What could possibly be scarier than this?
Aughhhh!!! My sister with giant fake facial hair! Nothing could be worse than that....
Yeaghhhh...dear God no!!!! It's my brother doing a freakish version of Amelie cracking creme brulee...uhgg...the humanity....
Happy Halloween.
It was actually nice and warm today. Sunny, no need for a coat. But, despite the fair weather, I began to get frost-panicky, and thought I should pick some herbs to dry. I try to wait till the last minute, remembering how lovely and warm November was last year, but I really wanted to have a lot of dried herbs this year, so I did a fair amount of pruning today. There's nothing worse than a sneaky frost creeping in over night, then waking up to black sludge where your charming herb patch used to be. Today I gathered parsley, basil, pineapple sage, rosemary, hot peppers and lemon grass. I'm not sure if you can actually dry lemon grass, or what in the world I'd do with it anyway, but it's worth a try. The general state of the little garden is pretty sad. Some brave tomatoes are hanging on for dear life, the bell peppers are finally wilting and the eggplant and squash were dead long ago (don't get me started on the squash.) The small patch of greens and bok choy looks happy, makes me wish I'd planted more.
A few zinnias are hanging on, barely. I've been too busy lazy to weed the "cutting garden" area, and it is totally overgrown with weeds. Thanks to the droppings of a nearby bird feeder, wild sunflowers and millet are all over. I think I may put up a sign to deem it a Wildlife Preserve. I'm not the only one who abandons their gardens in the fall. I see the sad, overgrown messes all over town. Spent and neglected, their beauty enjoyed in the summer, then left to decay. But then, that's the life of an annual. Sprout, grow, bloom/fruit then die. Yet, the seeds, the babies, their life's work, are left behind. Just waiting
Enough of that, I have a ghost costume to make.
This is the French Bakery and Deli(!) that sits a mere block or two from our house. It's been around since the Revolutionary War, I think. It's very old-school...old-WORLD, even. And it's overflowing with *ambiance*. The men behind the sandwich counter scrutinize your every order, "Chicken salad? No no, you must try the pastrami...it's the best, you know. Medium? You sure that enough? Better get large, you need to eat more..." The older woman at the register has a powdered face, penciled eyebrows and is fond of red lipstick. She adds your order slowly, handing over orange donut samples and reminding you, "Fresh fig preserves for sale...rose jelly too, you try?" The pastry case speaks for itself.
A large tilting stack of old Reader's Digests rest on the front table, in case you may require some light reading. The espresso is perfect. So.......here is the problem. Why do we NEVER go there?! We have lived around the corner for over 5 years! It should be my favorite place ever! I used to dream about sending Max on bicycle (in a striped shirt and beret) to bring home fresh bread. I can't really figure out why this place never jived with us. For one, it's VERY expensive. A medium sandwich, two drinks and chips is like $42.50 or something. Everything is very good, but not like WOW. The owners, although quirky, can be pushy and sometimes even curt. And if you're not in the mood for that sort of"charm", it can be annoying. The famous orange donuts are interesting, but so greasy they make a krispy kreme look like a rice cake. I just WANT this place to be so much more than it is. Just like I wanted Marie Antoinette to be my new-favorite movie, and it ...just...wasn't. I am trying to stop scrutinizing and picking away at things, "If only that chair was painted white....If I could just move that wall back three feet ......why can't the stripes be further apart?....." I want to accept, no, love things for just how they are. And if it doesn't fit the bill, "..that shelf would be great if I sanded, painted and distressed it...." then maybe I don't NEED it. Maybe I just don't need to go to the French Bakery, and not worry about not going. Maybe it actually is perfect.........just for someone else.
Thank-you, Kat, for my gorgeous necklace. It really suits me, I dare say. I don't think I've taken it off since it came in the mail. (I meant for this picture to show off the necklace, but it's sort of just a cleavage-shot, eh? Oops.)
Ohh! LOVED my goodie basket from Carolyn. Chocolate wine!? Never heard of such a thing. It's from Cooper Vineyards over in Louisa, VA. I can't wait to try it. Thanks sweetie (and stop stressing over your test...you'll be fine. I swear. I'm psychic you know.)
Such great stuff from my mom and dad. Mom, the knives are amazing. Dad, the book is HILARIOUS. ( I Like You by Amy Sedaris.) Thanks, y'all.
Thanks to Gigi and Titi for keeping my hair looking fabulous, and thanks to Nanny and Papa for the lovely books and photo album (Mike especially loved the pictures.)
Such a happy birthday I had! Thank-you!
There's nothing like a drippy, aching, head cold on your birthday. But, it was a memorable day in the end. I was a chaperon on Max (my son's) field trip to the pumpkin patch. Despite my cold, I was so jazzed about this because a) I love pumpkin patches and b) Max's friends are just so darn cute. I was expecting to load up the car with about four little people, booster seats and all, but we only had to take one extra kid. Brian. This kid is absolutely adorable. We love Brian. We went to his fourth birthday party a few weeks ago, and had a charming time.....however.....his dad looks EXACTLY like Edward Norton. He even sounds like him, it's very distracting. I think it could possibly BE him, but I don't want to blow his cover or anything. Seriously, he could be his twin. It's so uncanny that I find myself starring at him, which isn't good. I haven't mentioned it to him because I figure he gets it all the time and would be like, "Yeah, never heard that one before...". I must try to keep my public gawking at bay or I'll scare away ALL of Max's potential friends. Anyway, the field trip was a hoot.
It was cold and windy and I refuse to COOK on MY birthday (oops, except for the cupcakes above) so I decided I wanted Vietnamese noodle soup for my birthday dinner.
An odd choice, but very satisfying. Even Max enjoyed it. But I figure he was eating with such gusto because of our promise of a special dessert.
Krispy Kreme, enough said.
Then a quick trip to the book store, and the party was over. Happy birthday to me.
I have been hemming and hawing over starting a blog for weeks (months?) now. Yesterday was my birthday, and it just seemed like the sort of present I wanted to give myself. I want the time and the place to write about my little life. Well, here goes nothing. In an attempt to avoid an awkward, first, spankin-new blog entry (a bit late for that perhaps..) I think I'll just jump on in, feet first, with little to no preparation...as usual.
