friday

yippee!

i am starting labor day weekend off with an extra day off.

now this is how i like to start a holiday.

my plans include getting up early for nothing in particular.

snacking on whatever i want, whenever i want.

perhaps wandering over to the shop for a friend's last day.

some tentative "i will get out early" meetings.

but most definitely, a day of sophie.

good start, darlings.

flaw

i don't play games.

i just. well, i just hold a lot of things in.

i have to believe there is a difference.

sometimes i feel like i am setting myself for disappointment
because the possibility of misconstruing my disclosure is too great.

i don't even know if that makes sense.

i don't even know if i make sense.

it's like i want to be proven wrong, but when i don't let anyone in on the joke, i am always right.

and then i have to live with knowing that it could have been a different way.

a

dinner with a tonight.

date night at gigi's, which means a pizza and a bottle of wine for $20.

can't beat it.

and you really cannot beat a night out with a.

she is my special little girl, with the eyes of an angel and the voice of a forty year-old, chain-smoking divorcée.

she at times makes me both laugh and cry, and she exudes a wisdom beyond her years.

she is my level-head, the one who tells me that the bf and i are great together.

not only because she means it, but because she knows it.

and i, in turn, believe her.

for an emotional, pms-ing, bloated girl, she is like midol plus.

thank goodness for a.

red

this, i love:



couldn't you just see me rocking this for fall?

oh

in case you were wondering...

he came back.

go

overall, i had a pretty fantastic weekend.

flying solo.

cameo.

on friday miss e and i went to campiello for corbin's fourth birthday celebration. the homemade potato chips are fabulous. and the tagliatelle bolognese. lip-smacking. "split into thirds" doesn't do the dish justice.

on saturday i donated to goodwill, filed my papers, and took out my recycling before heading out to the shop for eight hours of retail.

on sunday, miss e and i did the following: walked for two hours around lake nokomis. brunched at turtle bread. shopped at ikea. worked at macy's home store. picked up a few things at target. munched on pretzels with cheese at the bulldog.

so many verbs before 8p.

and it was wonderful.

still

the bf is stuck in tennessee.

poor guy.

send wishes that he'll be home soon.

this

good morning.

i missed the bf's call last night.

i woke up to this text message:

babe, i love you and i wish you were awake so i could tell you so.

sigh. this kind of love.

it keeps me going.

the night before he left we were exhausted from the week.

we were in bed well before our usual bedtime.

giddy. we giggled while making fun of each other.

and laughed and laughed.

and pawed.

the bf is like comfort to me. my man with the curl. the guy who makes reservations at cafe maude because he knows how much i like good fries at a nice restaurant. the same one who wants to hang out with me for forty minutes before his departure just because we can. the one i come home too, even if it's not my home.

come home.

south

the bf is going to tennessee tonight.

i already miss him.

but it's still going to be a great weekend.

xoxo

mag

here's what i don't get:

when you are paging through a magazine at work,

[read: i am admittedly fried this afternoon]

and a coworker comes up to your desk,

so you quickly flip it to the back cover.

what about that says, please ask to borrow the magazine that i am currently reading so that i have to wait even longer to read said magazine that i have been eagerly anticipating since tuesday?

i mean, seriously?!

okay

you know how the song goes.

making up is hard to do.

blech

i am hopelessly in love.

and also

completely hopeless. hands-up-in-the-air hopeless

i am sitting here contemplating whether or not i should go back to the bf's

for another night. i think not.

i hate running away after a spat.

but i can't help myself sometimes.

i wish i was stronger than my stubbornness.

sometimes i am sensitive

and i don't feel like making up.

especially when i give it a chance.

one false move and i am back at square one, furiously running.

i wish you would come get me.

wow

everybody stop!

behold:


26 fantastic carats. twenty six.

all for the bargain price of $195k.

takers? bf? hello?

elvis

i almost forgot.

during lunch:



my highlight of the day.

long live the king.

friday

what a week.

dinner with the girls tonight.

at blackbird. again.

five old birds and two baby ones.

bottle of tabula rasa red. my choice.

after a long week? yes, yes, pour me.

fries with bearnaise. share.

polenta with ratatouille.

it was all fantastic.

and good girlie time + babies.

off to duluth.

levain

café levain.

the now defunct levain closed before i had a chance to try it.

but i made it to the café version.

it was beautiful in there - e and i quickly sat down for two glasses of white.

a riesling for her and a château routas wild boar white wine for me.

the wild boar was a mutt (a mixed breed of viognier, blanc white, and chardonnay).

it was wonderful. a lovely rust color. smelled surprisingly like scotch.

i also had a divine tarte tatin. a fancy apple tart. mmm.

we talked. laughed. cried. solved the mysteries of life.

good friends are hard to come by.

yes

omg.

is it wrong that i told the bf:

i would marry you tomorrow if you'd let me.

i mean really, is that a little desperate?

do you think less of me?

goodness. i just get worse with age.

café ena

the bf and i had a date at café ena.

it was like el meson lite.

bread and butter.

but ohh the butter was made with honey and peppers.

tamal. croqueta de salmon. cangrejo salad.

all easily consumed al fresco.

our one complaint: too many onions.

otherwise, next time i would love to check out the interior.

looks like a fun, lively place.

worth another visit.

you

omg. i found the perfect stamp for select situations:

.

can't. stop. giggling.

i'm using this from now on. don't try to stop me.

popcorn

last night i had wicked, popcorn-induced night dreams.

the bf

caught cheating

uttered not one word of denial, instead shrugged it off.

matter of factly.

not one dream where i knew it was only a dream.

not just two so i questioned reality.

but three variations of the same nightmare.

i woke up, startled.

woke the bf up.

what?

asked him if he had ever cheated on me.

i was convinced that my dreams were trying to tell me something.

that i am a fool.

that this happiness is all a charade.

i burst into tears. sobbing.

the bf soothed: it was only a dream.

i still cried myself back to sleep.

exbf

it is your 30th birthday in 16 minutes.

you are probably already celebrating in japan.

i don't really know what to say to you that hasn't already been said.

when we couldn't make it work, you left me with a world of baggage.

i cry every time i discover a new one.

something left behind.

something i didn't even know affected me. made me feel anything.

little reminders of you.

faded scars.

i still remember how you made me laugh until i hurt.

you sent me flowers when you felt bad. so i received many.

you tried and tried and tried.

over and over and over.

and still didn't make up for it.

the way you loved me wasn't enough.

i learned that the pain passes and that we just weren't meant to be.

thank you for letting us go.

cheers to you in your thirtieth year.

happy birthday.

pocketful

this is what i've been feeling lately:



happy friday.

on

sometimes a day off is all a girl needs

to put life into a little perspective.

is it just me, or does everything feel lighter this week?

everything slides off a bit easier.

i hope this doesn't wear off anytime soon.

tonight's itinerary: more relaxing. good girlfriend. bright ideas.

are these the dog days of summer?

walked around lake calhoun.

pondered life. fought off bugs. glowed.

another great one.

hearts

i want this:


around my neck. gently swaying.

this fall.

word

yesterday i took a summer day.

i pulled up to 50th and france and wondered about the cars.

don't people have to work?

and then i saw the pairs of ladies walking around.

ladies who lunch! and i am one of them.

special and i blissed out over tamales and iced tea at tejas.

we shopped around. waved around money neither of us had.

i tried on a dress.

a white dress @ grethen house.netc.

peter cohen. on sale. it fit perfectly. i felt beautiful.

i put it back.

too caught up in dictionary.com's 8.05.07 word of the day.*

*if you want to find out, you will have to do some sherlocking, but i trust that you won't.

classic bf

as we were getting ready for bed (read: he was ready and i was in the midst of),

the bf said:

my tuchas hurts.

and wiggled it.

bos

morning glories.

my heart is full today.

i woke up with it thumping. staying up too late. eating even later = wicked dreams.

boston was wonderful.

we arrived on friday evening, rented a grand ford taurus, and set off for cape cod.

gorgeous beachhouse. grey shake siding. we hurried to bed in order to rise early.

and in the morning. wow.

two minnesotans caught up in the ocean. we sat on the deck, drinking it in.

quick ride to a cute breakfast place for my perfect balance of salty and sweet in the form of a breakfast sandwich and cinnamon french toast.

and then, more beach.

we left in the afternoon, still unsatisfied, but inifinitely glad we made the trek.

the next three hours were trying, stuck in cape cod renters traffic. three miles took an hour and a half. i fought against the threatening stress. thought about the ocean. sighed.

when traffic finally broke, i weaved in and out, speeding at upwards of eighty.

to grandmother's house we go, indeed.

we made it just in time for dinner.

spent a nice evening with my family. i got to see my grandmother. the real reason for our trip. she looked beautiful. even if she didn't remember me. it was nice to be there with her.

my cousin's kids, including j and tenacious d, were utterly delightful. i couldn't take my eyes off. i vowed to win them over in less than twenty four hours. i lost. to the bf. hmph.

the next day we spent more time with the family: lunch, walking around downtown boston and a stop for an arnie palmer.

we missed our direct flight to minneapolis. the last flight of the day.

bf: it wouldn't be a vacation if we weren't rushing to the airport.

we took an alternate flight to detroit. crossed our fingers that we would get on the flight to minneapolis.

and as luck would have it, we made it.

perfect.

bean

off to boston for the weekend.

another weekend with the family.

this time, extended.

happy weekend, lovelies.

bridge

here's hoping your family and friends are safe.

please keep minneapolis in your thoughts and prayers today.

xoxo,
sophie