"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud"

Today is the vernal equinox and to celebrate, I'm including one of my all-time favorite poems below. Wordsworth's ode to the daffodil, much like spring itself, evokes such happiness and a sense of promise. Happy Spring!

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay.

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed--and gazed--but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought.

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

-William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

{I don't have a photo of daffodils of my own, but I did find this gorgeous image courtesy of Virgin Media}

Salad with a side of celebrity (part deux)

Ordinarily, I'd just let this most recent celebrity sighting go unblogged because I just wrote about seeing a whole bunch of celebrities unexpectedly and I know it's not the most exciting of topics and therefore isn't really worth mentioning twice in a row, and I'm not terribly impressed with celebs anyway and I never even notice them, so why are they all of a sudden coming out of the woodwork and who cares, they're just people, for crying out loud! But I thought the latest sighting was too good to not mention.

T and I were walking hand in hand toward R+D restaurant on Montana when we saw a man walking from said restaurant to his hybrid car parked out front. He glanced up and looked straight at me and I realized that I was staring into the eyes of none other than Steven Speilburg. T wants to be Mr. Speilburg when he grows up, so he nearly died.

Salad with a side of celebrity

Last night T and I had dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant--this small, unassuming place with twinkle lights and great food in the Santa Monica canyon. A good friend of ours is a waiter there and we frequent the restaurant often; their fettucini with lobster in pink sauce is to die for. Anyway, it was as we were sitting down at our table when we noticed that our cozy little place had Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick in one corner and David E. Kelly and Michelle Pfeiffer in the other. T kept ogling Michelle and I couldn't really blame him because she is absolutely stunning in person (not to mention I had done my fair share of ogling when I spotted George Clooney dining in the same space a few months ago. And yes, he's just as dreamy as you'd expect him to be). An hour later Dennis Quaid walked in and picked up his to-go order.

Random.

Babies and Wine

I know an awful lot of people pregnant at the moment--three of whom are expected to give birth all in the same week--and at the weekend I was invited to not one, but two baby showers, both of which were held on the same day. Is it something in the water? If so, I'll be sure to avoid it! Unfortunately, I couldn't attend one of the showers, as it was too far away, but I was able to take some photos of the shower I did attend. Just your average blissfully warm and sunny March day in Santa Barbara.

I LOVED the baby book theme and thought it was beautifully done. The mother-to-be is an elementary school teacher, so it was rather fitting.

A party isn't a party without a little cheese. The labels add a nice touch, too.

"Z" cookies in honor of the soon-to-be-born baby boy.


My gift for baby Z? A pair of adorable little onesies. I have a thing for owls. Say it loud, say it proud.

Afterward, my friend L (who insisted on being called "L" on my blog, I think in honor of T) and I took the edge off (as lovely as the shower was, it was three hours long. Case closed.) and stopped by a couple wine tasting rooms near the Pacific where we sampled many different wines and proceeded to get (slightly) inebriated. Or at least I did while L smartly remained sober enough to drive. Thanks, L!

While the wines at the first tasting room aren't worthy to mention here, I was really impressed with the second room, Kalyra. I later realized that I've actually visited the winery in Santa Ynez a few years ago. If you can't make it to the winery, I highly recommend you stop by the tasting room in downtown Santa Barbara. I enjoyed every single wine I sipped, from the chardonnay (which admittedly isn't my favorite grape, but I really liked this one) to the pinot noir. I went home with three bottles. I cannot wait to open these lovelies up in the not-too-distant future. Who knew babies and wine go so nicely together?

February Reads

I am happy to say that I've completed five books in the month of February, an ever-so-slight improvement from January. They are:

The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama. I really wanted to start the year off right by reading our president's most recent book. He writes with an eloquence and self-possession often witnessed in his myriad public speeches. His integrity, vision of hope, and genuine love and concern for our country are very much apparent, as is his deep commitment to his family, which I personally found heartwarming. I feel that anyone who wants to delve deeper into the mind of this brilliant man (not to mention if you're looking for some entertaining stories from Obama's bachelor-esque existence on Capitol Hill that involve a shower curtain...or lackthereof) would do no better than to pick up a copy of this book. I hear his first book, Dreams From My Father, is equally great.


In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. There are too many fascinating factoids crammed into this book to mention here, but one that particularly stands out to me is how different our eating culture is from that of a European country. Our propensity for fast, easy meals is what's killing us, while a country like France, with its emphasis on slowing down to enjoy a meal and stopping when you're satisfied, is one of the healthiest countries in the world. Pollan writes: "Fast food is precisely the way you'd expect a people to eat who put success at the center of life, who work long hours (with two careers per household), get only a couple weeks vacation each year, and who can't depend on a social safety net to cushion them from life's blows. Slow food aims to elevate quality over quantity and believes that doing so depends on cultivating our sense of taste as well as rebuilding relationships between producers and consumers that the industrialization of our food has destroyed." Food for thought.

A Mere Interlude by Thomas Hardy. Ever since watching the AMAZING Masterpiece Theatre production of Tess of the d'Urbervilles on PBS a couple months ago, I've gained a newfound interest in the writings of Thomas Hardy, a Victorian novelist and poet who for some reason or another I haven't paid too much attention to before. I was so moved by his story of poor Tess and the hardships she endured but didn't deserve, that I felt compelled to pick this book up. I can definitely see the parallels between Interlude and Tess. Hardy continues his theme of telling stories of poor, hardworking women, and his sympathy for their plight is keenly felt. Take a look at this book's gorgeous cover--along with the covers of the next two books--here.

The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy. I wasn't anticipating such a modern, albeit depressing, view on love and relationships. The protagonist's (and apparently Tolstoy's) open disdain for the ritual of courtship and marriage among the aristocracy and his candor are somewhat surprising to me. But this might simply be an indication that I haven't read as nearly as much Russian literature as I should. I'm considering The Kreutzer Sonata as a fitting prelude to a meatier work I plan on sinking my teeth into later this year, a little novel called War & Peace. Like Hardy, Tolstoy doesn't sugarcoat life, and I find that really refreshing.

Forbidden Fruit from the letters of St. Abelard and Heloise. Admittedly, I was sorta hoping for a Romeo and Juliet type of love story with this book. Except instead of medieval lusty teenagers, we have in an epistolary format a pair of medieval, grown-up scholars who are torn asunder by their love. I was more intrigued with Heloise's letters because they are teeming with a heartfelt vigor and love for Abelard that I found so endearing. Abelard's letters, on the other hand, reek of self-importance and an aridity that contrasted greatly with that of Heloise's passionate prose. I came away from the book with the firm belief that Heloise was simply too good for Abelard. Most women are, no?

Next up: magic realism, a politician's wife, a biography of a Victorian writer, and reading Lolita in Iran....

J.Crew Love

Meet my new coat. I snapped him up at the J.Crew in South Coast Plaza this winter in the midst of the holiday sales extravaganza. I wasn't even in the market for a new coat, but I saw him hanging all by his lonesome in the corner of the store, and once I tried him on for size and saw that he was on sale to boot, I knew he was a keeper. The camel hair is incredibly soft to the touch and just feels heavenly to slip into. I love the hidden pink and orange detailing, too.

I adore J.Crew. They offer good quality clothes, often using the same mills as fancy European design houses, at very economical prices. I can't get enough of their tissue tees and ringspun painter tees. And this new Icon trench for spring looks like something Burberry would come up with, but at a fraction of what a Burberry trench costs. I covet. And oh my, I just noticed these lovely little ballet flats. Man, am I in trouble.

Best Valentine's Day Ever

I admit it. I'm pretty spoiled (recognition is the first step, right?). I had quite simply the best Valentine's Day ever. I'm not even a big fan of the holiday, as more often than not it tends to make people feel miserable that they're single or disappointed that their partner didn't do enough to make it ABSOLUTELY PERFECT. I think the reason Valentine's was so fabulous for me this year is because I've been very good to myself all week (i.e. filling my apartment with flowers and indulging myself with literature from Thomas Hardy and Leo Tolstoy is what I call love), while also spending some quality time with the boyfriend, who just so happens to be very thoughtful. On Friday, I received a lovely Valentine's Day bouquet at work, courtesy of said thoughtful boyfriend. Aren't they gorg? I was completely gobsmacked; I wasn't at all expecting flowers at work, which made receiving them all the more fun and wonderful.

The next day I decided to show myself a little love by treating myself to a hair cut and color. I love how bouncy my hair feels after leaving the salon. Typically, I like to make plans the night I get my hair professionally done because it so rarely happens that my hair looks nice--considering I generally put about 0% effort into it--but I had doubts about it this year since it also happened to be Valentine's Day. T insisted on taking me out to dinner, even though I argued that V-day is the WORST night to go out for a meal: it's more expensive, a set menu is typically forced upon you, and you're robbed of any originality because the place is full of couples just like you wanting to share a romantic meal together and as a result you feel like cattle. T wasn't convinced. He made dinner reservations anyway because he knows me, basically. Turns out my fears were completely unfounded: the vibe at the restaurant he picked was perfectly low-key, there was a healthy mix of couples and families, the menu consisted of plenty of options and the food was really good. We went home, our tummies full, but not full enough to forgo the chocolate chip cookies I had made earlier, sat down on the sofa and watched The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. If you haven't seen this film, I HIGHLY recommend you do so. Amazing (and I don't use that word lightly). The film made me feel very happy and grateful to be alive and to be able to do the things I love with the people I love most. Because that's what truly matters. As I said, best Valentine's Day ever.