Things since then

When I was a kid, I had about 5000 diaries relatives would buy me and would, every single time, write three or four entries before forgetting about it. Inevitably I would come back six months later and apologize to my diary for abandoning it.

So: Dear Diary (I'm actually pretty sure I named my diaries "Lizzie" but that's kind of weird now since my cat is named Lizzie, I don't want to be the person who writes a blog to her cat), I am so sorry I haven't written in so long. So much has happened!

I read a bunch of books and did other things! Here you go! Here are some things that happened!

44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith: I'm not sure what to call this book besides adorable. I read it on a boat. It has no plot whatsoever, but is extremely pleasant. Now I want to go to Edinburgh and get a dog that winks and drinks beer (half of that was already a life goal).

Finished Villette. Verdict: soul-crushing? Now I'm torn between David Mitchell's (relatively) new book and Vanity Fair. The former is winning right now because I think I need to read something written after 1900.

Oh yeah, I went to San Francisco/Sacramento/LA a while ago and never posted anything about it. Needless to say, it was sweet as hell. And one of my Greece ladies got married, the first of my close friends to do so (as far as I know?). Terrifying! Am I really reaching this age? It was beautiful though, and featured really delicious salmon, so my terror was soothed.

Also, this happened:

Life: made. If anybody has a pile of puppies I'm all ears.

Visited Miss Amber in NYC with my boyfriend via MEGABUS, which I have a love/hate relationship with (the bus, not the boy). You can, however, play WiFi pokemon on it, so I can't really complain. I literally ate burgers every day I was there. Sometimes 2 or 3 burgers a day. Probably a bad idea? No? Okay.

I also moved out of my apartment and began house-sitting with my best friend in an adorable cottage that has air conditioning! Good decisions. Plus she's a baker, so my life is pretty much ideal right now AND smells delicious.

RYE RYE + ROBYN

I haven't listened to this yet, but it's amazing. how could it not be. oh my god. QUEENS.

EDIT: I WAS RIGHT

Room with a View

I was so excited to read Room with a View, but ultimately I wasn't really all that taken with it! The side characters were really funny and well-crafted (Charlotte! Miss Lavish! So good) but Lucy and George just weren't that interesting and didn't have particularly strong personalities?! Which was strange since obviously Forster is capable of writing a wide variety of interesting people! The only time I really got into it was towards the end when she breaks off her engagement and gets all heated about feminism, that was good. There are some beautiful passages about Italy, though. LET'S GO. I was so drawn to the idea of the boarding houses! I guess the modern equivalent would be youth hostels, but I'd much rather lodge with kindly old British ladies who eat crumpets, etc than drunk Australian teenagers.

The edition I had was beautiful, though (SEE ABOVE). The paper was nice and thick and the illustration on the cover was pretty. And it smelled good (not creepy).

NEXT UP: Villette by Charlotte Bronte! PUMPED.

SO...

I went to San Francisco, Sacramento & LA! Will update soon. In the meantime, check out this beauty.

POETRY TUESDAY.

oh my god I'm posting poetry in a blog. at least it's not mine?

To Dorothy

You are not beautiful, exactly.
You are beautiful, inexactly.
You let a weed grow by the mulberry
And a mulberry grow by the house.
So close, in the personal quiet
Of a windy night, it brushes the wall
And sweeps away the day till we sleep.

A child said it, and it seemed true:
"Things that are lost are all equal."
But it isn't true. If I lost you,
The air wouldn't move, nor the tree grow.
Someone would pull the weed, my flower.
The quiet wouldn't be yours. If I lost you,
I'd have to ask the grass to let me sleep.

-- Marvin Bell

DOEG.

I Cannot Even Speak To You About How Cute My Parents' New Dog Is I'm Reduced To Typing In This Way.

Like, really, look at that face. She is so cute and shy. I die. I am a poet. Really, it's deeply unfair that something can be this cute. Her name is BELLE BECAUSE SHE IS BEAUTIFUL AND BECAUSE MY DAD REALLY LIKES BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.

Huff, huff, anyway, so, I just finished Jane Eyre and it was amazing, ridiculously amazing, Charlotte Brontë have all my babies. Maybe my favorite book ever, for real. Pretty sure Jane Eyre is my role model for life. I<3JE

Now I'm reading The House of Mirth (which I just wrote as The Mouse of Hirth, thanks, I'll be here all night). Also amazing so far. Historical ladies, I love you all.

YES... YES!!

ARCHITECT BARBIE, Y'ALL. "AT LAST."
"Now, along with previous years’ winners of Dolphin Trainer, Chef, and Pet Vet, the disproportionate, iconic blond will be designing buildings right along side all those other disproportionate blond icons, like Frank Gehry or Zaha Hadid." I--- yes.

Those black (wedge?!) heels, the black rimmed glasses, the geometrical cuff, the tiny polly pocket dream home, yes yes yes. And I just saw the HARD HAT.

Also, I'm famous now (there's a cute cat at that link, if you need encouragement).

drunk cats

I can't believe Achewood is being put on permanent hiatus. Even though I haven't read it in months, I feel like a big part of my adolescence is DEAD. Or in like cryogenic freeze tubes? It informed so much of my thinking, for example w/r/t fedoras, West Virginia, oregon trail, social services, and going around calling people "dogg" for like 6 years. (Sorry.) And, maybe most importantly, fonts:

Also check out my friend Amanda's new store, Long Arm Press!! She has super long arms!! And is really talented! Wingspan of an eagle!!

New apartment!

Goin' for a little minimalism up in here.

Sorry for terrible camera pictures.

dress lust

My friend KT recently spent an evening at my house helping me to FIGURE OUT MY LIFE. This mostly involved getting rid of a good chunk of my wardrobe. I feel cleansed! Giving all that crap I got at salvation army and never wore back to salvation army is really therapeutic! Ahh! Um, but, yes, I got rid of some weird things, things that didn't fit, unflattering things-- it was great. KT is a great shopping/closet-cleaning buddy because she is completely frank and honest when something is hideous. I even got rid of some cardigans (this is a big step).

So the last thing I need is more dresses, but I came across this dress and it is really gorgeous and perfect and is luckily $350 dollars so I'll never buy it.