Intentional Living, Beautiful Moments, & The Art of Being Present
"God made a world of extraordinary beauty, and sometimes the most productive, most important thing we can do is slow ourselves down enough to see it, hear it, smell it, taste it, enter into it." -Shauna Niequist
Have a lovely weekend, friends. I'll see ya next in Nashville!
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We interrupt your regularly scheduled focus-on-all-things-lovely reading to bring you...
THE MELTDOWN
So you know that scene in the movie The Holiday where Cameron Diaz and Jude Law are having lunch and he asks about her past and her family? And she almost panics and says something like,"I'll try to say it fast..." Remember that?
I'm taking a cue from Cameron.
Tuesday. Approx 6:15 pm. I threw together dinner and sat down with Josh as he filled me in on the happenings of his day. I tried to eat but Everyn wanted up, then down, then up, then down, then up, then down. The she signed she wanted to nurse. Then she bit me. Then Josh tried to take her. Epic fail.
The dogs were yapping and begging for food and dishes were everywhere despite my best efforts and I just wanted to ask my husband a question that was weighing heavily on me. Just, omg. Just one question. I needed his feedback.
Just as I was launching into it, he got up to clear the table breaking the all important eye contact, Ev threw her head back tantrum style because clearly no one had a clue what she wanted, and I snapped.
There was some yelling and baby screaming and he took Ev outside to calm her and I might have screamed into a pillow. (I do that now. Post baby. It's my thing and it's terrific. It releases all the tension all built up in my muscles and teeth and soul. No, I'm not kidding. Some days it saves my life. Ok now it sounds like I do it all the time. I don't. I can count on one hand how many... whatever. What am I trying to justify. On occasion I scream into a pillow. There I said it. And it's great.)
ANYWAY. Did I mention I was supposed to be writing? Yep. Tuesdays and Thursdays are highly guarded writing nights. Josh takes Everyn on a little date somewhere and I write. So he finally loaded her up in the stroller and took off, and I sat down to... stew. To grit my teeth. To obsess about my frustrations.
Can we just assume no writing was accomplished? Cool. We're on the same page.
A few hours later after Ev was down, I sat across from him in our bathroom post apology and sobbed something like this:
"I just feel like I can't.... I don't know what to... there's so much laundry. Ugh. So much laundry... there's sand in our bed and I hate the dogs... I just want the house to be clean for like, 5 minutes... I need more sleep... my whole body hurts all. the. time. I can't stop eating sugar and I never go for walks anymore and there are so many house projects I just... ugh... I just don't... I just feel like... why is my Ivy dying?? I have to finish this book proposal... when will I ever finish this proposal? And books, oh, I love them... do you think I'll ever get to read a whole book again?? I just feel like I can't... I don't know what to... is that a cup of sand in the bathtub?!"
He was kind and forgiving and gracious as always, and helped me identify exactly what was bothering me and come up with a plan to help.
And suddenly I felt better than I have in months.
He had also came home with three tiny containers of Haagen Dazs which I sat on the counter and devoured without apology. I think it was like, a zillion calories. That helped, too.
So to all you moma's out there in the trenches, I'm with ya! We'll survive this together. Somehow. If all else fails, there's always screaming pillows and Haagen Dazs.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming...
Lemon cookies. All I can tell you is they're sold on huge platters in a particular basement bakery from a couple of women who don't speak a lick of english, and they're to die for. I wouldn't even had tried them had I not been terrified. I randomly bought a handful in a moment of sheer panic when a large women behind the counter locked eyes on me, pointing emphatically at a huge mounded platter. One hand on her apron-clad hip, tapping her foot impatiently, I glanced silently at the unimpressive looking powder dusted bites, back at her, back at the cookies... and walked out with a paper bag full.
We will return someday for the sole purpose of the lemon cookie experience. It is truly the first thing that comes to mind when I think Capri. (It should be noted prior to this trip I cared nothing for lemon or lemon cookies. Clearly, these changed my life. I live and die by lemon curd these days. True statement. Also lemon tarts. Which is basically lemon curd in a pie shell with fruit. Or basically anything involving sugar and lemon. I love lemon. And sugar. That is all.)
Yes there's the enchanting blue grotto, stunning cliffside gardens of Augustus, and the 800 Phoenician Steps offering indescribable views of the Mediterranean. There are endless groves of lemon trees, Faraglioni rock formations, ancient royal ruins, and what Josh describes as the best pizza he's ever put in his mouth. All noteworthy. It would even be entirely worth visiting for the short ferry ride from the mainland alone, offering breathtaking views of the Amalfi Coast from the water.
But the cookies, people.
It's all about the lemon cookies.
If you've ever visited the Isle of Capri just off the southern coast of Italy, you already know exactly why it makes my list of favorite destinations of all time. For one, it's Italy. I'm convinced you cannot go wrong, ever, with Italy. (I take that back. Naples has the potential to offend. People generally love it or hate it. Depends on the person.) But the rest, well, it is everything you've dreamed... plus life altering lemon cookies.
{Gypsy at Heart, an ongoing feature, because when it comes to travel I'm in a constant state of either reminiscing or anticipating. If you were to visit our yellow cottage beneath the trees we'd brew a pot of tea, bake a batch of maple muffins, and settle in to chat. Undoubtedly, the topic of travel would come up. These are the photos, these are the stories I'd share. So if we can't do just that today, I'm grateful to meet up here instead for a momentary escape. Connecting with friends far and wide, old and new is half the reason to travel at all. Cheers to adventures!}
Waiting for Daddy on the front steps.
Sweet friends from California became neighbors!
Organic produce drop on the doorstep from a neighbor friend.
Naptime toes.
Friday afternoon cuddles.
Charmed her Pappy into swing time when he came to deliver farm eggs to our neighbors.
Calling for Daddy in the front yard.
Red Velvet tea on a rainy day.
Tending to her plants.
"Beauty demands to be noticed; it speaks to us directly like the voice of an intimate friend. If there are people who are indifferent to beauty, then it is surely because they do not perceive it." -Roger Scruton
Have a lovely weekend, friends.
~
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Blue trimmed, flower framed windows on an afternoon walk along the canals. Amsterdam, Netherlands. 2011
Blue trimmed, flower framed windows on an afternoon walk along the canals. Amsterdam, Netherlands. 2011
...beloved, think about things that are true and honorable and right and pure and beautiful and respected. Anything good and worthy of praise, think about these things.
Philippians 4:8
A beautiful revelation for which I'm grateful. It's been echoing in my heart for days and days and countless days. Not only think on, but surround yourself with. In literature and music and conversation, but mostly in people. Beautiful souls deemed inspirations.
Surround yourself with romantics. With dreamers, do-ers, believers, lovers. It isn't required they see or speak eye to eye. It is required they live and do life well.
Years ago I heard it said and studied we become like the 5 people we spend the most time with. I've found it true time and time and time again.
Surround yourself with lovers of life, those who look for the beautiful in all.
Surround yourself with relentless hopefuls, those who trust the Good even when hidden from sight.
Surround yourself with those who give even when it's terrifying, even when it hurts.
Surround yourself with those who go, who do, who try.
The romantics. The believers in all that is good and lovely and true in the face of a broken and dying world. The music makers and truth tellers. Those who dream of life, better. Those who look for light, always. Those who give when they've nothing left. Those who know Truth and seek out Beauty. The poets.
Surround me with those. Bring me those. Give me those.
I need those.
Be that to the world today, friends. Be one who dreams of a world better. We need you.
"Sculptors, poets, painters, musicians--they're the traditional purveyors of Beauty. But it can as easily be created by a gardener, a farmer, a plumber, a careworker." -Charles De Lint
Have a lovely weekend, friends.
~
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