Next, The Party

I admit I haven't attended many one-year-old birthday parties, but surely Sophie's ranks up there as one of the best. Her Daddy flew with her to New York City, so she could spend her first birthday with me. We gathered in Central Park at eleven o'clock with many of my friends and their children (including Barnaby Williams and Harper and Lyra Smith Kois), where we opened presents, ate amazing cupcakes from an Upper Eastside Bakery and basked in the sun for almost three hours. Even the Pope made an appearance (well, he was in the neighborhood anyway, as evinced by the NYPD helicopters buzzing overhead).

Once again, our dedication to the art of photography failed us, but luckily my friend and professional photographer, Jane, was there to pick up the slack. Look forward to seeing some fantastic photos soon. In the meantime:

Sophie was showered with presents, including some great books and Mr. Bacon and Mr. Toast (stuffed creations in the shape of...you guessed it.)

Sophie LOVED eating her cupcake. She went for it with full gusto, grabbing fistfuls of icing and even going down for a nosedive into the yellow cake. Yum!

Here she is with Harper, a few months younger but just as cute.

Any ideas for next year?

First, The Play

My pictures from New York aren't the best, but at least my dear readers will get a small sense of our amazing trip.

crooked opened Off-Broadway at the Women's Project on April 20. I had a lot of visitors over the weekend: Carl brought Sophie up for her birthday (April 19), my sister, Martha, and brother-in-law joined us for the festivities, and friends Shala and Darrell flew in from Hays. So many of my friends in New York came to see the play (some for the third time), and I felt completely supported, encouraged and loved. Thank you everybody for helping to make my Off-Broadway debut so memorable!

With Shala and Darrell outside the theatre.

My good friend Korey came up from Washington D.C. to see the show and to meet Sophie.

And while the show of support from my friends and family truly made the weekend, this review didn't hurt either:

http://theater2.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/theater/reviews/21croo.html

Go Heels!

One of my favorite things about Hays, America, is the little bakery located just five blocks from our house. I often go there in the morning to write and partake of their lovely cups of coffee and cherry pastries. Chad Augustine, the owner along with his wife, has never set foot in North Carolina, yet has more Tarheel spirit than many actual Tarheels. His enthusiasm every March for Carolina basketball awakens my own sleepy school spirit. Today, he sported his national championship shirt, mocking all his Jayhawk customers, so I wore my UNC hat too, for solidarity. Chad sports a true blue Carolina tattoo and plans to gets another if we go all the way (something I won't be doing for solidarity, but applaud him all the same.)

Any cross-country traveling Tarheels, you gotta stop by Augustine's Bakery and thank Chad for cheering us on all these years, and whenever he manages to make it to North Carolina, we need to roll out the red carpet.