Advanced Aesthetics, Part 1

Oh, my light-up Virgin Mary, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways:

1) You light up
2) You are a Virigin Mary

This thing is amazing. I went to a show recently that was all like cheapo discount Dollar Store stuff. And walking by a booth, I saw this beauty and had to have her. Her blinking lights called to me from across the aisle (or maybe it was an epileptic fit). Her holographic-like ridges mesmerized me. I was saved. Hallelujah!

And then I asked the man working the booth if he would sell me the sample at the end of the show. Sure no problem. Come by on the last day. But I went by every day. I took my coworkers to look at it and admire its beauty and induce jealousy that I would own it and not them. I would point to it from afar and smile beatifically. Maybe it was Mary's saintly influence. Finally the man working the booth said, Look if you want to pay me now, I'll make sure that you get it at the end of the show. Oh, yes, please, I said. Let me pay for it now. I need to know it's mine. (Or something to that effect.) How much do I owe you? The man working the booth said, Three fifty. In my mind, I did some quick math. Yes, absolutely. Did I have three hundred and fifty dollars to spare? Yes, certainly. Would I hand over three hundred and fifty dollars to have my coveted holographic light up Virgin Mary in my possession? Yes, gladly. The man working the booth looked into my eyes, saw the hamster at work, and said: Three dollars and fifty cents, lady. Of course. That's all it's worth to you, man working the booth. To me it is priceless. And now she is mine.

Woah!

Man, keeping up a blog is hard. Here's why:

So I was away at a show in Charlotte from Monday through Friday. Industrial Fabrics, yay!

Bennett and I have been volunteering for the Obama campaign on the weekends. Canvassing, phone banking, hauling things around for a Get Out the Vote Event. (More on that in a later post.) Phew.

We've also discovered a couple of new restaurants (to us, at least). And been to some old ones. (Yes, more on that later.)

On top of that, we're going to France on Wednesday so that Bennett can take some language tests that INSEAD requires, and we're also going to check out apartments. So I've been going back and forth with potential future french landlords trying to make appointments. (Yep, more later.)

Oh and by the way, this is my To Do list so far:

Get birth certificate translated/certified/notarized as part of getting our marriage recognized so I can get a long stay visa
Get my car title sent to me so I can donate my car when its time to move
Get passport size photos taken
Back up my pics and files from my computer (whatever, it's not really for moving but it's got to be done)
Call to cancel our various utilities
Make storage arrangements for B's car?
Go through personal items to be thrown out/given away - clothing, jewelry, beauty products, etc
Do craiglist listing for any items to be sold?
Buy boxes
Arrange for donation of car
Arrange for donation food, clothes, furniture etc
Make packing list and buy luggage
Make arrangements for moving and storage
Make arrangements for shipping of any items to France
Arrange for use of elevator in building on moving day

And, oh, a few dozen other small things. All of which does not include B's separate list. Or the list of things we need To Do together - like get our International Drivers Licenses. Or things To Do in France, like purchasing toiletries and and groceries and getting our utilities in order.

Blah. Lot's to do. Been hibernating a bit due to feeling overwhelmed. Henceforth and therefore: keeping up a blog is hard.

Columbus Day Breakfast

In honor of the invasion and tyranny of the white man and the raping and pillaging of multitudes, not to mention the forced conversions, forced marches and biological warfare, B has the day off from work.

So we had a special breakfast of cheesy scrambled eggs, veggie sausage patties, french bread and fancy condiments.

Next up, Thanksgiving another splendid meal to celebrate more of the same.

Yesterday / Obama-bop!

After brunch yesterday, B and I decided to be good citizens and did some volunteering for the Obama campaign. We went to the North Beach campaign office (comment/contact me if you want to know more about volunteering) and they gave us a list of houses in Surfside to canvass. Our job was to ask people who they were going to vote for, encourage them to vote early and give out some information. It was amazing.

We knocked on 28 doors. Most people answered. Most people were really polite, really nice. Most people were voting or leaning Obama. Yay! Some observations:

People in Surfside know each other. Dads and sons toss around the football on the street. Some people don't like to answer the door for strangers. Some people REALLY don't like to answer the door when they're watching a Dolphins game. Some parents have tons of outdoor equipment for their kids hung up outside their front door or on their front yard. Usually these parents are pretty nice and chill and outgoing and they have nice, chill, outgoing kids. Some parents are all uptight about naps vis-a-vis ringing doorbells. These parents should chillax. Especially since they seem like the kind of parents who don't work, have nannies and "do" lunch as opposed to eat it. Some pool-partying dudes with beers in their hands and gold chains around their necks have really sophisticated and nuanced financial reasons why they are voting for McCain. Can't win em all!

Yesterday / Ham & Eggs

Mmmm. Cote Gourmet is the greatest restaurant in Miami? Michy's - pfft. Red Light - eh. Yakko San - so what? Cote gourmet is amazing. We went twice this weekend. On Friday nite B & I had dinner there with Michael. Menus: Escargots for everyone! Yay! As Michael said, "Only this place could make escargots oil that doesn't taste oily." He's right. Sooo yummy. Fresh bread baked on premises, broken up into little crusts and dipped in garlic-y, parsely, non-oily goodness. For entrees, Michael had sweetbreads (sweetbreads! as an entree! this place is so crazy French!), B had flounder and I had lambchops. All of it was incredible. Every sauce was out of this world. We consumed a lot of bread, what with all the dipping and sopping. And still, we had dessert! Are we not men? We are not little girls. We will not be intimidated by your courses and your menus and your accents. Michael: lemon tart, B: apple tart (non, eet eez not a tarte tatin), E: chocolate cakelet. Praise be.

Then yesterday we went again for brunch. Mindblowing. Menus: Eira: pea soup (spelled on the bill pee soup!), daily special burger, Michael: salmon omelet (trying to prove that you can have a salmon omelet where the salmon does not dry out in the cooking. fail.) B: mushroom onion omelet, Andy:

"I'd like the club sandwich."
"Sorree, zee special zan-wish today iz zee burger."
"Oh, ok. Let me look at the menu again."
"Non, non. I will make you a zan-wish. You like some bacon, eh?"
"It's okay, I'll just look at the menu again."
"Non! I vill make you a very special club zanwish!"
"Alright, dude. Do what you gotta do."

The the pea soup was so lovely and green, and I can't even remember it anymore because that burger was the weirdest yummiest burger ever. Picture it: triple-decker. Except instead of buns, it was sliced multi-grain bread. Woah. Ok. This is weird. On the first floor your typical mayo, tomato, lettuce combo. On the second floor -- burger, provolone-ish cheese, grilled onions AND thinly sliced grilled eggplant and zucchini. Um, what? Dude, you just blew my mind! I don't get it. It was awesome though.




photos courtesy of my lovely husband

My Other Love

Ah, Jenny. What can I say about you? You have the greatest clothes magic in the world. I don't care what you say. You are a big neurotic scaredy cat just like me. You are a long tall Sally. A beautiful beanpole. You love fiercely, which I love. You are strong and athletic and steadfastly devoted to trapeze. You have the deepest integrity of anyone I know. You are like a mother, a sister, an alter-ego, a best friend and a role model. I love you.

Isn't it Romantic?

As previously mentioned, I have a total fixation about the hows why's and wherefores of getting onto the front page of etsy. In my first attempt to pander to etsy curator tastes, I ended up making this necklace some time last week. I kind of really, totally ended up loving it. It's made with these vintage beads - the rectangular ones are called blue goldstone and they are like deep navy/violet and have this kind of sparkle that comes from within; they're just spectacular. And then the round ones have this kind of silvery, eerie, almost holographic glimmer to them. Very cool. So I decided that in order to test the waters, I would wear this necklace (I made a matching bracelet too) to the wedding last weekend. It was a hit. Now to post it on my etsy shop and see if the hipster treasury curators over there think so.