My new brother-in-law Paul turns thirty this weekend, which is very fitting for family week (thanks, Paul!). To celebrate his old age, we went to the Drambuie Den on 14th Street, where we drank tons and then lit the drinks on fire.
Paul makes Lucy laugh a lot. Sometimes she laughs until she cries!
Ryan lights up the Drambuie, just the way Paul taught him.
Every time I hang out with Paul and Lucy a drink is somehow spilled on my foot.
Robin and Paul heart each other.
Last September, Paul also married my sister.

I love you, Paul! I am so happy you are in our family!

Despite my obvious love for all things baby, I've never been the type of girl who daydreams about her future wedding. It's always seemed so far off. But if I did dream, I'd think along the lines of the gorgeous wedding of designer Lena Corwin. I love that she used fabric for the portrait backgrounds, and the outdoor dinner looks like so much fun. She also made her groom's tie!
(via SF Girl by Bay)

Magic

Have a lovely and magical afternoon.

A reader in Germany gave me a tip about the painter Gerd Brunzema, who paints his children while they're sleeping. My reader says: "Very strange. It isn't cute at all. But I like it, cause it looks authentic." I find the series really sweet, though. (What do you think, readers: Creepy or cute?) Either way, they're wonderful.

No family week would be complete without a post about the Saturday Evening Post. So check out this incredible "silent" comic strip cover by Thornton Utz--it shows a day in the life of an awesome 1950's surburban dad. Illustrators usually have to do a single illustration for a magazine cover (think The New Yorker) -- here, Utz had to do nine! Bravo.
(via the amazing Today's Inspiration, a blog about illustration from the 40's and 50's.)

Kristen Oppenheim is exactly the kind of artist you hope to discover in the middle of a family week; I was thrilled to come across her work yesterday on I Heart Photograph. Oppenheim has an evocative range of photographs about childhood. Above is "The Treasure" and below is "The Leap," which are so sweetly realistic! (I remember making my parents watch endless "leaps"--I could almost do a split!)

Arguably the cutest baby gear ever is the Hug-Me Sweater by Oeuf, which seeks "to save the future lost mittens of the world."