Oh How A Veronical Visit 'tis Verily Vigorously Vibrant

I don't know if any of that makes sense grammatically, but you get the idea! To put it simply, I'm having a good time with My Little Buddy, Gilligan to my Skipper.

First, here's my pretty little tree I put up before she arrived on Saturday:






Sunday: Green-Wood cemetery where we had fun being spooked by wraiths (or old ladies in cloaks with red hair who stand stock-still) & spectres & creepy angel statues







Then onto Ollies for dumplings and chicken and string beans; then up to the Clarks where we were forced to drink vodka cocktails and laugh way too much.

Then Monday I had to work, but met her afterwards at Union Square for a little shopping and then Shepherds Pie at Lillies.

Then I had off of work yesterday so we sat around chatting over coffee all morning instead of getting a move on, so we just went to the Cloisters for the afternoon which had us reliving our past life spent together as monks in the 1400's where once upon a time we must have sung a version of "how do you solve a problem like Abbot Theobald?" I'm sure of it. Or maybe we were cloistered nuns & we looked something like this:

Then there was a stop at the Fete du Noel in Bryant Park where many fun items were purchased and more dumplings were eaten.

Now today, I'm at work, finishing up STUFF & then I'm heading home to start my pastry dough for my two pies (pecan and apple) & she's off to DC for the holiday, I'm off to Auntie Jilly Bean & Cousin Megan's & then we will be back in Fun Mode on Friday when she returns! YAY!!!

Thanksgiving

We return thanks to our mother, the earth,
which sustains us.
We return thanks to the rivers and streams,
which supply us with water.
We return thanks to all herbs,
which furnish medicines for the cure of our diseases.
We return thanks to the moon and stars,
which have given to us their light when the sun was gone.
We return thanks to the sun,
that has looked upon the earth with a beneficent eye.
Lastly, we return thanks to the Great Spirit,
in Whom is embodied all goodness,
and Who directs all things for the good of Her children.
~ Iroquois ~

A few of my favorite things...

Some photos, then, to illustrate - first off - my few halloween decorations which I took down last night (finally!)

so that I could start the holiday time (I'm putting it all up a bit early because of the Veronical Visitation) - this made me very happy to do last night:

Also - Mom, here you can see the purple and blue curtains from (where else?) Ikea that I told you about - aren't they pretty?

This is my Green Man mask, my birthday gift from Mommy & Daddy



My purply pinky little light from Ikea

And finally we have - taken just moments ago - my patterned tights which I think I like but I also feel odd, like I have some weird skin disorder - slightly gave me the creeps when I put them on this morning -it's a texture thing I think.

Mom - I already know you are chuckling at my witchy pilgrim shoes! But they are so ME...

Walking home from the grocery store last night, and I see this older, teeny (shorter than me), quite dapper looking - little vest and tie and a newsboytype cap - man standing next to the bushes near my building, smoking a cigarette. He caught my eye as I passed and he exclaimed "Good evening! How are you?!" and then did a little curtsy move, waving with his cigarette hand. I smiled back and said "GOOD!" and kept walking and I heard him reply...something. Could have been one of 3 things:

1. You are the best!

2. You have breasts!

3. You are blessed!

I really thought he said #3 so that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I don't think he would have just said #1, what does that mean? The best at what? And how does he know? And he didn't have a look of a dirty old man so I don't think it was #2. I got another old guy near the grocery store corner to say that kind of thing to me - one time during the summer he said "your ta-tas are like porcelain teacups". I felt like shoving him to the ground but I just rolled my eyes and kept going. So anyway ...

I am blessed!! The little dapper man said so! YAY for me!!

Does this ever happen to you?

Do you sometimes feel like you make something happen just by thinking the wrong things?

For instance:

Waiting for the downtown 6 yesterday morning, a lady on the opposite platform waltzed by carrying 2 Starbucks coffees, one stacked on top of the other. Now, she kept on raising her arm as if to look under the bottom one and I was mesmerized because in my head I kept thinking I would never do that because klutzy me, I would totally drop them or fall flat on my face bumping into something. So I couldn't take my eyes off of her and I just repeated over and over, "you are going to drop them you are going to drop them you are going to drop them..."

And what did she do?

She dropped them.

SPLAT! they went on the ground and all over her and I felt guilty, as if I caused it to happen but it was stupid of her but I suppose it was the force of my concentration solely on her for those 60 seconds that made me feel partially responsible.

Still...it's not like I have those laser eyes like General Zod and I made the cups explode but maybe I should have thought "don't drop them stay steady" over and over instead ...

maybe I'm to blame for all those forest fires too...

The Universe DOES care about me...

It does, it does, it truly does. Otherwise, totally random people - strangers - wouldn't come up and say nice things or do sweet things at exactly the moment I need them to. And it's not just me, it happens for you too, you just need to pay attention when it does happen. Ever notice that? Or maybe it's a song that pops on the radio at EXACTLY the moment that you need to smile or feel lighter - it's typically something subtle like that, not a plane flying by with a banner trailing behind:

"NICOLE RENEE KICK YOURSELF IN THE PANTS AND STOP THE PITY PARTY NOW!!!"

That would be way too obvious - and unlikely and unrealistic - for the Universe. But it can do this: it can have me go outside for an eggnog latte as a treat because I thought the sugar would symbolically sweeten my foul mood somewhat. And you know I don't have a poker face so I suppose my dourness was exposed for anyone to see should they look. Latte was good, I went back to work and that was that.

Then out to lunch, again I felt the need to treat me, so I got sushi and miso soup and I sat out for awhile, sipping my soup even though it was a bit blustery and raw out because I thought the chill fresh air would soothe me. Plus, it helps me think. Then I head back into my building still feeling rather blue and down in the dumps and a random guy gets in the elevator with me, turns to me and says "are you having a better day?" and I guess I looked at him funny because he says "I saw you earlier with your coffee cup and you looked forlorn" and I started laughing and told him, yep I'm just having a bad day I guess and he agreed and said "me too, it's going around - I hate all people today" so that cracked me up and his floor came up and I wished him a better day and he did the same back and that was that BUT:

Random person made me smile

Random person made me feel better

Random person had me thinking even hours later "jeez, that was weird"

So thank you Random Person, sent by the Universe to prove to me that I'm not invisible and that random people with no motive and no reason to give a shit about other random people can be caring and sweet. Somehow in my twisted head and odd way of thinking, it just meant that at the heart of it, the Universe can be benevolent and personal and can reach out and say

HEY I see you, cheer up you little muck-about!

Recurrent Thread

There’s an old Native American story I read yesterday about an ancient woman who lives in a cave that cannot be reached by road or path with only an old black dog as her only company. She sits at a loom, weaving a huge and beautiful garment. She works tirelessly, never leaving her work except to stir the great kettle of stew simmering in the back of the cave.

At some point, she gets up from the loom to tend to the stew and when she does, the black dog rises and goes over to the loom, taking the ends of the threads in his mouth, and so begins to unravel the garment to its starting point.

The old woman returns and sees what her dog companion has done; she sighs, and then sits down to begin her work all over again.

I just like this tale - it struck me yesterday because its sort of how my year has gone. I feel like I've had many return trips to the loom only to find my tapestry shredded or unwoven to a point where I too, sigh and feel like giving it up and then somehow I find a small reserve of strength from somewhere and then I sit down and start all over again.

That's just life, I guess - perhaps I need to learn a lesson like tie those knots on the threads a little tighter or don't leave them dangling off the loom where the dog can get at them, that sort of thing...I'm getting there, yes, I think so. Totally getting the hang of this "life" thing...totally...

I've got my sword out today... just a warning ... so pay heed ... (and yes, this is an accurate representation of how I look in my armor - fab hair, no?)

Two COUNT 'EM Two Recipes of the Week

I'm stressed out to the MAX and pressed for time but I just wanted to add to my list - I baked a supderduper chocolate cake with chocolate glaze and white chocolate drizzle last week and brought it in to work - I must declare it QUITE tasty but - very very chocolate-y. I would only make it again for someone who would love its rich choco-ness. A bit too rich for me, I'm not a huge chocolate person but still it was good and hey, it only took me two tries to get it right. Yes, the first night I had to toss it, I was bleary from lack of sleep and too much work but had committed to bringing it to work the next day so I persevered and stumbled and tried to remove it from the pan before it was time. Therefore, most of it was stuck inside the pan and worse, it tasted all grainy and weird because of some shortcuts I took with softening the butter.

Lesson learned? Leave butter out before going to work in the morning - do not try to melt it gently in a pan.

Second recipe, I'm NOT even posting because I know no one out there will make it when I tell you what' s in it but I must say, your fear of dried plums will cause you to miss out on something quite yummy.

Fennel with grated ginger and balsamic vinegar, sauteed in olive oil until caramelized with chopped up prunes and pine nuts over spinach.

The prunes will stop you all out there but let me assure you - I'm finding more "prune in recipe" recipes PRONTO.

Anyhoo - I'm off to start another SHIT filled week - WAIT. Stop that.

Clear, cancel and DELETE. Let this week be full of only good things come true.

Fingers crossed.