Upside Down

The world feels a little upside down and sideways lately...

Photo by Garrett Ross, via Snippet & Ink

Slow Return

I've been absent here for awhile. At some point the events of the summer piled up and the backlog of photos became higher, and it all seemed so daunting. I took a break. To just take each crazy busy week as it came, without the analysis and exploration that this space allows and creates. Just to breathe and let it all be. I'm beginning to feel my way back. 

We've been submerged in weddings lately- those heady days of celebration that make you think about things like the length of a lifetime, and how fast it all flies by. The last two weekends we have celebrated the unions of good friends, each wedding a small reunion in itself. Then this afternoon another thick envelope came in the mail, and suddenly we are gearing up for another celebration. 

I've been thinking about time lately. How fast it goes. It's terrifying- that in the blink of an eye a decade will have slipped away. That a lifetime is so very short. Time is also so gratifying- I've been looking back on friendships that have spanned half my life or longer. Knowing that time creates a history that can't be erased, even if a friendship ends. There is a comforting permanence in that. 

As fall curls around us, I'm hoping to slow down and carve out a little more room for this space- I hope you'll join me.  

Deer via Audrey Hepburn Project

Transitions

I went to Bikram yoga this morning, for the first time in ages. It felt great. It’s been a month and a half since W officially moved into our new apartment, and it’s been a whirlwind. I’m just now settling into a new routine- I joined a gym, and am determined to get my butt back in shape. The process of moving in together has gone smoothly, we’ve been running around buying shelving and extension cords and hunting down chairs on craigslist. We now have all the furniture in, all but two stray boxes unpacked and sorted and squirreled away. I realized this morning that in all the running around and doing, I haven’t acknowledged what an overwhelming transition this has been. Now that we are through most of it, I can finally take a moment to let everything seep in.

There are the changes that come with any new neighborhood- we’ve now sorted out which grocery store to go to for which items, where to drop laundry that can go in the dryer, and where to take the wash only stuff. Then there are the relationship bits- we’ve figured out a system for our finances so we don’t have to worry about who does the grocery shopping or who pays for dinner. We track our bills monthly so we can both agree where to splurge and where to cut back. We are learning to communicate about the small things- so we don’t run out of toilet paper, so I don’t buy bread when there is a half a loaf hiding in the back of the fridge I thought he’d eaten.

The biggest transition for me is simply the amount of time I get with W. It’s been hard for me to let go of the need to spend as much time with him as I can. For the first year of our relationship, we saw each other only on weekends, and that time was precious. I still find myself rushing home after work, or avoiding lengthy plans without him on the weekends. I’m just beginning to settle into this new life and let that go. Suddenly I can start volunteering again, even if it means an eight hour shift on a Saturday. I can go to yoga, or the gym, and not feel like I’m losing important time together. I can build a routine for myself knowing W will be here when I get home, and that is an amazing feeling.

(The photo above is W being a goofball at Bodega Head, more on our trip to California coming soon!)

Time

I love this photo. What a beautiful exploration of time. How thin the line between dark and light-  yet what a difference between dining over candlelight, and strolling in the sun. Such a narrow band of space and time and shadow creates such a difference for us down below.

Time has been flying by. It seems so long ago that we first started carrying boxes into this place, yet bins and piles still litter the floor. It's been a very gradual process. There is still no art on the walls, but the books are in place, the dishwasher humming away. We sit, two laptops facing each other, such a microcosm of the modern world.

These are days I know we will look back on fondly. Sweaty and dusty from assembling furniture, scrambling to find that thing that's somewhere in that box. Sorting and stacking and eating dinner on the sofa because the table is buried in stuff. It is a time of building, and it is wonderful. I have much less time to myself, less time brooding in front of my computer, but so much more time with W. We laugh in the morning, sleep-eyed and stumbling around; our conversations in the evening are over steaming bowls of pasta instead of crackling phone lines.

We have a busy month ahead of us- later this week I fly to Vegas for a quick trip, then my folks are in town for a little fun, then we're off for a week in Northern CA with W's family. We'll be back in time to catch our breath before the holiday weekend, and suddenly the summer will be half over. I've always been one to look forward, excited for the next phase, and suddenly I've found myself happy with exactly where I am, anxious only to stop time and hold on to these moments.

photo via Audrey Hepburn Complex, taken by the crew of Columbia;

The Beatles

I love this photo. Isn't it amazing what a little change of perspective can do?

via mischief + madness 

Toes, Sunshine and Sailboats

I know I've been a bit absent lately, but time just seems to fly by and the internet has been a bit (ahem) difficult lately. So what have you missed? W and I spent last weekend in Boston celebrating one year of knowing/dating each other.

We started with a lovely picnic on the Esplanade watching the sailboats, had dinner at Cuchi Cuchi (I recommend the Strawberry Basil Cocktail) and later had burgers and a malt at Bartleys where we had our first meal/conversation together. The second half of the weekend was rainy and cold, so we checked out Iron Man 2 and W tried a popover recipe (delicious!) Would you like to see some pictures?

Puppy Dog Eyes

Something about this photo grabbed me. The colorful pop of the aqua shoes. The tilt of the dog's head, the attentive, inquisitive stare.

Things have been a bit of a blur lately. I've had trouble sleeping in the new apartment with the noise of the construction across the street. The weekend was spent with another series of shopping trips to buy apt things- from lights to various organizing bins and drawers and systems. The list seems endless, and while we always come home with full bags, it seems to make only a small dent in the overall effect. We do have a coffee table now, though we aren't sure if we're keeping it...

It will be another short week for me, as my parents are coming into town on Wednesday, and then Thursday night I'm heading up to Boston. Do you have any fun plans for this week?

photo via the Sartorialist