Built-in beauty

Sometimes I think architecture can produce a more successful room than the dressings can.

 Don't tell my tuition money I said that.

1, 2, 3

Palos Verdes, California

While in the LA area for the Bon Iver concert, we thought it prudent to follow my grandfather's old commute and my mother's high school memories to a little place called Palos Verdes, California.

Stunning.

My mother grew up in Palos Verdes while my grandfather worked as a professional in the broadcasting industry in Los Angeles. Because of her upbringing there I have heard about this place for my entire life, but it wasn't until this past week that I had the opportunity to visit. I have laughed as my father has made quips about my mother waking up to a view of the ocean from her bedroom window in comparison to his waking up to a view of the six dusty siblings and four dogs that he shared a bedroom with, or how my mother had classmates who spent their mornings surfing before school while he was out milking the goats. Both sides are true...

One thing I enjoyed was the diversity of each home. While they all maintained a strict standard of class and elegance, each home stood strong as its own character, whether it was the charm of the East Coast, mimicking the tonal style of a Spanish villa, or a chic farmhouse with a wrap around porch.

The well-manicured yards and gardens would be enough to admire were the homes, cliffs, and ocean taken out of the mix. Each home was accompanied by budding roses, sprawling vines, neatly mowed lawns, and perfectly trimmed hedges.

 Once again, a photograph proving that California laughs when I try to have some

control over my hair. And also, showing off the cliffs near my mother's high school.

After seeing the views she had while growing up, I now understand why it may have been a difficult transition moving to Las Vegas, a city made almost entirely of cement blocks.

Oh, and during our perusing, I noticed a home or two for sale. If anyone wants to go in on it together, I can chip in about...$6.

What a mischief you would bring young darling!

When I turned 23 last month I thought there was only one thing that I wanted: a new set of scriptures. Well, it turns out there were two other things I, unknowingly, wanted as well.

One:

From Oliver

Two: 

From mom.  And Abby, kind of.

After hearing my sister and her husband strongly recommend that we go to their concert, my mother thought it wise to heed their counsel and purchased two tickets to their show in Los Angeles.  And boy am I glad she did. At any given time there were nine to twelve people on stage all playing separate instruments, some a few instruments at once. And what's fabulous about that is it didn't sound like there were 15+ instruments in each song. It was a balancing act that Justin Vernon and his talented mind was able to achieve. Three songs in particular stick out in my mind. They were mesmerizing:

Skinny Love - the final song of the set. So joyous!

Re: Stacks - a favorite song of mine. It could have gone on for ten more minutes and I would have been glad.

Beach Baby - the break the violins take at :23 quickly made its way onto my list of favorite musical moments.

A photograph proving that A: I went to the concert,

and B: California weather does not agree with my hair.

Thank you and goodbye, Bon Iver

My Labor Day Weekend

A few years ago my sisters and I spent a week together in D.C. It was there, while visiting Theodore Roosevelt Island, that I found my happy place. Giant trees form a green sky above the granite tablets with etchings of some of Roosevelt's more famous quotes. Unfortunately, that particular happy place is a long and uncomfortable flight away. And on an island. I don't expect to visit very often.

However, my parents recently purchased a lovely cabin in Zion National Park. Quiet and secluded, it is the perfect location for spending the occasional weekend away. The cabin is a place where time seems to stand still. Apart from a few practical modern day comforts, it seems to act as a transporter into decades past - the women happily prepare meals for the family, the men chop wood and keep the fire warm, books are read with the dog sleeping peacefully at the readers feet, and all the while the record player is softly humming Simon & Garfunkel or The Carpenters. It is a place where the natural good has time to show its face without Distraction there to rear its head.

This weekend was spent at the cabin playing a few rounds of Take Two around the table, watching The Killers live at Royal Albert Hall, canoeing on Navajo Lake (way harder than it seems), and trying to ignore the adorable meowing of the kitten that perched itself in an open window at church. 

  

While at our cabin, the days are spent simply and joyfully, and it has quickly become a happy place of mine. Do you have a happy place? 

By the way, if you would like your happy place to be next door to mine, and if you have a few dollars to spare, my neighbors cabin is for sale.

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