One of the things Austen and I do to re-connect occasionally is go to Polo Grill for lunch. It's not the same when we go as a family, and it's not the same with just my 12 year old son. It's only fun when it's just her and me.

For the past 7 years, this has been the one place where we have never fought, where the only conversation is good conversation. The booths in this restaurant are high backed and against the wall. The piped in music is jazz (my favorite), and the wine list is fabu! I order a glass of champagne, which tickles my nose and mellows me out (maybe that's the secret to all this!!) , and we just "be". I mean, literally every conversation that's important in the life of a girl has taken place there.

When Austen was told where babies come from, it was there. When Austen wanted to know a not-much-discussed family secret, it was there. Mama gets a glass of liquid courage, and all the hard stuff gets a little easier in that calm, high-end environment. This picture was taken just last weekend, and Austen actually took it because this was her first time out of the house since her "nose job" and she still had the splint on her nose and black eyes. She did not want to be included this time (I try to document these events). This was the yucky camera, but it did o.k. this time.