spoiled, much?

on our last flight to new york, i finally let jack buy a membership to the airline's president's club. let me tell you this boy has wanted for so long to be able to go behind those closed doors. he flies so much that now he's almost always upgraded (for free) to the first class cabin and he's getting totally spoiled. i'm not really into those sorts of things, but i have to say i'm glad we did it. our second flight was delayed until 11:30 pm (from 4 pm!) and we got to go into this locked family room all to ourselves with comfy seats and two tvs with dvd players, plus all the complimentary drinks and crackers and cheese and apples and granola bars and chips we wanted. the boys spread out their toys and watched movies and i watched some top design and shear genius and read magazines.

this is only the second really big (5 different planes, two hotels, 6 days) vacation trip taken with the step-kids. it's different than traveling alone. much less selfish and luxorius. my favorite part of hotel rooms is usually the bathtub - since i adore taking baths and our apartment here only has a shower! - but there were mostly showers this trip.

it's fun to see them experience new and different things, but disappointing to see them not really appreciate it.

this is texas

this, the river, is fun:


this is driving, how i spend almost every other weekend, driving.


big skies, true, and here is my tower of vultures, they are always there.


it is a long drive.

and here is the city, mostly grimy, and very hot.


i like it, mostly, it feels closer to home, but not quite.

books

it's just a normal day, but i feel lonely and scared and sad.

**********

here's the top 100 books from the big read. i've read 26 out of the 100 (i'm counting on the road which i only half read because i didn't like it).

some of my favorites on the list:
tess of the d'urbervilles
alice's adventures in wonderland and through the looking glass

one hundred years of solitude

the secret garden

and, ya'll, my all-time favorite: if nobody speaks of remarkable things. i can't believe how much i loe this book.

i can read this from cover to cover, then start from the beginning again. or i can just pick it up and read my favorite pages again and again. read the first 3 pages - you'll be hooked.

dangerous angels is second.

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kikkerland

check out these wall hooks from saturday's shopping spree:


cool, right? i can't find them on the internets, but it turns out they are made by the same people who make my new timer. actually, i recognized a lot of stuff on their web site, including this little guy:


i bought him (from target) a few months ago to replace my giant coffee can of change.

i love

i love this little spot in my kitchen, grinder, coffee maker that doesn't suck at all, and especially the photographs picked up last trip to soho.

{i wish i had asked the photographer for his name, because i can't read the signature on the back. i wanted to badly, but for some reason i felt like it would be rude or something. i knew i would regret it. why am i so weird? being scared of asking someone that you are buying something from what their name is? truly ridiculous...}

anyway, in case you can't tell this is looking up at the stairs at the apple shop. so creative.

things i want to do

learn to speak spanish. so i'll be ready to live in mexico when the time comes.

make things! make a quilt. something like this - how lovely.


and this bag. already got the pattern.


maybe even a few dresses.

find an good online printer. these came in the mail today (to frame for the boys' room) and they never look as well as i expect...

months fly by

it amazes me how easy it is to remember passwords sometimes. like dialing a telephone number you haven't used it forever.

look who was back last night:


jack is out of town and this is what makes it bearable:

and although you can't see them: pride and prejudice, the other boleyn girl, and love and other disasters.

i learned that cooking is pretty easy. i still don't do it much, but it's nice to know i can. and it's fun. i love allrecipes.com. you can find anything almost, and the reviews let you know whether it's good. i bought a crappy timer from target, and just replaced it with this one from anthropologie: