a recent read: divining women.

My view, reading on the fire escape outside our bedroom window on a nice day.

This week I started and finished Divining Women, written by Kaye Gibbons. It's essentially this incredibly crafted story of the female experience in 1918 America and, as one critic with words better than mine put it, "a harrowing and explicit declaration of the power of a woman wronged". I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and finished much quicker than I anticipated, chiefly due to Gibbons' brilliant writing that swept me up. I hope to check out more of her books from the library this weekend. I love what she writes about below: 

"She believed that a woman had to be bright enough to choose correctly and distinguish between abiding trust and transient infatuation. She believed...that a woman's intelligence, which she called "the ability and desire to spend as much time in the world of serious ideas as in the shoe shop," should be swirled in with her other attributes. She spoke of intelligence as heightening the impact a woman could make, the way a cook might scare vanilla batter with just enough nutmeg to make the cake memorable".

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the view.

Last night we had dessert in The View Lounge, a swanky bar on the 39th floor of the downtown Marriott. The lounge's huge wrap-around windows give a 360º view of SF, which is especially beautiful at night once the city is all lit up and sparkly. We shared a slice of cheesecake and talked about how long we might live in San Francisco. We really have no idea. Our hopes for the future always come back to this idyllic dream of one day living on some quiet land, with vegetable and flower gardens by the plenty, a hammock out back, and probably a hot tub if I have any say in it. Evenings would be spent on our porch with beloved friends who live nearby, and we'll raise children alongside a ragtag group of lovable farm dogs and some goats too. It's a Tasha-Tudor-esque paradise that we love imagining together, but who knows if that's where we'll be led. Again, we have not the slightest idea. So while we wait to see, we try to practice thankfulness in the meantime for an exciting chapter in a sparkly city and the blessing of not yet having to take care of a yard.

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and mail from Caroline...

I also must mention the mail contribution of Caroline which, per usual, offers comic relief. Caroline sent me an H&M gift card that was nearing expiration since she doesn't live near one of their stores. Inside was a small simple note that read, "You really should thank me - I almost filled this puppy with confetti. Instead, I went with this mess-free baby. You owe me one". When she said "I went with this mess-free baby", I assumed she was referring to the simple post-it note where her message was written. This was not the case. Please direct your attention to the envelope below:

Caroline actually mailed me a miniature plastic baby.

"Instead, I went with this mess-free baby" was not a slang phrase referring to the post-it note. She meant it literally! Unfortunately, the baby broke free on its trans-America journey (escape route highlighted above) so the next day when she asked, "did you get the baby?", I was very confused. After a series of strange questions, we both realized we had been bamboozled by the teeniest getaway ever. I wonder where he is now...

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my mail week.

In the midst of a few hard days, I got tons of nice mail. These things brightened up my week.

Caitlin (the same Caitlin from this post) sent a package full of fun goodies and a really nice note. I especially love the filling - so colorful! Caitlin is from NC, lives in LA, works for Disney, and shares many of the same loves as me. I wish she would move to San Francisco already (ahem). I shan't reveal all the contents of the package, but check out the awesome stamps she sent. They're from the Paper Source and I really like them...like so much that I won't put them away. They've been out on the kitchen table all week.

I also got a package from my sweetest sister. This picture, which I shakily took on the city bus because I couldn't wait till home to open it, doesn't do the package justice. Everything was wrapped beautifully with little notes. One of my favorite contents was a small box of smooth sea stones my sister collected at the beach. They are beautiful and from one of my favorite places on earth, the Atlantic off North Carolina. Another teeny treasure to add to my collection.

On top of the two packages, I got even more mail...

First, a sweet note from Sarah's sister Stephanie, affectionately known as Stu. She is pregnant (!!!) with baby Anderson who Sarah (and I) will spoil to no end. I like the the card - hoorah for gender neutral baby stuff!

This one is from Caitlin too and technically was inside the package. But I still wanted to share because of the awesome stationery. Sparkles and sea animals? Love it. Caitlin knows what I like.

My family just took their annual beach trip and I had to miss out this year. They sent a card written in by everyone there, which I loved. There was even a notecard addition because people ran out of room. So nice!

There was also this gem: a sweetest card from Alison, asking me to be a bridesmaid when she marries her Jacob in January. My answer was an obvious yes, by the way. I'm so happy for those two.

Isn't that a ton of mail for one week? I was so shocked each time there was something else in our mailbox. Long live the US Postal Service! Snail mail is the best.

Lastly, happy Friday! Can you believe it's the end of July? We're hoping to get out on the water tomorrow since the weather should be nice (fingers crossed). I hope everyone enjoys their weekend!

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