happy birthday jc

feliz navidad

joyeux noel

froehliche weihnachten

boas festas

kung his hsin nien bing chu shen tan

zalig kerstfeast

shub naya baras

whatever you believe....

i wish you and your family much love and happiness on this special day!

mistletoe kisses ~ mrs m

far flung friday: verbier

 

given a choice...i would easily opt for sun over snow. but with a light dusting of powerdy goodness on the ground and the christmas lights all aglow... and what could really be better than cuddling up in front of a fire with mr c and 5 of our best couple friends?

 who wants in???

verbier is one of europe’s premier ski resorts and the largest of the 4 valley ski region in the swiss alps. alongside aavoleyres, bruson and mt fort, verbier is renowned for its skiing prowess.

this luxury ski chalet is nestled high above the main village in the exclusive hamlet (i heart hamlets) of clambin and is accessed on skis via the blue clambin piste. bellaiuva is actually 2 chalets combined together, both over 100 years old. it includes a ‘wet room’ complete with heated boot warmers and clothes dryers. on the first floor, there is a high tech media room and a brazilian slate steam bath with rain shower big enough for 2....ummm.  the chalet also has a ski-doo and snow vehicle and on the third day when all the girls wish for a little escape...we'll zoom down to the main village for a drink and to dish about the uber hot ski instructor how awesome our boys are :)

the chalet’s name means “beautiful view” in local patois and we will indeed be blown away by the pristine, stunning views of the valley and village below. after long days exploring the slopes...we'll grab bottles of bubbly and hit the hot tub daring one another to make snow angels in the virgin snow.

and after the hot tub....i'll do my best to rock my fuzzy boots and leg warmers.

..because why not???
 in verbier....anything goes

at the end of the week....
we'll decide that these trips must become a tradition
....and we'll start planning our next adventure....

kisses ~ mrs m

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work it out wednesday: gimme gimme more

this morning i woke up in a complete dither

this morning i woke up with the overwhemling feeling that i have not bought enough.

not shopped enough. not spent enough.

this morning i woke up with an almost crushing need to buy.

then i made the mistake of turning on the tube….and there they were…
so jingling and bright.

forcing their way into my living room.

making me feel even worse.

“every kiss begins with kay”

because let’s face it men…you know where kisses lead and this will be very merryless, bootyless christmas if your woman don't get some bling.  (btw, does this ad creep anyone else out??)

"he went to jared"

…cuz if he went somewhere else…your friends will think he's cheap

and my personal favorite 

 cuz why not start em early

turning off the tv i sat down to browse my favorite blogs before work
…looking for inspiration.

looking for a reality check.

when it hit me…i was really just looking at….

more ads

ok, incredibly creative, arresting, alluring and semi-independent ads. pretty ads. easy on the eye ads that don't demand a lot from the soul.  but ads none-the-less.  ads for dresses and gifts, scarves and shoes and a particular $4000 ring that part of my brain screamed

“must have the precious” with a startling gollum-like intensity.

yes, this was me on gimme gimme christmas crack

see this year mr c and me decided we wanted to do christmas a bit differently. with almost 10% unemployment and 21% of children in the us living below the poverty line…we made a donation to an organization we believe in, decided to do a night out on the town in lue of gifts, give our time to others…and be deliberately grateful for the awesomeness of our new mr and mrs life.

so new age and cool right?

well i’d love to say we did that and i was content.
that i’m 100% on board with a christmas of less store bought gifts and much more togetherness.
news flash...
i am not that centered.

…but i am working on it.

image from the fabulous crushparty

the threatening thing about letting go of stuff is that it’s likely to lead to other changes….
it’s like pulling the thread on your favorite sweater…you just can’t help yourself even though you’re pretty sure you’re going to end up with….

the need for a whole new damn sweater.

*** btw, the above bit of soapbox luv is certainly not meant as a bust on blogs.
a blog-lands' very beauty lies in its' unique free-for-all-ness.

free for all purposes.  free for all thoughts.

if your real house doesn't look the way you wish it did...
wha-la..create one that does.
want to wear something shocking to your holiday party...
poof, now you can.
it's a place where we can imagine our loveliest world and write it into reality.
i get it
and i for one love that quality....

 but does some measure of responsibility come with such a magic wand?
for that matter, does christmas???

xoxo ~ m

bon vivant tuesday: shower me

ah tuesday….

tuesdays i try and dedicate to good living….things that add pleasure and depth to what i used to think of as ugly duckling day (tuesday is, after all, so unappreciated)

…well it was.... 

until i showered it with bon vivant status and glorious it became.

typically it’s a delectable drink or a new recipe to try, but today i give you this....

this gem.

hold in front of you as you would a glass of bubbly.

tilt it towards the light.

marvel at the color.

the effervescence.

then sip. taste. drink it into your soul.

feel it tickle your heart center as it glides down into your gut.

let it make you a bit tipsy with thought.

with potential.

sip.

landscape

by mary oliver

isn't it plain the sheets of moss,

except that they have no tongues,

could lecture all day... if they wanted

about spiritual patience?

isn't it clear

the black oaks along the path are standing

as though they were the most fragile of flowers?

every morning i walk like this around the pond, thinking:

if the doors of my heart ever close, 

i am as good as dead.

every morning, so far, i'm alive.

and now the crows break off from the rest of the darkness

and burst up into the sky

—as though all night they had thought of what they would like

their lives to be,

and imagined their strong, thick wings.

~ mrs m

whatever makes me happy monday: deck the heels....

 with shoes so festive

fa-la-la-la-la

la-la-la-la

the "away in the manger" heel and bootie...

the "i saw momaa kissing santa clause" stiletto

the "it came upon a midnight clear" pump

the "we three kings" gold ankle boot

and....

the "good christian men rejoice" duo

~ mrs m



thursdays child: hottie toddy...my imaginary christmas paaaarty

i invite you....
to the festive christmas fete in my mind 


 

the doorbell it rang,

and to it i went,

threw open the door

in my fabulous yves saint laurent

so thrilled i would be

as you walked in the hall,

"mr c, they are here!

cocktails for them all!!"

the music it'd play 

while we'd laugh and we'd "cheer"

so grateful i'd feel 

for the the coming new year 

for health and for family

for friends and for life

for this awesome new role

of lover and wife

at the end of the evening

we'd walk out in the snow knowing

my love you will feel

where ever you go.....

merry christmas

~ mrs m

relationship wednesday: if you can't be nice.....at least be naughty

sometimes we’re naughty and sometimes we’re nice….

and never is this more truthful than in marriage.

there are days i wake up and it’s all:

mrs m: “mr. c, you’re a total hot monster.”

mrs m: “lover pants, can i get you a coffee?”

mrs m: “darling, can I run you a shower?”

mrs m: "hon, what can i do to make your life just a little more
glorious on this amazing, sunshine filled day?”

other days….gerrrr, not quite so nice.

and it goes the other way as well.

some days mr. c is the most snuggly buggly thing in the whole wide world
other days…he’s a real pisser ;)

thankfully in our case, our nice’s grossly outweigh our naughties.

except our naughty naughties….they can outweigh anything, anytime.

so my wish for you this christmas is....
go ahead....get a little naughty...maybe even get on santas bad side....
because this year....
naughty is oh soooo nice.

ummmm ~ a naughty mrs m

hot, sexy artwork compliments of jamie over at her muy caliente blog
http://cayennekisses.tumblr.com/

a lump in the throat

have you ever started thinking about something….i mean really mulling over some new idea or thought and once it finally takes root you find yourself at odd moments, rolling it around on your tongue like a chocolate or trying it on like a new pair of shoes, stealing glimpses of you and it, together, in the mirror….

all the while attempting to figure out where and if it fits into your life and how and where to learn more about it...

then wham…

all of a sudden it’s like the universe hears you….

and the days become rich with fecund moments and signs?

suddenly everything seems to be nudging you in some new direction.
it's on a flyer you see by "mistake"
it comes up in a "random" conversation with a stranger

yesterday i heard it in a passage by robert frost. 

“a poem...begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness. it is a reaching-out toward expression; an effort to find fulfillment. a complete poem is one where an emotion finds the thought and the thought finds the words.”

and i thought to myself, “damn that frost guy is good.”

and then the fissure in my mind split a bit wider

and the little beam of light got a bit brighter….

and the lump in my throat….

got ever so slightly bigger.

and i got a little closer.

but sometimes closer just isn’t good enough. sometimes i want to be there already. i want the thoughts to have already found the words….

i want to live the poem.

and when i start to feel that way, when i start to get anxious and wonder if it will ever come to fruition, i have to tell myself shante (peace)

… i have to try to let go…..

"emotion finds the thought and the thought finds the words"

and the poem...is somewhere, somehow....just beyond the next mountain.

shante,shante a million times shante ~ mrs. m

far flung friday: ice ice baby

what’s 400,000 tons of snow and ice, has to be completely remade each year and is one of the chillest places you’ll ever visit?

hotel de glace...that's what

ice bar? check.

ice sleigh bed? check.

warm, fuzzy pelts of dead animals? check.

kick arse icy dance club with great tunes? check. check.

and quebec is just a short dog sled ride away.

maybe next year?

icy kisses ~ m

random bits: tis the season

glory december....welcome

i am sooooo thrilled to see again



a tune to get you in the mood....beautiful, achingly melancholy...one of my fav's

enjoy

mistletoe kisses ~ mrs m

bon vivant tuesday: thanks be....

....is served

we return thanks to our mother, the earth, which sustains us.

we return thanks to the rivers and streams, which supply us with water.

we return thanks to all herbs, which furnish medicines for the cure of our diseases.

we return thanks to the moon and stars, which have given to us their light when the sun was gone.

we return thanks to the sun, that has looked upon the earth with a beneficent eye.

lastly, we return thanks to the great spirit, in whom is embodied all goodness, and who directs all things for the good of her children.

~ iroquois prayer, adapted

i am thankful …

for mr c who challenges me daily and has become a part of my dna

for our little kitten who loves to sit on my lap while i work and occasionally crawl up to purr his affection in my ear

for the ever changing path towards inner tranquility…

for the feeling that i am getting closer…

for family
for the ability to travel

for lungs that breath

for hands that write

for love

oh so thankfully ~ mrs m

whatever makes me happy monday: luv rain and all things exquisite

things that make me happy on this 22nd of november

rain storms...the love kind

the ability to see the exquisite in everything

in the introduction of the Encyclopedia of the Exquisite, Jessica Kerwin Jenkins calls her book an “ode to life’s many luxuries that don’t require much spending.” inspired by a file kept on her desk filled with scraps which she titled ‘why i like it here,’ ‘here’ being earth, jenkin’s book is a delightful collection of the beauty all around....a lovely christmas gift for those who like to dream....

time with a true soul sista

and .....

my kind of thanksgiving prayer

you say grace before meals. all right.

but i say grace before the concert

and the opera,

and grace before the play

and pantomime,

and grace before i open a book,

and grace before sketching,

painting,

swimming,

fencing,

boxing,

walking,

playing,

dancing,

and grace before i dip the pen in the ink.

~ g. k. chesterton

thankfully ~ mrs m

far flung friday: big a

so it’s a stunning friday. a crisp and sparkly, bright blue skies and crunchy leaves beneath by boots kind of day. and it has been a great week too.

 it started off with a trip to dc to celebrate my father- in- laws 75th and then a work trip to houston where yes…the meeting went well!! that said, we could still use all the love, luck and wishes out there while we wait to get it across the finish line, so cross those fingers and toes and i’ll take all the positive vibes you’re willing to blow my way.

but the best part is.... i am about to hop on the train and head into nyc to see my lovely friend karina. i haven’t seen her since the wedding and while she was in town last weekend, i only got to see her for one evening….and with krinks…that’s just not enough

so tonight….a girls night!

xoxo ~ mrs m

thursdays child: hoooooowl

just a little collection of fun for a thursday....

yes, franco is just plain hot but he also happens to be a brilliant actor.
in his most recent flick howl, franco plays a feverish and fabulous ginsberg. his soulful narration brings howl to life and leaves you wondering...

how could one ever question the glorious freedom of speech and creative expression.

love after love

~ derek walcott

the time will come

when, with elation

you will greet yourself arriving

at your own door, in your own mirror

and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. eat.

you will love again the stranger who was your self.

give wine. give bread. give back your heart

to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored

for another, who knows you by heart.

take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,

peel your own image from the mirror.

sit. feast on your life.

and a cool idea for the readers on your christmas list

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2010/02/how-does-your-garden-grow.html

find inspiration everywhere ~ mrs m

this weeks far flung friday has been interrupted to bring you, this....

so last fridays post never posted. 

and upon reflection, i am tempted to believe that maybe that happened for a reason....

but, here it is anyway....for better and worse.

this has been me the last few weeks…trapped in a restless state of limbo.

hummm, except i suppose by choosing this image i am making limbo seem glamorous….seeing as this woman is trapped in a streak-free bubble, floating down the seine, looking quite pensive yet put together in a 50’s ish way and all.

in fact, there is nothing glamorous what-so-ever about limbo….so perhaps this is a more accurate representation of my aforementioned mental state.

yep, that's it.

it has been some 18 months since i received a proper paycheck and while i am all about hard work…there is something about hard, corporate work for free that is just de-motivating and de-moralizing.  if i am going to work for the man, sell my soul and contribute very little to the betterment of the human race...i think compensation, only fair.  top this off with the fact that the thing we are working on is something most people don’t think we can pull off, that my “colleague” consists of one mr. franklin....
 (making water cooler chat some-what limited)

mr f

and that mr c thinks i should get an additional job when the one i already have and don’t get paid for wears me out…. and well…

why so bummed right now??
if i am brutally honest with myself i am in mental limbo land because
…i’m not making any money.
there, i said it.

and not making money means i am not “contributing” and therefore am dependent.

and being dependent at 34....
sucks.

not for any other reason than i was raised to be self-sufficient and right now, i’m not.

so what does it say about us as a people that we live in a society where our sense of who we are is so closely tied to the money we make, NOT the job we do, that without the salary, we lose a sense of self? more pointedly, what does it say about me that although i have other interests and other passions, that although i think i am a relatively decent person who saves feral kittens and isn’t terrible in the kitchen, and that i am actually working hard…none of those things keep the scale from tipping towards self pity?
(* those of you reading this who have civic oriented professions where you positively impact the moral development of the population on a daily basis, aren't concerned with salaries and somehow missed being sucked into this narcissistic, capitalistic mentality…bless you) .
for the rest of us out there…???

so what’s a girl to do?? firstly, i am going to absorb the following

and then i am going to go into our big meeting next week and kick some serious arse.

m

thursday's child: wabi sabi

when mr c and i were in the hamptons we stumbled into a store in sag harbor and fell in love. rough wooden floors provided the stage for simple furniture covered in taupe’s and beige's. chunky pieces of drift wood suspended from simple wire hung from whitewashed, vaulted ceilings and served as shelving for gently folded clothes. funky earthen bowls stacked neatly on a harvest table were honored by the black and white photographs of local images dotting the walls.

it was a wabi sabi wonderland (ok, a rich people's wabi sabi...but still wabi sabi)

pared down to its barest essence, wabi-sabi is the japanese art of finding beauty in imperfection and profundity in nature, of accepting the natural cycle of growth, decay, and death. it's simple, slow, and uncluttered and above all, it reveres authenticity. wabi-sabi is underplayed and modest, the kind of quiet, undeclared beauty that waits patiently to be discovered.

i only learned of this phrase a couple of months ago...
but my mom taught me elements of this when i was a child....
i just didn't have a name for it then. 

i remember waking up early to go to "tag sales" in ohio, excitedly rushing home to show my grandfather our little finds and later feeling giddy over some treasure mom and i  discovered on one of our many antiquing expeditions....

wabi sabi is flea market finds, not michigan ave purchases. it celebrates cracks and crevices and all the other marks that time, weather, and loving use leave behind. it reminds us that we are all transient beings, that our bodies as well as the material world around us are fleeting. through wabi-sabi, we learn to embrace wrinkles and rust, grey hairs and frayed edges and the march of time they represent. it's a fragmentary glimpse of the part, not the whole, the journey not the destination.

so bring the outdoors in, shop markets for once loved items, create a sacred space in your home and learn to embrace flaws….

flaws in things, flaws in others and most importantly

 in yourself.

because really...."flaws" are beautiful.

namaste ~ mrs m

payback's a b*$@h

partied to hard?

stressed too much? 

slept too little?

whatever the reason...it got me. 

an icky, sniffly cold.

ugh.

my creative juices have left the building.

back with more when i am human again.

xoxo ~mrs m

far flung friday: the real houseguests of the hamptons

happy halloweeeeeeeen...

a wee bit early.

mr c and i are off...headed to the hamptons to celebrate the birthday of a good friend

and to indulge in a bit of hall-o-fear.

here's wishing you a completely wicked weekend....

~ mrs m

away...away...away

i want to be this girl.

on my way to somewhere

i would love to live

like a rivers flows.

carried by the surprise

of its own unfolding.

~ john o'donohue