if i were a dog...

 

i think this would be my idea of paradise.

my mom and i 

found a little spot 

in a park near her house

where a lake meets the woods 

and pups of all sorts congregate

with their folks.  

the puppy-joy is palpable.  

today wasn't supposed to be any kind of special day.  i had a party to go to last night, and i have work super early on monday, so i didn't plan anything today.  and by a series of serendipitous occurrences, it ended up being a pretty wonderful day.  

woke up to kristi putting on the movie "save the last dance" at like 9 am... finished watching it after she left to go to ikea with the portrait bug girls. freaking cheesehead that i am, i got totally inspired and promised myself i'd go to wednesday night funk class at the gym this week.  then, jeffrey called and then karen called and before i knew it, we were having brunch at a cute little place in our neighborhood, butterfly blue. (my belgian waffle was good but the bacon had a weird flavor.) 

next, we headed home for a quick game of scrabble (jeffrey whipped us soudly) before karen and i went downtown to try and find her bedsheets.  i unexpectedly found these funny little cabinet-extender shelves that i'd been looking for forever, which was a total freaking bonus.   we spent a while wandering the aisles of gracious home , where karen found superfly shams on a fabulous sale, and i fell in love with this new york-themed set of dishware from fish's eddy.  

and then everyone just sort of converged on my apartment, which is my most favorite thing.  i threw together some homemade pizzas and sauteed some veggies, and jared brought this amazing chocolate ganache torte he made.  kristi poured the wine and karen helped me set the table (with my new blue table-runner and a candlestick my grandpa made me).

and then we just sat around and laughed for, like, hours.  my freaking stomach hurts from all the laughter.  we introduced kristi to boggle (not her new fave) and i played my favorite song (i'm yours by jason mraz) like 40 times.    we started with a nice red wine my dad sent over, but quickly digressed to blueberry-pomegranate wine coolers (laugh all you like, they were freaking delicious).  karen and i called one another every hideous name we could think of as the boggle game got down to the wire. we are not the least competitive girls.  but jared ended up winning.  we were all bravado, he kicked our collective ass.

i feel full.

grateful.

thankful.

i love my friends.

les lunettes nouvelles

homesnips

tonight i am feeling grateful. for dear and perceptive and generous friends (especially kristi and jeffrey), 

and for my home, which i have created and which nourishes me. 


if there is one thing my mother has taught me in this world, it is how to create a home.  how to obey my own instincts, surrounding myself with things i love and ending up with a home full of quirky, messy, chaotic beauty.  

i look around my home, and i see curtains my mother made for me, and the watercooler my dad carried up here and the huge, funny fish sculpture/vase my grandma gave me.  i see my books, collected over my whole lifetime, and loved.  utterly loved.  i love being in my home.

and i know there are those who preach against attachment to material things. and maybe it's just that i'm not very enlightened.  

but i love my things. 

my stamps.  

my boxes of projects.  

my file cabinet full of poems i love. 

gifts from friends.  games we play.  

my framed photos, 

my mom's old clothes, 

the statue of Mary 

my grandmother gave me 

when i was small.  

these things remind me 

of who i am, 

who i've been, 

who those i love 

believe me 

to be.  

who i choose to become.

i so called that shit

... i am totally addicted to the gym.  it's so exhilarating.  i leave and i'm on cloud nine.  partially cause of the endorphins and partially cause i feel so damn virtuous.  

i skipped today cause i ran into a time crunch and i've been feeling guilty all day.  i'm going first thing tomorrow morning.  then i'm going to the island.  officially, it's to help my mom paint and set up the new playroom at her house for my little cousins.  but also i wanna take the dogs to the dog park again. we found this cool one by my mom's house that has a whole pond and the dogs LOVED it.  they got so wiggly and happy and jumpy, it was the most wonderful thing.

so, check out my new glasses.  i could have modeled them for you, but then you'd miss out on this shot of my little cousin thomas.  and i don't know about you but every time i look at that photo i giggle.  is he serious?