:

:: women made up about 54% of the electorate.

:: 55% of women voted for barack obama. 44% of women voted for mitt romney.

:: the total gender gap added up to 18% in president obama's favor —
an expansion of over 30% since his 2008 election.

:: the 113th u.s. congress will include 20 women senators,
the most ever in u.s. history [we're currently at 17].

:: 5 new women senators were elected — 4 democrats + 1 republican —
while all 6 democratic women incumbents were re-elected.

:: a record number of women candidates ran for both
the u.s. senate & the u.s. house of representatives.

:: in massachusetts, democrat elizabeth warren became her state's
first woman u.s. senator, winning over incumbent republican scott brown
in the most expensive senate race nationwide — at more than $70 million.

:: in new hampshire, the first-ever all-women delegation was elected —
their 2 women u.s. senators [1 dem, 1 rep] will be joined by
2 democratic women congressional representatives, as well as
governor maggie hassan, who will be the only woman democratic governor in 2013.

:: in missouri, democratic senator claire mccaskill won re-election
against republican representative todd akin, who infamously said
pregnancy rarely results from a "legitimate" rape.

:: in indiana, democratic representative joe donnelly won a senate seat
against republican richard mourdock, who infamously called
pregnancy resulting from rape "something god intended to happen."

:: in nebraska, republican deb fischer became her state's
first full-term woman u.s senator, winning over democrat bob kerrey.

:: in wisconsin, democratic representative tammy baldwin became our country's
first openly gay senator & her state's first woman u.s. senator,
winning over republican former governor tommy thompson. her house seat goes to
assemblyman mark pocan, also an openly gay democrat.

:: in hawai'i, democrat mazie hirono became our country's
first asian-american woman u.s. senator, winning over
republican former governor linda lingle.

:: also in hawai'i, democrat tulsi gabbard became our country's
first practicing hindu ever elected to the u.s. house, winning over
republican kawika crowley. gabbard intends to take her oath of office next january over
a bhagavad gita, a sacred text for followers of the vaishnava branch of hindu.

image source: women for obama.

#govote.

image source: http://govotenov6.tumblr.com.

gore for president.

with the election only — & finally — a week from today,
i just thought i'd share this video gem
from "it's my party" girl lesley gore.

gore, now 66yo, endorsed the use of her hit "you don't own me"
for the political psa, created by sarah sophie flicker, leader of
new york's the citizens band,
a cabaret collective that makes political statements.

i don't know about you, but this just makes me
want to pick up a hairbrush "microphone" & belt along:

image source: music stack music marketplace.

madame moderator.

so, while i was all wrapped up in my own olympics aftermath,
the world continued turning, & stuff happened.

for example, on august 13th, cnn chief political correspondent candy crowley
was named as moderator of the second 2012 general election presidential debates,
making her the first woman in 20 years to be chosen for the prestigious role.

crowley will moderate the only townhall-style presidential debate between
president barack obama & republican presidential candidate mitt romney.
the debate is scheduled for tuesday, october 16th at new york's hofstra university.

candy crowley's selection may have been in large part due to
the efforts of three 16yo girls from new jersey.
emma axelrod, sammi siegel & elena tsemberis of montclair, nj,
launched a change.org petition calling for a female journalist to moderate
the presidential debates. their petition gathered more than 180,000 signatures,
& apparently, the commission on presidential debates noticed.

"having the support of [1992 moderator] carole simpson,
senator [kirsten] gillibrand & representative [carolyn] maloney — powerful women
who are heroes to many — underscored for us how important
this campaign was to wage," said tsemberis. "this campaign wasn't
about partisan politics, or liberal or conservative issues.
this was about equal representation, regardless of political party."

the other presidential debate moderators are
pbs newshour's jim lehrer & cbs face the nation's bob schieffer;
abc's martha raddatz will moderate the vice-presidential debate.


image source: vegetarian star.

nora @ wellesley.

nora ephron graduated from wellesley college in 1962.
in 1996, she was invited to address her alma mater's
exiting graduates with a commencement speech.

the speech — wise, witty, consummate nora —
contains a couple of pieces which has been broadly quoted.
but, not surprisingly, much more of it is infinitely quotable.

inspirational.
amazing.
just like nora.

here are my favorite pieces:

"don't underestimate how much antagonism there is toward women
& how many people wish we could turn the clock back.
one of the things people always say to you if you get upset is,
don't take it personally,
but listen hard to what's going on, & please, i beg you,
take it personally.

understand:
every attack on hillary clinton for not knowing her place
is an attack on you.
underneath almost all those attacks are words:
get back, get back to where you once belonged.
when elizabeth dole pretends she isn't serious about her career,
it is an attack on you.
the acquittal of o.j. simpson is an attack on you.
any move to limit abortion rights is an attack on you —
whether or not you believe in abortion.
the fact that clarence thomas is sitting on the supreme court today
is an attack on you.

above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim."

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

" ... in case any of you are wondering,
of course you can have it all.
what are you going to do? everything, is my guess.
it will be a little messy, but embrace the mess.
it will be complicated, but rejoice in the complications.
it will not be anything like what you think it will be like,
but surprises are good for you.
& don't be frightened: you can always change your mind.

you are not going to be you, fixed & immutable you, forever.

one of the most delicious things available to women,
& more particularly to women than to men, i think:
it's slightly easier for us to shift, to change our minds,
to take another path.
yogi berra, the former new york yankee who made a specialty
of saying things that were famously maladroit, quoted himself
at a recent commencement speech he gave:
'when you see a fork in the road,' he said, 'take it.'

yes, it's supposed to be a joke, but this is the life
many women lead: two paths diverge in a wood,
& we get to take them both.

whatever you choose, however many roads you travel,
i hope you choose not to be a lady.
i hope you will find some way to break the rules
& make a little trouble out there.
& i also hope you will choose to make some of that trouble
on behalf of women."


image source: yahoo!

equal pay day.

just like tax day, it comes around each year,
& is always a little depressing.
equal pay day.

49 years ago, president john f. kennedy signed
the equal pay act of 1963.
today, women still must work until mid-april of this year
in order to earn what the average american male earned last year.
yep — today's the day we catch up with where the men were january 1st.

according to the latest u.s. census stats,
full-time working women earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men.
& naturally, the gap is wider for women of color.

*heavy. sigh.*

ok. so, the better-than-nothing news is,
president obama has flagged equal pay as a priority.
in fact, in his 2012 state of the union address, the president said,
" ... an economy built to last is one where we encourage
the talent & ingenuity of every person in this country.
that means women should earn equal pay for equal work."

so, what is the president doing to walk that talk?

1) he created the equal pay task force.
since its creation two years ago, the eptf has helped:

:: increase enforcement actions;

:: increase recovered money for women seeking
their fair share for doing the same work as men;

:: increase outreach to employers & employees alike,
with rewarding results; &

:: make sure the full weight of the federal government
is centered on closing the gender pay gap for good.

2) the department of labor is gathering & distributing good pay-gap info.

:: a solution to the gender pay-gap problem has been difficult
in large part because access to essential information has been limited.
the equal pay app challenge invited software developers to use
publicly available data & resources to create applications that provide
— greater access to pay data, organized by gender, race & ethnicity,
— interactive tools for early career coaching or online mentoring, or
— data to help inform pay negotiations.
the winners of the challenge have been announced, &
soon, anyone with a smartphone, tablet or computer
will be able to easily access the info they need to make sure they're paid fairly.

:: the dol has also just published two new brochures
to educate employees regarding their rights &
to ensure employers understand their obligations
under existing equal-pay laws.

let's hope once more americans know better,
more americans will do better.
until then, tip your waitress an extra 23% today,
in "celebration" of equal pay day.


image source: fringepop.

wrrrrld records.

it's women's history month,
& american women are undoubtedly under attack —
by presidential candidates, media moguls, local lawmakers.

but what you pay attention to grows.
so i don't want to dwell too deeply upon the current
he-man woman-haters club members invading our lady-space lately.

i just want to quickly clarify two points:
1) women's history month does NOT mean it's the month to make women history, fellas; &
2) contrary to popular "our gang" beliefs, girls are NOT the bunk. :p

now, moving along to more uplifting women-centric items . . .
how about five world records recently set by women??

:: longest distance solo swim: penny palfrey.
last summer, 48yo australian grandmother penny palfrey broke the world record for
longest unassisted solo swim, crossing the 67 miles
from grand cayman to little cayman in 40 hours, 41 minutes.
she wore only a swimsuit & goggles, & contended with sharks & jellyfish
along the way, but never left the water.

:: biggest worldwide jumping-jacks organizer: michelle obama.
last fall, u.s. first lady michelle obama led 450 kids
on the south lawn of the white house — & other organized events nationwide,
totaling 300,625 americans — in simultaneous jumping jacks,
leaving the prior record of just 20,000 jumpers lamely lacking.

:: fastest appalachian trail hiker: jennifer pharr davis.
[& i don't mean the appalachian trail hiking used as a euphemism
by former sc governor mark sanford for an argentinian booty call.]
last summer, 28yo writer jennifer pharr davis hiked up to 47 miles & 16 hours a day
to cover the 2,175-mile backwoods trail from maine to georgia
in just under 47 days. it was davis' third time hiking the appalachian trail,
but not her first serious athletic achievement; she has also summited mount kilimanjaro,
completed an ironman & set a women's record for the long trail.

:: longest distance on a treadmill: sharon gayter.
last winter, 48yo british endurance runner sharon gayter jogged an average of
74 miles & 18 hours a day to complete 517.33 miles on a treadmill in 7 days.
no novice to athletic accomplishment, gayter has run over 22k miles
in over 1,000 races, over 300 marathons & over 100 ultras around the world.

::most academy award nominations: meryl streep.
2012's best actress oscar winner has been nominated 17 times, won thrice.
her closest competitors for this record are katherine hepburn & jack nicholson,
who tie for the runner-up honor with a paltry dozen noms a piece.
at 62yo, the magnificent ms. streep has also earned eight golden globes, two emmys
& myriad other honors, not to mention her degree from the yale school of drama.


image sources: poorly noted. :}

obama likes girls.

a few months ago, the winners of the
inaugural google science fair
were announced.

from over 7,500 entries
from over 10,000 students
from over 90 countries,

three were chosen.
& they are all american girls.

how cool is that?

lauren hodge [above left]
won the 13-14yo age group
for studying the different levels
of carcinogens in grilled chicken,
depending upon the type of sauce used.

naomi shah [above right]
won the 15-16yo age group
for working to prove that
tweaking indoor environments can
improve air quality &
lessen dependence upon asthma medication.

shree bose [above, center]
won the 17-18yo age group & grand prize
for improving ovarian cancer treatment
for patients who have developed
a resistance to some chemotherapy drugs.

how cool is that?

earlier this month, these three amazing young women
visited the white house & the first couple.

about the same time, the president addressed a dinner
hosted by the national women's law center honoring
the women freedom riders of the civil rights movement.

he eloquently spoke of the importance of
continuing the fight for equality for women & girls.
"when women succeed," he said, "america succeeds."

sadly, american women still lag behind men
overall in science & math, & we still earn
only 77 cents for every man-earned dollar.

but, as the president duly noted,
this trio of bright, innovative girls
proves how america is still
"a place where ideas are born, where dreams can grow,

& where a student in a classroom
or a passenger on a bus
or a legal secretary in an office
can stand up & decide to change the world."

how cool is that??
really, really, really cool.

you go, girls.


image source: foxnews.com.

awfully smart for a dumb blonde.

"to all you girls who think you're fat 

because you're not

a size zero,

you're the beautiful one.

it's society that's ugly."

~ marilyn monroe ~

image source: celeb-face.com.

e.r.a.gain.

under the u.s. constitution,
discriminating against a person of color
is punishable by law.
discriminating against a woman
isn't.

some americans have been trying to
fix this discrepancy for 88 years,
without success.

thank goodness, they're not done trying.

the equal rights amendment [e r a]
to the u.s. constitution
was originally written by american suffragette alice paul
& introduced in congress in 1923.

51 years later, in 1972, the e r a
was passed by both the u.s. house & senate
by a two-thirds vote.
it had a decade to become ratified
by two-thirds of the states [38].
it died in 1982, lacking only three more states' approval.

the amendment consists of 52 words,
with the key line being:

"equality of rights under the law
shall not be denied or abridged
by the united states or by any state
on account of sex."

that's the sentence that means
men & women will have equal rights under the law.

that's the sentence that will make the courts
treat gender discrimination with the same strict scrutiny they use to deal with racial discrimination.

who would have thought american women
were considered lesser citizens than black men??
of course, they got the right to vote first, too.

june 21st, u.s. senator robert menendez of new jersey
& u.s. representative carolyn maloney of new york
reintroduced the e r a,
now known as the women's equality amendment.

why? because as long a way as we've come,
baby,
over the past few decades,
as many glass ceilings as we've shattered,
as many positions of power we've proven we can excel at,
as many military members as we've sent into war,
women are still underpaid & underrepresented
here in the good ol' u s of a.

president obama – surrounded by strong, smart, capable
women & girls who also happen to be
the people he holds closest to his heart –
has put his full support behind passage of the w e a.

quoth my president:
"history shows that countries are more prosperous
& more peaceful when women are empowered."

& so, a week prior to the national holiday
celebrating the freedoms offered by our country,
i must ask in response to mr. president's observation:

why not america??


image source: banning+low.

oh, bama.

so, two days ago,
my president came to austin.
& i went to see him.

not quite personal [alas, no meet-&-greet],
but definitely up-close.

like, 25 feet, maybe.

yep. leader of the free world.
talking to about 750 austinites.
of which i was one.

talking about his first-term achievements.
talking about his second-term goals.

talking about disappointments.
talking about sacrifices.
talking about reality.

talking about connection.
talking about togetherness.
talking about sameness.

talking about americans.
talking about putting on boots.
talking about climbing up hills.

talking about yes. we. can.
again.

now, that's what i'm talking about, y'all.


**HUGE thanks goes to my dear & generous friend
& fellow blogger diana,
who shelled out the giant clams necessary
for me to be her plus-one
to this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
best. friend. ever.**


image source: just me & my canon powershot, baby. booyah.