07 October 2011

i am devouring a new book. / and other happy things.



reading with my boys / portrait by blue lily photography. / p.s. did you see this post?!

first of all, i may never post an ordinary photo ever again. these blue lilies are my new faves. i'm getting over feeling awkward about seeing myself in photos. at least trying to. admittedly my hair is going through a phase (as per usual), but still, the shots are so lovely; the light, the colors, the scenery. and i'm so happy i slapped on some nail polish while driving up the canyon! most of all i'm so happy with the way they have captured up benji's joyous spirit. and i rarely get a glimpse of all three of us together. i'll share the best of the bunch and more details about the session in a later post. i promise.

and i also promise to show you pictures and give deets about our house. i know some of you are eager beavers. which makes me glad. (for now i'll say this, i have a basement studio area full of boxes; a room ready for serious potential. and there are muscular trees with beefy limbs for climbing and a patch of rhubarb growing like crazy in the backyard. whit is in the process of making us her famous pie!) i just have to clear out some space on this beloved mac to upload my pictures of four months worth of memories and girth. it's going to be a major upload of our wacky activity-filled (transient) summer. how wonderful everyone has been to host our family as we transitioned. i learned so much and laughed so much. i even caught strep throat (the day we closed on our house!) and then gave it to my nieces. what an awesome house guest i am. i learned a lot about running a household from my mother-in-law and sisters. it was nice to have a glimpse of life in another housewife's shoes. what worthwhile wonderous work housewifery is (i'm not just saying that. i really believe it). i have craved it. and now, i must say, ahhh, to. be. home. it feels so good to hear the whir of my own dishwasher. to have cooked a pot of soup on my own stove. to have a routine again. to have to-do lists going (like mad) on the fridge and ideas for preschoolery for benji. to go grocery shopping and fill up the shelves. it's the little things. i hope i never take for granted the feeling of having a place to nestle up in.

onto the part about the book i'm devouring. my cousin spoiled me with thirty fabulous little gifts for my birthday (sweetest idea ever!) and included a book she'd spotted on my wish list pinterest board (genius!). (i had pinned it because the caption / book report had me at hello.) so i started reading it when we had our getaway last week. while benji napped in the hotel room, i read on the bed. and forced myself not to feel guilty about doing nothing. knowing full well i wouldn't have time to read once the boxes were unsealed in the new place (i was right).

a homemade life by molly wizenberg. molly is the author of orangette, a wildly famous foodie blog that i've only slurped up sporadically with a spoon. after realizing what i've been missing, i'll be drinking her blog down with loud from-the-milk-carton gulps. it's a book i like so much, i even read the acknowledgement page(s), and smiled a lot. a few pages in, i immediately wanted to blog about it and text my sisters about it (done and done). good think i don't facebook or twitter, my life would be c-c-c-crazy.

molly is completely geuine and her recipes are bona fide (plenty of descriptions and not overly dramatic with ingredients you've never heard of; perfectly relatable to the everyday cook). she gives flexible options like stating it's okay if you don't want to buy a heart-shaped mold. she is terribly likable if not lovable. i read her paragraphs about the eighties (shoulder pads and mullets) aloud to dan and wanted to tear out the whole chapter about prunes and send it, with love, to my dad (he's a huge fan of wrinkly prunes). but i stopped myself. knowing i ought to buy my folks a copy. it's a memoir mingling with recipes and family memories that remind you somehow of your own family memories. which is why i wish i'd written it or, more truthfully, am inspired to write my own version of memoirs (sans the being raised in oklahoma and amazing, swoony paris adventures). while reading her pages, i'm immersed in her language of cookery and envisioning reels of her growing years (in the kitchen) and still manage to silently scold myself for my lack of writing practice. i love love love when you read a book and you simultaneously want to write a book. that, my friends, is when i know i love a book. i've dog-eared eleven recipes already and i'm not even finished with it. next time i'm moaning about little writing inspiration, please remind me of this book. i'll be keeping it neatly lined up with my cookbooks (that is, after i force my sisters to borrow it and read it immediately so we can discuss it as true sisters must do).

read more about molly on her about page

15 comments:

JC said...

i, too, love Molly's book and blog and writing style. next time i get to the Pacific NW, a stop at Delancey is at the top of my to-do list!
best wishes as you settle in to your new nest!

Misti said...

I was flipping through an old Bon Apetite magazine on a road trip last weekend and was enamoured with an article when I realized Molly had written it. I'll have to dig out which one it was but she might be a regular contributor. I too only sip her blog, I've never drank fully from it either.

Miranda said...

So, Molly's book is on my list of all time favorites. I'm roasting tomatoes in my oven right now in fact, per Molly's method. After I read her book I requested a trip to Delancy (the restaurant she and her husband own in Seattle) for my birthday. And I re-read all of her Bon Apetite columns. I've always thought that if I were a writer, like the kind of writer who wrote multiple pages that then turned into a book, I would like to write like Molly.

Okay. I'm going to go re-read her book now.

Carly said...

thanks for the book recommendation! sounds like a nice gift, too. these pictures are completely perfect. love them.

A Place to Reside said...

Sold! I just put the book on hold at my library. :-)

Rachael said...

I love her book. It totally takes you away from your own moment into hers.

Love these pictures, too. they make me want to build a blanket fort today.

Amanda said...

Oh, Marta, you are the most beautiful writer. I hope you do write a book so I can drink it "down with loud from-the-milk-carton gulps!"

McKinze said...

I completely understand your desire to never take a home for granted. My husband and I have been living with other people for almost two years, and next summer we'll have our own place - and I don't care if it's a one-room efficiency. It will be ours and, as you said, I'm so excited to "nestle up in" it!

{natalie} said...

I loved that book too and I wish I had the skills to write a memoir. I can't wait to see your new place, have fun getting it together and all. I'm sure it will be great to have a place all your own to Marta-ize.

Michelle Stiles said...

i picked up molly's book and then I couldn't put it down! I loved it! I am super lucky enough to live close enough to visit their restaurant every once in a while. She is writing another book!

Shannon @ A Mom's Year said...

This book is on my wish list! I love the combination of memoir and recipes.

jen said...

I loved the book! My book club read it and then my cooking group cooked from it! The macaroons are to die for!

summer said...

marta, these days i am almost never able to comment right away when i want to. but now it is early morning, like 4 dats later, and my baby is sleeping, and i have to tell you! i can't stop staring at these idyllic photos. do you know how many times i have come back to peek at them?! oh. so beautiful. you guys are very dreamy :) this entire post was dreamy.

ps. couldn't agree more with amanda's comment. love. awaiting tub water someday :)

Amanda said...

don't ever post another photo again -- i could look at your charming family of three all day (bluelily really captured you guys didn't they?). the book (like all the other things you recommend) is something I'll definitely have to check out.

Janssen said...

I loved this book so much too. I gave it to my mom a couple of years ago and she STILL talks about it.

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