Things I Love This Week

Happy Friday, darlings! 

The thing that always makes my week better, no matter what, is getting OUTSIDE.
Photos from a recent afternoon in the lakeside village of Lutry:

 Other pleasantries:

• Floating sky lanterns 
• Penny farthings
• iPhoto books
• Bouquets of pink ranunculus, white tea roses, and anemones
• Roasted chicken tacos with avocado, onion, cilantro, and lime
• Classic striped birthday candles
• Wrought iron headboards
• Anthropologie shoes
• A bright yellow Kitchen Aid stand mixer
• Dubstep
• Fishtail braids
• Packages from Texas
• T-strap Mary Jane heels
• Silk cocoon string lights from Muji 
• vintage campaign buttons
• Evian designer glass bottles
• Stacks of letters tied with ribbon
• Cailler chocolate
• This video. This lamb is cracking me up.

Get out there and seize the weekend, you crazy kids.

La Belle Paysage - VIDEO

Still trying to get out of my head and into a blog post. 

I don't know where my rhythm has gone or when it will come back but for the moment, I will spending lots of time outside.  The minute I step out of the house, the glimpse of sky and earth is like a breeze that clears out the clutter in my head.  

Today, took a little ride in the countryside with a small child by my side. No, this is not the start of a country song.

The village is a claustrophobic cluster of houses and barns and tractors and flower boxes but just past the horse farm, you break out into wide open fields. In the valley of the hills is the main north-south motor way of Switzerland, yet cars glide by without making any noise, respecting my need for quiet. Across the valley is a jumbled huddle of red tile roofs and the sharp peak of a clock tower, marking another village, though slightly larger. The Jura Mountains create a ring around the horizon but only when the view is not hemmed in by the fog. It's a dynamic landscape that defies description, but that doesn't stop me from trying.

Today's jaunt outdoors was a glorious excursion into the late afternoon sun.  Rather unexpectedly, it began to snow in the sunlight and everything was cast in an ethereal glow. What I can't write, I film, so what follows is a rather hastily edited video of our walk, set to a Carla Bruni tune.

A few qualifications:
1) I'm not Jean-Luc Godard so this is not cinematic greatness.
2) Filming while on a scooter, probably not the best idea. At one point I fell off. I'm sure you'll figure that out.
3) My fingers are in the shot to block the glare of the sun, which my highly-technical Flip can't handle. 4) Whatever, enjoy it.

Revival

Oh lands, it's been nearly a month and not a stray word to be found around here.
Time passing has been like the wind through an open window, ruffling blank pages of a book.

obviously this calls for another Alessandro Gottardo illustration

I can't write when I'm not inspired. It's been a dry season. December was a box stuffed full of adventures but chronicling them by force of habit would have been as dull as reading a travel brochure.

But here I am, blowing the dust off the keys to prove there's still life in this pocket of the internet.

What have we missed? Paris. Merry Christmas. Italy. Happy New Year. Castles. Bears. Hindu spiritual guides.
Tales for another time.

For now, before the shiny newness of another year fades into February, we must list aims and hopes for 2011:

I try not to put too much emphasis on resolutions, because too often we set ourselves up to fail.  Tackling all your faults on the first of January is putting too much on your plate. Also, I don't think merely the changing of the calendar should make us feel obliged to make better decisions. If today was messy, make tomorrow your fresh start. If this morning was a bust, try harder after lunch. Don't be so hard on yourself.

That said, I like to pick a new shade for the new year, a sort of giant parentheses in the sky to encompass my experiences in the next 12 months.

The goal of 2010 was to not be afraid to try new things. Well mark a gold glittery star next to that, because for the last four months, I've been writing these posts to you from Switzerland. Not to mention, saying goodbye to the safety of life as a college student. And the little things. Tried pâté. Won't be trying it again. But that's ok, that's the whole point of trying it, right?


The goal of 2011 is a little bit more nebulous but I'm aiming in the direction of inspiration. I want to be inspired by what I do. I want spit and vinegar, pep and vigor. I want joie de vivre. It doesn't need to be a  year of gleeful hurrahs and fireworks.  Those are exciting but I also want to do with gusto the necessary things, the hard things, the unpleasant things. 


I want to learn French like it's the last spoken language.
I want to write like the words need to pour out or they'll be lost. 
I want to learn how to cook rice that tastes so good, it outshines the meat and vegetables sitting on top.
I want to fail at learn how to ski in the Alps. 
I want to finish every song I play on the piano with a resounding glissando. 


Go big or go home. 
2011, go put on your game face.

Good Morning Paris

The sun has risen but has not shown its face from behind the clouds. It's just a mite chilly in Jillian's apartment but I have enough blankets to burrow in like a mole setting up for winter. Even the unexplicable construction occuring outside at 8 am is a pleasant change for my ears.

Last night I arrived after the world's most unnerving train ride (police men and drug dogs, I'll leave it at that)
and was greeted by a friendly and amusing Scotsman, who walked with me to await Jillian in her apartment. We were soon joined by Jillian and a cheerful Canadian and whiled away the evening hours with some pasta and copious amounts of tea. It was a pleasing introduction to what looks to be another fantastic weekend.

This random post is my excuse to say I wrote something this week. I'd say more but this French computer has the world's worst organized keyboard and I'm reduced to picking out the letters with two fingers like a sad overworked, underpaid 55 year old receptionist who never took a typing class. Also there is the promise of bagels if I venture outside today.

Until next time then. Start your weekend early today, I won't tell.

Things I Love This Week

My TILT basket is full to brimming of lovely things because it's been so long since I've done a regular post! So here we go, grab a sandwich, this might be awhile.

Getting Thanksgiving dinner after all- last week I had a nice little getaway on Lake Neuchatel. The Indermuhles invited me up to their gorgeous house for a Thanksgiving dinner on Friday with the family. Julie is from Canada so she cooked up all the traditional goodies (including my favorite: sweet potato casserole!) and it was like a plate full of home. I don't remember much of the conversation because I was at the end of the table sighing in happiness. It was a pleasant, relaxing weekend filled with sledding, cookie decorating and incredible views of the lake.

Images of America in the late '30s, early '40s - Incredible color photos of America emerging from the Great Depression.  I don't know if you thought life was lived in black and white until the '60s, but here's proof that it wasn't.  Color photos from this period are pretty rare but they exist, and thanks to our wonderful Library of Congress, we have access to them. These are not the world's most interesting photographs, but I love them for their honesty. There is no posing or Photoshop wizardry. This is an actual glimpse into life.

I swear these kids are the incarnation of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. 

Movember success - a big noisy CONGRATS to cousin George! He exceeded his goal by raising $1,107 in the name of mustaches and prostate cancer research. And a big digital hug to the Internet community, for proving that some good can come of all us and our excessive bandwidth usage. 

Facial hair and Scrabble tiles = ultimate hipster photograph nonsense.

ShortList

• Getting not one but TWO lovely silk/pashmina scarves as gifts. One from my mom and one from Spain from my host mom.
• Having hot chocolate in my marshmallows. Yes you read that right. 
• Being legit, letter writing pen pals with my favorite newly-minted Texan. You know, like stamps and smudged ink and jazz.
• Getting excited for round two of a weekend in Paris with the ever delightful and snarky Jillian.
• References to Switzerland in TV shows: "The chocolate! It's so milky!"
• The pure bliss of waking up whenever I want on a Saturday and doing absolutely nothing productive all day, guilt-free.  Well except update my blog. But one could argue about how "productive" that is...
• Spontaneous emails from my dad. He's hardly as garrulous as his daughter but it's always nice to hear from him.
• The book my sister is making for a class. Teaching the pythagorean theorem using sandcastles. It's very clever and expertly illustrated.  You read here first, kids. Consider this a review before it has even been published. Which reminds me, Eva: if you use that title I suggested, I want a cut of the royalties.
• Wintery floral arrangements with purple beautyberries. Which is a really "My Little Pony" kind of name but they are gorgeous.

Julie's centerpieces

What do you love this week?