Liquid Happiness

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Kylie

Today The Boy and I ventured out of the cottage to Galco’s Old World Market, and it was pure delight. I could have spent hours wandering around looking at all the different sodas. Eventually we had to stop ourselves from picking out anymore, because we had so many in the cart already. Still, we walked away with a pretty good selection, including coffee soda, chocolate soda, and two different kinds of cream soda. The best part was the owner, featured in the video above, who walked around offering friendly suggestions. When I asked him if he had a favorite cream soda, he said “No!” the same way parents do when asked if they have a favorite kid. He then proceeded to walk me up and down the aisles explaining the differences between all the different creams the same way a sommelier might talk about fine wines. It was totally perfect, and thus far our selections have been superb.

Video courtesy of CHOW.com

Furthur and Father

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Kylie

One night, while I was home for Christmas, my dad and I trooped down into the basement to watch a 2005 Bruce Springsteen show in Spain, which my dad had on DVD. It was kind of a cool moment, not just because the show was excellent (it was), but also because it was just neat to sit in the basement with my dad and share something that he thought was really cool. So we struck a deal: if I brought him to a Furthur show, he’d bring me to see Springsteen. Well, two weeks ago I upheld my half of the bargain. The Boy and I flew home to take dad to his very first Furthur show (by the way, this will mark the fourth time that I have actually gotten on a plane to see these bozos play, and the sixth time I have traveled more than a hundred miles).

Would this be my number one favorite Furthur show of all time? Musically speaking, no. As I’ve said before, that’s kind of the delightful and frustrating thing about this music: you never know when lightning will strike. But I will never forget how cool it was to have my dad with me at a show. Of all the people we have introduced to this music, and there have been several, no one was as openminded or sincerely invested as my father. He showed up genuinely excited to participate in this thing The Boy and I are always running off to do. I think this speaks to one of my favorite things about my dad: he has always taken my thoughts, my opinions, and my values seriously. This music is something I really care about, so he wanted to see what it was all about, and I love him for that.

During the set break, my dad turned to me and asked, “So which one of you was a deadhead first?” And I had to say, “Both of us.” The Boy and I fell in love listening to Furthur and the Grateful Dead; you could almost call it the third wheel of our relationship. The very first time we heard Furthur play, we were sitting in camp chairs at a music festival, both completely immobilized by awe and wonder. He told me he loved me for the first time that night. The band played at the same festival again the following year, and that was the night The Boy proposed. I’ve never gone to a show without him, and even though I love this music with all my heart on my own, I’m not sure that I could. So more than anything else, that was the coolest part about sharing this with my dad. With the wedding less than three months away, I got to invite him into my relationship a little, and show him this magical thing that The Boy and I care about together.

UPDATE: My heart goes out to Bob Weir, that magnificent weirdo, in his recovery. Please stay with us, I’m not ready to let go of this music just yet.

The image at top is the sweet poster from Furthur’s Capitol Theatre show on April 20th, which is now rolled up in my closet. Photo courtesy of Furthur.

Brooklyn Cabin

Posted on March 27, 2013 by Kylie

Well isn’t this just delightful. A Brooklyn couple built a tiny, one-room cabin inside their apartment, and now they rent the place out on Airbnb. They call it a “one room bed and breakfast”. There’s also a lofted “treehouse” space, where the couple sleeps, which is also available for rent. How nice would it be to have your own little cabin to go home to after a long day exploring the city? The cabin comes highly-reviewed on Airbnb, by the way, and it’s a helluva lot cheaper than even a mediocre hotel.

In other news, wedding planning has swallowed me whole. Hey guys, turns out it’s pretty crazy to try to get married in under five months… who knew??

Pictures courtesy of Airbnb, first seen here.

Our Many Homes: The Brownstone

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Kylie

Another home, another city. I must be honest (and I know I’m going to catch a lot of flack for this): I hate New York. I know, I know, greatest city in the world, blah blah blah. But I’m skeptical. This Onion article kind of speaks to my heart. I mean, I know that New York is home to all kinds of amazing food, and hidden gems, and bizarre secrets. But somehow, whenever I visit, I get so distracted by the sheer number of people all in such close proximity to me. New York is not an ideal destination for someone with severe crowd anxiety, such as myself.

But maybe if I had my own home, my own respite from the strange smells and the hard pavement and the throngs of people, maybe New York and I could finally start the love affair I’ve always known we deserve. I’m thinking a spacious brownstone in Brooklyn, or perhaps this delightful neighborhood. It place would be all eclectic glamour, but nothing stuffy: a gorgeous but cozy place with a loft for reading and a giant kitchen where everyone could hang out and drink wine and laugh. Because the most alluring part of New York, for me anyway, is the fact that most of my friends live there. Living on the other side of the country, I miss them all terribly, and my imaginary Brownstone would be the perfect place setting for wild dinner parties and games of apples to apples and oh, the cheeseplates we would have.

More homes to come next week, but in the mean time be sure to check out my Pinterest for more dream pads.

Sources: 1, 2, 3

Our Many Homes: The Vermont Retreat

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Kylie

Part two! Today I’m all about the woodland retreat. Some converted barn up in Vermont with an open floor plan, 200 year old wood beams, and wide windows to look out across all our rolling acres of farm and forest. There will be a little writer’s shed in the back (like Roald Dahl!), where I can get away from The Boy for a couple of minutes. For whatever reason he seems to think that the two best times to start a conversation with me are 1) when I am reading or, 2) when I am writing.

We’ll come visit in fall, when the whole landscape is soaked with the blood of trees and the apples are ripe for picking. We’ll tap for maple syrup and eat pancakes until we burst. We’ll come visit in winter, and The Boy can go skiing while I curl up with my sheepskin blanket, my book, and my boozy hot cider. But my favorite season of all is summer. Summer in New England is magic. Sure, it’s oppressively hot and the humidity clings to your skin in a wet film. But the blackberries grow wild in the yard, the tomatoes hang heavy on the vine, and the fireflies flicker against the stars.

PS: How freaking rad is that pantry?

More homes tomorrow, but if you can’t wait until then you can always take a peek at my Pinterest.

Image sources, clockwise from left: 1, 2, 3

Our Many Homes: The LA Pad

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Kylie

I want so many things. I want to grow my own tomatoes. I want an entire closet for just my shoes. I want enough shoes to fit in said closet. I want my own land, land so big that I can stand on the back porch and hoot and holler and no one but the pigs will hear me. I want a home filled with love, and magic, and hidden nooks for curling up with books, and secrets waiting to be discovered. I want my purple house.

But here’s the thing: I have too many tastes, and ideas, and personalities just to fit in one home. I want a thousand homes, a million homes, a home in every port, a home for every mood. So this week, every day I’ll do a new post for each of my imaginary, one-day homes.

Today’s post is all about my dream pad in LA. Los Angeles is my home right now, but I think The Boy and I would eventually like to move north where there are more trees and fewer cockroaches. There are lots of things about LA that I could happily live without: the traffic, the trash and grime, and at least some of the people (the ones who gladly live up to every LA stereotype). But there’s plenty of stuff I love about LA, too: the sunshine, the funky neighborhoods, the thrift shopping, the tacos. I could never say goodbye to all that, not completely.

In my fantasies, my LA home is a bungalow up in the hills around Griffith Park. On warm summer nights, The Boy and I walk to concerts at the Greek Theatre. Inside is all mid-century glamour: lots of white with gold accents and pops of bright color. We’ll put on Motown records and dance around in front of our huge windows that look out across the city below while we drink whisky out of these moroccan lowball glasses.

Tune in tomorrow for more housing dreams, or check out my Pinterest for inspiration!

Image sources, clockwise from top left: 1, 2, 3

Three Things: To Go

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Kylie

Alright people, three more things! Today: To Go. I’ve had the travel itch real bad for a while now. Not sure if Pinterest makes that better or worse, all those lush photos of beautiful, strange places I’d like to know. So, with that in mind…

THREE THINGS: TO GO

1) Rainforest Canyon, Oneonta Gorge, Oregon. The Boy and I are making plans for our next trip, and we’re hoping to do a Pacific coast road trip next fall. Drive down twisting, winding roads atop terrifying bluffs overlooking that blue, blue vastness. Camp along the way to appreciate all that lovely, verdant wilderness. Oh, and eat at this restaurant. Look at all that fresh ricotta!

2) Val D’Orcia, Tuscany, Italy. Wine, wine, wine all day. Drink wine and play with goats on a small Italian farm… bliss.

3) Alaska. Tundra. Aurora Borealis. I recently wrote a short book on life in the Arctic and you might say I’m fascinated by the alien landscape, and the absolute wildness of that world.

So there you have it folks. The three places I’d go if I could close my eyes and wish myself away right this very instant. Check out the rest of my travel fantasies here, or follow all my boards on Pinterest.

California: I’ll Be Knockin’ On the Golden Door

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Kylie

Well what do you know, I finally got around to posting photos of The Boy’s trip to California! It was his first time in Los Angeles, so of course the firs thing we had to do was go to the beach. Actually, the first thing was tacos. But then the beach! Living in LA, there are many beach options, but I always choose to drive about an hour out of the city to Leo Carrillo. Not only is it a stunning beach (much cleaner than some of the closer ones) with caves (!), but the drive up there is pretty spectacular as well. You have to wind in and out of beautiful Malibu Canyon, and it’s actually pretty terrifying because it’s very narrow, and everyone drives so fast, and it’s a pretty long fall from the road to the bottom of the canyon. But that’s all the fun!

That’s my car! Isn’t she a cutie?

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The Places We’ll Go

Posted on June 1, 2012 by Kylie

When I first moved here I was so happy to be in this place of sunshine, of citrus, of ocean bluffs and electric lizards and silken poppies. And I would go out and I would climb among the rocks, and let the cold saltwater splash around my ankles, and drink coffee by myself at cafes with Spanish tiles. And I would close my eyes to the brilliant sun, still feeling the heat on my bare shoulders, and I would think, “I wish you were here.”

The truth is I’m no great explorer without you. My heart isn’t in it. I snap pictures, I drive miles and miles to see all these wonderful places so new to me. I drink wine by a waterfall in the setting sun and my heart swells with joy and gratitude, but… but only so much. It only gets halfway before I think, “I wish you were here.”

And now you are. You hold my hand, my shoes, my camera, help me balance while I climb from rock to rock. You snap pictures of me when you think I am not looking, you hang back, cautious, while I run into the water, you help pick a restaurant, and I think, “I’m so glad you are here.” I’m so glad to finally get to explore this place with you, and it makes me think of all the other places we will explore together one day.

We’ll rent a small cottage in the English countryside. It’s a bit drafty, but we drink lots of tea and wear thick woolen sweaters. I teach you how to ride a horse properly, and much hilarity ensues. It’s springtime, and it almost never stops raining, but we don’t mind. We slip on our big wellies and jump in the puddles. One day, early in the morning, the sun finally comes out just for a moment and I wake you up for a walk in the fragrant lavender.

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Greetings From The Best Coast!

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Kylie

Hey guys! I made it, I’m alive, and I’m back online! California is wonderful amazing, I’m so happy to be here and I can tell things are just going to get better and better. The sun is shining, my shoulders are burnt, and my apartment is so beautiful. I’ll be doing a full post on the apartment soon (I hope), but I can’t post any pictures until it looks exactly the way I want it to (this involves a mustard yellow suede headboard and 1940s writing desk, it’ll be worth the wait I promise.) Until then…

Loving these mid-century vintage shots of motels and roadside eateries. They remind me of the road trip passages in Lolita, which were always some of my favorite, most dog-earred parts of the book. Especially for a non-native, Nabokov’s descriptions of highway American landscape, of highway diners and motocourts are so lush, so meticulously detailed and spot on. And that’s because he culled them from his own time spent criss-crossing the country with his wife, collecting field research in entomology (collecting bugs! He was a great butterfly enthusiast among many other wonderful things). These photos can be found here, along with many other marvelous retro gems.

All photos found here, via.

The Purplest House

Category Archives: Travel