La Bella Vita

Well, since this bipolar weather has given me an extra thirty minutes before I have to brave possible ice and Dallas' terrible drivers who faint at the sight of a snowflake and run their cars off the road, I decided to take advantage and update my poor little neglected blog. My goal in 2014 is to post twice a month, and obviously I am 0-for-2 so far, so we'll see if I can do better in March. Hold me accountable, readers of the internet! 

It's hard to believe, as I sit in a suburb of Dallas, TX, that just five years ago at this time I was roaming around Europe. I believe it was about this time that I was in Rome, which is one of my favorite cities. There are many people who don't share my love of La Citta Eterna, but I love the mix of ancient history, recent history, and the modern. (It didn't hurt that we spent the evening with an entire Australian rugby team in a bar in Piazza del Fiore, either). 

But I digress. When I first decided to study abroad in Italy, it was mainly because I didn't know when I'd have the chance to go to Europe again, and I didn't want to miss out. Florence was my city of choice because I could go to school without a two-year language requirement. I didn't think through who I would meet or befriend or where I would live or what I would do on the weekends... I just took a leap and figured it would all work out. This kind of behavior is very uncharacteristic for me, but in retrospect I'm so glad that I made the choice I did. Italy, for me, is not just that place I spent six months in college. Florence is my home, though not the home I was born into. Florence is the home I chose. 

Three women I didn't know before we moved into a beautiful apartment hidden behind a tiny door that looked like it led to a broom closet became my surrogate sisters. I learned to love running down the Fiume d'Arno to La Cascine and back, or across the river and up the steep steps to Piazzale Michangelo. I wandered the Giardino di Boboli on sunny afternoons thanks to my awesome museum pass that let me into all the museums for free, ordered the most delicious sandwiches on earth from the hole-in-the-wall (literally) restaurant I Fratellini, spent my weekends jumping on trains and heading out on another adventure. The count of countries I've visited expanded exponentially that spring, each one leaving a mark on my heart. But Italy is special. From sunning on the beach, sipping limoncello, and a very expensive cab ride in Positano to hiking the cliffs of Cinque Terre with the man I would later marry, Italy is part of me, the best six months of my life. I feel it's only fitting that I should pay homage to that time, five years down the road when so much is different. 

There are places that change you forever, and Florence will always be that for me. It's a thin place, a place where the sacred and the everyday collide on a regular basis. There were moments when I would walk down the street, breathe in the strange air and feel overwhelmed by how fortunate I was to exist in such a place. And it did change me. Without that time on the other side of the Atlantic, I wouldn't be a runner, I wouldn't be a vegetarian (ironically), I wouldn't be endlessly seeking ways to get myself back on a plane and back to the other side of the world. I will always be grateful for late nights walking home with friends, for the secret bakery it took us three months to find, the carousel in Piazza della Reppublica that we rode on one of our final nights, and the dance club at the park that didn't open until right before we left and was completely worth the wait. Italy is about food, so of course I'm thankful for membories of the balsamic vinegar at Il Gatto e La Volpe, the burrata at La Giostra, a beautiful lunch with great wine in the hillside of Tuscany. Once we took about an eight-mile walk (didn't know it was so far) up to the hills above Florence to see the city. My feet were sore, but my heart was happy as we saw the country spread out below us. 

When you live somewhere, it's different than when you visit. Visiting means you have to rush around and see all the important stuff before you leave. But living in a place means you get to take your time, slow down, appreciate the ordinary pieces of how other people live their lives differently than you, the rhythm of their coming and going, pausing at the cafe for a cappuccino, bartering at the market. It's a whole different world, and you learn to be humble, learning, observing, asking questions and finding out that people really like sharing their culture and way of life with those who are willing to engage with them. Those months, days, hours are marked in my heart forever, and I'll always be searching for a way to bring that feeling back to my life. 

Plus, I got a great leather jacket. 

Refresh

Well, if you're a person who reads my blog regularly.... you might be confused, because things look a little different around here. I've been wanting to give my blog a refresh for a while now - mainly to remind myself to keep writing in it and give myself a little bit of direction. I've decided to rechristen it as well (you may have noticed).

"Urban/Suburban" is an expression of my life at the moment. I'm a city girl, born and raised, but I still love my cowboy boots and campfires. Our recent move has relocated the hubby and I to the suburbs, where I am having some minor urban withdrawals... by which I mean, trying to get down to the city whenever possible like the crazy person I am. As one does. I feel like my life is straddling two different worlds. I am an urban girl with a job and a 401k, but I'm also a suburban wife who cooks dinner and repaints furniture (post to come when the job is completely complete). I am both city and country, I can review spreadsheets and bake bread in the same day, and I want to celebrate it. I hope you're ready to come along for the ride!

I don't have any fun suburb living stories for you today (none with pictures), so instead, I will leave you with a list of what I'm loving right now:

1. Trader Joe's oatmeal cranberry dunkers (always, always).
2. The sound of cicadas. I'll hate it by August, but every time I step outside and hear them buzzing, it just reminds me how great it is to live in the South.
3. Circuit workouts
4. Temporary wallpaper - we just hung it up in our kitchen (a two day feat) and it makes such a huge difference. There are no words. Pictures to come.
5.  Evil eyes on jewelry. Don't know why. Just love it.
6. The idea of starting my own compost. Hmmm.... maybe soon.


Have a great weekend!

Home

       

Today I am composing a post from the air, having just returned from a reunion with some amazing friends in Portland. I learned that Oregon has great food, great wine, and lots of people in plaid and beanies.

As I travel, I always find myself pondering the concept of home. I know many people have one place they always define as 'home', whether or not they live there. Some people find themselves checking the weather in another part of the country even when they're gone, feeling like a trip to a certain airport is a flight home - even if its just a one hour layover. Home is deeply embedded in them, the one place that feels like a favorite sweatshirt, comfortable and familiar, a place where you can pick up right where you left off even if years go by in the interim between visits.

I think I relate to this on some level. Dallas is my hometown - where I live, where I was raised, a home base during the rootless years of college where everyone exists in constant flux. I am used to the highways, the summer heat. I know where the good restaurants are and how to find parking in the lot at North Park Mall. But I think for me, 'home' is a more complicated concept than one city. I find that pieces of certain places break off and embed themselves into my soul, that 'home' is not just Dallas but an amalgamation of a dozen places and times, a ball of longing in my heart. It's not always places I've lived, or visited for long. There are some places I feel are distinctly not home, where I don't belong. But others speak to me, they feel like something I've been missing and have now found.

Florence, of course, where I lived for an idyllic five months, is one. I know where the supermarket is, I know how to pick the right train and talk to the cashier at the caffe and where I can get the best food in the city, from the restaurant on the quiet back street with no name posted, just a sign with a joker dancing on it. Whenever I see photos from someone else's trip, my heart hurts with the longing to walk those streets and taste that wine and breathe the air that smells like garlic and history and life. Boston is another of these places. I haven't visited often, but my parents lived there after they first married. In a way, that makes it feel like I belong there on some level too. I love to walk to downtown, to take the train to Cambridge, to see the swan boats in the Boston Commons. The feeling of the city is so me, quiet and yet energized, like you're stepping into something sacred in the heart of where America was conceived. And Norman, of course, where I went to school for three years, a quiet college town with the best sushi I've ever had - no joke. A surprising underground hipster scene, an annual renaissance fair, the best football experience the NCAA has to offer (no, I am not accepting counter arguments).

There are others as well - Dublin, Paris, Beijing, Chattanooga, Austin - places where I have family, places I have heritage, places that sing to me, all a part of me. Each is home in its own way, a place where I belong. I hope that heaven is all of them in one and more, a brilliant mix of all the things I love, all the rightness, all the joy. Home is people I love, of course, but home is also where my heart feels right, content, at peace. I belong in more than one place. And my spirit can't wait to discover them all, traveling this world, fitting pieces of the puzzle together, building a picture of my heart out of tiny fragments of this beautiful world.

Prof

If you live in Dallas, you might have heard a loud growl and clap of thunder this morning around 5:30 am. You may have seen a bright flash of lightning accompanying the thunder. It was the only thunder anyone heard all morning, and you can think whatever you want about that. My family and I have already decided it was the sound of one of God's warriors going home at last. 

I haven't blogged in a while, and I'm not quite sure why - I think of ideas that I plan to write about, but I can never fully commit. Maybe my everyday life doesn't move me to eloquence - maybe it should, but it doesn't. But grief is a powerful motivator, and this time, I might actually hit the publish button. This morning (around 5:30 am, if you haven't guessed), my grandfather Howard "Prof" Hendricks left this world and met his Savior face to face. As my aunt said, "Heaven has expanded a little, but here, we are diminished by that much more."

My grandfather was a giant of a man, a theologian, who lived and loved to teach and to powerfully expound upon the glorious mysteries of the word of God. He was not in his element playing with young grandchildren, and my deepest sadness in this is that I enjoyed so little time with him during my adult years, when it would have been possible to sit at the feet of a scholar beloved by so many and discuss with him both the vital importance of God's word and the prospects of the Cowboys' season with [near] equal passion. In some ways, I feel like the students and alumni of Dallas Theological Seminary have a better frame of reference for Granddaddy and what his life was about than I.

But as I began to think about it, it occurred to me how many mentors and counselors and teachers I have been blessed with in my time. A middle school bible study leader, a host of college students at camp during my adolescence and then leaders, some of them wise theologians in their own right, while working at camp during college. Pastors and group leaders, in different stages of learning. And then it struck me. My middle school leader had gone to DTS, and taken Prof's classes. My pastors, my group leaders, many of them have benefited from the wisdom of Living by the Book or Teaching to Change Lives. My husband and I received premarital counseling from another of Prof's students and colleagues, sitting in his former office at DTS. And then there is Pine Cove, where I spent many hours of joy, pain, brokenness and healing, where I first claimed Jesus as my Lord. It was first conceived and prayed over in the 1960s by four men in a boat - one of whom was my grandfather. Despite having never entered one of his seminary classes at all, my life and faith has nonetheless been profoundly and utterly impacted by the work of my grandfather and his faithful service to the King.

I have heard that Granddaddy said that you will never understand what it means to live a fulfilled life until you have changed someone else's. Clearly, he changed the lives of many - including mine. He didn't come from privilege, or a loving home of faith - and yet God used him in ways that will echo for decades and centuries to come. I am struck by this, and I wonder: who will be impacted by my life in such a way? If anything, the life of Howard Hendricks - even as it ends - spurs me to act, to do things that matter and stop wasting time, as we have no time to waste. I do not want to look back and find that I have lived a life that mattered little. It is my prayer that we might all love Jesus as deeply as my granddad did, and because of that love, go forth and impact someone else's life.

Granddaddy, you were - and are - dearly loved, and you will be deeply missed. Thank you for the echoes you have left behind on so many hearts. Hallelujah, we will meet again.

getaway

Wow... it's been a while since I blogged. Weird how life gets so busy. I actually kept promising myself I was going to blog in the evening - but then, I had to run errands or go workout or go to events or see my fiance, or the internet at my place wasn't working properly - and I just never got around to it. So, if you spend your days hanging onto my every word, I apologize for disappointing you for almost a month.

It has been quite a summer so far. I don't remember my summers in childhood being this busy or stressful - maybe they were for my parents, I don't know. It's nice to have a lot of things to keep me occupied, but sometimes I think I wouldn't mind getting home at 5:30 and just doing nothing for a few hours. Wedding planning is coming along - things keep coming up that I forgot about, but we're dealing with it. I had a nightmare earlier in the month that it was the day before the wedding and I realized I never ordered invitations - but in real life I ordered them last weekend, so hopefully that prediction won't come true. This summer has really seen a lot of change - I feel like half my friends are moving away from Dallas, which is so sad, but they are all going to take on exciting new challenges in their new homes, which is awesome for them. And of course, I'm finally started to get settled in the new place, although the decor is half-finished and looks super weird right now. The cat is (hopefully? tentatively?) making his first solo run into the great outdoors this weekend, and I am gathering a large collection of kitchen appliances in much better condition than what I currently own, thanks to Jonathan's and my generous and wonderful friends and family members.

I was able to go to Fredericksburg with the boy and his parents over the first weekend of July. That was so fun because I love being down there, and he got to see the place we're getting married for the first time (obviously he loved it)! They actually gave us a tour of the winery - super cool. I wish I was rich so I could start a vineyard.

at Becker Vineyards with my handsome fiance

Another highlight was the fresh peaches from the Texas Hill Country (the best) - although we had some really nasty peach "ice cream" basically tasted like frozen half and half with some peach chunks in it. Not good. But the peaches themselves were AWESOME. I love stone fruit in the summer. It just feels so right.

peachy goodness.

We stayed in a big ranch house out away from town. It was so quiet and peaceful - the property had longhorns roaming around on it, not to mention deer and antelope. The next door neighbor had peacocks roaming around too - talk about weird birds. My favorite wildlife were the hummingbirds. I love them so much. I never knew Texas had a hummingbird population (because I always associate them with trips to Colorado) so I was really excited to see hummingbird feeders on the porch.

and the sunsets were great.

I love those short weekend trips you can take in the summer. It's just so nice to get away and enjoy time with the people you love. Even though I spent a large part of my weekend running around doing wedding things, I still loved having the chance to get away from Dallas and chill. When you get up before 8 am pretty much every day, even being able to sleep for an extra hour is a huge blessing.

So if anyone feels like turning to me for advice in a time of need/stress/what have you, here's mine: go away. Just grab a friend (take me!) and go somewhere scenic, and detox for a few hours, a few days, whatever you've got available. It's those moments that make summer so great.

And for the love of God, eat a fresh peach.

PS this is the fruit pizza I made for the 4th of July. It's my favorite holiday. It was DELICIOUS.

Yum. America.

Inspiration Station

It's been sort of a while since I blogged - I literally did not know that life could be so busy and so many things could take place all at once. Since a large percentage of that is self imposed, I will stop there and not complain about my life this time.

Lately, I've been feeling very restless - ironic, since I'm so busy, no? And yet. It's like I live in reality, which is full of work and meetings and working out and e-mails and cleaning and dealing with Mr. Bratty Cat, who does not get that he needs a rabies shot before he can go roam outside and the vet is only open at weird times and I didn't have the energy to take him last weekend. But there's like this other world, almost, which is so close I can taste it - and it's full of mountains and oceans and swimming and hiking and snow cones and long lazy days where I make salads full of deliciousness and eat them with crusty bread and good wine and homemade ice cream and a lot of friends. I blame Pinterest for this vision of life. Pinterest, and professional bloggers. You guys stink. But I love you. But seriously, your lives are unfairly awesome and the rest of us are jealous.

Anyway... even though I may have to content myself with merely wishing I was a lot cooler than I am, all this pinning and reading other people's blogs has made me feel quite inspired, and therefore I am going to share with you an unnecessarily long list of the things that inspire me today, and perhaps someone out there will also feel inspired and go do something with it that is devastatingly chic. So here you go!

Kristin's Nuggets of Inspiration:

1. Snow cones with frozen yogurt swirled in. TC's Shaved Ice, Dallas folks. Get into it.

2. Swimming in the ocean. Or in a pool. Just - swimming.

3. Industrial-style furniture and decor. I am dying over this bookcase.

via Home Decorators. Please come live with me.

4. Fresh berries that you just wash and eat straight up.

5. Art Deco jewelry - I should probably buy these earrings because I have been lusting after them for months, literally.

House of Harlow earrings from The Trend Boutique.

6. Antlers. I know that sounds weird. It's cool. I just love the organic shapes and the geometry of them. I don't want to kill deer.

7. Ice cream. Homemade. Sundaes. Whatever. Always.

8. Colored denim (me and everyone else in the world, right?)

9. Chambray and white.

10. Chevrons. I. AM. OBSESSED.

This online retailer sells decals for your walls. Obviously I want these.

11. Maps.

12. Chalkboards and/or surfaces covered in chalkboard paint.

13. French, anything and everything. J'adore, oui?

14. Horizontal nautical stripes. I cannot wear Breton stripes (thanks, genetics) and it makes me so mad! But still, I love it.

via Refinery29. Check the bag, y'all.

15. Biking. I have a mad urge to bike to work. Of course, it's 106 outside and we don't have a shower here... but nonetheless.

16. Superfoods... chia, matcha, flax, etc.

17. Lemon flavored things.

18. Flavored coffee... creme brulee and southern pecan are my current favorites. Central Market, get there!

19. Yoga inversions. Crow pose and a headstand against the wall are about my limits at this point, but I wish that I could do more!

20. Black and white graphic patterns.

21. Polished menswear. Gotta make the boy look good!

22. This and all summer cakes with more fruit than cake:

Smitten Kitchen.

23. Indie jams - The Naked and Famous, Fun., Kisses, The Xx, Dirty Projectors. Check it out.

24. Hardcore workouts... I've been doing Insanity with the boy. Someday my abs will look like Tanya's (no, they won't. She probably doesn't like chocolate as much as me).

25. The beach. Closely related to swimming, and yet different.

26. Typography - always. If you use Comic Sans, we ain't friends.

27. Fireflies.

the coolest photo EVER, from the design ark.

28. Sweet tea vodka.

29. Fresh herbs. I'm obsessed with having an herb garden.

30. Understated stud earrings.

31. Vegan recipes. I am not vegan, and I like cheese and ice cream too much to become so, but I kind of wish I was. To justify the expense of the vegan foods I want to buy.

32. Monograms. And also giant letters in people's home decor.

33. Late summer nights, wine with friends. Patios. Stars. Candles.

34. Kitty cats!

35. Puppies! I really want one. Don't tell Dragon. 

36. Little white dresses (I'm on a rehearsal dinner outfit quest).

37. Personal reading books - right now, I've got a Christian growth book (Desiring God by John Piper), I just finished The Magicians by Lev Grossman, and next up is a personal finance book (don't laugh at me! Budgets are sexy.)

38. Grilled pizza. Grilled fruit. Grilled avocado.

39. The Lumineers. It's a band. You should know about it.

40. Floating the river, swimming holes, camping, and anything remotely related. Did I mention swimming?

Okay, I think that's enough. Remember, love life, be inspired, even if your office has no windows and your town is so hot you can't even breathe when you walk outside. Have a sno cone and go for a swim. It will be okay. Happy Wednesday!

Sweet Summertime

Well, summer kind of snuck up on me this year. I mean, here in Dallas we basically bypassed winter altogether and skipped to spring, except for one or two extra-chilly nights in there, so I guess in a way it's been summer since April. It's been 90 degrees since April, but all you Texans know that's practically a balmy spring day in these parts.

I think probably summer caught me off guard because I am a crazy person these days, with no idea where I'm going or what's going on or what ten million things I'm forgetting to do at any given point. I thought this would improve after the move, but it turns out that once you move, all your stuff stays in ugly boxes on the floor until you take the time to unpack them and hang your photos and rearrange all your furniture and whatnot. And if you go out of town four days after moving, it's unlikely that those things will get done. And then all of a sudden we're nearing the three-month mark till the wedding (which: what?) and there's fifty decisions I never even considered making, and I missed a week of work so I have approximately three million e-mails to catch up on, and yesterday my fridge was basically empty except for a tiny hunk of cheese, some wilted parsley, a lemon, and an assortment of sauces and vinegars and some tortillas. Not an inspiring selection - ergo a trip to the grocery store.

All this to say - somehow it became summer, and I was unprepared.

Photo is from here.

I forgot that it sucks to run outside when it's 95 degrees and that hydration is important, and I forgot that we've moved on from spring produce and it's now, like, stone fruit and summer squash season. What I didn't forget is that summer, season of childhood memories and fun and water and sunshine and popsicles, loses a lot of its luster when you're a twenty-something with no kids, no money, and taking more than two days off work in a row is "frowned upon" at the office. You know what's fun about summer? No school. But if you're not in school, then summer mostly consists of... work. And work, when it's ten bajillion degrees outside, just sounds exhausting, doesn't it? Summer becomes much less about camp and vacation and pool days and sunscreen and waterskiing and cookouts, and much more about sitting in an office, going home while it's still hot, you don't want to move because it's so disgusting outside, your apartment is like a sauna but your air conditioning bill is already a thousand dollars, etc. 

I don't want to hate summer.

This summer, I'm going to try to make the most of it. Even though I sit in an office all day. Summer gets me all excited in a certain way, when I think about jumping into the lake from the dock, eating snow cones on a hot afternoon, being outdoors, even sweating with that good burning air in my lungs while I'm attempting to exercise. There's just a magical quality about summer, and I want it to apply to my life now, not just the life I wish I had where I get to spend my days however and wherever I want. I probably need to start with getting organized and getting all the less-fun stuff out of the way (like unpacking my boxes). And then I can start. The fall is for change, and new things, and fresh crisp air. But summer is for long, slow days, ice cubes that melt into your drink, food that you don't have to bake, the slow dying of campfires and the drowsy feeling you get from too much sun. While I have it, I plan to relish that feeling.

Who's in?