A few lovely things for today, when I’m packing up to head back to AZ and planning a few stops along the way.
A few lovely things for today, when I’m packing up to head back to AZ and planning a few stops along the way.
I have a 12 hour train ride to North Dakota on Saturday, so I’ve been looking for some new books to help pass the time.
So far, I’m interested in this one or this one, but I also came across The Portable Dorothy Parker. It’s not available on Kindle, and the hard copy won’t arrive before I leave, but some of her quotes are too good not to share:
“Razors pain you,
Rivers are damp,
Acids stain you,
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren’t lawful,
Nooses give,
Gas smells awful.
You might as well live.”
-Enough Rope
“In youth, it was a way I had,
To do my best to please.
And change, with every passing lad
To suit his theories.
But now I know the things I know
And do the things I do,
And if you do not like me so,
To hell, my love, with you.”
“You can lead a horticulture, but you can’t make her think.”
“If you wear a short enough skirt, the party will come to you.”
“I don’t care what is written about me so long as it isn’t true.”
“A hangover is the wrath of grapes.”
“Three be the things I shall never attain:
Envy, content, and sufficient champagne.”
For the last few weeks, the David and Gladys Wright house, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, in Phoenix has been offering free yoga classes.
Right now the house is still a private residence (Frank Lloyd Wright’s granddaughter lives there) but they are working to turn it into a museum. The vote is in December, so they are trying to give the community as much access to the property before that, through events like this, so that people will vote to preserve it.
The classes are offered by different yoga studios throughout the valley and there are usually a couple hundred people there. Not only were the yoga classes free, but they also had a bunch of free stuff for people who attended, including t-shirts, tote bags and yoga mats.
We had been arriving about half an hour before the classes started so we could go through and tour the house. I went to two different classes, the first time I took a bunch of pictures, but they were all on my Snapchat (jasminedesirees). I thought I would remember to download them the next day but I didn’t, and I lost all of them. But luckily I was able to go again and take some more pictures.
The first time I went through the house, they had a “docent” there to answer questions about the house and the family, and it was really interesting. The house had been slated for demolition in 2012, but the wrecking crew showed up to tear it down, and called the city to make sure they were really supposed to.
The city stopped the demolition, put protections on the property, and arranged to have it sold at auction. It was bought by a private citizen, who still owns it today.
Sarah, Frank Lloyd Wright’s granddaughter, lives on the property because it’s still zoned as a private residence, so in order to have events like yoga classes or anything else, someone has to live there and invite everyone in.
Last week was the final yoga class, but it was such a success that I’m sure they will do it again. At the end of the last class they played a Frank Lloyd Wright monologue where he discusses creativity. It was a very fitting end.
If you get the chance to go check out this amazing property, definitely do it. The house is amazing (I love the wooden ceiling inside!), and the views of Camelback and the sunset are worth it even if you don’t get to go inside. I also want to go here as soon as I have a free afternoon.
A few random pictures from my trip to NYC in February. I was there for work, and it absolutely poured for most of the time I was able to run in the park a few mornings, which was heavenly as always.
I didn’t stay for the weekend this time, instead I took the latest flight home on Saturday so I would still have some time to creep around.
I wanted to see a play on Friday night, I’ve been dying to see The Book of Mormon for years, but the only ticket I could find was standing, with a partially obstructed view for $100. I passed, but apparently I’m just going to have to suck it up and spend the money if I ever want to see it. They came to SF a couple of years ago and it was $800 a ticket, so $150 next time I’m in NYC probably isn’t terrible.
I spent all of Saturday creeping (read: walking) all over the city, including a trip to Brooklyn, and eating ALL OF THE THINGS. It was the best day ever, but more to come on that. At the end of the best day ever, I still had some more time to kill before my flight so I decided to head to the Museum of Natural History, because I’ve wanted to go there for years.
I didn’t realize they had a new exhibit on dinosaurs opening that day, so I was truly shocked to see a line that went on for 3 city blocks. I decided to skip it, and instead, I cut across the park and went to the Met.
What people (including me) don’t realize about the Met is that there isn’t actually a ticket price, it’s a donation. I didn’t get it until the cashier asked me for the 5th time if I was sure I really wanted to pay $25. I’m sure I couldn’t have looked stupider as I pointed to the sign and stammered inarticulately at her, but in the end I just ended up paying the full price so that the interaction could be over. Money well spent.
Being at the Met in person was amazing, I went from room to room taking in all of the pieces, and so many of them I had seen prints of before, which did absolutely no justice to the real thing. Some of my favourites were the Vigee Le Brun exhibit, she painted images of Marie Antoinette and her children (I’ve probably read every single book ever written on Marie Antoinette, it’s a problem) and the Monet paintings.
My mom bought me an enormous waterlilies print when I was in high school, and it was so big it took up almost the whole wall of our bathroom. It didn’t really go with anything else in our house, but it was love at first sight and I begged until she gave in.
Even just writing this post has me excited for my next trip. Truly love this city.
I came across a poem by Nayirrah Waheed last weekend, and immediately set out to ready everything she had ever written. I ordered her book of poetry, Salt, and I can’t wait for it to get here.
A few of my favourite lines:
i have always been the woman of my dreams
i am mine before i am ever anyone else’s
my mother was my first country, the first place i ever lived
what can i do when the night comes out and i break into stars
stay is a sensitive word we wear who stayed and who left in our skin forever
A few lovely things for a beautiful sunny day in Phoenix. I have a mango for breakfast, and absolutely no weekend commitments for the first time in 2016.
Exciting news! I, a girl who never wins anything, except for that plastic container of cinnamon hearts when I was in fifth grade, won a set of Photoshop Actions from the DIY blog A Beautiful Mess right before Christmas.
I’m not amazing at Photoshop by any means, I’ve taught myself slowly for different jobs over the years, and we met a fellow traveller in Australia last year who gave us a copy of the program for our laptop (thanks Jake!) but I would definitely say I’m still a beginner. These Actions are cool though because you just have to pick one, and it automatically edits the image for you.
From there you can adjust the level, and turn certain layers on and off within the Action itself to play with it a little, but it makes it a lot easier.
Full confession, I have been writing for over three years on this blog, and I’ve never edited one. single. image. And not just because I’m lazy (although that’s part of it). It kind of feels like cheating to me? Anything can look amazing if it’s edited enough. I hate when I see a picture of something and it looks incredible, and then I see it in person and I’m like wait… why is this water brown?
But it’s nice to have the option, and I’m having fun playing around with these new Actions.
I picked an image from our trip to Cambodia last year, of a monk sitting on a building inside Angkor Wat and one of us snorkeling near Komodo Island to showcase some of the different options here:
Frankie
Jean
Summer
Georgia
Lula
Spring
A few lovely things for today, when I’m snuggling up under the covers and dreaming of Christmas in Mazatlan. Wake me up when December ends.
“Barn’s burnt down —
now
I can see the moon.”
-Mizuta Masahide
A few lovely things for today, when I’m back in Arizona for 11 days in a row, the longest unbroken stretch since May.
