at unexpected moments

hello, my lovelies

so i think i’m in love with my new blog theme. in general, i don’t handle change well. it usually takes me quite a while to warm up to something new. i’m digging the new layout though, right off the bat. i hope you are too. any thoughts?

here are some other things i am falling in love with on this cold + rainy + blustering saturday afternoon in early may ::

:: the fact that we have now attracted three stray cats to our little porch

:: going to sleep without setting an alarm

:: the daylilies in the front yard starting to bloom

:: shia labeouf’s vignette in new york, i love you

:: ferm wallpaper

:: adding new delicious blogs to my blogroll

:: the fact that billy guerin is playing tonight

:: listening to the vicious thunderstorm that was ripping itself apart last night

:: the words diatribe + lullaby + cabal

:: apollo & artemis pillows // thomas paul

:: this rad + wonderful+ hells yes! blast from the past

:: mad men season 3 waiting for me upstairs

:: staying up way too late, singing old alanis morisette at unexpected moments, munching on undercooked french fries, and talking about the weather

:: listening to eef barzelay + cavalier rose + sondre lerche

:: frances palmer pottery {via lushee}

:: starting out the day with starbucks + chocolate chip pancakes + 1993′s the secret garden for the 849479th time

:: the constant sound of tree branches creaking in the wind

:: just about everything at the etsy shop lucky little dot

:: finding an old postcard of thomas hart benton’s oil painting upper manhattan and sticking it on my bulletin board

these photos ::

spotted during our coffee run

couldn’t resist these cuties

supplies

perfect

flip!

happiness on a plate

breakfast porn

content

front yard

wind + lilac attack

fleeting sun

blur/love

how did you start your saturday?

and LET’S GO PENS!!!

xo Alison

wise, real

so now i like to swim

to the bottom of the ocean

there are i’ll scream as loud as i can

where there’s no one i can frighten

so i’d do anything to cry

i’d do anything to cry

let this pain fall from my eyes

and let time heal my insides

~”song for the painter” by lost in the trees

{me, age four, sassy}

on monday, my mother has a hematology/oncology appointment. it makes my stomach turn thinking about it. since the diagnoses, the reality of cancer has become so integrated into our new normal that there are days with entire hours where it doesn’t plague my mind. there are days when it’s a distant fact. and then dr. g’s name appears on the calendar, and it makes me feel like we’ve been living on borrowed time the last couple months. it makes me wonder if i’m going to look back on all the long country drives we’ve taken recently, the spontaneous lunches out, the t.v. nights, the penguins game, the endless rounds of six degrees of leonardo dicaprio, and think “those were our golden hours”, think that i should have made a bigger effort to “hold on to these moments as they pass”.

what does solace and comfort look like, feel like, smell like to you? does it change depending on why you need it? because i need it right now, that kind of comfort that’s associated with the feeling of consummate helplessness, defeating, exhaustive powerlessness.

solace, comfort, support, kinship.

what do they sound like? taste like? what is it about them that makes you forget about the thing that’s hurting you, or at the very least that helps sieve enough fear from your heart so you can keep calm, and carry on…

i have so much do do these next few days. i have exams to study for and papers to write. i have a bedroom in desperate need of cleaning. i have toe nails in need of polishing. i have hockey to watch and cantaloupe to cut and chapters on women in developing countries to be read. but all of that seems to be floating in the background, a small and constant buzz underneath my breath. all of that seems unimportant and trivial compared to monday at 2pm.

which could end up being a good day.

which could end up being okay news.

{or which could end up being not}

solace, comfort, support, kinship…here’s what those things look like to me ::

:: oolong tea

:: white cotton panties trimmed with lace, a little special + delicate

:: the distracting powers of playoff hockey

:: a mumford & sons + the tallest man on earth + balmorhea + lost in the trees mega playlist

:: the ritualistic simplicity of watering the plants

:: documentaries on ovation t.v.

:: old episodes of even stevens, starring my boyfriend shia labeouf

:: poetry. wise, real poetry

:: buying and/or lusting after new paperchase products

:: polar pops + cheesy snacks + m&ms

:: these movies: the valley of decision, about a boy, newsies, the thin man

:: keeping the front door open with the screen door closed

:: the new season of deadliest catch premiering this coming tuesday

:: imagining being inside these photos

{found at myheart}

i hope your weekend is full of adventure + love ❤

cheers [darlin']

Alison

midweek felicity: their intended destinations

good morning, my dear friends…

this week has been glorious so far, a complete contrast to last year’s spring break which i spent deathly ill in bed, surrounded by wadded up tissues, half empty glasses of grape juice, back issues of real simple and lucky magazines, with the spring break episodes of arrested development playing on the dvd player in front of me. not this year though. a good balance of sunshine a rain, sleep and mini escapades, slippers and high heels. here are some “in between moments” from this week that i don’t want to slip through the cracks ::

these photos ::

me as the caped avenger as illustrated by j. cooper, 23

me as myself as illustrated by j. cooper, 23

divine, no?

fred’s diner, akron oh

sunshine + starlight

:::::::::::::::::::::

these songs ::

:: illinois’ “alone again”

:: electric president “ten thousand lines”

:: glen hansard covering “hungry for your love”

:::::::::::::::::::::

these words ::

Trust by Thomas R. Smith

It’s like so many other things in life
to which you must say no or yes.
So you take your car to the new mechanic.
Sometimes the best thing to do is trust.

The package left with the disreputable-looking
clerk, the check gulped by the night deposit,
the envelope passed by dozens of strangers—
all show up at their intended destinations.

The theft that could have happened doesn’t.
Wind finally gets where it was going
through the snowy trees, and the river, even
when frozen, arrives at the right place.

And sometimes you sense how faithfully your life
is delivered, even though you can’t read the address.

:::::::::::::::::::::

these things ::

:: jack johnson announcing a stop in cuyahoga falls on his summer tour

:: weheartit.com

:: the good wife continuing to get even better every episode

:: my brand new crosby home jersey. eeeeeek!

:: pulling out my teal open toe wedges for the first time this season

:: the “up in the air” soundtrack

:::::::::::::::::::::

this moment ::

cheers [darlin']

Alison