Thanks, Pandora: A new Holiday favorite.

Thanks to Pandora, I've just heard this quirky little number...has anyone ever heard the song, "Marshmallow World" (1949) popularly performed by Bing Crosby?

Well, if you haven't, take a listen--I guarantee it will make you smile. It's a new fave of mine, personally. Great lyrics. My guess is the original writers composed this over a cup or two of cheer...

L

All About Emily: Reflections and a Birthday Celebration

I love my job. This is (one of the many reasons) why:

This past Thursday, I worked a big private event at the museum--the reading, award ceremony, and reception for the "Tell it Slant" award. The Emily Dickinson Museum's award"has been created to honor individuals whose work, in any field, is imbued with the creative spirit of America’s greatest poet, Emily Dickinson." The inaugural award was given to poet laureate and interesting person, Kay Ryan. I had the honor of meeting Ryan and chatting for a moment with her on the second floor of The Evergreens on Thursday night--I conversation I'll never forget, memorialized in a book of Dickinson's poetry I had her sign. The tinkling of Martha Dickinson Bianchi's (Em Dick's niece) 1904 Steinway grand piano drifted up through those old rooms that evening, and I thought that if anything was going to bring the ghosts out...it was going to be this music in these halls. It didn't happen, but I'll imagine they came out and danced when we all got out of there. 


The event this past week marked the beginning of an ongoing celebration of Emily Dickinson's birthday--which is tomorrow, December 10! 

In honor of the poet who cuts my paycheck, please mark your calendars, Pioneer Valley friends: On December 12 (this wednesday), 330PM-5PM there will be an open house at the museum FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Come, get a rose and a piece of coconut cake (EmDick's recipe) and learn about this amazing poet. Bring a friend! 

In more ED news, Amherst College's digital collections of ED's manuscripts is fantastic. Check it out to see up close and personal the manuscripts of America's greatest poet. Tell me what you think! Here's a good one: click. 

A Few Things

A few things have changed this week (moving, settling, adjusting, not having internet access...), but a few more things have stayed the same (my affinity to sitting in coffee shops to use the free wifi, eating lots of cheese, loving the things in this list...)

These are things I've always loved, but haven't necessarily shared in any formal way, especially not on life of lu. There also seems to be a bit of a holiday shopping theme too...enjoy.

A Few Things: Dec. 9, 2012

1. Kelsey Garrity-Riley Illustration 

I think it's thanks to tumblr that I first came across Kelsey Garrity-Riley's illustrations. They're everything I love about illustrative art: magical, quirky, beautiful and radiating a sort of warmth. I just love it every bit of her pieces. I just received my package from Kelsey's etsy. Some lucky family members will be getting bits of her pieces this Christmas! Her blog is worth a browse and her shop is currently having a holiday sale...so there's that!

Got this note in my package!

2. Designs & Tumblr of Elizabeth Antoinette

image courtesy of elizabeth-antoinette.tumblr.com

Again, thanks, tumblr for putting me on to the blog and etsy shop of this Portlander. She's a vegan, yoga instructor with a knack for crochet and knits in great colors and all vegan-friendly materials. Ok, so I've got a crush on her too, but how could I not? The girl advocates against violence, posts her yummiest vegan recipes, and makes beautiful things that keep your neck or hot beverage warm. She also sings. I'm in love. Check her out. 

3. Add YogaDork  to your reading list.

Hey, all you yogis out there! Do you read yoga dork? It's a blog that keeps us updated on the latest yogi-celebrities and happenings in the yoga world. They're appearing in this week's folio because of an article they posted last week on incense: how to select it and burn it properly etc. I found it very helpful and it alighted me to the idea that I should learn a bit more about incense, as I've begun to use it often for its various therapeutic qualities (and it makes me feel more yogic while doing yoga)...and I honestly didn't even think about the fact that harmful chemicals could be contained in certain brands and could be affecting my health! More to come on my incense findings.


That's all for now!

L

Cooking for Happiness: Veggie Breakfast Burritos!

I was hankering for some "brinner" (breakfast for dinner) tonight along with a craving for a burrito from my favorite burrito place...but I resisted the urge to buy the dinner I couldn't afford and here's what I came up with in its place; nothing fancy, all with stuff I had...minus the cheese--had to go to CVS for the cheese...

Veggie breakfast burritos!

So nom. And good for you!

You'll need:

Veggies: tomato, onion, garlic, and anything else you have around. Kale is always good.

1 can black beans 

Olive oil

2 eggs 

Mini corn tortillas

Shredded cheese of your choice 

Makes two burritos and leftover beans and veggies for lunch tomorrow!

Let's get started!

First, chop up all your veggies. For me, this started with two cloves of garlic, 1 tomato and half a huge onion. I added some regular mushrooms (about 6 of various sizes) I had in the fridge and tore up some kale into bite sized pieces (2 big leaves). When I'm cooking, I like to chop everything that needs to be chopped or prepped before I actually turn the heat on under the skillet--it makes for everything to go a little smoother once the heat is going! 

Make sure you're using a large saucepan for this with room enough for all your veggies and your beans! After prepping your veggies, throw some olive oil in the skillet, throwing the garlic in as the pan heats up. Add your onions first, let them cook til they start to get translucent. Since onions cook slower than everything else we're cooking today (lol check out my instructor voice), letting them cook first for a bit is crucial! Once your onions are looking good, get the rest of your veggies in there (minus the kale!!) and stir everything around in there. Add a few pinches of salt and some squirts of sriracha (be careful with that stuff...). Meanwhile, drain your beans of the excess liquid that's often at the top of the can and add them to those veggies. Let cook until all bubbly and delicious. Use your judgement. 

Scramble up some yolks for your scrambled eggs and just before you make your eggs, add in your kale--just sortof let it sit on top of the beans and veggies boiling away, let it steam for a moment, then fold it in to the rest of the mixture (you want your kale to be as fresh as possible, that's how we get all the superpowers from it). I popped the tortillas in the toaster oven to warm them a tiny bit while I finished up scrambling my eggs. 

Assembly time! Put all that shit (beans & veggie mixture and half of your scrambled egg) in a tortilla, add cheese, roll up, EAT.  

Really don't even need the eggs, these are so protein-packed with the kale and beans, but it holds everything together like the rice does in a burrito, and makes the dish more "brinner"-appropriate.

Cook for yourself, you'll smile and your wallet will thank you. 

 :) 

A few things:

1. "A few things" is a new section of the life of lu blog. Its purpose is to share in numbered form, a few thoughts with the internet concisely (and hopefully wittily on occasion!).

2. Is anyone out there a Norah Jones fan? I watched this hulu exclusive concert with her this morning...and I'm digging her new style: musically and aesthetically speaking.

image courtesy of pinterest.com

3. Everyone should have a friend they write to. And I don't mean texting. I mean write me a long ass email that I have to be focused to read, and ask me thought provoking questions that I'll take a solid hour responding to. Pen pals are great--get one.  I've got a pen pal. She's my friend who now lives in pennsylvania. Shout out to Val, if you're reading this ;)

4. I've been watching and following along with Tara Stiles' 7 Week Bliss In. It's week two and I can say I've done a lot of the eating components and not as much of the moving...time to find that balance she was talking about last video!

5. Look at this lovely illustration to the right: A Mouse Father Christmas, by Astrid Walford (1949) . Thank you, Pinterest, for your bountiful pleasures.

That's all.

L

Moving Mindfully

I've been making myself ready to move into a new place at the end of this week for some time now...ok, so MOST of the preparation thus far has been mental--which unfortunately leaves lots of packing, organizing and cleaning up and painting of the new place to be done. However, against any odds, this time next week I'll be settling into my new room in a two bedroom across town with a dear new friend/co-worker. This week crept up on me and it seems that all of a sudden, I have so much to do!

I'm definitely one to anticipate big events or changes, and this has certainly applied to moving this week. While having excitement for the future is definitely positive, I've always struggled with balancing this anticipation so that it doesn't turn into total anxiety and negativity. I'm meditating on that this week; trying to find the ease in doing the necessary preparation so that I can move pretty seamlessly later in the week.

In the meantime, I've got some posts coming up, so stay tuned.

Also look for photos of new place to come next weekend as I'm settling in!

That moment you realize you're a grown-up...

This realization has been coming over and over with some milestones I've been hitting in the past few weeks--and it happened again tonight, as I walked the backroads to downtown for my first grown-up dinner date.

I was one half of one of those (kinda nervous and very smiley) couples on one of their first dates that I've been watching my entire life while out to dinner with my parents. I was the grown-up some kid was watching--when did THAT happen? Cause last I checked, I was 12.

It happened the other day--when I got a raise at my job. Only grown-ups get raises.

Grocery shopping, cleaning, rent, listening to Morning Edition in the car on the way to work...

I'd say there's probably a moment each day lately when I've heard myself think, "...just like a grown-up!"

Do we ever really feel the age we are? I feel as if I've been waiting my whole life to be this age, doing these things, living this life--and now that I'm doing it, I can't really believe it. Though it sometimes seems like things are constantly changing, and we often grasp with lame fingers at the past, I guess change can slip by us too. Sometimes, I find myself ahead a few pages from where I thought I left off, so it's all that much more important to remind myself to live in this moment and this life and BE the grown-up.

But there are certainly still days like this:

Election Anxieties

Well, I voted! For Obama, duh. Tomorrow is a big day and will change all of our lives in some way, no matter how disconnected we seem from the actual work the President does. Just think of what's at stake:  the ability for our loved ones to marry who they choose, equal pay & benefits for women, focus on education...the list goes on. The losses are terrifying should Romney win--so PLEASE VOTE. It's important to continue to build upon the foundation President Obama has worked so hard on for us. 

Oh Sandy, baby...

After all the hype and preparation, Sandy certainly did her damage. Thankfully, we were left pretty unscathed at my parents' & sisters' in Connecticut with only a few trees and branches down.  My thoughts and energy goes out to those thousands who have not been so fortunate in this most recent natural disaster. Janie (my sister) and I made the most of the power-free moments over the course of the storm. Here are a few photos I took during of our sister time while Sandy was making her way through the East Coast. Enjoy!

Benefit of gas stove: tomato soup and rice.

Coffee is necessity.

Lights. Lights. Lights. 

Nothing like a candle-lit game of Bananagrams!

Thank You Notes

For this entry, I drew inspiration from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon's "Thank you," segment and combined it with my quest to find happiness in the simple things. The little things give us the biggest rewards--if we took the time to realize it!

Here are my thank you notes for this week:

Thank you, internet, for making this blog possible. I've long been a blog reader,  but never seriously donned the writer hat--you make it more possible to learn and execute projects like this...thank you! P.S. You also make hulu possible...which is additionally admirable.

Thank you, The Roost , for being an enticing establishment and luring in some other recent alums while I stopped by for coffee on Sunday morning. Through our conversation, it was discovered that we ALL feel alone and freaked out in this weird, post-college phase of our lives. Phew! (come back later this week for adjusting to post-college life post!)

Thank you, Trader Joes, for having every pumpkin-flavored product possible at an affordable price. I made mini loaves of pumpkin bread with chocolate chips yesterday afternoon--an indulgent fall treat to enjoy! Also, for your wittily-written flyers that come in the mail every month!

Thank you, sunshine, for waking me up in the morning, and going away when I am ready for rest. Although I miss you lately, (seeing less of you this time of year and such) I know you're looking out for me. I salute you.

Thank you, Mount Holyoke College Victory Eights (my former a cappella group), for providing your audiences with listening pleasure. Also, for singing with me again this weekend--boy, did that feel good!

Thank you, favorite slouchy hat, for keeping my head, ears, and smile warm. You're my adult version of a security blanket and for this, I thank you.

...and that's all I wrote!

Who/what/where are you writing thank you notes to this week?

The Friday Folio: Oct. 19, 2012

Every Friday, I'm going to post the best things I've come across by the end of the week: music, other blogs, art etc. This week is music-heavy...I didn't think you'd mind :)

Enjoy this week's findings!

First off is something rather dated (from Nov. 2010), but if you haven't heard it--now is the time! An all-star team of string players (including Yo Yo Ma and a new obsession of mine, Chris Thile) perform in the vein of Bluegrass for the Tiny Desk Concert series. The quartet plays three pieces from their album (The Goat Rodeo Sessions) so expertly and beautifully, it's beyond well worth the 15 min 42 seconds. Give it a listen. 

The Stray Birds & Three Tall Pines

On Wednesday night, I drove into Boston to Club Passim  to see a band I've been a follower of since spring, The Stray Birds (on left) perform on a co-bill with the Boston-local Three Tall Pines (bottom left). Passim was packed, and the bands didn't disappoint the expectant crowd. Surely in the vein of folk/roots/Americana, these groups combine expert instrumentals with nostalgic, beautiful song-writing.

Multiple stringed instruments and tight harmonies are the solid foundation upon which these groups expand into new musical territory. 

Look out for a future focus post on The Stray Birds...those guys are my jam!

images courtesy of thestraybirds.com & threetallpines.com 

Last, but not least: Lake Street Dive's cover of "I Want You Back" just gives me the happiest, goofiest smile--they're harmonies are rich and warm like a blanket of music, and the soloist...well...you'll see. Thanks, Mom, for sending these guys my way! 

Comment or tweet me if you like what you hear! 

No binders, please...

...although comments like Mittens' do spark the instant creation of memes that make me laugh, so I'm a little bit more okay with it: http://bindersfullofwomen.tumblr.com/

Here's one of my personal faves...

No, Sir, one does not. So excited for Jon Stewart & The Daily Show to comment on this. I can just see his face now.

Sent in my request for an absentee ballott -- CT needs my vote! Have you taken all the necessary steps to cast your vote on November 6th? It's simple. Google and the US Postal Service are all you need.

There's no questioning that it is your duty as a person who can read, write, and make an informed decision, that you participate in all votes. If we don't use our democrazy, how are we to blame it for its shortcomings?

Vote!
GOBAMA!

Rediscovering the Rainbow...the Reading Rainbow.

Take a look, it's in a book...

When we were learning to read, it's all we wanted to do; bringing home a big stack of books from the public library was the biggest treat for baby Lucy. Then came those YA novels that coincided with puberty and we were enraptured. Then high school where we read a chapter a night for our English classes--but the fact that reading was required seemed to take the whim out of it (and the fun). College further damaged the love I had for reading as a leisure activity; it was academic, hard to get through, and indigestible pounds of it were assigned every night. So when I graduated in May and put academia on hold, I also set out on the quest to find my love of reading again. I wanted to feel that sense of child-like wonder when I picked up a book, to smell those musty pages and know that there was nothing keeping me from the richness to be had inside.

The journey is just beginning, but I'm reading more and more for happiness (the phrase, "reading for pleasure" makes me vom) as the days roll by. 

A few things have helped me on this path:

1. time: I have a fair amount of it now that I'm out of school and working. There's nothing like being able to say "I have nothing to do for the next hour but read this book."

2. a library card: As the Arthur crew said, "Having fun isn't hard, when you've got a library card!" They were right. I love browsing titles in this FREE institution that exists in many of our towns and cities. Check it out...and check some out. 

3. a journal: Since we're not required to understand the text for a class, it can be easy to wander off (not that we didn't do this when it was required for a class). I find reading with a journal at hand gives me a place to keep track of what I'm learning (especially when reading Biography or other non-fiction).

4. a comfy setting...but not too comfy: I find the hardest part about loving reading again is how much I've grown to love sleep in the past four years. I can't read in bed...cause that would be sleeping...so I've been doing a lot of it in coffee shops, on the couch (upright), and often with some coffee at hand. 

This week, I'm reading a biography of Charles Dickens by Jane Smiley. Recommended to me by my Father, I think it will be the first of many biographies I read this winter. With my work at the museum, learning everything about Emily Dickinson, I've begun to wonder if the lives of writers and artists aren't the most interesting stories to be told. 

Here's a little reading inspiration...

What have YOU been reading lately for happiness? 

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Tunes for your Monday

Chic Gamine: four female voices and one percussionist form this band that performed on last weekend's Prairie Home Companion. The group hails from Winnipeg, Canada.

taken from Chic Gamine's website...

Chic Gamine (which translates roughly as stylish mischievous young thing - let’s face it, the French say these things so much better) will tease and tempt you with a nostalgia-inspired, fresh new sound – the mix is indescribable, but unbearably tasty. Do you believe in Chic Gamine? You’d be a fool not to.

I do! The harmonies these girls got going on are unreal and the combo of the female voices with nothing but drums gives me chills--the perfect music to brighten up this cloudy Monday!

Check them out, trust me. 
To Learn More
To Listen

Image courtesy of www.chicgamine.com/photos

About me

I'm a restarter, but not necessarily a completer.