IT IS A LONG WEEKEND here in Spain, as it is in Canada and some parts of the US. Here, there were fireworks last night and parades and marching bands this afternoon. As for us, well we had the most perfectly leisurely and lovely morning, coffee and autumn sunlight and the streets below all quiet. We’re in planning mode this week, for Friday’s early morning flight, as well as a few last-minute deadlines. This autumn has been one of reconnecting with old friends and acquaintances, a little taking stock of where we’ve been and where we’re going. It is unfathomable that there is little more than two months left of this year, that summertime has gone. The year drawing to a close with each faded pink sunset and our heads are filled with dreams.
IT WAS ONE OF THOSE sipping rosé in the sun kind of weekends, hazy and hot and filled with the quiet languidness and melancholy that comes with the knowledge that these days must be savoured before they fade away. The city is empty save for tourists busily bicycling through the streets and parks; ordering glasses of sangria, folded maps and guide books and cameras strewn across tables and wicker café furniture. While things seem to have settled down for most in these last days of summer, for us, it has been the craziest, busiest, most stressful time yet, with the all the new projects we’ve taken on and the expansion of The Shop, so we’ve been taking a little extra time on weekends for summery things. Perhaps in September we’ll be able to get away for a little while, while the world goes back to school and work …
This week’s links include the Hôtel de Crillon in Paris and a recipe for Breakfast Buckwheat Florentines; a perfectly pretty pink overdyed rug much, much more.
THIS WEEKEND, P HAD THE perfect idea for a picnic at the beach. It is wonderfully fortunate to live in a city that sits on the coast, with the sea just three miles from our place.
THIS WAS A WEEKEND of highs and lows, the highs being cava and oysters on a Monday night and the lows being all of the things coming through the news lately: Puerto Rico, Las Vegas, the Independence Referendum, Tom Petty... we're still working through all of the sad news and finding ways to help, while still trying to remember the beauty in life as well. On Sunday night, P picked up tickets to a show by a Scottish singer-songwriter that he's a fan of and had wanted to see back in Scotland but we weren't able to make it; amazingly, the artist was just wrapping up a Spanish tour, finishing his last night here in the city.
IT IS A MILLION DEGREES lately, and we’ve been eating watermelon for breakfast and gazpacho for lunch in an attempt to cool down, in addition to the many sunlit dates on terraces, the only civilized way to endure the heat. The city is emptying out as it does every August, and the evenings have already begun to get quiet.
THESE DAYS IT SEEMS LIKE there are never enough hours. While it would seem that the height of summer would be a time for slowing things down, here, things are whirling by faster than ever. We are in the midst of a few enormous projects as well as finishing up a few past ones, with new ones still to come before summer’s end. There are still trips to plan and family to visit and a million and one other things to complete. Through it all, we’re still finding time for walks in the lush and green palm tree lined parks, and for tasting new pasta recipes and for drinks in the sun. (And to P, now more than ever, there’s no one else I’d rather share, well, everything with.)
This week’s links include a new Italian restaurant in Paris and a beautiful space by Templeton Architecture; a recipe for Rosé Alfredo, a beachside Portuguese retreat and much, much more …
FINALLY HAD THE chance to watch The Royal Tenenbaums (2001, Wes Anderson) this past weekend (yes, P is constantly astounded as well by the sheer number of films I haven’t seen) and we also made a little time on Sunday for lounging about in the park, perhaps for the last time this year, as it has been very much summer-like still, despite autumn’s official arrival.
WHILE EVERYONE SEEMS to be getting back to their regular lives again after a long and languid summer, we’re about to change up our schedule a bit after spending most of the summer working. We’ve been planning trips and wondering where we might go this Fall, and places like Melrose, Scotland; and Yorkshire keep coming up again and again. Somewhere a little quiet and out of the way, out of the city for a bit — to think and plan and dream, somewhere perhaps, like this thatched cottage-lined place of magic in Dorset.
ON SUNDAY we packed a wicker basket filled with baguettes, cheeses, jamón ibérico, pâté and something fizzy to drink and went to the gardens to lounge away a beautiful day in the sun. We found a perfect spot nestled amongst trees grouped in circular pattens, forming small open spaces in their midst that beckoned the laying down of a blanket and the kicking off of one's shoes to feel soft grass on bare feet. Since most of our picnics occur at the seaside, this one was a lovely change, the rustling of the leaves and the sound of cicadas intermingling in the late-afternoon air heavy with the scent of blossoms and dreams. It was a perfect way to spend a summer's day.