My carrot had a wart today.

But more on that later. I've found yet another amazing, beautiful, très incroyable place for Luke and I to celebrate our love in the company of family and friends...


Unfortunately, it is not in Washington... or California (not that California is really an option either). Sigh. Maybe we'll just have to visit the dolphins, turtles, and zebras at Cuixmala by ourselves.

Oh, also, the philosopher and I are officially done with French 102! Woot, woot! 103 starts up lundi.

gettin' jiggy with it

Speaking of weddings:

Coolest procession ever. Period.
{came across this here}

wonderful moving memories

One of the "wedding things" that I really, really, really want is to commission some cinemagraphic documentation of L and I's love celebration. L isn't totally convinced ... (yet). I'm still wishing. After all, anyone can take photos of the party but how many people can create an amazing moving window into the feel of day? I think in 20 years the thing we'll enjoy looking back on the most is the video. It is just more real than a photo can ever hope to be. Please, Luke, please, please, please!!

I'm pretty much set on Mind Castle Studios to do the documentary magic. They're great. Even though most of their work I've seen has showcased rather traditional weddings (which ours surely won't be), they are incredible. I have full confidence in their abilities. This is my favorite video so far (and if anyone knows what song that is playing, please let me know!):

Nathan + Jenna || SDE from Casey Warren | MIND CASTLE on Vimeo.

BTW: Isn't Jenna gorgeous?! She and Nathan are just so cute together! J'adore! I nearly cry every time I watch this and I don't even know them.

“I like it when a flower or a little tuft of grass grows through a crack in the concrete. It’s so fuckin’ heroic.”

- George Carlin {thanks Uncertain Grace!}

One of the things I love about Portland and Seattle is the fact that most roads and even highways are framed in green - - vines, trees, little tufts of grass peeking through concrete dividers. Green is everywhere and growing! Sometimes when I start to get borderline claustrophobic by the amount of asphalt and concrete around the city, I feel better knowing that the vines are growing longer day by day along the I-5 partitions. I also feel better knowing that times are changing; people are slowly starting to reclaim urban spaces in guerrilla gardening efforts. Wouldn't you just love to pass this sight on your way to work?

{photo from the Guerilla Gardening Homepage}

quiet confession

{photo found here}

I'm not sure how to say this but... I really kinda badly want some pet farm animals, like now. For the most part this isn't anything new. For years it has been true that with enough open space I'd find a (read: some) cute goats, cows, ducks, horses, ponies, maybe even pigs (starting with the smallest first, bien sûr). I don't want them for meat. Like my banker once said, I'm in it for the love. (And maybe a little milk.) What is so very, very new about my re-invigorated desire for an urban farm is that I'm really badly, crazily wanting ***gasp*** chickens too! OH my! Who am I? For the record, I have generally felt that chickens are the most disgusting creatures on earth. This has been my standard line for...umm...ever. "They smell, they're stupid, they're dirty. They are not cute - not even a little bit." But, I've kindof changed my mind. And I really, really want some.

I've been thinking about it and I've arrived at the following conclusions. First, my experience with chickens has all been at one of two places: the AG farm at Bowie (where the chickens were totally overcrowded with little room to move around and I had the terrible misfortune of seeing stupid high school boys break their necks) and the farm of one of my family's friends in the little town were I grew up "deep in the heart of Texas" (where, again, the chickens were overcrowded on dirt ground without much space to move around). It is no wonder I have had such negative associations with chickens! What I am dreaming of is soooo different than either of these scenarios. For one thing, I would have just a few, which would have names and the luxury of roaming around on grass. For another thing, I wouldn't be breaking their necks. Ever. Period. Nor would I be sadly witnessing such displays. To top it all off, the philosopher and I would be able to further reduce our carbon foot-prints, put more of our ethical beliefs into practice, enjoy fresh eggs, and get to happily watch the perplexed expressions on our kitties faces day in and day out. Bliss, right?

it is a simple equation...

I am thinking about that more than I am thinking about this.

lost in translation

{source}

Our party planning has been a little trying for the philosopher and myself over the last week - perhaps a bad sign as the fête is a year out. Each of us tends to feel that the other is difficult to plan with. And it is true from both perspectives. For example, today while floating across the Sound to have dinner with my family on Bainbridge I mentioned a great sale I recently came across on some fabulous cake stands. Unfortunately, since we don't yet know where we'll be celebrating it is a bit too early to invest in even the most beautiful cake stands ever. The philosopher's response? {An incredulous look that words cannot describe and} "The table is the cake stand". "What?" "The table is the cake stand." "I don't understand. What do you mean?" "The TABLE is the cake stand." "But, you have to put the cake on something." "Yes, the table."

In short, he thinks the very concept of a cake stand is ridiculous, much less the cake-collage I'm dreaming of. And he may be right. The thing is, I kind of agree with Camus: All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning.

Tumblr Lovin'

I am pretty hooked on Tumblr. No joke. But I've got to say, it can be quite annoying sometimes because I've found that some tumblr-ers just reblog everything they come across. Now, I'm all for reblogging. I mean, nothing is really unique or new or one of a kind on the internet. It has all been posted, raved about, ranted about, and seen before. We are all borrowing from other borrowers... one big simulacrum. However, there are times when I feel like it crosses some sort of invisible (and albeit highly relative) line. There is one tumblr-er that goes by the name of sweethomestyle that inspires oxymoronic feelings of irritation and awe on a daily basis. On the one hand, I've come across some beautiful, funky, unusual, and plain cool photos from their feed. On the other hand, I can count on ONE HAND the number of "original" posts. What do I mean by "original"? Well... posts that are not reblogged from one of oh, maybe 3, different tumblr-ers. They love to reblog from architectureblog and maluna especially. (I say "they" because I'm pretty sure there is more than just one pirate keeping sweethomestyle afloat.) To be fair, there is some cross pollination going on between the three. But, on the whole I've seen the sweet spot borrow quite a few more than the others. I don't know. Should it bother me? I guess it doesn't really matter. But somehow it just seems... well... like deceitful pirating, if such a thing is possible.

It feels like Friday...

...and I am dreaming of library campouts and living room sailing.

{source 1 and source 2}

learning french with Eddie Izzard

hunting

So umm it is hard to find a great place to celebrate our marriage. Luke and I were pretty much set on the Lake (for oh so many reasons) until:

1. we could no longer deny the **possibility** that it might (gasp) rain on our oh-so-anticipated-parade and 2. we found out certain family members were a little uncomfortable with the prospect.

Boo. The lake isn't OUT but we do have to really weigh our options at this point. At the very least we need a plan b. {Seattle weather doesn't have a good track record for sunshine.} But then what exactly are our options... the ones we are supposed to be weighing?


The Alexis Hotel is nice... I love exposed brick and it isn't a long drive for guests in Seattle. But the food minimums are high, the space is rather small, and ... well... what is there for people to do? Eat. Dance. Eat. Talk. Eat. Dance. Eh.

(although I wouldn't go with those table cloths...)

The Great Hall at Union Station is majestic but requires a down payment on a home for JUST the rental and food. Never mind flowers, clothes, chairs, invitations, music, decorations, etc...Where else? There are some nice restaurants in town and some sweet farms outside of town. None of them really feel right though and all are quite pricey. It is hard to pay so much for a place that is just so-so. AND, by the way, it is not exactly that a wedding at the lake would be much cheaper - - there is only so much wedding money and believe me it will probably all get circulated. However, a wedding at the lake allows us to do much more with our money - - on our terms. No required caterer and the like.

I really wish we could get married and celebrate here:

at the Pelican Hill Resort in Southern California.

or here...

at The Grand Del Mar in San Diego

With an alfresco dinner and party with a view...

Isn't it beautiful?

Seattle has nothing on these gorgeous places. AND, they are cheaper! AND, they would make for an unforgettable, amazing memory for our families and friends. AND, the unpredictability of weather patterns would no longer haunt my would-be-blissful dreams.

At first I was against a "destination wedding" for several reasons. First of all it would inevitably have a larger carbon footprint than a local wedding. There is no getting around it - even if Southern California is "close by". Secondly, it would be an expense for our guests. While most of my family lives out of state, most of Luke's live in the area. So we would be forcing many more people to decide between our celebration and their pocketbooks.

What motivated my change of heart? Well, when the philosopher's sister (who has NO money) happily shelled out the dough to fly across the country for one of her friends wedding recently I realized that the people who really want to be there will be - - especially if they have a year to plan and save. As for the environmental toll, there really is no way to cancel it out. However, we can contribute to programs that "offset" the carbon footprint of our guest's flights. In our day to day lives the philosopher and I are rather eco-conscious. This is *hopefully* a once in a lifetime celebration for us and it is not as though we would be initiating a new travel-oriented tradition to be repeated year after year. I know these are not ways to justify the ecological cost but I do think they are relevant. I don't think it makes us bad people to have one party at a place less than 15oo miles away.

The philosopher disagrees. So I guess it is all a moot point. Just a wish.

ccheeecckkkk it out.

{click here}

...I would have embedded it... but the code is unavailable. :(

a reality principle of sorts

It is true. Sometimes there is nothing harder than being happy for somebody else. This totally explains how I've been feeling lately... or at least part of what I've been feeling. Know what I mean?

oh my! hello again!

{image found here}

Eeek! Where has the time flown?
In the last week I have:
taken two quizzes and a final for french 101
witnessed pirates landing on Alki Beach with a very tired little boy
eaten popcorn...dreamed of cupcakes
worked on wedding invitations
visited the ferry four times
gone for a few long walks, cramming vocab along the way
gone to Lake Goodwin on a rainy day
watched Ice Age 3 in 3D
eaten fries at Red Robin
gone on a few emotional roller coasters
watched Good Will Hunting, cuddling with my philosopher
my tumblarity has gone from 98 to 2
and... well... I have learned that
I NEED TO TAKE MORE PICTURES.

Special Company

The last time I got to spend time with Kay and Kaleb here in the beautiful pacific northwest we took a road trip up to Canada. Kaleb still needed a car seat and we were busy prodding his words. In a few minutes I'm headed to the airport to pick them up again. I have a feeling things will be a little bit different this time around.

now. please. now.

{photo found here}

I'm a one marshmallow kind of person most of the time. But, well... that might require an explanation. Ok. So my mom has this story that she loves to tell about her days at the University of Texas. There was a social experiment of sorts underway while she was there involving people - - mostly kids - - and marshmallows. Basically it went like this: the person/kid comes into a room that has hidden cameras. They chit chat with one of the experimenters for a few minutes. Then, the administrator tells the kid, "I've got to go to the other room for a little while. Here is a marshmallow. You can eat it any time you like but if you save it until I get back I'll give you another one". They did this with lots of people taping the mental ease or agony with which they decided to either eat or save their first marshmallow. Now, I don't actually like marshmallows unless they're in hot coca. But, metaphorically speaking, I am a one marshmallow kind of person; most of the time I go for instant gratification. Which is why I experience heightened frustration and irritation when waiting, waiting, waiting for things to come or people to respond. Like... uh... right now. Waiting, waiting, waiting for about 10 people to get back to me via telephone or email. I know. I should relax. Chill out. But it really bothers me and is très distracting. Every 3 minutes clicking the entourage icon; every 30 minutes checking my phone... thinking about calling yet again. The way I see it, life is for living and marshmallows don't float solo. More will come. No need to put 'em off for another day; they don't have to be in short supply.

So. If you're one of the 10 or so people I'm waiting on, please get your shit together and get back to me. Now pleeeeaaasssseee. You know who you are.

reduce, reuse, recycle, or how to be a successful academic part two

{found at phdcomics}

I love PHD Comics. There are so many good ones.
And, by good I mean painfully accurate.
Luckily, I haven't had to many bad experiences with professors
and I'm not in the hard sciences. So there are many that don't apply.
Still. Some of them just about take my breath away.
Take notes.

like whoa.

{photo found here}

This is my mind
this morning especially.
Crowded, confusing, chaotic.
Too much going on at once.

gift guide for (real and) imaginary children

{image ffffound here via tumblr}

I love reading the blog Peanut Petunia partly because it is always brimming with decorating inspiration but also because every so often it reminds me that I'm not the only one that thinks about, plans for, dreams about, and shops for my imaginary child. As much as I miss my nephews and nieces down in Texas (and boy do I), I would be absolutely broke if they lived near me. Kids books are probably a primary weakness but there are oh so many other lovely little doo-dats and whatsits for tots these days to saturate my attention.

like these play and freeze ice cream makers

rockabye baby albums


sckoon organics cloth diapers & onesies

haba swings and seats

wee gallery art cardsmoses baskets
radio flyer wagons and wheel barrows
classic blocks and, of course, fantasy blocks

Je suis très cultivée.

{from here}

I came home from class yesterday to a UPS man at the gate.
He had a nice little package from Amazon with my name on it.
I'll admit, it makes this whole test-every-other-day arrangement
much more bearable when my weekly routine is punctuated by
special packages, jamba juice, and sunny afternoons.

Also, as I've gotten into quite the foreign-language-kids-books-kick
I've been remembering the books in Spanish I read back in high school.
There are quite a few good ones cheaply available here in the US.
I think {this} might be my favorite.
But I love {this one} and {this one} and {this one} too!

Honestly, I think it is only a matter of time before the market
for kids books in foreign languages greatly expands.
After all, every one knows that
the best time to learn languages is during childhood.
Wouldn't it be great if kindergarten classrooms across the country
had story time in English, Spanish, French, Chinese, etc...?