two years

according to wikipedia, the second anniversary is the "cotton" anniversary. but apparently in our household it's the tennis racket anniversary.

anyway, yeah, we've been married for two years. it hardly feels that long... it was a good night tonight though. we had a nice dinner out and afterwards walked down to the county fairgrounds. the circus is in town tomorrow and we caught a glimpse of some of it. it was a nice evening.





may is such an excellent month for us. really, the past few weeks have been nothing less than perfect springtime.

old littlebook

December Little Book Cover, originally uploaded by oltremare.

i've been busy. i wish i had more time for ribbons and scissors and glue. it will be a few weeks though. I was thinking about how thankful I am to have co workers i like, since i spend an awful lot of time with these people.

someday there will be new art. sooner rather than later, let's hope.

other than that, things are excellent: arcade fire "intervention." these sweet spring days. reading lucy grealy's "autobiography of a face" in the five minutes before i fall asleep/pass out every night. and watching my seeds in their peat pots growing every day. i love the month of may.

once again

"I am happy here: when I or other have bruised my life, I close my eyes against the hurt and think of Rome; as possibility, and hope. And I feel more related to my environment and to my circumstances in Rome than I do anywhere else on earth; I am blessed, intensely delighted, satisfied, and reconciled. The world is lovable when the world is Rome. Everything good in my nature is nourished here. My body feels safe here. When I love the space around my body, I love my body. For the rest of my life I will love Rome and think better of my life for having known Rome. Rome, rooted and ethereal, stretching from earth to heaven, casts aside so little and embraces so much--there's room for me. It is everything; it is elegant, robust, common, spectacular, vulgar, exquisite, and above all rare...

Rome is all things high and low. It is like God, it accommodates so much."

-barbara grizzuti harrison, italian days

a slew of emails in my inbox from my rome classmates, among other things, brought me back into the reverie today. some days it's like treading water in memories.

YAY

april 21: inaugural bikeride of the spring. woo woo! it's not even 1 PM on saturday and already this weekend is shaping up to be excellent.

I rode my bike to Target to make prints of our Rome photos, and on the way I saw my favorite bird for the first time this spring. inaugural favorite bird sighting! it's some kind of heron that lives in a pond near our house. i honestly have a crush on this bird, when I see it I feel all fluttery inside.

last night mike and I had buffalo wild wings for dinner and had excellent conversation. and tonight I'm going to visit valerie in the city and eat indian food. plus, it's so warm that maybe I will get to plant some seeds and stick my hands in the dirt this weekend.

seriously, YAY.

wants and needs

things i have had cravings for recently:
+ v-8
+ perrier*
+ laura veirs "bright glittering gifts" played on repeat ad nauseam**
+ a real simple-style home with either no clutter, or rather-- gorgeous, art-directed clutter.
+ a sunny weekend morning to buy seeds and stick my hands into the earth

obviously some of those are easier to achieve than others. but there's a theme of sorts. i am craving a little sparkling, wholesome, pretty austerity. rome and working a lot put my schedule out of whack and life without a routine makes me a little antsy. hence the need for simple clean things.

* i'm now addicted to sparkling water. it's true. i have a "con gas" problem. and I love it.

** speaking of laura veirs. the new one, it's so good. the lyrics are perfect, the music has that laura veirsyness. i can't put my finger on it. it's like being alone on an ocean liner in the the middle of the night, the middle of the pacific, every star visible in the sky. it has that celestial coolness. so it comes highly recommended from me to you.

laura veirs and saltbreakers

plus, i feel really connected to her since I read something where she said she dreams a lot about whales. swoon!

Rome O Morte

people keep asking me what was my favorite part of the trip to Rome. what a loaded question. my favorite thing? just BEing there. walking around. the street signs and cobblestones and graffiti, just the physical geography of the place itself, tiny streets and the hills with their poetic singing names, janiculum, esquiline, capitoline.



despite the fact that I have not been there in more than five years, i barely needed to consult a map. i remember those streets, feel like I remember them somewhere deep inside me, as if my arteries had rearranged themselves into a map of the tiber, via del corso, the lungotevere. . .



anyway, it was a good trip. our apartment was perfectly located in the dead center of anywhere we wanted to go. i discovered the most perfect gelato combination (caffe and bacio, coffee and hazelnut/chocolate). bought pretty paper at the lovely Fabriano store. visited the caravaggios at San Luigi dei Francesi and Santa Maria del Popolo.



we rented bikes at villa borghese and raced around with my mom and little brother. we ate some of the best sandwiches, seriously, the sandwiches: breathtaking! stood in line for hours at the vatican museums talking to a pleasant retired couple from canada. i bought red shoes, and the ruffliest blouse you've ever seen, and a watercolor from a street vendor in piazza navona.



my italian improved daily. we learned to navigate the idiosyncratic roman ways of life, the giving of correct change, the proper way to cross a street. i was disappointed at how crowded it was, but the people-watching was phenomenal. i had the chance to spend some good time by myself, drawing at my favorite fountain, shopping, taking pictures in the early evening post-nap.



the last day I woke up early to photograph the ponte sant'angelo, and it was just me and a streetsweeper and the misty sunrise tiber. so maybe that's my favorite part of the trip. just me and the city.



I honestly feel as if I'm wading and dreaming through all of this. it was so charged with emotion before during and after that the actual experience feels cloudy. returning home was a rude awakening and I was surprised at how hard I cried. and it hasn't helped that I've been working 12 hour days this week, and we woke up to two inches of wet snow this mid-april morning. just feels like everything is floating around me. I'll get over it, I know, and part of me appreciates the feeling. but it's hard to reconcile the two worlds.



it was great though. having been back gives me a peace I haven't felt in a while.

looking back and forward

i found this in an old diary, written about a week before i left for rome the last time:

"diary, I get scared about this whole Rome thing ... but then I think, adventure! and discovering a whole new world and the whole new person I can become in that new world."

kind of gave me chills to think of how true it ended up being. and, kind of makes me wish I wrote more passionately in an online diary like I used to. the thought of that level of earnesty makes me cringe a bit, but I really shouldn't be ashamed.

i have a lot of feelings right now. we'll leave it at that.

today at work I fueled my romey daydreams with seven more minutes on the ipod and a bottle of archer farms blood orange italian soda. only a few more days until I can get the real thing again.

things that are good.

+ i bought the 14 minute version of Rappers Delight on iTunes today. Best 99 cents I ever spent. big bang! i got clientele!

+ for the most part, the weather has been nicely cool and springlike lately. I've been taking long walks after work almost every day. i love feeling the endorphins kick in after about a half an hour.

+ this friday I came home to an amazon box in the mail. i didn't order anything from amazon so I was pretty curious. inside was Borat, sent by my little brother. how sweet is that? Mike and I watched it and nearly hyperventilated laughing at the naked wrestling scene.

+ seeing all my rome roommates at a wedding this weekend in iowa city. complete with all the families and babies in tow. then later at night playing strip 'em match 'em at the Atlas. why do i love bar games so much?

+ speaking of Rome. we leave in ten days. sometimes I get so excited I can feel my heart beat faster. other times it makes me so emotional I just want to put my head down on a table and cry. but mostly I'm trying not to think about it too much so I can actually get work done and lead a normal life for the next week and a half.

spring wish list

royal/navy and white. so fresh and so clean. clothes from boden, anthro, old navy, delias, and zappos.

there's a lot of other things to say, but honestly, this is where my mind is right now

florida, and cows of the sea

we're old skool and use a real camera. so these are finally, finally my pictures from florida. we jetted around on a boat. and we saw some manatees. and many other things. basically, it was the best ever.

i'm a midwestern girl at heart, always will be, but I'll be damned if I don't end up a snowbird in my later days. one of those old ladies that spends half the year down south. while I don't completely adore florida that year round sunshine is hard to beat.

february

A lot of people are hating the weather right now, but it kind of makes me happy. The temperatures finally climbed back into the double digits after what felt like months, the high today was a balmy 25. It snowed so many inches today, so pretty. and it's windy. i love the organic sculptural quality of a good snowdrift. even if traffic is awful it's so peaceful in my warm car listening to kings of convenience.

i'm feeling thankful for all the little things. new magazines and an anthropologie catalog in the mail and turning the fireplace on after work. phone conversations with my dad. the barrista at my new morning coffee stop knowing my order every day.

First time for everything!

Something happened to me yesterday that's never happened before. I got a speeding ticket. $75!!! for 16 over the limit. The funny thing is, about five minutes before I got it I saw a cop and thought I should slow down on the stretch of road. Oops, guess that didn't last long.

I was listening to the Hold Steady so I'm officially blaming it on Craig Finn.

Is it wrong that I feel so tarnished by this? I'm a criminal!!

shoes, new office

zappos, of course.

there's something about working in a legitimate office that makes me want to buy better shoes. not to say I don't love my shoes, I do, but all of the sudden I feel like there's a hole in the shoe closet. . . . a hole that needs to be filled by a pair of bone and tan spectator d'orsays. I can't really say why; I'm not really that kind of girl.

By the way, none of the above really do it for me. I can't find what I have in mind, I am on a quest though. I'd go into more detail but I'm fairly certain that's not necessary.

So yeah: my new, legitimate office. It's GOOD. great actually. People talk to each other. The women wear pumps! I know it's not a big deal, but it is to my girly self. It really is kind of showing me what a completely bizarre environment my last job was. One day last week I went to lunch with some co-workers; we had Thai food and afterwards stopped into a thrift store. yeah, NOT joking. good stuff.

I feel so excellent about the whole thing, feel like I've found a good fit for my personality and my talents. I just feel happier. It's pretty amazing what this change of scenery is doing to my psyche.

Quiet and content

It's a quiet Sunday, snowing and the sun just setting. In the living room the fire's going and Mike is asleep in front of the Bears game. I'm in the office painting and listening to country music. It feels really nice.

A few months ago I joined an art group, the Midwest Collage Society. So far I've felt a little . . . . conflicted about it; mostly because I'm SO much younger than everyone in the group. I feel quite a bit out of place. Today we had a meeting, and beforehand I felt like this was going to be my last. But then something changed and I've resolved to stick it out. I think I need to accept and work with these kind of challenges in my suburban life (ie, always feeling out of place.)

One good thing about the group is that I was able to get some artwork professionally photographed for free. It's a step in the right direction.

one of my very few pieces that I consider "finished." as of yet untitled. acrylic, vintage papers, and pastel on canvas.

Happy today

two things.

Uno. There's a reason I never do a "best albums of the year" blog entry. It's because I end up discovering my favorite music of the year after reading everyone else's "best albums of the year." I would say I need to stay on top of it better, but I know that's not going to happen.

Anyway, so I see this band, The Whitest Boy Alive, on some year-end lists. Sounded interesting, but I didn't pursue it. Then it pops up into my iTunes "just for you" selections, so I give it a whirl, and . . . .



AAAH! Why didn't anyone tell me Erlend Øye started a side project? I swear I would purchase an album consisting solely of Erlend Øye sneezing, or making small talk with shop clerks. Everything he does is golden to me. So yeah, The Whitest Boy Alive, Dreams, is really sweet and it's too bad I didn't figure that out months ago.

Dos. My little brother is studying abroad this semester in Spain. He left last weekend and we finally got a chance to IM this morning, everything is going well and I'm so happy for him.

One of the first things he told me is, "my family is good, the dad looks like the head itchy and scratchy guy."

this guy

For some reason this made my day and I'm still laughing about it five hours later.

new everything

it's january already! i should probably do a 2006 wrap-up but don't have the energy for it right now. here's the last few weeks though.

Florida. Well, I didn't accomplish any of my three goals for my Florida trip, but it was everything I needed it to be. Perfect Katie vacation. you know: nature walks, thrift shopping, white wine with lunch, art, and of course, manatees.

I got to see a bunch of manatees. it was everything i had hoped it would be, and more. the pictures of me with a giant manatee-viewing smile on my face are being processed, I'm sure I'll post some eventually.

Who knew there is an awesome art museum in sarasota, florida? John Ringling, of circus fame, lived there and his estate and personal collection of amazing art was turned into a museum. there is also a circus museum which was fascinating so now I'm sort of into the "circus aesthetic."

Holidays. christmas was good, family time, playing with my nieces. it kind of feels like a million years ago now. new years was low-key, I ended up staying home, baked a pie, watched a girl movie, fell asleep at 11:30. lame but relaxing. I have been embracing the low-key loner-ish side of myself lately. mostly because. . .

Job. I got a new job, which starts in a week and a half. It's an awesome new gig and I'm super stoked. but putting my two weeks in at my current job was pretty terrible and the resulting stress makes me not want to do anything but watch the America's Next Top Model marathon on VH1. God bless you VH1.

festivity

I'm off to iowa for a few days. . . . have a happy holiday, friends.

clothes I won't be wearing in Florida

burberry prorsum, chloe, fendi, & louis vuitton resort. images from vogue.com

I have to admit I've never understood the purpose of the resort collections. until I was invited to go to Florida in December. if I had tons o' cash to spend, I'd totally want to buy new warm weather clothes right now. but i'm pretty sure that burberry trench costs more than a mortgage payment. . . so I think I'll be okay without it.

So yeah, Florida next week. Usually I'm the kind of person who checks out a hundred travel books from the library before going on vacation, this time it's different. I have almost no expectations for this trip, which I think is good for a winter holiday. I only have three things on my list of must-dos:
1. read a lot.
2. not think about work a single time.
and
3. pet a manatee!

I really really really hope I get to pet a manatee. my heart will probably burst from the pure joy.

If You Come to Greet Me

I've been making a lot of things lately. So of course that making needs a soundtrack. I think I first heard Laura Gibson on KEXP some morning, it was one of those few instances when I heard one song and immediately bought the entire album. If You Come to Greet Me is her full-length debut. This is pure Katie wintertime music: soft, sparse, folky, girly. It's perfect for quiet background music.

Laura Gibson's website and myspace.

Penguin Magellan

This is Penguin Magellan. He's the product of some nerdy riffing during a conference call + about two hours of work in illustrator. He's my little scamp. Sextant in hand, off to see the world!

Someone I worked with on an old project really loved Penguin Magellan. He loved him enough to spend an afternoon creating these:







Don't you love it? Best thing in my email in-box in weeks.