Ulay, Oh; Against All Odds

Today, whilst in the midst of social media-ing, I stumbled upon a video of ex-lovers meeting for the first time in 30 years at an art installation.  The artist, Marina Abramovic, held an art performance at the Museum of Modern Art where she would sit across from strangers, staring in silence one-on-one.  The video goes through a few, but then something amazing happens... her old boyfriend (that she hadn't seen in 30 years) was suddenly seated across from her.  The emotions that followed were enough to rock anyone's world.  Marina obviously did not know he was going to be there - the surprise in her eyes says it all -and the people observing the art installation were all overcome by their reactions.  You can watch the clip here.  Be prepared for all the feels.

I watched this once this morning and once just now, but it has been with me all day.  I don't think it will ever leave me actually.  Their emotions are so true, so heartbreaking, and so full of love.  It makes me want to know more of the story.  I would love to hear what happened after he got up and left.  I can't imagine that they were just going to slip back out of each other's lives... slowly ghosting away.  Or at least I hope not.  I hope they found each other again, and that it was more than just a physical finding.

I almost can't handle the urgency.  And I know that I can't even begin to explain the emotions.  But I love this type of stuff.  It feeds me.  I find it in music.  I find it in books.  I find it in movies.  But this is so much more real.  And so beautiful.

On the way home from work, I was trying to think of something that I could compare it to.  Of course, there are the Mr.Darcy's and the Love, Acually's of the world... but the little piece of my mental history that I can equate to having maybe that much urgency, if only to be accompanied by a different emotion, is from the movie "Against All Odds".  We rented it one night and proceeded to watch it.  I remember it was long, and from the 80s, so it left a little something to be desired, but I tell ya... at the very end, when Jeff Bridges is staring into Rachel Ward's eyes from across the room, there is so much emotion that you can hardly deal.  Not to mention, the Phil Collins song (also titled "Against All Odds" (you can watch the music video featuring clips from the movie here)) playing in the background.  I just can't.

"How can you just walk away from me, when all I can do is watch you leave..."

Yea, I pretty sure that that song can be precisely applied to the situation between the artist and her ex-lover, but maybe I'm just projecting.  I doubt it though.

Anyways, further delves into my past led me to my old moleskine journals.  I am currently working on my third.  The first was completed during my semester of Design & Painting I at GSU.  It was the second semester of my freshmen year (Spring 2004), I am was ripe with emotion.  I was dating, and not-dating.  I had my first-ever kiss that February.  I was developing awesome friendships.  I was experiencing college life, and I was feeling a bit angsty.  At one point, I even died my hair black.  It only lasted a day, but it happened.  I was seeing what love felt like, and by the end of this semester, I was convinced that I was in love with my art professor.  That's not too hard to fathom though.  He would wear blazers with blue jeans and chucks, and he played Postal Service during class.  Call me smitten.  lol.  I would put a lot of emotion into my art and found a lot of release in music and writing.  I still do today actually.

These are just a few of my favorites.

Every now and then I'll post some of my more current work on my Instagram account:  @perfancynancy.  Check it out!

two-faced; 2004

a spirit, 2004

bottom: poetry, 2004
top: Oregon itenerary, spirits, 2007

"Ulay, Oh" by How I Became the Bomb.  All the feels.

 

A picture of a pickle.

And that's not metaphorically speaking.

Right now, I am finishing a movie that I started yesterday evening... a little over 22 hours ago.  No, it's not that the movie was that long.  That's just how long it's taken me to get through it.  Mom life, am I right?

The movie was splendid.  "Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day."  Seriously, so good.  I love the time frame, the series of events, the actors, the roles, and the intrigues.  There's even a spot of urgency.  So naturally, I'm hooked.  This is one of those movies that I crave and have to watch a few times a year. 
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Interlude.
Others on the crave-able list:
The Count of Monte Cristo
Love, Actually
Pride & Prejudice
The Jane Austen Book Club
(I sense a theme here...)
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My little one is sick.  Not super serious, but a bit worse than we imagined.  She's had a bad cough for a few days and when she spiked a fever yesterday, we knew a trip to the doctor was in order.  And so it was.  She has mucus on her lungs and 2 different rashes.  We're treating with antibiotics, breathing treatments and creams.  At any rate, hubby and I were both here with her, but hubby got to work and I watched her, which obviously means that I didn't watch my movie.  Had you ever entertained a 17 month old?  Ha!  Luckily, despite the sickness, she is acting much like herself.  Very busy, slightly destructive (not on purpose), and incredibly charming.

Anyways, hubby is also going out with a friend tonight to discuss plans for a game they're working on.  So when he announced that he was logged off and asked if he could do anything, I sweetly suggested that he wisk the little miss off to get the last of the meds and any other excursion deemed acceptable for a 17 month old.  He obliged and promised to be out for awhile.  :)

So the first thing I do, besides taking a leisurely jaunt to the restroom, is grab a pickle, take a bite, (take a picture), and sit down to my movie and my blog.
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I shall call it "me time" and it shall be mine!

Bathroom Bottles

 

This is what we wake up for these days.  It's 7am on a Saturday and Penny has been rearranging a bottle of aloe and hair gel all over the bathroom... for the last 20 minutes. 

 

Open the cabinet.
Grab a bottle.
Take it to the toilet.
Go grab the other bottle.
Put it on the bathtub.
Take the other one and put it in the other cabinet.
Go get the other and give it to mommy.
Gather both back.
Stumble back to the cabinet.
Deposit into cabinet.
Shut door.
Clap.
Repeat process.

 

She is so content in the mundane and is such a joy.  Even if we do wake up before 7 every. single. day. 

 

Ha!

 

Happy Saturday!  :)

Rain, Storms & Bokeh

Reflections of headlights through individual raindrops

Today it will rain.  Storm even.  The afternoon sky will be littered with clouds showcasing the truest range of the prettiest blues, and at some point, the sky will open and drops of condensed sky will fall amidst rolls of thunder and flashes of light.  Yes, today it will storm.  

I am so thankful for this rain.  I think I would do well to live in a place like the Pacific Northwest... but that's beside the point and may be a good topic for a later blog.  Summer storms are one of my most favorite things ever.  You simply cannot beat the energy that they bring, or the sense of cleansing, or the prettiest shades of blue.  I hope that Penny grows up loving them as much as I do.  They are so good for the soul!

If this blog would've found me last night, it would have been completely different.  I was not in a good space.  I was moody, missing my husband, listening to all of the wrong songs and spending too much time in the wrong book.  I was dreaming up the past and worrying over opportunities missed and not participating in the present moment.  I tend to do that though.  I am often time way-too-introspective for my own good, but that also makes me "me", so who am I to complain?

The sun coming in through the window across the hall.

At any rate, this morning was better.  Even though we didn't sleep good (I think Penny is going through a growth spurt), sleep still came and so did dreams.  And I love my dreams.  The ground was still wet and there were raindrops on the windows that reflected headlights of passing cars into some of the most fantastical bokehs (love!) ever, and then the sun was shining.  With a fervor that was not to be missed.  Yes, today is better.  And it is going to storm.  And we now know what I feel about storms.

Slow it down...

A few days ago, I was searching for a picture that I had taken on Easter morning a few years ago.  I was reminded of it because I had just photo-documented a bunch of cobwebs on our storage unit's lock.  The cobwebs reminded me of a spiderweb, and of that one picture from Easter where there was a spiderweb cloaked in dew in a field lit by a sunrise only God could design.  It was one of those moments that I felt destined to experience.  It was beautiful!  Anyways, I was called to find that picture and so went on a journey through years of blog posts until I found it.  It was right in the midst of my first Project365 (2011), and the one thing that I noticed was that my obligatory random blog posts were actually kind of interesting to read again.  I loved seeing the pictures and reading through my memoirs and I can even remember the moments, the emotions, and the circumstances.  It made me really miss blogging.  And so...

 

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This morning my alarms didn't go off.  Goodness knows I was up feeding Penny mere minutes before they were due to, but in a last ditch effort to close my eyes as long as possible, I entrusted then yo wake us up on time, get us out the door, and onward with our Monday. Like stat.  When I leisurely woke up and noted that it was 6:04am, I startled a little, calmly told Gary that we needed to get out if bed (where were his alarms also??), and then began frantically trying to get ready for the day.  We managed, albeit a few minutes past our normal schedule, but the day was off to a start.  I was ignoring the fact that this wasn't a good sign for a Monday morning.
Once at work, there wasn't a moment to slow down.  The day flew by and was full of checking-off-lists and getting-things-done.  It was productive, but hectic.  By the time 3:30 rolled around, I was ready to sit in traffic.  For serious.  I was ready to crawl at a snail's pace up 75 and listen to country music.  But reality set in, and there wasn't anything good on any of my 10 radio pre-sets and traffic was light and breezy, serendipitously so.  The saving grace was a song that I had running through my head that my Pandora radio station had serenaded me with earlier today.  "Slow It Down" by The Lumineers.  It was such a necessary song for the moment. 
By the time we got to Penny, I was feeling a little more alive... I was even flirting with my husband on our way inside.  Penny greeted us with a smile and a great daily report.  She pooped today (and it didn't get all over her outfit)!  And that deserves a serious woohoo because we didn't "go" all weekend.  Lol.  So that was exciting.  And we found out that 2 new babies will be joining her class in the morning, which deserves another woohoo because she has been the only one in her class for about 2 weeks now.  One is a 6 week old baby girl and the other is a 4 month old baby boy... boyfriend material for little Miss, daddy says!  Ha!  I can't wait to meet them! 
And here I sit now.  Feeding Penny and watching the day wind down.  That song is still running through my mind, and the list of things to get done is as big as the pile of laundry to my right, but we are home and happy and good.
"Slow it down, Angie come back to bed
Rest your arms, and rest your legs
Don’t you frown when you’re feelin like that
Only love can dig you out of this"

Atlanta Babymoon

I grew up just outside of Atlanta and have to say that when it comes to a "staycation", I am pretty lucky to be able to call Atlanta "home"!  Hubby and I are expecting our first little baby girl here in a few weeks and we decided that Atlanta would be the perfect spot for our babymoon... our last hurrah before she arrives.  We were given a two-night stay at a ::swanky:: Atlanta hotel for Christmas, so once we had a date chosen, it was simply a matter of packing a bag and driving 30 minutes south.  We decided to grab a bite to eat at a local haunt in Kennesaw first.  Our doctor appointment had ran later than we both expected (little Miss is doing great!), and by the time we got out, we didn't want to have to wait even longer to eat.  So we headed to Cherokee Cattle Co first.  It was a great choice and the perfect way to start off our weekend!  And then we were highway bound!

We got down to North Avenue just as the sun was setting (and creating a beautiful sunset).  I snapped this picture in my side-view mirror, just in case we missed it later.  The hotel we were going to stay at, the Renaissance Atlanta Midtown, was located right near to Biltmore Hotel and the Ga Tech campus' Barnes & Noble.  We found a great place to park the car that felt safe and convenient and then walked the block to the hotel.  When we walked in, we immediately started to relax!  The place was very swanky, and when I found out that we had a 16th floor King room with a city view, I just about swooned.  lol.  I made an audible "Oooooo" that had the receptionist smiling (suburb girl goes to the big city... yikes).  Then we made our way up and found our paradise.  I loved the view!  I loved the bed, and the pillows were fabo!  This was going to be a great weekend!  We decided to
just ::chill:: for the evening, and made plans for our big day in the city to happen on Saturday.

We woke up and had breakfast in the hotel restaurant: Briza.  Yumm!  The ambiance was very pretty and modern and the food was delish!  I had the Abercrombie Benedict (fried green tomato topped with ham hock, greens, hollandaise and a jalapeno) and hubby had the regular Eggs Benedict.  Both were great, and the fact that it was included with our stay made it even better!  After a satisfying meal, we took off and headed out towards MARTA for our jaunt to the heart of the city.  It'd been years since I'd riden on MARTA (back when I would commute to GSU as a freshman), and while sometimes a bit shady, it was horribly convenient.  And it provides a great opportunity for people-watching!  Once we got downtown, we headed out towards CNN and the Centennial Park district.  Our first stop was CNN for the tour (which was great by the way), and then we crossed the park, waved at the ferris wheel, and toured the new-ish World of Coke.  Both venues were extremely interesting and provided just enough "tourist-fare" for our curiosity. 

North Avenue Station

Waitin' on the train!

Before the CNN tour!

People doing work!  Look at all of those computer screens...

::oh so attractive::

G in front of the WoC



On the way to the vault that holds the "secret formula".

Fun with visual effects!

Just before the 4-D film!  :)

After our late morning outing that was quickly turning into an early afternoon experience, we decided that lunch was in order, and maybe a rest.  We decided to head back towards MARTA with the hopes of being able to make it back to the hotel.  (This mamma-to-be was starting to get tired, and that super-soft bed was sounding better by the minute.)  So we made it to the Peachtree Center Station area and decided to dine at Jalapeno Charlies which had a nice patio a floor up from street level so we could dine al fresco and watch the people pass by.  And this weekend was a particularly good weekend for passer-bys because apparently there was a "Furry Convention" going on right down the street so there were tons of people dressed up as giant stuffed animals, complete with big, fluffy tails.  It was quite a sight!  And we even ::considered:: popping in for a moment, but again, rest sounded good.  So we headed back to the hotel for our siesta.

Hours later, we were all rested and refreshed and ready for dinner!  We didn't want to go far, and we definitely didn't want to drive anywhere (and have to re-park), so we used the UrbanSpoon app on our phone and found a little place literally around the corner that sounded promising.  Cypress Street Pint & Plate was actually quite the find!  First of all, it was packed and have a great patio, but we ventured inside and found a booth along the back wall.  The was a huge bar in the middle, a few tvs scattered about, and people everywhere.  It had a great feel to it!  And the food was fabulous!  When we had first checked out the menu, it sounded promising, but they definitely delivered greatness!  We started with the fried truffle mushrooms (and had enough to feed an army), and then each had a burger.  I had the "Pickleback" which features lovely fried dill pickles.  And G had the "Sublime Burger" which was essentially a bacon cheeseburger with two donuts as the bun.  This preggers was dying for a bite, and my goodness, it was heavenly albeit messy.  The service was great and fast, and eventhough the place was noisy, I'd go back in a heartbeat!

"Sublime Burger"

"Pickleback" with Greens

Specials and entrance to Cypress Street Pint & Plate

The next morning, we had breakfast at Briza again and then finished our staycation with a visit to IKEA.  We found a few essentials and then made our way back up to the burbs.  All in all, it was an amazing weekend and the perfect opportunity to relax and still see some sights and enjoy some great food! 

Yay for reflective surfaces!!

A cloudy Sunday morning.

:selfie::

 Now, we are ready for the next adventure! 

She'll be here before we know it.

 

Little Miss at 28 weeks!

new year...

Today I woke up to a nasty storm, and instead of pretending to be productive and work on things that need working on, hubby suggested that we go chill at Starbucks.  Honestly, who am I to deny anyone (let alone myself) a trip to Starbucks... especially in the name of ::chilling::.  And so, we donned warm weather rain gear (because our weather is super duper sporadic) and headed to a favorite spot on the south side of Kennesaw.  And that's when the want to blog came rushing back.

2013 was an amazing year!  So much happened, and it feels silly to reduce it all to a sentence or two, but here goes.  We traveled to Slovenia and literally had the time of our lives exploring half way around the world.  A month and a half later, I found out I am diabetic and probably have been for months without knowing it.  Two months after that, we found out we were pregnant, and given our history and more recent diagnosis, it was a shock, but a glorious one.  By the end of the year, we had learned that the little baby growing in me is a girl, and in just over 3 months (97 days to be exact), she is due to enter this world!  Follow my journey here.

A rainy day in Ljubljana, and my souvenir umbrella!



In front of our "apartment" and the Ljubljana castle.

In Piran, on the cusp of the Mediterranean!

Lake Bled, Slovenia

It's a girl!!!

100 days (and counting)

Our lives are changing, but it continues to get better every day!  I am so thankful for my husband and his continued awesomeness!  He has been my rock these last couple of years and I am so excited to be bringing a baby into this world with him!

In other news, I am in the midst of my second #project365!  My first project took place during 2011, and was an amazing testament to myself and my year.  The ability to find interest in everyday life and document it in a picture was a task, but in the end, one of the most fulfilling things I have ever done.  Now, after a two year break, I am ready to start again!  You can follow my progress through my instagram account (which also links to my facebook and twitter).

It is my goal to blog more, and of course, take lots of pictures!  :)
And while a new year most often means a new you, for me, I am the same, but better.  Life continues to amaze, and as my grandfather used to say, it's "gettin' better every day!"