a theme on Edith Piaf

warning: this blog has nothing to do with Edith Piaf.

Hello! Right now as I innocently sit here writing my blog, I can see my neighbor sitting on his/her couch (?). Is that creepy? Ha. Anyway, Sunday would be an ideal 'day in the life of me' to describe, so here it is! Complete with illustrations! My good friend was in town and after recovering from being sick, we were able to enjoy the sites of Seattle as seen through the eyes of an architecture student/new resident of Seattle with some know-how.

6:55 am. Alarm goes off. Sleep a little more (who gets up at 6:55 on a Sunday?)

7:40 am. Go to Mighty-O's. Megan is afraid we won't make it in time for church but I assure her yes, we will. Props to her for riding a too-tall fixed gear bike. Thankfully it was only half a mile.

7:45 am. Mighty-O's. We could call her visit complete at this point, but we're going all ten yards.

8:14 am. Get to bus stop. It ends up the only other person at the bus stop was going to church, just like us. Too bad he didn't make an initiative to talk to us or he could be two friends richer right now.

8:46 am. Find Jill and tell her we saved her a seat. Phew!

9:00 am. Church starts. Mars Hill is a wonderful church, Mark Driscoll is a powerful instrument / speaker. The music was mostly jazzed up old hymns, which I lurve.

10:45 am. Go to farmer's market. Open 24 hours! I mean, 12 months a year!

11:02 am. Talk to cool Architecture 5¢ guy. He started his own firm by having this booth like Lucy in the Peanuts. Great concept! Good to talk to!

11:07 am. Meet up with Adam! Always a pleasure.

11:28 am. Buy an apple and eat it.

11:55 am. Arrive at the library! We studied this in school so it was like a dream come true to see in person. Can you tell where we are in this photo? (There's actually a hidden staircase that transports you to another dimension of lost packages and hair pins. Or, on weekends, to the vegetative roof).

12:45 pm. Meet up with Joan. Time for food! We went to a highly recommended little cafe in Fremont called Roxy's with east-coast style food. Our waiter was cool and had mannerisms similar to a mutual friend of all four of us from the 'nati, so that was fantastic.

2:03 pm. Time for some chocolate! I love chocolate, I do. I buy it, eat it, talk about it, enjoy all aspects of it. SO, how psyched was I when we were able to try unlimited free samples at Theo's chocolate! Pretty darn! We took our share of sampling the dozen or so flavors, and then some, then recovered from chocolate coma on their comfy couches and talked talked talked.

2:47 pm. Please note I am guestimating 78% of these times. Time for some more flavorful architecture. Seattle University was fortunate enough to have Steven Holl design a beautiful chapel, St. Ignatius Chapel. The first impression coming in from the street is not the best because you see this little building amidst a sea of concrete parking lot and handicap signs that appear the same height until you move closer. But when you get past that and are close to the chapel, it is clear what a special gem this is! So many aspects of the building are custom and Seattle-specific, including the surprising play of light and color, even though Seattle is not exactly known for its daylight. The door was a playful entrance, swinging open on a right-to-center pole hinge. A lot of stained glass and glass lighting features were custom-blown in the Seattle area. The space had a serene and special feel that made me glad to just sit there. Needless to say, I was a fan.

4:43 pm. After taking a scenic ride home, it was time to prepare for Le Noite Francais. Chocolate French cake, French cooked potatoes, zucchini fritters, Ratatoullie, French onion soup, cheese, bread, wine, and more were all shared at our festivity.

7:15 pm. Time to party! This is where Edith comes in. Also, I believe we had a Moo King and a couple mean games of telephone pictionary.

Of course, all wonderful days come to an end, and my friend had to leave the next morning. Au revoir, mez ami! I realized I sat on the couch the next day for almost 7 hours straight working on grad school stuff. But that's ok.

Today is day 2 of the beans and rice fast. Yesterday after exercising I felt so sick I didn't think I could continue, but it ends up that's what happens when you eat rice all day without the beans. You need the beans! It is encouraging to me that several friends are experiencing this with me, as we could all sympathize today as our Americorps team enjoyed large, fluffy, colorful doughnuts, and a guacamole contest, and we did not. I reminded us that we were witnessing the grandeur of American life that we usually get to partake in, but on the outside. And others who are less fortunate, for whom we are experiencing this lack of variety in our diet this week, are not as constantly aware of the lavishness others experience. Maybe. But this is good. I feel healthy. Besides having a general cold.

This photo is a Celtic prayer inscribed on the wall of the "wax room" in the St. Ignatius Chapel. Nice to read, difficult to pray, impossible to carry out without the grace of faith God so graciously grants us.

Peace.