I Can See the Red Tail Lights Heading for Spain

MaryKatherine has officially landed in Spain and is getting acquainted with her roommate Courtney (who is affectionately known as "other Courtney" in our house for clarity's sake). She is doing great, but is tired and resting up for her interview tomorrow.
We miss her terribly already - that contagious laugh and smile - but we wouldn't want her to be anywhere else but living this dream.

On Saturday, we had a few of her closest friends over and surprised her with a Tapas Bon Voyage party. I wish I took more pictures, but we were all having so much fun that I forgot....and MAYBE the sangria had something to do with it! Here are a few shots:

Brian, MK and Office Ed

MK and a sleeping Nicolina in matching outfits

I wish I had photos of Michaela and her "Aunt Kay" - but she spent much of the evening with a different companion:

MK's last evening home was spent doing her two favorite things: shopping and eating French food!

We even special ordered a little snow storm for her, just in case she'll miss it!

We will keep you posted on her latest adventures as best we can!

The truth doesn't matter if replacing you is so easy...

I have had this song in my head for about 3 weeks now. It is not a terribly good song, nor are the lyrics profound or poetic. I think its popularity is in its message - everyone has had a loved one (romantic or not) who has played a prominent role in your life, but turned out to be a disappointment. That and Beyonce isn't so hard on the eyes...
Seriously though: Everyone, but everyone, wishes that they had this song in their heart as they said goodbye...but more typically, we are left floundering in a pool of anger, confusion and too many tears.

Dominick and I recently had one such friendship show its true colors. But now that the anger and sadness have begun to fade, we are left to find a peace and meaning in the quiet of our minds where our friends used to be. Sometimes that meaning lies in what their presence meant - sometimes it is in the lesson of their leaving - sometimes it is in the silent void of their absence - but there is always a new understanding to be embraced before moving forward.

For us, I think the meaning was found in the smiling faces surrounding us. Friends and family who had no idea of what had happened. They were not there to help us through a hard time (though I'm sure they would be), they were just...THERE. And like grains of sand, the winds of change gently swept these people into the hole in our hearts and reminded us of what love and reciprocity feels like.

So on this Valentine's Day, we send all of our love to the beautiful people who come together and are our family and our support system. Whether you are a daily phone call - or someone who checks the blog and remembers us in your prayers - you are on our minds and in our hearts today and always. And on this day, we remember all of the people in the world whose hearts are hurting- may the winds of change bring them the peace and love that we all deserve.

Happy Valentine's Day to All...XOXO

I Wish I Had a River

Winter doldrums have set in again. I'm sure it is because I'm sick...and Dom's sick...but things here have been very quiet.

There's been a little bit of this...

And all kinds of that...














And somewhere in the middle it snowed...

And Tugger developed a nasty drug habit...oops, nope, still snow...

and then we noticed robins across the street, invading our neighbor's yard...

And that was picturesque for a few hours...but then it seemed like they were casing our house...and the situation transitioned into creepy.

And sure enough, we awoke this morning to this in our holly tree:







And by noon, the tree was bare and there was a Henry VIII style berry buffet for all Robins in the NY metro area happening on our lawn.

Luckily, I took these yesterday




And when I turned around, the sun was doing pretty things on the piano, so I got that too!

So everything at the Hogan-Stanzione household is good. We've settled in for a long winter's nap and are fighting the same flu that the entire Eastern seaboard has contracted. Our warmest wishes to you and your families and we'll touch base again soon!

Baby It's Cold Outside

Ginger has been staying with us this week, and Tugger is having the time of his life. Notice all of the indoor photos due to the recent cold snap. Meanwhile, Dom and I are home with the flu and exhausted. Ginger is patient and kind...Tug is well intentioned and tireless...he looks at her with eyes of adoration and copies her every move. Ginger sniffs, Tug sniffs, Ginger takes a drink, he's one slurp behind her.
Here are some photos that tell their love story better than I can:
It begins with Tug thrashing around in front of Ginger, hoping for her to respond in kind.


Then he mounts her about the head as a lion would approach a gazelle. Notice the complete and utter disregard of the difference in size and power.


Tug then trashes about whilst clinging to her noggin


After a very fierce warning growl, Tug thought he found the perfect hiding spot.


Then he decides to be "chill" like his hero, and watch TV. Of course he HAS to be touching her and CAN'T see over her, so he lays on top of her.


This ultimately leads to Ginger gently approaching me with this face which clearly says "When the hell are you going to do something about this?"


She then gives up and seeks refuge upstairs for a much overdue nap.


Tug's not done playing, so he makes mischief to try to get her attention.


But it always ends the same way...a shared bed and long winter's nap...for all four of us!