a marriage in pictures....

seven years ago today:


six years ago today:


2 months later:


4 years ago today...well...give or take a few days:


at the end of 2006:


and the beginning of 2007:



a long time before all of this:


this time last year:


this time last month:


my face when i got the seven year itch last week:


and saturday, handsomely surrounded by firework smoke:


happy anniversary, mr. hartley. here's to us. and at least sixty more years of pictures.

L O V E Y O U.

Tickling the Ivories

I've been driving my husband crazy....um, lately [or always?] every time a Bruce Springsteen song comes on with an obvious piano accompaniment [which is uh, pretty much every Springsteen song?].

I'll suddenly get a weird look in my eye and a tingle in my fingers and I'll turn up the volume and declare confidently that 'I'm TOTALLY gonna learn how to play this on the piano!" In fact, I've done it so much recently, that he started answering with "You say that every song. Make up your mind.".

Poor guy. I know it's tough living with me. And lucky for him, I know just the cure.

Piano lessons.

Now, I've had piano lessons before. And yes, I did hate them. But this time it's different.

I swear.

Would you or would you not be totally entertained if you came over to my house and there I was, in some sort of horrific get-up I haven't even thought of yet, taking up the entire living room with a ridiculously large piano, serenading you with Springsteen's "She's The One" or maybe The Beatles' "Martha, My Dear" or making you cry with Journey's "Faithfully"? Or better yet - what if I went all Yes on you with like 25 synthesizers?

Maybe I'm blind but I just don't see how that could NOT be awesome.

Think of the parties! The melodies! The spiritual transformations!

I'm sure I could get my kids to play along. After all, they're short enough that they can still stand on top of a piano.

I can just see it now. "Mom Goes On Tour, Kills On The Keys, Has Horrible Pipes, Makes Own Children Sing for Her"

Yeah. It's gonna be great.

And The Dance Party Continues...

I let the boys go out alone with their Dad a few nights ago....

This is what happened when they came back. You might want to shield your eyes, the air guitar and drumming? It's on fire...


Going Down for A Dance Party from emily hartley on Vimeo.

And these dance moves? Pretty fierce. We could totally take over DanceTV.


Going solid gold with santogold from emily hartley on Vimeo.

How I Almost Lost My Husband to Springsteen

*! thanks, LTC, for the power cord !*

One of the things I love most about my husband is his love for music, his love for seeing it live and his love for taking me with him.

We've seen some good shows together, the two of us.

Especially if you don't count that one time we accidentally saw Nickelback [Or if you ask my husband, that one time we accidentally saw Jack Johnson].

Last Thursday night was another one for the records books.

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band just happened to be rolling through town, and you know when they come to town, you can't just stay home. You MUST go.

Even if you did just see them in April. Or even if you're supposed to be living on some sort of so-called 'budget'. I mean who cares if you have to eat hot dogs every day for a month - your seats were awesome!

So...

We went.

And of course, it was nothing short of amazing. Like getting your faced ripped off, put back on, ripped off once more, and totally enjoying it.

I knew my husband felt the same way. I hate to get all mushy on you, but watching him rock out was terribly romantic. There's nothing like sharing live music with the ones you love. It elevates the entire experience. Unless of course, your loved one decides to go all self-destructive on you, like mine did:

During the "Murder, Inc. / She's The One / Promised Land" trifecta:
Me: " Man, 58 looks good on Bruce"
Aaron: "I could jump right off this balcony and be happy"

After the "I Walk the Line / I'm On Fire" Medley:
Me: "Bruce sure looks sweaty, can't he just take that shirt off?"
Aaron: "I could die right here."

Following "Thunder Road" and "Born to Run" back to back, at the beginning of a seven song encore:
Me: " Tramps like us...yes. I'll be a tramp for you Bruce!"
Aaron: " I'm going to die a happy man! "

I have to admit, I was getting a little worried. I mean, yes, this concert was better than I could have ever imagined, with a set list that just kept slapping me in the face, but was I prepared to lose my husband over it? Um, not really. Unless it got me backstage.

And then, just when I thought I was safe, I hear Bruce start talking about Joe Strummer, mentioning that is was his birthday that night.

Oh no, I thought. Not the Clash. Please. Don't. Not tonight. I wanna go home with a husband still intact.

But sure enough - he tore right into "I Fought the Law". Big deal, you're thinking, I know. But you gotta understand. This song is my husband's song. It's his life. Its his story, his anthem.

His ringtone.

He took one gleeful look at me and said " That's it. I'm going! " as he held onto the railing. All I could think was 'The children! Think of the children!' But I was too busy dancing to say anything. So I just shimmied over in front of him.

My moves must have been good - smokin' I'm sure - because he never did jump. And thank God he didn't. Because he would have missed "Rosalita". And I forgot where we parked.