Pt. Townsend

So, these photos demonstrate pretty clearly what Cami and I are all about on vacation.  We had a great time, and did everything we wanted to do.  We didn’t get sunshine on the deck, though.  And we did get a spot of snow.  But it could’ve been worse.  We walked everywhere, so luckily it didn’t really do more than lightly drizzle.  And we will enjoy Palm Springs this fall all the more for this very cold Spring Break.

We enjoyed brews and cards at Water St. Brewing and Port Townsend Brewing, had great Thai food (Khu Larb Thai) and pizza, shared wine and an app at my favorite place, Sirens, and tried out a new-to-me (and to town, I think) tapas-style place called Galatea.  The food was pretty there, but we found things slightly off.  That is, Cami thought the beets were slightly underdone on the salad, the “roasted” head of garlic on our bruschetta plate was crunchy, and I would’ve done that bruschetta differently (too much dried fig “jam” which really wasn’t chutney-like, scooped on top of too-little, too-tame blue cheese. Would’ve been better with a light layer of the fig topped with plenty of cheese and maybe broiled a little, then topped with the walnuts.  And serve with gooey roasty garlic) . . . The seafood empanadas were nice, as were our (large) cocktails and wine pours. 

Cami shopped Cental Market in Poulsbo on her way up and bought cheeses (beer cheese!), crackers, wine, and olives (and tulips!) for the room.  We went shopping for special vacation glassware for the wine–those two adorable little glasses in the picture are from Summer House, the best store maybe anywhere.  I could buy everything they have.  I also picked up some adorable little glass coffee cups that are German, made in the ’60s.  They will be very fun for wine and espresso, and I’ll post a picture later as they are nested in a box in the back of Cami’s Jeep so that I don’t have yet another thing to move at the end of this week.

The big revelation of the trip:  Every time I mentioned reading a blog, or talked about writing this blog, I found myself whispering the word, much the same way people are known to whisper other terrrible words, like cancer.   However, Cami topped it when she mentioned about a certain someone, “Oh, she’s a real type-A personality.  And she scrapbooks.”  See, there’s always someone with dirtier secrets than yours!

Girl Trip

Cami, my very best friend of 21 years, and I are off tomorrow to Pt. Townsend for a highly needed getaway.  Highly needed for her, as she is probably the definitive “over-doer.”  Mothering, lawyering, puppy-raising (and cleaning up after . . . alot . . . Yuck), husband raising.  This girl needs a good book, a glass of wine (or several), a water view and some relaxation.

I’ve been trying to figure out what I was thinking when I planned this–I mean, once I get back on Sunday, I’ll only have a few more days on the island . . . But I quickly realized that this Pt. Townsend trip will be great for me.  No one is better to talk to than Cami, for me.  And she’s so damn funny, too.  I think she’s really going to help me wrap my head around this transition.  Plus, I’ll be reminded of how BRILLIANT it is that we’ll be living just 30 minutes apart again.  That’s one great reason to embrace the move.

So, happy things today:  Isabel in my lap, angling for a belly scratch.  Sunshine.  A fairly lucrative night at work after such a dreadfully slow week.  A beautiful (though not happy, actually) movie:  Away From Her.  Julie Christie gives an amazing performance.  And another movie I’m going to resume after this: Rory O’Shea Was Here.  Marvelous so far. 

Happy Weekend!

Deeper

So, why a blog, why now?  I’ve been living the past year and a half in the beautiful San Juan Islands, but am moving away in just about a week and a half.  Chaos, upset, and transition aren’t sitting real well with me, and this is gonna be my way of coping.

I’m moving back to a house that has been deeply wounded by crappy renters and my psyche is balking at going from my little studio full of windows and light on this lovely island to the house by the highway that’s been abused for a year.  It needs so much work . . . and work takes money.  And money takes time.  But on this front, I’ve no patience.  That house needs some LOVIN’! 

Luckily, there are beautiful decks with lovely water views there, and a new porch swing to retreat to whenever I need to stop looking at the filthy carpets and holey, smudgy walls. 

My hope is that there will, eventually, be a fantastic series of before and after photos here.  And, how often do adults really get a nice blank slate, ripe with opportunity for creativity and reorganization?  This is the house my sweetheart, Matt, bought, and into which I moved when we took that big step.  So it’s been a hodgepodge of his stuff, my stuff, the bad old paint job of the previous tenants, etc.  It will be nice for us to intentionally create the specific space we dream of, full of exactly the photos, the art, the dishes, the colors we want.

And it will be a good exercise for me to learn to keep my eyes on little lovely things so that I’m not overwhelmed by the bigger stuff.

Here we go . . .

So it’s the middle of the night, quite literally.  The changing-over time.  What better time to get started on this new venture? . . .  Blogging, ah, yessss.  Recently discussed with my dear friend Carrie how the “b” word already has some negative (read nerdy) connotations.  But, I’ve been turned on to so many funny writers who make me laugh out loud daily–Lordy, if they are nerds, I say, Let Me Be A Nerd! 

Picking a blog name is a strange and important thing.  Of which I’d thought not at all until the moment I started.  I’m not sure where “Relish” came from, but there it is, and so lovely for its double meaning.  It is about honoring the day, what comes to you, what happens, what you see and experience, for all the good, bad, and confusing . . .  And about doing whatever it takes to dress it up a bit, to make it all more to your tastes.

And I’m a foodie, I work in the biz, and have a chef for a Lover, and SO.  That’s “relish.”  Loving my life (sometimes in spite of it), “relishing” it.  And adding relish where I can–a little tartness, some spice, color, whatever it takes to keep on loving it.  And eating and cooking and talking about it alot.

To finish, for tonight:  That picture on the header is not something I cooked.  But it’s darn pretty, yes?  However, pretty is mostly all it was.  It certainly needed some kick, some flavor.  I appreciated it for the photo op, and was very excited to dig in, but it wasn’t all its looks seemed to promise.  I briefly thought about changing that picture to something about which I could proudly say, “I Made That” but then . . . that picture perhaps fits this blog perfectly.  Pretty isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.  It’s good, but it’s certainly not everything.  It’s good to notice the pretty, to relish  it (not to beat a dead horse or anything) and be thankful for it in whatever form it arrives, but I have something to add, or sometimes, perhaps against my will, I’ll simply be required to add to what I’m given to make an acceptable stew.

Cheers, friends.  Thanks for listening.