Morning Questions

This morning, I have some questions.

If I love peaches, and I know that nectarines are basically just peaches without fuzz, why do nectarines give me the heeby jeebies? (And why don't they give me the heeby jeebies if I slice them up?)

Why can't I make coffee? I am usually an okay cook, and I drink coffee all the time, so shouldn't it be easy to make?

Don't these chairs in Harvard Yard look cheery? They're so bright and un-Harvard-ish.

And lastly, who wants to go apple-picking in two weeks? I am dying to do New England things this fall. Afterwards, I am going to make apple pie AND apple crisp.

Red Sox!

Guess where my feet and I went last night?

Fenway Park, of course!

I hadn't been to a Red Sox game yet this year, so when Sara texted me on Sunday night to see if I wanted to go, I immediately said yes. We had lots of fun watching the team, drinking Sam Adams Oktoberfest, and eating pretzels. . .

{I'm unemployed and I'd already eaten, so I just had a bite of Emily's pretzel. It was pretty tasty.}

Then it started to rain! While the rain itself was sad, we did get to see the guys put out the cover-thingy. I love watching them do that. I like how they work together to get the field covered quickly.

The other thing I love about going to Red Sox games is how everybody at them really loves the Red Sox. I don't even like baseball that much, but the Red Sox are just awesome, and so Bostonish and being surrounded by people who feel the same way is so much fun.

Thanks for taking us, Sara!

Look what I found!

Sometimes I like to make lists of Things That I Want. These things run the gamut from little and easily obtained (the September issue of Vogue, clean laundry) to huge (a vacation home on a Greek island). It's an interesting exercise in articulating my worldly desires, but mostly it's just fun to dream about things I'd like to own.

Recently, after seeing lots of pretty pictures people had taken with Holgas, I added the camera to my list. While it tends towards the more affordable, I'm still trying to avoid unnecessary expenses, so I figured I'd ask for one for Christmas, or maybe buy one as a present for myself when (if) I get a job. Imagine my surprise when I was describing the latest Thing That I Wanted to my mom and she said "oh, we have one of those! Dewey used it in high school when she took photo!"

I am so excited to have temporary custody of such a quirky little camera! I'm going to a Red Sox game with Sara tonight, and I think I'll bring the Holga out for its maiden journey. I can't wait!

The Purple Balloon

Last Thursday, while babysitting one of my favorite children, I received a purple balloon from the manager of the best toy store around.

I hadn't had my own balloon in probably ten years, and it's amazing how much I love it. Just looking at it floating around my house made me happy, so of course I had to bring it outside for a photo shoot in the gorgeous September light.

Doesn't it just look so cheery there, floating in the tree?

Maybe this will help me sleep.

It's one-thirty in the morning and I can't sleep,

so here are some pictures I took my last week in California.

As it turns out, it's little things I miss.

{San Francisco has the best burritos.}

{Please pardon my chipped nail polish. It isn't chipped any more, I promise!}

{In San Francisco, they stamp the names of streets into the sidewalks}

{Lots of people hate MUNI. I'm not one of them. They returned my wallet once, plus, look at their cool logo!}

{Goodbye California!}

It should be noted that as much as I miss San Francisco (and boy oh boy, do I), I could not be more content in my decision to return to the East Coast. This side of the country is home, and it just feels so right to be here.

Also

I also made panzanella for lunch. It's really remarkable how far some stale bread, tomatoes, olive oil and basil can go to making you feel better.

It will work out. I know it.

I am feeling a little discouraged today. Sometimes I feel like I will never find a job, that I will mess up every opportunity that comes my way.

But, see, the thing is, I know that the only way to overcome all these icky feelings (I've said before that I love feelings, and I do, but right now I'd like some more of the happy ones, please) is to focus on the things that make me happy, the things that are going right. So I took a break from the job hunt and turned on the fountain in our backyard. When I sit in the hammock and listen to the fountain, I feel like everything will be okay. It will all work out.

I know it will.

Dear Old Dartmouth

Dartmouth just inaugurated a new president.

I kind of wish I had gone.

See, as much as I have mixed feelings about Dartmouth, I also kind of really love it. (I guess that's what the phrase "mixed feelings" means, huh?)

Dartmouth is, for better or for worse, a part of me now, and on big days in the college's history, I miss it. A lot.

Oh well, I'm going to homecoming in a few weeks. Anybody else?

Here's to Happiness

Inspired by the Here's to Happiness Project, I've made my own happy list. Here goes:

Ten things that make me Terribly Happy

1. Friends who know you so well they can guess exactly what you're going to say before you say it.

2. When Pandora guesses the song you needed to hear right when you needed to hear it.

3. Rituals and Traditions (especially my new favorite, Two Oceans in 12 Hours)

{Pacific Ocean, Ocean Beach, San Francisco, August 15th, 2009. two-thirty p.m. pst.}

{Atlantic Ocean, Revere Beach, Revere, MA August 16th, 2009 five-thirty a.m. est.}

4. Peach Pie at midnight.

5. Having two chapters left in a really good book.

6. Sitting in a cafe, drinking a latte, writing in my journal and watching the people go by.

7. Church on a Sunday morning.

8. Going to the farmer's market, talking to the farmer and finding the most delicious produce.

9. Fresh flowers on my windowsill.

10. Sleeping under tons of covers with the windows open all the way (really, there is nothing cozier).

What makes you terribly happy?

Bowl Haven

On Saturday night, Holly, Nat, Emily and I went bowling. We went to Bowl Haven, a candlepin bowling alley that has not changed even a tiny bit since it was created in 1939.

As it turns out, we're all pretty atrocious bowlers.

Nat was slightly better than Holly, Em and I, but that may have had something to do with the fact that we all had had the same amount of beer, and he is a boy.

That having been said, my hand-eye coordination is so bad, I feel like even a little alcohol couldn't make it any worse.

{I believe that if I tilt my body enough, the ball will go where I want it to. That is not true.}

Bowling is still my new favorite activity. I can't wait to go back to Bowl Haven soon. Next weekend, anyone?

I just did something I didn't want to do.

It was very scary.

But now I feel brave.

Lovely

Those of you who read my blog with a close eye (hello, Manoli!) Might notice that I just added a lovely little pink button to my sidebar. You should click on it. It links to The Lovely List, a truly lovely blog that features new bloggers each day, bloggers who inspire me as I try to make this little corner of the internet pretty and nice.

So, that is one reason why I linked to the Lovely List. To be perfectly honest, though, it's not the only reason, or even the main reason (although the button does add a certain charm to my sidebar, I think). The Lovely List gives away a bicycle each month to one person who links to them. I need a bike, and man o man, is that cruiser adorable or what? Well worth a post in and of itself!

Happy Weekend!

{Sinny and me on the Seward Street Slides, San Francisco, July 2009}

I'm laying low this weekend, reading, sleeping, and watching lots of Fringe. If I'm feeling extra adventurous, I might go bowling on Saturday night. On Sunday, I'm going to Wilson Farms to get a caramel apple. Nothing tastes more deliciously like fall than a Wilson's caramel apple with peanuts, and I didn't have a single one last year!

How about you? Any big exciting plans?

I like pie.

I made a pie on Monday night, to bring to Holly's house for dinner on Tuesday.

I had never made a pie all by myself before, but I before I could find out how it tasted, I needed to do some work in Boston. So I put the pie in our handy cake carrier, and we hopped on the T.

The pie and I got off at Copley, and walked into the BPL (have I mentioned recently how much I love the BPL? Because I do.) The pie waited patiently while I did my work. Maybe it appreciated the scenery.

After I was all done with my work, I went to Holly's absolutely adorable apartment, where we ate delicious swordfish (I never think to cook swordfish, and yet I always love it when I eat it) and asparagus, and then we had peach piefor dessert. It was delicious. I think I might become addicted to peach pie. This is especially problematic since peach season is almost over! I'm not sure what I'll do.

TV season

I just remembered that both Fringe and Bones start tomorrow.

I am So. Excited.

Maybe I watch a little too much t.v. Oh, well.

Penguin Pizza

Last Friday, I went to Penguin Pizza with Emily, Ben, and Emi. The other Ben was going to come, too, but he wussed out on us at the last minute. It's too bad, since I really wanted to be the only one in the party whose name was neither Ben nor Emily. (I guess it still happened, but it wasn't the same when there was only one Ben. I didn't feel quite that left out.)

I got to drink pear cider from a glass with a gnome on it. Isn't that just the cutest thing ever?

(Even though I didn't get my wish of being the only one not named Ben or Emily, I was still the luckiest member of our little group. Who else got to drink out of a glass that said La Chouffe and had a little gnome? No one.)

Then we found a Wizard of Oz board game. We just had to play.

{If only Emily had a brain. She got to be the Scarecrow.}

{In real life, Emily has a very good brain. It thinks up lots of good thoughts and also helps Emily bling out her cell phone.}

{Ben has no heart. He was the Tin Man.}

{In real life, Ben does have an excellent heart. He got me an excellent book for my birthday, and then he took it back and got another good one when I accidentally told Emi I'd already read it.}

{Don't take my picture! I was the Cowardly Lion.}

{In real life I am kind of cowardly. Also, I have lion hair.}

{Emi was Dorothy. She just wanted to go home.}

{I hope Emi doesn't really want to go home to Tennessee. I like having her here in Boston!}

Unfortunately, the Wizard of Oz Board Game was more fun in theory than in practice. We went to the grocery store instead, and we got some ice cream. It was fun.

{Ben found some Very Serious Recession ice cream. Did you know Rocky Road was invented during the great depression?}

{Emily balanced her ice cream with some frozen spinach. It was on sale!}

Thanks for coming out to play with me, friends!

Reading in the Public Garden

Yesterday I spent a couple of hours sitting on the grass in the Public Garden, reading the most delightful book. One of the nice things about all the free time that comes with unemployment (and being all done with college, for that matter), is that I now have the time to read again. I wrote about this a while back, and it's even more true now. I am reading everything I can get my hands on, enjoying diving into stories and getting completely immersed in new worlds, and, in some freakishly competitive way, racking up lists of Books I Have Read. (I'm not sure who I'm competing against, but after reading only a couple of non-school-related books a year since high school, it's wonderful to be back in the game).

Tell me, what is your most favorite book?

The Courtyard at the BPL

Today I was in the grumpiest of moods (unemployment tends to do that to me with alarming regularity), so I went to my favorite place in Boston, and maybe the whole world.

At times like these, I'm really grateful I ended up in Boston.

Last night, my dad took me out to dinner. We went out for Chinese Food (American-style), and I ate so much, I didn't even have room for ice cream. (This has never happened to me before in life).

That was okay, though, because at the end of the meal, I got the most perfect fortune cookie fortune.

Would such a fortune make you happy?

Tomatoes and Toast.

Why did it take me twenty-four years to figure out how delicious they are?

I started high school on 9.9.99

{Image borrowed from Commonwealth. I hope they don't mind!}

Ten years ago today, I started high school. I went to a funny high school, and I sometimes hated it. I hated the way all the teachers knew who I was, even if they'd never taught me (and they all knew that I shouted a lot, so they yelled at me a lot), and I hated the way all of my homework was hard all the time. I also hated the way you couldn't get away from someone, and how hard it was to make friends at first.

Even though I sometimes hated it, though, I'll always be glad I went there. It is rare in high school, I think, to have teacher who will meet with you individually every single week to talk about ideas or give you extra help. It is rare, I think, to be able to say that you learned as much in high school as you did in college. (For me, to be honest, maybe more. But that's 'cause I didn't try very hard in college.) The rarest thing of all, though, and the thing for which I am the most grateful, is the friends I made, once I finally did make friends. Many of my favorite people on the planet are people I met in high school, and I'm so lucky they're my friends. It's why I wanted to go to that funny school in the first place, and it's why I'm so glad I stayed.

Happy Commie-versary, Commies!

Lemon on my dresser.

Sometime last week, I brought a lemon up to my room so I could put its juice in my hair and make it blond-ish like it was when I was wee. I got distracted, though, and left it on my dresser. Every time I look at it, it makes me giggle.

I really do have the sense of humor of a five-year-old. Fruit on my dresser? Hilarious.

(Please ignore the mess. I am not a tidy person.)

Fancy Shoes

Some days, when I know I'm going to be at home all day, I like to give myself a pedicure and wear fancy shoes.

Dewey brought me these ones all the way from Spain, and sometimes I wear them with my twirly skirt and pretend to be a lady in Spain. I think that would be fun.

I started a quilt last spring, and now that I have plenty of free time (and my mother's sewing machine), I thought I'd resume working on it.

I don't really want to do that right now, though. I don't want to try to find a job, either. I just want to sit on the back porch with my coffee and my book, enjoying the early fall weather. It's so lovely outside.