The Art in Life

Some France for your Friday

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Hannah

Today our office is hosting an open house for other TAs and grad students, which is basically an excuse for us to have a crêpe bar instead of office hours or tutoring. Obviously, this is awesome, and totally the biggest perk of grad school. If you don’t have plans this weekend, I encourage you to go find some friends and make some crêpes. If you don’t have any free, start announcing that you are hosting a crêpe party and I promise, friends will find you.

This week my students learned about nationalities and we played a game where they had to discuss stereotypes about Americans and French. There were the usual (Americans are fat and stupid and the French are romantic-snob-alcoholics who never work and only eat cheese and baguettes), as well as a few creative ones. Today I am showing this video with them, shared by one of my French colleagues. It is so cute I had to share it with all you too. The French is pretty easy to understand, and even if you speak no French, stereotypes are always easy to understand.

Of course, I wish my students’ French was good enough to show them this clip, because I laugh so hard every time I watch it that I can barely function. My friend Emma introduced me to Gad Elmaleh when I was in Paris and he is probably the funniest comedian I have ever heard. I watched the DVD at least 3 times in a row the weekend she loaned it to me. If you parlez français, have a look. If not, then just know that he is perfectly and hilariously describing the role Ikea plays in our lives. Since our home is basically an Ikea ad (but with the added middleman of Craig’s List) I die every time I watch it.

Inevitably, fall makes me miss France, which to me (and my stereotyping students) means Paris. I miss those grey days where the leaves look especially bright as they fall and fly around your feet as you walk through the Luxembourg gardens. I miss the cozy evenings inside as the steady cold drizzle falls outside. I miss the energy of la rentrée and the sense of urgency to enjoy every beautiful day before the cold dark winter comes. I miss the beauty of that graceful aged city surrendering its fall colors in a beautiful finale. I miss playing in the gardens with the girls I nannied and exploring with my Parisian friends. The two falls I spent in Paris are some of the happiest and most beautiful in my memory. Here are a couple of the scenes that play over and over in my head, even though I know I have shared at least a couple of them with you at other times.

Happy weekend all. We are headed down to Charlottesville tomorrow for a wedding and then hoping to squeeze in some apple picking on Sunday if the weather is good. What does this weekend hold for you?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged color, fall, France, French, Paris, photography, school, seasons | 10 Comments

Room to breathe.

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Hannah

When I was little, my mom would throw away our stuff. She has always hated clutter, and no one amasses clutter like kids. If you stopped playing with something long enough, if you fell out of love with a hobby, if you maintained that an item of clothing was your favorite long after it was too small, my mother would dispose of it. One time I went on a mission trip and came back to find she had sold my bike (“You hadn’t ridden it in a year!!”) and another time I came back from camp to find my purple metallic shiny bike shorts were GONE and she still insists that she had nothing to do with that (“Though they were too tight, so it’s probably good that they disappeared.”). But after the initial shock, my brothers and I pretty much moved forward and didn’t think about it much more. Because stuff is after all, just stuff.

When I moved to Paris after college, I could only take two suitcases for the whole year, which was good, as I only had ten square meters of space. What I found was that I only needed two suitcases, that I still had clothes that I never wore, even though I had pared down my wardrobe to the “absolute necessities.” I actually liked how little possessions could claim me that year. I liked trying to make a creative or new outfit with the smaller selection I had. Because clothes are after all, just clothes.

All the TAs share an office on campus and this summer we got an office makeover with new paint and a deep cleaning. In the process we threw away boxes of stuff, but somehow there is still more clutter now that we are moved back on. I usually work late Friday afternoons along with another woman and sometimes – if we are getting overwhelmed about school – we just start throwing away stuff. Out with old presentations, out with outdated books, out with stuff that has been there inexplicably for years. And afterwards… there is room to breathe a little easier and a renewed sense of productivity. Because all that stuff was just forgotten excess, taking up space and cluttering our minds as well as our visual spaces.

Our apartment is small. Not tiny, especially not by city standards, but there is no extra storage. No garage, no attic, no spare bedroom or extra closet. Everything has it’s perfect space, has to have it’s perfect space or there just isn’t room. Still, it is human nature to amass more than we need, to stack up stuff and think we need it.

In case you haven’t been able to tell, this semester, especially the past month has been a little rough. Between James’ job and my school and teaching, we are constantly busy. We are always rushing, always struggling to get out of bed, always trying to squeeze things in and failing. It hasn’t all been bad, but it has certainly been too full.

Which is why this morning, instead of starting on the endless to do list I have, I decided to make a little more space in my life. I tossed out so many pairs of shoes, several purses, a couple pairs of pants, a dress, a skirt, a coat, and so many shirts. I threw out my latest dead plants, and last night I dumped out all the stuff that needed to go in the fridge. (Which, ok, ended in me baking zucchini bread at midnight because I didn’t want to waste zucchini.) I tossed out old newspapers, magazines that we have read, and random papers that have piled up without purpose or explanation. And it feels so good. Because stuff isn’t inherently wrong, but it can become controlling.

I think that sometimes our minds get so full that we feel claustrophobic in them and something has to go, thus we turn to our spaces. Technically, that’s not logical, as clearing physical space doesn’t equal cleared mental space. But the human soul defies logic and there is a freeing feeling in space, in simplicity, in room to breathe. There is freedom in throwing out the needless and trimming back the excess. We are impacted so much by our spaces that clearing a physical space instantly translates (for me at least) into clearing mental space.

And in this freedom, I feel so thankful that our small space forces us to continually ask if we have more than we need. I know I have already written about the effect that small spaces have on hospitality, but here I am just talking about the effect they have on us and our priorities. I am so thankful that we are starting our married years small. We are learning – by necessity – to be happy with little. I love knowing that we could pack every single one of our belongings in a pretty small Uhaul and roll out on an a new adventure if we had to. We are learning to be free from stuff. We are learning to fill our lives with friends, laughter, ideas, love, and experiences, instead of stuff. We are living in the constant practice of making space to breathe.

Anyone else been clearing some space lately, or needing to?

PS: I absolutely loved this post on a similar topic.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged apartment, confessions, daily life | 33 Comments

Augustober

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Hannah

cozy Sometimes you have one of those wild warm weekends where Summer decides that she can’t go away just yet and she fights away still-weak autumn to reign once more over your day. They leaves are still changing colors, they days are still shorter, and you crave pumpkin anything with all your soul. But suddenly it’s almost 90 out, and you are sweating and digging those shorts back out of the dark recesses of the closet where you shoved them a couple weeks ago. You hate this Augustober, just a little, because you are so ready for fall to come and stay. But you also have to love it, just a little, because Summer tasted so sweet and now you get just one last sip.

On Friday night we stayed in for our weekly family dinner with my brother, lit the candles that smell like fall, and cooked up as much of our CSA box that we could get in one meal. Did you know you can roast radishes? You can. They’re not really very good, but totally roastable. It was one of those weeks that just wouldn’t end and was threatening to spill into Saturday and so I chopped up as many vegetables as possible. It doesn’t make sense, I know, but the rhythmic chopping of so much nutritional value soothes me, restores some sense of order in my soul and body.

Which is a good thing to have restored, because we started Saturday with brunch at Golden Brown Delicious, and our table was covered in donuts, mac n’ cheese, fried chicken, AND waffles. This city… it’s out of control. We hugged Susannah and Josue goodbye at the end with the strange realization that next time we see them — sometime this week — they will have a baby in their arms, not just their hearts.

Saturday day morning James and I headed north to Pittsburgh to cheer on the Pirates at the first home postseason playoff game. I had planned so many other things for Sunday, but when he had an extra ticket at the last minute, I decided to drop it all and spend the day with him. The political uncertainty that for many of you is an annoyance on the news or a casual frustration is for us a daily thing that means that James gets home late, gets up early, and we are constantly checking headlines and reading stories. By the end of the week, I missed him. We spent 8 hours in the car yesterday just to yell ourselves hoarse in an endless sea of black and gold. But I got to hold his hand as we walked through the crowd and listen to podcasts together in the car and marvel at the changing leaves and split Taco Bell. Oh, and the Pirates won so I got to see my husband end his week with a solid win.

There’s also what you don’t see on this blog — or any blog — the story of life that the internet rarely tells. This weekend I marathoned late into Friday and Saturday nights to get ahead before some busy weeks. I did laundry, cleaned our apartment and made grocery lists. I did all those little unseen things that matter.

Today it is grey and rainy and I can’t say that I’m said. I’m ready for scarves and soup and crisp days that smell like bonfires. I think that Fall might just win this week.

Anyone else have a little Augustober last weekend?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged baseball, fall, photography, seasons, weekend fun | 11 Comments

A lovely shower for a little soul.

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Hannah

In light of my last post about the fruitless pursuit of stupid goals, I feel just a little hypocritical putting this post up, as I am going to now overwhelm you with pictures of the absolute perfection that was Susannah’s shower. Just remember that I was never disputing the effectiveness of the finished product, just the needless steps we make ourselves take to get there. Also remember that I had absolutely nothing to do with all the beauty you are about to see. I showed up with food in tupperware containers and my co-hostesses showed up with a car full of magic. My only decor contributions were a table cloth from my granny and the bunting that Laura made for her wedding which yes, I stole during take down.

Suze shares a studio with Lauren and Rachel of Sweet Root Village and they did the flowers for her when she threw my wedding shower a while back, making me all the more excited to turn the favor around and work with them to shower Suze and her little baby girl. If you ever need to throw a perfect party in the DC area, you should definitely check these ladies out, and if you just want some daily doses of beauty, I encourage you to follow them on Instagram or check out their blog. In another world, I am the type of person who knows how to arrange flowers. But in this one, I am someone who just shoves them in vases and tries to double like all their Instagram pics. Lauren took all these photos and I’m so happy to share them with you today! And of course, we were also getting to celebrate the most lovely pregnant mama ever. Here’s to hoping her baby girl decides to make her debut soon! After the book themed shower, she has a pretty stellar library awaiting her.

SRVshower3 But really, I don’t think it’s possible to have an unlovely baby shower or be an unlovely expectant mama. Because what is more beautifying than anticipating a new life? What is more beautiful than celebrating a little soul?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged baby, beauty, flowers, party, photography | 11 Comments

Mini-Quiches and the Modern Woman

Posted on October 2, 2013 by Hannah

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Dear Fellow Over Burdened Modern Women of the World:

Why do we make life so many times harder for ourselves than it needs to be?

Ok, back up. Let me share a mini-breakdown I had a couple weeks ago.

I am practically incapable, as I imagine many of you are, at saying no. I want to do everything, and because I am a modern American woman, I CAN do everything and I MUST do everything. Have you ever paused to imagine the perfect modern woman, as she is subtly implied by the sum total of all the different conceptions of ideal modern femininity? Here, I’ll describe her:

She must be lovely, but effortless. She must look good without trying, she must be stylish yet frugal, she must be poised, but not stiff.

She must excel in all domains. She must be accomplished in the workplace, taking on top jobs and doing them as good as – nay, better – than any man. She must rise to the top of her career, so as not to be limited by her gender.

Yet she must also have time to go to the gym, maintain a perfect house, one that is “simple” and “elegant” which translates frequently into “expensive” and “carefully curated.” She must have time to maintain multiple friendships, volunteer at charities, and entertain.

Oh, and she must also be a supermom, in the midst of all the rest. She must cloth-diaper (hey mom friends – is that a verb?), teach her baby sign language, make all her homemade baby food, breastfeed without problem, spend hours playing outside so her children never know what a TV is and prefer composing sonatas in their spare time (did I mention that this women is obviously musical?). She must sleep train, attachment parent, co-sleep, and schedule her children all at the same time. And she must still have time to love her husband and go on lots of cute dates.

She must be a virtuoso in the kitchen. Her dinners must be nutritional, delicious, and aesthetic. They must also be vegan, gluten free, free range, grass fed, and organic – all at the same time.

And she must always, always, ALWAYS, bring homemade treats to parties. Because if she brings slice and bake cookies, she will be single handedly responsible for the destruction of the American family.

Obviously, I am exaggerating a tiny bit. But if you look at all the articles, images, blogs, etc. that are out there competing to tell us how to live, the aggragate is a little overwhelming. Which brings me to my breakdown of a couple weeks ago.

I was helping throw a baby shower for a dear friend and I was in charge of the snacks and games. (The décor and invitations were done by my friend’s other friends who did an unbelievable job and at some point I will steal some of their awesome photos to share because it was perfect.) Now obviously, there is a right and easy way of doing this: go to Trader Joe’s and load your cart with all those delicious premade yummies. There is no one of woman born who can’t find treats they love in the frozen food section of Trader Joe’s.

But obviously, I couldn’t do this. If I brought non-homemade food to this shower, I would be admitting my failure as a woman, and her baby would surely come out with four feet or something. I should add that this friend would have been more than happy for me to show up with some salsa, chips, and Totino’s pizza rolls – the burden I felt was totally of my own imagining.

And so, at midnight, I was slaving in my kitchen over gourmet mini-quiches.

Let me tell you why so many places sell premade mini-quiches: they are an absolute beast to make. One tray was such a disaster that I pulled it out of the oven and turned and dumped it directly in the trash. James walked in at one point and might have asked if we should just go buy some, and I barked his head off that NO I HAD TO MAKE THEM BECAUSE I AM A WOMAN WHO COOKS.

And Fellow Modern Women, that’s absolutely ridiculous. What matters is that you are sharing your heart and your time, not mastering culinary greatness.

And so, my sage advice to you this morning is this. Next time you throw a party:

Go to Trader Joe’s.

Buy the darn mini-quiches.

Buy the pre-made flatbreads.

Load up on cheese and crackers.

Don’t let ridiculous images tell you that you can do it all.

You can’t.

You don’t need to.

Spend less time chasing the ideal and more time loving the people who matter in it.

Sincerely,

Hannah Who Will Never Again Make Homemade Mini-Quiches

PS: Despite my late night breakdown, the party was a success, and the food was great, even if I was only successful in my mini-quiches for half of the guests to eat them. The success wasn’t the issue… I just could have gotten there so much easier, with fewer dishes, and less snapping at the hubs.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged being a woman, confessions, food, iphone pics, party, rants | 43 Comments

Celebrating.

Posted on September 30, 2013 by Hannah

Over the next month we will be doing a lot of celebrating. A couple weddings, a couple showers, and couple awesome visitors mean that fall will be starting out with great fanfare, pomp, and not a whole lot of sleep. Of course, you all know how much I love weddings and parties, so I am willing to trade some nights of less sleep (and weekends of a lot less schoolwork…) for celebrating marriage with some of our dear friends.

This past week I helped throw a bridal shower for my friend Les. She has an army of awesome bridesmaids, which made throwing this shower especially fun because I didn’t have to lift a finger to help make any food, and could instead show up with games and stuff my face on everyone else’s hard work. After the shower part of the evening, those who could stick around changed into some fancies to head out on the town and celebrate our bachelorette! Remember back when when I was dying for a sequin miniskirt? Well, that was a disaster. Any sequin miniskirt on my almost six-foot self was a bad idea. A very bad idea. But, when I went to the magical J.Crew warehouse sale (sidenote: it closed. I’m so sorry.) and found a sequined shift dress — the perfect meeting ground of casual/ comfy and disco ball awesome.
This group of ladies. They’re just the most fun. Of course, I am basically old, which means that staying out late still has me tired several days later and my knees hurt. Still worth it. Congratulations Les! Can’t wait to celebrate at your wedding in LESS THAN THREE WEEKS!! (And I promise that before then I will dry-clean my dress since I already cheated and wore it a couple times and buy my shoes.)

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged celebration, clothes, friends, party, wedding | Leave a comment

Today I am thankful for Chinese takeout and colored pants.

Posted on September 27, 2013 by Hannah

Fall2013_28 It’s THE WEEKEND. Almost. I’m ending this week on a good note, which is to say, an I am thankful list, something we haven’t done around here in a while, much to my chagrin. I just got so busy standing on chairs to take pictures of food and inundate you with iPhone pics of the beach and stuff. Anyways, here are the things that I am thankful for today, some trivial, some legitimate, all true.

I am thankful for Chinese takeout. Both James and I grew up in the country, so neither of us is used to actually having food we order show up at our house. I still forget that it’s a thing sometimes, and then we remember to do it and it is THE MOST EXCITING THING EVER. What is this dark magic that brings awesome cheap food to the door??? I don’t even know, but I love it. I also don’t actually trust it so I get paralyzed with fear the entire time we wait. Usually, we try to eat pretty healthy. But there is just nothing like some partially congealed Americanized Chinese takeout every now and then. Plus, when we order out, I can do what I am always too timid to do in the restaurant: only order random sides. Yes, I really do want dinner to just be a giant order of crab rangoon and several egg rolls. No, I don’t care that there are absolutely no nutrients in that combination. I am thankful for gluttonous evenings in where we get to throw away all the dishes and eat on the couch.

I am thankful for this weather we’ve been having in DC. It is UNREAL. I’m pretty sure the looming government shutdown is actually so that everyone can go outside and pick apples and stuff. Today is a little humid, a slightly living-in-a-dishwasher feeling like usual, but in general, it’s been gorgeous. I am so thankful that fall is here.

I am thankful for colored pants. Since I own an impressive number of nautical neutrals (navy and stripes), I wear a lot of colored pants. Remember how colored jeans were a thing in elementary school, and then we entered a long sad stretch of boring denim that lasted until just a couple years ago? And then BANG — the rainbow exploded and we all started thinking that mint, plum, chartreuse, and gold jeans were acceptable? I love that. I had secretly rooted for them to come back for years, and I am so happy every time I open my closet and see a stack of perky colored pants. My go-to pair is red, but I also have teal and mustard yellow, and I’m in the market for a good purple pair. Thank you, Oh Fashion gods, for bringing this one back.

I am thankful for our bikes. In case you just dropped in here for the first time, let me cut to the chase: I really, really love DC. But I feel lately like I didn’t even really know it till we got bikes. Now, we can take on this whole city, all the while being fit and eco friendly and stuff. I am so thankful for this new (and free!) way that we can enjoy life here. (I would also like to add, that I am so thankful for my older brother who built both James’ and my little brother’s bike and drove them up here. Family with crazy random skills FOR THE WIN.)

I am thankful for Shakespeare. Confession: despite my life choice of being a student of French literature, I am actually a closet English major. I love Shakespeare. I know everyone says that, and it sounds cliché, but I just don’t even care. How could you not??? That man KNOWS WORDS. The rest of us just pretend to speak English. Last weekend James and I went to go see Measure for Measure and I have been mulling over the words since then, digging out my old college notes and books to soak in his poetry. You know how we like to say today that there just “aren’t words for” something? That’s a lazy lie. Shakespeare would have found them. And they would have been in iambic pentameter. So there. Of course, I can’t find them, so I’m just thankful that he already wrote a beautiful and true expression of almost anything that could be felt or experienced.

I am thankful for my job. Somedays, it makes me want to shove pencils in my eyes. But, even on those days, I am thankful for the ladies (and the one outnumbered man) that I share an office with. We have manicure Mondays, weekly dinners, constant chatter and encouragement, and I am so thankful for all that.

I am thankful for all of you who read here. For your comments, your emails, your texts, your encouragement — especially when I blog angsty thoughts like yesterday’s. Your words mean so much.

I am thankful for my boys. Obviously, you are pretty tired of hearing how thankful I am for that awesome husband of mine. But let me gush just a little bit about my other boy, that baby brother of mine who is all grown up and an economist (yeah, like it says that on his business card… WHEN DID HE GET OLD ENOUGH TO HAVE ONE OF THOSE??). James and I hate being far from family, and we loved having his brother around a lot this summer. Having my little brother living here is more fun than I ever could have imagined when we were little and he irritatingly tried to play with my friends. We do family dinner at least once a week and last night he cooked. As I was cleaning up, I couldn’t stop thinking on how thankful I am for the fullness that family brings to our lives. These boys… they’re just the best.

What are you thankful for today?

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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged daily life, DC, family, i am thankful for | 24 Comments

This human thing.

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Hannah

You guys. This week, life got the best of me.

It isn’t that anything majorly bad went wrong, other than two speeding tickets ( I know, I know) and the mail situation in our building being so bad that they are consistently losing our mail and packages I order. It was just that this week I am deeply tired of being me. I know that sounds super dramatic, deeply cynical, and borderline depressing, but let me explain. In general, I feel I have a pretty good view of myself. I am fully aware of the things that I can’t do (CPR, play musical instruments, fit in cute petite clothing, make soup, geography) but also fully cognizant of my actual strengths (plunging toilets, making omelets, throwing dinner parties, finding really good things on clearance racks).

But this week… I am just burnt out on being me. I am rash and impulsive. I speak first and think later. I break things all the time. I fall a lot. I am always rushing, rushing, rushing. The result is the aforementioned tickets, the fact that I have broken all but 3 of the dinner glasses we got for our wedding, I’m always having to apologize for things I’ve said, and James got whacked in the eye with my elbow at least 4 times this week. And it is only Thursday.

This week, I am just deeply frustrated with my own flawed humanity. But then again, aren’t we all?

humanity

And so, instead of any further perky thoughts or pleasant sass, I will leave you all with that quote that I am reading over and over this week, and will keep on reading till I feel convinced.

*Quote is from the commentary that my dad wrote on Judges that I am finally reading, and I may be biased, but it is pretty awesome. Oh, and those pictures have absolutely nothing to do with this post other than being brooding and moody, and I hate having posts with no pictures.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged confessions, God, photography, quotations, The Capitol, words | 20 Comments

The Last Picnic.

Posted on September 23, 2013 by Hannah

This weekend was the first official one of fall and I breathed a quiet sigh of relief in looking at the weather and seeing that it looks like summer is going to bow out gracefully this year. But obviously, there are some things that summer takes with her that I will sorely miss, namely, picnics.

I love picnics.

Picnics turn something super lame (cleaning out the odds and ends of the fridge) into something classy and sophisticated, a meal en plein air. Now I realize that one can technically picnic during the fall as well, but I just never seem to find the time for them once fall rolls in with school and busy weekends. Plus, in the fall I want warm foods, rich bowls of steaming soup and crusty bread fresh from the oven. But in the summer, you can just take what wouldn’t pass for a real meal inside — carrots, mismatched fruit, endless cheese — carry it somewhere else and it is suddenly not only acceptable, but encouraged.

picnic A week ago we went on what might end up being the last picnic for awhile. And yes, it was partially an occasion for us and our soon-to-be married besties to whip out our matching baskets. It was kind of a cop-out picnic in that we opted for a fountain with tables over the ground, but it was worth it. Here are a couple glimpses into that perfect evening, an excellent last picnic. picnic2 So long picnics, till next year.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged daily life, DC, friends, picnic, seasons | 7 Comments

Lately I need only to stand.

Posted on September 20, 2013 by Hannah

vscocam1204 vscocam1235 vscocam1206 vscocam1225 vscocam1227 When I was growing up, and being dramatic about something (which happened pretty frequently, and you know you’re not surprised), my mom would tell always tell me the same thing: choose truth. When I insisted that no one loved me or understood me, I was told to choose truth. When I insisted that nothing was right in whatever situation I was in, I was told to choose truth. When I just knew that my brothers were getting preferential treatment that I deserved, I was told to choose truth.

When I look back on the past couple weeks, I am inclined towards complaining, towards embracing the view that my life has been difficult and stressful lately. There has been too much reading, too much writing, too much grading, too many things that haven’t gotten done that I just keep ignoring because there is no energy or time to focus on them, and then they pile up and make me want to pull the covers over my head in the morning. I feel like these weeks have been so full of stuff I don’t like, that everything I do love has been pushed out.

But today I am choosing truth.

And the truth is that over the past couple weeks, punctuating the business and stress there have been some beautiful moments, some restful moments, some peaceful moments. There have been late evening picnics and long long bike rides through the city. Doors left open so the crisp breeze can come in and fresh apples at the market. Clouds painted pink and nails painted red. Fountains and slippers and benches and burgers.

There have been moments of blessing, exactly where I am.

Happy weekend. Be blessed where you stand.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged blessed, iphone pics, poetry, quotations, truth, weekend fun, words | 23 Comments