8. Top 3

So my post today is pretty self-indulgent. My top three things that I want today. Not need. But it's fun to have little goals and dreams...and in this case at least 2 out of three are fairly attainable.

#1. I have been craving homemade chicken pot pie for the past few weeks. It may be because my sweet mom made me a pastry cloth with a circle stitched in the middle to help you make the perfect pie crust...which she has down to a T. I am still learning, but getting fairly good. I won't tell you that the key ingredient is Lard. Yum. I am definitely going to be making one soon--look for that post in weeks to come!



I found the above picture on a random blog where I also read this. HILARIOUS.

#2. I spent the afternoon at my good friend Goldilocks' house and we made juice with her new amazing juicer. Right as I headed out the door to come over, it started hailing. Then the sky looked like this...kind of epic!



We went to a really cool Kosher market and bought cheap, yummy fruit. I'll let you make your own assumptions about the pear in the middle.



This was our first of several exciting combinations. Apples. Pears. Strawberries. Lemon.



We put it in this...I was kind of scared.



And look what we created! It was SO good.



ALL this to tell you (those who have made it this far into my post without falling asleep or switching to facebook...that while we were enjoying our juice Goldi lit this amazing wood wick candle that sounds like a mini fireplace!!! I've never seen one before...it was SO cool. I really want one. Specifically the almond orange woodwick candle which is my #2 today.

#3. Suffice it to say that I. Die. for this Jimmy Choo.



So that pretty much sums it up. I'd love to eat chicken pot pie by the light of my wood burning candle wearing the most amazing rainbow shoes EVER. Who remembers my rainbow patent leather kicks I wore in middle school? Some things never change!

PS--shoutout to eLF for her Murdo post. Bless her, I don't even know if she knows why I love that name so much!

7. October 12, 2003

So maybe I'm missing something, but I don't think anything world-news-wise happened on 10/12/03 that I'm supposed to know about. I googled, I wikepediad, I tried to remember back 6 years ago. It was a Sunday. A lot happened around the world actually. And I guess that's true for every day. I think there are only a few dates we really remember. It takes something catastrophic, like 9/11 for a date to stick in our memories. We remember our closest friends' and family member's birthdays, we remember Christmas and Halloween. We remember (or try to) wedding anniversaries. But you know what? Every day is someones birthday, or someones anniversary, or the day that something terrible happened that we'll remember for the rest of our lives.

When I was looking up news from 10/12/03, I was shocked at all the horrible things that had happened that WEREN'T remembered. 30 killed here, 4 missing here, explosions, murders, war. It was really depressing.

I'm sure a lot of great things happened, too. Babies were born that are now well on their way to growing up! People got married (and some of them are still married :).

Isn't it weird as a kid when you realize that everyone around you doesn't realize your birthday? It's the best day ever, and they don't even know!

Trying to write this post made me think about the fact that we never know what each day means to the people around us. Today is the birthday of my precious friend's sons. She had twins one year ago today. 19 days later, one of them went home to be with Jesus. Today is a day that will forever be etched in her memory--with sweet memories and painful, unimaginable ones.

Today I am glad that tomorrow is a different day. That each day is only 24 hours and that it is marked with sunrise and sunset. God knew what he was doing when he created little beginnings and endings to the hours, the days, the seasons, the years. New beginnings, new mercies, new growth, new life. Each day is someones greatest day and someones worst.

I don't remember what happened in my life on October 12, 2003...but I'm sure someone does.

Rain!

It's been raining All. Week. Long.

and I love it!

There's nothing quite like being snug in your warm home with the rain pouring down outside. Great book, Good Earth Tea (OBsessed), and a fuzzy blanket.

And then you go outside in these and play in the puddles!

Happy Rainy Week!

6. Paris

When I was 13, the summer in between 7th and 8th grade, my grandma took me to Europe. She let me choose between a tour of England, France, or UK/France/Germany combo (but less time in each). I was in French class, and the thought of going to Paris was the most glamorous thing I could think of, so the choice was easy! It was my first trip to Europe, and I'll never forget it. My eyes were wide, my heart was naive and innocent, and my memory so impressionable. I'll be forever grateful to my grandmother for such a grand adventure! Here are some of the the amazing things that stick out in my mind:

The escalators at Charles de Gaulle airport--just like human hampster runs!



Despite all the rich food we had, the best thing was buying a fresh, warm baguette on the street for 5 francs in the morning.



There were 3 other kids my age on the trip--Lauren, Whitney and Jared. We became fast friends and played the French Monopoly I bought every night in the hotel lobby. We had about 1 million inside jokes by the end of the trip and kept in touch for a few years.



Ok, it's outside of Paris, but Mount St. Michele is the COOLEST place in the world. It kind of reminds me of Gondor meets Disney...there is a monastery at the top, and when the tide goes out it becomes an island. The road winds all the way around the island to to top and is lined with cobblestones. Dreamy!



My mom collects Limoges boxes (like the one below..mom why don't you have this one????) She wanted us to buy one for her at the mythical Limoges Box store somewhere in Paris. My mom and dad had been there before, but for some reason NO ONE in Paris knew what we were talking about. We spent a really long time spanning several days locating this teeny tiny store lined with thousands of Limoges boxes. It. Was. Magical.



Honorable Mentions: Croque Monsieur's, the Loire Valley filled with Sunflowers, The Opera House, a million chateaux, and Giverny

5. Things that make me go "mmm"

I hope ya'll are reading eLF's blog...iLobster? AHmazing!

So, I have to confess I wasn't exactly sure what to do with this topic. Does mmm mean "yum" or "what?" or "sexy fog"? Not sure. But when I woke up this morning I knew that this would be my topic today, and that somehow, I would find a way to make it about the awesome dream I had last night.

It was vivid, and I remember the ENTIRE thing. Disclaimer: although I believe in prophetic dreams, I can't say I've ever had one. This definitely wasn't one, but you know me (or you don't...blogathon success!)--i LOVE a good metaphor, ESPECIALLY if it relates to my relationship with Jesus. (I know, that is a silly, typical picture of my Lord, but HEY! I like it! I'm a sheep, remember?)

So this was my dream. Basically, I got a new job. I had a HUGE office, and was obviously a big wig...anywho, on my first day on the job, some people from JCrew showed up and wanted me to give them 5 styled outfits that represented my life. I know, my new job rocked! I opened the closed that was OBVIOUSLY in my new office with all my clothes and whipped up the examples. Flash forward to the next day. I arrive at my office (can I also interject that in my dream, I had NO CLUE what I was supposedly hired to do...awkward!)what do I find but an amazing closet of my dreams. I was going to post an example picture, but I think your imagination is up to the challenge. The closet was lined with beautiful dark wood drawers, cabinets (some with glass doors), shoe drawers, purse displays, an amazing mirror, a flat screen TV (?). And it was filled with clothes, purses, shoes--and they were all MADE for me. My style. My size. From 5 sample outfits they had figured me out to a T. It's Ionic that it was JCrew and not Anthro, but obviously my dream was less than sensical. As I looked through in wonder, my new co-workers stopped by to share in my glee. We went through everything. We opened ever drawer, and discovered that there was even a fridge stocked with yummy food and drinks, including little tropical fruits filled with sorbet and topped with flowers. The entire thing was ornate, fantastical, it was a dream come true.

And then I woke up. I'd like to tell you that I immediately realized the parallel to my relationship with God and thanked him for it. But no, my first inclination was to feel epic disappointment. It wasn't real. Of course that would never happen. But I am just materialistic and fashion-obsessed to wish that maybe it had been real.

But then later, as I mused upon the dream it did occur to me that it IS kind of like God. He knows me better than I know myself. He knows every need, every desire, every dimension. And he provides--maybe not what I would pick out myself or what I asked for, but the end result is far beyond my wildest dreams. He renovates, he refreshes, he makes me into what I am supposed to be.

No, he is not the purse Santa--but what he brings is real, it's living water, it's strength in my weakness. And it is absolutely not a dream!

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

4. 2KX: The Year of Tears

I haven't cried in 2010. Yet.

I'm not a huge crier, but I think I cry the healthy amount. You know, a tear here or there for a Sylvan Learning Center commercial (those kids just needed some help!) and saving the real deal cries for those rare heartbreaking moments.

If anything, 2009 was my year of tears. We got our beloved dog, Higgins, when I was in 6th grade and in Spring 2009 I said the hardest goodbye I've ever had to do. I was going to blog about it at some point, but (not to sound over dramatic) I'm just not ready yet. Needless to say, lots of tears were shed in 2009.



I'm not worried about 2010. I know I'll shed some tears, but I think 2010 is going to be amazing. I think it's going to bring big changes, and change can always be hard, but it is often just what we need to propel us to a higher level.

I tried to think of a way I could change the supplied blog title by changing "tears" to something different that rhymed. BUT I don't want this year to be the year of fears, leers, or beers. Maybe the year of ears? Ears to hear what God is saying, where he is leading, ears to hear what others around me are really saying and needing? Too cheesy? Never!

Year of Ears, here I come!

3. Vortex of Awkwarness (you have GOT to be kidding me)

Ok, I am MAD. I made SURE to take the time yesterday to do my post, even though it was a Sunday funday and I didn't have to work, and my computer wasn't turning on. I did the whole thing on my iPhone, it posted, and then I sign on to do my due diligence today, and WHERE is it? I have no idea what happened, but was able to find it on my phone, copy and paste, and voila! A day late, but posted on time somewhere in the lost wide web.

Just writing this is awkward, as I am doing this post from McMac and writing anything longer than a text on a touch screen is a challenge. I am a dedicated artist, what can I say?

When I was in college, I went to a party that was, in and of itself, awkward. It was a cocktail party in a tiny USC apartment with lots of people I kind of knew but not past very superficial small talk. Not being a fan of those kind of interactions or of dressing up for a cramped space college party with plastic cups, I can't remember what compelled me to go. Maybe it was to prove that I was doing great after being dumped (my first crushing heartbreak). After unsuccessfully remaining close friends and consigning myself to a constant state of sighing despondence, I finally decided we probably shouldn't be hanging out all the time. It is AMAzing to me how little sense I had at 21. Oh well. You can imagine my delight when he turned up at the same party. HAD to get out of there. I gathered my BFFs and we hauled butt (as they say in the good 'ol South). As we walked through the courtyard to the street, I exclaimed with delight how glad I was to free of the 'vortex of awkwardness' when springing from out of nowhere comes Mr. Heartbreak himself and in a boyishly impish and chanting voice he says, 'Vortex of awkwardness, eh?'

It. Was. Hilarious.

Apparently funny enough to be told to friends of friends in the UK, which is how it made this topic list supplied by eLF. Thanks eLF!

Sent from my iPhone






ps-love Paper Heart.
pps-don't blame McMac.