In So Many Words 3.29

This quote popped up on my Pinterest today. What else is that website of epic time-wasting good for--other than to give you a little moment of inspiration. And today, this quote gave me exactly that moment. Some days, we all just need a reminder to try a little harder, take a different road, opt for a happier day.

image source: pinterest

Spring Has(n't) Sprung

Hiking Catoctin Mountain

So, I'm beginning to wonder if spring is ever going to fully arrive on the East Coast. Glimmers of warmer weather appear here and there-- robins skipping across the lawn, daffodils blooming on the roadsides, and a new, bright blueness to the sky--but none of these glimmers seem to last. We'll experience a beautiful Saturday--50* weather and a gentle breeze--and then wake up the next morning to a sludgy sky spitting snow flakes.  To me, March seems to have entered as a lion and now also be leaving as a lion. No lambs have been involved this year.

I'm beginning to wonder if spring is ever going to actually happen. I know this weather isn't just occurring in Maryland.  Apparently this lingering winter weather is happening in Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia-- I name these states because these are the states I'm in the most, where most of our family resides. But I can tell you that I just straight tired of the howling winds and sideways rainfalls. This Georgia girl is starving for some sunshine. I think I would even welcome the springtime pollen, if it means winter is over.

I grudgingly acknowledge that clouds and rain are necessary for spring's blooming--but let's hope April brings gentler clouds and rainfalls than March brought.

Reasons to Smile 3.3

Wandering around in D.C.: The city of Frederick is only about an hour outside our nation's capitol, but Mark and I have only driven into the city one time since moving here. So yesterday morning (after a good, healthy dose of sleeping in) we decided to bundle up and head for the big white city on the river. The great thing about DC: you can wander around, meandering in and out of the museums and monuments all day long and not spend a dime except on your metro pass and your lunch.

Standing there in the museums, looking at these iconic and priceless items--the Hope Diamond, Julia Child's kitchen, Michelangelo's David-Apollo, or Rembrandt's Portrait of a Gentleman--it astounds me that all this is made available, for free, for the public. The front doors are unbarred and wide open to you. Well, admittedly there is that grumpy old security guard with the wand he pokes around in your purse or camera bag...but otherwise those doors are pretty much unbarred and wide open to you.

So for this week, that was my reason to smile: chilly March weekends, exploring with my husband. Strolling along with my hat pulled low and my scarf pulled high, coffee in hand, I couldn't help but smile. 

Order, Order in the Court...I mean, Kitchen!

image source

If you know me at all, you will have picked up on the fact that I am a very meticulous and organized person. I like things to be precise, to have things arranged in neat little rows by color, by size, by content. This penchant for orderliness manifests itself most often in the form of lists-- lists for everything. Literally, people, everything.

Packing lists, grocery lists, graduate program lists, workout lists, knitting project lists, book lists, essay-topics lists, pros-and-cons lists (for any and all decisions).

 It could go on and on. My journals typically turn into very dry, sparse collections of...yes, you guessed it, lists. I start out with good intentions to write journal entries containing real, creative worth...or at least the mucky origins of creative worth...but instead somehow, my journals into great beasts of list-making. I don't know what this says about me... other than perhaps my thoughts churn through my head in vast, calculator reels of information...? I hope not.

Understanding that aspect of my personality though, may help you understand my horror, my chagrin, my downright perpetual irritation with that no-man's-land called under the kitchen sink. 

Insert dramatic pause for effect, as I glare pointedly at the cabinet doors.

Ladies, I don't know about you... but I hate the space under the sink. WHAT is going on down there? I try to keep things so orderly. But here's what I find every time I open that cabinet door: the cleaning bottles all tilted over, like a mess of bashed bowling pins.  The trash-bag box somehow always has one trash bag trying to escape, flopping around on the cabinet floor. There's one isolated, lonely sponge. Just ...there. And don't even get me started on the plastic grocery bags...which apparently breed and multiple with the same ferocity as rabbits.

I make genuine efforts to tidy this sloppy space up--but  I feel like some mischievous little gremlin sneaks in there and rustles everything around again. (Husband, it better not be you! Just saying.)

Then, poking around on pinterest I find inspiring organization blogs (yes, that's how bad my organizing needs are...I read blogs about it) like this one and I get all inspired to make drastic changes.

So: this weekend may start with a mission. To tackle and clean and sort and tidy (somehow permanently) that dratted under the sink space. Wish me luck!

Attempts at "Being Professional"

This past weekend, I shanghaied my beautiful friend Laura Beth into modeling my scarf collection. If you want to take a look yourself, the scarves are available online at my Etsy Patina & Purl.

Now keep in mind, we're not professionals here. I mean, I guess you could say I'm a professional knitter, perhaps...if such a term or concept even exists. But as far as photography and modeling-- we are somewhat hopeless cases. These photos were gleaned from a hefty reel of giggling mess-ups and goofy smiles. Even one spectacular grumpy cat grimace. Taking photos of someone--even a beautiful friend you're completely comfortable with--is odd. It's just them... standing there... looking at you.... You end up looking at each other with raised eyebrows and bitten lip, thinking "um okay now what? Uh, smile?"

And then, there was the bizarre moment when I noticed Laura Beth's gaze rest on something behind me. I turn around to see the neighbor standing there, staring at us with a completely bemused expression. "Hi," we both blurted. I could see it all over his face--he thought we were two silly women, posing and grinning like peacocks for a Facebook profile picture. (No, I will not say "pic.") Ack! Determined to waylay that impression before it fully formed, I motioned to the bag of scarves on the ground at my feet. I felt the need to explain that this wasn't just silliness; this was an actual amateur photo shoot...an attempt at professionalism, here. For a shop, a legit shop, a real business, right?

 "I make scarves," I said. Only then to realize... well that statement makes no sense to a total stranger. Hi there I make scarves. Right. Need any other useless bits of info about me?

Needless to say, in the end, we figured out our photo-taking venture. However, my respect for bloggers who regularly post fashion photographs or self-portraits raised exponentially. It takes talent to frame and capture good photos; but also there's a skill to making the subject feel comfortable and happy--not like they're on display. Having just recently gotten married and gone through the whirlwind of wedding photos, I know how awkward it can be to stand there and pose in fifty different stances while the photographer scrambles around you like a blinking, flashing beetle, capturing this angle, that angle, this smile, that glance.

So, here's a big hearty helping of thank you  to Laura Beth and her patience with my fumbling photographic efforts. And also, perhaps a sorry to the neighbor for undoubtedly confusing him.

Happy Tuesday, friends.

Currently 2.19

Loving: Lately, my cuteness-radar beeps for vintage pyrex. My grandmother always cooked in pyrex dishes that displayed the olive-green daisy pattern, similar to these. I guess my love for the collections began then, knobby-kneed and squirmy in my little tennis shoes and pony tail, sitting on her kitchen stools. Honestly, you have to admit though, the bright colors and florals are a far sight better than the clear-glass and red measurements of the Pyrex you find at your local housewares store. I'd rather have my kitchen cabinets filled with a rainbow of colors than cold, stark measurement symbols. Although our condo kitchen doesn't have enough space to start a real collection now, I can't help but itch to pick up any pyrex I find on Etsy or at our antique shops. Here are a few pretty, brightful pieces I've been eyeballing: blue, orange, yellow, red.

Watching: Maybe its Kevin Bacon... maybe its the promotional hype... maybe its just the fact that we're suckers for a good cop show. But Mark and I have gladly hoped onto The Following bandwagon. I have never watched a more suspenseful show. Watching the Following feels like every Monday night, you have a really good movie to watch. The acting is great; the individual episode plots are full of twists and unexpected turns-- there's no repeated pattern, like with so many other shows. You never know what's coming next. And, furthermore, as a English major and Poe fan... I can't help but love the continuous Poe references. Although, my husband may get tired of me blurting out the quotation origins and clapping my hands in glee when I get it right. Seriously though.. if you haven't watched this show... tune in, it's worth it.

Reading: Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio. I highly, highly, highly recommend this book. It's absolutely fascinating. Rubio records the experience of little Icy Sparks, a 10 year old girl from Appalachian Kentucky, as she attempts to understand the "pops and fits" she has begun having. You follow her simultaneously hilarious and tearful journey as she's ostracized from the other children at her school and sent to a children's asylum for "inspection." Dealing with concepts and issues far greater than any ten-year-old should have to face, Icy struggles with appearance and reality, truth and lies, keeping secrets, and forming your identity. This is turning into one of those books that I hate to put down but I know, the more pages I turn, the closer the end will get--and I'll be left feeling lonely and missing the characters.

Anticipating: Starting graduate school. Today, I was accepted into a master's program here in Maryland to receive my secondary education degree. I'm slated to begin classes in August. I have to admit, I'm kinda pumped to think about taking classes toward this long-time goal of becoming an English teacher. Maybe this makes me a nerd... but I love learning new things and tackling the challenges of college course-loads. Maybe that's why I want to be a teacher so badly--so I can learn everyday. Lame, perhaps, but true.

What's been going on lately in your life? If you have your own "currently" blog post, post it in the comments, I'd love to read it. And I always love discovering other people's blogs--whether large or small like mine.

8 Reasons to Smile

Wolf Rock trail at Catoctin Mtn. 

Can you believe its already the eighth week of the year? How are we already through two months (well, almost)? Weren't we just celebrating the new year, hallooing and hollering and banging pots and pans together? Making resolutions, wishlists, and plans?

My resolution to document an item/person/place/idea a week that makes me smile has fallen a bit short. So far...I've managed two weeks of it. But rather than constantly attempting to back track and play catch-up... I decided to just proceed from here. At some point, you just have to concede a mild defeat and press onward. 

And understand... it's not that that I couldn't find anything to smile about for six weeks. Its that I was too busy smiling to take time sharing. So here you go. Week eight.

Reason to smile #8: long walks in a quiet wood

Yesterday, Mark and I decided to take advantage of a lazy, calm Saturday. No alarms, no pressing plans. We decided to rest until the bird-chatter forced us out of bed and do whatever we felt like during the day. The day's activity turned out to be a unanimous vote: let's take a hike. It ended up being slightly more adventurous than we anticipated... to my dismay and Mark's joy I'm sure.  The recent, repeated snowfalls had washed away a portion of the trail. So the leisurely hike turned into a mountaineering trek instead--as we found ourselves marching straight up the mountainside to reach the ridgeline.

 But even though my hamstrings, glutes, and lungs were screaming in pain the whole time... I found myself grinning like a fool. There's just something utterly peaceful about being surrounded by the bare quiet trees and rustling underbrush. Sometimes as if the leaves below are whispering and muttering, telling a story to the listening trees above. And if you're quiet enough--you might catch a snippet of their tale.