Don’t you just love Tiffany’s? – Page 3

A Beautiful Bride, a Tall Nephew, a Favorite Role

Last Sunday, my eldest niece was married, and almost all of my family was there to celebrate with her. I took only a few photos, and I couldn’t resist sharing one of the bride and groom. They were so happy, laughing and smiling at each other all afternoon!

It is a rare and delightful thing to have our family in one place, and I really enjoy seeing the younger generation interact with each other, as well as getting to hang out with them myself. Here I am, pictured with my eldest godson and third nephew, Drew. He’ll be graduating from high school in the spring, which is all sorts of astounding. It was just the other day he was a tiny, premature baby, wasn’t it? Let’s not talk about the 3″ heels I wore that did not make me taller than Drew!

I was so busy dancing and chatting (despite having laryngitis and a doctor’s order to be on total voice rest), that the afternoon flew by. The best parts of the day for me, over and over, came when I caught the eyes of my nieces and nephews and saw just how happy they were to be with their family. I am proud of my “kids” and proud to claim my role as Auntie.

What has you feeling proud lately?

Underneath is Rock

Fidelity

Man and woman are like the earth, that brings forth flowers
in summer, and love, but underneath is rock.
Older than flowers, older than ferns, older than foraminiferae,
older than plasm altogether is the soul underneath.
And when, throughout all the wild chaos of love
slowly a gem forms, in the ancient, once-more-molten rocks
of two human hearts, two ancient rocks,
a man’s heart and a woman’s,
that is the crystal of peace, the slow hard jewel of trust,
the sapphire of fidelity.
The gem of mutual peace emerging from the wild chaos of love.

—D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930)

Four years ago, with our dear families and friends as witnesses, Neal and I pledged to be shields for each other, to smile into each others’ eyes each morning, to give to each other what was ours to give, to honor each other above all others. Peace and trust are the rocks underneath all that flowers between us.

Four years ago, we grasped the wild chaos between us and vowed to see what gem would form.

I think it may be a diamond.

And Did Those Feet in Ancient Times…

There has been lots of pooh-poohing around the Internet about royal wedding excitement, but I am unabashed in my fervor for all things House of Windsor (indeed, all the British Royal Houses!). I was up early this morning to watch as the elegant cars arrived at Westminster Abbey, just as I was up early to watch Prince Charles and Lady Diana’s wedding in 1981. I gasped with delight when I saw the Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding gown*. She looks perfect–elegant, fresh, happy. For all the extravagances that a royal wedding by nature entails, I thought this wedding showed appropriate restraint without losing any of the pomp that so delights fans of the royals.

One of my many favorite parts of the wedding ceremony was hearing William Blake’s poem “Jerusalem“. Of course, the ceremony is only the beginning of the delights for royal watchers. The sun broke out, and the bride and groom were able to take the open-air 1902 state landau. What fun to watch their joy as they rode back to Buckingham Palace!

When I returned home from a few meetings on campus, I broke open a package of chocolate McVities(the company created a chocolate McVities cake for the reception!) (Here’s Tea and Sympathy’s recipe) and poured a glass of ginger ale and Pimm’s. I watched the ceremony highlights again, and then I went outside into a glorious New England spring day.

Weeping Cherry — What a pretty view from my office window!

I had a mission once outside.

I’ve set myself a goal to preserve some bounty from the yard and garden each month of the growing season.

April’s contribution: violet syrup. I’ve picked a basket full of violets, and by Sunday, I should have some lovely spring captured in a bottle!

How about you? Did you watch the royal wedding today? If you’re one of the many who are not excited by it, then tell me what bounty is growing in your area!

*Thanks, Margene, for setting me straight!

Wink with Fullness

Happy Easter to all who celebrate it. Happy Spring to all!

We had a fantastic weekend here at Chez Golightly. A lot of cleaning (oh, the horrors of my house as the end of semester draws nigh) and food prepping that culminated in a warm, breezy Easter dinner with Neal’s family. I enjoyed planning the menu, baking, chopping, scrubbing, and setting the table so much. Visiting with my in-laws was great, too.

And the extreme cute factor of Neal’s favorite decorative item never fails to please.

Saturday was the anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth (at least, our best guess) and death, and Prairie Home Companion celebrated him. Joel Gray’s reading of Sonnet 56 brought me to tears. Seriously, if you love Shakespeare’s sonnets, give this episode a listen. And if you don’t love them or never had an interest in them, I think hearing several of them read with gusto might change your mind.

How was your weekend? I hope it was as lovely as mine!

CraftSanity Winner!

Congratulations, Heather! You are the winner for the CraftSanity giveaway. Wait until you see all of the fabulous projects! You should see an email from me soon!

Thanks to everyone who participated. I’ve learned that fried chicken and watermelon are among the most popular picnic items, and now I can’t wait for the snow to finish melting and picnic time to commence!

Contest and a Pattern: Picnic Mitts

During the snowy days of January, I cheered myself up by thinking of spring and creating a hairpin lace pattern for the fabulous CraftSanity Magazine. Want to see?

I am crazy about this magazine. I pored over Issue 1 for hours and hours, and I can’t wait to spend lots of time with Issue 2. So many neat projects inside:

Would you like a chance to win a copy for yourself? How about if Jennifer and I throw in a skein of Koigu, the yarn used for the Picnic Mitts pattern (Rav link)?

Of course you’d like that! Who wouldn’t? Here are the ways to enter:

1. Leave a comment sharing what your favorite picnic item is (links to recipes are always welcome!).

2. Post about the contest on your blog and leave a comment here telling me you did so, with a link to the post.

3. Tweet about the contest with my user name (@pomogolightly) and a link to the blog. No more than one tweet per hour, please!

4. Post about the contest on FaceBook with a link to this post, and leave a comment here.

If there are over 50 comments, I’ll add another prize (yes, I’m stealing Jessalu’s contest rules!), so be sure to tell your friends! The winner will be selected by random generator at 5:00 on Wednesday.

So, Is that Mohair, or Crochet? *

Every now and then I enjoy taking a few hours to visit some of my favorite antique shops in the area. Most often, I'm window shopping, inspired by imagining the original owners of the variety of goodies I see. Now and again, I have a day when I find all sorts of wonders that I can't resist. Yesterday was a craft-themed day.

I found a trove of vintage knitting and crochet magazines. Pretty proud that I only brought four home. Aren't the covers fantastic?

I picked up the crochet hook in the same booth as the magazines. It was FILLED with vintage linens. I had to remind myself of the drawer full of my Gram's linens to keep from greedily snapping them up. The tag on the hook claims that is ivory, but I'm betting against that. Still, it is comfortable in my hand, especially for a size 1.

The box. Oh, the box. That was from another shop. It was labeled "tatting". I didn't look too carefully inside. I was drawn to it as though it had been placed on the shelf for me. Only once I got home did I investigate more fully.

I was gobsmacked to find a stack of hemstitched "blanks" partially made into a project. My mom recently wondered if such things were still available. I have linens edged by my Gram, and I wanted to copy some of her work. And look at this! The unfinished project of a crafter from days gone by, just waiting for me! It might take a while for me to decipher just how the original crafter created her joins, I'm psyched to give it a go.

Gram taught me to crochet doilies using similar crochet thread. It will be a return to my crafting roots to play with these supplies.

What supplies have you eager to get crafting?

*Last night Neal flipped through one of the vintage magazines in an effort to show interest in my finds. His question made me laugh until my stomach hurt. He was utterly sincere, utterly adorable!

On Valentine’s Day

If I could give everyone a gift today, it would be a warm, sunny, summer day! This will have to do.

A History of Sorts

Most Christian holidays have a strong tie to ancient Pagan holidays, and St. Valentine's Day is no different. St. Valentine's biography is shrouded in mystery as is the case for so many saints. Depending on the source, he either continued to marry young lovers secretly after young men were forbidden by the Emperor to marry (he figured unmarried soldiers were better soldiers), or he strove to save Christians jailed and tortured by the Romans, curing the blindness the jailor's daughter and signing a note to her "from your Valentine".

Conversion is difficult when a culture has deeply cherished holidays of its own, and the ancient Christians understood that aligning their holy days with those already celebrated would help the cause. February 15 is the celebration of Lupercalia, a raucous fertility rite.

Contemporary Views

Now, February 14 is a day that carries a lot of weight. Expectations can run high, and wallets sometimes must run deep to meet those expectations. When I posed the question on Facebook "how do you feel about Valentine's Day" I was met with a lot of frustration: "Meh" said Jessalu. "Too much pressure for guys because the media creates unrealistic expectations in women," commented K-Dubs. "Stuff-n-Nonsense…but good for the restaurant business," said my pragmatic ex-SIL. "Huge bummer," was the comment of my Most Eligible Single Girlfriend (okay, I have a couple of those, but she was the one who replied). Rae called it a "waste of time, energy, and money." The commercials, as Jessalu noted, are enraging. How to combat the ridiculous notion that a woman needs something expensive to know she is loved?

A More Cheerful Look

But then Rae made another comment, one that speaks to how I feel about this day: "I do like the red and hearts in the middle of winter. Brightens things up a bit."

Kelley (we were in first grade together! Bet we exchanged plenty of little Valentine's Day cards in our day!) said, "If it is kept simple, it can be lovely," which was echoed by Therese (from Norway, where the holiday is not celebrated) "It's a nice tradition as long as we don't over do it."

Valentine's Day at Chez Golightly

Keeping it simple is how I like to celebrate Valentine's Day. Boy, oh, boy was Neal relieved the first year we were together on Valentine's Day. About a week before, I made sure to tell him that I didn't buy into what Kate called "the annually scheduled day of affection."

My birthday is less than a week before Valentine's Day. I have no need to be celebrated twice in one week (although I have high expectations for lots of love and surprises on my birthday). But Valentine's Day is not about one person celebrating the other. To my way of thinking, it is about celebrating connection. Celebrating all types of love the Greeks defined for us: Eros, Philia, and Agape.

I tell Neal I love him many times a day. I tell my siblings I love them when I chat or email with them. I tell my parents I love them every time I see or talk to them. I am not shy about telling my loved ones how I feel. I'll bet you are the same way. Why one day to "schedule" that affection, then?

I think Rae hit on it. Winter is long. The time between Christmas (or whatever you might celebrate in December) and Easter (or whatever you might celebrate in the spring) is long and dark. A little brightness, a little cheer doesn't hurt. What does hurt is feeling that one particular form of love must be expressed in a particular way on this particular day because we have been TOLD that it should be.

What if, instead, we all took the chance to bring a little joy and cheer to ourselves and our loved ones by giving them a little time, a little, sweet, sincere expression of love? Neal and I plan to exchange homemade Valentines this year (I've even written a poem for mine!), and I am going to cook a few new dishes that I know will give pleasure to us both. I'll bring a bag of sweet treats to school for my students and colleagues. I'll take a few moments from my day to cherish those around me.

You, dear reader, are one of those whom I cherish. Thank you for giving me a reason to write. Thank you for your comments and emails. Thank you for becoming a part of my world and letting me be a part of yours.

Happy Valentine's Day, all you little pieces of my heart! Kisses and cheer to you all!

Some Stuff I Like

Cross-country skiing is something I like. Until the icy junk hit on Tuesday, we had some of the best snow in recent memory. I was starting to feel like I knew what I was doing out there in the woods, but the ice has changed that!

Here are some other things I've been liking lately:

Moop Letter bag: I purchased this during Phase 1 of Project 333 when I realized that the leather tote I'd been burdening was not holding up under the strain. While I prefer open outside pockets (the flap covers two front pockets), the bag feels great on my shoulder and holds a LOT! The quality of the bag is fantastic, and the customer service is amazing.

Delias Thompson Eternity Secret Message Necklace: The way the secret message circle slips gracefully along the necklace's chain is far more pleasing than I could have anticipated. Delias is charming and delightful to work with, and I am thrilled with the elegant playfulness of my new necklace. It's a great way to keep your own mantra for 2011 close to your heart.

Rosebud Salve: this stuff is perfect for winter lips and cuticles.

Brooklyn Tweed's Shelter Yarn: Have you knit or crocheted with this stuff yet? As his prize for my recent contest, Drew asked me to knit a hat for his wife. I'm making this pattern, and every stitch is pure, squishy goodness.

Roasted Chickpeas: I saw these on Pinterest (are you using Pinterest yet? Why not?) and promptly made them. They are delish on a salad. Much healthier than croutons, they give that same crunch and pop of flavor.

What have you been liking lately?

Thank You!

Thanks to your generous support, Catherine and her class are closing in on raising the necessary funds to help them to build a classroom in Nicaragua. You are the best, dear readers! Thank you! Thank you!

I used a random generator to pick a number…and the winner is… lucky number six: Drew!

***

Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I hope you had a great weekend. We had an adult Christmas (no little kids. Boo hoo!), and while it was quiet, it was certainly restful. The big snowstorm yesterday made it easy to relax on Sunday, and since Neal had a furlough day today (who says the state workers don't give back?), we were able to get out for the first cross-country ski adventure of the season. Neal took this picture of the brook that wends through the woods across the street from our house. I felt strong skiing, and my spirits were lifted by the beauty around me.

Did you get snow? What are you doing to enjoy it?

Category: Don’t you just love Tiffany’s?