I know it snowed yesterday up much of the East Coast (including my future grad school home! Good morning, Berkshires!), and it didn’t here, but I, in all my benevolent wisdom, didn’t think that precluded a little whining. With temperatures in the high 40’s since the official start of the season and, even more damningly, a persistently gray sky, it’s been hard to catch onto spring fever. I want that weird February heat wave back!
Today, sunny and in the mid-50s, is a nice change of pace. I do mean that literally: going for a walk instead of curling up in our (admittedly, addictively fuzzy) couch throw. And in the interest of staying as sunny as the weather outside — and sharing the love — here’s what’s been keeping me chipper during the overcast, sputtering start to spring:
— A friend from high school and fellow Midwestern transplant recommended the online monthly Matchbook Mag to me on Wednesday, and I am officially addicted to it. It is the very definition of lovely. I couldn’t have been more flattered when this friend also attached the compliment, “I think of you every time I read it.”
— A beautiful essay on my favorite city, chock full of patisserie recommendations and neighborhood insight, that has me even more excited to return in (count ’em!) forty days. And forty nights.
— Three (three!) of my friends got engaged in the last month, and their excitement over all things romantic has proven contagious. I’ve found myself clicking over to BHLDN, Anthropologie’s new wedding line, and Green Wedding Shoes, a photography blog, rather accidentally and with unseemly regularity. Marriage is a ways off for me, but looking all those lacey, gorgeous things people dream up with chiffon and wildflowers? I’m into that. I’m all about advising knowledgeably.
— A totally tempting recipe for at-home fruit leather that’s getting an audition tomorrow. I think this is one of those “You know you’re a Midwesterner, when…” things, no? Who else makes their own fruit leather?
— Confession: when I was in grade school, I was obsessed with the Sweet Valley books. Sweet Valley Kids. Sweet Valley Twins. Sweet Valley Junior High. Sweet Valley High. I read all of them. I still have a signed copy of The Case of the Alien Princess which is, in case you didn’t know, a Super Snooper Edition of Sweet Valley Kids. In retrospect, it’s amazing I didn’t develop a complex about not being a blonde-haired, blue-eyed member of the Unicorn Club, but perfectly understandable that I have pined for a twin my entire life (even though we’d both be an Elizabeth, who is obviously the better twin). Which is all a long-winded way of saying that there is a new Sweet Valley book and it will be mine.
— Even though the clouds suggest otherwise, warmer temperatures are on their way in, which means the return of my favorite cocktail. I make it with one part gin, one part Pimm’s, three parts lemonade, and fill the remainder of the glass with 7-Up and ice. And float some cucumber slices on top. It’s the best.
— I listened to Adele’s new album nonstop when I was in London. It’s a hard habit to break, even though I’m a little afraid listening to it it here will overwrite my memory of strolling around Trafalgar Square, hatted and chilly, with this as my soundtrack. The other downside: she makes singing look too easy. I start to think I can do it, too. And that’s a scary thought.
Hope you’re having a terrific Saturday!
iowasthinking 