Three days, I have spent in Michigan now. It has been mostly rest, relaxation, and setting things up for life back at home. Unfortunately, I haven't been sleeping well the past few nights. It takes adjusting to be in a new bed, in a room that's no longer familiar, to wrestle with thoughts, feelings, and emotions in the wee hours, and it's hard to reach for your cat in the middle of the night and realize she's not there. I feel like the night time and a person's sleep can tell a lot about their life and their well being. Mine? Is currently in a state of flux.
Living in the home of a (former) professional baker (aka my mother) again is QUITE lovely and reaps its benefits and consequences! I will have to watch the fit of my pants closely, because I've already been spoiled. The other day, we made homemade caramel popcorn and chocolate dipped pretzel sticks. Can we say, "NOM?!"
Making the caramel by boiling the butter and sugar. Adding the vanilla and baking soda and watching the mixture foam can be a LOT of fun!
Mmmmm...... administering the goodness. You mix the popcorn in with the caramel liquid and then bake it on a cookie sheet for an oven, stirring every 15 minutes. Delicious.
I met with the RCIA director at St. Matthew's Cathedral in South Bend and discussed jumping into the classes. I felt thankful to hear that the group is made up of many people within my age range. I'm hoping the local parishes and the South Bend Catholic Young Adults group will become a source of community for me. Already, I'm missing my Pittsburgh friends, our weekly activities, and a bit of a lonely feeling is settling in.
However, I *did* get to see my darling Anna last night. Anna and I have been friends since we were ten. No. Scratch that. We were enemies since we were ten till we graduated. Then, we went to opposite sides of the country for college and forgot about each other. Then, once college ended, we somehow became friends. And now? I can't imagine life without her. We made gluten free Christmas cookies last night and sipped on cranberry juice and had a delightful time discussing life and our world and all of the goodness of catching up.
Christmas is near, my friends. I am looking forward to midnight Mass most of all.
A new chapter in Scout's life has begun. I am now blogging from Michigan. This is a big time of transition for me, full of ups and downs -- good and bad. Thursday was my last day in Pittsburgh. On that evening, the wonderful Amy threw me the most fantastic goodbye gathering I could have ever asked for. She reads my taste well -- we all got together at Embury, which is a pre-prohibition style lounge which serves well made, custom cocktails in an intimate setting of elegant Victorian decor.
Seeing most of my Pittsburgh friends together, laughing, conversing, enjoying each other's company... it brought me such joy and contentment. I was happy. Which is why I was also sad and struggling not to cry as the hugs and goodbyes began. It was a beautiful evening with beautiful people, and it was one of the most blessed moments of my life. I love you all so much.
Thanks to the fantastic Veronica, I have some great photos to remember the evening by. Here are just a few:
Me and Laura, aka Secret Agent L.
Our gathering took up half of the venue.
Blushing and in love with all of you.
Laughter and fun between friends.
You can see all of the photos on Veronica's flickr set HERE.
Friday morning, I packed up my little Honda as full as I possibly could and Lillybean (my cat) and I set off for Michiana. My mom is very allergic to cats, so Lilly could not stay with me. Thankfully, my cousin, who is only 20 minutes away, offered to house the Bean till I was no longer with my parents. I dropped the cat off with my cousin and was sad to leave her. I know she's just a cat, but she's been a sort of comfort and "living security blanket" to me during some very, very difficult times in my life. She's an animal, but she's my friend. Thankfully, I will still get to see her from time to time.
It's good to be home. It's good, and it's weird. It's odd to sleep in my old bed, to put my clothes into my old dresser. The wall color and decor is different. I lived in this house for years, but it no longer feels like mine. I keep asking permission for things as if I'm a guest. I feel a bit like I'm living life backwards. But I know it is SO important to be close to my family right now. I'm very thankful for them, and it will be good to be here while we heal and discover a new normal and while I build a new life.
______________
This evening, I went just down the road to the local Catholic church in my hometown. I'd never been to this parish before, so no one knows who I am. After the Mass had ended and we all filed out, the priest shook my hand and commented that he'd never seen me here before. He asked my name, I introduced myself, and he asked if I was from around here. I told him that I'd grown up in the area, moved away, and now I'm back.
"Oh!" he says to me. "Well!.... Would you like to be involved in youth ministry?"
"Excuse me?" I say to the priest, completely confused and still holding his hand from our handshake.
"Do you like kids? Would you like to be involved in youth ministry?" he repeats.
"Oh. Um... well, yes. I mean, I'm always looking for ways to be connected and involved." I respond, as I'm stumbling over my words. This priest met me 90 seconds ago and has no idea who I am, and he's asking me to begin working with the children of his parish? Weird.
"Well then, here is the phone number of our parish secretary. Register with the church and she can get you connected! We're so glad to have you." He gives me a side-hug and a big, warm, grandfatherly smile.
Huh.
Go figure. The man wastes no time. Or is it "The Man" wastes no time? ;-)
I think, if anything, this is God telling me that He has plans for me. That I'm not forgotten. That there is hope in my life. And that I have no idea what adventures and wonders are in store for me during my time back in my hometown area. Whatever it is, I'm ready to embrace it all.
The holidays are here, and being with fantastic people is the best part of the season. It's a bittersweet week for me here in Pittsburgh as I'm loving more and more all of my fantastic friends while knowing that I will be leaving this weekend. On Saturday, I had the pleasure of going to a lovely holiday party hosted by Christa and Dan. There was music, and cookies, and ornament creating, drinks, and laughter, and love.
Some of the moments of the evening:
James and Amy, entertained by his party gift -- a paddle ball!
Me and Justine posing in front of the holiday rocket ship we all helped to decorate!
Our lovely hosts -- Christa and Dan. Aren't they so perfect together?
Veronica -- what an absolute darling!
Kristin perfecting the details of her clay ornament!
Kristin, Amy, and me enjoying some holiday fun
Dana and Justine making ornaments! What a fantastic pair they are.
Scout loves a good adventure. And today, I had one of the single most amazing experiences of my LIFE. Because I only have a week left in Pittsburgh, I'm trying to explore parts of the city that I adore so much. My favorite neighborhood is the Mexican War Streets, and the weather felt unseasonably warm, so I was wandering around and looking at the gorgeous historical homes. Being old and brick, the homes are rows of browns and burnt reds.
And then I turned the corner, and my eyes widened. "What.... is.... THAT?!"
A house. A house in the brightest of yellow, purple, green, and completely covered in road signs, vintage signs, garden signs. I was amazed. As I pulled out my phone to snap a picture, a man walked up to me. He was all smiles. Bleached blonde hair with some darker roots poking through. Simple, plain clothes that seemed nothing of status. And then, Dolce & Gabbana glasses.
His smile was as happy as the side of this house.
"Hi! You don't have to just take pictures from out here! I'll show it to you!" he says to me. "I'm Randy, what's your name?"
"Um, hi! I'm Scout. What is this place?" I ask him.
"It's my house! It's RANDYLAND! Come on, I'll show it to you!"
There's a middle aged couple standing nearby who had been talking with him. I glance their direction, and the woman nods and smiles and motions towards the purple-green-yellow-blue garden gate that Randy is holding open for us to walk inside.
So.... I went with them and went into Randy's garden.
It was amazing. There were brightly colored lawn chairs everywhere, painted doors leaning against the side of the house, a structure that you could tell was a waterfall in the summer, the fence was painted pink and purple, the side of the next house was bright as well with abstract scenes that look like a fairy tale.
It was so mesmerizing, so joyous. So happy. I snapped back to attention to hear Randy rambling on and on to the couple about the Northside Door Project, about art days for children, about the poetry sessions that go on in the garden.
Poetry sessions? Art for children? Who is this man?
"C'mon, I'll show you what I've been working on inside!" he says to us.
"He wants me to go inside? Who is he? What am I doing?"
Regardless of the fact that I was being offered to walk into a strange (on more than one level) man's house, with a strange couple, in a strange neighborhood, I could not help but agree. The man from the couple said to me, "Now you're a lucky lady, because very very few people actually get to see the inside!"
Randy opens the door to his house, and we're immediately at a stairway. But this stairway is just as odd, bright, and happy as the outside of his home. It is entirely art with a three dimensional aspect because of stucco that he has cut out and attached to the walls. Each segment of this long stairway is different. The colors are orange, white, black, purple, and everything you can imagine. Shapes, and flames, and geometry are covering the stairwell entirely.
I decided to put my phone away and not take pictures inside, because I sensed immediately that unlike his garden, this was a more private space. He took us into his great room which was eccentric as hell. The entire ceiling was painted. It was full of blue bubble like circles, and a darker blue ribbon-like color was painted in a twisting pattern throughout the ceiling, and in the corner the chaos became calm with a night-and-stars scene.
I began paying attention to Randy's rambling again. He was going on and on about how you cannot control art, but art takes control of you. "I'm not a smart kid, I don't know how to paint, but I painted this and I can't believe it!" Randy's voice sounded EXACTLY like Sean Penn's in "I am Sam," and I was beginning to get this sense that Randy was some beautiful blend of a genius not like the rest of us.
He wasn't kidding when he continued with, "See, everything in my life is fast! I talk fast, I dream fast, and everything comes to me; I'm like an octopus" ::insert flailing of arms here:: Randy began smiling directly into my eyes as he said, "See, art is love! This is all love here! You know, there's more love in this world than there is hate, and you just have to let it shine through!" He said to me, "This ceiling here is my brain. I bet if you could see into my brain, this would be it!"
Everything that Randy says is completely animated with such exuberance and enthusiasm, and it is contagious. I found myself smiling till it hurt while listening to him talk.
"But there's one more special secret to this place that I've just got to show you!" he said as he interjected into his own monologue.
We walked up a few more stairs and he unlatched a door on the ceiling. And then, we went onto his roof. The couple that was with us stayed behind, because the lady was afraid to go, but Randy and I walked onto his flat rooftop.
I lost the air in my lungs up there. When you looked down, you saw Randy's garden and all of it's color, eccentricity, and random art. You saw it from a different perspective, in its wholeness, and it was just pure inspiration. But then, when I looked back up and out in front of me....
I saw Pittsburgh. Beautiful, glorious, magnificent Pittsburgh. I saw the stacks of houses, I saw the outline of downtown, I saw home.
"What do you think?" he says to me, rocking on his heels.
As I stared out at my city, I replied to him, "I think I've died and gone to heaven."
As Randy continued more rambling about love, and joy, and "the journey," I interjected (because that's the only way I could ask a question -- he talks so fast!) , "Are you from here?"
"Yep, yep, been in Pittsburgh all my life. I'm just a simple country boy. I bought this house here for 10,000 dollars on a credit card, and I've been working on this journey and this art for almost ten years. But see, I don't want it! I don't want this art. I'm putting it in a trust fund and I'm giving it to the city of Pittsburgh so that they can continue the journey and the joy." Who is this man?! Standing in his presence, staring at his smile, surrounded by his vibrant creations, and listening to him talk about happiness and joy -- but not in a cheesy way, but in a very genuine and raw way -- I couldn't help but feel some of that joy and passion transferred onto myself. I felt... revitalized. Hopeful. At peace.
I left his house and thanked him for the tour, completely dumbfounded by the experience that I'd just stumbled into.
But it turns out I'm not the first or only person to have stumbled upon Randy and his Randyland. He was so humble, that I would have never guessed that he'd recently been on the Today Show and is actually a local celebrity around here.
I would like to introduce you to Randy:
_______________________
Did you watch them both? If you didn't go push "play," now. Seriously.
Randy is my new hero. And to think, I just randomly stumbled upon him. What an amazing Pittsburgher. Wow... just... wow.
One of the fireplaces in the house actually WORKS and yesterday we had the chimney sweeper come in to prepare the fireplace for the season. (I expected more of a Mary Poppins experience and was sadly disappointed at the mundane process.) Once he left, Wilson immediately got some logs from out back and lit a fire. It was gorgeous! And what did I do? I sat directly in front of it and.... ate ice cream. Yep. Enigma, I tell you!
In the evening, I got together with my friend Jeff. We grabbed some pizza at Spak Brothers, which is a small pizza joint in Bloomfield that specializes in vegetarian pizza. You know, they carry the fake meats and all that jazz. :-) So we had an onion, green pepper, veggie pepperoni pizza and drank local Red Ribbon soda.
We may have also gotten our nerd on and played pinball. Oh yeah. One of the flippers kept jamming and messing up our style. But it was totally fun.
Then, we went to Larryville (Lawrenceville) to Cafe Istanbul to see an instrumental progressive psychedelic band from NYC called Consider the Source. I'd never heard of them before, but Jeff said they were pretty cool. They just finished a tour through Israel and Istanbul, hence their appearance at Cafe Istanbul. I'd also never been to this cafe before, and I was completely *swooned* by the traditional Turkish venue. Just look at this place!
I kept saying to Jeff, "Can I just move in here?" Look at the gorgeous material, the triangle pillows, the wooden tables...
No such thing as chairs in this place. Everyone sat on stools or pillows to watch the band play. Consider the Source is pretty awesome, by the way. I'm not used to listening to instrumental bands, but I found it really helped me appreciate the artistry of the music. They have a fantastic way of manipulating sounds and making it sound like more than a three person band. You could also see the passion move through their body and express itself through their face as they placed. The mark of a true musician, for sure.
Evidence of an evening well spent. We split the bottle and it was gone by half way through the concert. Bully Hill's "Love Goat." A bit sweeter of a red than I normally like, but still good!
Could not get enough of the venue. I loved the combination of the different prints and colors. The blues, red, and golds gave such a royal atmosphere and I kind of felt like some sort of indie Turkish royalty sitting there. *smile*
Hand stamp approved! And a sweet detail of one of the prints.
I am finally moved into my new place, and many people have been asking to see pictures of where I'm living now. It has taken me awhile, but here are some images of where I live. It's a gorgeous home and I adore my room. Seriously? I couldn't be any happier here.
My bed, with the quilt I've had since a child and the Spirit pillow Roshanda sent me.
Lillybean exploring her new surroundings
A view of the bay window in my bedroom
Vintage whiskey and orange crates -- a mild decorative obsession of mine
What would I do without my record player?
The top of my dresser
The corner of my bay window
Shoes!
The stained glass window on the landing to the second floor
The stairway -- currently being stripped and restored to the original wood
One of three fireplaces -- this one is in the entry way
Cozy corner in the living room
Old piano in the living room with many signatures from the 1970's around the eagle
One of the many unique light fixtures in the house
A dutch tile decorative fireplace in the dining room
The mantle
Chandelier and stained glass bay window in the dining room
Tonight, I was having dinner with a friend at a Mexican restaurant downtown. The city had just finished celebrating Light Up Night, a festival that celebrates the beginning of the Christmas season. Inside the restaurant, people packed the tables and the bar. There was a mariachi band strumming happily at a nearby table, and one of the men was so jovial and genuine within the song he was singing, that you couldn't help but feel the pride of Mexico radiating from his essence.
I was in the middle of conveying a thought to my friend when this little girl from the next table got out of her seat and approached me. She looked like she may have been about seven years old. Laying limply across her brown hair was a thin pink scarf with shiny silver threads. She lifted up the end of the scarf and said to me, "See? THIS is my hair! Isn't my hair pretty?" She emphasized that the scarf was her hair, not that her literal hair was her hair.
I smiled at her, at her imagination, and her openness to walk up to a strange woman in a restaurant. "Yes! I see your hair! Look at how beautiful you are! Just like a princess," I replied to her.
While she had been smiling this whole exchange, the moment I said the word "princess," her eyes lit up. It was as if I had just handed her the keys to the world and made her the queen of it. Her parents called her back to her own table, so she gave me a quick wave and another bashful smile before bouncing into her chair. But I caught her sneaking a glance at me and smiling after she'd sat back down.
This little conversation between the child and me sent my mind into a whirl. I still held a conversation with my friend, but the whole time, my mind was mulling over what had just taken place. I resonated with that little girl's reaction. It was such a simple thing. You tell a person that they are beautiful, that they are worth while, and that they have value, and you have no idea the impact that you could have.
For all you know, it could save their life. It could restore their sense of dignity or humanity. At the very least, affirming someone's value can instill hope or turn a crummy day around. Everybody deserves to be loved and to have their beauty discovered and appreciated.
We all have the value of princesses and princes.
I thought about some of the experiences I've had, some of the ways that I've been treated or how I've treated others. It's amazing how the way that you're treated or spoken to can really instill within you feelings of what you do or don't deserve in life. The attitudes of others can make you feel either worthy and precious, or small and insignificant. I don't know if we as humans can comprehend the influence we have over each other and our ability to either lift each other up or tear someone down.
Perhaps if we felt a greater sense of responsibility towards one another, we could safeguard and care for our brothers and sisters more consciously. Perhaps the world would be more inviting and loving, and more people would not only hear but believe that they are beautiful.
I hope this girl knows that she deserves all the kindness in the world. I hope she knows that she IS a princess, and that she should be treated as such. In return, I hope she grows into a gracious young woman who sees the potential in everyone and loves them however she can.
This is the ways things should be -- for all of us. It really doesn't seem all that difficult.
Last night was the third annual Ti Kanaval fundraiser here in Pittsburgh! Thanks to Claire (@pghrugbyangel), I got to go to the event and help promote Pittsburgh Marshmallows (@pghmarshmallows)! This year's fundraiser was to benefit Jamie and Ali's orphanage in Haiti. Here's some snapshots of the event:
Look at these amazing desserts! They were all donated by either local Pittsburgh companies or by good hearted burghers themselves.
Jamie and Ali brought back many strands of Haitian beads, and we sold them for $5 a strand as part of the fundraiser. They were a big hit!
Socializing with fellow Twitterers! Somehow we ALL end up at the same event. Who says social media alienates people? Heck no! In Pittsburgh, it's the other way around!
Here is the view of downtown Pittsburgh from the patio of Whim. It was a gorgeous evening, to be sure.
Four bottles of Haitian Rhum were put up for a silent auction. There were SO many generous donations from people for the silent auction, but I think this was my favorite.
Me with the lovely Claire! Thank you, lady, for being my date to the fundraiser!
Look at these lovely twitter ladies! Me (@heytherescout), Lauren (@lilholtz56), Genevieve (@GenD80), Laura (@secretagentl), Kylie (@KylieD87), and Hollie (@PDPHollie)!
There were, of course, so many more of us tweeps in attendance as well. It was phenomenal, and hopefully will help out the orphanage very much! Some of the best tweetups are the incidental ones. :-)
Making the caramel by boiling the butter and sugar. Adding the vanilla and baking soda and watching the mixture foam can be a LOT of fun!
Mmmmm...... administering the goodness. You mix the popcorn in with the caramel liquid and then bake it on a cookie sheet for an oven, stirring every 15 minutes. Delicious.
