Day ninety-one - I love...a small jungle

I seem to have a mini wildlife preserve in my back yard.

There are several trees I don't know the names of, an evergreen, a honeysuckle bush or two, bamboo, and a magnolia in the yard across the alley.

every morning I wake to the sound of birds chirping.

I've seen blue jays, cardinals, robins, finches, blackbirds.

there are half a million squirrels, at least two cats, and bunnies who live in the bracken in yard next door.

I've learned that nobody likes tomatoes. but these creatures will eat the crap out of butter lettuce and radicchio.

and mushrooms. someone loves the mushroom stems.

and...the sunlight in the afternoon is absolutely incredible...makes me want to get out my camera, but I'm usually so enthralled by my little nature preserve that I can hardly tear myself away long enough to go get my camera.

Day ninety - I love...this face

The other day when I was going through old photos...tripping down nostalgia lane...I found that I had scanned one of my absolute, most amazing, favourite pictures of my boy when he was just a wee pint:

Day eighty-nine - I love...comic relief

I have this on my wall at work.  It pretty much makes me giggle in half every time I look at it:

Day eighty-eight - I love...long-time friends

I was looking for a photo of my son this evening.

photos. nostalgia.

I came across a photo of me with two of my friends from California. taken nearly 20 years ago.

Me. Coley. Jillian.

I've known Coley since I was 10. and Jill since I was 12 or 13. that might be a lie...I may have met her when I was 10 as well. 

Somehow, we've always kept in touch. and the three of us move. a lot!

Me. Coley. Jillie Bean. circa 1993

Day eighty-seven - I love...laughing and giggling

My friend Kathi and I used to giggle so much that our boss would walk down the hall to our office, and quietly shut the door, because our laughter would echo all the way down the hall and to the other end of the building. 

A few years ago, on a visit to Seattle, Kathi presented me with a little box of gifts. she was chuckling as she brought it to me. and as I opened it and withdrew the first prezzie, I started to laugh too.  It was a rectangular block of wood with one word on it:

Giggle

Kathi and I have had a kazajillion laughs together. Anna too. the three of us together form our own little circle of laughter. like a big laughter bubble that surrounds the us. Even when things get serious, Kathi, Anna and I have always been able to find a way to laugh at the sad, the frustrating, the painful. Laughter IS the best medicine. Many an afternoon resulted in sore ribs from so much laughter...tears streaming down our cheeks...

The "Giggle" block is on my book shelf in my living room. I see it every day. it makes me smile. and it reminds me of all the funny moments I have shared with my lovely friends. My Giggle block is a bit magical to me - conjuring up a different memory each time I look at it. like little sprinkles of pixie dust. 

Day eighty-six - I love..."a me mannequin"

This made me giggle my ass right off today. 

many thanks to The Bloggess for directing me there.

Day eighty-five - I love...these boys

I woke up around 2am and noticed my phone blinking...my longest bff had sent me a text.

of this:

That's my favourite person there, with the dark curly hair. My handsome young man. My baby (who is closing in on 16!) Riley.

He and the fabulous Odie-O are doing some sort of figuring...not sure what...but it's precious and adorable to me.  There are several pictures like this, Ri reading a book to O when he was a baby. Ri tickle-torturing O. They are great friends. cousins, though not by blood.

We, the mama's, have known one another since age 3. She has always been "Auntie" to my boy, and the first time she referred to me as "Auntie Karen" to O, I melted a bit.

I love these boys. I love this sweet photo. 

Day eighty-four - I love...driftwood

Mukilteo, WA - August 2007

Mukilteo, WA - August 2007

Edmonds, WA - Marina Park - August 2008

Seattle, WA - Carkeek Park - September 2010

Seattle, WA - Carkeek Park - September 2010

Port Townsend, WA - September 2010

Edmonds, WA - Picnic Point - November 2010

Edmonds, WA - Picnic Point - November 2010

Day eighty-three - I love...Sue & Jane

I met Sue when Jane was just 7 months old, when we were both living in Southern California.  we became fast friends.

a few months after we met I moved back to Seattle. and a few months after that Sue called to say she was moving to Seattle and needed a nanny.

So I became Jane's nanny for a time.

Sue and I have both moved several times in the past 16 or so years. but we've always kept in touch. We've had many opportunities to get together for a few days here and there. catch up. and watch each other's children grow into fabulous young human beings.

About two weeks ago, my beloved friend Sue lost her precious best friend brother to a sudden heart attack. My heart broke in half.

Life is fragile.

but the people we love are always the people we love. whether here, gone, moved away, lost touch.

love is the amazing thing that keeps us bound to one another.

Sue. Jane. I love you. 

Day eighty-two - I love...this quote

it's one of my very best most favourites...(among all my other favourites.)

My mother always teases me. a song comes on and I exclaim...THIS IS MY FAVOURITE SONG!

What? I have a lot of favourites.

so here is one of my favourite quotes:

If I love you, it must be because we have shared at some time the same imaginings, the same madness, the same stage.  ~ Anais Nin

Day eighty-one - I love...Kentucky

It sounds funny to people who've never been here...

but this place is more "home" to me than any place I've ever lived.

I love this city...Louisville...I love this state. I love the scenery, the vibe, the people. 

it's perfect. it fits me. and I am the happiest I've ever been when I am driving through the gorgeous countryside. rivers. trees. valleys. horse farms. tobacco fields. old barns.

and I'm not the only one. I have friends who have moved here after years of living in other states and this is the first place that felt like "home" to them as well.

Louisville is my place.

Day eighty - I love...naps

Sunday used to be my nap day.

I would take three and four hour naps nearly every Sunday. Three or four hours actually counts as almost a full night's sleep....especially for someone like me who usually only sleeps four to six hours a night anyway...but we're going with nap on this.

The thing is, I tend bar every Sunday now...long full days...I go in for about 10am to settle the paperwork from Saturday, open the bar for 1pm...night bartender comes on at 8p, then I do my closing paperwork, have a beer and head home around 9:30 or so. It's a long day...one that does not allow time for a catnap, much less a three or four hour snooze.

So naps have become more precious. coveted. 

Some evenings I get home from my Monday-Friday job at the radio station, glance over at my bed and my lovely little pillow and hear them whisper "come nap..."

and I'm like, OKAY!

Tonight was one of those nights. 

and I loved it.

Naps are wonderful.

Day seventy-nine - I love...bursting blossoms

yes...more spring stuff.

I have been watching the tulips in my yard for weeks now. 

the leaves have been taunting me...

and this morning...two buds! two little buds just inching toward the sunlight.

one of the things that has been so intriguing is the simple surprise of them. we just moved in about a month ago...so we didn't plant anything.  didn't even know there were tulips hiding under the ground.

once I saw the leaves coming up I started getting excited.  we have tulips! 

but the colour was still an excruciating anticipation.

this afternoon...the first one began to open!

I told her I was proud of her. 

Day seventy-eight - I love...waking up to the sounds of Spring

I know I've been posting various Spring-y things lately...but I can't help it. I love Spring.

It's perfectly awesome to fall asleep with the windows open. to wake up to chirping birds and spring storms and the scent of blossoms on the wind.

everything is blooming. the air is absolutely thick with flower-scent...Forsythia. red buds. snowball trees. tulip trees. my gawd! the air smells so amazing!

there are three different kinds of purple things blooming in my back yard. no clue what they are, but they're lovely. Daffodils cover the front yard next door. I'm still waiting on the lazy tulips in my yard...still no flowers, but I'm patient.

Day seventy-seven - I love...kids saying the darndest things

This morning, I received quite possibly the most hysterical text in the history. of. ever!

The story goes like this:

My friend Sarah and her kids were eating breakfast and getting ready for school Friday morning, when a commercial came on the television - trapeze flying, stunts - and the announcer said, "IT'S THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH!"

To which Cheese (our nickname for her six year old daughter) says in a sweet, but incredibly excited voice, "IT'S THE FUCKING CIRCUS!"

She then proceeds to run a lap around the house yelling to her grandmother, "GRAMMA! THE FUCKING CIRCUS IS COMING!"

I laughed so hard there were tears streaming down my face. I couldn't breathe.

Needless to say...Sarah bought tickets to the circus. I mean, really, you can't say no to that kind of enthusiasm.

Day seventy-six - I love...open windows

I love the breeze currently wafting through my windows.

so amazing!

made even sweeter by the fact that I spent eight dreadful months in an apartment where the windows wouldn't open.  thereby adding to that trapped feeling. and no fresh air!

I love fresh air too much to ever again rent a place before finding out if the windows will open.

Stella also loves the open windows. and is currently sitting on the sill...little nose twitching at the breeze, ears perked at the sound of the birds...and now running away to find a different window which does not look out on the noisy child in the street who keeps startling her every time he yells.

~shrug~ everything can't possibly be perfect all at once.

Day seventy-five - I love...a challenge

I absolutely love it when someone says to me: "you can't do that."

because my response is always...

"Watch me!"

Day seventy-four - I love...Spring!

everything is blooming!

which is hell on my allergies, but absolute bliss to my senses anyway.

the assault of colour and scent is completely divine.

The tulips are about to pop...there are daffodils everywhere...the trees all have tiny buds and blossoms...flowering trees are in full flower mode.

it is gloriously beautiful!

and the temperature is currently reading 81 degrees. 

Lush! 

Day seventy-three - I love...musicals

Tonight...we went to see the Broadway production of Mary Poppins.

I don't think I can even begin to explain how spectacular phenomenal amazing this show was!

It was fluid, solid...practically perfect in every way.

The sets were flawless. the colours were ridiculously vibrant. the adaptations of the songs were awesome.

I laughed out loud several times. I got chills more than once.

It was one of those productions that effortlessly draws you in and makes you a part of the show, so that by the time they perform the last number, you feel as though you are saying au revoir to old friends. 

Tonight, I believe I will dream of flying nanny's, magical parks, dancing statues and chimney sweeps.

Day seventy-two - I love...kitty paws

There's something very precious about kitty paws.

especially when my sweet Stella plops down next to me on the couch, in all her furry, purry glory, and gently places her paw on my arm.

hi.

it melts me a wee bit.

Day seventy-one - I love...connection

"Recognize that the very molecules that make up your body, the atoms that construct the molecules, are traceable to the crucibles that were once the centers of high mass stars that exploded their chemically rich guts into the galaxy, enriching pristine gas clouds with the chemistry of life. So that we are all connected to each other biologically, to the earth chemically and to the rest of the universe atomically. That’s kinda cool! That makes me smile and I actually feel quite large at the end of that. It’s not that we are better than the universe, we are part of the universe. We are in the universe and the universe is in us.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson

reminds me of Moby's lyrics - We are all made of stars.

kind of lovely to think about...that connection. 

Day seventy - I love...ideas. creativity. desire.

I just celebrated my 39th birthday.

I'm not one of those women who freaks out and refuses to tell my age. it's mine. why not share it.

but this post really has nothing to do with my birthday, it has to do with the 39 years I've been walking, living, laughing, loving, breathing, creating, inspiring, desiring...on this earth.

In thirty-nine years...well, let's say 36...because my first real memory is from age three...so in the 36 years of memory...I have met only a small handful of people who have said to me...

they desire nothing.

they desire nothing, in the way that they don't dream big. they have no aspirations. no inspiration. no dreams of something bigger, better, more fantastic for their lives. no ambition.

This makes me so sad.

I have always been a dreamer. a thinker. an idea-er. it's not to say that I haven't had muddling days here and there. some that last longer than just a day. writer's block. lack of inspiration.

but even on my darkest days...there is always the slightest glimmer of the next idea, the next desire, the next creation.

I can't fathom not wanting anything. I can't imagine not having dreams. I can't imagine not being creative.

and it's a bit like a dagger to my heart to hear another human being say...I've never had big dreams. I've never really even had small dreams. I have no ambition to move forward.

and so while it makes me sad that there would be humans who don't have any goals, dreams, aspirations...I am happy that is not my lot.

and I would hope...that something would inspire those who do not dream...and give them that ambition.

because a life without creativity and dreams, seems...just a little bit lonely to me.

Day sixty-nine - I love...The MM Kitchen

I am absolutely IN LOVE with the kitchen at the Maker's Mark Distillery. 

When we first looked came to view what is now our apartment, one of the things that sealed it for me was the fact that the kitchen is just a darker shade of the blue in the MM kitchen. and I already have the red kitchen gear...

so I was ridiculously excited to get to have my own little Maker's Mark Kitchen!

Yesterday, for my birthday, my sweetheart bought me a giant bottle of Maker's Mark.

so now I have a beautiful bottle of Maker's. in my "Maker's Blue" kitchen.

and this makes me supremely giddy. 

Day sixty-eight - I love...birthday tattoos *UPDATED*

Today is my birthday.

and I'm getting a new tattoo.

there will be an update. :)

UPDATED:
my sweetheart decided to take photos during the process...so here we are...a little photo montage of my tattoo in process.  Me, and the lovely Zanna. 

Day sixty-seven - I love...this PSA

Our sales team took part in a creative seminar today. It was probably the best seminar I've ever attended.

Our speaker, Yaman Coskun, was one of the most engaging people ever. funny, bright, informative.

He showed us several different ads in the process of discussing creativity, breaking out of the basic advertising mould, and thinking outside the box.

This PSA was one of the things he showed us...it just might be the BEST thing I've ever seen!

which makes me weep even though I've seen it several times already.

so I cam home, and showed the PSA to my sweetheart, and then he showed me this...and oh my gawd! I'm in love with this one too!

Day sixty-six - I love...four seasons

One of my personal favourites from my poetry collection Three Thousand Doors:

Four Seasons

I should take the time to

go back to California in the spring...

the orange groves

full of intoxicating 

citrus blossoms

the air laced

with warm promise.

I should make a point to

be in Washington in autumn...

walk through the orchards

at picking time, 

the heady scent of apples

hanging in the air like ornaments.

I should go back to

New Orleans in the summer...

Sultry mists form a steamy shawl

wrapped 'round my arms, 

and warm wind settles in

among the swamps, 

hangs softly; drips

like Spanish moss.

I should be in Kentucky

in the winter...

where snowflakes fat as fists

fall softly from the sky

creating mounds of white divinity

to be razed by tentative footprints.

Day sixty-five - I love...another song by Fun

I am a wee bit in love with this band. Nate Reuss...lead singer...has an incredible voice that simply reaches through my skin and grabs hold of my heart in a way few singers can. His voice moves me and evokes emotion as few do...moves me like the sound of the cello...

This song is lovely...but especially these lyrics:

If you're lost and alone
Or you're sinking like a stone
Carry on
May your past be the sound
Of your feet upon the ground
Carry on

Day sixty-four - I love...unpacking

My home is nearly all settled now.

I unpacked all but one box yesterday, a box of sweaters...it can wait until Monday. 

It looks like a home. instead of a storage unit.

This is huge, as I spent the last eight months with several things still boxed up and pushed against a wall in the second bedroom at the dungeon. (the dungeon is how I refer to the crap basement apartment we moved into last July.)

I still have a bunch of things stored in Texas...and I hope to get there soon to retrieve all those goodies, but for now...everything is unpacked, has a place, and feels comfortable and home-ish to me.

Unpacking boxes is like opening gifts on Christmas. Little surprises. "ooh I forgot I had that" moments.

It's quite happy-making.

Day sixty-three - I love...my bathtub

It's not that it's a spectacular bathtub.

It's not the big, beautiful clawfoot tub I had in an old apartment. It's not a whirlpool.

but after a year and a half of only having the option of a shower stall...it is a glorious thing.

I love taking baths.  I love grabbing a book, a glass of wine and sinking into warm water.

it is bliss.

and I finally have a tub again.

which makes me fairly giddy.

Day sixty-two - I love...this photo

These are my kitties.

sitting in the bathroom window.

Stella and Gypsy.  Stella is on the right. Gypsy is on the left.

my sweetheart took this photo yesterday and sent it to me.

I love that the photo looks like a painting. 

I love that my kitties are now able to be sit in a window - look outside - watch the birds and squirrels on the lawn.

but it cracks me up that my sweet, beautiful Stella often looks so pissed off in photos. 

Day sixty-one - I love...trees (part two)

several days ago I was searching for pictures of one of my favourite trees...the Baobab.

I don't know why I love this tree so much. I've never been to Madagascar, nor Australia...I've only ever seen them in pictures...but I've always loved them.

they are amazing. ginormous. healing. spiritual. fantastical.

and! a little while back I wrote about my dreams of living inside a tree...

while looking at pictures, I came across this glorious little bit of brilliance!

it's a bar...INSIDE a tree! oh my goodness! it's like a dream come true!

I could live inside a Baobab tree!

I just need to move to Madagascar.

or Australia.

simple, right?