The Metaphorical Magpie

Gratitude #4: The library

Once upon a time, a lonely, socially awkward latch key kid started going to the library after school and she got swept away into Chinese dynsasties, golden Egyptian pyramids, a long smooth table next to rows and rows of neatly lined encyclopedias and the best librarian in the world, Mrs. Dudas.

In the library, I was afforded an escape route from the complicated chaos know as my childhood. There in the temperature controlled, quiet, I could collect my thoughts and then travel far, far away. Mrs. Dudas treated me with great dignity, diligently filing my endless requests for books from the other larger branches in our county library system.

When I went to high school, I upgraded to the school and that larger town's library and left my tiny home town library behind. Today, I pay for the privelege to use one of the larger fancy neighboring town's library and the county system. Our town doesn't participate in the county system and it doesn't seem so big and exciting since I'm not in high school anymore.

I try to get to the library once a week. Sometimes I have a specific topic or author in mind, tonight I was looking for Indian cookbooks to research ideas for a dinner party I'm catering in a few weeks. Most times, I just walk in and empty my mind, just like when I was a kid. I especially like to look at the racks of books other people have just returned and are waiting to be shelved. I'll often select something unexpected from those racks like a biography on Emily Dickinson that I read a few weeks ago. I wonder which books get read the most and which ones the least. Which hidden gems are there to find? Like the Shirley Jackson short stories I read over the summer.

I'm not sure why the library has this power over me, to stop me from thinking about my problems and unbelievably long to-do lists.

I'm definitely grateful it does though. I just wish Mrs. Dudas was still here to be my trusty librarian.

Gratitude #3: The humble sandwich

Life has provided us with a simple pleasure in the humble sandwich. Who isn't grateful to wrap their mitts around one of these?

Some of the best:

Peanut butter and banana on toasted waffles

Hot pastrami with mustard on rye

chicken, gouda and apple butter

Cheesesteak wit Whiz at Pat's King of Steaks

The Hamburgao (Brazilian burger in Newark, NJ)

thick cut slabs of tomato and mayo with salt and pepper on wheat

pork roll, egg and cheese on a hard roll

chicken salad club

grilled cheese on cinnamon raisin

Gratitude #2: A Good Hat

Gratitude #1: The photobooth

Today, I am grateful for the photobooth. To whomever invented this delightful contraption, I thank you.

I love to pick up a strip and instantly be transported back to THAT crazy night in Brooklyn or THAT awesome time we went to the boardwalk super late.

There is something magical and intimate about walking in the booth and closing the curtain. You have four chances to take a great photo but in the end they are all great, a grasp at a moment- awkward, tender ,racy- fixed in toner forever.

Even the worst day will melt away when I take time to look at the photobooth strip tucked next to our desk or the one up on the fridge.

Four perfect square reminders.

Your life does not suck.

Don't be afraid to cut loose.

Funny faces make everything better.

If it doesn't work out this time, you can try again.

 

Gratitude Month

Lisa, over at Curious Girl, is hosting a month long gratitude fest. What a great way to pull my attention back here to my lonely little blog space.NaBloPoMo this month is themeless, so bloggers may post at will. I like the pressure of posting daily that NaBloPoMo gives and the theme of gratitude makes me feel good.

Any of you that want to play along, please go and sign on at Curious Girl.

 

 

 

 

Listen to Maurice Sendak read Where The Wild Things Are

Barnes and Noble has an online monthly storytime video. This month's features Sendak!

This book was such an important part of my childhood, and really my life. Hearing Mr. Sendak read the story was a treat.

 

 

 

More overall love

Silly of me to think my crush on overalls was something I am alone in! Since my post the other day on Bananarama's lifetime influence on my fashion faves, I was contacted by Niels, a Scandanavian professor who too professes a deep love for overalls and he has alerted my to a International Overalls Day on Nov. 20. Coolness!  I just joined the Facebook group for it. I think I'll wear my newly thrifted plum corduroy pair for the occasion.

I wonder if the 80's had a overall revival with musicians. I remember loving the song "C'mon Eileen" by Dexey's Midnight Runners which features more overall clad lads and ladies scampering around. 

Can you remember other overall clad bands?

Five Senses Friday

See

brand new fence in our backyard
potted plants jumbled together waiting to be planted
a new sassy bob haircut when I look in the mirror
a raccoon tucking himself under the neighbor's garage
over 50 crows perched on one dead tree in my neighborhood
our wonderful neighbor cutting down scraggly tree branches over our yard
a love note taped to the front door

Smell

annointing myself with Bayou D'Amour by Hove Parfumeur before bed, waking to the scent
cocoa butter conditioner
OQ Coffee being ground, filling the cafe kitchen with a coffee ka-pow!

Hear

the sound of my voice as I read out loud
range of dates to select a trip to Block Island to finally have Aunt Dodi's ashes scattered
"XX" by The XX still holding up as a favorite record
over hearing a conversation about Petey (the dog) being the best Little Rascal. I'll always vote for Alfalfa
"Lizstomania" by Phoenix

Taste

Kahlua ice cream
Coconut iced coffee
tomato honey tapenade
Zucchini muffins with a struesel topping
watermelon chunks- ice cold and addictive

Feel

Energy at work during a Jin Shin Jyutsu self care workshop
my creative spark rekindling
startled by a dive bombing butterfly

Cruel summer

It's been brutally hot this week. On Sunday, our neighbor was nice enough to come over with his pole saw and hack off branches I hate that are coming over our yard from another neighbors tree. I was happily dragging branches down to the neighborhood shrub pile when my neighbor asked why was I wearing overalls when it is SO hot.

Instant answer.

Bananarama- Cruel Summer

Those girls invaded my ten year old brain and wired me to want to wear overalls in the summer. Not shorts. Never shorts. Overalls.

I have made great efforts to try shorts a few times this year but I confess, I'd rather be rocking the overalls.

Embrace alone time

Even though I am partnered with someone, I find myself with an incredible amount of alone time. I rise early these days and collapse into slumber earlier than I'd like to admit. Sweets and all of my friends all are on different schedules than I am. Some how, once you start to drift away into the alone-liness of your existence, you find it's hard to come back. On one hand, I long for meaningful connections but on the other; the sheer effort to arrange meeting up with others can become too much for me after a long day.

My dear friend, Shannon at Birdstar, posted this video of Canadian poet, Tanya Davis, and her poem "How To Be Alone." It made me realize, you can spend time alone and have a good time if that is your intention. Alone time does not have to wasted time or lost time. It can be precious time or even magical time if you open yourself to meeting new people or exploring new places on your own.

Thank you, Tanya, I needed this.

Summer soundtrack

Documentary worth seeing

Nominated for an Oscar, The Cove, is one of the best documentary films I've seen in the past few years. 

Following the tireless activism of Richard O'Barry to expose a small Japanese community that makes its bread and butter by capturing and selling dolphins to sea aquariums and slaughtering the rest for the meat and selling it labelled incorrectly as whale (which is commonly eaten in Japan).

Ironically, O'Barry, was the marine biologist who helped capture and train the dolphins on the television show Flipper. As he worked with the animals, he realized they should not be in captivity and has spent the rest of his life trying to reverse a trend he started in the first place.

This film was well made. Pulling together experts from special effects in film making, professional divers, internationally recognized marine wildlife advocates and of course, O'Barry who is quite the character. It's kind of like an Oceans 11 movie as you watch this team get created and devise a plan to catch the fishermen in the act.

Now, you are going to tell me, "um, hey Rach, I really don't think a movie about killing dolphins is for me." When Sweets first pulled it out of the Netflix envelope, I had the same feeling but the movie won me over. By the end I was totally fired up.

I suggest you see it for yourself.

Mad Libs for bloggers

Darling I just received your letters from the postman and realised that I have not updated this since they invented sliced bread... You would not believe my anguish at my misdoings. I hope you still love me!.

I am totally and utterly flat out with making meals, being distracted by the shiny, just generally being a nuisance to every Lost Boy that crosses my path, my day is long and tiring from the first cockadoodledoo from the rooster to way past dusk. I am not being a whinging Pom or anything. but who cares.

I won't promise anything to you but I will update you with my nefarious activities as soon as I get a chance. No, really! What do you mean you don't believe me?.

Thanks to the Lazy Bloggers Post Generator for FINALLY making blogging easy again. Link via Something. Sort of like a Mad Libs and lots of fun.

Now can one of my Aussie pals illuminate me on what a whinging Pom is?

"Look at the sky, it's the color of love"

Back in the 90's, I remember staying up all night talking with my housemate, M. I don't remember what we talked about but I remember when light broke through the many paned windows of our  sun room he looked looked at me, smiled that crazy beautiful grin of his and  sang "look at the sky, it's the color of love" from Sade's song Kiss of Life. Just one of those small inconsequential yet magical moments that happen in life.

For a short while, I loved M. Enough to break up with someone else I'd loved for four years to pursue him. M never loved me. He introduced me to his close friend, who I ended up loving for six years. Until he decided he didn't love me anymore.

Those loves are long behind me now.

But I still love a gorgeous streaky sky.

And Sade.

Sometimes I'll be driving along, be taken by the sky above and that lyric pops in to my head and out of mouth.

Soldier of Love, Sade's new record is coming out today. It's been ten years since the last one. A long time to wait. Can't wait to hear it.

Find the home where your heart fits

Love Week

I am not that girl who crazes long stem roses, boxes of chocolates and diamond do-dads for Valentine's Day. I struggle with Hallmark holidays and many of the other holidays society tells me I should celebrate but I really have no business with them.

Love is a many splendoured thing. Complicated, coerced, soaring, crashing, sweet, hot, one sided, imaginary, epic, eternal, legendary, lost, found.

For days, I've been happily thinking of my favorite movies about love, looking up poems, playing with heart shaped cookie cutters, feeling the presence of love in my home, passing some on wherever I can.

Why not devote a whole week to all things related to love, or the heart? 

I'd love for you to join me.

No rules. When it comes to love, rules rarely apply, now do they? Just express your love however makes your heart sing.

Have you me met Melody yet?

I wrote about Melody Gardot last year when I first discovered her music and was totally captivated by her voice and her story. CBS Sunday Morning did a piece on her last week that I think is worth sharing.

Her record is definitely worth owning, too.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Kicking the closet addiction

I have a major closet clear out on my 101 Things in 1001 Days list. I've definitely chipped away at my towering collection of coats and other wearables but there is much more editing to be done.

Over at 3191 Miles Apart, MAV posted a great list of rules she follows when she does a clearout of her closet. 

Now, MAV, proclaims she is "addicted to giving things away." I and some of my closest friends are addicted keeping everything and anything for a future use.

Finding a nice balance, a flow if you will, between bringing new things in and allowing them to flow back out into the world is something I am striving towards. Often when I begin to clear out, I get gripped with this weird hoard-y impulse and never cut close enough to the bone. When I open my packed dresser and realize there isn't much in there that I actually want to wear, I feel frustrated. And then when tempted to buy something new, I feel guilty because I don't "need" anything new, knowing I have tons of so-so items at home to choose from.

If you too are struggling with too much crammed into your drawers and closets that you have a uninspiring relationship with, I encourage you to visit MAV's post and ponder the insightful questions she asks when going through her belongings. Reading them made me realize, many of the clothes I have stored away are of no use to me or make me feel weird, fat or dumpy.

Wouldn't having only items I love in turn help me feel more love about myself? 

Last month, I was getting ready to go somewhere and moaning about my lack of clothes I love. Sweets , someone who has a rating system for everything, made this astute observation -"based on a scale of 1-5, 1 being pajamas and stuff you wear around the house, 2 the chef clothes you work in, 3 things you wear to go out in and 5 special occasion- you have alot of 1-2 and some 5's but you really need some more 3-4 items."

So... basically my husband is telling me "hey, you're basically shlubby most of the time unless we're going out someplace fancy, can you kick it up a notch?

In the dope rhymes of A Tribe Called Quest, I answer the query, "Can I Kick It? Yes You Can!"

This rhythm really fits like a snug glove
Like a box of positives is a plus, love
As the Tribe flies high like a dove .......

Can I kick it? (Yes, you can!) *7X*
Well, I'm gone (Go on then!).....

Boy this track really has a lot of flavor
When it comes to rhythms, Quest is your savior
Follow us for the funky behavior
Make a note on the rhythm we gave ya
Feel free, drop your pants, check your ha-ir
Do you like the garments that we wear?
I instruct you to be the obeyer
A rhythm recipe that you'll savor
Doesn't matter if you're minor or major  ...

Stepping out into the light

I've been a bit trapped inside my own brain for the last few months. My blog has suffered. My friends haven't seen me. I've become a total cookbook reading, menu planning, pot stirring, passing out soon after recluse since the opening of A Better World Cafe took over all my might.

Last weekend, I traveled to New Orleans for a conference on community cafes. I represented A Better World along with two other members of our organization. We networked with the other community cafes that currently exist and a great group of people from all over the country that want to join the movement by opening their own cafes in the future. It was a great experience. I was asked to lead some sessions on cooking seasonally. I came back with some great food for thought from other summit participants.

By getting away for a few days, most importantly realizing I can leave the cafe for a few days without any glitches, I've been able to finally shake myself out of my head.

Hoorah!

Sweets bought me a nifty Canon G10 camera for Christmas and I put it through some testing on the trip. The hotel we stayed at was bursting with color, I happily shot away when I had free moments. Just doing something creative (non-food related) again felt really good. I happily edited photos for hours today and it's been a long, long time since I walked away from editing photos professionally that I've wanted to do that. It's funny that when photography was my job, food was my hobby. Now that food is my job, photography wants to be my hobby. Flippity flop goes the world I live in.

Here's to more creative adventures in 2010.

And perhaps some trips- near and far.

Now that's I've stepped out the door in my brain, you can expect to see more of me around here.

Friday Dance Party: You Say Party! We Say Die!

It's been a while since I busted with a posty here let alone a Friday dance party, so I figured better go for a dramatic post title. Coincidentally, it is the name of a cool Canadian band that just came to my attention when KEXP chose this song, Laura Palmer's Prom! as their song of the day earlier this week.

I love it.

Besides loving this lyric (already getting revved for Valentine's Day) "My heart needs a love dance... could your heart need some romance?... cause my heart needs a love dance," I give props to any song that busts out the word attest in a lyric. Doesn't come up often. Just sayin'.

Unfortunately, this singer is not much of a dancer but... I'll let her slide cause my heart needs a love dance today.

Doesn't yours?

More tracks available from them for your listening pleasure on their MySpace page. 

Their new record, XXXX on Paperbag Records will be available in the U.S. on Feb. 9th. They'll be touring the U.S. in March.

Culture Shock Report 2009: Films

The Tale of Despereaux *
Affliction
Junior
Music From Another Room
Doubt *
Le Cirque: A Table in Heaven
Mamma Mia!
Frost/Nixon *
Encounters at the End of the World
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Pineapple Express
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
Revolutionary Road *
The Wrestler *
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
How to Cook Your Life
Helvetica
Vicky Christina Barcelona
Coraline (3D)
Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Who the ... Is Jackson Pollack?
The U.S. vs John Lennon
A Bigger Splash
10,000 B.C.
9 1/2 Weeks
The Running Man
Changeling
Trouble the Water
Star Trek *(Imax)
The Bicycle Thief
Twilight
Let the Right One In
Corrina, Corrina
In Bruges
Julia Child! America's Favorite Chef
Up *
The Reader
Forget Paris
Harry and Tonto
Day Watch
Vampire in Brooklyn
Feast of Love
Fantastic Mr. Fox *
State of Play
Adventureland
The Girlfriend Experience
Precious *
Up In The Air *
The Class
Wendy and Lucy
Happy Go-Lucky
Gran Torino
Becoming Jane
The Golden Compass
Bright Young Things
Christmas in Connecticut
Holiday Affair
Bright Star *
Duplicity
The Lady Eve
The Soloist
Away We Go
I Love You, Man
Funny People
He's Just Not That Into You
Dinner Rush
Where The Wild Things Are *
Public Enemies *
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Invisible Man
Intermezzo: A Love Story
Conrack
Freedom Writers
The Good Shepherd
Wristcutters: A Love Story
Julie & Julia *
Stardust
Eraserhead
Urban Cowboy
Pope of Greenwich Village
Factotum
The Vanishing
Dutch
500 Days of Summer *
Inglourious Basterds *
Black Book
Love Affair
An Affair to Remember
Drag Me to Hell
Cruising
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
The Brothers Bloom
The Butcher Boy
Food Inc.
Bruno

Five Senses Friday

This edition spans a few weeks of sensory goodness

See:

A woman with an expensive baby carriage start to walk over a bridge while a group of men who have a camp under the bridge talked below- this juxtapostion has haunted me all week

fuschia flowers on my Christmas cactus

our new prelit Christmas tree ready for action in the living room

300 people gathered to celebrate the grand opening of A Better World Cafe, where I am the chef/manager

Media coverage of the cafe from The Star-Ledger and ABC Eyewitness News

beautiful mixture of greens- oakleaf lettuce, red russian kale, green lettuces, beet greens

colorful salad of beet, pumpkin, green bean, red onion, feta and walnut salad

sun streaming into the kitchen during morning prep

The process of Sweets designing our holiday cards

my mother's Fiestaware collection

Bruno

Food Inc.

The Golden Compass

Merlin, the white cat from the neighborhood, lounging in our garden

Smell:

roasting carrots

rosemary, oregano, sage and thyme

ground ginger

pumpkin gone bad (not a good smell. eew)

Taste:

Vegetarian shepherds pie- lentil base topped with sweet potato crust

cranberry orange relish the way Grams used to make it

pasta with white beans, chicken, roasted acorn squash, scallions and herbs

almond croissant made by our culinary students

really good wonton soup

pumpkin whoopie pies

sweet potato-pumpkin pie topped with pecans

horseradish pickles from Picklicious

Yancey's Fancy habanero & jalepeno  cheddar

amazing bread

Hear:

The Big Pink

falling rain

sad news that a friend's mother has passed

happy news that a friend and his wife are expecting their first child

an invitation to dinner

compliments about the cafe's food

family voices on long distance calls 

convection oven's blower

pages tearing from a magazine

Feel:

vintage table linens

heavy piles of magazines for recycling

christmas tree branches

wedges of brie

loaves of homemade bread

wool sweaters and chenille socks

Seriously Thankful

The year beginning last Thanksgiving to today has been tumultuous for us with a  job change for Sweets and a complete career change for me. There were bumps in the road, times I felt unsure I was doing the right thing but it has all worked out.

For that, I am seriously thankful today.

And for much, much more:

having Sweets as my amazing, adorable and uber-talented husband. he rocks my world every day.

my friends for all their support and love

our families

the opportunity to go to culinary school and have a dream job offered to me

feeling myself become part of a community

having so many people share their knowledge, enthusiasm and expertise with me

the gift of free time for reading, thinking, growing

having more than we need and the ability to pass some things on to those who are in need

the library and it's huge collection of cookbooks for me to pore over eagerly

the harvest from our garden

I, too, am thankful for:

pajamas and aprons, warm socks and cute hats

smoked spanish paprika and cumin, cilantro, ginger and lime

farmers who grow organically

dark chocolate, bacon and coffee

memories of my grandparents

birds visiting our yard

poppies, rose of sharon, lilacs and roses

the butt warmer in my Volkswagen

shows that make me laugh: 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Modern Family

still having Quentin with me 

tasty cheeses and a local cheesemonger I trust

Princeton Record Exchange

Freecycle

a blog to come home to and my blog friends all over the world

a good president

Acoustic version of Last Dance by The Raveonettes with interview discussing what I love about them most, the juxtapostion of a light melody with dark content.

Queen for a Day: Celebrating Susanna

We're having a blog party today to celebrate Susanna Gordon, the amazing artistic creator of the Winged Messenger and blogger at Susanna's Sketchbook. I am very lucky to call Susanna a friend and was so happy when I first got an email weeks ago about doing something to honor her. The buzz began to build as a group of bloggers who have been touched by her messengers began to work together, busy like bees coming back to the hive with honey. There have been volleys of emails, polls, wild and fanciful suggestions and most importantly a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation for what Susanna does.

It has been so hard keeping this blog party a surprise. Especially  because I'm having dinner with Susanna tonight! When she invited me last night I almost keeled over with the giggles. I can not wait to see her reaction to all the blog love today.

I met Susanna for the first time last year at a blogger's get together. She told me about her winged messengers project. I was so curious to see what they looked like and how she made them. A few months later, I had the opportunity to try out for a  spot to take a video training bootcamp. We had to submit a short video piece to apply. Remembering Susanna, I thought this was the perfect time to exercise my curiosity. When I got in touch with her, she generously invited me over to let me interview her and then she showed me the process she goes through to make the messengers. Finally, we went over to the local train station where I documented her releasing a few into the wild.

The concept of guerilla art based in kindness and encouragement for strangers was something I hadn't experienced before. Watching Susanna work, I was hooked.

Based on the tape I submitted, I was accepted into the video program. So it is thanks to Susanna and her messengers that I learned that skill. Unfortunately, that tape was never returned so I can not share it here. Over the last year, I've left my job as a journalist and moved into the culinary field. Susanna has been so supportive of me in the last year.

I try to support her and her art, too. Whenever we get together, I am always bugging her about new ways to spread her message. A book? A non-profit? A world wide winged migration?

It thoroughly pleases me to know so many more people have also been moved and inspired by Susanna's art and spirit. Please follow the blog roll to see the posts of the others celebrating today's blog party.

Thank you, Susanna for just being you.

What's inspiring me right now

I found a post from just about two years ago listing my current inspirations. It is interesting that some things continue to inspire me, like acorns, while cotton fields have long moved from my consciousness.

Right now, these things are inspiring me most:

* My friend, Ally and her husband Tim, just launched the beautiful website Real Honeymoons. Their first honeymoon story is their own, destination: Buenos Aires. If you're planning a honeymoon, vacation or just plain want to live vicariously through the eyes of people flush with love, stop by and visit the site. If you had a fantastic honeymoon you'd like to share, let them know about it.

Maple leaves - have you noticed the variety?

This make your own envelope video tutorial from Amy Karol of Angry Chicken. Genius in its simplicity. My first attempt went out to my pen pal. More will most certainly be made. 

Moss

Rubber stamps. I went through a phase several years ago but dropped them. I bought some new ink pads and seasonal stamps. I'm experimenting with stationary for the pen pal.

smoked paprika

juxtaposition of gold and fuschia

mini pumpkin pies

subway memorabilia

brushed nickel

artisan bread

trading

french onion soup

working in a vintage apron

cooking for vegans

naps

pine cones 

hawks

Enjoying autumn by the hour

I've been work, work, working and then working a wee bit more the last few weeks. When the alarm goes off it is dark outside and cold in the house. When I come home, it is usually dark already once more. The moments I spend in the light are fleeting but savored. I drive across the Raritan River each day on the way to the cafe. Seeing the view each time makes me gasp a little. Huge swatches of gold bump up against the blue sky. This past week I've been so inspired by nature's last push for color. The maples are scarlet and orange. Bushes sing out in fuschia melodies as the oaks and elms provide the harmony.

Autumn is my season. 

We are making big batches of golden hued butternut squash soup, scarlet roasted beets and pumpkin cupcakes for the cafe. I want people to taste autumn in all it's glory inside each mouthful.

Yesterday we drove around leaf peeping and then rested in a rose garden surrounded by beautiful trees. A rambunctious beagle puppy ran to us to say hello. I think autumn brings out the best and brightest in all of us. We feasted on guinness dipped onion rings,  fancy  burgers and milkshakes and then watched scary movies until I fell asleep on the couch.

The clocks fell back last night. That makes today one of my favorite days of the year. How delicious is that gift of an extra hour. I wandered between luscious laziness and productivity. Between making Manhattan clam chowder, a pear cranberry cake, baked sweet potatoes and a lamb meatloaf, I managed to read half a novel while snuggled up with Quentin on the couch, harvest leeks and herbs in the garden, catch up with my bad girl posse, do laundry and start setting aside some things for a family that is about to make a fresh start.

I wonder how you used your extra hour today?

Hold Them Close While You Can

It's been three months since our sweet  little Maggie passed on. I still miss her terribly but I've passed the stage where I am doing things like taking two dog treats out when I come home only to realize I've got one dog impatiently waiting instead of two. Quentin, too, has moved past his grief and has settled into being the dog of the house. Sweets took him in to the vet for a check up a few weeks ago and they offered us a rescued chihuahua to replace Maggie. Obviously, there is no way to replace her and we think Quentin should live out his old age being pampered. Having one dog to wrangle is easier. We're more willing to take him out and about. Last week he got a nice new sweater and went for a walk on the beach. When I first got him in 1997, I was living three blocks from the beach in Asbury Park so we went to the beach regularly on our daily strolls. He seemed very happy to be back in the sand.

Having a portrait taken with my dogs was #7 on my 101 Things in 1001 Days list. Looking at this photo now makes me so happy I made sure that was one of the things I've completed. We took this image at the end of our road on a warmish Februrary afternoon in 2008. Maggie on the left, Quentin the right. She always had a knack for sticking her tongue out for the camera which cracks me up. 

We're currently working on #72 on the list, putting together a photo display wall. This photo is going to make it up there.

Five Senses Friday

See:

Sweets doing all sorts of handy husband things around the house. Swoon.

a myriad of paint samples taped to the bathroom wall

A smooth new coat of trim paint in the living room - Benjamin Moore Aura paint in Cotton Balls

the hand painted sign a volunteer  made of the logo for our  soon to be open A Better World Cafe

gorgeous red and green head lettuces wrapped in paper like a present

a delivery man bringing us local apples, lettuce, herbs, kale and more for the cafe

an old man on a street corner give me a dirty look as he watched me eat with a fork from a plate on my lap while driving (it was soul food, how could I be expected to wait until I arrived at my destination?)

jumbo sunflower seeds in the heads I cut to dry for bird seed

a skunk on my next door neighbors doorstep

a dog, Isabelle, vibrating with happiness to see a stranger at the door

Our dog Quentin trying on a new sweater at the pet store and then walking on the beach

the morning still dark when I rose for work

swiss chard saluting from the garden bed

the bed made after I hinted to Sweets I'd like it if he did it once in a while

Modern Family- funniest new show on tv

Smell:

chicken stock simmering

roasted beets

fresh paint

curry powder, cardamom, tumeric and clove

pumpkin pie in the oven

lavender

Feel:

phyllo dough defying my attempts to separate it's layers

apple slices bobbing in water

cutting right through my finger nail

smooth skin of a butternut squash

guilt when I decapitated a trio of sunflowers

Taste:

Apple Tart with Almond Cream

pumpkin stew served in a burnished baked cheese pumpkin

citrus sesame vinaigrette

surf and turf burger - kobe burger with crab topping

fried chicken

Hear:

The news my beautiful step mother has remarried. Yeah for her!

Pearl Jam's new record Back Spacer

My friend Cyndemouse telling me "You'd better take a picture of your hands now before you ruin them" as she painted liquid skin on my wrecked finger nail (I've collected two more minor cuts since she said that)

Being called chef

that first delightful crunch of leaves underfoot

Five Senses Friday

See:

Susanna's latest encaustic painting in person

artist's sketchbooks saved from the dustbin by a friend

a giant maple leaf resting on top of my car as if left there as a present

far too many episodes of Ghost Whisperer, a new guilty vice

ink on my fingers

Hear:

the furnace kicking on for the first time this season

John in the Morning of KEXP in Seattle on Radio NY

a facinating Radio Lab episode about parasites. No, I'm serious. It was fascinating.

Sweets telling me about the book he's been reading

news of a delay

Belle and Sebastian

Feel:

cold that just won't go the hell away

nippy air

Taste:

little ladylike apples

potato leek soup with a cayenne kick

shrimp toast

hot cocoa with marshmallows

tamari almonds warm from the oven

giant and tasty strawberry ice cream cone

apple crisp al a mode

Smell:

earthy beets

yeasty dough rising

Fig fragrance