Shutters + new friends

In my old neighborhood I would take early morning runs around the lake. It was quiet and occasionally a car would pass and we would gently smile at one other or raise a hand in an early morning greeting.

The neighborhood housed grand historic homes with well kept lawns, beautiful front doors and tree swings in the front lawns.  Nestled in between these lovely homes was a house with bright yellow shutters and a royal blue and yellow awning that reminded me more of dr's office than a historic home.

I hated that house.

Last night while I was dropping a new friend off at her home I encountered the home again. Barbara is seventy-seven and happens to be in the same fiction workshop as myself. Her stories are gems, with most of them being set in the 50's and her characters hold classic names like Celia and Burt.

Last week she emailed me to say that she loved the comments I gave on her latest story and told me that I sounded like a professional editor.
"We must get together for drinks,"she said in her email.

And so last night we talked and laughed and shared stories over cocktails.
"I'll have another Vodka martini," she said to the bartender. I looked down at the beer in front of me. I was   barely halfway through.
"This is my first time out in four months. I'm going to enjoy myself!"

She wanted to know everything about me and I wanted to hear all of the details of her life.

"I spent a lot of time in bars. I even lived with an alcohol for six years," she said, her eyes flashing with memories.
"But I couldn't marry him. And he wasn't a bad person, he just drank too much."
She did end up marrying at the ripe age of forty-two to a man she met in a bar who had hours earlier finalized his divorce.

After two hours of swapping stories, she announced that she was ready to go.  I handed her her cane, helped her off the bar stool and to my car to give her a ride home.
"New Yorkers don't drive. I'm so glad you're driving, I could never do this," she said as I made a three point turn.

We chit chatted as she gave me directions to her home and I navigated my Volvo into my old neighborhood. 
"The corner of Massachusetts and Gosnold "she said. "It's the house on the right with the bright yellow shutters and awning."

I laughed to myself and helped Barbara out of my car and into her home.

Kinfolk+Quitter

Hello dear friends!

Have you heard of Kinfolk Magazine? It hasn't officially launched yet, but come July 15th, this Friday, it will be up and running. It's a "A guide for small gatherings." Please check it out. It's such a lovely project. So much so, that I am brainstorming ways to do a piece for them. Considering I have a book club meeting coming this Sunday I'm thinking it would be a prime opportunity. Thankfully my roommate and good friend has the menu set. She's going for a Mexican theme and serving dishes like:

shrimp and avocado salad

and, sangria of course.

(Images via 1, 2}

So my job will be to make the house look beautiful. {Fresh flowers and white serving dishes always do the trick for me.} And then I'll be buzzing around her  and the apartment trying to get some good photographs. Wish me luck friends.

We're reviewing Quitter by Jon Acuff. Have you heard of him? Let me tell you...

1. He is hilarious and 2. This book is worth picking up.

If you, like me, have ever felt a little lost on what you were really passionate about, what you really wanted to do, and how you wanted to get there, then read Quitter. Seriously. Half, ok the entire reason I am up right now at 6:36 a.m. righting this post is because I am putting, 'Death to the Discussion.' You know how it goes if you're trying to pursue something and you have the back and forth conversation with yourself to see if you're actually going to work on it TODAY.

But, it's no longer a discussion. I am writing. Why? Because in order to be a writer, I must actually write. You wouldn't believe how long that took me to understand. {Sad. Very, very sad. But true.}

Until tomorrow, xo.

Elastic

 {photo via:pinterest}

To Matt and Sade.

We've traipsed around England and Paris together; sitting in coffee shops retelling stories and laughing until tears streamed from our eyes. I'm sure people have looked at us with peculiar eyes and wandered how we 'fit.' We are different, no doubt, but it's within the walls of these differences that bind our friendship.
We've sat in churches together, stricken with grief and cried; deep, heart wrenching tears of loss but somehow each of us was comforted by the others presence.

When I am around you two, the titles and demands of every day wither away within the first few words of our conversation. I am simply Lisa and time becomes elastic - stretching and reshaping into whatever our wanderlusting hearts desire.

When I am with the two of you, I am content.

XO,

London Lisa

Becoming a princess over coffee

The other night, I grabbed a cup of Starbucks with one of my guy friends. There were a few things that I had going on and I needed a males point of view. I texted him to see if he was free and he responded with a  "Yes ma'am" and we made plans for 6p.m.

While driving over to meet him, I suddenly became a little nervous. This was the first time that we had hung out one on one...What would I say and what were my issues again?

But as we started talking all of my nerves quickly fell away and what ended up happening was pretty amazing.

To have a man look me in my eyes  and tell me that he understands my struggles - that he will be my friend - that he will treat me with the utmost respect - that he won't cross any boundaries with me and that he intends to treat me like God's daughter and the princess that I was mind blowing.

 {photo via:pinterest}

He looked across the table in the crowded Starbucks and asked me,

"So, how do you feel?"

I looked him in his eyes, smiled and said,

"I've always wanted a friend like you."