• Every Day

    Wednesday, December 7, 2016 No tags Permalink

    24209649593_95e3579ae1_o

    An excellent read:

    Remind me to always lie with you, but never to you, and that hurt only hurts while it lasts. Remind me to hold hands but never hold back.

    Remind me of love, remind me of heart, and remind me that life will not tear me apart today, but if it tries and when it does, remind me that I’m good enough to be enough for you.

    Remind me that the only way to make it last is to put us first, and remind me that the past is a prelude and pain is a choice, that I’ll get knocked down but I can get up quick, and yes, I’ll get destroyed but I can rebuild again.

    When you see me flailing in rough seas, coughing up lungfuls of dark waves, and I’m thinking I’m sinking because my arms are numb and I can’t feel my legs, remind me with a hushed assurance and a knowing grin, “You’ll drown slower if your chin’s up, friend.”

    Remind me to have faith.

    Remind me why I love you.

    Remind me that the stargaze stares we share and the galaxies we wish to explore are inside, not above, that the paths we long to travel are internal, not foreign, and remind me when my dreams seem lost like faraway lands in disrepair, that you’ll hold my hand and always care.

    Remind me that it’s me you think about when you wish for happily ever after.

    Remind me that not all aches are bad, that black nights still shine light and even in rainstorms or when hail comes and the sky is filled with emptiness we run from, the sun is always out somewhere.

    Remind me that I am filled with light.

    Remind me why your eyes do such funny things to mine and how, sometimes, time stops in the shadow of your smile.

    Remind me that storm clouds are just water up high in the sky, that water is needed, that water gives life, and though it may arrive in drops of sweat or tears of strife, remind me that I can heal.

    Remind me to keep you close but to never go too far, and remind me that even if we feel like a lifetime stopped and stuck in its tracks like a frozen statue of our distant past, even if it feels like pointless paralysis or a beginner’s magic trick, even when we resemble an empty well all out of wishes, remind me it will be okay and already is.

    Remind me that you are strong, and remind me so am I.

    Remind me that you aren’t scared when, can’t run from, won’t hide, and don’t mind my pain when it’s all I know and feel and fear.

    Remind me that we’ll never know how it ends until it does, and even then, it doesn’t because what we have and who we are isn’t something we can just pack up and leave behind, like some kind of shooting star in some cold and fleeting night.

    Remind me how I love getting lost in you.

    Remind me that you are an adventure worth taking and never forgetting.

    Remind me it starts now, today, for always in all ways, and remind me to remind you of this, all of it, always in all ways.

    -Jeremy Goldberg

  • Autumn

    Sunday, September 25, 2016 No tags Permalink

    Every leaf speaks bliss to me, falling from the autumn tree.

    leaf

    Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.

    tree

    tree1

    Thy bounty shines in autumn unconfined, and spreads a common feast for all who live.

    leaf1

  • Two Chairs

    Monday, September 5, 2016 No tags Permalink

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    This looks heavenly to me. Peace and quiet. Fresh air.  No internet or mobile phones.  Books, music, good company. Two chairs by the fire at night. The moon hung low above the water and a million stars shining brighter than ever before.  A simple, cozy cabin, but with a comfortable bed and a big bathtub. All the better for this:

    Continue Reading…

  • Enjoying Life

    Thursday, September 1, 2016 No tags Permalink

    “I think it’s the skill of living in the present that I have mastered in the last 25 years. It is the key to enjoying your life in full. Enjoying life doesn’t mean being unreasonably excited all the time. On the contrary, as I became older I realized that the first step towards finding the joy of life was to accept reality openly and sincerely, accept everything as it is. Reality is not perfect. But it is important to face the truth. This attitude works wonders.”- Bodhi

    No, reality is certainly not perfect, but that’s okay.  Well, mostly okay. 😉 I have learned that life doesn’t have to be perfect to be wonderful. There’s beauty in so many simple things. I try to find the good in each day and that makes me enjoy life so much more.

    Continue Reading…

  • 24

    Wednesday, July 20, 2016 No tags Permalink

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    Artwork from one of my favorite films, Amelie.  I stumbled across a gallery of artwork from the film, and I think I’ll treat myself to one.  Every time I watch the movie, I notice something new.

    1. Being awake during the quiet peacefulness of dawn while the rest of the world is still asleep
    2. Lollipops from the bank
    3. Meeting someone with the same birthday as you
    4. Smiling at strangers
    5. Watching someone talk about something they love
    6.The smell of a campfire at dusk
    7.Hearing a good song for the first time
    8. Re-watching a favorite film you had forgotten about
    9. Walking barefoot in the summer
    10. Subconsciously memorizing lyrics
    11. Accomplishing something ahead of time
    12. Exact change
    13. Falling asleep in the car while it’s raining
    14. Accidental photographs
    15. Doing something kind for someone in secret
    16. Making wishes on dandelions
    20. Catching yourself smiling
    21. Mix CDs
    22. Finding something you thought you had lost
    23. The first snowfall of winter
    24.Naming a pet

  • Pancakes

    Monday, July 18, 2016 No tags Permalink

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    I saw this the other day and I laughed so hard! Just the other morning I had some awesome… pancakes. Read that however you want. Okay, it really was pancakes, but they were delicious.  Hey, you’ve got to take what you can get. 😉

    Continue Reading…

  • Hello, June!

    Wednesday, June 1, 2016 No tags Permalink

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    I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it was always June. – L.M. Montgomery

    I’m so happy to welcome my favorite month! The sun is shining, the days are long, it’s warm, the peonies are in bloom. What’s not to love? ❤️

    So far my June is off to a good start. My favorite lunch (tacos, of course) with my favorite guy. Then a nice walk on the Monon Trail and ice cream. I adore ice cream, but don’t eat it often anymore. As a child growing up, we had ice cream every night in the summertime as a bedtime snack.   And none of us we the least bit fat. Actually, my older sister and I were skinny as a rail.  We always had dinner (or as my parents call it, supper) very early. 5:00 p.m.  So by bedtime, I was ready for my nightly ice cream. Sometimes my best friend and I would pick some of the wild strawberries that grew in the woods by my house and we’d put that those on the ice cream. No store bought berries taste like those.

    Now I like to go to the farmer’s market and find “real”‘berries. The first crop of this year is going into some homemade strawberry sorbet. I’m going to top it with a balsamic reduction. The tart and the sweet together is perfect.

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    It’s time to get out my annual June read, Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

    “Don’t wish me happiness
    I don’t expect to be happy all the time…
    It’s gotton beyond that somehow.
    Wish me courage and strength and a sense of humor.
    I will need them all.”
    ― Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift from the Sea

    Gift from the sea

  • Continuation

    Sunday, May 8, 2016 No tags Permalink

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    I love how the author Cheryl Strayed summed up Mother’s Day: I know Mother’s Day is a joy to many of you. I know it’s a giant suckbag of sorrow for others of you. I know some of you are indifferent to it. I know some of you have wonderful mothers and you get to pick out the perfect card for her and take her to brunch and give her a bouquet of flowers and others of you are alone and weeping while watching your monstrously sad faces in the bathroom mirror, wondering why your mom had to die or be a drug addict or be mentally ill or be such an inexplicable evil shit to you. I know some of you desperately want to become mothers and can’t and aren’t and will never be and some of you have zero interest in becoming mothers and you feel sickeningly suffocated by a world that equates womanhood with motherhood and some of you ARE mothers and you love it and you treasure this day because finally someone picked out a card for you and took you to brunch and gave you a bouquet of flowers. And some of you are mothers but your children are dead. Or lost to you in another way. I know, for most of us, it’s a holiday that will change in meaning to us over time. Whatever it is, I want to say I know it’s there and it’s real and it’s true because it’s YOURS. I’m with you, wherever it is you are, in heart.❤️

    I’m so blessed to have a good, loving mother who is still living and a son with whom I have a close and wonderful relationship. I do my best every day to appreciate that fact.

  • Song

    Friday, May 6, 2016 No tags Permalink

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    I would add :they sing a song only your heart can hear. Because sometimes your heart hears something that your ears cannot. ❤️

    It’s been a long, hard week.  The extent of my plans for the rest of the day include sitting in the sunshine on my patio and reading a book while sipping a glass of wine and running to the market to buy some fresh ingredients for dinner. I do love to cook, I find it to be a fun and creative outlet.  Plus, I really like to eat! 😉

    It doesn’t take much to make me happy– fresh air, sunshinegood conversation, tight hugs, simple and fresh food, and a nice glass of wine. Happy Friday!

  • Best

    Monday, February 1, 2016 No tags Permalink

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    I love notebooks. I have them stashed all over the place so I can jot down things when I think of it. I love technology, but you can’t beat pen and paper sometimes. I keep one n my desk at work just to doodle on when I’m on conference calls. 🙂

    Sometimes I write down little good things so I can re-read it when I need a boost. I just found this list and it made me smile.

  • Christmas

    Thursday, December 24, 2015 No tags Permalink

    drink the red

    Honestly, I like red wine better, but I’ll drink either one. Best of all is Champagne! I have a great bottle in my wine rack right now, but I won’t be opening it tomorrow because none of my Christmas guest like Champagne. How is this possible? I know my son won’t touch it because he hates anything carbonated. Anyhow, once the bottle is opened, you have to drink it all or it will go flat, and not wanting to waste a $40 bottle, I’d drink it all.  (Also, I adore Champagne!) A glass and a half in, I’d have the giggles. 🙂 Champagne always makes me think of this little ditty by Dorothy Parker:

    “Inventory:

    “Four be the things I am wiser to know:
    Idleness, sorrow, a friend, and a foe.
    Four be the things I’d been better without:
    Love, curiosity, freckles, and doubt.
    Three be the things I shall never attain:
    Envy, content, and sufficient champagne.
    Three be the things I shall have till I die:
    Laughter and hope and a sock in the eye.”

    Continue Reading…

  • Happy Fall

    Wednesday, September 23, 2015 No tags Permalink

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    Fall isn’t my favorite season, but I’ll admit that there are some redeeming qualities about it. This cute art print sums up several of my favorite things about Autumn.  Except antlers, I just don’t get the antler craze.  But boots, boots are very good.  I’ll take mine in black, of course.  I am crazy about cozy blankets. I love to curl up on the sofa and watch a movie under a soft blanket.  I really want a cashmere throw blanket, but I am way too cheap to part with the amount of money that they cost.  A few years ago I bought a Barefoot Dreams blanket for a friend of mine who was going through chemo.  She said it was so comforting.  Have you ever felt one of those?  I bought myself one of their bathrobes last year for my birthday at it is heavenly.  (If you’d like a copy of this print for yourself, you can find it here. )

    To celebrate the start of the season, I made myself a big pot of Fog City Diner Black Bean and Sirloin Chili.  I had picked up a nice grass-fed locally sourced piece of sirloin at the farmer’s market this weekend.  (Thank you Sheryl for originally turning me on to this recipe a few years ago!)

    INGREDIENTS

    1/3 cup olive oil
    2 pounds boneless sirloin, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
    2 cups chopped yellow onion
    2 tablespoons minced garlic
    5 fresh jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped fine (wear rubber gloves)
    1/3 cup Masa Harina (corn tortilla flour mix, available at Mexican markets and some specialty food shops)
    1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon chili powder
    1/2 teaspoon cayenne
    1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
    1/2 teaspoon white pepper
    2 teaspoons salt
    4 cups beef broth
    2 cups cooked black beans, rinsed and drained if canned
    grated mild cheddar cheese for garnish
    minced red onion for garnish

    PREPARATION

    In a heavy kettle heat the oil over moderately high heat until it is hot but not smoking and in it brown the sirloin in batches, transferring it as it is browned with a slotted spoon to bowl. In the fat remaining in the kettle cook the yellow onion, the garlic and jalapeño peppers over moderate heat stirring until the onion is softened, add the Masa Harina, the chili powder, the cayenne, the cumin, the white pepper and the salt, and cook the mixture stirring for 5 minutes.

    Add the broth and the sirloin and simmer the mixture, uncovered stirring occasionally for 45 minutes, or until the meat is tender.

    Stir in the beans, simmer the mixture for 15 minutes and serve the chili garnished with the cheddar cheese and the red onion.

  • What a Wonderful World

    Saturday, August 22, 2015 No tags Permalink

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    I love this song. It makes happy every time I hear it. It reminds me that there are so many things to be grateful for in this life. I try to take a little time every day to give thanks to all the many, many good things in my life.

    A cool morning, sitting on my patio with my hands cupped around the mug and steam rising off the top in the early morning sunshine. A quiet walk along a peaceful trail. Juicy, ripe slices of melon. A mid-afternoon nap. Phone conversations with my son, because he always makes me laugh. That tiny sliver of a golden moon peeking out from behind the clouds.

  • Reader

    Thursday, July 30, 2015 No tags Permalink

    They dream of men with gentle hands, eloquent with tenderness, fingers that brushed along a cheek, that outlined open lips in the lovers’ braille. Hands that sculpted sweetness from sullen flesh, that traced breast and ignited hips, opening, kneading. Flesh becomes bread in the heat of those hands, braided and rising.”

    -Janet Fitch

    With words such as this, who couldn’t love books? One of the best vacations I ever took was a week at a condo on the Gulf of Mexico.  Walks in the morning along the ocean. Coffee on the balcony overlooking the water. Riding a beach cruiser bike to the local market to buy fresh fish for dinner. My chair in the sand, a big umbrella for shade, a cooler full of Negra Modelo or spritzers.  And books. Lots and lots of books. I sat on the beach, sipped my drink, and read an entire novel every day.
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  • Make a List

    Monday, June 29, 2015 No tags Permalink

    Make a list

    A little secret about me: I love lists. Sometimes I add an item to my to-do list just so I can cross it off. 🙂 Yeah, I’m weird.

    I figured out that if I waited for the big vacation, the dream house, or the happily ever after marriage to be happy daily life was going to pretty damn miserable. So I learned to cultivate joy and pleasure in my daily life instead. Don’t get me wrong, I’d still like to take fun vacations and have a great spouse, but until that happens I’m still going to be happy.

    Things to be happy about:

    Continue Reading…

  • What’s What

    Thursday, June 11, 2015 No tags Permalink

    WHAT I’M READING: I just started reading Dead Wake by Erik Larson. I loved his book The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America. It was about 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. I have a soft spot in my heart for Chicago and I loved reading about this engineering and architecture that went into building the fair. Dead Wake is a non-fiction book about the sinking of the Lusitania. When my son was growing up, he was fascinated with ships and shipwrecks, so by default, I’ve read a lot about the topic too.

    WHAT I’M WATCHING: Hmmm, I can’t think of the last time I turned on my TV to watch something.  Wait, when my son was over earlier this week, he turned on Netflix and I watched an episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.  Wow, I hate to admit it, but that show makes me laugh.

    WHAT I’M LISTENING TO: The hum of the A/C out my window,  the ice clinking in my drink, and Spotify.  I believe it’s Entre Dos Aguas by Paco de Lucia.

    I have always loved the guitar, and especially the Spanish guitar. When I was a little girl, my brother took guitar lessons each week. Because I was too young to stay home by myself, my mother took me along. I loved his guitar teacher. He had these beautiful dark eyes that were fringed with long, thick lashes and I loved to watch his hands when he played his Spanish guitar. I do believe a had a school-girl crush on him. 🙂

    WHAT I’M WEARING: A black skirt and a white blouse.  For some reason, I still haven’t changed out of my work clothes.  Or, as it is more often during the summer months, I start to peel off my clothes as soon as I walk in the door at night. Clothing is overrated.

    WHAT I’M EATING: Loads of fresh berries: strawberries, raspberries, and black berries. Delicious with Greek yogurt and a little honey. Also, fish tacos. Lots of fish tacos. I’ve had them 4 times in the last two weeks and I could eat the right now. My favorite local Mexican restaurant has them only in the summertime.  They’re so good that I’m slightly obsessed with them.  Fresh fish, corn tortillas, some pico, shredded lettuce and big slices of avocado.

    WHAT I’M ENJOYING: Hot weather. Iced coffee on the patio in the morning. Riding my cruiser bike to the local market. (I need to buy a basket so I can carry more.)
    Electra-Townie- Bike

    WHAT I’M SNIFFING: The batch of lemon bars that just came out of the oven. (I love to bake. I also love to eat what I bake!) The bouquet of fresh peonies on my kitchen counter. They may just be may favorite flower.Peony LAH
    When the peonies are in bloom, I always think of this:
    Fresh cut penis allisonville nursery
    Oh what a difference a few letters make! Captured at 115th and Allisonville Rd. in Indianapolis. The sign is real and was up for two hours before someone stopped and told them how to spell PEONIES!

    I wonder if they come in different colors? I wonder if they bloom? I wonder if they’re cheaper by the dozen? I wonder if they come in long-stemmed? I’m bad. I know.

  • Hello, June!

    Monday, June 1, 2015 No tags Permalink

    goodbye may
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    hello  june

    June is my favorite month! Some of the best things about June, and summer in general:

    lemonade
    sundresses
    lightning bugs (fireflies)
    summer thunderstorms
    the long, lingering daylight hours
    fireworks
    linen
    cold watermelon
    napping in a hammock
    Hammock

    Continue Reading…

  • I Love Big Books and I Cannot Lie

    Thursday, May 7, 2015 No tags Permalink

    Read in bed

    I absolutely love to read in bed. But this time of year, I can most often be found on my patio, in my comfy chair, with a book in hand. (A cup of coffee in the morning, and a glass of wine in the evening.) It’s finally warm here and I find it difficult to be trapped indoors all day. I Struggle to concentrate on my work and stare longingly out the window at the sunshine and green leaves on the trees. I’ve never quite outgrown spring fever, but I don’t mind. I welcome it each year, arms wide open to the simple pleasures that bring such joy.
    To read

  • These Are the Days

    Friday, April 10, 2015 No tags Permalink

    White sheets

    “Be waiting in them,
    half wrapped up in fresh white sheets,
    I’ll hurry to you.”

    — Daily Haiku by Tyler Knott Gregson

    I love the ritual of changing over from my darker, heavier linens and duvet to crisp white sheets and a lightweight quilt.  There’s just something about pure white sheets that I love for the spring and summer.  When I saw this haiku by Tyler Knott, I knew I had to share.  Have you ever read any of his writing? Damn, he has a way with words that must make women swoon at his feet.

    “Seduce me. Write letters to me. And poems, I love poems. Ravish me with your words. Seduce me.” – Anne Boleyn

    Another thing that says springtime to me: Lillet Blanc.  I like it with a twist of orange.  I bought a new bottle of it this week.  It’s not always easy to find because it doesn’t seem to be very popular around here.

    Lillet blanc

     

    Something made me think of this song yesterday.  It makes me want to take off all my clothes and twirl naked on the newly green grass.  But I didn’t.  I don’t think my neighbors would approve.  😉

    “These Are Days”

    These are the days.

    These are days you’ll remember.
    Never before and never since, I promise, will the whole world be warm as this.
    And as you feel it, you’ll know it’s true that you are blessed and lucky.
    It’s true that you are touched by something that will grow and bloom in you.

    These are days you’ll remember.
    When May is rushing over you with desire to be part of the miracles you see in
    Every hour.
    You’ll know it’s true that you are blessed and lucky.
    It’s true that you are touched by something that will grow and bloom in you.

    These are days.

    These are the days you might fill with laughter until you break.
    These days you might feel a shaft of light make its way across your face.
    And when you do you’ll know how it was meant to be.
    See the signs and know their meaning.
    It’s true, you’ll know how it was meant to be.
    Hear the signs and know they’re speaking to you, to you.

  • Petrichor

    Thursday, April 9, 2015 No tags Permalink

    petrichor

    Have you ever smelled that distinctive, sweet aroma that lingers after it rains? Petrichor. I love the way the word sounds. The word is constructed from Greek, petra, meaning stone + ichor, the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology.

    Yesterday morning we had our first thunderstorm of the season. I was still at home getting ready for work when I heard the first claps of thunder. The morning sky darkened until it looked as though it was night again. I wanted nothing more than to lie in bed while the rain pelted the windows and the lightning lit up the sky.  There’s something about the beauty and power of a storm that I love.
    The inner geek in me finds this fascinating: Researchers at MIT might have found where petrichor comes from. When a raindrop hits a porous surface, it traps tiny air bubbles at the point of contact, which then float to the surface in a fizz of aerosols. The researchers suspect that in natural environments, aerosols may carry aromatic elements (along with bacteria and viruses stored in soil) and release that distinctive smell.

    I took this photo with my iPhone through my car window. Rainy mornings are beautiful too.

    rainy morning

    Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.

    —   Bob Marley