SOME STORIES FROM THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING THAT AREN'T REALLY ABOUT SPRING

It was the first day of spring yesterday, and we were all so glad about that, but then it snowed this morning and it was confusing and yeah, I'll say it, disappointing.  With no particular agenda except to say in a coaxing kind of way, 'c'mon spring, you can do it', here are some stories about things that went down yesterday.

1. It was my friend Laura’s birthday, and I think it’s some sort of lovely kismet that her birthday lands on the first day of spring. Noteworthy. 

2. BB Creams are all the rage these days. I have tried a few different kinds and have had mediocre feelings them all, but I recently got a free sample of Tarte's BB cream, which I tried yesterday morning, and so far, I like this one better than the other ones. Velvety texture, good coverage, SPF. 

3. First day of spring warranted a first-day-of-spring walk, so I made one happen during my lunch break.  It was during this walk that I learned: 1) there is a Jimmy John's opening up in Shockoe Bottom, 2) Anthony Bourdain is coming to Richmond, and 3)  Sad Desk Salad is a book I might want to check out.

4. On this same walk,  a man approached me. I had to pull out one of my earbuds to hear him ask about nearby lunch recommendations. He was an older guy, salt and pepper hair, and good looking in a way that was not intimidating. I started listing some places and learned that he wanted someplace particular to Richmond.  I don't usually jump to erratic conclusions when having pleasant conversations with strangers, but maybe because I had been snapped out of a in-my-own-podcast-world zone and I am sleep deprived, my mind immediately jumped to a place that assumed he was going to either kidnap me (yes, in broad daylight), ask me to join him for lunch (and then ask me to marry him), or sell me something.   This made for an extremely confusing version of myself, where I was trying to be friendly and helpful but also distant and brief. It turned out he was an airplane pilot from Texas who wanted to get out of his hotel room and explore the city before his next flight, and if I was of sound mind I would have probably engaged more and asked him questions that would make both of us feel like it was sometimes nice to make conversations with strangers.   I was probably less than a medium amount of helpful, which makes me really hope he ran into someone else that didn’t’ have crazy hair and distracted brain.  

4. After work, I stopped by Plaza Art for some supplies. I always get butterflies-doing-a- dance-in-my-stomach excited whenever I walk into an art supply store. It’s an entire store shouting, ‘make something!'  I love this.

5. When we all got home, the family went on a walk around the block. It's a good day when you can get in not just one, but TWO walks. It's even better if one of those walks is with a tiny wolf, chubby baby, and a husband who remembers to bring the plastic bag to pick up the dog poop. i mean, wolf poop.

 

6. During this particular walk, Sloane sat in the stroller without the car seat, like a big baby. Egad, she is getting big. These are a couple of pictures before our walk. Please note: baby fists, baby brow. 

7. I ended the night by making some apple, bacon, and caramelized onion turnovers, which we had for breakfast the next morning along with beautiful and tasty quiche by Meghan. 

And that was my day. Spring, I did my best. The ball's in your court.