it is entertaining

that the second i get a stable internet connection in the apartment, i stop internet-ing.

i breakfasted out twice this weekend, made me feel very decadent. but, that was also the number of nights that i stayed in; i don't think i spent any more than i would have in a regular weekend. i don't know why i hadn't been there before, but the grand cafe is amazing. please go and order the eggs en cocotte - you will be overwhelmed with how savory and rich and wonderful it is. i also want my someday-when-i-have-a-house kitchen to resemble the interior of this lovely, lovely cafe.

jonathan strange & mr norell is coming along nicely and i'll be at the halfway mark in time for bookclub. i also bought myself a new collection of short stories by pam houston which i cannot wait to devour.

speaking of devouring, work has consumed my life lately - i've been a bit stressed - and i'm taking a well-deserved break this weekend with joe in duluth, staying in the nicest place i've stayed on my own (we booked the olcott suite).

with the cancellation of sunday dinner this week i feel like it's been years and years since i've seen any of you. how is everyone?

by the by,

the above could prove very, very dangerous if i am not properly supervised...

if only this jacket would go on sale for about 75% off, i'd be so set for spring.

friday, i think that christian and i are going to tackle a new dish off the tried and true foodblog that made me wonder if there is such a thing as too many szechuan peppercorns in a dish (i'm pretty sure the answer is no). i may even bake that satsuma mandarin/vanilla upside-down pound cake that i've been drooling over for ages... now would be the time to try and finagle a seat for dinner friday.

last night,

last night was girls that i'm just getting to know and chocolate chip cookies with red wine and knitting projects i've been meaning to start. it was walking home in the dark with the snow crunching under my feet and my father's birthday present under my arm. it was sitting on the belgian velvet couch and listening to the beginnings of a remix until it was firmly engraved in my head.

what i'm trying to say is last night was really good, the kind of quiet good that leaves one content for days in its wake.

entre tú y yo,

this past week, a pretty amazing little boy named jackson introduced me to this movie. while i had once doubted i'd like neil gaiman, christian completely erased this doubt with american gods and anansi boys. who wants to go see it with me?

i've recently realized that my taste in jewelry is pretty predictable. i like: secrets, bones/hearts, trees/leaves, owls, and featherssss. these themes are also evident in most art that i enjoy - i need to work on my element of surprise...

if you're interested in january's bookclub, i recommend picking up a copy of the book immediately, if not sooner.

also, i may have met my match?

speechless

darling 2009, i'm glad you've begun.

retrospect

oh 2008, i barely knew thee.

i don't know if i could come anywhere near summing this past year up with the fanfare it deserves, but maybe i'll try a bit. maybe saying that i've been re-introduced to a certain tucker jaymes speaks the volumes i'd have trouble articulating? i'm pretty sure i have the best friends in the world and this man definitely made them multiply (almost like rabbits, is that weird?).

highlights:
- patriots v. terrorists reredux
- chicago x2
- the purchase of my motobecane mirage
- duluth with some of the vixens
- doittoit and introduction of the above tucker along with the amazing ashley and all of their talented and lovely friends (who i'm pleased to introduce now as my talented and lovely friends)
- sunday dinner
- a visit from jesse/james
- both the stormy red stag block party and the rainy bryant lake bowl block party
- rooftop parties/debauchery
- danell and her talented band putting on rad show after rad show
- bikerides to the beach
- the 5th classy birthday party with nels
- MMAUOHSMP (i think that is the acronym...)

while all of the above was lovely, it kept me away from the two resolutions i made last year, so i'll make them again:
1. write more/every day
2. stick to that damn allowance

a girl could get used to this...

December 4th, 2008 7:30 p.m.

menu:
eggs with cream, spinach, brie and prosciutto
yukon gold hashbrowns
grapefruit and pomegranate salad
crusty garlic loaf

chocolate oblivion tartlets with kahlua whipped cream

earl grey gin and lemonade

guest:
aaron fryman

aaron happens to be an incredibly talented masseur and we came up with a deal: i make him delicious food (with a very specifically chocolatecentric dessert) and he gives me a massage. now, don't tell him this, but it is a win-win situation for me. yes, i will be doing dishes for the rest of my natural-born life, but i get to make a decadent meal, a ridiculous dessert and THEN I GET AN OUTSTANDING MASSAGE. seriously, by the end of it i managed to melt onto my couch and fall asleep pretty early.

anyone who may be interested in his services, let me know. his rates are really reasonable and he's open to bartering...

one hundred things i love:

following pbg's lead...

1. chosen family

2. vladimir nabokov

3. the smell of old hardcover books

4. motobecanes

5. nightswimming

6. kitten heels and pencil skirts

7. an apartment made warm by baking

8. rooftop access

9. hayrides

10. white figure skates

11. handknit mittens

12. horseback riding

13. crunching snow while walking

14. grocery shopping

15. minneapolis

16. priorat

17. toboggans

18. lazy saturdays

19. orchestra dates

20. the mississippi river

21. opera-length gloves

22. well-written short stories

23. sunday dinner

24. cat whiskers that gatsby has shed

25. star gazing

26. people like oak trees

27. oak trees

28. chinese lanterns

29. the midwest

30. art openings

31. paintings of ships in harbors

32. poetry

33. alphabetizing

34. champagne diamonds

35. brown eyes

36. apple orchards

37. spanish linguistics

38. blood oranges

39. cookbooks by rose levy berenbaum

40. typography

41. japanese magic realism

42. classy drinking establishments

43. comfortable reading chairs

44. fresh eggs

45. road trips

46. aptly named individuals

47. phonetics

48. reggaeton

49. mason jars

50. libraries

51. engaging conversation

52. big dinner tables

53. gmail chat

54. french new wave

55. men that cook

56. cable patterns

57. laughing until i can’t breathe

58. bengal spice tea

59. old movie theatres

60. peacocks

61. tire swings

62. craigslist missed connections

63. playing hooky from work

64. early morning sunlight

65. cat naps with my kittens

66. crosswords

67. earl grey

68. rose-flavored anything

69. semi colons

70. the smell of freshly cut grass

71. rose gold

72. russian literature

73. woodwink eyeshadow

74. fireflies

75. screen porches

76. hot, humid nights

77. authors of the lost generation

78. anticipation

79. dancing

80. red lipstick

81. station wagons

82. climbing trees

83. building forts of blankets

84. my bed

85. edward’s purr

86. dialogue-heavy plays

87. la belle vie

88. giving presents

89. freckles

90. cuttlefish

91. the madison farmers’ market

92. food blogs

93. saying words that end in –sps (wisps, wasps, crisps…)

94. halloween

95. sailing

96. secret admirers

97. handwritten letters

98. typewriters and the sound they produce

99. fresh lemonade

100. eating out

Trouble - do not forget the capital T

this is me with my best friend.

i'm pretty sure i'd perish without her.

last night

was absolutely lovely.

home from the bar and slightly tipsy, the view of snow falling on the interstate through the double windows in my living room left me breathless. i took a photo, but i doubt it will do justice to the quiet in those snowflakes.

this is what i have been craving: long nights of reading and writing and knitting and creating, not feeling bad about hibernating, walks in the crisp dark with only the sound of crunching footsteps to keep me company.

me at work

christian: i'm going to get some tea
i have a headache
back in a few
me: okay
i'm drinking a beer.
christian: ha
that's right
you're not at work
me: no, i am.
working!
drinking beer!
i'm here 'til five.

also, voting this morning? made me a very, very happy girl. all the optimism in me cannot be contained by my cubicle walls and has something to do with the beautiful mash of english/arabic/spanish all over at my polling place. what was the only word in common in all three languages? OBAMA!

sugar skull does halloween

but you're so little, sam.

i had no idea you were so tall, tom.

even though it was taken prior going anywhere, this photo is worth all of the words there are to describe last night.

little sister.

tammy faye: devil spawn

"don't make me turn this car around."

killing it.

i like to laugh so long and hard that i can't breathe/pull a muscle.

calavera

dear tucker, i'm sorry i drunkenly wiped my face on your towel. p.s. your flats are hot.

juripalooza preparty

I feel now that gastronomical perfection can be reached in these combinations: one person dining alone, usually upon a couch or a hill side; two people, of no matter what sex or age, dining in a good restaurant; six people, of no matter what sex or age, dining in a good home.

An Alphabet for Gourmets [MFK Fisher]

October 30th, 2008 8:30 p.m.

menu:
chicken and dumplings
steamed broccoli
whole wheat boule

cranberry apple tartlets with a vanilla glaze

gin and tonics

guests:
juri sorso
louisa marion
tucker gerrick
peter b.g.
ashley ryan
mike munzenrider
(with a late appearance by one sam cassidy)

so, we may have been one or two more than six and it was probably slightly drunker than MFK would have imagined (not by much), but last night is the kind of night that i would like to have more of in my life..

happy halloween

ducktacos.pumpkinpie.sunrise

blackberry mojitos mean class,

as do peacock feathers and earl grey gin. cafe maude is my new favorite place to drop large sums of hard-earned money.

my pumpkin pie: first pie i've made and first pumpkin pie i've eaten. mmmhmmm.

sam and samophile.

pumpkins and their adorable carvers.

and (!), the sunrise i wake up to every morning out my apartment window.

When Death Comes [Mary Oliver]

When death comes
like the hungry bear in autumn;
when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse

to buy me, and snaps the purse shut;
when death comes
like the measles-pox;

when death comes
like an iceberg between the shoulder blades

I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:
what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?

And therefore I look upon everything
as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,
and I look upon time as no more than an idea,
and I consider eternity as another possibility,

and I think of each life as a flower, as common
as a field daisy, and as singular,

and each name a comfortable music in the mouth
tending as all music does, toward silence,

and each body a lion of courage, and something
precious to the earth.

When its over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

When it is over, I don't want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.

a friend recently returned this volume of poetry - i'm embarrassed to say that i had almost forgottten how much this poem speaks to me (along with so many of her poems).

again, sunday dinner: best start to any week.

also,
let's combine beautiful metalwork with woodgrain - can you say love?

tucker: "i'm half happy, half retarded about this gin."

autumnal activities, $2

cranberry scones (rose levy berenbaum is my hero) and mulled cider for breakfast.

my backyard - best backyard ever.

lying with a beautiful girl in between two rows of spartan apples.

what i'm trying to tell you is that it has been a lovely, lovely day. i want several more fall days like this, days that seem longer than twenty-four hours and involve some of the best people that live in this fine city.

if you've not read after the quake by murakami, consider it required reading.

de verdad,

the first story in this book breaks my heart a little everytime i read it - in that way that you need your heart broken from time to time.

this letter confirms my suspicions that it is time to subscribe to the new yorker.

i wish i had a couple hundred dollars lying around for these (as well as for anything that emily has made recently).

the author of my current booklove is in town and i need a date.

i have the best friends that a girl could ask for and sunday dinner is the best beginning/end to any week.

Sweetness [Stephen Dunn]

Just when it has seemed I couldn't bear
one more friend
waking with a tumor, one more maniac

with a perfect reason, often a sweetness
has come
and changed nothing in the world

except the way I stumbled through it,
for a while lost
in the ignorance of loving

someone or something, the world shrunk
to mouth-size,
hand-size, and never seeming small.

I acknowledge there is no sweetness
that doesn't leave a stain,
no sweetness that's ever sufficiently sweet ....

Tonight a friend called to say his lover
was killed in a car
he was driving. His voice was low

and guttural, he repeated what he needed
to repeat, and I repeated
the one or two words we have for such grief

until we were speaking only in tones.
Often a sweetness comes
as if on loan, stays just long enough

to make sense of what it means to be alive,
then returns to its dark
source. As for me, I don't care

where it's been, or what bitter road
it's traveled
to come so far, to taste so good.