year in review

2011 was a busy year for many reasons. One of them is the very creation of this blog! Here's my abridged year in review in list format (not necessarily in any particular order of importance).

1. A blog is born - a Side of Sparkle starts publishing in April
2. After many false starts, marissab.com is finally live and it's smooth sailing.
3. Meeting new friends at the park and hanging out with other moms made this year great fun.
4. A baby is born - we welcomed the newest addition to our family, Laela, on July 6th.
5. Discovery of adding Pumpkin Spice Blend to my coffee brew makes waking up at 5:30am a tad bearable.
6. "Bubba" met the recycling bin (finally, after months of coaxing, Violet has forgotten all about her baby bottle).
7. Reconnecting with old friends was bittersweet as we wished them well on their cross-country move.
8. Life ended too soon for a friend of ours this winter.
9. Three dear friends had babies. Welcome to the world, Nathaniel, William and Hannah!
10. A summer full of beach days and back yard bbq's with Violet, Laela and Hero Hubby was only spoiled by the massive ammount of bugs this summer. That's life on the marsh, for ya.
11. Finally made concord grape jam this September from all those plump beauties nestled in the vines along our back-yard.
12. Tasted farm fresh eggs for the first time and I'm hooked!
13. Read Cat in the Hat over 100 times (yes, I counted).
14. A long weekend on Martha's Vineyard in the spring
15. Lots of visits to antique shops and flea markets this summer, which seemed to always involve ice cream cones afterwards - they just make sense together.
16. Thanksgiving and Christmas spent with the extended family. A gift and a blessing. 
17. Had lots of fun writing posts and sharing 2011 with you, Dear Readers. Here's to a terrific 2012!

See you next year...

image via love-luck-kisses-cake