vintage!

My good friend Jody, also a soon to be graduated nursing student, has recently acquired some very vintage finds from her parents old storage shed. Unfortunately her mother is no longer with us, but she left behind a wonderful nursing graduation present for Jody...her old nursing supplies! (circa 1961) These were so vintage and beautiful that I simply had to come over and do a photo shoot. Can you believe they used to use Mercury for first aid????

the holy thriftstore grail

Mike finds things. I don't know how he does it, but he can go into stores, thriftshops, anywhere, and just find the coolest things. A lot of my clothes Mike has actually found. Anyway, I've been looking for a polaroid camera for about a month now. I've been actually putting in a decent amount of effort rifling through various thriftstores to find one. So sunday night we hit one on our way back home, we're about to check out and low and behold what does Mike find? A polaroid camera. For $2.99.
Total score.
I realize Polaroid has decided to discontinue their film and cameras. I guess I better get what I can in while it's there. Here are a few shots that I took today.

wise fortune cookie

Heart Chakra

Hello Spring!

Today is officially the first day of spring. They are planning on snow tomorrow, but today was simply glorious!!!

Hello Mr. Bee!

Hello Mrs. Squirrel!

Hello Sun!

stereotype

companion

He remembered yes,
the way it spilled from his lips like a familiar name.
It was an exciting reality,
holding hands with curiousity into the unknown world. Years later, far removed from youth,
his aged mouth forms no with simple acceptance.
The unknown world has lost its enchantment.
Now he holds on to hesitation
like a bad habit.
It has become a companion.

-Summer Richards, 3/19/08

sad day

My running shoes have officially died. I'm not big on buying new shoes, especially specialized shoes for running. When I find a pair that works I stick with them till the end. When I busted out the duct tape before yesterday's run I knew that end had come.
They were very good to me.



In other news, Mike and I decided to make cheese! We wanted to really do it from scratch, but there is this special ingredient (rennet) that has proven to be impossible to find. So we bought some fresh curds from a local wine and cheese store and went from there. We really didn't do a good job. The end result was certainly not the fine squishy Mozzarella I know and LOVE, but beside from the texture, the cheese was totally yummy!

gray

His wife left him one day.
He sat at the edge of their bed, looked around.
He noticed the sun,
the first sign of light in a week of rain.
He laid his hands over his brow.
He was not prepared for this solitude.

She did not leave him out of discontent
but she did leave in a hurry.
He would bury her in the ground
in a few short hours.

He went to the mirror and straightened out his suit.
He stood in quiet reflection,
noticed the years in his aging skin,
the fight he was losing to gravity,
and that his eyes,
once blue as the sea
were grayed, wearied,
like a ship moving into the fog.

-Summer Richards, 3/14/08

ONCE: Falling Slowly

This is the song "falling slowly" from the movie "once". This movie really got to me. It's a very touching and simple story about two musicians. The music is beautiful. Truthfully I got quite a bit choked up during this song. There's just something about it that makes me feel very emotional. I absolutely love when songs have the ability to do this. It is a special quality when art invokes things inside of you. This is why I'm sharing it here.

back to reality

I'm back from vegas after 4 days. Here is a little list of what Vegas was to me:

1. Vegas can be as elegant or as seedy as you want it (ie. the Flamingo vs. the Bellagio)
2. Paris the casino is impressive, but it only reaffirms my strong desire to go to the city (I've never been!)
3. Drunk men are unimpressive and a little scary to be around
4. I have such good times with Mike.
5. I like having a housekeeper!
6. Vegas is like being stuck in an airport or a movie theater...the prices are insane!
7. The fountains at the Bellagio are gorgeous, simply gorgeous.
8. You must only wear comfortable shoes in Vegas. There is much walking to be done.
9. Dressing up can be awfully fun, the war wounds are the blisters on my feet.
10. Vegas makes me appreciate coming home.

Vegas

So nobody knows this but I'm in Vegas.

Yes, Vegas. In truth I'm not a huge fan of this city. I find it overstimulating and shirking from any real sense of purpose other than to entertain. But Mike has a conference, and as of yesterday's all day paper-writing venture, I'm officially done with this block of school. So I came to take the proverbial load off, enjoy the pool and the housekeeping and have nothing of any real importance to do. I must say it is nice. It's 10am and I still haven't left the hotel. I'm still in bed actually and I LOVE it!

Last night we saw Mamma Mia at Mandalay Bay. It was SO AWESOME!!! Mike laughed at me and said that I was "really into it". I was sitting on the end of my seat smiling the whole time. It was all set to the music of ABBA and it was just so well done. And we were in the third row center!

I was a little bummed at the end because no one stood up. They should have stood up. I should have stood up. I wanted to, but I chickened out. I'm not proud of this. They deserved the ovation.

After we went to dinner. We had booked a reservation on opentable.com so we could get the 1,000 points. But we sat there for like 10 or 15 minutes and no one even said hi to us. So we left. At this point it was close to 11pm so we went back to the hotel and ordered room service. It was decadent. They brought an entire table into our room and set it up like we were in a restaurant. Ooh baby, I could get used to this!

how i wish I could share this loveliness with you

I picked up this Jasmine plant at our local greenhouse. The smells remind me of California; Jasmine grew like a weed there. The smell is just decadent and I officially love it.

an afternoon at St. Mark's

The sun has arrived.
It's been inching itself across the room for hours,
immersing its victims in blinding light,
unheeding to their squirms, their readjustments,
laughing in all its majesty as they shuffle around with their coffee cups.

It's nearly impossible to sit still in the brutal honesty of the sun.

-Summer Richards, 3/3/08

She walks

She walks
as if she's her own star parade
Her back is erect
Her plans are well laid.
She walks
with hips that sway side to side
You want to know
And she doesn't hide.
She walks
with a skip, she's intoxicating
you've been there for hours
but forget that you're waiting.
She walks
looking down, not really sure-footed
Her brow, it is furrowed
Her hair, it is hooded.
She walks
in a hurry, her face sheltered from the wind
She knows that this storm
Will bring her weather again.

-Summer Richards, 3/3/08

Today I feel Blue