*new to me*

myla and i have been home twelve hours since our cross-country flight from Los Angeles. I just spent the week in southern california while my twelve year old attended tennis camp. We split our time between Laguna Beach where we stayed in a studio guest apartment with family, Newport, and Irvine. when we arrived last week, i instantly learned that husbands cousin had written a book! this was new to me. somehow, this big news had missed being passed on and i was thrilled to get my hands on a copy. four copies actually.

this cousin is a rockstar. she’s one of those relatives that my girls admire, and when she spends time with us she gives them little female-pep-talks about staying away from boys, doing their best in school, being true to who they are-type of thing. she’s so entertaining that these pep talks are quoted long after they are received. i’m pretty sure she doesn’t realize the significance and impact her words have.

so finding out that she has an entire book of her words! {gasp!} we are delighted.

one please. the pictures above are of mia signing our books this past week. one please is real and entertaining and is shaking up all these inner parts of me… her passions regarding anthropology, on how often she bypasses death, on love, on life…she is a modern woman and an amazing writer, and trust me…it is a great read.

here’s a peek at the first chapter:

Most girls my age are married or about to get married. They have Z Gallerie furniture, Ralph Lauren bath towels, send Christmas cards and have wine parties. I’m not like most girls my age, or any girl really. I spend my money on plane tickets and travel the world instead of all that American dream lifestyle stuff. All six of my sisters have the husbands, treadmills, Saturday soccer meets and maxed out credit cards. I don’t. They all think that I will snap out of it, settle down, find a man on match.com and start having babies. Unlikely. I’m not gay (my mom lets me know it’s OK if I am, every year) I just haven’t met the right guy to buy designer towels with yet.

you can find one please at the laguna book store in southern california, you can look for her at local book signings!

you can purchase it online here, or purchase a kindle copy here. also – you can find our beautiful cousin mia on Facebook here.

check these out! Here she is at Bourj el Barajneh Palestinian refugee camp:

and here, at Baalbek, Lebanon!

today is monday… i am happy to be home. it’s safe to say we are fairly settled and unpacked in our new home, so i am going to start tackling all the new decorating projects i have bouncing around in my head. in-between family bike rides.

before i sign-off for today, i want you to check this out. a reader of seejaneblog, ayesha, emailed me this past weekend –

Me and my husband have a passion for art and how it can change people lives. I volunteered for a year in Boston at a shelter and saw art transform so many. We have decided to put this into action and take a rundown Airstream we have completely re-do it and hit the road allowing people to MAKE. The project is affectionately called Make Mobile: Vehicle of Change. We are finalists in a contest to make this dream a reality and now all we need are votes to make it happen.

how cool is that?!? check this out, and vote here for Make Mobile. you can vote once every day till July 25th. give ayesha some love my friends!

see you back here tomorrow, xoxo.