Pre-Paris: The Flight

Earlier this year, our good friend said we could use his apartment in Paris.  A combination 40th birthday and nine year wedding anniversary-sort-of-trip.  We did almost no research, as our friend has lived there for more then eight years.  We trusted his expertise once we would arrive and because we read his blog, we knew there would be a plethora of things for him to show us around town.  We just had to tie-up loose ends at home, ship the kid off to Grandma's house and arrive on time to the airport.  Piece of cake.

We did get an early morning call on the day of our flight saying that Grady was really sick and upset that we were going on our big trip.  Really?  Yes, really.  We did a quick stop by Grandma's house to check on him on our way to the airport, an even quicker kiss on the forehead and a promise of gifts from abroad when we returned.  What exactly?  Books.  Yes, our sweet boy cannot stop reading these days and a book about a naughty little French boy, Nicholas, was just what he was requesting.  Done.  Fine.  Okay.  Bye-bye sweet little man.  I will find you Nicholas.  I promise.  (I know, I know - I better deliver!)

Everything went so smoothly.  Traffic, long-term parking, check-in and even security was a cinch.  Our flight to JFK was actually early.  We arrived just in time to grab a quick snack and a much needed dirty martini at the airport bar.  Ahhhhhhhhh.  

We boarded on time and plopped into our seats.  It was really hard to sleep on the plane, but I was so engrossed in my book, Still Alice, that I happily read and tried to get comfortable.  This was, by far, the longest part of our journey in terms of hours and the psyche.  We just wanted to get there and it seems like you never will.  

We landed at 11:30 a.m. Paris time and followed our friend's perfect directions.  There is a transportation labor strike going on right now and we were mildly concerned about how the trains would run and our ability to actually get to the heart of Paris.  It was a snap.  We didn't see anything to indicate a strike was happening, much less the riots in the street and burning of schools that was publicized in the U.S. the day before we left.  

We emerged from the underground train tunnel and had a magnificent view of Notre Dame.  We trudged along the Seine River with our multiple bags of luggage for a nine minute walk to our friend's apartment.  We were greeted with a Bon jour! from their third story window and we walked up the beautifully worn staircase to an amazing apartment in the heart of Paris.  Almost 24 hours to get here and absolutely worth every second of it.

Let the adventures and memory-making begin.

Jogathon Stylings

Well, it's that time of year again.  Fundraising for the school is in full swing with the annual Jogathon and G hit the pavement in earnest this year.  I felt it was important for him to personally ask people to sponsor him, give the reasons as to how and why the funds would be used and log it in on the sign-in sheet.  You know, really own what he was doing for his class/school.  I assisted by driving him around, but he had his clipboard & special pen at the ready and gave his speech to more than a dozen people.  He even made a few phone calls and received a donation via word-of-mouth from a friend's parents.

I went thrifting for his outfit because, of course, he needed running shorts.  Oh, and a muscle t-shirt.  He also was given a sparkly green hair band that he was convinced was a sweatband and used it as such to keep the sweat out of his eyes.  He slept in the above outfit (minus the headband) the night before the big day and added a sweet cuff that I had sewn him earlier in the year.  Ta-dah! The look is complete.  Priceless.

He completed 21 laps (that equaled 1/8 of a mile each) in 30 minutes.  He was beaming when he got home and promptly set about collecting from his benefactors.  Approximately $350 was raised by him for his classroom this school year for field trips, reading books, art supplies and other items as the need arises.

I'm thinking the community fundraising bug must run in our family.  It feels so good to make a difference and I'm so glad that he took full responsibility for this one.  It's nice to see the lessons we try to impart on him finally sinking in and taking shape.  Community, involvement, support, giving, caring, receiving.  It's so very gratifying to watch and be part of his growth as a young man.  Come to think of it, this mama is beaming too.

Virgin Harvest: Update #7

Well, as a Virgin Harvester, I did okay this growing season.  We ate a few artichokes and I let the last few flower so that I could enjoy them in their full glory.  I'm not quite satisfied with how my home-grown chokes taste.  Not too meaty or filling.  This year there were hundreds of black ants all over and inside of them.  I cut the stalks and soaked them head-side-down in a bucket of water for a full day and there were still lots of ants present on their leaves.  I decided to leave them on the front deck in a vase of water and got to admire them for weeks as I would enter and leave the house.  I think the color is magnificent and such a surprise when they unfold and greet you like this, in their final stages of life.  I hope this is what happens to me when I get old.  I blossom in a surprising and captivating way.  Yes, that's my hope indeed.

I plucked all of the cherry tomatoes off of the vines today and think the colors are gorgeous.  I have plans to make a green tomato relish and over roasting the rest to freeze and use in the coming months.  I did plant my tomato plants too close together this year.  Note to self:  plant with plenty of room to grow and stretch next year!  Also, the 50 days of Summer gray did not help their growing plans.  They rallied in the last few weeks, but as the first frost approached I knew they needed to be yanked out of the ground and put to rest.  Again, kind of how I feel at the end of a season.  This gardening thing is definitely a metaphor for life.  Pay attention.  Plan.  Plant.  Nourish.  Trim off the unwanted.  Harvest.  Nourish others.  Contentment.  Rest.

Sunflowers.  Oh, how I love seeing you rise up and greet me on my drive up the road.  We planted many seeds (far too late), but a few of you sprang up at the end of September and are such a treat.  I have grand plans for next year and hope to have hundreds of sunflowers along my fence line and a patch in my yard.  So hearty and happy.  Perhaps, I would rather be like a sunflower in my later years and die a long slow, beautiful death (and not have the birds eat me would be best).

I enjoyed the Virgin Harvest challenge and hope to put some of the things I learned to use next year in the garden.  Grow.  Always growing.  Just like life.

Why I Wake Early

Hello, sun in my face.

Hello, you who make the morning

and spread it over the fields

and into the faces of the tulips

and the nodding morning glories,

and into the windows of, even, the 

miserable and the crotchety--

best preacher that ever was,

dear star, that just happens

to be where you are in the universe

to keep us from ever-darkness,

to ease us with warm touching,

to hold us in the great hands of light--

Watch, now, how I start the day

in happiness, in kindness.

--Mary Oliver's

"Why I Wake Early"

Apples & Applesauce

Grady and Steve harvested apples of unknown varieties from our trees.  We sure did get a little haul this year.  We haven't had apples on the trees for almost three years, so we were happily surprised at the harvest.

This is a view of our house from the patch of Queen Anne's Lace growing in our field.

My sweet neighbor loaned me this contraption and showed me how to make applesauce.  I made five batches and that was about enough for me.  I infused one batch with red wine and it tasted fine, but didn't have the rich red color I was hoping for.  I think I will try and make it again next year with the Pink Pearl apples, as they have pink flesh and should cook up nicely.

Grady was really stoked that we were making applesauce.  He LOVES apples and now he would have a stash of applesauce for the coming months in his lunch bag.

I loved seeing him out in the yard with his dad.  Power washing fruit harvesting boxes and hauling apples up from our ever-so-small orchard, if you will.

His front tooth is loose, but that didn't stop him from attempting to bite into this one gorgeous apple.  The chickens are enjoying all of the apple scraps and there have been piles of the peels and cores this week.

Coastal Cleanup Day 2010

::  Whale watching on Bodega Head (and praying for same!)

::  Here whaley, whaley...

::  Our friend organizes a team of volunteers to clean up a local beach.  This year it was Schoolhouse Beach in Bodega Bay.

::  No better way to spend a Saturday!

 ::  Steve acting as the human scale & helping "weigh" the trash & debris from our clean-up (14 lbs collected this year)

::  Ending the day at a friend's house dining al fresco under the stars for an eight-course meal.  All of which was cooked in a wood-fired oven as we oohed and awed after every course.

The Big Four-Oh!

I woke up at 4:30 a.m. to go to Boot Camp this morning.  Yes, I know, crazy.  When I signed up I knew my birthday would happen during the four week torture session, but I signed up anyway.  I love to challenge myself and definitely need inspiration and parameters to keep me in check.  That being said, I felt great after my birthday workout and drove home high as a kite.  I found this beautiful ornamental plum tree waiting for me on the deck, along with a handmade card from the husband and boy.  It was such a perfect present and made me realize how much my husband really got me.  A tree.  For our yard.  Planted by my two favorite men.  Yes, happy birthday to me.

I was a little apprehensive about celebrating my big day.  I usually love a party, but finally settled on a trip to Paris with my husband as a way to celebrate my big birthday and our ninth wedding anniversary.  Our friend gave us his apartment in Paris for the week and I used all of our frequent flyer miles to book the trip of a lifetime.

Before all of that could happen, I did have to celebrate my four decades on earth.  I told Steve all I wanted was a cake baked by my guys.  He delivered and then some.  A beautiful two layer, homemade, chocolate cake with coffee cream filling and chocolate ganache frosting.  There were so many candles that Grady thought the fire department might be called.  Fortunately, I'm full of a lot of hot air and managed just fine.  Dinner with family and not having to do the dishes were all I could hope for.

But my friends had other plans...

A surprise party, a slumber party, a book club discussion followed by cake and dancing party...whew.

The Parisian cake just might be my new favorite.  To. Die. For.

I received seven cakes in the four days surrounding my birthday.  That's a new record.

I feel so ready to close out my thirties and look forward to this upcoming decade.  I am ready to embrace whatever life has to offer and I can't wait to see how I grow, what my kid discovers in the next 10 years and where this life takes me and my husband.

Forty is the new thirty, right?  Inspired by my blogging friend, here are 40 things I'm loving right now:

1.  My funky home in the country.
2.  My husband and son.
3.  My newfound confidence in making sauce AND meatballs - thanks to Molly Wizenberg.
4.  Singing California Girls a-la-Beach Boys on the way to school in the morning with Grady.
5.  Growing something, anything from seed.
6.  Rose Wednesdays.
7.  Silver spray paint AND glitter.
8.  A stiff martini at the Valley Ford Hotel.
9.  Hearing my son ask for Tilapia for dinner.
10. Basking in the recent visit from my BFF, Kacy.
11. Stealing away an afternoon to watch 30 Rock on Netflix.
12. Thrifting.
13. The entryway tableau.
14. Plucking apples from our trees.
15. Having a dog snore in my living room.
16. This American Life on NPR.
17. Mary Oliver.
18. The mobile library.
19. Reading each night before I go to bed.
20. Foraging for blackberries.
21. Quick jaunts to the beach.
22. Swapping childcare with other moms, instead of hiring a babysitter.
23. Listening to my son read.
24. Rearranging furniture.
25. Making coffee before the family gets up.
26. Grady's clothing stylings.
27. Seeing 47 dogs line up in my living room, along with feeding bowls & dog tags for each.
28. Setting a table.
29. Cooking for dear friends.
30. Watching the garden die out for the season.
31. Living in a small town.
32. Unearthing my silver slicker boots.
33. Wearing my sexy black heels that tie up on the ankle.
34. Drinking a bottle of Fogdog pinot noir on the deck at Gourmet au Bay on a Friday night.
35. My community.
36. Flip flops.
37. Doing laundry.
38. Watching my little man in the workshop with his dad.
39. Straus Maple Yogurt w/ homemade granola.
40. Myself.

Happy Birthday to me.

BFF Birthday Visit

Sometimes you just need a visit from your very best friend.  You don't realize how much you need it until you are together again.  Catching up.  Reminiscing.  Crying.  Sharing.  Being silly.  All of that.

You eat lunch without kids interrupting you.  You sit for hours and laugh.  You tell old stories again and again - reminding each other of all the fun you have had over the years.  You want to share her with your new favorite friends and hope they love her just as much.  Of course, they do.

Your face eventually hurts from smiling.  You share good wine and food.  You plan the next time you will see each other and put it on the calendar.  You are filled up again.  You are energized.  You are loved in a way that is so very different than the love you receive from your spouse, your child or your blood-relations.

Thank you best friend for making the time to visit me at the end of my 39th year.  You are the best.  I even know what you're thinking now...that's what she said!  Until next time...

Virgin Harvest: Update #6

Foraging has been quite a sport around our house this month.  G completed a hunter-gatherer camp this summer and we have been practicing around our yard, roadside and friends' homes and farms.

We helped Anna from Hand's Full Farm pick 37 pounds of blackberries and then quickly turned it into jam with the help and guidance of my wonderful 80-year old neighbor, Beula.  So much summer goodness in little half pint jars and the color is absolutely gorgeous.

We harvested a few artichokes and steamed for dinner.  Note to self: rinse these really well next time, as dead ants aren't the cutest things to eat when you get down to the heart of the artichoke.

The pink Naked Ladies have bloomed early this year, perhaps because of all the rain we had earlier in the year.  They are such ugly above-ground bulbs, but quickly rise up and bloom into these leafless, fragrant pink blossoms.

Queen Anne's Lace is everywhere and I don't think there is a lovelier weed in all of West Sonoma County.  Valley Ford-Freestone Road is loaded on both sides with this tall, elegant weed.

I am reading this wonderful little book called Settled in the Wild by Susan Hand Shetterly and it inspired me to pick fern fronds and place single stems around the house.  Simple and natural.  They have perfect patterns on the back of their fronds and we have placed paper over them and lightly rubbed crayons over their texture.  Lovely little bits of paper.

I didn't plant any of the items that I'm listing here, as they are mostly volunteers or previously planted by someone else.  However, summer is definitely the time to hunt and gather - whether it's beauty, food or inspiration.

What are you hunting and gathering?

Virgin Harvest: Update #5

Wild blackberries and nasturtiums are growing like crazy around here.  I have been a blackberry picking fool and my sore fingers are evidence of my overzealous pursuit of the fruit.  I'm trying to freeze enough so that I can take a jam-making class with my 80-year old neighbor.  I've been eating my fair share, so we'll see how much ends up in the jars.

This is the first zinnia to bloom.  I started these from seed the first week of April and it took this long to bloom!  Four whole months.  I've lost my fair share to insects and learned a few things along the way.  Next year, I think I'll leave inside another month or so in my garden window to insure that they are strong enough to be transplanted.  I think they are beautiful and wished I had a few dozen more to use for cutting.

This gorgeous specimen is the Naked Lady.  The bulb is so danged ugly and sits above ground.  For most of the year I hate looking at it, but on August 1st it opened up and said hello.  Native and totally self-sufficient.  I can't take credit for them, but do so enjoy seeing them and who doesn't love their name?

Summer surprises.  Since I've been doing this Virgin Garden thing, I've definitely paid more attention to my surroundings.  I've noticed more and felt really awesome for growing something from a tiny seed.

Life is amazing.

Alameda Flea Market :: August

The first Sunday of the month is the Alameda Flea Market.  The key is to get to this flea market early, so a six a.m. wake up call was in order.  Ouch.  I went with my good friend and neighbor and set out on an all day adventure of shopping, talking, eating and driving!  We lasted almost five hours at the market and found plenty of treasures to bring home.

The thing is, you find really bizarre stuff laying around the flea market.  The random things people sell are really great to photograph.  Last time I focused on religious statues, but this time dismembered baby dolls spoke to me.  Take a look... 

::  Crazy eyeless doll heads

::  Armless, as well as naked, ceramic dolls

:: Dental moldings?

:: Jill w/ Dancer & Prancer

I went with the intention of buying vintage letterpress letters and found some of the alphabet I needed.  

I also grabbed this really cool bullseye stamp and set about stamping butcher paper to make my own handmade wrapping paper.  This was really fun.  I taped the butcher paper to Steve's wall and used painter's tape to secure it and then went to town.  Using a roller and printing ink, I stamped the bullseye insignia all over the place.  I think the small rolls of paper will make great gifts, as well as using them for wrapping individual presents.  I am a big fan of plain butcher paper and a sumptuous ribbon, so the stamp will just liven the whole  presentation up a bit.

Here is my attempt at stationary with G's initial.  I used chartreuse card stock from Papersource and various color combinations.  I also stamped kraft hang tags and paint samples.  I love, love, love using paint samples as gift tags or to type a simple note on.  They are beautiful and let us not forget - absolutely FREE.  

After the Flea Market, we hit the Renegade Craft Fair at Ft. Mason in San Francisco.  There was so much to see and we felt a little visually overstimulated after walking the aisles.  I bought a few things and gathered business cards, but was ready to hit the road and find a gigantic, cold martini at Cavallo Point.

Upon leaving, I spied this t-shirt and thought my husband would like it.  Mr. Waits lives in our town, so my husband wouldn't want to be caught wearing said shirt because that would not be cool.  I just loved the tongue-in-cheek graphic and the question we all want to know:  What Would Tom Waits Do?