Time Travel

Bachelorette party: check. Thank you to the nice Norweigan boys and everyone else who signed my free poster or enjoyed a Blow Pop.

In a few hours I'm heading to Mankato to see Em and try out my wedding hairstyle before my final fitting tomorrow afternoon. Looking forward to a nice drive and time traveling back into the 90's vortex that is Kato :)

in a cupboard, in a desk

I bought an Address Book yesterday. For some reason I was thinking about the book my Mom always had in one of the kitchen cupboards. It had a floral print on the front and was scribbled with addresses, recipes, names, phone numbers, birthdays, and other odds and ends. I liked flipping through it when I was young. I remember how hard it was to read her handwriting and how I wished I knew enough people to fill a book like that.

Name __________________
Address ______________________
Phone/Fax ______________________
Home Phone _____________________
Cell Phone _____________________

faces, no names

i bumped into your
ripple of recognition
like a V dotting the sky:
flesh into air into flesh.

A Thing or Two

I'm still here --- suffering from a double ear infection and no real promise of getting better. I've been talking inside my head for days now and can't even hear myself type.

This past weekend was a success, though. Spent time with my lovelies at work, testing beverages at the Tea Garden, wandering around Grand Ave, eating at Blondie's, and buying things at the Antique Mall. By far my best purchase was a book called Ideal Marriage: Its Physiology and Technique by Dr. Van de Velde, Copyright 1926. I read the opening lines and knew I had to get it:

"Marriage - in Christian civilization at least - is often a failure. On that point there can be no manner of doubt. It can be the gate of an earthly Eden, but it is, in actual fact, often a hell of torment." (insert laughing out loud in the store)

Most of the book deals with sexuality and a very scientific approach to the human body and sexual union. Not that marriage is a subject to be taken lightly, but it is intriguing to read his views from eighty years ago. He is blunt, to the point, and his subject matter is pretty great. I love a good laugh, and who knows? I might learn a thing or two.

pretty lucky

This morning: going to get our marriage license. The fee is $110 and it must be used within 6 months. Check.

Working this afternoon (with EMILY!) and then tonight I am officially being welcomed by the Cedergren sisters as, well, their sister. I grew up with two brothers, so inheriting 6 wonderful women as family is a little overwhelming but also really great. I feel pretty lucky. We're going to Buca di Beppo and it is going to be delicious :)

Currently addicted to almonds and Pringles potato chips.

i hate it when.

exhausted and crabby about student loans. ugggghhhhh.

Bid

My heart is a house...

Thanks to my little brother for introducing me to Owl City.
A lovely night of Oh Hell (or 7 Up if you're a Cedergren), Corona with lime, and mild panic attacks about bidding.

...and you are home.

drink and the noise

Reading books, sleeping at odd hours of the day, selling tea, and spending time with friends and family = one happy gal.

Long day at work, quiet night at home, and a day off tomorrow with a lot of good eating lined up: lunch date with Caitlin at Blondies Cafe and then to Grandma's house for tacos and root beer.

Finished Tar Baby this morning and started Self-Help by Lorrie Moore. Good stuff. Now, back to this delicious mango-flavored drink and the noise inside my head.

Long Stretches

Craving these like crazy today. Peanut M&M's are my favorite kind of M&M, hands down. Good thing I have a large bag of them in the pantry.So far today, I had my hair trimmed (a full inch), made some progress on Tar Baby, which I hope to finish this afternoon, and later tonight Rick and I are meeting with our friend who is doing flowers for the wedding. Yesterday was a LONG day working at the Japanese Lantern Lighting Festival in Como Park, and I am celebrating my day off with chocolate and long stretches of quiet.

Project Under Way

Hmmm. I didn't write yesterday. In fact, I didn't even think about it.

I woke up early this morning to the rain and tiny grumbles of thunder. I love curling up next to someone when it's still dark - that's the way to start your day.

A new project is under way. I have been thinking about it for a few weeks now, and I am ready to give it a go. Who knows what will come of it, if anything. I do know, however, that there is potential. There is material. And there is a strange desire lurking in my person to simply TRY. So that's what I'm going to do.

to my chin

A cool bath and a cold drink is just what the doctor ordered.

The tub in this apartment is fantastically big. There is window that faces the street and I can read with the water up to my chin.

If Ever

Note to self: DO NOT order Combo #1 at Highland Theater. 1 medium drink and 1 medium popcorn is enough to feed four people. I am only one person. $7.75 is just too much to throw away.

In spite of that, Julie and Julia is a lovely film. It makes me wish I had the time, space, and gumption to learn how to cook. Maybe someday I will, although I don't think I'll ever go to such an extreme. Maybe in ten years if I find myself rich and bored I will consider it. I guess the struggling writer storyline isn't so far off base either.

One thing is for certain: if ever a movie was made about my life, I would want Amy Adams to star in it. She is delightful.

just a couple of

Roses hung like a dishtowel.

Condensation on every glass today. Living with no AC - just a couple of fans oscillating air around the
room(s).



I finished Ishmael first thing this morning. I'll get back to you.

Lunchtime?

Reconnected

Finally back and reconnected after a lovely weekend in Cedar Falls. The wedding went smoothly, the weather was HOT but cooperative, and Rick and I successfully missed a nearby tornado and severe storm on our way out of town. PHEW!

Currently reading Ishmael - I am almost done after only a few days. You know how people are always saying "Oh, read this book!" or "This book changed my life!" or "You HAVE to read this next!" Inevitably, the list of recommendations grows and grows until it is impossible to choose. This book though, actually HAS and will continue to change the way I look at the world. I feel like people have been walking around with this knowledge and haven't said anything! That's how important this book is. I will definitely be writing about this book once I have finished it and have had time to process it. I wish wish wish someone had put this book in my hands when I was 18. I wish I had been digesting this book for years, not just a few days. It gives a whole new meaning to the phrase take it or leave it.

Family photo

My loves and I at Chatterbox.

tonight

My girls are life-giving.

And my fiance gives my love a name.

All At Once

I am stressed, overwhelmed, excited and sad all at once. Gugh.

I'm on my way to Cedar Falls, IA this weekend to be in a friend's wedding. We met in fifth grade and bonded over Magic Attic dolls, our mutual love of history, Bugels, movies that made us cry, and books. We started writing a novel together in seventh grade and continue to work on it when we get together. I think the working title is Shades of Red and it is a historical fiction novel set in the 1940's about a boy who runs away from home, falls in love, goes to war, and everything in between. It's funny how characters we created so many years ago still seem so real to me today - we talk about them as if they are old friends.

I won't be writing much this weekend or in the next few days, but I will when I can.

It's going to be hard to say goodbye but I know good things are yet to come.

Secrets and Reasons

This picture is from last summer, but since my camera is broken, it will have to do! As of Thursday, we will no longer live at Georgia 210 together, which is a hard concept to wrap my head around. But, we have TeaSource and our weekly reunions to look forward to.

We had an early lunch at Trotter's this morning. They have such good food and it's a really relaxing atmosphere. (They also carry TeaSource tea so that is an obvious WIN!)

Em had never been to Wet Paint so we stopped in on our way home. I LOVE THAT STORE! I secretly wanted to buy a Starry Night paint-by-number, but I don't have the funds. We walked out wishing we had a reason to buy colored pencils, journals, stamps, tubes of paint, and brushes of every size.

Impossible

"The best times are when it is impossible to be cynical about anything." -Anthony Bourdain

The day I took this picture of myself was a one of the best times. I was waiting for the train to take me to the CPH airport so I could catch a plane to London to visit one of my dearest, oldest friends. I walked out of the house with nothing but a backpack and music in my ears. It is an incredible feeling to be so light, so free, and so mobile.

Oh Heavens

My bridal shower was today! So much love, so many wonderful people, and cupcakes. Oh yeah, and the whole getting married thing.

I am so happy!

occasional crop

dry, abandoned

segments

of my heart's husk

cling to small, savory

kernels of loss,

each one ripe

and unbounded

like newly turned

handfuls of earth.

Drive-Thru

I am seriously considering a breakfast sandwich from McDonald's on my way to work. Shhhhhh.