Good times

Just saying hello and reporting that summer, in all it's heat and glory, is going well. Food, friends, travel, adventures, domesticity, and even a little dash of work have made for a busy couple of months. I'm still here and will update now and again. So thanks again for swinging by. I hope your summer is going well! 

Good morning

Down time

I'm a bachelorette this week with Ryan being out of town, so each night provides a dose of time alone that I don't often get being a married woman. I notice the amount of time we spend together, since earlier in my twenties I preferred to get quite a lot of time by myself. Whether in college, when I lived with roommates or while traveling, I used to go on long drives home between Seattle and Leavenworth alone, spend hours in coffee shops reading and writing alone, visit gardens and parks or other indulgences or was generally wandering away from the crowd to get some air and space to think and breathe.

Moving to a new place together where we didn't know a soul changed our lives in many ways. The increase of dependence in our relationship manifested itself in a noticeable way: boatloads, lots-a, tons-a time together, which, surprisingly- against all odds- turned out to be a wonderful thing. After three months living together it occurred to me, "Ryan is the only person I hang out with! Whoa." That changed once we got to know some friends and started eating taco's every Tuesday at a local pub, but in general, we ate, breathed, slept and did everything as a couple. And we still do, really.

At this point in our lives, I truly enjoy doing all the little parts of life together. I know that might change, but I think of it as a gift that we can spend this much time together. I love running errands together, him walking to the train station with me as I leave in the morning or picking me up after work, and going to the grocery store together (even though some of our worst fights occur in the aisles, generally due to my wandering and indecisive nature and his lack of patience for said behavior).

So here I am, alone on the sofa in our new apartment with free time and wondering what it was I meant to do then next time I had time alone... Cooking and music are always staples. A few phone calls are in order. A bit of housework... But what else? I feel a part of myself that needs reconnecting to a side that doesn't get much attention these days.

I can't imagine how women with babies find any time for themselves, but I wonder if that's a natural part of life's cycle? Learning to be with and around others. There's surely a balance to all of this, but for now, my quest remains in how to optimize having a little time by myself this week. Is optimize too objective? Perhaps. Maybe I can just be, sit, breathe, and enjoy. That feels optimal.

{photos by Jonathan via all the mountains}

Have a good one.

It's been a rough week, but it's over now.  Between the tragic loss of a truly wonderful old friend from my hometown, combined with the unrest in the Middle East and the earthquake in Japan, I'm tired. But, tonight I'm celebrating the comfort of the weekend ahead and the fact that I am healthy, employed, loved and that I am alive. What a gift that I so often take for granted.

I hope you have a good weekend.  And don't forget to tell someone you love them! xo

Out of it

I haven't had much to say the last week, so I've been taking a bit of an unofficial blogger break. 

But, the best thing I've seen all week has to be this project, and I wanted to make sure everyone who pops in here has seen it.  What an amazing idea!

Sending some love out into the blogosphere to you and yours, happy Thursday all...

[photos via a cup of jo]

Signs of life.

Last night, I felt a spark of my imagination flare up.  I'm not sure why, but perusing jobs in NYC helped, as well as watching an old Audrey Hepburn movie with a nice, hot bowl of soup seasoned with soy sauce and ginger.  Something about imagining new possibilities made me feel like a normal, healthy person, when after all, I sometimes doubt that about myself. Maybe I'm moving away from my Baltimore/winter/mid-to-late 20's funk? At least for a moment.

Feeling blue

Last night we saw Blue Valentine.  And, yesterday my mom went home after a lovely visit to our home in B-more.  To top it off, I'm working Saturday, so today feels like Monday again.  The sum of this equation is that today feels rough. 

Too often I convince myself that I deserve a treat or reward for surviving another day, but I'm getting tired of eating my way out of the blues.  I even considered a gym membership. Meh.

It seems like many people I know are feeling a little blue as of late.  (In fact, I think the girls across the table from me at the coffee shop are having a full-blown counseling session at their table, wowza.  Three cheers for self-affirmation!)

For 2011

I'm thinking more of the same, but with a twist.

More fun trips (to unexplored countries)

More nature (on trails I've never been)

More coffee (drip, press, espresso, near, far, whatever)

More delectable food (at home and in new restaurants) 

More time with friends (enough said)

More love (cheers to being happily married!)

Happy New Year to all!  Did you have a good time celebrating?  Our New Years weekend included skiing, and a lot of eating, drinking and lounging.  Delightful, in other words.  

Hope today has been a slow day of staying cozy and connecting with someone you love.  Sending good wishes to all for the New Year ahead of us.  

You can do it.  xo

Good question

{via Able and Baker}

Angel Eggs

My absolute favorite part of all holiday related meals is the Deviled Egg.  I know it's not a consistent hit amongst everyone, but that usually means more for those of us who love 'em! 

I've made a number of variations, some with tarragon, Dijon mustard or even capers, all of which have strayed from the traditional mustard/mayo/paprika classic.  You can't go wrong, in my opinion. 

When I was a kid, the word devil kind of creeped me out, so I called them Angel Eggs. 

What's your favorite holiday food?  Are you making a traditional family dish this weekend, trying out something new, or skipping cooking altogether? 

This made my morning

{via techcrunch.com}

Thank you (notes)

This afternoon I've been working on thank you notes to all the sweet people who gave us wedding gifts.  Now, I have a small blister on my right thumb from holding my pen the wrong way.  Sad.

Despite the hazards of card writing, it's so nice to reflect on all the super generous people in our lives who showed us more love and support than we could have ever asked for.  Thank you, everyone!  We're so lucky to have friends and family like you. 

No Country for Young Women

Have you heard of this site, No Country for Young Women?  I found it through a new blog I've been reading called LittleBrownPen.  Nichole of LittleBrownPen captures beautiful, I mean beautiful photos of Paris and New York, where she splits her time.  (The poor girl...) She writes about simple, down to earth topics and experiences. 

NCFYW recently interviewed LittleBrownPen's author asking questions about her professional journey as a writer and what it's like being a "modern woman".  I found it encouraging and hopeful, showing that there is no direct path toward any particular career, that the journey and process builds from one step to the next.  That every step along way matters, not to lose heart if you don't have everything all at once. 

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Lately I've been inspired by blogs written by and for women like Nichole's.  Many of the women I'm reading about range from young and single, to mothers and wives.  Some focus on fashion, others on weddings, babies, art, home design, cooking or gardening.  They're educated, working at-home or in an office, observing, exploring, writing and sharing. 

From the blogosphere, I see that many women are finding a niche in blogging, crafting, designing, growing gardens, making their own food, taking photographs and reconnecting with what matters.  It feels like a holistic coming-together of art, beauty and meaningful work.  The blog itself provides the platform to share these details and experiences and provides a thread to a community of like-minded people.  I love that there is a sense of community, that one blog leads to another, that many of these women know each other and are connected because of their writing and sharing online. 

While fashion and design can be a place of greed and envy, it's wonderful to see art, detail, and fair labor embodied in people's work these days.  That's part of why I love Etsy.  People have found something they love to do and are making a living because of it.  Simple, but important.

When I was a kid, I remember getting a "character award" in elementary school for observant.  While patience or kindness is slightly more admirable in my opinion, I'm proud of that award. 

I'm enjoying being an observer and paying attention to what's happening in this world. 

Cheers to women, blogs and details.

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I (heart) City Life.

City living is rough sometimes.  The traffic, the litter, the junkies...sometimes it can just get to a gal.  Recently, our car was broken into while parked right near our house. My next door neighbor and I both had potted plants stolen off of our stoops. The rats have even made a home outside of our kitchen.  A mouse just ran across my floor as I wrote this. 

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Here in Baltimore, there is an infamous bumper sticker that says (across a happy, yellow background) "I (heart) City Life". 

While I wholeheartedly agree that living in the city has advantages galore in terms of art, music, food, and culture, I'm almost sure it was the Baltimore Police that devised the bumper sticker as a means to propagate urban living in this, a widely depressed city.  But, I digress...

The one thing most cities are missing? The thing I miss most living in a city?  Clean, green, quiet, open space. 

Sometimes, when all the frustrations and annoyances of urban life begin to mount, open space is just what is needed. 

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Any chance Ryan and I can get to see a little more green and a few less people, we jump.

This weekend we hopped, skipped, and drove to Loch Raven Reservoir for a little nature hunting.  Not even 10 miles from the heart of the Baltimore lies this fantastic nature reserve.  Brimming with fresh spring foliage and the sounds of baby birds, it was a perfect way to start the weekend.   

There's a little speck of blue in the middle there, that's Ryan.

We saw a herd of baby deer on the trail , very sweet!

Green trees and fresh air!

Thank you nature for replenishing me with healthy oxygen levels and allowing me to re-enter the urban landscape feeling renewed.  Sometimes it's just what a gal needs.

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How did you spend your weekend? Was there any nature involved? I'd love to hear, so leave a comment below, if you like. 

xoxo

Smiles for Thursday

It is Thursday, right? Sometimes I forget what day it is given my current state of employment.  I also sometimes forget what time it is.  Like last night when I woke up in the middle of the night and could not fall back asleep and (reluctantly) hopped on my fiance's computer to do a little soul-searching.  Well, the computer said it was 11:05 PM.  Not bad, I thought.  That's not too late to be up. 

After an hour of eye-straining internet-searching I figured maybe I should head to bed (since birds were starting to chirp outside, afterall).

But, this morning when I woke up I looked at his computer to see what time it was (we could probably use a wall clock, yes). 7: 20 AM it said. 

Wait.  There's really no way either of us would be so early. The construction workers across the street NEVER start before 9 AM.

That's when I remembered that the clock on his computer is still set to West Coast time.  Arg.

Last night was a late night. 

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So, for those who didn't sleep well night, those who did, those who were celebrating 1/2 birthday's last night (me, a'hem), those who were still coping from the dissapointment of the Lost finale or the trauma of the Grey's finale or just the hum drum of mid-week, here are a few things to make you smile. 

Something for your garden...

*PicklesandCheeseShop

Something for baby (and dad, too)...

*WrenWillow

Something for someone who wishes they went to Rushmore...

*LookSee

Something for a fan of classic cars...

*HiOctaneJewelry

Something for the new mommy you know...

*SugarandFlour

Something to wish for...

*Jennyndesign

Something that's pretty and nice...



*GalleryWarhol

Hope this Thursday brings you a smile.

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Intuition, extrasensory perception, and knowing.

Lately I have noticed a particular kind of feeling. And thinking, too. They must be related to one another, because one comes after the next.

*MonkiVintage

I'm miles and miles from many of whom I love and cherish. Phone dates, blog posts, emails, and Facebook updates are what sustains these relationships and what has (for the time being) become the medium for sharing life together when time zones and state lines are in the way.

I miss face to face coffee dates, side by side walks through the park, and meals shared across the table from one another. I ache for the spontaneous laughter that friends bring, to be able to know by the look in another’s eye that they are hurting— all of the everyday complexities of life that are absent from the here and now of my daily life.

In the meantime, I try (sometimes desperately) to remember the ebb and flow that is life, to look forward to new seasons of love and laughter that are soon to come with these who are beloved.

*SeekingWonder

In the meantime, there is this sense. I'd like to think I have ESP. But I'm more inclined to believe the Meyers-Briggs test and say that it’s most likely intuition.

Lately, I find myself actively thinking and wandering about it my brain about people and places and sensing events that may be happening to those particular people. Maybe it’s just timing or maybe it’s because all the faces and images I see daily via Facebook that I am remembering people near and far? Maybe I’m merely a decent guesser? Whatever the trigger, I often trace the remembering, the sensing, the speculating to a deeper sense or set of feelings that seem to come from a safe place of intuition. It's a place within that remembers honest conversations, moments of vulnerability, and trusting my instincts about myself and my relationships.



Remembering the depth and breadth of these relationships makes my inclinations and hunches feel all the more trustworthy and reliable. I don’t so much speculate about how someone is doing, but try to let that sense push me to reach out across the void that is the United States and pick up the phone. Granted, intuition doesn’t always lead to action. But I’m trying to at least pay attention to these little moments of wandering, these thoughts and feelings that so often seem fleeting and insignificant, and use this sense to help guide me just a bit deeper into life and moments of meaning.

*JetSetPaper

Right now, it’s friends who are pregnant, friends in love, friends searching for love, friends who feel aimless, friends blissfully unaware. Friends in silence, friends in pain, myself in silence, myself living in midst of pain. And how we are all connected, how the threads wind and weave in the silence, in the darkness; to see that which is hidden in the lines.

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Bonjour

With all the lovely, noticeable, significant, tasty, surprising details around in life, there need be a place to catalogue them. Here is that, a virtual museum of daily inspiration.