two years.

{credit nataschia wielink photography}

today we are celebrating our second wedding anniversary, shit does time fly! paulie surprised me by coming home from work last night to say he took today off, so we're going to take advantage by spending the day together at home, followed by a dinner date at one of our favourite restaurants. a low key day is completely unlike how we celebrated our first anniversary, but i think it's important to mix up how you celebrate these special days so you can whole-heartedly enjoy and appreciate each and every one of them.

i think there are worlds inside all of us

contained only tenuously

by the soft covers of skin.

the green in your eyes alight with the sun

and i realize

yours is the most beautiful world

i've ever the privilege to touch.

--author unknown.

rhubarb & shortbread cookie sundaes.

being in charge of dessert for an impromptu sunday dinner at my parents this weekend sparked the hamster to start running full speed on that little wheel stored in paulie's giant heed, and the result was effing delicious. after shooting down my idea to make pizzelle 'funnel cakes' with ricotta whipped cream and fresh strawberries, i left the plan and execution of what he was convinced would be the better choice up to him. now i'm not saying he was right, but i'm not saying he was wrong either.

how we do: rhubarb & shortbread cookie sundaes

{serves 4}

prep time: 5 minutes

cook time: 10 minutes

you will need:

3 stalks of rhubarb

1 tablespoon of grated ginger

1/3 cup of orange juice

2 teaspoons of sugar

vanilla ice cream

8 shortbread cookies

wash and chop 3 rhubarb stalks into small, even pieces, and add to a frying pan on medium-high heat. grate 1 tablespoon of fresh ginger and add it to the rhubarb, as well as 1/3 cup of orange juice (freshly squeezed or from a carton) and 2 teaspoons of sugar, and allow it to cook until the rhubarb softens to the consistency of a chunky jam.

while your rhubarb is sautéing, get 4 shortbread cookies into a ziploc bag and pound into a crumble, with a nice mix of fine and coarse pieces, this will be the topping for your sundae. when your rhubarb mixture is ready and still hot, scoop a tablespoon into the bottom of each sundae glass or bowl you are serving from. add 2 big, round scoops of creamy vanilla ice cream, a second dollop of rhubarb, the shortbread cookie crumble on top and a full shortbread cookie for garnish and scooping.

the rhubarb sauce is a nice mix of tart, tangy and citrusy, which is lovely with the cool creaminess of the ice cream and rich, buttery flavour from the shortbread -- the fact that they're so pretty is an absolute bonus. change things up by adding fresh strawberries or blackberries to the rhubarb mix or a tasty orange liqueur like grand marnier. shit son.

the anatomy of being.

{image via}

i hate seeing poetry in everything i touch.

i hate that i can no longer love you without turning you into a metaphor --

that it can never be simple as looking at you and saying...

yes. yes. yes.

--shinji moon.

the beauty in every day.

windy yawning and then playing shy.

in love with a quote from 'into the wild', a new favourite movie.

a stunning handtied bouquet of lupins from a very special friend.

ombre fleurs: my new desktop picture.

morning light on a dark day.

coffee & a good book on a perfect rainy day.

getting my bearings.

i currently feel like i have woken from a five year coma, to finally open my eyes and be told: 

"hey there sleeping beauty, nice to see you're awake! now go on and figure out your whole damn life. annnnnnd go."

like, the fuck?

today marks day one of this new phase in my life, and i'm not exactly sure how i feel about it. i've tricked part of me into thinking i'm only on vacation and will be going back to work in no time, while another part of me knows full well that these days are just the first lines of the first paragraphs sprawled across the first pages of this exciting chapter in my life. to be honest i have only had one severely dramatic/italian mental breakdown, and that was while minding my own business washing dishes one night last week. some of the wiring that holds my far-too-full brain together shorted, and i pretty much exploded all over the kitchen. paulie was lucky enough to be front and center for what i'm positive looked like a combination of an always entertaining over-performance by celine dion/how i sound when the sarah mclachlan spca commercial comes on and that effing 'in the arms of the angel' song of hers plays in the background and my tear ducts work overdrive until they threaten to dry out, shrivel up and fall off. so, rather than stress myself bald over what i don't know, i am going to focus on what i do know, and rejoice in the fact that i am not a complete and utter write off.

things i do know:

*a fresh pot of french pressed coffee first thing in the morning is worth the work.

*taking the pooch for a walk every afternoon makes her happy enough to in-turn make me happy enough.

*watering my plants has become a weird, guilty pleasure.

*writing "to-do" lists is key to feeling required.

*crossing off "to-do" lists is even more key.

*having supportive friends & family to lean on takes the worry and fear out of everything.

things i do not know:

*everything else. seriously, i know nothing else.