Thoughts On Life

To Paris, And Friends, With Thanks

November 25, 2015 by Leah Leave a Comment

There is a small Eiffel Tower that sits on our mantel, maybe 5 or 6 inches tall. One of my best friends and old college roommates was living in Europe, so the other roommate and I went over there to stay with her. We all went on a jaunt to Italy and then Ashley and I headed to Paris for two days of trying to squeeze in as much France-i-ness as we possibly could. It started with the Eiffel Tower, of course. We went all the way to the top and at a little gift shop up on a middle level, I bought a set of coasters with scenes of Paris and this tiny Eiffel Tower.

In all of our awkward 2007 glory…

I’ve never been much into French decor, but this token is one of the things I have that I treasure greatly because it brings back memories of an adventure, of the Louvre, staring tiny Mona Lisa right in those mysterious eyes, seeing Winged Victory for the first time at the top of a massive stone staircase, running past DaVinci and waving, hoping I’d come back to appreciate him more, of pastries and crepes and hot chocolates, of getting sneered at in a cafe because we couldn’t read the menu and, Heaven forbid, asked a question, of parks and flowers, and crossing a roundabout, nearly losing life and limb to see a fountain, of standing before the splendor of Notre Dame and sitting on old pews listening to the mass, getting a sore neck from staring transfixed at the rose window, of staying in a hotel room the size of a shoe box and having to squish against the wall every time we needed to pass each other. There was so much we still weren’t able to see, but I’ve always wanted to go back even though the city was dark, the buildings were covered in centuries of grime, and the people were a stark contrast to the open welcome we received in Italy. And yet, there is something about Paris that enchants, leaves a mark etched in your soul.

I’m so deeply saddened that a city of such beauty has endured such violence within its walls this year. I have nothing to say which hasn’t already been said, just a feeling of emptiness in my gut. The world is in a sad state and I often feel helpless as to what I can do about it, so I sit home and stew, getting angry at uncharitable people who feel we should turn everyone in need away from our borders, yet this accomplishes nothing. However, the season of thankfulness is upon us, so in spite of the horrors in our world, every one of us has the ability to look up and be thankful that we are alive, that we are here to experience what this earth has to give us, whether that be joy or sorrow.

Tomorrow we head to the mountains…from whence our help comes. Nature seems to be the best kind of solace, a balm for the wounds of humanity, opening its arms, arresting us with its beauty, and reminding us of how very small we are. I feel absolutely desperate to get away from here, to be in the middle of nowhere, to look out and see nothing but peaks for miles. We had decided to “opt outside” before it became a thing, and the idea of being away from civilization even for a small patch of time amidst days of frenzied consumerism, makes my lungs and heart feel less constricted and able to breathe easier. Weather/elevation permitting, we’ll be hiking a few trails along the AT where I will either die from happiness or a hungry bear or muscle fatigue…

Through everything the people in our lives make life worth living, connection with others, a brief word spoken in a hard time, a soft touch in a lonely place, and I could not be more thankful for the ones in ours. There are so many who I think about and haven’t seen in years, childhood friends, family members far away, people from church at home…who all at some point poured lovingly into my heart, and even into Rob’s heart too. You are noticed and loved more than you know! There is a young woman I grew up with who I still think of as being two years old, who is backpacking all over the place and figuring out her way in life. Another childhood friend who came out and lives proudly as the individual, beautiful person she is. Women from church whose words of wisdom still ring in my ears, whose loving hugs I can still feel around my arms. High school friends who have gorgeous children, who I used to sit next to in chorus or play volleyball with, who now have successful, fulfilling lives. Family members who live far away who we would kill to have dinner with once in a while. And of course, my best friends, scattered all over the country whose voices always sound like home.

Thank you for being perfectly you, for living so beautifully, and here’s to much joy on Thanksgiving and much happiness this season!!

Bruno Mars & Judy Collins: A Case Of Musical Era Whiplash

August 22, 2013 by Leah Leave a Comment

On Saturday I had the rare opportunity to go watch Bruno Mars and his band do a sound check. It was pretty awesome, I’m not gonna lie. They have “sound check parties” where they sing any song that isn’t a Bruno Mars song, so they took requests from the group. James Brown, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beyonce (won’t tell you who that was), they even nailed Bohemian Rhapsody. The band is incredible. The musicianship of these guys is ridiculous on so many levels. They wrote most of the songs on the album together, they play a show using no tracks. Bruno played several of the instruments on the album. They met years ago along the way and are a tight, cohesive band that would make any pop star green with envy. They answered a question from each person in our group and by the end of the sound check we were all completely smitten like a bunch of drugged puppies. We talked to one of the band members who co-wrote Treasure with Bruno. He told us the day they wrote the song he had sprained his ankle and was in tons of pain and had to run to the store to get a cane when Bruno called and said he wanted to write. Lesson learned: don’t pass up any opportunities that come your way. We were so impressed with not just the professionalism and musical caliber, but the kindness of everyone in the camp.

Rob and I went to the show that night which was fabulous. The entertainment factor was off the charts. There was video, pyro, lights, and lots of dancing. There were enough sweat-soaked, bulging muscles to make any woman pass out cold, and those guys made love to everything on that stage by the end of the night. All of that was great, but it was the singing that blew me away.

At one point in the night Rob asked me if I thought anyone would come to a show like this if it was just Bruno and the band onstage without all the technology and crazy lights. I can safely say I believe they would. I left that show and thought to myself, “Thank God I live in Nashville and can experience music like this.”

Which brings me to tonight. I left the house at 7:30 and walked to the Franklin Theatre where a true icon of the 60s was playing. Judy Collins: no fancy lights, no pyro, no video. Just her, a 12 string guitar, and a piano.

I was the youngest person in the place by at least 20 years, easy. This willowy woman walked onto the stage with long silvery hair flowing behind her, stood at the mic, opened her mouth, and enchanted every person in the room. She sang Both Sides Now, Joni Mitchell’s song that she sang over the phone to Judy before anyone knew her name. She told stories, they poured out of her. I don’t ever think I’ve been to a show where the artist talked so much, but this woman has so many stories inside of her, she can’t contain them all. She talked about New York in the 60s, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, all these songwriters she used to hang with. Her best line of the night was, “If you remember the 60s, you weren’t there.” She talked about getting drunk with friends (a lot) and hearing Dylan writing songs in the middle of the night after a party. She told stories, she sang snippets of songs, giving us just a taste of an old folk song, or just a sound byte of something her father sang to her when she was a girl…half the time she sang with nothing behind her, letting her voice carry the story.

During the second half of the show she sang folk songs on the piano that made your heart cry, she stood up and sang Send In The Clowns and I nearly wept from the beauty of it. Then she closed with Amazing Grace, no instruments, just that beautiful, melty voice, singing a hymn in the Bible belt, letting old ladies harmonize off key with her. My heart was inspired. I walked home through the humid summer evening so thick I practically swam through it, and once again, “Thank God I live here so I can experience music like this.”

I struggle sometimes with living here because so often I feel like a fish out of water, this place doesn’t always feel like home, but the blessings I have here, the dreams that have come true for me in unexpected ways, remind me that this is where I’m supposed to be. I miss the water most. I miss standing and looking out at the waves and feeling small, overwhelmed by the utter beauty of it. I felt that same feeling when I was in the Rocky Mountains last month. And every time I go to a concert, that feeling comes over me in the same way. I’m a beauty junkie. Music, scenery, flowers, lovely things touch my soul. I think God gives me these moments because he knows I can only survive so long without them. So even though my heart is where the ocean is, my heart is also where music is, and music is here.

Making Ravioli: Because Italians Should Know How

June 17, 2013 by Leah Leave a Comment

So, I’m Italian. People are never sure. Here in the south, some are easily confused by anyone who isn’t blonde with blue-eyes, so I hear a lot of things. Are you: Greek, Egyptian, Spanish, Mexican, Arab…? Or my favorite, “Where are you from?” New York. “Yes, but where are you from?” It’s a major pet peeve of mine. Home on Long Island, this never happens. I blend in with the rest of the Italian population, and if someone’s blonde, people assume it’s not natural. When I went to Italy several years ago, my identity crisis came to an end. I looked like EVERYONE else and it was amazing, that sense of not being out of place. The people were so much fun, I mean, they had exuberant joy and smiled and said “Ciao, bella!” and gave us free wine and pasta. Ah, pasta. Which brings us to today. Being Italian, it seems wrong to not at least try making my own pasta every now and then, and let me tell you, it has been a blast.

There is a man named Bill who I met in Italian class. The recipe that I used for Asparagus Ravioli is his, which you can also learn how to make if you attend one of his classes. Bill is going to Italy for the month of July to teach Americans how to cook. That’s right, an American is going over to Italy to teach other Americans how to cook Italian food. Following this stint of bliss in Tuscany, Bill will return to Franklin and begin teaching cooking classes to us non-Mediterranean locals under the moniker of “The Cook.” His first class will take place on August 10th at Stoney Creek Farm in Franklin, TN. For more information on upcoming classes, you can email Bill at [email protected].

To get started I mixed some flour, semolina, and salt to make a well for some eggs which would all be blended to form the dough for the pasta.

Ok, so the well was a little shallow, but we fixed it.

Rob helped me out. We had a blast! It was a party with some whiskey and ginger to help things along.

While the dough sat in the fridge for a while getting all gluten-y, we prepared the filling, which consisted of asparagus, onion, ricotta, other Italian cheeses, and some nutmeg.

Tools on hand included a ravioli maker and a lovely pink Kitchenaid mixer with a pasta roller attached. Ladies, this is why you get all the appliances before you get married.

I was terribly excited to realize that the pasta attachments for the Kitchenaid mixers are made in Italy! I mean, why not go to the experts when creating a product? The dough goes through the rollers to form thin sheets which serve as the top and bottom layers of the ravioli.

The filling was added to a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off for easy filling of the little cheese wells.

Another sheet of pasta was added to the top of the filled ravioli. Here you can see manly Rob expertly using the pretty pink Kitchenaid.

The top layer is added and a rolling pin is used to press the dough into the mold to form the shape of the ravioli.

This is what we ended up with. Don’t they look professional?!

We made a simple butter-cream sauce with the remaining asparagus spears and boiled the pasta for about 5 minutes until it was tender.

Buon appetite! These were absolutely delicious in every way. When we were finished Rob looked down at his plate forlornly and said, “I’m so sad that’s over.” Me too. Until the next pasta adventure…

Shoe Talk: Tieks By Gavrieli Replacement Pair Review

May 29, 2013 by Leah 2 Comments

So today I got my second pair of Tieks in the mail. They are technically my first. Remember when I was so excited about my Romantic Blush Tieks back in April? Read about that here. Well, something went wrong. After only a few days of wearing the shoes, the silver pieces which made the leather resemble snakeskin started to flake and peel off on the back of one of the shoes. They were beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but with a price tag of $265, this had to be a defect, right?

So I contacted Tieks. They requested pictures. I sent pictures. They couldn’t tell what I was talking about from the pictures. They requested I send the shoes back. I sent the shoes back. Cricket cricket. I checked in on the shoes. The “leather experts” were looking at them. Cricket cricket. I checked in on the shoes again. They couldn’t figure out why that had happened to the shoes and they don’t normally take worn shoes back, but they would make an exception in my case, however, due to the nature of the problem, they said it might happen again (???) and I was advised to choose another type of leather. While this was disappointing because I really loved the color I’d originally picked, I went with my second choice of Starstruck. Cricket cricket. I checked in on the shoes again. They requested my address…which I thought they might have from the original order. I sent my address. The shoes were shipped pronto and I received them today…a month and a half later.

I have to say that once again I am in love with the shoes. They are bright and shiny and sparkly and I love bright, shiny, sparkly things!

Here they are on my nasty suntanned, mosquito-bitten feet. Thanks, garden.

It’s hard to see, but there are tones of blue purple and green in with the gold. They are quite lovely and should go with everything.

I just really hope the shoes hold up. Tieks is what I consider to be a luxury brand and the quality of the products needs to convey that. I also believe the customer service needs to be top notch when you are selling products with this kind of price tag and have references from famous people on your page. In this area I think the company can improve, but overall I am pleased that they sent another pair.

I really believe in consumer advocacy. If you love a company, let them know, tell them what you think is awesome about what they do. If you think a company has room for improvement, or you are displeased with a product, also let them know and give them the chance to make good on it. The more you respectfully make your voice heard, the better experience you’ll have in the future as a consumer.

For now, I’m just glad to have these pretty shoes back on my feet!

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