Lovebirds

Lovebirds, originally uploaded by KT Flicker.

The story behind these copper french presses from Starbucks is that I had a huge one, then when David and I moved in together, we liked different strengths of coffee. So, I went out and bought myself this little copper french press. But then David decided that he liked the coffee better in my copper french press, so he asked for one for Christmas. And now we have two! And they are kissing.

Placeholder Engagement Bling

The placeholder ring has arrived. David opened it while we were looking at mail and riding up the elevator. He got on his knee again. :) It's a big hunk'a aquamarine, which is his birthstone. We got it from here.

Engaged. Build a Ring, Build a Life

When I wrote the earlier cryptic post, I was standing in front of our elevator with Gerdy, in the morning, waiting for David to get done in our apartment and lock up for our morning walk. As you may have guessed, I look for clues for the conclusion of The Proposal on a daily basis, and I had accumulated quite a bit of what I thought was evidence, but I was quite wrong. This morning revealed a whole new set of clues, and I was so breathless, that everyone I secretly called only had voice mails, and then I remembered that my iPhone could get online, so I wrote the quickest post that I could.

Here is the background to the following events:
1. David went to Columbus a few weeks ago to go to an Ohio State game. We had just been there, and he did have a mystery phone call with a "ticket seller" that never panned out.

2. David was supposed to get a FedEx on Friday that had a script in it for his next job. We were supposed to go to Peter Lugers, a really good steakhouse in Brooklyn, for a reservationless lunch. At 1pm, when I stopped my work to ask David when we were leaving, he told me that the package never came, and that we would have to drive to the FedEx store at 8pm to pick it up - west of Time Square, which stinks. This met with much huffiness on my part, because no one should ever have to drive to the FedEx place. The little man in the truck should drive his hiney back, and I was going to make him do that. But no, we picked it up that night. There were two boxes for him, in fact.

3. This particular morning, the morning after the FedEx pickup (which segwayed into white wine and chocolate crepes at my request), David had to move the car at 6:30am for alternate side parking. When he returned, he had treated himself to a pumpkin spice latte and was carrying white and purple roses wrapped in paper. A glorious site in the morning.



4. Also on this morning, David's back hurt, and he decided to make a pillow for himself to sleep on top of out of my fabric. He chose a scrap of lambskin. I questioned his choice, and the small circle he had just cut, and wondered just what kind of pillow would this make. I was told to not question while he was designing.

The day began as usual - me recovering from a very full dinner of crepes by putting on water for coffee, feeding the animals, and watering the plants. The morning was golden at 8am with a strong September sun. I folded my loads of laundry that piled up onto the couch (can't do domestic things during the work day in a home office), wiped all surfaces with 409 or Pledge, and got ready for a shower.

While in the bathroom getting ready for the shower (aka analyzing every pour on my nose), I had a sudden and urgent desire to tell David how wonderful my Crystol Exfoliator is, and how it is going to get rid of the two baby rednesses that have appeared on my cheek, and to be honest, one on his cheek. I swung open the bathroom door and tried waltzing into the living room, but David literally sprang up, smuthered me in hugs, and then proceeded to bounce up and down, to 'loosen up his muscles' after sleeping on our failing mattress.

Back in the shower, I thought I had my first clue: he had something that he couldn't show me. I was contact-less, so couldn't see a thing anyway. Satisfied with this clue, I continued as usual (but opted for a day-old-hair), got dressed, makeup-ed, and went to the kitchen for a glass of water before Gerdy's walk. And that is where my 2nd clue lay: on my desk, were scissors and a piece of purple elastic, which I have not used in ages, and I always put scissors away. David had cut something decorative. I quickly looked around the living room for the srap of lambskin, thinking that if it was a pillow, he'd leave it lying around for another inspiration. But it was gone. The FexEx package was on a nearby table. On a decadent whim, I thought of checking the package for who actually sent it, but slapped my hand and left it alone.

Cut to: me outside of the elevator, posting "Strange things are happening" with my iPhone.

Outside, while walking down the sidewalk to Central Park (our daily route), David declared that he would like to go to the duck pond to check on them, since it seemed they had been swimming in slime before. I know that this algae clears up on clear days, but agreed. But then he specified that Gerdy was to go do her thing in the woods first, and then we were to check on the ducks. He's never made any such request on Gerdy's walk before. I had to look away to hide my giggle. On this route, he had me listen to the 5 voicemails of me that he has been saving on his phone for the past 3.5 years - which comprised of me being silly, saying hello, singing, sneezing, and apologizing for needing Katie Time sometimes.

Gerdy was being stubborn, of course, since this was Saturday, and that means she gets an extra long walk around the ball fields further into the park.



But David took over leash duty and led her to the edge of the pond, to a bench, that was populated with kanoolding Europeans. David went to another spot, under a beautifully dead looking tree that backbends into the water and is actually still alive. I was to later learn that this was a backup location he scouted if the bench was occupied (he's a Location Manager for films).






Under that tree, David asked if I wanted to see something, and dug into his shorts pockets. The wrong pocket, and dug into more pockets. Out came a little brown leather envelope wrapped in gold ribbon from my new art supply closet. He asked me to open it, and placed his hands underneath it, and told me that this was the beginning of new things, and that he wanted to build a ring and a life with me. Then he got onto one knee, and well, he didn't need to stay down there long. I unwrapped the leather and found two glittering diamonds and a metal prong grabber thing.

I have now learned, that David went to Columbus to meet with a jewelry designer, and explain just what kind of diamond I liked - mine cut - for its imperfections. David wanted them to be old, so the jeweler sent him two turn of the century diamonds - one round with the glittery cuts, and one slightly squarish, also with glittery cuts. I was to chose, and we are to design the ring. I have two days to submit my thoughts on the design, and then David ships the stones back so that the jewelry can get started, in order for the ring to be finished by Thanksgiving.




In the meantime, David wanted me to get a "girly" ring, so when we got home and began researching, we went straight to Etsy.com to search for rings, and got this one, which is a giant aquamarine from Starry Designs, which is David's birth stone.

Part of why this threw me, is that we had a birthday party for a 2 year old to go to in New Jersey in a matter of hours, and a party in the evening for a couple who is leaving NYC for Chicago. So our reflection on all of this is very short! Not to mention design research. But, we are both thinking Art Deco, so, thanks again to the iPhone, while driving to NJ, I searched online and found some beautious designs. And, David suggested I incorporate a symbolic element from my or his families, like a family flag (Scottish flag or something). And so I picked the Edelwiess flower because it was my grandmother's favorite song in The Sound of Music, it has Swiss ties which my family likes, and German ties, which is my dad's side. So, we drew some things out, and have found a few Art Deco rings like this one to work from. But now I'm liking tulips...so who knows.

Clues I missed:
1. He did go to my parents after coming back from Columbus (my parents are in Cleveland), to ask their permission. He was so nervous, that when my dad went to shake his hand, he didn't see it because he kept yabbering about something or other to both of my parents.

2. He wanted Gerdy to be part of the proposal because she's part of my life, and now his, and our courtship. She will be a Flower Dog.

3. My mom almost told me a few times. She was talking about it in emails to select people, and sent me their email. Twice, she called me frantically, begging me not to open the email and to delete it.

And so, that is the news from Lake Wobegone. More to come, I guess, on the avalanche of wedding planning. Eee!

Secret Rooftop Labor Day Grill-Out Party for Two

Hope you all had nice Labor Day weekends! David and I were like snails and hid in The City while everyone else went away. That meant that we could go to Death at a Funeral (v. funny) at Lincoln Center when the movie started and actually sit next to each other, semi in the middle of the movie theater instead of underneath the screen. Otherwise, we basically ate and watched movies. Last night, we watched 2 movies and a football game all at once - You, Me and Irene, Beautiful Girls, and some football game.

David drove around to do some errands, because parking wasn't so much of a problem, which meant that I could car-jack him and go to the grocery store! A luxury that I'm telling you, is a serious problem for me. I know there is Fresh Direct, but...I do miss walking around in the isles. That's where I get inspired to make anything! And buy fun things I don't need! So I got inspired to make gazpacho soup, and boy was it good. Still is good. I have an oasis of it in the fridge.

But the highlight, aside from picnicking in the Central Park with friends by a secret waterfall that only Dog Walkers know about, and wandering tourists who are lost, was sneaking onto the Penthouse patio right above our apartment. The Penthouse is empty, and unlocked, so we could creep in and set up camp for a little Labor Day Grill Out!


This was the picnic - cheeseburgers, sweet corn, Stouffer's Spinach Souffle (so good), and the fixings for my gazpacho soup there in the blender. Here's the recipe for it.


David was the Grill Man. We forgot that the coals are modern coals and do heat up in 10 minutes, so the burgers were ready before I got up there. I had to lug all of plates, beers, cheese, olives, salsa that I made that was supposed to be guacamole, chips, Gerdy, etc.


David requested that his picture of the coals be on the blog. Aren't they hot?


Me eating my burger against the wall. Not very exciting, but David put me there.


Night fell, and we had to wait for the coals to cool. It's always so nice up there on the roof. Gerdy really didn't like it, however, because she could tell that there was something mysteriously too far down on the other side of the patio wall. But this is one of the better views from our apartment in the projects (yes, we live across from some major projects), and I put it up for my NYC friend who just moved to Ecuador, because this is one of her favorite scenes as well.

Update on the Proposal Front

So. It has been declared by friends, namely Literary Mista, over Vynl-tinies at the new Vynl at W. 84th and Columbus (it's actually between W. 84th and W. 83rd), that I am in a No Movement Zone, or a Waiting Zone, or something much more clever that the martini wiped from my mind. Literary Mista is one of the original creators of the I Will Propose To This Man Damnit, so she is tracking every move. And the truth is, here are the movements thus far:

• I have been banned from David's laptop. I had shut down my laptop and jumped on his to check something, and David jumped up to clear his History, asking what was I doing on his computer. This is not his normal reaction when I get onto his computer.
• If I get in a nit-picky fight with him, which is only when I haven't eaten, the new card he gets to play is: "I've been shopping for you, and it's been fun. So, stop being mad."
• There was a secret phone call David took while we were vising his family in Columbus. He claims it was to arrange buying Ohio State football tickets, which are very hard to get. The call came in on his brother-in-law's phone, and David took it outside, into the 99 degree humidity for 15 minutes. And took notes. Which I was not aloud to look at. Coincidence?

A Marriage Proposal :: Backwards

It was a dark and stormy night. Ok, it wasn't stormy, but it was foggy. And threatening to drizzle. The night was Saturday, July 28th, 2007. The location was Osiers, the local gas station/good-place-to-get-lobster-rolls-and-steamers. The time was 7:15pm, fifteen minutes away from the last call for steamers, and just past the time that I whipped David at backgammon. Much as I wanted to propose to him in the moonlight, which was nightly becoming a full moon on our backyard aka ocean...



...the opportunity was clouded by the fog, forcing me out of the picture-perfectness of our oddly comforting smoky house (Nana smokes Merritts throughout the house, and the smell of them really completes a meal or night of cocktails). Saturday was our last night, so it was easy for me to demand steamers (steamed clams) even though Dad had been raving about his twice-thawed-store-brand pork chops on the grill for the family. Which was even better, because that meant that Dad was sure to not want to come with us. My mom and sister were madly shopping in Freeport, and Nana boycotted the pork chops with her microwavable stuffed shells. Plus, she knew of my plan, so made other dinner arrangements.

Getting to this point was a little questionable, because just two days prior, David and I drove into Damariscotta, sunburned and sweaty from 9 holes of golf (my annual gift to him...no, not the half round of golf, but my presence of course). In Damariscotta there are many shops, including a little jewelry store called Stars, in which my sister and mother and I annually wander in to daydream over unique pieces displayed behind themed glass cases the couple who owns the store finds from London and wherever else they go. There are the estate pearls, the carved mother of pearl, the royalty inspired fake gems, the birthday stones, the tiny silver baby shoes...

Diamonds are the woman owner's passion. I slowly circled the cases around the store, landing at the last case, or the...Case of Large Sparkly Rings. David took his que, put down the random Maine magazine he was reading, and walked over to ask if I liked anything. An hour later, we leared about cuts of diamonds, the bogusness of paperwork and hearts of fire or whatever, and my favorite, the Mine Cut, which was the irregular cut performed at first by minors in the mines in attempt to make a circle.

I would say this was quite a bold step for Katie and David. We'd never looked at Large Sparkly Rings before. But he was strong, and even asked questions. Dare something be around the corner?

Back to my dark and drizzling Saturday night at the gas station/clam place.





This night was the Top Secret Mission night. I waited until the end of our family vacation just in case David had a Top Secret Proposal of his own up his sleeve. But here we were, on Saturday night, with no proposal.

We drove the 5 minutes down to Osiers, which is the fishing town of South Bristol just on the other side of a swinging bridge. David could not have parked the car more carefully, with no other cars around. When we went into order, he sat down at a table to read a paper that was already at the table (aka didn't have the buy the paper).

Upstairs in Osiers are deserted picnic tables with umbrellas on an upper deck. It was really deserted because it was practically drizzling. I thought I could squeeze in my question and explanations of my thoughts on marriage before the waitress brought up our clams. But David sat with the paper inside with all of the other fishermen and local kids. And he sat. See him sitting in the window?



There he sat, looking for the article on the kid who murdered his father, who was a local pottery store owner, and a local girl classmate. He looked for anything in the Sports section. He folded and refolded the paper. Arms crossed, after having taken pictures of every angle of Osiers, and of my dream cafe that I would love too own because it is SO cute (see below) I actually tapped my foot for him to get a move on upstairs.



Once up there, David was overcome with taking pictures of a seagull.



The seagull, quite accustomed to having it's photo taken, like a raccoon in Central Park by New Yorkers who don't know to fear racoons, the seagull posed and offered different angles of its wing span.



Then David was overcome with taking pictures of the lobster boat harbor.






I finally pulled him down by his shirt to sit next to me on the picnic bench. I said:

"David. The time has come for me to tell you that I am overcome with the desire to make you mine."

David, looking right at me: "Oh, when?"

Me: "Next September."

David: "What?"

Me: "David, I have brought you here, to this smelly fish dock, to ask you if you will marry me. For real."

David died. He leaned forward, silently shaking laughing, like he does when I start to pick insane fights with him, like about how he steps out of the shower with full rivers of water running from him onto the floor because he doesn't like to lean far enough out of the shower to grab a towel to take into the shower to dry off.

David, recovering: "Are you going to get down on one knee?"

Me: "No. That's for boys."

More laughter. With his head in his hands, David said: "You're doing this all backwards! I'm supposed to do it to you!"

Me: "And I even have a gift for you!"

I pulled out the little penguin cuff links that I had been carrying around in my purse all day, and reminded him about how when we saw March of the Penguins, we learned about how those little penguins marched right into each other from across the Arctic. Granted, we shared a wall the whole time before we started dating, but it was still a journey getting to New York to even do that.

David took my gift and really liked it. He asked if he could wear them in the future, at the actual event. Of course! I said.

Me: "But you haven't given me an official answer. Are you giving me an answer?"

David: "I am not giving you an answer, because I am the one who needs to do this."

Me: "But you're not doing it, so I am."

David: "Katie, Katie, Katie. I have to be the one."

Me: "Well, I need some sort of indication of direction."

David, laughing: "Did we not just go into a jewelry store for an hour?"

Me: "Yes."

David: "Well, that's your direction."

Me: "Fine. Well, we've been up here for a long time. I think they think we left since they have not brought us our clams. Let's go down and get them."

So down we went, and I made a few declarations along the way, like about where I want to live (Maine, Charleston, Arizona, the list grows monthly), and how marriage is an exciting adventure thing. Back inside the dry restaurant, I picked up our tray of 2lbs of steamy clams and an order of mozzarella sticks and sat down at a slimy table and dug in. David, meanwhile, disappeared to his car. He came back in and asked why I was sitting inside, since I was so adamant about being outside.

Me: "Because it's over! I already did it, so we can just eat now inside and not in the drizzle."

David: "I can't keep up. You change your mind all the time. Get back outside."

With half a mozzarella stick in my mouth, we went back upstairs. When we sat down again, David looked at me and put a little box on the table. Right in between my marinara sauce and his new cuff links.



David: "THIS is my direction. It's nothing big, but so you know."

A box! I wiped the grease off my fingers and opened it. Inside were the prettiest hand blown glass earrings I'd ever seen. And hand blown glass somethings were on my list to do/get in Maine. Every time I go to Maine I have to get a little piece of blown glass. Delighted, I asked David if he knew this. "Yes!" he said. Wow. How did he pay that close of attention? Then he confessed that he did not know, but emphasized how much he knows me that he would be able to get me exactly what I want. See David's proud face, and see the blown glass earrings in the upper left:



I put on the earrings - his glee-inducing and unanticipated match to my proposal. He got them from Damariscotta earlier that day while secretly scouting a Christmas present that my Nana wanted to get for me. It was this cute little possibly new shop that has all sorts of special little things in it.

After the whole event, we did pull into a "Price Reduced!" piece of property in town that was an old firehouse. It's a real fixer upper, and is the ugliest former firehouse I've ever seen, but has a huge deck on the water and could be fixed up. With the right people. ;) Stay tuned. Apparently these proposal things are supposed to happen when I least suspect it.



The story sort of ends there, waiting for another climactic ark. I am officially still a bachelorette with a bare finger, but with pretty ears and a hited at intent. We drove back home, ate buckets of Ben and Jerry's with my Nana, caught glimpses of what my sister got in Freeport, I worried about Gerdy because earlier I had given her a raw bone of pork chops, and called it a night. We went to bed, as we did every night, to the waves hitting the prehistoric rocks about 80 feet below, and woke up to pack the car with luggage and gifts, and then pack our stomachs with fierce blueberry pancakes before driving back to New York. But do you know what? If you fall asleep to the sound of waves, and just when you are 50% awake in the morning, you actually don't hear the waves at all, until you remember that there are waves somewhere out there, and then they fade in. Totally cool.

I Proposed, And...

You must still stay tuned regarding the Top Secret Mission that is now out of the bag. I am batting away little work things as I muster the brain power to load photos from my...iPhone onto my computer to show you pictures of what took place in the back picnic tables of a local fishing dock's gas station/clam restaurant...

Here's what I wanted the night to look like, but this was the night before, so I had to hold the phone up above our heads, batting away fierce and hungry mosquitoes.



I've since posted. Click here.

How to Get an Engagement Ring if I'm the Proposer

How will this work? I'm a girl that really does want a ring. My godfather prefers paying for downpayments on houses, but my pieces of jewelry do mean something to me. I'm just not sure how to orchestrate this reversal. Presuming, of course, that he says yes to my big question...

I have the answer to the question. Click here.

Top Secret Announcement: A Reverse Proposal

Hello everyone. If you are a sister or brother-in-law of David's, you might want to stop reading. Or, you can read, but you must now lock your lips and throw away the key until August. And if you are a friend of David's, you must keep total silence. Total silence. Also, from time to time, this post will be hidden back in the archives of the blog so that a curious David does not see it. He normally does not read the blog, but just in case he misses me while filming, and he randomly checks it, that would be bad.

Last Sunday at brunch at Good Enough to Eat with my two girlfriends, Wedding Mista (currently planning her own wedding), and Flapper Mista (she's clearly happily lived in another era), without intending it, we discussed my woes of waiting. Waiting for the big M question from David. And I am not a good waiter.

David and I have been dating for over 3 years, and living together for I guess 1.5 years, or 2. We knew each other before that, since we were neighbors in our building. It took him almost a year to officially ask me out, but I was ending things with someone else for a bit of that. He choose our date to a pizza place to tell me, on which he waited until the very end when he was "dropping me off." I was in the elevator to go up to my new apartment on the 9th floor, and he held the elevator button so that the doors would stay open. It was then that he told me he had grown "smitten" over time, and he just needed to tell me how he felt. He invited me in for water to further discuss, and I accepted.

I was newly single, so I did declare that I could not be an official girlfriend, but later on, I would be. He claims he waited so long because he knew I was moving from the 4th floor to the 9th floor, and in case we didn't work out, at least we wouldn't be sharing a wall. Needless to say, a year later, after I accepted his "smitten" confession, I invited him to move up into my gloriously lit apartment with lots of natural light. My reasoning: an elevator is not worth $1700 of New York rent.

David is "an older man." Sexy, isn't it? So wise. He's been through crazy girlfriends before, myself included, and deals quite well with whatever I have to say, usually. So it's not like we've been dating since high school. And it's not like I'm 33 and he's 34 and we're still evaluating boyfriends and girlfriends. I'm 30 and he's...older. :) According to him, we are "still in Courtship" (when he said that, I said: "Really!? Then I need more STUFF!"). His married friends have years of dating the person under their belts. Like 6 or 9. And I just don't wait that long.

So, after discussing it and getting permission from my entire family (Grampa Jim, Nana, Mom, (Dad doesn't know yet) Godfather Oz, Uncle Bill, my sister, her friend (my adopted sister) Gene, Little T-Bird Mista, New Mom Mista, Dental Mista), I have made a decision: I am going to propose to David. This plan was hatched over that brunch I spoke of earlier. We decided that it just might work. Firstly, I needed family permission, since I thought they were quite conservative (all Ohio Republicans). I have since learned, that my Nana "proposed to all of them" (oh dear), and New Mom Mista did it to her wonderful husband, which he then matched. My grandfather offers his full support because he thinks David is such a "swell guy" and my Godfather offered to come up to New York with a shotgun (he lives on a farm).

So. I had wished that David would pop the question to me during our summer trip to Maine with my family. He loves it there, and has been asking me repeatedly about the dates of when we are going there. This made me suspect. However, he is so deeply involved with the film shooting in New Haven (which just made NPR yesterday), that I truly think he wants to go there for a vacation only.

So. The plan is to leave a love trail of thoughtful notes explaining my thoughts on marriage, on us, on new adventures, and all of that mushy stuff. Nana says I should be on one of huge rocks behind our house, which means I would have to do it in the daylight so that we both don't kill ourselves rock climbing. The location is still under consideration, but it will be outside somewhere.

His answer will instigate one of two paths (or maybe both, who knows):
Yes: maybe we'll pursue moving to a shore town outside of New York City, but still have access by train.
No, or weird hesitation: I will move to Charleston, SC, my college town. It's very artsy there, and a good developing community for young minds who start businesses. Heck, I'd love to go there in both circumstances, so we'll see.

So. Stay tuned to this blog for further developments. This would happen at the end of July. So I don't have that long. I've known the answer for some time, so it's just a matter of when.

Note from the future: I've done it. Click here for the play by play.

Birthday, Paris and Dairy Queen Cakes

My birthday week/month has been a roller-coaster. That must be what happens when you A.) have a birthday in June which is when big film jobs start and people have weddings and B.) on a Tuesday, which means that it can last and last because it wasn't on the weekend or at least a Thursday. It included a French dictionary and itinerary (!!!), almost having a vacation in Newport, RI but ending up in a La Quinta in New Haven, a splurge hair cut also in New Haven (I was stuck there), and a Dairy Queen Cake.

This blue star want is my Magic Birthday Wand sent by my godmother, and it makes sparkling sounds when you even breath on it! So there were many sparkles to be had as I brought it with me to the park to meet friends, and it sang the whole way. As well as my official Singing Balloons that David sent, which the cats thought were bewitched.

David, at my request, did find a Dairy Queen birthday cake, which is almost impossible in New York. He was coming from Yale's campus, and it took 2 Dairy Queens to find one that made cakes. But then he had to find ice, which required a call to his Yale contact for local sources on where to find dry ice, which involved a killer dog who had to be restrained. And voila, a cake!

A special package arrived mid-day from my mom and godmother, that had that wand in it, and a French pocket dictionary, and a guide of what to do, and an itinerary!! They pooled their miles together and we're going to Paris! But I failed French, so I'm not sure how I'm going to do! In the spirit of it though, I've started eating croissants for breakfast, in the spirit of the French Diet or whatever that is.

So David and I were supposed to go to Newport. He had a trip planned that involved a B&B and scooters. I took the train up to Yale where he's working on the hot shot movie that is filming there (they are obsessed with secrecy, so I dare not mention it here on this widely read blog ;) ) where we were going to drive to my 30th birthday weekend vacation. Rose, Gerdy's favorite dog sitter came over and I was all set. At 7am the morning we were supposed to leave, David got a call that he had to work over the weekend, and that all of the hotels were booked (we were in a Marriott) and poof, there went our vacation. I ended up in a La Quinta on the industrial edge of New Haven, CT while we paid Rose to walk Gerdy. The craziness! Plus, I was PMSing, so there was one "Katie Kaboom" and many trips made to the train station in my weak attempts to flee the La Quinta and spend the weekend at home on the couch.

Thank goodness that Yale is wireless cafe friendly, (and thank goodness for boyfriends that can handle PMS induced kabooms and buy a girl earrings, which is the proper thing to do) and I parked myself there for two days while David worked. And thank goodness for the hair salon Laura Ouellette Salon where I got a great cut and color in their small-town-feel-salon. The super nice dog-friendly owner told me to check out a secret place just 5 or so exits up. Enter Thimble Islands on the Long Island Sound, the new place I want to move to to be close to New York (note 30th Birthday Resolution). Here's a picture of one of the 25 or so houses on their own islands. No, I don't want to live on an island (we learned about he hardships of bringing running water and electricity into the house) but I want to live in a neighboring town.

Here's David walking down a nice path near the docks of this little town on the water. Looked just like Maine. Loved it.

We continued driving through the neighboring towns, pretending like we would buy a house there, and stopped for some seafood. I had a fried oyster sandwich, and David had a fried clam sandwich. He says that his fried clam sandwich looked like this manicured bush/tree thing.

This would be my dream house on those shore towns, or whatever they are called. The houses were all dotted all along little side streets, with no care as to their layout, except that they all fit. LOTS of flowers. It was heaven.

Apparently I'm Having an Affair...!

David borrowed my phone today while getting some acupuncture because his fancy new phone with a TV died because the TV sucks the battery life. I stayed home to write a tutorial for a Katie James Pixilated client's website, which was followed up by me making her a new leash out of some brown velour pants I don't wear, pink silk dupioni and the tan polka dot from the checkbook covers and jewelry pouches. It looks like a French circus.

I digress.

David got a text on my phone from a phone number, and called me about it. It said: "Piknik in park 2morrow." I blew it off because if there is no name above the text, and if it's just a number, then I don't have the contact saved. So I figured I was a wrong text.

Little did I know...David was having a jealous fest! Poor guy was treating himself to some golf clothes and an Irish cap of sorts, and trying very hard not to buy a new golf bag. He couldn't put out of his mind who this dog walker picnic could be! That I would be having a picnic with them - correction - a picnic with HIM.

So David texted back. He TEXTED back on my behalf, without telling me (he just told me about this now that he's home, which is how I'm telling you). He texted back: "Can David come?" and the Mystery Texter said: "Let's say 12 until whenever on great hill...Enter on (address deleted to protect FashionMista). I will bring drinks, u bring whatever and whomever."

Ahh! I've been caught red handed! Just kidding. I truly didn't know the number, but with the directions, it had to have been someone I know, so I called the number, and found out who it is. And it is a man. Who might be bringing together a bunch of people for a picnic on one of those mass texts. I rarely drink on a weekend afternoon because there are things I want to do! And the drink slows the motivation. So that's the story of how I was caught.

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He Should Be Jumping on Couches for You

Home alone, and I got the call I haven't gotten in a little while. The M-word call. The call that I usually get from my Mom, who usually pulls a fast one on a lazy Tuesday night right before Gilmore Girls when my guard is down, or on a Friday night when I'm totally wiped out from the week. That call usually goes like this:

Mom: "So I saw Mark XXX's sister tonight. You know, the guy you took to your Assembly Ball." (yes, I was a debutant...a begrudging debutant who got tricked into doing it b/c was told she could wear a big beautiful white dress that she could design).

Me: "That's good, Mom. How is he doing?"

Mom: "Well, I gave his sister your number because she said that Mark is single, and always said such wonderful things about you...! Was that ok?"

Me: "MOM! I'm dating someone! I'm living with that someone!"

Or, the conversation could go like this:

Mom: "I was talking to Grampa today."

Me: "Oh?"

Mom: "Well, Grampa was just wondering if I thought he would still be alive when you got married."

The best so far has been:

Mom: "Kate, have your childbirth people at work (now former work) read anything on how the older a man's things get, the higher the chances of having an autistic child? Don't those things get old?"

Me: " Mom, autistic children are very smart, and are usually very good at playing the piano. I wish I was that good."

Girlfriends know by now, with me, to refrain from these M-word questions. I didn't even notice, until a fellow Mista brought it up on Grays' Thursday night, that they had not "asked me about David" in some time. Even my friend who is usually the most understanding and supportive of my non-answers told me that I evaded the question well, after I had somehow turned it back on all of them.

As you know, my next post is really going to be about my now 5th day on the job for Katie James (and I'm really loving it!). But since I had this call tonight from my very dear Dental Mista in Chicago, who said the most funniest line about "He should be jumping on couches like Tom Cruise for you!!!" when she was wondering why 43 year old David has not asked my little almost 30 year old petunia the M-word, I had to write a post devoted to that line, I loved it so much. PS: My dear Dental Mista is admittingly marriage obsessed. She is very over dating and is really giving guys only 6 months to date her and make up their minds. At least she's direct about it. And PPS: I can't even spell "marriage" right. It's been the most commonly misspelled word in this post, before I spell checked.

So I'll try to create a poll. It's not an ultimatum poll, it's just a poll. Maybe I will create two polls and really get David into trouble. Before I do, let me state the following: I am not the marrying type. I have never daydreamed about a wedding dress. The only wedding dress I ever designed was in my college costuming class and it was big flouncy bloomers topped with a corset. I did think I would get married underneath a huge maple tree in my front yard because its boughs hung over ground, and it could look neat with the two of us coming out from under there with just the preacher man. But the maple tree is dying and thinning out, so the effect isn't quite as strong. Never thought my brother would get married before me, since I'm the first born on all sides, but that's ok. He's been dating his girl for 9 years, so, he's got me topped.

My first and biggest priority was securing myself financially and comfortably, so that I did not have to depend on my man. That plan had me supporting my man the first time I struck it out on my own, but that is not the case this time with David. Anyway, I digress. I had a secret fear I would get divorced because I would get bored in marriage. My palm when I was 14 said that I would either get divorced or almost get married and call it off, only to get married later. The latter happened (well, I'm not married yet, but I almost did one time). I also had a secret knowledge that I would be a single mom like Bette Midler in Beaches, except I would be cooler like Michelle Pheiffer in One Fine Day and more stable. I do have Gerdy, and that has made me feel like a single mom. So, I have shared with you my biggest reservations, and you see why now I have not been waiting around for 3 years to get married (see post on 3 year anniversary). But when you are almost turning 30, and have 3 new gray friends around your ears, I guess a girl gets to thinking. Oh, and my other secret fear is that a wedding ring will make me feel less sexy and more...old. So, there is that. David may feel the same, since he seems to be years younger than 43, but anyway.

So here is a poll. Kind of unrelated and could be its own post, but I'll put it here for now:
David has a friend X. X was not a friend with benefits, but just a friend with uncertainties who could not decide on our dear David. Let's put it this way: as soon as David and I officially started dating, he and X stopped talking. For 3 years. David just went out of town - on our anniversary - by accident b/c we both forgot we were in the actual weekend of our 3 year anniversary - and before going out of town, thought out loud that he might go visit X on the way back from seeing his sister. X was sort of on the way.




PPS: here is a tulip David just surprised me with before he left town:



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Happy Sunday and 3rd Anniversary

Oh my! Has it been since February 21st since I last posted?? That's because things have been mighty busy around here...

Before we get into that (next post), it has been three years since David held the elevator door open in our building before I went up to my apartment and he into his, and declared his feelings after a year and half of our neighborly friendship. I believe that the words "smitten" were used. That's that good old Kentucky charm that I had always found so cute.

Needless to say, with the business going on, we knew the anniversary was coming, and it was on my calendar, but it didn't occur to us that we were actually in the actual weekend. David had scheduled to go to North Carolina to visit his dad and sister's family, so we almost missed it! He stayed an extra night and we ate dinner at the very yummiddy Gennaro on 93rd and Amsterdam. So tasty, I cannot express to you. PS: if you go, note that there will always be a line, and the leaving of your name is completely worthless. You just have to be New Yorkish about it and stand as close to the front as possible and keep holding up the number of fingers in your party.

This morning I walked him to his car, helping to carry luggage, and we said goodbye. I went upstairs to take a shower for the day, and when I came out of the bathroom, saw these potted tulips (same angle to give you the effect)!

A little leprechaun came in and left them! Oliver of course wants to eat the leaves, but we won't let him.

So, Gerdy and I took our walk and stopped at Silver Moon Bakery to pick up this yummy chocolate chip brioche and coffee. Yum Yum. PS: if you like this place mat, it's actually a Katie James burp cloth...

Happy Sunday! May you all have chocolate chips and tulips. OMG. Just took my first bite of the brioche, and it is divine.

Update: the tulip has grown and is alive...



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If I Were to Propose to Myself...

It hit me - how I would propose to me - while I was walking Gerdy on this glorious sunshiny morning in the woods of Central Park. Actually I was skating across the snow because everything is that frozen. My friend Kelly H just got engaged, and it got me to thinking about the time when Kelly H told me: "If you don't call me when you get engaged, and if I have to find out about it on the blog, why, I'm gonna..." So. That ruled any announcement of that kind out.

But then I thought: "Hey, what if he proposed to me on my blog? And had an open ring box right there in the middle of the post for like March 28th or some random day like that?" I thought that was a very good idea, but if it was David who was going to propose, the scenario would be very unlikely since I am the computer genius in the family, and I had to teach him how to copy and paste. This scenario would require him to think about who might know my blogger password, then who might be able to extract it from me, then who might be able to help him actually use blogger (ahem, it would be Kelly H), and then he'd have to take a picture of the ring in a box, I guess, and somehow get me to check my own blog.

Now that I think about it, I do have my blog on my classic Google Home page, so I guess I could see it that way, but I don't activate that often because it takes too long to load.

Anyway, so if the above happened, I guess I would then have no choice but to send out a cute engagement card like the bling bling one above from Paper Bride, then Rush to Reel Invitations to get a custom dvd wedding invitation made of us! We'd be able to tell our whole "how we met" story to all of our friends, and invite them to the wedding while giving them hotel details and everything. I think it would be darn cute.

So that's how I would do it. Now about finding a man who is technologically savvy enough to pull this off...

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Happy Valentine's Day!!

Valentine's Day Eve was spent curled in bed next to Gerdy, who was blocking 10 mile per hour gusts of wind coming through the makeshift cardboard window blocker from the air conditioner that we keep in the window all year (nowhere to put it). It took two hours for my feet to warm up! But I was grateful that I was not homeless, and that I had saved Oliver the Terrible Orphan, because what if he was shivering out there. So sad!

But then, at the break of dawn, like in a cartoon, smells of bacon drifted into the bedroom even though I could not hear a sound coming from the kitchen. David had quietly gotten out of bed and made our Paul Bunyan breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and mini Pillsbury things to the soundtrack of Allison Krauss & Union Station. Then he brought over flowers. My Valentine wishes were granted when he gave me the Sakura Washi Earrings!


I gave David the big wheels t-shirt because he was the King of the Curb in his childhood days, and a yummy pair of Access corduroys that are a smidge too small, so I'll take them back and hope there is another size.


Oh, and if you'd like some valentine hearts for your computer's desktop, have some Valentines Hearts desktop wallpaper from Katie James! It's a free download. Happy day! Hopefully you're not buried under mounds of snow like folks in Ohio and the rest of the Midwest are! It's pelting frozen rain right now! I'm afraid to go outside!



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No More Candles for Katie

I got grounded. David's hiding all of the matches from me until I can learn to remember to blow out candles when I leave the house. He is already upset about moving up here (we were neighbors on a lower floor, then I moved several stories up, and then I invited him to join me) without a window ladder of some kind for us to climb down in case of a fire. Lord knows what I'd do with the animals.

Candle blob

...so dangerous, but it looked so cool melted! And it smelled so good.

It's WAX

So gross, I know. Dinah is who gave it away when we came in last night. She had clumpy stuff on her whiskers, and more clumpy stuff on her ear. It wouldn't come off, and at first I thought the wax was kitty litter. Dinah likes to clean things around the house by covering/burying them, so I suspect that is what she tried to do with the candle wax, that dripped and splattered all over the floor. Good thing that piece of electronic equipment is just for show b/c I keep forgetting to throw it out.


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An Office/Studio of One's Own - Minus A Corner

The final installation of the shelving happened today. I pretty much stayed inside all day trying to contain the madness that was about to happen with me laying fabric all over the living room so that I could see what was going to make it into the new units. Of course I forgot to factor in what new shelving space I would have from a smaller bookcase when I removed pieces of embroidered silks and dupionis from its shelves, and when I realized the possibilities of finally storing printer paper in a respectable place vs under the couch, I had to approach the situation carefully.

I'm sitting in the office/studio right now. Can I call it a studio? Office is so office-carpet-ish. And we have none of that here. I have two bundles of tulle on top of the shelving units, but no office carpet. The new Epson Stylus Photo R800 is ready and waiting to print pretty shipping labels that will soon design. I covered my little Ikea chair seat with a small strip of chalky chocolate brown silk velvet that I got from the scrap bin at The Silk Trading Company below ABC Home and Carpet. I'm trying to get into a cozy groove, so I've got the Trinity Session on and am drinking some chamomile tea as I type, but to be honest, my to-do list is so exciting, I can't quite come down. And I need to put fresh sheets on the bed, and that always a bit of drag, but soo refreshing to get into.

Better than me gabbing, here is the photo diary of the day!

David holding and testing the massive shelf. He later pulled it out of the wall with ease, so that wasn't going to work.


Derek the Super did some testing of the wall to see what was behind the layers of plaster, and declared it a type of brick, and drilled into it. I don't think this shelf is going to fall. If it did, I would be very sad.


Oliver. Any surprise he was batting around screws on the floor? This is him (and me pre-noon, so normally you would not be seeing me in this state) before he got grounded to the bedroom.


This is a Mountain of Terror. It does reside in the studio, and is the partnership between my file cabinet and David's file cabinet. With everything else that doesn't fit anywhere piled on top of it. This is a project for another month.


The shelf....


And this needs to go into it. So interesting unpacking it from piles of stuffed bags stuffed into corners. There were pieces from the shop that was assembling the checkbook covers, so it was great to see their efficient footprints as I pulled out rows cut for the lining of the checkbook cover, or a curious way of cutting the interfacing also for the checkbook cover that may have revealed how they did such a great job of making the closing seam invisible when they turned the checkbook cover right side out. And please note Dinah in Gerdy's bed. Entitled.


This corner I give to David. It's the equivalent to a man giving a woman a drawer. I hope he uses it well.


The shelf is stuffed and organized by type of fabric - muslin and interfacing, embroidered silks or cottons, velvets, dupioni, pleather and leather.


Complete.


It has made a huge difference, let me tell you. It fits perfectly into the space. It doesn't stick out, and it gives the room so much more purpose. Let's give David a huge round of applause for picking out such a fine set of shelving from Ikea for Christmas! He remembered my glass-top desk, and matched it with the type of glass doors that will keep the fabric safe from dust.

I think the tea is kicking in, as I'm getting a little dreamy. And Dinah has taken to sitting on my lap, but that's where my laptop is, so it makes typing hard. But I'll leave you with this: throw things away! Today was a great day of throwing/giving away things that just have not been used. More later!

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