a little swing for your valentine : feet tappin' mood creator

Vivo Sonhando | Stan Getz 

Summer Wind | Madeleine Peyroux

Crazy He Calls | Me Billie Holiday

Just Like Heaven | Kat Edmonson

Si Tu Savais | Connie Evingson

Would You Like To Take a Walk | Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong

Our Love Is Here To Stay | Blossom Dearie

La Javanese | Madeleine Peyroux

Dance Me To the End | Madeleine Peyroux

Aguas De Marco | Elis Regina

High Shelf Booze | Eilen Jewell

Corcovado | Stan Getz

Getting Some Fun Out of Life | Madeleine Peyroux

Bossanova Nossa | Alma Carta

The Way I Am | Ingrid Michaelson

The Way You Look Tonight | Madeleine Peyroux & William Galison

Para Machuchar Meu Coracao | Stan Getz

i'll be listening to this all day. it makes me oh so happy...and a little bit swoony.

i'll be even happier if i find some time to make some sugar cookies after a day at the office.

happy valentine's day, dear readers. hope you spend it with loved ones.

keats for valentine's

three years ago i spent a graduate summer with keats and professor ronald sharp
studying every syllable, every letter to family & friends, and every bit we could
about keats, skepticism, and the religion of beauty.
it was common for all of us students to leave class in hushed tears.
minds and hearts blown far, far away.
it was the perfect way to begin my graduate studies in english literature.
and i've been a devout keatsian ever since.

so i thought it quite appropriate to share with you some of my favorite
lines from poems and letters concerning love for the big day tomorrow.

the thing that got me so much about keats was his ability to capture paradox
with every word and syllable.
you see, the thing that makes love so very powerful is that we could lose
it all at any moment--all of us.
death is all too close. so we must love.

hope you find ways to share these lovely words with loved ones.

the ballet : sleeping beauty, of course

how is it that going to the ballet feels oh so sophisticated and elegant
at the same time it makes me feel so whimsical and child-like?
what a wonderful experience to feel so many things during
one experience. i love seeing the audience in all its variety:
couples who have put on their best, little girls wearing their
fluffiest & twirliest dresses, sisters who link arms and laugh loudly,
country-side accents commenting on the huge talent of the dancers.

i love that moment before anything begins...when the curtain
is down, and everyone is trying to find their seats or flipping through
the program learning about the dancers' personal lives.
most of all i love the orchestra down beneath the stage practicing
difficult measures and tweaking their instruments...oh so exciting.

sleeping beauty. what a perfect valentine's day ballet.
i loved the fairytale quality: all the frills and delicate but strong
choreography. i loved the crone and her black pointe shoes,
and princess aurora and her red hair and golden tutu.

i probably took the opportunity during intermission to look up
when i could attend the adult ballet classes...trying to remind myself
that ballet is currently on my "liberation list" and will have to wait
until a time when i am not so busy with other things in life...
but, oh so tempting! ballerinas are certainly the most powerful
yet graceful beings on the planet. i have those little bits of regret
that surface now and then...wishing i would have stuck with ballet
just a little longer. you know what i'm talking about, i'm sure.

however, i couldn't decide if i wanted to be the ballerina
with the perfect arabesque or if i wanted to be the solo violinist
down beneath the stage...what music! that tchaikovsky is genius.
i found myself often leaning forward so i could peer down into
the sea of instruments where the orchestra made the magic complete.

oh my. what a lovely night we had at the ballet.
can't wait for the next one.

st. valentine brought us lots of sweet things...

dessert after lunch. a chocolate before the ballet. and chocolate cake after the ballet.
sweet indeed. my fave was having ceej home for lunch so we could surprise each
other with little gifts and notes. i especially love my surprise from ceej of pretty
potted flowers...i get to keep those as long as i'm a good little steward, and they
can sit on the new desk that ceej is currently constructing for me.

this year, i bought the sweet treats...i am trying to hold on to as many small moments
of nothingness as i can. we are busy, and i need time to sit and let my mind wander as
i stare out the window, walk around the block, or listen to violins or the piano call to me.
so, down to our fave bakery i went and took home two treats, because choosing one was
impossible. cookies and cake. and both were delicious. both were rich. but my tummy
handled it all quite nicely. thank you, dear tummy, for making my sweet valentine's
that much more enjoyable.

...photos of the ballet coming tomorrow...

are you ready for the prettiest gift ever given? well, here it is:

for my valentine ceej took me to this
most beautiful little store
and let me bring home a few little things
that made my heart flutter its wings.

they have a basketful of wonderful antique letters.
this, my lovelies, is what i speak of
when i tell you of the prettiest thing i have ever owned.
this letter.
so simple. the handwriting so perfect. so small.
i keep thinking i need to go back and buy up all the antique letters
so i can lie in the grass and study their every marking
to pass by my afternoons...

but, i think i will be happy with just one.
for now, at least.

aren't you just swooning over this handwriting?
it melts my heart,
and has inspired me even more to finally
sign up for a calligraphy class.

i also bought this little book of the kiss.
it's really charming in its out-of-date wisdom.
makes me laugh.
but i have to admit that some of its advice
is timeless and just so lovely.

i also purchased some mini envelopes,
which i'm sure you'll be seeing here again,
and a burlap bag to keep my little treasures in.

don't you think it's the prettiest thing you've ever seen?
thank you, ceej!

{p.s. i accidentally deleted some of your comments on previous posts...
so sorry! if you see that your comment never showed up,
please leave me another one.
i promise to be a better comment moderator!}

more of our sunny spring day in the city...

{photo by cj, all others by me, unless i am in the photo...in which case ceej obviously took it}

ceej and i had a wonderful time in the city on saturday.

i started out with another session for my workshop, which was great and very informative.

once i was finished with that, we walked and walked and walked everywhere...mainly with food in mind.

did i mention the hills in this city?

well, we basically worked for our yummy food for the day.

first stop: the best bakery in the world.

lucky for us, this was a bit of a mistake.

we intended to go to this bakery's sister cafe down the block,

but wandered in here...

oh my! so glad we did.

i saw all the yummy goodness and couldn't stop my heart from pounding with excitement.

decisions, decisions.

we got a little bit of just about everything.

it was a holiday, right?

by the way, headaches could be caused by corn syrup,

but sugar definitely does not cause headaches.

phew. that was close.

after we stocked up at the bakery, we headed over to the cafe

for a lunch to remember.

pretty sure i'll be back to this place.

best portabello muschroom burger ever!

so much flavor. mmmmmm.

i think ceej really enjoyed the food too...perhaps even more than i did.

we walked through some pretty fancy neighborhoods.

beautiful really.

we thought we'd make our grand exit

via the golden gate bridge at sunset...

along with every other person on the planet!

come back tomorrow

and i'll show you what ceej gave me

for a valentine:

the prettiest thing i now own!

{by the way, my internet is not working for some reason...hence my absence

yesterday. hoping the problem is remedied by tomorrow. if i'm not here, please come visit on friday when i am sure to be back in action}