Like poetry, sometimes places or people ring true in the depths of you. And that is how you know.

It’s how I know one day I must go to Little Sparta’s Garden so my soul can keep growing.

It’s how I know to marry Ash this weekend and claim my glimpse of the sea.

And it’s how friends know to send notes like this one on the eve of a life:

“Work must be KILLING you this week. All my good hair/skin/nail thoughts are with you. I just ate some salmon and dedicated all the fish oil to you.”

Thanks, Alice.

Enough champagne to last a lifetime of Wednesdays

(and sometimes Sunday mornings mixed with Orange Juice)

Jen

The great thing about having a regular event like champagne wednesdays in our life is that sometimes people want to share it with us. People like the Crooks (Christina, I stole this picture from your blog).

Michael and Christina - a creative, smart, engaged couple we like spending time with - had us over last night for dinner. They even popped their engagement bottle of Henkell (a year into marriage, mind you).  Christina is a writer and asks questions like, “when do you make time to be creative?” – all things that make me like her very much. And Michael even shared a bit about what’s it’s like to be married. I found that comforting, talking about marriage, because sometimes the act of getting married feels like setting off on a long journey with a blindfold on. A blindfold, or maybe blinders. Because you’re not supposed to look into anyone else’s.

Henkell is not for everyone as it’s a bit on the dry side. But for me, just the sight of the bottle gives me a homey, Christmas morning feeling  since its been the Hargreaves’ drink of choice on Christmas mornings for as long as I can remember.

Finally, I make an open apology for the chocolate mousse, two of which I knocked over in their kitchen. It was really more like chocolate soup.

Bye for now, Jen

I like this picture I took of this woman and her dog. It’s such a great capture of companionship. I even thought to myself as I watched her, I bet I’ve been this woman to other people, sitting places alone, with Whiskey by my side. It’s strange to think I even have a picture of this woman. Whose pictures might I appear in? 

Anyway, before your heart strings go weak for this poor, lonely lady…notice the hand on the right. A fairly attractive gentleman was walking along when he recognized her (with great excitment) as if she were a regular starlet on the street. He joined her for coffee and they shared a great laugh about something or other before he continued along. I love when perceptions are so wonderfully shook. I gave the dog my bacon. We were here, in San Francisco:

As for the reading. Here’s what I’ve been up to lately:

I just finished this book, which I have to say was one of those books that are both good and bad. It was entirely unknown to me that she (the author) is the sister of Daniel Day Lewis and the daughter of C.S. Lewis. So you can imagine my surprise when half way through the book she’s suddenly at Julia Roberts house, cracking open a bottle of champagne over a casual dinner (pure coincidence).  All in all though, I like when a good tale is intertwined with usefulness (in this case, recipes). I will definitely be making her perfect scrambled eggs. Plus, it was deliciously nice to be reading.

Then, two days ago, I ordered this book and this book. I am almost embarassed to share this. I think research is paramount to how I understand things. Reading and research. On my drive to work I had this realization: what do I know about being a wife?  What do I know about marriage?  So, I thought I’d better start learning what I can, beginning at the far-end of uncommon and working my way in, toward convention, in hopes of finding ”us”. 

Sometimes, I joke that Champagne Wednesdays can lead to mild headache Thursdays. There is really only one way to avoid this. Actually, come to think of it, there are three ways:

1) Share the bottle with friends. Champagne splits four ways just as easily as two. For example, last night we went to Matt and Kim’s house in North Vancouver for dinner. After baby Ethan went to sleep, we cracked open a bottle of champagne and poured it into four perfect quadrants of celebration. It may actually taste better this way. There are more glasses to clink.

2) Don’t forget to eat. Ash and I practice a somewhat laissez-faire attitude toward food and wine pairings. But it’s definitely true that certain foods bring a champagne to life. Kim’s strawberry salad with herb goat cheese and toasted almonds demonstrated this quite nicely. And, all matching principles aside, there is just something special about the act of preparing food for friends that folds the very essence of Champagne Wednesdays into a meal.

3) Meet my friend, Veuve Clicqout. I just like the name. Say it five times and you’ll feel like you’re talking in a secret dialect of pleasure. And it’s true: Veuve Cliqout equals pleasure. It’s an equation you should just remember. Write it down. Say it again. Whatever you need to do.

Toblerone and Strawberry Gelato also equal pleasure. This was our take on chocolate covered strawberries.

I am so glad I asked for the to-go cups. They were a nice touch and cut down dramatically on dishes. I think they make gelato taste better in the way that Starbucks can only really be enjoyed out of a to-go cup.

Thanks so much for a fun night, Matt and Kim! See you Saturday we hope!

Jen

If you’re interested: I just read in Vitamin V that Martha Sturdy is having her Spring Factory Sale on Monday, May 5th from 8am to 5pm (12 w. 5th Ave). Do you really need a better reason to be late for work?

Sometimes your instincts are just right. For instance, the voice inside me that said, you must go to the Holt Renfrew Beauty Event and, you must buy that $75 dollar brush and, you mustn’t be afraid to ask the La Mer lady for an extra sample.

In fact, all bad life-decisions aside, I’m glad I’ve always been an enthusiastic instinct follower. I was certainly hearing that familair inner-stirring when I bought the Fekkai brush just knowing it would change my life (It did). And I was most definitely tuning in when I chose Yew as our meeting place (we ran into Duran Duran). Even when I passed up that dreamy hand massage from the Chanel man and let Sarah sit down instead, I was listening. Really listening.

Bet you never thought I could wean so much meaning out of a beauty event? Well, I am trying! I had a lot of time to reflect while I stood outside Holt Renfrew in a very long line-up trying to defend against savage line-cutters. Beauty event? Maybe. Pretty sight? No.

Anyways, I’ll leave you with that image. Take a peek at my loot above. I particularly love the Creed sample of Virgin Island Blue. So Cote D’Azur. And the packaging of the Prada sample, even though it gave me a headache.

Oh, let me say this one last thing: I had a great time with Sarah, Kari and Kat. It was a meeting of ladies that was the true reason behind dragging them to a scary sample-fest on a Tuesday night. The free drinks and Opus catering were just a bonus. Who doesn’t love a nice gift with purchase?

Total damage for attendance: $93.67.

Not too bad.

Jen

PS: The artsy bookmarks are mine. I thought the whole “beauty montage” above could use a touch of something gritty. I picked them up in San Francisco at Rex Ray Art + Design.

Here are some not-so candid pictures from my best friend Kari’s dinner party this weekend, including two of our many reasons to celebrate (Robbie and Max). I only wish I’d captured a picture or two of her handsome husband, Rob, or my lovely Ash, and at least one of Kari in all her midday free-from-work glory, which any mother knows is non-existent. Here we toast to the gin & tonic, to the creator of the pinot grigio, to valets across North America and to the fine memory of the client entertainment budget. Not to mention, happiness and freedom. As Kari would say, that’s good squishy.