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5/03/2008

pretending to see mountains

Today turned out to be lovely. I feel slightly better than yesterday. The sun is OUT. And my thoughts are of mountains. This started with Kerry's gorgeous photos of Mt. Diablo (in CA), taken on a hike with one of my favorite companies, Juniper Ridge. After her photos, I increased my incense-burning; sweetgrass in particular - a vanilla-like scent. And well, I confess - I watched Oprah yesterday. I was already upstairs, watching Grey's Anatomy which I DVR'd. Afterwards, I recalled Kate's post about Oprah. I, too, used to watch O. with the same morbid fascination. She bugs me so much, but I used to study her show wondering, "What IS the appeal?"

Yesterday, Oprah's show opened to the most beautiful vista of snow-capped mountains and aspen trees. Like my husband, I love aspen trees. My heart ached to be right there. The location was TomKat's home in Telluride, Colorado. At first, I honestly watched only to see more of that Colorado scenery and their massive house. It is big, but very simply decorated and rustic. I was impressed with TomKat's taste and the little playhouse nook under the stairs for Suri. After the hour-long interview (yes, I watched the whole thing), I decided:

-Oprah still bugs me.
-Scientology is wacko.
-Tom is a bit nutty, but he does have a likable side when he's calm (he was yesterday).
-I do believe he is Suri's real father.
-Suri is adorable.
-I've always found Katie Holmes to be very charming.
-If TomKat ever move out of that house and Johnny and I come across millions of dollars, we'll buy it. J. and I don't need such vast space, but the sun is bright enough today that if I close my eyes and flip on my imagination, I can see TomKat's mountains outside of our Houston windows. Man.

....Johnny's at a recording session with Donna Stuart, for her upcoming album. Other than pretending to see mountains, the cats and I have kicked back today, up to this and that. For instance, I interrupted Milo's nap on a kitchen windowsill for a photo shoot:









He went back to sleep, I looked around, and thought, "Wow. We've acquired too much clutter in the kitchen. Mental note: clean up soon.":



Part of the clutter is a set of beeswax tapers. I wish you could smell this photo ~ natural beeswax smells amazing, like honey:



I ordered the tapers for these bamboo holders in the dining room:



However, I stupidly ordered the "fat boy"-sized candles. I did so because we have two standard, natural-colored beeswax tapers that are too small for those holders. But now I know - "fat boys" don't fit, either. Johnny thinks he can whittle down the tapers and make 'em fit. I hope so; the blue color sure is pretty.

And now, it's time:
-for a cup of tea & a snack,
-to post on books for calvin,
-to read,
-to make serious plans to whip up Kerry's mouthwatering April 2008 Monthly Meal (minus the sweet rolls). Macadamia nut-encrusted mahi mahi. Steamed asparagus (one of my favorite veggies). I can even tweak that coconut ice cream recipe (no agave nectar for me yet)!
-and lace up my sneakers when Johnny arrives home. We're gonna hit the walking trail and discuss a road trip to Colorado. And take pics of our Easter lilies blooming outside. They're a tad late, but I'll take Ascension lilies, too.

3 comments:

Lauren said...

CLUTTER?! oh, jenni....you so obviously A) are a minimalist, and B) do not yet have children. LOL. i would invite you to my house to experience true clutter, were it not over 1,500 miles away....

jenni said...

Maybe the picture hides our clutter, but those counter tops are truly covered with all kinds of stuff. I promise!

I didn't show you the breakfast nook table or our couch, either - more clutter.
:)

Lauren said...

also, my kitchen is (sadly) about 1/4 the size of yours, so clutter turns to UTTER CHAOS very quickly!