i think i could stay with you for a while...16 july 2008 gratitudes

what a day. to live in such a city. with so many close friends, just a phone call a way.

1. woke up this morning and met my sweet corrie pellerin for breakfast at clinton street baking company, a new spot that is fast becoming a favorite. she is my college roomate and i can't honestly imagine not living more than a short walk away from her.

2. convinced corrie to walk to the union square farmers market to pick out amy's birthday picnic treats. on the way, we coincidentally crossed paths with my sweet haynes riley with the legendary annika kaplan. two people who i adore and am constantly inspired by. i love them and seeing them at the same time always makes my heart skip a few beats. i wish everyone could know these two people. beautiful.inside and out.

3. prepared a birthday picnic for amy merrick. pickles, apples and peaches(new england and georgia), cottage cheese, creamed honey, black raspberries, a black and white cookie, orangina, and evian. i felt like rachel flax(cher's character in mermaids) when she plops down a plate of cheesball pick-me-ups and marshmallow kabobs and calles it dinner for her daughters. fun finger foods seems to be my great culinary outcome. well...all those foods are her favorites...

4. planned to take her to the cloister's but instead she tailored the picnic to a much more suitable location. central park's boathouse. she rowed us to her favorite weeping beech tree and we dropped anchor(sort of) in a shady, algae lacquered secret spot. picture little mermaid "kiss the girl" scene.

5. berry stained fingers and winnie the pooh honey dipping.

6. matching large sun straw hats with ribbons. we joke around that we look like storybook heroines, the light and dark version of each other. tall, fair and freckly girls. she is the fiery, feisty spitfire of a tomgirl and i'm the swoony, romantic, childish counterpart. she'll re-do your house and knit you a pair of socks. i will draw you a silly picture and throw glitter at you.

7. waxed nostalgic on american girl dolls, little women, vaudeville acts, love letters, summer homes, our future children, and how one becomes a professional blogger.

8. felt renewed, surrounded by water and trees and nature.

9. met up with pete, lauren, max and mollie at the new museum for the latest gallery opening. laughed a lot. between lauren and pete, i can't keep up! saw elizabeth peyton and wanted to tell her how much i adore her work. but i refrained.

10. went to freeman's post-opening. met up with danielle and her boyfriend thaddeus. saw jack mcollough from proenza schouler. sort of wanted to just touch him. it amazes me when someone so young has already become iconic. it was like if i had seen marc jacobs in the 90s. pete ducked out when lauren giggled, "i love their skirt i got from target". so funny and so classic lauren weinerth. she has that sort of disarming, self-deprecating humor that instantly makes her relatable and lovable. the kind of person who can charm you within ten minutes of talking to her.

i wish everyone knew these people in my life. they make the ordinary, extraordinary.