Saw this on Ker’s blog and I’m joining in the survey madness…

where is your cell phone?
on the table next to me

your hair?
is long and healthy but needs to be blonde (once the baby arrives!) (and moroccan oil makes it more luscious)

your mom?
is arriving on Tuesday night! Wooo!

your dad?
also arriving on Tuesday night! but he’s missing out on the Wednesday massages (girls only)

your favorite food?
mashed potatoes and my mom’s special chicken francaise (with swiss cheese on top!) and pizza and bagels (NY or NJ, please, for both of the last items)

your dream last nite?
dreams about Ender, even though I only read two chapters of Ender’s Game so far

your favorite drink?
nice dry red wine or an ice cold dirty martini (shaken, extra dirty) or lightly sweetened mint tea for the non-alcoholic variety

your dream/goal?
live in a cozy, beautiful old house with character with Dave, our kids (well, one to start), and 5 or 6 big dogs (if this house could be super close to both mountains and ocean that would be even more perfect; have my own design business; be financially secure

the room you are in?
our bedroom, on the bed, trying to work, with ice on my back, chilling with Darwin, the best dog ever (well, one of them anyway)

what is your hobby?
taking pictures, reading, yoga (especially creative open flows), mixed media messy stuff (though it’s been a while), reading

what is your fear?
being broke, not being creative enough

where were you last nite?
eating at Fiore’s in Asheville for Dave’s birthday – mmmmm amazing gnocchi with vodka sauce and broccoli cavatelli and a few sips of Dave’s delicious wine…

something you are not?
One who thrives on routine.

muffins?
I agree with whoever said cupcakes are better, because they are, but blueberry with crumbly topping is pretty yummy.

on your wish list?
our next move being to somewhere amazing and beautiful, a European vacation, happy healthy baby, again, financial security, my own business, happiness and creativity every day for both our family

where did you grow up?
Mainly Rutherford, NJ (with NY, Ohio, Montana and Washington NJ also tossed in there)

last thing you did?
went through cookbooks with Marly and Erich for Thanksgiving ideas

what are you wearing?
black exercise pants and a black tank top

your TV?
only what I can watch on DVD or online (no cable — too distracting and mind sucking; the flip flip flip that I used to excel at)

your pets?
Darwin (one of my best friends for sure) and Molly – awesome dogs; We lost Mr. Boodles & Drifter in the last year

your friends?
rock and I need to keep in better touch with them all

your life?
is transitioning – our latest addition – a baby (!) will arrive in Feb/March! Woooo! (By arrive, I mean squeeze out of my body)

your mood?
sort of down from some pain that I’ve been enduring for the past two weeks

missing someone?
friends and family up north

your vehicle?
Honda Element that I love but I do miss my VW Beetle…..

something your not wearing?
Fiorentini+Baker boots but I’d like to be

This maternity shirt:

your favorite store?
Etsy, Earthfare, and Amazon

your favorite color?
Black & purple

last time you laughed?
I’m sure Dave cracked me up at some point today

last time you cried?
Yesterday probably – from this pain – ugh

your best friend?
I have a few and they’re all amazing

one place you go over and over?
home

guilty pleasure?
Watching trashy TV online (Brothers & Sisters, Survivor, Castle….)

favorite place to eat?
at the kitchen table or in a restaurant or on a porch in the summer (coffee and bagel, ahhh)

where do you want to be in 6 years?
Somewhere beautiful, happy and fulfilled.

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Here’s a poem that my friend Kerilyn wrote for me and about me back in 2005 (!). She just came across it and I thought I’d share. I love it!

From the Serengeti she arrived
Barebacked and frolicking
in the sporadic wildflowers that seem to
mysteriously Appear..
purple and full of life
Reminding us of the beauty found in the
Strangest of places.
Billions of stones in little fractions under Her feet
take shape..
Gladly reminding us Of her presence…
Wild and untamed this girl is
Shown to us by flocks of tendrils
in masse
flying in the direction of the sun…
while her exquisite complexity
is revealed as a gift if you are quiet
and still enough to see thru the veil,
the mirage of this world.
So clear to me.
this Serengeti girl
taught to survive on pure wit and strength of will brought on by seasons
of running with the lions.
While I am sure you see her fierceness as a testament to her position in the pack…
you miss the infinity of moments where her gentleness would
and does bring definition.. and clarity to her person.
Look closer.
And stare.. cause just like the wind uses the mountains Of sand as it’s clock..
Telling time.
Her beauty is revealed as she explores.
This desolate and solemn world..
I can see her..
Can you?

Poem by Kerilyn Fox (Russo) *the Russo will take me a while to get used to

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This just makes me smile…a big, old (over 1,500 years old!) and tall tree. A tree like that seems like it’s filled wisdom that we can’t access due to the species thing…

Michael Nichols/National Geographic

Get the details and see more photos on NPR.

I never saw a discontented tree.  They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do.  They go wandering forth in all directions with every wind, going and coming like ourselves, traveling with us around the sun two million miles a day, and through space heaven knows how fast and far!  ~John Muir

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I’m in the mood for a great fall reading list. I probably won’t finish them all before spring summer, but I’m looking for leaves and romance and dark and gothy and all of that mixed together. Some of these just come to mind and some of them are online recommendations…

Northanger Abbey
by Jane Austen

I’ve never read a Jane Austen book. I’m not quite sure how that happened but this seems perfect. It seems autumny and I believe it’s sort of a satire on gothic romances. Perfect!

Griffin & Sabine
by Nick Bantock

I don’t have them all but I do have four or five of them. Perfect fall reading; getting lost in romantic letters and postcards (and you can really take them out and read them which is spectacular!).

Eva Moves the Furniture
by Margot Livesey

I just stumbled across this one and it sounds perfect. Set in Scotland, a story of love, life, death, coming of age…and ghosts.

Walden, or, Life in the Woods
by Henry David Thoreau

Somehow, I’ve never read this. I need to fix that.

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Found this on YouTube. Beautiful and weird and creepy…

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Some photos from the new house and life in North Carolina.

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