Happy International Women's Day!

Over on the Ellingsen Photography blog, I'm paying homage to the amazing women I grew up around in honor of International Women's Day! Who was a big influence on you?

xo

P.S. How do you like the new blog header? :)

Their Story

{The latest installment in my Memories series}

Happy Valentine's Day! I'm not a big fan of the "holiday", but because I couldn't hold off posting my parent's love story any longer, I thought today would be the perfect day to share. :)

So, to begin at the beginning: my dad is a native Norwegian. My mom is American. My mom's family moved to his hometown just outside Stavanger in early 1969 because of my grandfather's job (he was a lifelong international rep for Pratt & Whitney, a company my uncle and aunt both went on to work for). My dad became good friends with my uncle, Karl, and spent a lot of time at the family's house because of it. Like Karl's fifteenth birthday, for example:

(Don't you just love dad's bitchin' frilly shirt? He looks so much like Lars does in this picture, it's scary. That's my mom on the left.)

My dad was one of the coolest kids in school - he rode a motorcycle, threw parties, dated as many girls as possible and charmed all his teachers while doing so.

A year later the family moved back to the States, but not before my mom told my dad, "Wait for me to grow up so we can get married, okay?"

She was ten, my dad was sixteen.

And true to 16-year-old manhood, he said, "Yeah, sure, kid."

Ten years later...

It's now January 1980. My dad and uncle have stayed really good friends despite living on different continents, and now that my uncle is getting married my dad has flown to Bombay Mumbai to be his best man (Karl's first wife is half Indian, half English).

My mom and grandmother fly in from Connecticut and my dad goes with Karl to pick them up. The way he tells it, when he saw his best friend's baby sister for the first time in many years, "That was pretty much it for me." You know it's love when someone falls for you after you've been traveling for 18 hours, right?

Which makes these photos they took of each other while they were still in Bombay all the more meaningful:

From there on out, dad courted mom relentlessly. Long distance calls (a big deal in those days!), visits, flowers, etc. He was certain he'd found The One. My mom wasn't sure yet - she was only 21, and she'd have to move to Norway because my dad had a great job with Mobil Oil, which would mean giving up riding and training her beloved Arabian horses:

But how could she resist this face?

They spent more and more time together though...

And by November that same year, she had long since caved and they were engaged!

They were married in 1981. On April 25 they'll be celebrating thirty years together. I'm so thankful for their amazing example of a beautiful and hard-working marriage. Happy almost-anniversary!!

But seriously, who gets to marry their childhood crush?

xo

The Dog Beach

A few weekends ago, we took dad out for some fun before he went in for surgery. It was an easy choice - lunch at Angelo's, followed by a trip to the dog beach. Naturally. :)

We just love it there. It's so relaxing, so gorgeous and seeing all the dogs ecstatically playing is good for the soul. That day was kind of hazy, but I couldn't resist shooting anyways.

Anja is so twitchy and still a puppy, so this was the only shot I could get of her looking at me!

It was only Anja's second time there, and she already does better in the water than Dante. Of course, it helps to have a thicker coat and weigh about 40 pounds more!

I can't say I blame him for wanting to stay out of the water, though, it's damn cold this time of year!

Dad is holy - who knew?

Yet another reason you gotta love living in SoCal - going to the dog beach while half the nation is being covered in snow. I really feel bad for you guys... ;)

xo

Happy Weekend!

So it looks like dad is coming home from the hospital today - huzzah!

He wanted me to point out his red glowing E.T.-style fingertip. :) He was flirting with the nurses the first day and began brief physical therapy sessions the day after surgery, so he's doing great!

Here's a few awesome blogs from this week:

~ Felicia Day's list of things she's enjoying has some great stuff!

~ These vintage photos from the Sydney Police Museum are amazing. Real people, the way they really dressed.

~ I abhor Valentine's Day (being told when to express my love just grates on me), but I think I might save this adorable DIY for later. :)

Have a great weekend! I'm getting my portraits taken for my website by the ever-awesome Nancy and spending some quality time with Mr. Same Same.

xo

Bedtime Story

{The latest installment in my Memories series}

In working on my bio, I note that I've been a bookworm since before I could read - and it's true! Bedtime stories were an intrinsic part of my childhood since I can remember. I will always love the escape and knowledge that reading provides, and it's because of my parents' dedication to always read to us before bed.

This is all of us in my old room after bathtime, must be somewhere around '91 or '92. Wasn't Lars the cutest baby EVER? I love that this shows my dad reading us a book in Norwegian, although I'm not sure if he was translating aloud or not. At the time he had a long commute and worked long hours, so looking back at these photos and knowing the trouble he went to to spend as much time as possible with us makes them even more precious.

Our expressions are sooo classic "us" at the time too! Eirik - making a face. Lars - happy and smiley. Me - smiling shyly with my prarie girl style nightgown. (I was super into anything written by Laura Ingalls, L.M. Montgomery, etc - basically anything set in the previous century!) I think my dad still has that jean shirt - or one that looks suspiciously just like it.

Did you guys do bedtime stories growing up, or do you do them with your kids now?

xo

P.S. My dad is having routine back surgery (that is VERY long overdue) today, so best wishes for a super speedy recovery!

P.P.S. Mr. Same Same wrote a fantastic short story based on a photo of Teddy - you can read it here.