Creole Wisdom

continually surprised.

I have been continually surprised by J.  For the past few days we have been talking a lot, and this has been a very good thing.  Obviously, I am a strong believer in communication!  It is so crucial, and despite his introverted nature J and I have had some really worthwhile discussions.  No one is perfect, we do not make it into our twenties unscathed and unaffected by our worlds and upbringing.  I am lucky to be in a relationship with a person who believes in introspection.  Sorry if that's vague, but this is a blog ya know- and all you really need to know is that we are good.  right now.

Tonight J invited me over to his apartment for dinner and a movie.  "I got you a surprise" he told me on the phone earlier in the afternoon.  I smiled.  After dinner watching this was my surprise.

My review: great underlying message, not so hot acting, but you strip that away and there is something very fundamental there: once you are married, you work through it.  Obviously this means one dates carefully and is even more careful about who they marry.  I had a friend (oh Lord here we go) who married a guy after knowing him for a few months.  That was it.  Let me just tell you: not my comfort zone.  I have no problem with short engagements, but I know, that at least for me, to be sure- I will need to date someone for a really long time.  And I will need to be absolutely sure, and that will take a LONG time. 

the north shore

J and I just got back from spending two nights on Lake Superior.  It is so beautiful up there, you should go.  I loved the cabin we stayed in, and really loved the gas fireplace, nice dining room table, and king sized comfortable bed. 

I read in the resort's brocure that they designed it to resemble a Scandanavian fishing village.  I loved the details such as these...

The amazing rocks on the frozen, beautiful Lake Superior

We basically laid low this entire trip.  Mostly driving a lot, eating in and out, talking a lot.  Talking.  Did I mention talking?  I did a lot of thinking, as I am sure J did, too.  That is always good to do.

We did drive up to one of my most favorite places in the world, Split Rock Lighthouse! The classic feet picture that I take on every trip:

And with that we left for home this morning after a stressful last night.  I'm not going into details, but right now I am doing a lot of thinking and more thinking.  I really am glad I took a few days to get away from the city and spend time with J. 

spring break (f•s•s edition)

F:
Break officially started Friday at 4:30 when I got off from work at the daycare.  I walked home in the sun, and could not help but smile at the gorgeous weather (40s).  I got home and quickly packed my stuff, and waited for Kate to get off from work.  Yes, I live-work-and am in the same sorority as one of my best friend.  No, we don't fight.  We are just a match made in AOII heaven, as I like to say : ) From there we headed home and called one of Kate's Edina buddies, Tess. 

Tess is just one of those very fun, wonderful people who has great taste in food and restaurants.  We had decided on going out to eat at The Cheescake Factory, but the wait was 1.5 hours (at 7:15pm).  Wait, I thought we were in a recession???  So was the wait at P.F. Changs and Maggianos... so, over to the city we went and eat some fabulous authentic Mexican at Kate's choice, Pepito's.  Delish.  We talked and laughed and chowed down.  Then we ended the night at Tess' mother's gorgoues home in Edina where we chatted the rest of the night up with her and her fam.  I didn't get home until very late, and then went to bed right away.

S:
Another gorgeous day- I started by printing off business cards for dad (I design them, and others).  It didn't take me too long to get several done.  Then, an amazing sushi dinner- so damn good.  I love sushi! And saki! LOL!

S:
Brunch double date with J's married friends, Jordan and Kelle.  Very fun.  They had live jazz, and mimosas, and gorge yourself eggs benedict.  Oooo hollondaise sauce!  And GUESS WHAT?!?!?  I WORE A SKIRT WITHOUT TIGHTS FOR THE FIRST TIME AND WAS NOT EVEN COLD!

(Don't you just love when other people take photos and it's not even in focus?)

Afterwards we headed to J's parent's home, and enjoyed the sunny drive.  I find myself getting to know him more and more, and I know that I will need to time to decide how exactly I feel/what I want to do.  There are no perfect people, and while I do not know exactly what I want in a lifelong partner/husband I am learning by each relationship.  I do not believe in perfection, but I understand that things take time.  I am learning and taking things into context everyday.

changing of the guards

J: (looking around my room @ AOII) you should some pictures of us in here
K: you're right. I need to do that.

about one month later i finally did it.

don't you love this frame? it's from anthropologie spring 2005. goodbye classical art hello cute picture to put on my nightstand.

heart letter

Dearest J:

I thought of you today as I went about the daily schedule that is Thursday.  While you were enjoying a (perhaps slightly boring) conference on engineering at Stanford I was...

-Getting a headache from sanitizing cots with Lysol at work
-Feeling overwhelmed by homework and assignments
-Realizing I have so much to do before graduation
-Not feeling good, and then throwing up at home
-Pushing through it all, and making sure to go to class
-Not being "done" until 9:30
-Feeling scared for my first real job interview, which is tomorrow

I miss you. Please come back soon.  I will be there to pick you up at the airport in rin-tin-tin.  Thank you for being worried about me because I threw up.

I'm so glad you had fun getting Thai food with dad.  I hope he didn't tell embarrassing stories about me. I'm kind of jealous that you go to go to dinner with my dad, he's so great. you're so great.

xoxo
CW

she's boxy.

Excuse me, is this become one of those blogs?  You know what I'm talking about, the only subject of entries is about boyfriends and dates and flowers and cuteness, boy-friend-box blog?  Wait, are you confused?  You see, I had this AP English teacher my senior year of high school.  She referred to girls who only talked about their boyfriends as being in the boyfriend box, like they stepped into a box, and that was their identity.  Was she poisoning young minds?  I wonder...

But the reality of it is, when someone comes into your world, and adds to it (not completes), you get kind of thrilled, and want to blog/journal/relate things to it. 

I'm kind of excited for J.  He's so smart readers, really he is. The University is sending him to Stanford, the Ivy of the west, to attend some big thing (I'm fuzzy on details)- because HE IS SO SMART AND TAKING OVER THE WORLD!  Just kidding, but he is, and he's grabbing dinner with dad while he's there.  How fun is that?  My dad had never liked any of my boyfriends/dates except J.  He really likes J.  They have violin playing in common, and are both into school/being smart. 

J does so much for me.  He surprises me with great dates, flowers, and amazing gifts- gifts of time, energy, and pearls.  I'm blessed.  So, I'm making him a good-bye homemade lunch for tomorrow and... he'll have a cute note to open up from me each day while he's there- I had so much fun making this, and it's so easy to do:

s'wonderful

When I was a freshman in High School, I used to listen to Diana Krall.  I had one CD of hers, well it was dad's, but it was always in the car.  To and from school, often in the rain (we were living in PDX) and on other errands: whole foods (on Burnside, I think), and Art House in NE (now closed), to my internship at Seaplane (that was Sophomore year), and sometimes up to Manzanita Beach on a mild Saturday afternoon.

Now everytime I hear Diana's voice, in a cute shop or sometimes a cafe, and it's rare, it takes me right back to that time of my life.  The end of my adolescence, my youth.  Before I fell in love, before I left home, before the sorority, before paychecks, and tuition, and short hair.  But I really loved those songs.  I would sing them while cleaning my room, or whatever. 

Flash forward nearly eight years.  (oh my god). and J is helping me intall my new Photoshop CS4.  What a sweetie, and this was after he made me laugh harder than anything in the green room over stupid newspaper comics- And on Saturday, he took me back to the location of our very first date, and we had the most romantic dinner.  And all I could think, last night as I fell asleep was: s'wonderful.  And it is.  Diana made it come full circle. 

(and if you don't know, here's something to soften your Monday morning)

Youve made my life so glamorous,
You cant blame me for feeling amorous
Oh s wonderful, s marvellous,
That you should care for me

valentines.

Good morning! I am on cloud 9, and if you were me you would be, too. There are lots of reasons why- basically had the best Valentine's of my entire life (22 years- that's saying a lot readers).  It was very nice! Here are some of the cards Kate and I collected over the past few days...

Started out Friday with the sorority crush party at corner bar. Danced til late, and got to introduce J to some of my friend's boyfriends : ) That was nice.  We all need to do an intimate dinner sometime! It was 80s themed, but J and I just dressed up- Being silly:

Saturday morning/afternoon I ran errands with mom... in her brand new car.  That's right, now I am a mom of "rin tin tin" (the car I crashed).  Her new car allows you to hook your ipod up directly (not with the tape ya'll, you know what I'm talking about!) and we jammed to Etta James.  I then cooked like a mad woman and got dressed up.

Dinner at J's with his roomie Tony and his girfriend Steph.  On the menu: fondue, salad caprese, steak, potatoes anna, chocolate cake, and of course, wine. 

Then a concert at Orchestra Hall...

And talking by candlelight.

But the big surprise came when J presented me with a large black velvet box, and inside were...

Aren't they so pretty?  I love the shape, size, where they sit on my neck, and the tiny shade of pink that comes out...  And he also wrote me the kindest, sweetest letter and had time to make me homemade truffles : )

For him I got a monogramed beer stein as well as a leather monogrammed catchall for his desk (which he's very protective of).  He took out the catchall right away and put his keys and wallet in it.  I think he loved his gifts.  And I also wrote him a nice letter, too. 

I feel so blessed.  Earlier in the week J dropped off a thumb drive full of even more (brace yourselves now) goodies: The Tudors Season 1, New Photoshop, & Aperture.  Another reason why electrical engineers are so cool.  Bwahah. Kate and I are going to have some fun nights full of The Tudors : )

I hope you and yours had a great Valentine's Day! We need a holiday in the middle of cold February.

lucky.

J was waiting for me right as I got out of night class last evening.  I jumped into the car to kiss him quickly, and he said:

Before we go out for coffee, we have to drop something off at your sorority house right away

And then I looked in the back seat.  Back home, J unwrapped for me, the most beautiful bouquet of red roses-

aren't they gorgeous? I feel so lucky. As we walked into my room with them, Kate (and Katie) who were watching the uncut version of Pretty Woman asked, "why the occasion?" and J says- so matter of fact, "well, the beautiful Katherine."

this is good.

In other news, I cut out these adorable Black Apple valentine's for some of my girlfriends- Love them- check out the free download.

getting warmer

Such good weather this weekend.  I could smell spring (you know what I'm talking about).  It felt like the end of March.  There were puddles and lots of sunshine-

Saturday:
•Enjoy the MOA with J.  There were so many people there.  I managed to find a really cute Valentine's Day dress... it's so pretty!
•I got a bit frustrated at Gilly Hicks (too long of a wait at the register/slow, real slow service) and instead of getting frustrated at my frustration J says, "would looking at something sparkly make you feel better?" LOL, and he pulled me into a jewelry store.  He's real funny- And speaking of shopping... the new flipflops at Old Navy smell like summer, oh I believe in that!
•Perfect almost-good bye dinner with Karen.  Our mom's joined us.  Amazing, organic meal at The Good Earth (love that place).  Aren't we cute with our moms?

Sunday:
•J and I went to church (his childhood congregation) in his hometown.  I tried to look really modest, but also hot (not that hard to do- I'm serious!) Beforehand we were talking on facebook chat and he says, "be sure to wear something modest."  We all know how that's a value of mine, so I started laughing, and so did Karen when I told her that story...  What do you think, do I pass the test?

•And a cute little hold-your-camera-out-shoot-a-picture in our Sunday best.  We were dressed up.  Kind of rare when I mostly live in jeans, Ugg boots, and gasp... sorority letter on the bum yoga pants (not J's favorite, lol! But real comfortable!)

•After J and I enjoyed french toast with his sister and mom... very nice.  I love Sunday breakfasts! Then onto my parent's house for magazine reading and crossword puzzles-
•Something tells me that 2009/age 22 is going to be a really, really good year for me: graduating in May, moving into the most charming house with Karen & Kate, staying at the daycare/finding another good job, enjoying J, lots of weddings/graduations in my family...