This Is Just To Say

I first read this poem in a rather odd place – on a card in the accounting office of a place I once worked. The words always stuck with me, but I didn’t know it was a poem until I randomly thought of it and googled it one day. I can’t really explain why I love it so much, but I just like how it reads like a note left on a kitchen counter. Enjoy!

This Is Just To Say

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

-William Carlos Williams

TGIF!

Well, one week post wisdom teeth extraction and my face is still swollen and bruised. Thank goodness this is only a one time thing! I spent a lot of time on my couch this past week, so here’s some stuff that kept me entertained!

The White House asked to borrow a van Gogh. The Guggenheim offered a gold toilet instead. YAS!

If you have Netflix, definitely check out Grace and Frankie, starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. I watched all four seasons last weekend…

I’m currently in grad school, and this semester I’m taking an Applied Corporate Responsibility Class. The first class was extremely informative, but it certainly put me in a somber mood. I recommend checking out THIS video about Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.

Winter Tree

Trees goes dormant during the winter. Many animals hibernate. Us humans … business as usual. I think trees and animals have the right idea, so here’s to more nesting in the winter months!

Winter Tree

All the complicated details
of the attiring and
the disattiring are completed!
A liquid moon
moves gently among
the long branches.
Thus having prepared their buds
against a sure winter
the wise trees
stand sleeping in the cold.

– William Carlos Williams

Photo taken in Boston, MA.

TGIF!

A Cup of Jo is one of favorite blogs, and I love how they do a “Have a Great Weekend” post with links and tidbits every Friday, so I am going to start doing my own version – TGIF!

I think I’ll actually be completing this post on Fridays, but this time I am completing it ahead of time because I’m getting my wisdom teeth out on Thursday, and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to write a coherent post! I’ve been seriously dreading this… so wish me luck!

Sedona, Arizona

View on the Fay Canyon Trail

My mom and I went to Arizona during the week of Thanksgiving, and we had such an amazing time. I had never been to a place with a desert climate, so there was definitely an adjustment period to the lack of humidity and high altitude. I have never been so thirsty in my life!

Day 1
We flew from Boston Logan to Phoenix Sky Harbor, and took a shuttle to pick up our car at Enterprise. The process was smooth, and the person at Enterprise upgraded our car! I know you can get more affordable rentals with other companies, but I always use Enterprise because they have great customer service. After we picked up the car, we drove from Phoenix to Sedona, where we were staying at the Kimpton Amara Resort & Spa.

Song of the Open Road, I

I’m working on a post about my road trip around Arizona with my Mom over Thanksgiving (I know, I’ve been M.I.A.), so I wanted to find a poem that was an ode to travel or vacations. I remembered this Walt Whitman poem, which is perfect because he is also my Mom’s favorite poet.

Be Kind

Poets.org has a great twitter presence, so I would recommend following them if you are a twitter user. Most of my twitter feed is now political commentary, so I welcome their tweets for a reprieve from the misery of the current political climate! If you are interested in poetry, you should sign up for their poem-a-day digital poetry series, where they email you a different poem every day.

Monday was #NationalKindnessDay, so they tweeted this poem, called “Be Kind”.

Burlington, Vermont

Last year Dan and I took a trip out to Burlington, Vermont in early November. Burlington is one of my favorite places, and Dan had only passed through the city once before, so I was eager to show him around. On our drive up we listened to Michael Kiwanuka’s BBC Radio 1 artist takeover, which set the tone for a great weekend (side note: BBC Radio has a great app – iPlayer Radio – that I highly recommend!). We stayed in a cozy Airbnb that was a quick walk to Church Street and was perfect for two people.

The Peace of Wild Things

Introducing… Poetry Wednesdays, occurring on Wednesdays solely because I thought of the idea on a Wednesday! I love poetry, so I thought sharing one of my favorite poems every week would be a fun idea.

If I had to choose, nature-inspired poetry would be my favorite. I find this poetry to be the most comforting because it’s easy (at least for me!) to relate to finding solace from my problems, and the problems of the world, through the tranquility of nature. Here’s one of those poems.

Halloween DIY: Suzy & Sam from Moonrise Kingdom

I LOVE Halloween. I was Suzy Bishop from Moonrise Kingdom, one of my favorite Wes Anderson movies, for Halloween two years ago, and it’s one of my favorite costumes to date. I’d recommend watching the movie (I believe it’s still available on Netflix) and listening to Françoise Hardy’s “Le Temps de l’Amour” on repeat if you really want to get inspired. Side note: I got super into 1960s french pop music after seeing this movie. 

I didn’t intend on being Suzy, it actually happened when I was searching for the perfect Courtney Love costume at The Garment District in Cambridge, MA. I ended up finding a pink and purple dress with a peter pan collar from the 60s and I decided that, if it fit, I was going to be Suzy! The dress ended up being too long, but I was able to tuck the extra length under the dress and pin it to the length I wanted, which was fine for the night. My boyfriend, Dan, went as Sam Shakusky, and he was just as excited as I was – probably because he got to wear a Davy Crockett hat.