Tuesday w/Moi

Tuesday, July 31

Olympics Edition

I spent my first wakeful hours yesterday morning in bed with my laptop, catching up on some work and drinking copious amounts of coffee.  Delightful!

My mint plant is scary big and has just started sporting these delicate periwinkle blossoms.  Guess my green thumb deserves a gold medal!  Unless of course this is a bad thing... I suppose I ought to look into this further...

Our leather couch is covered in ring marks from people putting beverages on the arms.  At first these rings annoyed me, but I've recently given into them and, in the spirit of the Olympics, I'm pretty gung-ho about them.  It's like an explosion of Olympic rings right on my couch! Coooooool.

For all of you who are not in the UK and are watching the Olympics wondering why Beach Volleyball players are donning wet suits and why audience members are wearing parkas, it's because it is winter in the UK.  I sat huddled in a giant wool sweater all day yesterday and I was inside.  For real, you guys, it is cold.

I painted my toenails navy blue.  GO AMERICA, GO!

As I said yesterday, I am totally into badminton this year.

I also really enjoy Men's Volleyball.  Those guys defy gravity, it's ahhhmazing!

Diving is also one of my favorites.  Especially synchronized diving!

I was totally invested in the Tsonga vs. Raonic match yesterday afternoon.  I took this photo when the score was 18 - 17 in the third set.  I'd never really seen Raonic play before but I fell a little bit in love with the 21 year-old Canadian as he stayed poised and consistent against the #6 in the world.  In the end, he lost the match 25 - 23, but he put in a tremendous effort and I'm really looking forward to watching his career unfold.

All of a sudden I was like, Oh my goodness, it's so late and all I've done today is watch the Olympics!

But there was so much to watch, so many athletes to fall in love with, and so many wonderful stories to weep at, so I just kept watching... 

This is how I feel every time an athlete I like loses.

#BrokenHeart

SO ANXIOUS watching the Men's 4x200m Freestyle Relay last night.

SO HAPPY when Team USA swam like dolphins and won the gold!

Contrary to what this post may lead you to believe, I did in fact leave the flat yesterday.  Early in the evening, I briefly left to purchase a bottle of vino for David and I to enjoy as we sat on our bums eating ginger biscuits and watching the Olympics.

WE ARE SO ATHLETIC.

We closed-out the night with the Beach Volleyball.  Here we are watching the men's match, which the cute Italians sadly lost to the domineering Austrians with bad tattoos.  After, we watched the American ladies beat the Dutch.  I definitely believe there's a correlation between the amount of clothes a player wears and their winning a Beach Volleyball match, for both teams that played in wet suits (basically) got their asses kicked last night.

And that was my Tuesday!  I'm working on a more comprehensive collection of Olympics illustrations that I will share in the next couple days.  Until then, please know that I will be sitting on my couch and cheering on all the Americans and underdogs competing in these wintery Summer Games.
xx

How We Got Here

Or, Evil Stepmothers Need Big Dreams & Handsome Princes, Too...   Welcome to this week's installment of the E.S.M. Chronicles!

David and I were talking the other day about ambition and the motives that drive us to achieve the things we dream about.  Growing up, David didn't have much.  He had happiness and a great family, but after his father died and they moved back to the UK from Africa, things were tough.  David got into an art school for college but providing for his family was more important to him than pursuing art so he got work instead and he worked hard.  His retail jobs soon turned into management positions, which led him to corporate jobs which later brought him to America, to me.  He told me that he always wanted a nice car, a nice home, and the ability to provide for his family.  Those were the things that drove him, and those are things he achieved. 

When David and I fell in love, I shared a secret with him.  I told him that I'd always wanted to struggle with my partner in our early days so we'd appreciate the good times so much more when our hard work paid off.  I wanted to build a life with my partner based on shared ideals and passions.  At the time of this confession, David had a good job and there was no reason to make us think he'd ever have to struggle again.

Two years later, David lost his job and was abandoned in America.  We were shocked by how abruptly he was let go and the way in which the company washed their hands and walked away, leaving us nothing.  David was angry, of course, and together we experienced a spectrum of emotions that ranged from total desperation to bravery and optimism.  One day he said to me, "This is your fault.  You wanted to struggle, well here you go, we're struggling."  He smiled at me when he said it, because this struggle is a beautiful thing.  He smiled at me because I taught him how to dream again and we're working hard toward building a life that will allow us to be strong on our own. 

Shortly after losing his job, David told me he wanted to move back to the UK to be near his sons.  We were sharing a pizza and a bottle of wine at a restaurant in Davis Square and I took my time chewing, waiting to hear what he had to say.  "I want you to come with me, but we'll have to get married," he said.

I nodded, "I'll go anywhere you need me to."  

We continued our meal and a few minutes later he put down his fork and knife, looked me straight in the eye and asked, "Was that a yes?"

"Was that a proposal?"

"I haven't got a ring but will you marry me, Kate?"  That's when I started crying, like crying, and said yes. 

And now we're here and we're starting all over again.  We have dreams, so many dreams.  Dreams of a simple life filled with laughter, love and long talks with dear friends.  Dreams of traveling the world and quiet mornings when we can sit together in contented silence.  Dreams of white-washed floors and of getting our hands dirty.  And those dreams will all come true just as David's dream of having a nice car and a nice home came true, just as my dream of sharing a struggle came true.  And there is no one I'd rather share this struggle and these dreams with than David. 

Both of us are working diligently on many things that have us very excited, but these things take time.  We came over here with a plan, but we've had to amend that plan.  I underestimated how long it would take me to feel organized, to feel like this was my home and that I wasn't intruding on David's family and happiness.  David didn't realize he'd feel like a soldier returning from years away at war to an estranged family, and he's had to battle through it.   It's a work in progress but that's the beauty of life.  As our work yields results, I'll be here to share them with you.  As always, thanks for reading.

The illustration at the top is the one I made for our wedding invites, however the graphics are different.  xox 
EDIT: David tells his version of how it happened in the comments....  Oy vey! 

Top Secret Inspiration

I'm working on a new project that has me thumbing through the illustrations and photos I loved as a child and some of the imagery that has really impacted me over the years.  I don't do Pinterest boards (I see the point, but loath the photo "sharing" policy and attitudes of most pinners) but I do make my own inspiration boards for big projects.  I often gravitate toward things I can physically interact with, especially in the early stages, and I'll often touch, feel, and smell things before photographing them and adding them to my personal inspiration board/thing.  Here are just of the few things that are currently lighting my fire, in order of appearance:

1. My typewriter, which holds such a special place in my heart! It's an Olympia from the 1960s with a script font and color scheme that makes me weak in the knees.
2. Stamped letters (hand stamped with watercolor paint by moi).
3. Chris Ware's witty cover illustrations for the Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition of Voltaire's Candide.
4. A random photo I cut out of a magazine (or something?) while in college. I have a major soft spot for rose prints.  THEY'RE JUST SO PRETTY!
5. A couple notecards from Henry Horenstein's stunning Animalia collection that I bought at the Harvard Museum of Natural History once upon a time.  I've been obsessed with that jellyfish print for years!
6. Quentin Blake's images for Roald Dahl.  His style is simple yet masterfully expressive. 
7. As a girl, Mary Poppins was everything I wanted to be when I grew up and still to this day I try my best to be practically perfect in every way. These simple line drawings by Mary Shepard take me right back to the ginormous plaid armchair I spent so many days nestled in reading as a child.  I love Mary Poppin's gangly figure and always-rosy cheeks.  Perfection, indeed!

As this project moves forward, I'll be sure to share more inspiration and snippets with you. Until that day comes, I will be laboring away like a madwoman!