Monday, May 31, 2010

A Mental Fast ...


So, it is Monday evening already and I have barely seen or talked with anyone since Friday.

I did not mean for it to happen that way but it has been wonderful.

A bit of a bug and a heck of a lot of homework has asked for me to stay home and the whole thing morphed into a blend of baths, naps, art, dancing, middle of the night movies and silly food (think coconut milk crepes). Oh, and a little bit of homework, too. 

I am almost ready for June.

Bring it on. 


Saturday, May 29, 2010

One Hundred Suns



So much rain outside, I made a few suns.





Friday, May 28, 2010

In Awe of Le Creuset







Twenty some years ago, I had the amazing luck of finding a set of bright orange Le Creuset pans at a garage sale.

I have loved these pans (did I mention the bright orange color?) for all these years and well... it was showing. 

My friends made jokes about them and occasionally offered to buy me new pans (no one offered to buy me new Le Creuset, I noticed)

But I loved them too much to replace them with some pale comparison.

Finally, a couple of months ago, I knew it was time. The bottoms were really chipping and I started to worry about stuff leaking into the food. 

As I got ready to throw them out, Chris suggested I wait for him to look into any sort of "re-enameling options."

Too happy to have an extension, I put them in the back of a cupboard. 

A couple of weeks passed and Chris said that all he had found was someone on a forum saying that ... Le Creuset had REPLACED her pans. Somehow he had filed it under the "too good to be true" category and had not bothered to mention it.

I love too good to be true. 

A couple of days - and phone calls - later we were lovingly shipping three of our babies off to the mother plant, somewhere on the East Coast, having been told that Le Creuset would examine them and either replace them or offer me a 75% discount on new ones.

Either way sounded pretty darn fabulous.

And almost too good to be true.

Well, I just got off the phone with this AMAZING company and was told that three brand new pans are on their way to me. 

Lifetime warranty, they call it.

I call it magic. I call it kindness. I call it ... WOW. 



Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Pink Hair Wisdom



I ask her: so, Virginia, when you used to be an actress, did you love every play you did? 


And she answers - in a sweet moment of lucidity: No, no, I didn't. But I loved something about each play. 



LOVED Talking about Change with Jenny Boylan.




Wow... that hour went by F.A.S.T.


For those of us who are afraid of our own truth, Jenny comes along and tells us her story.


Take a listen...




Monday, May 24, 2010

Erasing Fears



I love this idea


Saturday, May 22, 2010

It's not so bad...







For the last several years, Tanissa has been telling us how much she wants a tattoo.


Over the years - and through various hormone-induced teenage phases - the tattoo's topic could have varied. Greatly.


And so yesterday, 45 minutes after she turned 18 and as I held her hand while some (very talented) man forever altered the perfect little body she was born with, I reminded myself that really ... it was pretty sweet. 


As she gets ready to graduate and fly away to Brazil ... she takes with her the names of her two brothers, entwined with her own. 



Tuesday, May 18, 2010

I had a good chat with John Carter Cash... "The Son in Black"



John was warm and candid and we talked about his super famous parents, music, addiction, LOVE, life, kids, "the movie," his new book and ... triumph.


Take a listen, I think you'll like it!


Monday, May 17, 2010

New Discovery




A couple of weekends ago, I attended a Turkish cooking class. 

The instructor was mighty vivacious and as she whipped up the best tabouleh I have ever had, she introduced me to a new ingredient (I LOVE discovering new stuff to cook with): Pomegranate Molasses. The one I have is  produced by Cortas (which is the brand that makes the rose water I splash on my face at night) and I am betting has more use than just enhancing the heck out of tabouleh. 

So, I wanted to share this newly found little nugget of fun so that you too may play!

Enjoy!

(Here is a link that seems to know a bit more about this exotic find)






Oversight








Walking by Ron's raised (really raised) beds at the Farmer's Market, I am smitten.

I love the idea of gardening on the deck, right off the kitchen door.

I love the idea of gardening while looking at the Guemes Channel.

I love the idea of no weeds.

More importantly, I love the idea of less slugs and no deer munching away.

I remind myself of all this as I commit to this non-budgeted fun.
The slugs wont make it up there.
The deer wont make it up there.


$$
The slugs wont make it up there.
The deer wont make it up there
.

Ok.

A few hours later, Chris and Ron are loading the beautiful thing up on the deck.

Chris and I spend the rest of the afternoon planting it and I am in heaven.

Finally, all the dirt cleaned up and the plants nestled in their new homes and the seeds tucked under the soil, we sit down to contemplate our work.

And I am so happy thinking that
The slugs wont make it up here.
The deer wont make it up here.


Ahhh....

And then, just like that, Meethra-the-cat jumps up, steps in and admires the wonderful, BIG, new litter box we just got her. 





Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Our Biggest Folder







I get an email from a client whom I like a whole lot.


The last 6 months have been more than a little crazy for her and even though she is amazingly graceful in the midst of it all, she writes to me that "between working full-time, chemo, and just thinking about the past 6 months makes me tired, most days better than others.  I want to sell everything I have, quit my jobs, and go live in a beautiful place somewhere and just rest.  Those thoughts come to me more than any other thought these days."


Those thoughts come to me more than any other thought these days.


Her words hit a chord for me as I became aware, just a few days ago, of the existence of a "big folder," living in my mind. I noticed that in comparison with all the other thoughts that swim in and out of my mind, this folder is definitely the biggest.


It felt funny to think about that. To be aware of the very different thickness of this one folder. 


It invited ... something. 










Sunday, May 9, 2010

THAT explains it!






Chocolate Resolutions








I am driving home from Seattle, fully aware that after a few days of truffle gnocchi, sautéed wild mushrooms, hot beignets, coconut-curry chocolate chunks, BBQ pork, 3-cheese baguette, Indian dosa, baklava and more ... it is time to slow down and lose a few pounds. 


I can do it.


I am determined. 


Salads. Green smoothies. No sugar. A daily hike.


I can do it. Starting ... right now.


A little while later, I pick up my kids so that we may head home for an afternoon of Mother's Day sweetness.


Marco gets in the back of the car, carrying a huge chocolate cake he just made. For me.


He is beaming.


And so, without waiting to get home, I turn around and run my finger along the edge of his beautiful creation and get myself a mouthful of chocolatey gooey Mother's Day.





Friday, May 7, 2010

Rothko



At SAM yesterday after a surprise lunch at the Georgian, I am walking around when all of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye, it catches me.


A painting by Mark Rothko.


I gasp and feel myself pulled towards the tall canvas. 


I am fully aware of the cliché and yet, really, truly, I hear nothing around me for a while. 


Just the painting. Just the colors.


I walk to it and then I sit and then I move in the colors.


The transparency, the vibrations, the buzz ... the calm. 


The fulness and the emptiness. 



Wednesday, May 5, 2010

I need art.





I need art. 


If I am not gonna make it, I need to go look at it. I am starving... 


I want to see colors, I want to see things used in weird ways, I want to smell oil, I want to touch clay, I am so, so ready. 


So tomorrow, I am driving down to Seattle and I plan on ingesting as much art as I can; in museums, in studios, in galleries... I need a refill. 


And then, in not too long, maybe when school is out, I can set up my easel on the deck and paint again...


.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Tipping the Balance



I know when I have tipped the balance.


I wake up with a little bit of buzz.


I lose stuff.


My elbows feel funny (really).


I have to remind myself to breathe deeply.


My mind has a lot less empty space.


I feel the slightest sense of ongoing panic.


Yuk.


Time to get it back. Time to eliminate.