how does one celebrate?

Today is Monday, and thus, I would normally be contemplating meals to make this week, trying to decide on fun things to try. Today, though, I have no thought of cooking. I may very soon have *extremely* good tidings to share, tidings which deserve celebration--wine--twirly skirts--and definitely, definitely no cooking for oneself. 

So, what would I do to celebrate something great with myself, the hubs, and maybe some family and friends thrown in?

I'd drink a bottle of this delicious wine from 45 North vineyard, located directly on the 45th parallel on the Leelanau peninsula. 

I'd wear this dress. 

With these shoes (because, nerdily, I've always wondered if cole haans are comfier than your average shoe...)

...and, let's face it, since we're talking about the mitten in early "spring," this cardi as well. 

we'd eat at this little noshy place,

and see this movie at this historic theater. 

Or, maybe I'd just cajole the hubs to hop in the car and run away with me to this serene-looking, eco-friendly hotel. 

What about you? What are your ideas for the perfect celebratory evening/day/weekend?

saturday snapshot

What a great, sunshiny day today! Spring is coming. It has to, or so help me...

My saturday is shaping up beautifully, if I do say so. Here's a little snapshot:

This illustration by Chris Silas Neal caught my eye and led me to this funny, sharp essay by poetry critic David Orr. 

I may have found a new blog addiction: pretavoyager. This entry snared me with two things that I can't get enough of--travel and journals. Fantastique!

Since we've decided to stay in the mitten this summer, I've been researching funtivities, because I'm obsessed with planning, mostly. But I'm learning lots about local parks and destinations. For instance, I'm thinking we definitely need a permit for Kensington Metropark. It's so close to us! We could hike and bike ride all summer long. Sigh, summer...is it here yet?

I'd better get going on my grocery shopping. Tonight, we're having a little double-date fiesta with my sister and her hubs. Jake and I love hanging out with them! I think I'm going to make these carnitas. 

What are you up to this weekend? Hope whatever it is, it's relaxing and delicious!

sang a song so beautiful

I have been loving this cd by Sara Groves, one of my favorite songwriters/singers ever. The lyrics to this song have been floating amorphously in my head today, the perfect backdrop to all the "sitting-tight" I've been doing (more on that later...) and the chilly spring sunshine I've been blinking in. After this dark, grey, heavy winter, I feel like a strange, bald creature in the light.

I was about to give up and that's no lie

cardinal landed outside my window

threw his head back and sang a song

so beautiful it made me cry

took me back to a childhood tree

full of birds and dreams

from this one place I can't see very far

in this one moment I'm square in the dark

these are the things I will trust in my heart

you can see something else

something else

I don't know what's making me so afraid

tiny cloud over my head

heavy and grey with a hint of dread

I don't like to feel this way

take me back to a window seat

with clouds beneath my feet

from this one place I can't see very far

in this one moment I'm square in the dark

these are the things I will trust in my heart

you can see something else

something else

At our best we are all teachers

I just love this pic and quote combo that I came across via happenstance.

I'd rather be reading.

It is rainy and grey, though only a little chilly in the mitten, today. Spring is punching it's way through! The only thing about a drizzly day, though, is that *all* I want to do is curl up in fluffy blankets and read (she writes in the whiniest tone, while stamping her foot).

I'm currently engrossed in a couple of great reads:

Annie Dillard's book, The Writing Life, is as poetic and evocative as you'd expect any of Annie Dillard's books to be. It is packed with inferred wisdom, stream-of-consciousness brilliance and insights into her own thought process as a writer. I'm zooming through it--but I constantly have this urge to read slowly, ever so slowly, to savor it. I really want it to sink in. 

Ms. Hempel Chronicles, by Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, has completely sucked me in! I got it from our local library to push myself into fiction again...I need to balance the memoirs and histories somehow...and it had me at "hello." From my initial glancing at the jacket and the first page, standing in the stacks, I was smiling. It's about an English teacher, so of course I felt I could relate. But, it is a funny and insightful and pretty precise look into the heart and mind of--not just an English teacher, but a woman who's trying to figure out her life, even though she's already a grown-up. Still in the first chapter, but can't wait to see  where it goes from here!

Enjoy the spring showers!

Well, hello there!

Thanks for visiting my new blog :) My name is Nic, and I'm excited to be consolidating most of my blogging to one space. For those of you following me from the old spaces, you know that I am a writer and a teacher living in Michigan. I'm happy to have your company as I share my musings about literacy, learning, and life in "the mitten"!