snow & gunpowder

"I want to make sure Eden doesn't have to take care of the monkey." "Monkey" is my boss' word for law library maintenance responsibility. He knows it is bogging me down and keeping me from doing my main/primary job of manning the post up front. I feel so understood as he explains to the rest of them that, whatever the solution, it needs to be out of Eden's hair (this is a feeling I've not experienced for a good while). But now that he refers to it as a monkey, I am somehow endeared to it, as if it's a rambunctious pet that I've lost patience with and given up on. I'd love to care for a monkey, like you wouldn't believe. Alas, this is not a zoo, and I am not a zoo-keeper. I'm relieved not to be responsible for the monster anymore. Now, I love libraries, do NOT get that bit wrong. But maintaining a law library is such a left-brained ordeal, and I am such a right-brained being. It's enough to make one's head fairly imp...

Unwitting breakfast for dinner at the Grey Owl (spelled with an 'e' because that's just the way to do it) over the weekend. I don't even have to try anymore, apparently. Has it truly come to this with me and breakfast? Are we really that inseparable? - peony loose-leaf tea. - americano, but only half the water as usual. - bacon bleu cheese quiche. - peach scone (the moistest perfect scone you ever knew). - one whole grapefruit. On the topic of food (it's a good topic; don't judge harshly), this weekend I discovered a newly-opened sushi bar that serves an oyster roll. I'll say it again: AN OYSTER ROLL. The count-down to the mind-blowing experience begins now. This joint even offers a low table where you can sist on floor cushions, true to Japanese tradition. Good form, Oklahoma. Three (count them) free crème brûlée s last night. Historic. It's nice to have friends who work in hotels, and even nicer when the friends are just fascinatin...

For each of (the four of) you reading, since you are likely free spirits and scouts and gypsy souls and hunters and purveyors, it only makes sense that you're looking. You're seeking out your next adventure, the journey you never expected, the breakfast of a lifetime. You are daydreaming of snowflakes landing and melting on the back of your neck. Of the rough hands of a weathered, steady sailor as he pulls you onto his lobstering boat. Of coffee that is truly deserving of the title "divine". You already know about the subway cars, the trolley lines, the Vespas for rent by the day...you know without knowing. You long for the scrapes and mosquito bites that linger fondly after a rainforest excursion. You pine for the smell of fresh earth under your nails and moss tangles in your hair. Biting wind. Wafting scent. Heated hotel blankets. Ears are aching for that foreign voice who belts at the opera house with painted sets and velvet chairs, or the one who croons in a ...

- A sweatshirt can be incredibly tasteful in the workplace. It only needs to have quality material in it makeup (cotton/cashmere blend is easy maintenance and holds shape in the loveliest loose way you can think). Just position one atop a clean-lines black pencil skirt, add jamming glitterful earrings, subtly-coloured tights and a pointed flat or a nice nude pump. There you have it. My new go-to ensemble for the daily grind. Mixing the colors has been a blast. - I made semi-sweet chocolate bark. There were rows of it, laden with crystallized ginger, pistachios, dried apricots, and raw almonds. The pistachio was the biggest hit, but I say the ginger was the most marvelous. - Someone gave me an assignment at work: to find a receipt book. The giver of the assignment was the opposite of picky-choosy, so I took that responsibility upon myself. Since there was not a single one to be found from our regular office product supplier that had an acceptable font choice, I chose one with a warm ...