Diners and Me.

There's been a diner that's been monumental in every important stage in my life, and it was only today that i realized this. Growing up in philadelphia my dad would take me to a diner all the time as we played hooky from my daycare. There was a whole routine we had. I would beg to watch under the umbrella tree and fraggle rock and we'd be later and later for leaving to go to school. We'd hop in the grey fox we had and go to the diner where i'd always finish the meal with a piece of bazooka joe bubble gum, the kind with the cartoon strip in it. Finally we'd get to my school and i'd be the last kid there, and my dad and i knew exactly why that was, and no one else did. Our secret. 

Then there was the diner that was in a rundown strip mall by the place that i figured skated every day all day for years and years. We didn't go there too often, but when we did i always knew it'd be a good day. It meant we'd gotten to where we were going a little bit early, and had enough time to do something that wasn't in the normal routine. 

The argonaut is the next diner that popped up into my life. Long nights ending with neon lighting and flowery pleather booths, the corner table if you were lucky that had the rolling chair at the head. Spontaneous brunches. Late night talks. Dinners with a friend. So many fries and shakes, sometimes the salad. Squeezing 10 people into one car or sometimes sneaking away with one person and having no one notice.

I wonder what diner will be next. 

Another First.

After i made soufflé i wasn't ready to be done in the kitchen, and there was a huge piece of beef that needed cooking, so, a pot roast was made. I've never made pot roast before, and after having to carefully bake a soufflé, the pot roast seemed like the easiest thing in the world. Chop, chop, chop, throw it in a pot and let it sit. Every time i use the huge red le creuset pot i know that something wonderful will come of it, especially when bunches of herbs from the garden are involved. The contents always look homier in there than in any other pots. Soufflé and pot roast can now be checked off the list.

A First For Everything.

Today i made my first ever soufflé. I'm kind of surprised that i haven't made one yet seeing as i spend absurd amounts of time in my kitchen when i'm home. But, today was the day, and a soufflé is now sitting happily on the kitchen island, and it tastes delicious, and it looks pretty, and i am proud that i didn't fail at this on my first go. I have my friends at Canal House Cooking to thank for the recipe!

Someday?

I find myself daydreaming up complex future plans a lot, sometimes out loud, sometimes just in my own head, and so much of the time i just think someday, someday. I hope all of those somedays come true, i really do whole heartedly. Recently i realized that i knew seemingly less about my own country than european ones that i've traveled to and it made me think that a road trip across the country is more than necessary. Everyone has to do it once, right? I've verbalized this plan already as something i want to do next year, and i'm thinking that perhaps if i write it down here and put it out into the internet world, it'll be another reason to be held to it. Maybe i'll just hop in a car with a gps, or maybe i'll pick something completely random to go to in a bunch of states across the country, or maybe i'll just take a cue from jack kerouac and follow the route he mapped. I want to make it happen.

So It Goes.

Today i moved out of the first apartment that was ever truly mine. A place full of only my things and one that only ever got messy if i made it that way. Where dish soap lasts a lot longer than when you share a place and where the fridge has just your food in it. It felt like a short but important chapter of my life. One that was necessary and tricky sometimes. An apartment where i had to wait around for the man to install internet, and where i had to pay con-ed bills, and make sure my rent was sent in on time. I guess this is the beginning of being a grown up. Now it's onto the next chapter: a chapter that's overseas and new. No part of me knows whether to be terrified or excited. Last year i decided keep calm and carry on was going to be my motto of senior year, then this summer someone close to me told me about how it was his life motto, i think it's a good one.

Summer Eats.

Life.

Never Enough.

Bookshops are one place i can never seem to walk out of empty handed. And not just with one book, but usually with two, or three, or five. I never get tired of browsing the shelves over and over, looking at every spine, debating which covers are beautiful, and which i think would be much more appealing if it was changed. I get drawn in by covers, sometimes buying books i already have because the cover rubs me just the right way. The books above are my two newest additions to the "books i want on my bookshelf because they're gorgeous editions" category. I don't think you can ever own too many books.

This summer aside from the books i had to purchase for the courtauld, i've probably bought somewhere between 10-15 other novels. Having Three Lives & Co. down the street has been the source of many of these. Some have been read, some sit at home next to my bed or on my shelves, some are in new york, and that's the thing i love about buying books. They can sit there for days, and months, and years, and they'll wait for you. They wait patiently and quietly until the right time comes and you choose to read them. 

Books above available here and here.

Pretty People.

Will my love for Paul Newman, Steve McQueen and Marlon Brando ever die? Probably not so much. All of these guys are pretty crush worthy too.

My Dog Is the Greatest.

No really, she is. As far as i can tell she can read my mind better than anyone else. When i'm feeling particularly lonely she jumps up onto my bed, in the mornings she comes upstairs when she hears me get up and she waits by my door, and when it's a lazy kind of day she lies around like no other. Right now she's lying curled up next to me with her favorite tennis ball in her mouth, just chilling out, keeping me company when i need it.

Accidental Dinner Party.

Yesterday i unexpectedly stumbled upon a dinner party. Perhaps it was the surprise of going that made it seem so wonderful, but i think what really made it perfect was that it was a dinner party full of just the right mix of people. After drinks at an old boat house tucked down an alley on the canal we made our way up the steps and into a beautiful studio. A long wooden table surrounded by mismatched chairs and an assortment of silverware and people flitting all around. The food was beautiful and looked like it was straight out of the pages of a magazine, and as everyone passed the platters around it seemed liked we'd all known each other for ages.

An antiques dealer next to graphic designer next to me next to a food stylist next to a garden designer from Kentucky next to an interior decorator next to a New York developer next to a photographer. Everyone completely different yet all meshing together to make never ending conversation. A fifty year span in ages and a slew of professions. Getting to know each other slowly and becoming absorbed in what everyone had to say. Watching a husband and wife lovingly look at each and smile as they finished dinner satisfied. Hearing another couple tell a story in unison, one telling the other to shut up and the other saying she embellishes just a little bit, but in the end smiling and saying that after thirty years they know how this works. Listening to animated tales about Kentucky. Everyone working together to clear the table so that pie could be served as the sun was setting. This is how a dinner party should always feel.