Today was the strangest day, with a misty rain that wasn’t cold, and a sky that wasn’t dark.  You would barely get wet after standing outside for 5 minutes and yet it still smelled like rain and my garden had puddles and the sky was speckled with thick rain drops.  I always feel cleansed when rain falls, especially considering the harsh fire season at the end of the summer.  I imagine the Earth just drinking up the water and loving every second of it.  …And typing that just made me really thirsty.

But my lilies bloomed!

We celebrated our third anniversary with some Prosecco (from Bryan’s uncle David and cousin Cole) and took care of Pearl after she got spayed.

I finally had to throw out the crazy amazing bouquet Bryan’s mom had at the party – a bird of paradise arrangement with flowers I have never seen before.  The bird of paradise flower has blooms inside their stem, so when the flowers die, you can open the stem and pull out more just like it.  This can happen two or three times before the flower is done.  I was sad to see it go.

Lately, walks at work have been the only thing keeping me sane.  Finding the trails in the old arboretum on campus has improved my daily walks exponentially.

The campus is so quiet, I’m falling in love all over again, just enough to get me through the fall and spring semesters.

Now, I’m proofing wedding invitations, flipping through a Martha Stewart weddings magazine, picking stationery to write to Jimmy on, and listening to Myrlin’s new album.

Myrlin Hepworth, a friend since childhood, just pre-released an album, The Funky Autopsy, to his Kickstarter contributors.  It is such an incredible, vulnerable, honest, motivating piece of work from a young artist and reminds me why I love hip hop.  Myrlin and I used to be alter servers at the Catholic Church our families went to, and went to the same junior high and high school.  He’s a brilliant poet and comes from a family of strong women and kind men, a wonderful mix in my opinion.  When the album becomes available for purchase, you shouldn’t hesitate to buy it because you’re supporting a young person’s hard work with an art form that can create a lot of good and change in this world.

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Finally, I’ll leave you with a picture of the prettiest dirty dishes you’ll ever see.

As of late, I am equally appreciative of both man-made and natural blessings.  We got new carpet in our living room, and the dog is growing.  The garden is planted, and my wedding dancing dress has arrived and is wonderful. Save the dates are sent out, and I have basil growing like crazy in my kitchen window.  I’m completely content with this balance, since our world is stuck between man and nature constantly.

I took Pearl to work for the morning we were getting new carpet.  I am so lucky to be in a relaxed workplace where this kind of thing would be tolerated so graciously.  I had to take her on a few walks but otherwise she did pretty well.  I definitely won’t be doing it again anytime soon (code for never ever ever ever).

The campus has some wonderful hidden beauty.  I’m truly not certain whether these are flowers or weeds, but look how pretty!  I was impressed at least, until Pearl stormed up and peed all over them.

And a hidden secret-garden-type-trail-to-narnia-but-really-just-a-dirt-trail????  Awesome.  I love walking on campus and finding these secrets.

She jumps on the coffee table now, and then gives me this face -

I also have to have a toy on hand at all times.

Planning my wedding has not only pulled on a lot of my creative bones but also brought a new focus into my life that I realize I desperately needed.  An outlet, maybe even just a project.  But regardless, I’m now planning for the inevitable that eventually the wedding will be over and I’ll have to harness this energy in a new way, hopefully one just as fulfilling.

On another note, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how life is all about curation, whether you express your art by a journal that no one reads or a Pinterest board that only your best friends looks at (both me).  We collect, we exchange, we discuss, we form opinions and team up with those that share their thoughts with us.  We laugh a lot, my friends and I.  We like good looking things and the love of each other.  We all read for fun and ride bikes and play kickball sometimes.  We all like to drink, barbecue, go to the movies.  We love music and good food, learning new things and challenging old things.  This all inspires and provokes thought.  And really, all of life is art to me because the other alternative is routine, jobs, responsibilities and that is entirely pointless and boring.

Memorial Day weekend was just right.  I shopped all day Saturday by myself, for the first time in my life!  We drove to Coeur d’Alene on Friday night and then Saturday, I hopped in my car to head to Spokane for the day.  It was amazing and also very relaxing, floating from store to store, trying on things at my leisure, not having to keep tabs on anyone.  I met Grandpa Pat, Bryan’s mom’s dad, who lives in Alaska.  He is such a funny old guy, an ex-marine, dog lover, hilarious.  Sunday, we booked our hotel for our honeymoon and cleaned the house.  Monday, we frolicked all day and Bryan smoked the most incredible spareribs.  Pretty, pretty, pretty good.  I also checked a lot of things off of my to-do list, including hanging my new office art.

One of the best benefits of working at the School of Music – people drop off ancient sheet music to be donated all of the time.  I never really sorted through it, but this last batch had some gems on the top that made me go digging.  Some of them have such strong innuendoes for conservative times back then.  I guess it just proves the music industry was always edgy and on the fringe.

I decided to hang them gallery style so each piece stood out on its own.  They really bring a neatness to the room that it never possessed before – it was always the odds and ends room until I started using it as my office.

Some people find it odd to see the artistic value of these pieces, especially for musicians who either want them for playing and practicing, or who think they are old and worthless.  They laughed a lot seeing me on the floor in my office with stacks of music around me, digging, finding the most naughty with the best artwork.  But it definitely paid off.

Some have great combinations of color.  Others I picked for their hilarious illustrations or bland palettes.  Really, my creativity is all instinctual – if it looks good enough to me to pull out of the stack, then it’s good enough.  Only after later analysis do I discover the ones I love enough to put on my wall.

“Everybody’s Doin’ it Now”, “You’ve Got Me in the Palm of Your Hand”, lonely women waiting for a man to come along and sweep her off her feet, giggling girls with rosy cheeks and that 20′s independence that women from some eras just didn’t possess.  Its a beautiful inspiration to see every day.

(Ashley and I, Sasquatch 2010, sea of tents)

Sasquatch Music Festival is this weekend.  I’ve only gone to Sasquatch once, but it was one of the best weekends of my life (just like the one time I went to Bonnaroo Music Festival).  I knew it would be, as all shows at the Gorge are magic.  There’s just something about music festivals especially, though – they are lawless, full of energy, on top of perfect music, so much people watching, sunshine, and camping.  So many of my favorite things rolled up into one.  It’s true that the thought of attending Sasquatch can be daunting – grocery shopping, liquor buying, packing and planning.  But since I am a master at all of these things, we were pretty well-equipped.

My Memorial Day Weekend will instead consist of Coeur d’Alene, meeting my future grandpa-in-law, and dogs playing and playing and playing.  I’ll miss the Gorge this weekend but will be thinking of all of my friends there, hoping they stay hydrated, don’t get caught at the gate with liquor, and wear sunscreen!  (and kiss Nick Offerman on the mouth for me if you see him…)

It’s no secret that I love Seinfeld and I always have.  When I was a kid, the nights with Seinfeld and Friends were my favorite nights.  Last Christmas, Bryan got all of the seasons on DVD for Christmas and we have already watched them through numerous times since.  The humor is smart, the characters are rich, the actors are fantastic (except for Jerry Seinfeld himself, who was never an actor).  I’m still able to watch an episode and find humor in something I never noticed before.

One thing I’ve learned as an adult watching Seinfeld is that I am very much like Elaine Benes –  the way she expresses herself, her sensitivity but also self-assurance, as well as her interests at work (writing and publishing).  And Elaine really is the perfect addition to this cast of boys.  I’ve seen in specials on the show that the writers were told to write Elaine like they would a man.  This broke down so many gender stereotypes that were happening in popular culture at the time – Elaine talked about sex, she didn’t let people walk all over her, and she wasn’t afraid to push people’s buttons.

I mentioned before that I love the show Friends, but one thing I’ve never liked about Friends is the wardrobe.  Some of the things the women wear are so ugly, so unrealistic given their budgets and generally very costume-like for a show about 20, 30 year old friends living in middle class New York City.  The difference with Seinfeld is that everyone’s wardrobe reflects their status in a very real way – Elaine wears things more than once, and is often dressed in work wear, which adds extra humor because she seems to be the hardest working of the four characters.

The last time I watched Seinfeld, I started to make notes on Elaine’s outfits.  Sure, she sometimes wears white socks with oxfords, which no one would do now.  But her fashion translates, and I love it more than most wardrobes of women on television during that time.

Floral Skirts

Workout Clothes

Workwear

I may have a lot in common with the character Elaine’s personality, but Julia Louis-Dreyfus is a babe that cannot be matched.