March 4, 2006

• Today might as well have been May, except the daffodils were in bloom.  It was 60 degrees and people were out romping through the city.  I know because I drove around snooping.  I checked out people’s gardens, their porches, the back streets and the cool new shops. 

  
  

  Let me back up, though, because what set the tone for this marvelous day was my new favorite place, THE SAUNA.  Good things happen in there:).  Maybe it’s the herbs.  All I know is that when I drove off I was wearing my new pearls and a smile.  You’ll never guess where I got the pearls.  Rite Aid, of all places.  Pierced, drop earrings to match, with a reasonable clasp and a pop-bead sized elastic necklace which looked every bit as nice as the expensive one the over-dressed woman in the bakery was wearing. 

  
  

  I love finding new places and when I spied a salon on one corner and a garden shop on the next I went around the block and took a closer look.  That’s when I heard the music and promptly parked the car.  Setting out on foot I tried to find the entrance to what sounded like a Brazilian bar.  The gate said “Use the south entrance,” and when I peered through the slats in the fence I saw a pony-tailed Argentinian surrounded by exotic plants.  Now I REALLY wanted in.  But there was no entrance.  The next building south was the salon.  So I gave up and checked out the garden shop.

  
  

  It was next door to a nursery and after a cursory glance I decided I had enough plants.  The shop was a walk into the past.  It smelled and sounded and even looked like my friend, Rachel’s, first house.  Big potted plants, the same music in the background, lots of books around, and that special smell; old but interesting. 

  
  

  The friendly young people back at the nursery had just been to Crema, the bakery across the street.  It looked inviting with a whole panel of windows pulled open.  I walked back along the fence but the young man with the big nose was gone and so was the music.  The coffee shop/bakery was packed and I could see why.  Hmmm, I couldn’t decide between the little lemon tart with blueberries or the big wedge of chocolate mocha bread.  I ordered an 8 oz, 1 shot Americano and the bread.  And I got the last table.

  
  

  My next stop was an intriguing boutique which reminded me of one I’d seen in LA.  The  difference being that I suspect the contents of this store had belonged to the sheepish young woman sitting in the back of her closet.  All the clothes were the same size and slightly used looking and everything was overpriced.  What nerve. 

  
  

  I got back in my car and mosied (sp?)on home, full and happy.  So many cute houses along the way with fetching gardens I had to pull over to get a better look at.  But when I turned into my driveway I liked mine better.  The garden shop inspired me to make a bouquet, I have exactly one bush in bloom.  I got out the wedding present my dad got us(with love instead of resentment I might add), a ceramic pitcher from the Contemporary Crafts Gallery.  I stuffed it with these dramatic, drooping plumes which smell like paper whites.  Then I dug out my favorite old piano music and cleaned the kitchen ’til it shone.  My world is a beautiful place.

  • 11:17 pm
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