Pink of Perfection

image via muffet

Last week was not the stuff the good life is made of. Bogged down with melting snow and a bout of laryngitis that went from bearable to bad, I somehow lost my way. And I know you know what I mean: the days when everything loses its luster. Sadly, all the stuff that got you fired up about life is still there, it’s just not resonating with you in the same way. You slog through each day with no spark.

Well, I spent the weekend petting puppies and getting pep talks from a close friend, going to bed early, and drinking lots of Throat Comfort tea. And now Monday feels like a real fresh start. I’m not saying that I woke up feeling that the world was fresh and new and full of potential, but I’m actively reminding myself that it is.

And that’s what’s so glorious about spring. Just as you are starting to lose hope, the sunlight starts stretching past 5pm and the air warms up enough that you open the windows. It’s the natural cycle of things to at times have to turn it and rebuild before you can be renewed. I see a bouquet of daffodils in my future.

What’s your favorite thing about spring? Do you feel yourself wanting to take on shelved projects with a renewed sense of vigor? Do you, too, find yourself wanting a puppy?

I’ve been having one of those blah weeks. Know that feeling? There’s nothing actually wrong — in fact, besides a scratchy throat that makes me sound at turns like Kathleen Turner, everything’s going quite well — but there’s something that I just can’t put my finger on. Maybe it’s this last leg of winter gray or that I need a shot in the arm of get-out-of-town or learn-something-new excitement. Whatever it is, there it is. In fact, just saying it out loud feels like I’ve thrown the ballasts overboard. It’s out there now, hopefully sinking to the bottom of the dark oceanic depths from which it came. Now maybe something fabulous can come and take its place.

This isn’t the kind of psychic ennui that can be undone with a fantastic dinner, but if it were, this recipe would be the cure. I’m filing this one away in the “quick and easy but in line with my fantasy vision of myself” folder. I have always thought of the recipes in How to Cook Everything as little more than utilitarian; this, however, is simple but otherworldly. You pop the sliced potatoes and onions in the oven with nothing more than a bit of olive oil, turning them every 10 minutes until the onions turn languorous and the potatoes become golden and crisp in patches. They you lay the fish on top, drizzle a bit of olive oil over the fillets, and in 8-12 more minutes you have a supper that is wonderously simple but perfect in every way: lush with flavor, and easy but refined, like a woman with a very expensive haircut who wears it in a just-rolled-out-of-bed sort of fashion.

Continue reading “Roast Cod with Potatoes and Onions” »

my new book club book

Sonia Rykiel knits for H&M

cheap reflexology

photo via scaredykat

lobsters on sale!

a Scandinavian-themed dinner party

Chinese New Year (year of the tiger!)

a retro-friendly weekend getaway

and what’s got you excited in this cold, dark month of february?

photo via stefski

Aimless Love

This morning as I walked along the lakeshore,
I fell in love with a wren
and later in the day with a mouse
the cat had dropped under the dining room table.

In the shadows of an autumn evening,
I fell for a seamstress
still at her machine in the tailor’s window,
and later for a bowl of broth,
steam rising like smoke from a naval battle.

This is the best kind of love, I thought,
without recompense, without gifts,
or unkind words, without suspicion,
or silence on the telephone.

The love of the chestnut,
the jazz cap and one hand on the wheel.

No lust, no slam of the door –
the love of the miniature orange tree,
the clean white shirt, the hot evening shower,
the highway that cuts across Florida.

No waiting, no huffiness, or rancor –
just a twinge every now and then

for the wren who had built her nest
on a low branch overhanging the water
and for the dead mouse,
still dressed in its light brown suit.

But my heart is always propped up
in a field on its tripod,
ready for the next arrow.

After I carried the mouse by the tail
to a pile of leaves in the woods,
I found myself standing at the bathroom sink
gazing down affectionately at the soap,

so patient and soluble,
so at home in its pale green soap dish.
I could feel myself falling again
as I felt its turning in my wet hands
and caught the scent of lavender and stone.

– Billy Collins

image via LIFE

This is the time of year in which homebodies are at their peak. The weather outside is frightful and if you really want to, you can use it as an excuse to get out of just about anything. Snowing? I don’t think I can make it to that event after all. Bitterly cold? I might be coming down with something and wouldn’t want to make it worse. Then you can stay on the couch in your comfy pants, watching dvds and feeling snug as a bug in a rug. And is there a problem with this?

Lately I’ve been thinking of my homebody ways. I live in a really vibrant city, one in which there is a fabric store that deeply delights me, 100-year-old butcher shops run by men in sharp paper hats, and the kind of imaginative home design and clothing boutiques that can inspire great ideas. But I would rather not brave the elements, schlep to the subway, and battle shoppers in SoHo. I would rather, from the comfort of my silk bathrobe, order things online and have them delivered to my door. Is this being a homebody? Or profoundly lazy?

Continue reading “The Homebody Season” »

image via etsy

There are certain core teachings that can forever shift the way you see the world. “Joy is within you” is one of them. Even if you hear it in purely psychophysical terms, if you really hear it, it’s going to help you recognize one of the most empowering truths there is: It is actually possible to feel happy regardless of how the world is treating you, or how horrible your childhood was, or the fact that all of your friends are more successful than you are. You can even, this teaching implies, be happy when you’re failing at something or when you’re sick.

The process of cultivating joy could look something like this. It begins with the simple understanding that joy is real, and then continues with the decision to tune your mind and heart so they are open enough to feel it. — Sally Kempton, Yoga Journal

To put it quite simply, I am in love with this book. For anyone who has wanted to sit at the knees of women older and wiser and cull time-tested knowledge of how to live with savoir faire, How to Sew a Button is your charming, funny, can-do guide. Erin Bried traveled the country interviewing grandmothers so that we could all be armed with Girl Scout-ish know-how whether we are suddenly asked to waltz at a ball (would that this particular situation cropped up more often) or are charged with building a roaring fire on our next camp out. This book offers up the curriculum we might have gleaned had home ec not been ushered out of the school systems, but in the infinitely more appealing form of a whimsically diagrammed text written by a woman you wish were your best friend. Random House is giving away a copy to one lucky Pink of Perfection winner. To enter to win, leave a comment about your most valued how-to skill by Friday, January 15, midnight EST. Sorry, but only US mailing addresses may enter.

Update 1/19: Congrats to KBG in DC! And thank you to everyone who left a comment to enter — what a skilled bunch you all are!

Originally, I meant to score one of the very cheap calendars at Muji and add a bit of rick rack trim to give it more personality. But when I finally made it to the store of Japanese minimalism and thrift on the 11th of the new year, there were no more planners to be had. “We sold out very fast this year.” Yes, I see that. But you see, my life needs planning, and I’m nothing if not a jotter: I scribble down each dollar I spend, appointments I have, assignments to complete, exhibits on the horizon, movies to add to my Netflix queue, ideas that strike when I’m falling asleep. Without a planner to scrawl all this in, I’m like a cowboy without a horse — utterly lost and not all that effective.

Rather than going to another store and plunking down more cash than I had initially intended to spend, I bought a plain notebook of graph paper for $1. How hard can it be to make a planner out of blank paper? Turns out it’s not hard at all, though it does take patience and a straight-edge. The reason, in fact, that today’s post is appearing so late in the day is that I have been steadily drawing lines and stamping out dates, creating order and delineation out of blank pages. This also gave me the perfect opportunity to catch up on this week’s The Bachelor. Nothing quite like crafting to cheesy entertainment!

Sometimes life buzzes along with so much excitement and celebration that the idea of sitting down to the sort of slow, methodical work that requires little more than counting and a steady hand is a welcome respite. Today, this was just what I needed. And now finally, twelve days into this new year, I feel equipped to take on the days.