I don’t want to fake it, I just want to make it.

the past two days have included lots of driving with the windows down, sunglasses on, and Cake blasting through the speakers.
it’s been in the mid-high 50s for the first time this year, and I am eating it up. it’s also been fabulous to have the last two days off work so that I could actually enjoy the weather. (open-toed flats today! victory is mine.)

 

today’s quick late lunch was multi-grain toast with avocado, fresh tomato, an egg over medium and fire-roasted salsa (salsa added post-photo-op). I kinda wish I’d had an English muffin or something on hand other than the multi-grain, but it was still tasty.

I had plans for more elaborate cooking tonight but I forgot that my roommate had lessons today from 4-7 — and since the apartment is tiny and the kitchen is adjoined to the living room and there’s no door and you can hear EVERYTHING, I decided it would be pretty awkward to cook during her lessons. so I’m doing a little reading (and blog-posting, duh) and then I’m going to take yet another drive in this fabulous weather. gotta savor it while it lasts.

queen of the open-faced sandwich. or, I like putting green things on bread.

day off #2 lunchtime = toasted multigrain, hummus, avocado, salt & pepper (freshly ground, of course).

snapped with the ‘berry, hence the lower-quality photo.

then it’s delightful french onion soup (Julia Child’s recipe with some vegetarian modifications) for dinner. do I really have to work tomorrow?

thinking of Japan and, subsequently, Hawaii, New Zealand, and the West coast. sending out prayers, because I don’t know what else to do.

brunch: what I do on my days off.

fairly traded organic Indonesian Sumatra via french press. toasted multi-grain bread, topped with: fresh spinach (of the adult variety) sauteed with garlic, coriander, salt & freshly ground black pepper, topped with: egg fried over medium.

good. morning.

get outta here, Elie Saab

sometimes certain things just strike you in a particular way that you can’t explain. the artwork of Georgia O’Keeffe, for instance, has always held a particular weight for me. behold:

Elie Saab Fall 2011 RTW (from style.com)

for reasons that I can’t quite articulate, I love this. the cut, the fit, the shoes –perfection. I’d get married in this. or walk the dog in it. or go on a picnic, or to the dentist’s office.

okay, rant over. I just needed to share my ridiculous affection.

[p.s. -- I'm a sucker for minimalism.]

things that make me happy

1. ben & jerry’s chubby hubby. (eaten from the pint container as opposed to a bowl. decreases ice cream meltage.)
2. not working weekday doubles at the restaurant.
3. going to salvation army with my very like-minded friend Hilary (no one else really understands my thrift-store process).
4. american spirit cigarettes. (we all have our bad habits.)
5. buffy the vampire slayer.
6. being able to listen to my music in the car instead of crappy radio.
7. conversations about feminism & other social theories/issues. (hearing other people’s ideas is always so interesting. and fun!)
8. discovering that I’ve saved more money than I thought.
9. getting just enough sleep.
10. hugs. upon hugs upon hugs upon hugs.

ugh.

dear snow,

it is February 27. it’s gonna be March, like, tomorrow.* don’t you think it’s time that you give it up? now is not the time to be coming around with 15 inches of company. that’s what you’re supposed to do in December. like, before Christmas. when everyone wants a little holiday dusting. not now, when we’re all so over you we could spit. move on, man. move on.

*I know it’s not going to be March tomorrow. but it sounds better that way. and I mean, close enough.

breakfast of champions

I’m trying to break the habit, but it’s an uphill battle when triple grande soy lattes with three pumps of cinnamon dolce are so delicious.

to change

I want a job with regular hours — hours that let me come home and make dinner at a reasonable time, hours that let me hang out with my friends on weekend nights.
I want a bigger apartment that I can decorate the way I want, with a real kitchen and big windows and a bathroom that doesn’t have a carpeted floor.
I want a husband by my side to learn with and from; to be my partner; someone I will take care of who will also take care of me. and I want babies that turn into toddlers and kiddos and teenagers to love and teach and read to and grow with.
I have a roommate that is loving and supportive and kind, who doubles as a dear friend, who invited me to live in our little apartment so I could save money.
I have a job that pays the bills and helps me work on my debt, and still allows me to have Thursday nights and Sunday mornings off for band practice and church, even though most weekends nights I work until 11 p.m.
I have a community of friends that fill my life and heart with more love than I knew my heart could hold, friends that understand me, love me, and want me in their lives.
I have this time in my life to find my calling and cause. to be passionate about something beyond myself and what I want, to pour my heart into meeting the needs of other people.

I am sometimes wistful for the life that I want — especially when it all seems so far away from ever coming to be. I forget that what I have right now is wonderful, and what I should really be doing is living, not daydreaming about potential futures. so, what I really want?
I want to appreciate the people around me, to listen to music and read and write, to stop spending time on insignificant, life-draining things. to take joy in what I have. I want to be delighted with my life.
here’s to change.

totally digging…

via The Sartorialist.

it’s funny how men’s fashion can be just as inspiring as women’s fashion.

you may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not.

I watched Dinner for Schmucks last night, and while the movie wasn’t very good (cheap laugh followed by cheap laugh followed by… well), there’s one line stuck in my head that keeps making me laugh. Steve Carell’s character (big surprise, he plays the schmuck) misquotes John Lennon; hence the title of this post.

yesterday as a whole was pretty fantastic — got together with some friends  to do some shoveling for a dear heart who lives alone on a farm, hung out and ate some pizza, and then capped off the day with more friends, Chinese food, and a couple of movies. thankfully the awesomeness of The Usual Suspects (an all-time favorite!) makes up for the mediocrity of Dinner for Schmucks.

as for today, well, I wish I had taken before and after pictures of my driveway so I could brag about what a great job I did shoveling out. we got snow again this week, and there’s been so much that finding a place to put it is a bit of a challenge. when I went out this morning to clean off my car, I discovered that the shovel I was planning to use was suffering from a broken handle. so I improvised with a broom and got my car clear enough to get to CVS to buy the only shovel they had — a little retractable one. it pretty much looks like this:

it’s rather small, so I was concerned at first. but after roughly an hour of work, I cleared the spot for my car and got rid of a large portion of excess snow bank (carried/dumped into the yard! ingenuity!) so that it’s easier for the other two cars that park in my driveway to get in and out. safe to say I’m feeling pretty accomplished right now.

on the menu for tonight: worship band practice, bean enchiladas with homemade refried beans (simmered today while I shoveled), doing some dishes and hopefully starting a new book. happy Thursday, everyone.