"Life is just a bowl of cherries.
So live and laugh, aha!
Laugh and love at it all!"
- Ethel Merman, 1931
Mr. Gorgeous and I are all about our life - our children. Our three are damn fantastic, so it's not a hardship by any stretch of the imagination. But that also means that, while we always make time for each other, those slices of time away are pretty thin (we haven't spent a night away from them since 2012).
The glorious Matt & Neal
"To be rich in friends is to be poor in nothing."
- Lilian Whiting
With Mr. G's birthday fast approaching, I began to scheme, plot and plan to kidnap him for a weekend (by 'weekend' I mean 2 days and 1 night). Our dear friends - Matt & Neal - were my co-conspirators. And they knew the perfect place - their treehouse on the shores of Lake Michigan. Yeah, these gents know how to live! We packed a bag, kissed mom and the kids, grabbed Coco, put the top down, and hit the road.
The trip took 1 1/2 hours. The weather was so beautiful - balmy, sunny, a cool sweet breeze, just the two of us and a Coco. And as the miles went by, little by little, we left the hustle and bustle behind and drove into the quiet, the wind, the green.
^From a six-lane concrete expressway,
to a four-lane asphalt highway,
to a two lane tree-lined road.
^Matt filled the house with stunning Peonies.
Their sweet fragrance filled every room.
^After we changed into our swimsuits
it was time to hit the beach. Our chariot awaited.
^The road to Shangri-La
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"A simple life is good with me...
a T-shirt, a pair of shorts, barefoot on the beach
and I'm happy." - Yanni
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After sunset: dinner by candlelight, music, dancing, birthday cake...
Happy Birthday, beloved
The next day, after a Bloody Mary brunch, back to the beach...
^Coco leads the way...
The perfect spot to work the New York Times Crossword
During the last hour of my romantic birthday getaway with Mr. G, we walked the beach, holding hands, Coco happily trailing behind. It was...perfect. Thank you so much Matt & Neal for sharing your treehouse, for being our friends.
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"You have two lives. The second one begins
when you realize you only have one."
- Confucius
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Sometimes (maybe often times) this world can be a scary place, with people who espouse and do hateful terrible things. But I truly believe that the vast majority of us who inhabit this beautiful Earth are kind and good. And we are the lucky ones. We gain strength and sustenance from those who love us and by giving in kind to those we love. We find joy in the simplest of things - a 7th grade basketball game, birthday cake, a drive through the countryside, time with friends, a good meal, the bubbles in a glass of champagne, the grit of sand between our toes. And the accumulated positive karmic weight of these simple things, by their very existence, and our insistence that these things continue to exist, change our world for the better - and always will.
As we drove back down that two-lane treelined road, ready and eager to return to our three, the hustle and bustle, I thought: yeah, I'll take this life, love it. Because, even with the pits, life is just a bowl of cherries.
Vivre! Rire! Aimer!
Temple
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