many happy returns (is love alive?)
Well, I've had a lovely birthday.
It was quiet and rained all day; this has not happened since my fifteenth. I woke far too early (sleep has not been particularly normal lately), and was too sleepy to get up and too awake to sleep, so listened to quiet music for several hours (Ólafur Arnalds, Linford Detweiler, Martha Tilston & the Woods) with a little calico kitten curled up at my side until the sun finally glimmered a little through the gauze of clouds and I sat up and fetched Anna's parcel and a knife. (And by "knife", I mean "this odd little metal thing that's pointy on one end and blunt and rounded on the other and is ostensibly for keeping one's nails tidy somehow only I have no idea how it works or what it even does so mostly it's used to peel wax off the desk".) I love packages that are all sorts of little wonderful things -- she sent elegant monogrammed notecards, and bath products from Lush (!!! one is up-waking and the other is sleep-inducing), and a dear little tin and quirky 1920s-y earrings and the most beautiful soft elegant knit shawl, which happened to go perfectly with the casual steampunk attire I celebrated my birthday in.
(the boots, which I bought for twelve dollars at Plato's Closet in Anchorage with Kyra,
have buckles on the sides, which apparently you can't see here. & yes, that's my yard; I'm at the right side of the house.)
(I am also still expecting a package from my grandparents and a small one from
lady_moriel. I love packages!)
When at last I ventured downstairs, I discovered that my father had purchased my favourite Entenmann's coffee cake and some strawberries and left them at my place at the table. ♥ And Mum had already bought me bacon; so I had a delightful breakfast sitting on my trunk looking out the window and reading my pretty vintage paperback of Madeleine L'Engle's Walking on Water. The world flowed in a sweet, quiet, gentle pattern -- I never did picnic under the apple tree, because it was pouring rain, but I did get on my bicycle to fetch a baguette for my lunch (with sharp cheddar and more bacon), and sat on the back steps eating and reading The Perilous Gard.
There was quite a lot of quiet reading and consuming of delicious foodstuffs; Leandra and I danced around my bedroom to Rupa & the April Fishes, Benny Goodman, the Paper Raincoat, and Abigail Washburn; I streamed Penelope from Netflix (film: adorable; quality of stream: GHASTLY -- do you want to drive people to piracy, Netflix?; and James McAvoy = GUH. especially in a long stripey jacket. and a hat. and a lovely scarf. oh dear. I am quite sure I was simpering rather shamefully.), and later there was a thunderstorm, exactly what I ordered!; although the few -- very intense and lightingy -- bursts of thunder were gone fairly soon, there were torrents of rain and it was dark and weird outside so I took the iPod and our nicest umbrella and wandered about in my boots and ended up dancing on the sidewalk. Earlier, I sat cosily on the sofa and enjoyed being around people while Mum made me calzones for dinner, and a chocolate cake. At dinner, everyone sang, Dad and Timmy were sufficiently juvenile male persons and made weird noises; Leandra was patently adorable; Willowkitten tried to eat cake. The cake had M&Ms on top and there was ice cream with Junior Mints in, hurrah! (For the Tea there shall be a more elegant-looking cake with layers and fancy icing or something.)
(this is mostly to show off that I have a) purple streaks in my hair, and b) a completely fabulous
vintage bicycle pendant. the purple is purplier in person but I think I shall leave it in longer
next time and do some more visible stripes.)
Presents: Hockman's chocolates from Heidi; a wonderful set of blank cards + pen + envelopes + tiny notebook with adorable houndstooth patterns and vintage-fashion illustrations, all in a cloth-covered basket from Timmy; from Mum, the dearest knit owl pillow, a decorative thingummy saying "hope", and a pair of vintage postcards, one displaying the Public Library in Lynn, Massachusetts -- this was the town in which we lived in Massachusetts! I knew and loved that library! -- and the other showing the street down the block from here over a hundred years ago. The postmarks are dated 1909 and 1906, and they have mysterious notes to long-dead strangers and I love them. Dad's present was supposed to come yesterday, but managed somehow to get delivered to our old house a mile away; fortunately the Meholicks live there again instead of some strangers who mightn't know who to call. So it was delivered (along with Becca Meholick who had a playdate with Heidi) this evening, and I waited for Dad to come home from work to open it -- and was delightfully shocked to find that it was this magnificent comfortor set! My mother got me a lovely quilt a few birthdays ago, but then I got a larger bed, and it didn't fit; and it's started to get a little aged. I wanted something dramatic and quirky and sophisticated and me and had put this one up on my Kaboodle list as an example -- I love this kind of Victorian print -- but didn't think anyone would actually buy it for me. It's reversible, black-with-white on one side and white-with-black on the other, and trimmed in fuschia, and the pillow shams (also reversible) have little pink ball-tassle things on the ends and I love it. My entire bedroom looks magnificenter now.
I must thank you all for your wonderful well-wishing, especially wanderlight for the warm blanket, rainy window mix (I cannot stop listening to "Winter Song"; it is heart-achingly beautiful), and suangelita, who wrote me historical Slayer Buffy fic! You all are wondrous and I am blessed to know you.
(And now to bed! And now to bed!!)
It was quiet and rained all day; this has not happened since my fifteenth. I woke far too early (sleep has not been particularly normal lately), and was too sleepy to get up and too awake to sleep, so listened to quiet music for several hours (Ólafur Arnalds, Linford Detweiler, Martha Tilston & the Woods) with a little calico kitten curled up at my side until the sun finally glimmered a little through the gauze of clouds and I sat up and fetched Anna's parcel and a knife. (And by "knife", I mean "this odd little metal thing that's pointy on one end and blunt and rounded on the other and is ostensibly for keeping one's nails tidy somehow only I have no idea how it works or what it even does so mostly it's used to peel wax off the desk".) I love packages that are all sorts of little wonderful things -- she sent elegant monogrammed notecards, and bath products from Lush (!!! one is up-waking and the other is sleep-inducing), and a dear little tin and quirky 1920s-y earrings and the most beautiful soft elegant knit shawl, which happened to go perfectly with the casual steampunk attire I celebrated my birthday in.
(the boots, which I bought for twelve dollars at Plato's Closet in Anchorage with Kyra,
have buckles on the sides, which apparently you can't see here. & yes, that's my yard; I'm at the right side of the house.)
(I am also still expecting a package from my grandparents and a small one from
lady_moriel. I love packages!)
When at last I ventured downstairs, I discovered that my father had purchased my favourite Entenmann's coffee cake and some strawberries and left them at my place at the table. ♥ And Mum had already bought me bacon; so I had a delightful breakfast sitting on my trunk looking out the window and reading my pretty vintage paperback of Madeleine L'Engle's Walking on Water. The world flowed in a sweet, quiet, gentle pattern -- I never did picnic under the apple tree, because it was pouring rain, but I did get on my bicycle to fetch a baguette for my lunch (with sharp cheddar and more bacon), and sat on the back steps eating and reading The Perilous Gard.
There was quite a lot of quiet reading and consuming of delicious foodstuffs; Leandra and I danced around my bedroom to Rupa & the April Fishes, Benny Goodman, the Paper Raincoat, and Abigail Washburn; I streamed Penelope from Netflix (film: adorable; quality of stream: GHASTLY -- do you want to drive people to piracy, Netflix?; and James McAvoy = GUH. especially in a long stripey jacket. and a hat. and a lovely scarf. oh dear. I am quite sure I was simpering rather shamefully.), and later there was a thunderstorm, exactly what I ordered!; although the few -- very intense and lightingy -- bursts of thunder were gone fairly soon, there were torrents of rain and it was dark and weird outside so I took the iPod and our nicest umbrella and wandered about in my boots and ended up dancing on the sidewalk. Earlier, I sat cosily on the sofa and enjoyed being around people while Mum made me calzones for dinner, and a chocolate cake. At dinner, everyone sang, Dad and Timmy were sufficiently juvenile male persons and made weird noises; Leandra was patently adorable; Willowkitten tried to eat cake. The cake had M&Ms on top and there was ice cream with Junior Mints in, hurrah! (For the Tea there shall be a more elegant-looking cake with layers and fancy icing or something.)
(this is mostly to show off that I have a) purple streaks in my hair, and b) a completely fabulous
vintage bicycle pendant. the purple is purplier in person but I think I shall leave it in longer
next time and do some more visible stripes.)
Presents: Hockman's chocolates from Heidi; a wonderful set of blank cards + pen + envelopes + tiny notebook with adorable houndstooth patterns and vintage-fashion illustrations, all in a cloth-covered basket from Timmy; from Mum, the dearest knit owl pillow, a decorative thingummy saying "hope", and a pair of vintage postcards, one displaying the Public Library in Lynn, Massachusetts -- this was the town in which we lived in Massachusetts! I knew and loved that library! -- and the other showing the street down the block from here over a hundred years ago. The postmarks are dated 1909 and 1906, and they have mysterious notes to long-dead strangers and I love them. Dad's present was supposed to come yesterday, but managed somehow to get delivered to our old house a mile away; fortunately the Meholicks live there again instead of some strangers who mightn't know who to call. So it was delivered (along with Becca Meholick who had a playdate with Heidi) this evening, and I waited for Dad to come home from work to open it -- and was delightfully shocked to find that it was this magnificent comfortor set! My mother got me a lovely quilt a few birthdays ago, but then I got a larger bed, and it didn't fit; and it's started to get a little aged. I wanted something dramatic and quirky and sophisticated and me and had put this one up on my Kaboodle list as an example -- I love this kind of Victorian print -- but didn't think anyone would actually buy it for me. It's reversible, black-with-white on one side and white-with-black on the other, and trimmed in fuschia, and the pillow shams (also reversible) have little pink ball-tassle things on the ends and I love it. My entire bedroom looks magnificenter now.
I must thank you all for your wonderful well-wishing, especially wanderlight for the warm blanket, rainy window mix (I cannot stop listening to "Winter Song"; it is heart-achingly beautiful), and suangelita, who wrote me historical Slayer Buffy fic! You all are wondrous and I am blessed to know you.
(And now to bed! And now to bed!!)