relationship wednesday (late): middle brain

mr c is most certainly left brained while i’m quite positive i was hiding behind a cloud/pearly gate/rock when the logic angel/deity/fairy made her/his/its rounds.

this one very important fact…leads to some very interesting marriage conversations.

mr c: “why do you want to do that?

me: “because it feels right.”

mr c:  blank stare

me: “morning luv, how about a quick cup of jo on the porch ”

mr c: “love to. as soon as i’ve agonized over every detail of my day and worked myself half way to an ulcer i’ll be right there.”

me:  blank stare

so where does this leave mr c and me? two people committed to love each other until…forever.

you’ve heard it before…”they are so perfect for each other…they just seem to balance each other out”. perhaps you even know one….

the elusive well balanced couple.

that rare couple that doesn’t drive each other batty with their differences but instead seems to blend them together in a semi symbiotic way…. kind of like the clown fish and the sea anemone or more abstractly like fruit in jello. it’ easy to look at these couples and marvel at that level of emotional and marital development…but take care not to be hoodwinked by what seems like effortless ease… you can bet any couple who has achieved balance nirvana has a relationship soundtrack full of colorful dialogues leading them to that point.

we humans are resistant to change and we are certainly resistant to being changed. but when two people come together and are open to new ways of thought….

they really can start to balance each other out….

so even though thinking with my left brain is as foreign to me as speaking russian, wearing hemp and believing snakes make great pets…i am starting to see its merit in getting me where i want to go (figuratively and literally) in a faster and more direct route. conversely, mr c is starting to see that there isn’t much point getting where we want to go (i.e. big navy blue sail boat, where clothing is optional) if we don’t chill and get there sans ulcer and sanity. 

they say spouses start to look like one another after years of togetherness, and that this is, in fact a good thing. http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/11/science/long-married-couples-do-look-alike-study-finds.html…my questions is….do they really start to think like one another or is it all just a balancing act?

i love u mr c

xoxo~mrs m

bon vivant tuesday: yes, yes, YES

french women don't get fat...

(ok, sure some do but they aren't the ones making love to tortured artists in tiny parisian flats, reading poetry on the ponte vecchio and chain smoking gauloises at picturesque cafes)

not only that but they have babies and 2 weeks later can be found pushing a buggy down a cobble stone street in milf heels and the latest fashionable pant suit
...looking HOT. 

here....well.....have you taken a look at the "people of walmart" website?

so what's their secret?? 

according to mireille guiliano....the french eat sensuously. 

they have a relationship with their food like they do with their men. 

hot, intense, flavorful and sometimes...covered in chocolate.

and let's face it....there is just something innately more appealing about a woman lingering over one single buttery, flaky, croissant and espresso

than watching one scarf down a bacon egg and cheese and a grande, 1000 calorie frapachino...

 

hence today's bon vivant....savoring your food

so let the honey drip down your chin as you try a gooey piece of baklava

sip one glass of red...but make it a great one

visit the local bakery and linger over fresh, hot, homemade bread with butter

and tomorrow try a single madeleine with your morning coffee

history of the madeleine....

the madeleine was immortalized by proust in his autobiographical book, a la recherche du temps perdu (remembrance of things past), where a taste of the cake plunges the narrator back into his childhood. since then, proust's madeleine has become a metaphor in france for anything that creates a vivid memory.

3 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup milk

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

beat the eggs with the sugar, vanilla and half of the milk until thick and light yellow. add the flour and baking powder bit by bit and continue mixing until smooth. stir in the rest of the milk and the melted butter.

grease your madeleine tray and spoon about two tablespoons of batter into each mold. Bake for 15 minutes at 375°F. Cool on a rack.
~ makes 24 madeleines.

and next time you sit down to indulge, don't fake it....take the time to enjoy it thhhhhis much

ummmm~ mrs m

whatever makes me happy monday: random nation

a "can't put it down" read.... in a dreamy local

a powerful message where you least expect it

fierceness

http://kjsdesign.blogspot.com/

feeding the soul with new experiences...pa's festival of india

stunning city skylines and people watching..!

 marveling that rocky had reeeeeeally tiny feet....

i luv you monday.... mrs m

far flung friday: aqua pura





mr c found the fabulous mr and mrs smith hotel website when we were searching for places to have our wedding....and i was immediately hooked.  i believe i love every single hotel they have featured and in fact covet their job as dynamic husband and wife hotel advisers extraordinaire.

we ended up not having our wedding at any of their locations, but we did spend our honeymoon at one

http://www.mrandmrssmith.com/luxury-hotels/mexico/jalisco/verana/ and it lived up to every ounce of hype.  in fact, while in verana, we ran into a couple from the uk who claimed they only stay at mr and mrs properties and if i had my druthers...

i would too

had we decided to go the far flung wedding route....aqua pura, located in douro portgual, would certainly have been in the top 5.  this north-western patch of portugal is golden by name ('douro') and golden by nature and looks completely magical with its sepia-tinged hills and amber-hued valleys.

the hotel sits atop a striking, sun-kissed mountainscape, neatly combed with vine-filled terraces, where the tranquil river douro lazily winds its way from the atlantic coast to spain. on its gentle journey, it passes through the oldest wine-producing region in the world: little wonder these wild, earthy winelands have been awarded unesco world heritage status. portugal’s second largest city, porto stands proudly on douro valley’s oceanside edge; from here, you can follow the river into the fertile region once best known for mateus rosé, but now celebrated as an epicurean paradise.

perfectly positioned to take in views of the valley in all its sweeping vine-clad majesty, aquapura hotel was once a rural, red-painted family farmhouse. now, after a dramatic designer reinvention, it’s portugal’s sexiest spa retreat, offering indulgent wining, dining and poolside reclining.

http://www.mrandmrssmith.com/luxury-hotels/portugal/douro-valley/aquapura/

this is on our "one day" list......

but for today....a nice bottle of portuguese's rose and some day dreams shall suffice....

 

have a grand weekend ~ mrs m

relationship wednesday: i'm her mom. no she's not.

today is relationship wednesday…

so this is for all the bandanna sporting

mu mu wearing

crusty house keeping

pee-pee smelling

single, crazy,

cat ladies

and the few normal ones too...

a little tribute to a relationship that is so often misunderstood.

 

rock on cat ladies. rock on.

 ~ m

bon vivant tuesday: just fall

fall is decidedly in the air. and i luuuuuuv it. last night mr c and i had all the windows open to catch the magnificent breeze only to find ourselves scrambling for the comforter about midnight, snuggling deeper against the surprising chill. ummmmmm.



in fact, today dawned so impeccable that both mr c and i had a hard time heading to work. wishing instead to pack a picnic and run off for a days’ boon doggle beneath the cloudless sky.

just as my thoughts turn towards digging around in the basement for heavier sweaters, boots and cords…so am i also thinking about getting back in the kitchen….heartier foods, thick stews and to die for breads….all peppered with wildly aromatic spices and local ingredients. so today’s bon vivant is an ode to fall cookin….sit down with a big glory bowl of this http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/photo/Pork-Stew-with-Hard-Cider-Pearl-Onions-and-Potatoes-357274, a hunk of bread and a nice montes alpha chilean red and raise a glass to the next couple of color filled, apple picking, hay bail hopping, pie baking, costume making...weeks!  and if you’re up for a little postprandial activity, take a walk and check out the harvest moon.  the harvest moon only happens once a year and is the full moon nearest to the autumnal equinox. this year the equinox falls on wednesday, september 22nd, the two events will be awfully close…http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvest_moon

 

~ mrs m

 

oh and throw this on the radio....great tune by mumford & sons

 

whatever makes me happy monday: fate

730 days ago mr c and i shared a 3rd date and the course of our lives was forever altered. in 24 short, awe struck hours, in which we created reason after reason to remain in one another’s presence…we both knew “this” was different….and so it was…..

happy 2 years mr c!
xoxo~ mrs m

thursdays child: peace

jeremy gilley spreading peace

in 1999, preoccupied with questions about the fundamental nature of humanity and the most pressing issues of our time, filmmaker jeremy gilley launched peace one day and set out to find a starting point for peace. he had a mission: to document his efforts to establish the first ever annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence with a fixed calendar date.

remarkably, two years later, he achieved his primary objective when the 192 member states of the united nations unanimously adopted 21 september as an annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence on the un international day of peace.

that day is now called peace day http://www.peaceoneday.org/en/welcome

go see the film

make an online commitment

stop throwing stones.....and words

just be nicer

one person really can make a difference

m

bon vivant tues: operation bush kill



before the attack

how to make a house a home

step 1: undertake a task that causes your husband to ask, “are you sure you know what you’re undertaking?”

step 2: say with ever so slight role of the eyes, “duh, yes”.

having in actuality, no idea whether or not you really know the answer to that question

step 3: get bottle of plant killer random lowes representative assures you is closest legal thing to agent orange in an attempt to eradicate all trace of bush/ivy/bamboo



step 4: find out bush/bamboo/ivy are in fact your enemies and resistant to even ultimate plant death juice

step 5: scrap juice and attack with clippers, saws and brute strength (yeah mr c!!). manage to cut back horrendous, buggy, offensive, nameless bush/ivy/bamboo, only to find...... the fence is uglier than all three combined

during seige

step 6: see husbands expression and wonder, "how did this happen?"

step 7: think back to step 1

step 8: "shit"

step 9: contemplate ways to get husband to take care of the problem without pointing out he was right and without you having to say you were wrong.

step 10: realize glory husband is in counseling, foresaw this outcome and has solution!!

step 11: bring husband greenie (aka heineken) as liquid olive branch for step 2 and kisses of thanks for still undertaking operation bush/ivy/bamboo despite mrs denial

after mr c and i got ahold of it

step 12: stoop it (pa term for boozing on the porch with the neighbors) on freshie porch a couple of days later, admiring lack of bush/ivy/bamboo and of course...... awesome, hottie husband

tonight in homage to mr c....

spaghetti with pesto, cashew nuts and parmesan (+ some tofu to spice it up)



http://whatkatieate.blogspot.com/



thankful kisses - mrs m

whatever makes me happy monday: "mon"...baby

what makes me happy on this monday...
looking at monday from a different point of view....



daring....to be bold
oh baby.....

Make The Girl Dance - Baby Baby Baby ( official video )
Uploaded by placeblancherec. - Explore more music videos.

and this...

this little fella who is now "mine" (and mr c's...but there is a theme here folks :) on a monday......he makes me happy too

lil man frank @ 1.2 lbs

xxxxxxxxxx ~ mrs m

explore, explore and then explore some more.....

Who made the world?

Who made the swan, and the black bear?

Who made the grasshopper?

This grasshopper, I mean-

the one who has flung herself out of the grass,

the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,

who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-

who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.

Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.

Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.

I don't know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down

into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?

~ mary oliver

i hope that wherever you are, your weekend was a glorious as it was here.

mr c and i started off the long weekend with a train ride into the city accompanied by about 1000 , screaming villanova students who were fired up for the first game of the season against temple. the game was played at lincoln field where the pa eagles duke it out and at the risk of sounding like i have one leg in some jorts...that is an amazing stadium!

the train wreck...yes that is cheese on the mouth and fingers

sat am we were back downtown to see the reading terminal market http://www.readingterminalmarket.org/  . farmers markets, in my opinion, are fabulous…big small….doesn’t matter. fresh produce, local farmers, cheese, honey, pastries, pretzels, great grub, people watching, flowers and more…they are a smorgus board for the senses and this one definitely didn’t disappoint. mr c had about the best version of a cheese steak i have ever laid lips on and i had one of my all time favorite foods, a scrumptious crêpe…so Parieeeee :). 

i'll have one of ummm......everything

 sunday we drove to new hope on the delaware river and i literally had a toothache from the cuteness of it all.

yesterday it was back to work on the lil house and this time, we slaved away in the back yard…there was and still remains a lot to be done but it feels fresh and with the pond running, is quite the little zen garden.

oh and our neighbors cat had kittens. tiny little bundles of joy.  and i am head over heels.  the question is...which one????

purrrrrr~ mrs m

relationship wednesday: love eat pray

eat

last night i went to see eat, pray, love…solo. kind of fitting, no? i’d read the book ages ago and found eg’s frank portrayal of her journey fascinating and enviable. and the enviable, i believe, is her hook..how many of us who read the book or subsequently watched the movie have not, at one time or another, longed to travel where we wished, eat what we wanted, prayed when we could and loved as we should.

as we should….and this is the million dollar question. how in fact, should we love?

but perhaps, we are asking the wrong question. as liz’s character finds out…there are many “shoulds”, but it’s the shouldn’t that is seminal…

you shouldn’t lose yourself in the process.

screeeeeech. ummm, what?

pray

i don’t know about you, but when mr. c and i fell…. we fell hard. it was impossible not to lose myself, where he ended, i began. he was the yin to my yang. he was my sunlight and air. when he walked out the door each day i conjured up a million different tragic, ills that could befall him and the million endless, tortured hours i’d suffer in agony without his presence. it was all so gloriously….intense. and in that intensity, some of myself fell by the wayside….i didn’t write as much, i didn’t practice yoga as much, I didn’t see my friends and family as much…i only wanted to wrap myself up in this love and cocoon myself against the world. now this is all well and good (albeit annoying to said friends and family)and even to be expected….but at some point one must emerge from the love cocoon and become one’s own butterfly or remain a quite shriveled caterpillar of one’s former self.

the big question so many seem to struggle with is…..how?

love

liz says to her man at some point in the movie, that if she continued on that path (i.e. rabbit sex and avoidance of the real world and all hobbies) , she would end up looking nothing like the women he fell in love with. and she is right….so today, almost 6 months into being a mrs, i am wading through how to continue developing my individual self. my “ms.-ness”,,,and how i do so in the context of this marriage. my hope is that with my work and this beautiful, amazing love on top of it all….that at some point down the road…

i’ll emerge a big, beautiful and most importantly…one hell of a balanced….

soar

 

xoxoxo ~ m