impulsive

I am many things, impulsive is not one of them. I think, I consider, I wait, I delay. I am very good at thinking myself out of doing things or finding reasons why trying something new is a bad idea. I like familiar things, things I am good at, things I understand. So today, during family Christmas when my niece Amanda came up to me and said "I'm getting my ear pierced, wanna come?" it was complete surprise to hear myself say "yes" after very little consideration.

Off we went to Claire's in the mall (how appropriate) and got matching third holes together. The last time I got my ears pierced I was 11. I now have a little diamond in my right ear. It's CZ for now, but I just might replace it with a real one eventually.

As I step into 2010 I hope it will remind me that little extra sparkle never hurt anyone. I hope it will be a sign that trying new things can be a good thing, and that doing new things is not nearly so scary if you have someone to hold your hand. I hope I will see it in the mirror and remember that there is a whole world of pretty little ideas waiting to be tried out. I hope it sets the tone for 2010 and the years that follow.

Thanks Amanda, I'll hold your hand anytime. This was a very good idea. Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

This year for the first time since before I came west for university I was able to have Christmas with my parents without getting on an airplane. I could definitely get used to this. We had a lovely Christmas morning together, opening gifts and eating like kings. And, of course, we made time for a little silliness too and lots of smiles. I woke up this morning to the sound of my parents laughing, which is a pretty great way to start Christmas :)

On Monday I went over to Gord & Shannon's with Kendra to decorate Christmas cookies. Here are the ones I did:
My favorite one this year is this little guy - a snowman in a Santa suit! He's going to be delicious.

I like fiddily crafts and doing things the slow way sometimes. These were a LOT of fun to make. We've done several rounds of cookies this year and I'm sure 2010 will have more cookies too. Hmm, Olympic ring cookies maybe? Or Quaatchi for a real challenge?

As soon as Dave & Janie get home we're hopping on to Skype to video chat and I'm sure we'll do the same with Mark & Rach before the day is out. The sun is shinning so brightly that I'm fairly sure there's a river walk on the menu for this afternoon too.

Merry Christmas friends. May all your days be merry and bright!

all things shine at Christmas

If you've been reading my blog since last year, you know we have an unusual Christmas tradition at our house - fancy nails. I took my acrylics off over the summer and was lamenting the loss of sparkly nails. I should not have worried. Thanks to the internet and my ever increasing skills in the art of google-fu I not only found an alternative, I found a salon that does it in my neighborhood. Check it out:


If you're wondering how a polish can be so shiny, it can't. It's a process called Minx - basically it's a thick sticker that is heat applied to the nail and peels off after a week or two. It does no damage to the nail below. Now *that's* sparkly Christmas nails. If you're local, I got mine done at Socialite Nails a beautiful little spa in Crescent Beach. (Ok so technically my OLD neighborhood. Details, details.) Any excuse to head for the water is fine by me. How are your Christmas plans coming? Do you sparkle yet?

return like the tide

I am re-reading one of my all time favorite books, Pat Conroy's The Prince of Tides. It is an incredibly sad story, but it is so beautifully written that I willingly hand over my heart to be broken. It starts with "My wound is geography." Such a perfect opening line.

It is the story of Savannah, now grown up, a tortured poet. The book begins with her latest suicide attempt and her brother Tom is summonded to New York to help. The psychartist tells Tom "I can't help your sister until I know her story but she cannot tell it". And Tom replies simply, ominously, "we don't talk about what happened". Tom soon realizes that the only way to save the sister he so dearly loves is find a way to tell the story that has no words. He has to walk into the den of his own demons to try and save Savannah from hers.

This is one of the books that made me fall in love with the coast of South Carolina, sight unseen. I will make my pilgrimage one day and send flowers into the sea for Savannah and all her secrets. It has been several years since I last read this book, but I can still recite the closing lines by heart. "Each day as I take the bridge that leads me home to my family I say two words. I say them as prayer, as regret and as praise. I say Lowenstein, Lowenstein." The Prince of Tides is, ultimately, a love story. It is a story of letting go and of holding on so tight that no storm can rip you apart. It speaks of the love of siblings and the love that transcends blood. It is heart-breakingly beautiful and always calls me back like the tide. Once again, I willingly throw myself against the rocks.

beauty in descent

Fall is a stepping-down time of year. I always picture it as a spiral staircase, twisting, matching the flight of leaves twirling down and down. I never think of just moving from summer through fall in to winter, it's always a descent for me. Out of daylight into the darkness of winter evenings, from the warmth of the sun to the places where warmth comes in layers. Each year I willingly walk the path, and even while I am letting go of summer, stepping down into this chilly dark, I am in awe of the beauty of the descent.

The other day I looked out my office window and the sky was a pale shade of gray. But there, just in front of it were the most beautiful crimson leaves. Red leaves on a pale gray sky -- it could have been a painting. It probably should have been. My grandfather could have done it justice, but I did not inherit his skill.

Transitions are tricky things. Rosamunde Pilcher wrote that the trouble with transitions is that you can feel the edges of two worlds bumping up against each other. I think she's right. In either world, the world feels infinite, but in the transition you feel where things end and where they begin and that cane be scary. A friend of mine compares is to stepping into a boat. Even when you know the vessel is sea-worthy, stepping into causes movement and that little sway ripples doubt through an otherwise steady spirit.

To celebrate Fall and the beauty of this season I baked cookies with Shannon & Kendra and the girls. The hard shell cookie class we took last year is still coming in handy. One little technique, easily mastered and suddenly so many options exist. There's a lesson in that. But for now, here are the cookies:
It was particularly satisfying to have an idea work out just exactly the way I hoped it would. I thought the leaves might work out and they did. The candy corn were Kendra's idea -- a brilliant one -- and we didn't let a lack of cookie cutter get in the way. Why did it never occur to me that you can just cut shapes out by hand? New and interesting cookies may be on the horizon.

It is time to go back to the water, I can feel it. It's been a couple of weeks which is far too long. I need to finish the mediocre book I'm languishing in (or give up on it entirely), find something truly delicious to take its place and head for open water to commune. All I need is a hot coffee and warm blanket. I won't miss the sun.

cali-cali-fornia! (part 1)

More than a year ago Amanda decided that when it was time for her grad trip she wanted to go back to Disneyland. And, being the wise young woman she is -- she's graduated now you know, she gets to make her own choices -- she invited us Aunties along. Never say no to southern California and Disneyland, especially when the company is as fine as this. Gord, Shannon, Amanda, Nicole, Tracy, Chrisaleen, Kendra and I headed south for some fun in the sun and boy did we ever.


To me, So Cal will always be blue skies and palm trees. I don't know why I love the palm trees so much, but every time I come to California, they make me smile. The weather was just over a hundred degrees the whole time we were there and the skies were so clear and blue it was like God filled them in with a Crayola crayon. I am convinced that the sunshine is sunnier in California. You cannot convince me otherwise.

The first day we headed straight to the Magic Kingdom. Just inside the gates there is a Mickey made of flowers and if you read the fine print on your ticket you'll see that you and your party are contractually obligated to pose in front of it. (It must be on the tickets, EVERYONE does it.) So here we are (well all of us except for Gord who was playing photographer as usual.)
This was taken several days later, but as you can see, the sky is still that beautiful, cerulean blue. And yes, see we really were in Disneyland. This time around the Sleeping Beauty rooms in the castle itself were open. Kendra was thrilled to learn that she was not crazy as last time we were here she was sure she had seen them before but the castle was locked up tight. Yeah for sanity :)


Disneyland, as you know, is the happiest place on earth. I wonder if they put magical herbs in the air because people really do seem to be in a good mood. (Except for the occasional screaming child star-fished on the pavement, but we won't speak of that.) Even grown-up feel the need to put on silly mouse ears and pose for pictures. Kendra ended up buying the sparkly ones I'm wearing and I might, possibly have borrowed them while she was off riding California Screaming ie the scariest looking coaster of ALL TIME.

In addition to ears there is a general cuteness pretty much everywhere you look. As evidence, I give you People's Exhibit A. COME ON, it's a candy apple shaped like Micky Mouse?! You can't make this stuff up. It was delicious - layers of caramel and chocolate and crazy red sugar-sprinkles that got absolutely everywhere. Fortunately, I wasn't planning to impress anyone on this trip anyway. The mess was so completely worth it.


We laughed, pretty much non-stop the entire time. In my books that's the hallmark of an excellent trip. I have more pics and more details but they will have to wait until another day. I will say this -- while everyone else was waving trying to get people's attention we threw up ostriches and lamas. And yes, I have pictures :)

this is not a recommendation

I just finished reading Stieg Larsson's acclaimed The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I wish I could recommend it. Larsson's book, the first of a trilogy, is currently enjoying a ride on the New York Times' bestsellers list. I love me a NYT book, but this one really should have come with a warning.

The book starts well. It's a Swedish novel, and I haven't read a lot of Swedish fiction. I was stoked to try something new. (I'm quite sure I butchered the street names in my head.) Also it's a brick of a book -- a good few inches that promised to sit and stay for a while. The story centers around a few main characters -- a financial journalist, a gifted hacker and the missing daughter of the esteemed Vanger empire. It could have been a fantastic story, it should have been a great story. But about a third of the way through the book the story takes a deeply disturbing turn.

For me, I was already invested enough into the book that I read through to the end. Perhaps I can save you from the same fate. There is nothing on the back cover that suggests what is lurking inside this book. It is dark and violent and I disagree with the author that it was necessary. I think he could have told the story without it and I so wish that he had. There are two more books in the series which I will, sadly, have to leave on the shelf at Chapters. If you're looking a great book to take you into the cooler days of Fall, I recommend that you keep looking. Sadly, the good in this book is far outweighed by the ewww.