hearts + aches

We had a puppy for sixty hours. We'd been hunting shelters for months, looking for a little one who would grow up to be a big, sturdy, family dog. We wanted to teach him to swim and to catch. We wanted to rub his belly and to tell him how beautiful he is.

We didn't know he was sick when we picked him up or about a common but deadly virus that young immune systems aren't ready to handle. He was admitted to the hospital less than twenty-four hours after we met him. He passed away in the night two days later.

What's staggering is the way he filled our hearts so quickly, ballooning them with his helplessness, making us helpless ourselves. And then, how unexpectedly vulnerable we were, with these swollen hearts and our wispy prayers. How sudden and stunning the certain burst.

weekend vision: sunrise + granola

What are you doing this weekend? I feel like being really ambitious and waking up and going on a sunrise hike through the state park and bringing some homemade granola along for breakfast on the trail. This may not seem hugely ambitious to you, but it is, believe me, because I never (1) wake up that early unless I'm jet-lagged (2) to go do something that does not involve pajamas, (3) and I've never made granola, but I oft have thought that I should. Seriously, granola at the store is priced like a small sack of crunchy gold.

Photo 1 by Brittany + Photo 2 by Colie

string + tissue paper

I hosted a bridal shower for my sister over the weekend back home in California, and I think it went well. Sometimes, there are things that I think should go on my resume, like "Can help transform a suburban courtyard into a colorful party cabana," or "Knows the proper ratio of champagne to orange juice in mimosas," but they just don't make the cut. Perhaps if I add them on there, the job offers will start flooding in?

Shower menu: donut hole and fruit skewer bar with various glazes and sprinkles // tortellini caprese skewers // baked brie bites // rose lemonade // mimosa

old dressers + other treasures

 

First, say hello to the newest issue of Remedy Quarterly that just arrived in my mailbox this week! I have a short article in there, and it's probably the prettiest printing of something that my little words have been a part of. Usually, my writing gets the standard black-and-white-newspaper treatment, so this feels all dressed up and fancy.

Second, we're beginning the process of restoring an old dresser we bought from a local used furniture store. Things found in the dresser when I removed the drawers: (1) a Valentine's Day card to Mom and Dad, (2) two pairs of "queen-sized" women's stockings, (3) two samples of lace, (4) two church bulletins, (5) one email exchange printout from 2004 regarding the obituary of an ancestor in 1941, (6) a photo of a sixth-grade girl named Mary, who has the same name as the woman in the email exchange, (7) and one cubic zirconium diamond sealed up in tissue paper and stamped with the local jeweler's name.

This hidden trove is much more exciting than what you would find behind my drawers: bobby pins,  hair ties, garment price tags, and spare buttons that I'm supposed to keep where I can find them again. Perhaps I should start hiding things there with the intention of forgetting them, letting someone else discover them one unsuspecting afternoon.

Is anyone going find anything interesting behind your dresser drawers?

weekend vision: mint juleps + hats

What are you doing this weekend? The Kentucky Derby is happening not too far from here, so I think we should sip a mint julep while wearing our finest hats and plot how to find the $1000+ it would take for us to buy fancy pants tickets and mingle with some good old American gentry.

P.S. The Art of Manliness and tips for dressing for the Kentucky Derby

road trips + podcasts

One very important thing I learned whilst driving an hour down a two-lane highway through the hills to get to campus every other day is that podcasts are like time machines: you get in the car, you put on a podcast, and then suddenly you have arrived, and you're smarter than when you left.

Much is to be said of minding the road and its rules, of course, and of appreciating the landscape as it rolls by (I always enjoyed seeing the tractor graveyard, the little town of Gnaw Bone, and the mysterious, lone camel in the roadside barnyard), but podcasts helped me pass the time and made the drive less tedious. An hour I would've spent singing pop songs to myself on repeat became an occasion for learning something new.

If you have a road trip or a commute coming up, check out one of these podcasts:

1. The inimitable Ira Glass and This American Life: I find something I didn't know that I didn't know every time I listen. Favorites include any episode in which the economy is finally explained.

2. Isaiah Sheffer and Selected Shorts: Good, old-fashioned storytelling for live audiences in NYC's Symphony Space. Some of my favorite episodes feature Alec Baldwin reading a Colson Whitehead essay and Parker Posey reading a Haruki Murakami short story.

3. Rico Gagliano and Brendan Newnam of The Dinner Party: A talk show in dinner party format, complete with icebreakers, cocktails, guests of honor, and etiquette tips from unexpected places.

What's your favorite podcast? I always need another listening fix!

weekend vision: long walk + asparagus fries

What will you do this weekend? Some baked asparagus fries to celebrate the short-lived asparagus season and a long, aimless walk on a country road to clear my head of the past four years of graduate school (done!) sounds good to me.

Photo 1 + Photo 2