February 2012
i'm a magpie. i am attracted to the shiny things. i want to collect them and gaze upon them. making things allows me to do that. i gather the shiny things, looking at them loveingly for a little while. eventually, i send them back out into the world in a slightly altered form. many shiny things have passed before me. sometimes i say to myself, "you should keep one of those. its special." most of the time i don't. but sometimes something so spectacularly shiny is placed in front of me that i know. i know i won't be able to part with them all. i know i need to keep one so i can continue to admire it.
that's what happened when i opened a small box today. i may have actually squealed. i'd recently found almost identical earrings in red and white. i couldn't get over how cute those were. adorable, i thought. these though, these win the cute battle royale. and that the gods of vintage supplies gave these to me before valentine's day? amazing.
i immediately went to work i was so excited.
it knocked me out with how freakin' cute it looks as a ring. that perfect beet stained pink, those heart shaped petals. come ON. perfectly lovey dovey.
oh yes! one will be mine (all mine) and good news - there's a few more here!
on top of the eiffel tower - early october, 2003
you wouldn't guess it but about an hour before this picture was taken, shawn & i were screaming at one another underneath the eiffel tower. screaming. "i hate you! why did i come here with you?!" screaming. oh yeah. it was not awesome.
we had been traveling for almost 2 weeks. we'd spent a few lovely days in amsterdam and then met up with our friends in italy we spent the week prior in cinque terre hiking, drinking, eating, swiming, sleeping in. it was blissful.
we weren't supposed to go to italy and we were supposed to go to paris first. that would've been the smart way to do it but there was a hurricane on the east coast and we were forced to change our plans. instead of flying into paris, we'd fly to amsterdam. the change in our route precipitated a change in heart on shawn's behalf and next thing i knew we were flying to nice and renting a car to drive to italy to meet our friends. we would stay for a week and then make our way back to paris. we did it all wrong.
cinque terre was sunny and warm. it smelled like harvested grapes and olives. we rented an apartment that was small and cozy. even though it was off the piazza in corniglia, it was quiet. we swam and laughed and fed stray cats leftover bits of fish, which we ate every night. we were in paradise.
paris was cold and rainy and it smelled like well, paris. we both caught a cold within moments of our arrival. our hotel was under construction and smelled like turpentine. the construction started in the wee small hours and went far too late. the last straw though? my shoes, my trusty campers that had served me so well over the course of the trip, decided they were through playing nice. my feet hurt and i'd had it. HAD IT. we were in hell.
i'm not sure how it started. all i knew is that we were about to break up underneath the eiffel tower, yelling at each other like we had never yelled at one another. we were starting to attract attention. i cringe when i think about it now.
a nearby old man turned and scolded us, "you are in PARIS. act like it! "
my memory is a bit foggy, what with the cold medication and all, but i think we burst into laughter. we kissed, made up, and made the best of our remaining 36 hours in paris.
someday though, i'd like a paris do-over.
also not awesome, my BLONDE hair in that picture. what is up with that?
for the week of january 29 - february 4:
yoga: 5 times
bike rides: 3
number of smoothies: 3
number of glasses of green juice: 4
meals involving pizza: 0
meals involving piles of vegetables: 6
i cooked: 4 times
i baked: peanut butter nutella cookies
favorite recipe: buttermilk roast chicken
letters written: 1
packages sent:12
pieces finished for the embroidery project: 2
yoyos yo-ed: 172
bracelets made: 2
brooches made: 11
photos taken and edited: 613
episodes of buffy watched: 1
episodes of roseanne watched: 12
best thing i watched as evidenced by a heart drawn around it: the muppets
books read: 0, everytime i tried to read this week i fell asleep
days i wore knee socks: 2
living room dance parties: 2
number of muppets videos watched on youtube: 2
so, i want to write a wrap up of this project in the next couple of weeks. this post reminded me that i wanted to ask those of you who have received (or will be receiving) these from me to send me a picture of where yours is hanging. email them to me at cookoorikoo at gmail dot com. THANKS!
for the week of february 5 - 11:
yoga: 2 times (oops)
bike rides: 1 (damn)
number of smoothies: 2
number of glasses of green juice: 4
meals involving pizza: 0
meals involving piles of vegetables: 4
i cooked: 4 times
i baked: potato chip cookies, sourdough bread
letters written: 2
packages sent:15
yoyos yo-ed: 21
bracelets made: 0
brooches made: 0
photos taken and edited: 572
episodes of buffy watched: 0
episodes of roseanne watched: 0
episodes: of the OC watched: 27 (the ENTIRE first season. its ok if you judge me.)
best thing i watched as evidenced by a heart drawn around it: the new girl (i think this week's episode was the funniest. by far.)
books read: 0 (damn. everytime i tried to read this week i fell asleep. again.)
days i wore knee socks: 2
living room dance parties: 1
number of muppets videos watched on youtube: 1
at satsuma
i spent the most delightful day with bayou salvage kerry. she is just as magical as you'd imagine. she took me thrifting and i don't know what voodoo she was working but i'm sort of convinced i could've tried on a size 2 dress and it would've fit. MAGIC.
we stopped at a sweet cafe in the bywater, the old neighborhood of my dreams, to refuel. this was painted on the floor. i love it. it sort of makes me want to break out in song. that may just be new orleans though.
wish you were here.
xoxo
dear shawn,
i miss you today. while we don't normally make a big fuss over valentine's day, it does feel weird to be away from you. it feels especially odd to be in new orleans without you. even though i've been to new orleans many times without you, this feels different. i'm not volunteering. i'm not here for a quick weekend visit. i'm spending an entire week here, the longest we've been apart in a year. a really good year in portland.
more than one person said something to me about whether or not visiting new orleans would leave me questioning our decision to move to portland because new orleans always seemed my perfect place. last night phil told emily that i was part new orleanian. these things are true, yes, but ultimately, home is where you are.
happy valentine's day, shampton. i miss you and can't wait to come HOME.
xo
this afternoon i was walking back from the bus, enjoying the brief relief from the humidity that an afternoon downpour can bring. i was about two blocks from teena & phil's when i heard a horse whinny. i reached the corner of the hedge i was walking beside and to my surprise there were 4 horses chowing down around the corner, just chilling out before tonight's parades.
like the violinist busking while wearing a werewolf mask and howling his thanks for tips yesterday, you just never know what you're going to see at any moment in new orleans.
and the horses owner called me "baby". of course.
wish you were here.
mardi gras.... the parades, the floats, the kids... the kids. yeah, you didn't think there were kids at mardi gras, did you? you thought it was all girls gone wild. far from it. mardi gras gets a bad rep. while things do get a little crazy on fat tuesday, it doesn't need to be like that. that's not the mardi gras most people in new orleans experience. mardi gras should be on everyone's life list. it is magical. really and truly.
you'd think that because i've done this a few times now i'd be able to describe it. magical is all i've got. words don't really get at the heart of it. and that heart beats to the rhythm of a marching band.
wish you were here!