What's On My Nightstand

• Howl's Moving Castle. This is one of the first films I saw when I first moved to Baltimore, thanks to a glowing recommendation from my cousin, and I've been looking for my own copy ever since. So when my friend Sarah showed up on my doorstep with it as an early birthday gift, I STARTED SCREAMING! Best!! This story has my heart; everything from the plot to the character flaws to the visuals and voices are golden. I've had this on in the background as I pack my bags tonight and I've been swooning over the score like mad!
• Kate Spade Gold Doodles Pen Necklace. I've been a sucker for Joan's style on Mad Man since the moment she graced the screen. So naturally, I couldn't resist splurging on a gold pen necklace like hers a while back. This is one of my few staples and I've been giving it some unabashed favoritism this week.
• Tazo Organic Apple Red Tea. I don't know why this stuff is so hard to find up north, but my mom is constantly bringing boxes of this to me whenever she visits me up here. The pesky cold weather is hanging on for dear life, so I'm still indulging in a cup every night. This taste will never get old! It makes me think of home...
• Salted & Roasted Peanuts With Shells. There's just something the process of snapping the peanuts out of the shells that makes me enjoy them so much more! Oh man... makes me want to go to a Braves game! *tomahawk chop*

And the lullaby this week? "Shoot the Moon." I can't tell you why, but I've been on the biggest old school Norah Jones kick recently. The whole Come Away With Me album is so comforting, I just want to melt under my covers and... zzzzz...

Sweet dreams, moonbeams!

Le sauvetage de Paulette

As I think I mentioned earlier, this weekend I'll be flying home for my friend Danielle's wedding. I couldn't be more excited for her! She's been there for me in good times (Hanson concerts) and bad (rubber bands on braces) and is always up for a laugh whether it's huddled over the stove making crêpes in our chef-ly PJs in the middle of the night or chasing down Draco Malfoy look-a-likes at midnight Harry Potter book releases. She also happens to be my only known collaborator to date on a finished work of fiction, so I thought it might be fun to share it with you before the big day. 

I am referring, of course, to our 11th grade masterpiece for French Three, Le sauvetage de Paulette. "Saving Paulette" was our answer to the assignment to write a children's story in French. As weekly verb conjugation quizzes would attest, this was one of the few things we could really brag about in that class. We made everyone else look bad mwahaha refused to let the teacher keep and I'm so glad we did! While it's peppered with grammatical mistakes, I've always loved this story. It warms my heart so much; not just because of the story itself, but because of who I wrote it with. Danielle and I penned the nautical adventures of a brave fish named Pascal and his quest to free his little sister from the gum ball machine she accidentally swam into. 'Twas a perilous journey...

Oui! Arg!

But things turned out all right in the end... Probably due to Danielle's magnificent coloring skills!

Maybe I'm biased, but I really love Thierry the turtle's spectacles! 

One day, I would love to both write and illustrate my stories. One day, I would really like to have a getaway with Danielle to tweak this a bit for publishing. With a little McFlurry magic, surely that A+ will translate in the real world, non?

just one of those things

My memory is about as existent as my betrothal to Robin Hood. It's nothing personal, but if you remind me of conversations or events dated a week or older, chances are that I'll have no idea what you're talking about. It's why I'm so good with names and your double-cupped half-caf venti 6 pump sugar free hazelnut soy latte extra hot with no foam. 

But there's one thing I do remember and remember well and it's something my mom told me not so very long ago. Not so very long ago, I was living at home, recuperating after a year gone wrong in France. Far from the shadow of the bomb shelter and a foreign roommate who yelled at me for not drinking expired milk, I had thought that I couldn't sink any lower than where I'd been. That things could only go uphill from there. And I was wrong. My post-college character building exercises weren't quite finished as I spent some hellish months job hunting with the same kind of success I have in performing, say, a triple axel. If you need it spelled out for you: I'm from Georgia, y'all. What the h-e-double-hockey-sticks is an ice skating rink? It was a disaster. More to the point, I was a disaster. Over time, 'Why can't I land a job?' morphed into 'Why can't I open this jar of olives?' which devolved into, 'Why am I such a failure?' I was embarrassed and discouraged, beaten into a rock bottom I didn't know existed outside of the bomb shelter. And being terrified of what people would say about me with my fancy useless college degree and terrible luck, I was very good at tuning people out.

Then one day I was in the car with my mom. I, surprise, don't remember where we were or what we were doing. But she must have gauged how heartsick I was, because suddenly she was telling me to look at the rearview mirror. "Do you know why it's so small compared to the windshield?" she asked. I probably said nothing. "It's God's way of showing us to focus on the future." That got my attention. I'd spent so much time agonizing over the decisions in my past that had gotten me to where I was that I couldn't see what was right before me. That I was young and healthy with a bright future ahead, that God had good plans for me, that I had a more supportive family than a girl could hope for, that time hadn't run out to reach for the moon. 

A lot has changed since then. Good changes did come. But I still find myself thinking about what she said to me back then all the time. All. the. time. Because it's useful to look back sometimes, yes, but your life depends on looking ahead. 

So Happy Mother's Day, Mommy Moo! For all your pep talks and chicken and hot peppers, thank you. ILUSMM!

What's On My Nightstand

• The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall. I picked up this middle grade novel on my last library run after hearing nothing but complimentary things about it. This tale about four sisters on their summer vacation certainly has its charm. Their camaraderie and bickering takes me back to trips crammed in the back seat with my two sisters like it was yesterday; each relationship is vivid and unique to the next. I particularly love the youngest, Batty, who goes everywhere in butterfly wings. I'm determined to like this novel, but it's a bit more slow-going than I'd prefer having just hit the halfway point.
• B'more Bill's Dills Fire Garlic Pickles. Halle-frick-frackin'-lujah farmer's market has returned and with it the pickle man and the best sear-your-tongue-off pickles in town! Stand back, because my mouth's basically a flame thrower!  I'm obsessed with these. Obsessed. I swear I go through a pint a week, crying as I try to eat them in quick and very unwise succession. When I was a kid, I used to ask for pickles for dessert. Now that I'm older, there is no ask; just do!
• Come To Bed Red Butter Nail Polish. Moonlighting as a barista, I'm not allowed to wear nail polish... but they didn't say anything about my toes! I've been lusting after Butter nail polish for what feels like an era and my sister Katy just treated me to this bottle in anticipation of The Great Gatsby (Gatsbyyyyy!!!!). Ah! She knows me so well. This gorgeous shade of red has ousted all the others for the top spot, reigning over all my other reds. It's so quality, I feel like quite a flapper!
• Mayura Headband. Thanks to my handy birthday-month coupon from Anthropologie, I was finally able to splurge on this just in time for my friends' Gatsby party this weekend. I'm so delighted to have this in my collection of, you know, four other headbands! Honestly though, I think this is a piece I will treasure for a long, long time; the color goes with so much, it easily dresses up an outfit, and it's just fun. I can't wait to wear it to the premiere this Friday!
• Strawberry Lemonade Crystal Light Liquid. A few squirts of this stirred into a glass of water and you've got yourself a refreshing and calorie free treat for spring. Yum!

You may call my lullaby this week a cheesy cliché, but I don't care! Not a smidge. I've had "The Book of Love" by Peter Gabriel on repeat, clutching at my heart like I'm hearing it for the first time over and over. But I can explain! I'm in my dear friend Daneille's wedding next weekend and am going to another after that... Ahhh wedding season! I've got love on the brain. So naturally I'm thinking of the best proposal video in the whole wide universe and weeping freely over it just thinking about it! Ugh. This song plays at the end and... and... *sob*...*pats splotchy face dry*...*replay*...*sob*... etc. What's your lullaby this week?

Sweet dream, moonbeams!