Showing posts with label everyday. Show all posts

home library


This bibliophile dreams of a someday home library. I'm one step closer and have spent many hours sitting here curled up with a book in the week that I've owned this chair. Delightful.

PS – I just finished reading the book "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand. Layne recommended it to me a couple of years ago and it has been on my to-read list, but with the movie coming out soon I realized I needed to get my act together and prioritize it among my upcoming choices. Basically I have been raving about it to anyone who will listen—it is easily one of the best books I have read this year. If you are interested I wrote a longer review here. (Are we friends on Goodreads?)

autumnal


I went on a perfect bike ride tonight... the colors are reaching their finest, the maple trees glorious in their reds and oranges and the honey locusts honey-yellow. And I chanced upon some late-blooming dahlias—so lovely. The western sky was ablaze with color and the clouds above Timp and the eastern mountains were all sorts of pinks and blues. How I love these perfect fall days.


listening: Not With Haste - Mumford & Sons, Hello My Old Heart - The Oh Hello's

as of late: summertime


chocolate for breakfast. and for a bedtime snack...
dinner on the patio. two patios. pizza for both dinners, incidentally.
to read or to reread, that is the question.
watermelon + mint simple syrup. a match made in heaven and again in our kitchen.
books and running clothes indefinitely strewn about the perimeter of my living space.
lots of little X's and edits to my Ragnar miles.
the season of outdoor movies (pictured: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty).
an ever growing list of ice cream recipes that I want to try (jeni's beet ice cream, meet beets in my garden).

oh summer. (the best)

spring and things

Rainy days. We have had so many good ones lately (our garden is happy about it, too).

Mackenzie and I tried our hands at macaron baking. That chocolate ganache though...

Keds and green grass and impending adventures.

Remember this Meyer lemon ice cream? I made some and it was quite labor intensive (hello delicious lemon curd from scratch) but worth every second.

My other Liz. Such a lovely bride.

Picking a movie to watch with Lar and Age...in other words, a hilarious process. Half of these are pink.

A Cinco de Mayo fiesta (I made this backdrop from tissue paper and Emily dressed for the occasion. perfect.)

This had my name written all over it. It was heavenly. (lemon greek frozen yogurt with a blueberry lavender swirl. yes.)

Our backyard berry patch!

Rock Canyon on my 4 mile [hilly] run today. I could not get over this view. We live in a beautiful world and I am so fortunate to live in an especially beautiful part of it.

. . . .

Lately I find myself going into panic mode whenever anyone asks questions about my life and my future. I think this is partly due to my loving my life as it is right now. Not that I am resistant to change or stagnating, because I am neither. Rather, life is so good and I am bursting at the seams with appreciation for these moments that I know will not last forever. I loved Bishop Stevenson's talk "Your Four Minutes" from April's General Conference. It was a wonderful reminder to set and work towards worthy goals and other worthwhile endeavors. So I am finding ways to grow while staying put, and it is good. Sometimes hard, but so good.

23.


I'm finding my way through uncharted territory, this no man's land that is young adulthood. The world is my oyster. What an incredible, yet incredibly daunting thought.

I'm attempting to own my I-don't-knows rather than offering them up sheepishly. I don't need to know everything because I know the things that matter most, and I am slowly figuring out the rest that matter a lot. There are certain opportunities in uncertainty and knowing this lets me consider.

I will pick a sandy beach over snowy mountains almost every time. The waves crashing, the tide receding, the sun rising (or setting) in the watery distance. Sailboats bobbing and salt in my hair and the ocean air filling my lungs. I love this feeling.

I want to be confident with my words, bona fide confidence.

My bookshelf: Morocco, Italy, reading, cooking, classics. Design, introversion, Audrey Hepburn, bee-keeping.

Life these days: alarm clocks and memos and photos and emails. Wool socks and honey lavender tea and sun salutations. Heart-to-hearts over indoor runs. A heating pad at the foot of my bed as my modern heated brick. Reading late into the night in bed with a flashlight to wind down my restless mind.

I use Oxford commas and the subjunctive tense. I jot notes in the margins of my books. In the future I see myself as one of those people who won't own a TV. Maybe a projector for watching movies. Or maybe my laptop will suffice.

I love driving in the rain. Not heavy, torrential rain with the windshield wipers flying haywire, but a steady rain. Those are rare in Utah and when it rains this kind of rain, I am so very very happy and it fills an ache I forget that I have for this small part of home on the east coast.



listening: Dark Matter - Andrew Belle, Unbelievers - Vampire Weekend, Billy Jean - the Civil Wars, the soundtrack from "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"

lately

My aunt and I were talking the other day about journals. I was saying how I go back and forth between whether a quotidian or a retrospective account is better (I decided I like both because the perspective and insight are different so there is value in each). My aunt told me how she discovered that she has a strange knack for finding lost journals, which has made her more cautious about the kinds of things she writes in her own (she did not divulge anyone's secrets but this was a hysterical conversation just the same).

I always like to think this blog is not a journal, and I still think that, but inevitably there is journal-like content in my sharing my thoughts and ideas and happenings in addition to the other things like quotes, and art and design inspiration. I guess I just mean all this as a preface to a particularly journal-like post. I've just felt lately that while I don't have major exciting breaking life news (as seemingly everyone demands at parties and grocery store run-ins and the like), life is good. Life is calm, and routine, and normal, and in all of that it is really, really good.

These are a few photos from the last several weeks that capture weathering this winter in P-town.


Adrienne and I created a Google doc of Christmastime activities at the beginning of December. Some of them we didn't get to (Thanksgiving was so late this year and Christmas/traveling home was here before we knew it!) but I loved that it gave us the continuity of tradition and helped make our December merry and bright.

With my sisters at their art show. And Lauren got into the photography program!!

My least favorite part of adulthood is car maintenance, particularly when it is snow-induced and scary. But all's well that ends well.

Christmas decorations at home and at work (and not pictured is a balsam fir candle... the best)
Erin and I live in one of the coldest rooms in the house so maybe sometimes she sleeps in her coat. Chilliness is a fact of life when the house is as old as ours and the only cold air return is located in the warmest room. But we are finding ways to manage (the rest of which do not include sleeping in absurd street-clothes).

Maybe we're regulars and maybe we're known as the VanDer-twerkens (which we find hilarious). But my sisters and I realized it's been so long since we've been regulars somewhere—the only other places I could think of were our favorite childhood ice cream parlor and bakery.

Christmas party preparations! 

packing for home—I made it with only a carry-on!


I'm thankful for Christmastime and holiday traditions, for work and exciting projects and developments, and for dear friends who make everything better by being around. I'm thankful for life and all of its adventures, and I'm thankful for the in-between moments that give definition and purpose in small yet meaningful ways not to be overlooked.

little moments.

This semester Tuesdays and Thursdays are my heavy days, so my weekends are truly a break. And I savor them, as they are filled with so many lovely little moments.

 •SLAB pizza with Emily and Melissa—delicious. I tried the caramelized onion, and the sweet-savory combination reminded me of this pizza.
•a letter from this girl. Whenever I see her familiar handwriting in purple ink, I can't help but smile.
•lots of laughs with my roommates
•an evening of swapping music suggestions with Layne. She has good taste, that girl. :)
•a wonderful missionary homecoming (one of the elders serving in Siena just got home!)

I hope your weekend was refreshing and relaxing!

and she says I'm the snob.

[a whispered conversation that took place in the HBLL]

"Do you know what that is?"
"What, the Forum?" [who do you think I am?]
"Do you know what it was used for?"
"Yes. Social and political functions, and trade."
"That's acceptable."

Oh, Emily. She thinks I don't know anything, just because she's writing a 12-page research paper on Augustan portraiture and I'm not.


In other news, M just sent me an email titled "lust and other such vices" regarding the most attractive boy that we see in the library all the time.

Happy Friday.

on: reading

This morning I was in the bookstore on campus doing two things I had no business doing: purchasing candy and browsing the bookshelves.

I only say that I had no business doing these things because I also had a test I needed to be studying for. As the test has since been studied for and taken, I don't regret those distracted minutes.

I have a thing for essays lately. It may have something to do with recently reading this book and my love for the NYTimes. As much of the news lately is related to American election politics (a topic which quickly overwhelms me), I end up perusing the Times design features or reading essays like this one.

And so this morning I stood in front of the shelves of essays in the bookstore, flipped through several collections, and added these two to my list of books to read. Despite the amount of reading I consistently have for school, I'm trying to continue reading for personal pleasure, because it is just that: a pleasure.

some happy things.

•getting enough sleep.

•a roll of Holga film from Europe. the last roll, actually, and those photos turned out splendidly. It's not that I am pining after Italy (well, maybe a little) but this delayed realization of creative expression brings me such joy.

•purchasing a copy of "Treasure Island." I have a very distinct memory from my childhood of my Aunt Julia reading "Treasure Island" aloud to me and my sisters on the sofa below the Pacific ocean painting in our living room. I made sure to buy a copy that featured a painting by NC Wyeth on the cover.

•great design features in the NYT regarding concepts and ideas that had come up in class just days before.

•a voicemail from my dad, who just called to say hello during his drive home from his Thursday night meetings.

•Italian. italian italian italian. School is so busy, but I don't know that I've ever loved it as much. "A me piace tanto la scuola domenicale!" (today's highlight)

•doing damage control after my uncle stole my phone to send obnoxious texts to one of my cousins. oh my hilarious.

•peanut butter nutella cookies. mamma mia.

creatures of habit



Tutto qui, un bel paesino, ogni di che non cambia mai. È così che la gente vive con semplicità.

Ecco il fornaio con il suo vassoio, lo stesso pane venderà.


In Siena, my friends and I were frequent customers at our favorite bakery near the Duomo, called Sclavi; I probably went there at least three times weekly as it was close to the studio and they had the most delicious breads which I often ate for lunch.

My last day in Siena, I walked slowly to the studio, savoring my last moments in the city. Walking up Via di Città, I saw one of the two women who worked in Sclavi (of course she recognized me, I laughed to myself) and we exchanged a happy "Buongiorno!" with one another as we passed in opposite directions. After leaving the studio in the afternoon, I stopped in Sclavi for one last piece of schiacciatina. Both women were there, and I told them I was leaving Siena, but that theirs had been my favorite bakery in the city. They were sorry to see me leave, but asked about where I'd be going—home, but by way of Paris and London. "Allora, un bel viaggio!"

I listened to this song the other day (Italian Disney music is an easy way to learn new Italian words, because the English words are familiar), and this memory came to mind. This song could easily be about Siena; they'd just have to add a line about the golden camera man.

everyday Siena.

some of the little sights and details I will miss the most about Siena:

• buildings with shutters and rooftop gardens
• Siena's streets
• stores closing for 2+ hours at lunchtime
• schiacciatina [with sunflower seeds], the best cracker bread of all time.
• the things we pass on the bus practically every day: the mint Fiat 500 parked on a hill, the "Supercasalinga" store, and the octopus sign for the fishmonger's shop Pescheria Vecchiarelli
• the choice [and by choice I mean strange] assortment of American music we hear on the radio in addition to Italian songs
• this view. pretty sunsets. those olive trees.

the best email I have received all day.

As my library coworkers will attest, we have many regulars at the HBLL. We are on a first name basis with some of them.

One such library patron was on a first name basis with Melissa, but she had no idea who he was or what she had initially helped him with. She pointed him out to me once, and I saw him in the library all the time after that. Almost every time I saw him, he was wearing a green collared shirt. Thus we gave him the nickname of 'Green Polo' since we didn't actually know his name.

Melissa just emailed me the following:


     Guess who is sitting at a table next to me? 

     GREEN POLO. 

     Guess what? 
     HE'S WEARING A GREEN POLO.


     My day just got so much better.

YES!! Mine did too.

sometimes i do really idiosyncratic things...

such as emailing myself my to-do list for tomorrow. because i know i'll see it & thus most likely remember the items on it, because i check my email 198624576 times a day... [which for all intents and purposes, *is* an exaggeration]


and buying flowers [mums that looks suspiciously like daisies, which is what i really wanted anyway...] at the grocery store...



or noticing that a whole bunch of clothes in my closet have been unintentionally grouped by color...



and last but certainly not least... photographing my breakfast [grapefruit & cranberry apple herbal tea] because then i will have a series of circular cuisine photos!
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