Mission Accomplished

I feel it is only fair to give a final photo update of the China Cabinet I have written about so excessively.

My dining room has been transformed by her beauty, and all of our incredible wedding gifts can finally be displayed! I still smile every time I look at her.

Here's a straight on view for you...I didn't want to leave you wanting more. Not after so many months of waiting.

However, there is no rest for the weary, the next mission: A new couch.

Summer Lovin'

As the calendar hovers on the brink of August to September and the inevitable end of summer (sob!) I feel it fitting to recap some of my favorite aspects of the season.

First off, Jürgen and I have been enjoying nature's bounty and have been cooking up a storm. As I have mentioned in a previous post we are members of a CSA and every week receive a box of local produce. Our favorite find so far: Garlic Scapes. They may appear to be a tangled light green bundle, but when you cut them up, splash on a little olive oil, throw in a pinch of salt and roast them at 400˚ for 30-45 mins what you end up with is a delightfully crispy, mildly garlicky green bean type veggie. Their season has already waned, but we will anxiously await them next year.

In addition to cookin' we have also been growin'...herbs that is. After years of letting three planters (left behind by the past owners) sit unoccupied we finally decided to till our own soil and have an urban garden of our own.

We planted basil, dill, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme (thank you Simon and Garfunkle), and I am pleased to report that all plants are thriving, with the exception of the dill which met it's fateful end one night during a fierce rainstorm. It is truly an exciting event when you can make pesto with the basil from your own garden.  Or grill some feta cheese with sprigs of fresh thyme that you have nurtured with your very hands.

What's that you say, grilled feta? Yes, you heard me correctly...it's incredible.  Trust.

We have had the pleasure of seeing two couples get married.

                                                                  Kevin and Heather

                                                                           Katie and Hunter.

(I just realized that both of these couples were K+H...how cool!)

I have currently become obsessed with the recently wrapped television series Friday Night Lights.  If you haven't already watched it do yourself a favor and start, it's brilliant.

Finally, we have two trips coming up. First we will be travelling to Louisville this weekend to visit my family and meet it two newest members.

Could you not just die? I cannot wait to squeeze their little mushy faces. I love my cats, but there is nothing like a fuzzy kitten.

Then in one week we will be travelling to the land where I belong: California Wine Country. I have never been so excited for a trip in my life. There will likely be many blog posts about it so stay tuned.

I hope you all have had an incredible summer. It goes by far too quickly.

Cabinet Update

A brief update from Closing Notice Headquarters:

The cabinet I have been feverishly saving up for has been ordered! It could be here as early as one month or as long as three, but I am not concerned with the date. Just knowing that it's on it's way is gift enough!

Let's look at her one more time shall we? Isn't she wonderful....

Beginner

I came across a link to this post a month and a half ago on Twitter- a social media phenom I still haven't fully embraced but tease from time to time. This quote really struck me:


"Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through."

-Ira glass 

I think I have written about this in the past, but I feel this quote really sums up one of my greatest flaws (and I have so few...) which is I hate being bad at things. And because I hate being bad at things I never let myself get through the "sucking" phase to get to the "succeeding" phase. I told myself when I was in high school that I had waited too long to take dance lessons so I certainly could never be a dancer. I picked up a guitar freshman year of college and by the end of the summer it was basically a doorstop because I didn't want to push myself to master "Home on the Range." I would love to learn another language but I literally have said, on many occasions, "I'm too old to do that now".

I'm 28. That's pretty young. Sure I think I am old enough to know better but why do I think that a cap has been put on my ability to accomplish anything?  I never would have been a prima ballerina but I certainly could have become someone who could hold their own in a dance audition. I could have persisted, practiced and learned to rock some Bob Dylan on my guitar. I could still learn French. Or how to play the guitar. I could even speak French while playing the guitar if I really put my mind to it. 

Being a beginner. I am not so good at it. 

This isn't going to be a proclamation post where I declare today is the day when I resolve to become a new person and enroll in french lessons. I have written posts like that before and they have come back to get me. No, instead I am merely going to sit with this notion of beginnings for just a little bit.  And maybe that's the whole idea. Sitting with the idea of being a beginner. Knowing that you have a long road ahead but that you don't have to rush to figure out the directions right away. 

Hi

Well I finished my forty days...and fell a little short. Sometimes wine took precedence over the blog, but it was a good challenge and I am glad that I did it. However I am glad to not feel "pressured" to write every day anymore!

How can it possibly be May? The year is almost half over, in the blink of an eye. Life moves pretty quickly.

And it's slowly starting to turn into spring. Note the word slowly.

More to come soon, just didn't want ya'll to think I abandoned you again.

Have a lovely day.

24 Hours with The Jürg

Since Jürg and I have lived apart we have done a mighty fine job of seeing each other at least once a month. Not ideal, but given the circumstances certainly a good goal to have.

I was supposed to fly out to the City of Brotherly Love right after I gave my don't go into the arts dream big and do whatever you want speech, but last week Jürg got called into an important audition here in Chicago. So, as is typical whenever you make a plan, everything had to be rescheduled. We cancelled my flight and transfered the credit (God bless you Southwest Airlines) so he could fly here for a mere twenty four hours.  Again not ideal, but we adapt.

The trip was oh so quick but we did our best to make the most of it. We went out for cocktails at a new lounge in the neighborhood, played Yahtzee, drank wine and talked about summer goals. His audition went incredibly well so we are keeping our fingers crossed and just gearing up for the home stretch of this almost one year separation. It's always the final furlong that's the hardest, but hopefully time will continue to fly and June will be bustin' out before we know it.

Until then....I hope Spring decides to return. Any...day...now.

Something I Covet

Years ago when Jürgen and I first started dating we spent a summers afternoon enjoying the always reliable Art Institute of Chicago. An exhibit which caught my eye and has stayed with me was On the Beach by Richard Misrach. A series of aerial photographs of oceans and beaches around the world. Ever since then I have been dying to get my hands on one of his prints.

Isn't that stunning? It looks like a painting it's so gorgeous.

This one is great too...with the subjects feet peeking above the water.

I would die to have a print like this hanging above my bed. Something about the calm blue water feels fitting for bedside art.  I feel relaxed just looking at these images.

Sadly, it seems as though you cannot order prints from this collection. I have searched, but to no avail. I have also tried to find comprable looking images on sites such as art.com, but nothing seems to move me like these photos.

Boo