It has been a perfect weekend for being outside.

I keep forgetting to tell you about the Bat Mitzvah we went to on Saturday (lord, those things are commitments — we were there from 10am till 2:30 in the afternoon, and it was lovely but whoo! I needed a nap afterwards). Let’s see if I can get this right: it was Ross’s mother’s cousin’s daughter who was turning 13. I used to know what that relationship was called, but I’m damned if I can remember. Maybe my mum can comment to tell us what it is in Cantonese.

Anyway, the Bat Mitzvah. It was my first ever, and a very charming one to take that place, too. It actually reminded me a good deal of our wedding — although it was bigger, fancier, certainly more expensive, and altogether more meticulously planned and rehearsed for than our wedding. They held the ceremony in the roof garden of a nice hotel in Cambridge, and we moved inside for a very delicious reception and lunch afterwards. It was the ceremony that I found familiar — it was an eclectic collection of readings, poems, songs, small ritual acts, and a fingerpinch of adorable confusion, and you could see everyone’s personalities in it. Totally worth baking in the sun for.

Sunday morning Dana and I met to wander through the grounds of the Arboretum in J.P. — another first for me, though I cannot think of a single reason why. I don’t need to tell you that it was a joy to spend time with her, do I? I don’t. You can see for yourselves.

Sunday afternoon and evening we hung out with lots of Ross’s family on his grandma’s side, in town for the celebrations. We’re very lucky to have both been blessed, for the most part, with eminently likeable relatives. We are particularly fond of Brenda and Chris, who put us up in their fabulous Manhattan apartment the night before we flew out on our honeymoon. Here’s the softly elegant B.: check out the button-bangle!

And Chris is the genius behind the pantomime we saw last year. Honestly, some days I feel like a small dull planet orbited by a million fantastically sparkly moons.

Today we bucked tradition (whose? not ours!) and forwent a Memorial Day cookout in favor of sitting on a small grassy hill near our house with coffee and books. I took pictures of Ross’s feet, aren’t you excited?

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Edited to add a picture of Chris; I love it.