sophie's fair

(c) Norman Rockwell

May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.
-- Psalm 20:4

no. it isnt what you think it is. there'll be no undraped bodies here. i'm referring to the act of courting and its aftermath. i'll be wearing an off-the-shoulder A-line gown with grosgrain ribbon trim at empire waist, of course. isnt that just divine? anyway, i had to hold off that thought to put on my favourite outfit, levi's and a pink benetton shirt. i was preparing to go out and have dinner with my mum and sister at the hard rock café to celebrate my birthday. definitely nothing fancy -- no naked chef to cater to our taste buds -- but it was exactly what i liked, cool and understated. the potato skins and chocolate chip cookie pie (which came with a couple of candles, courtesy of our server D) were worth those 1200-happily-consumed-calories.
earlier (past midnight, actually), i talked to my other best friend who greeted me a happy birthday, dear. i thought it was sweet of him to stay up for me.
i love that my birthday falls on thanksgiving season. i love the nippy weather, and the anticipation of good things to come. when i got home this evening, i stood by the piano to look at the flower that someone from church gave me, and started to make a wish list. it included franck eggelhoffer & howard weinstein, my fabulous chef friend, jesse fitzgerald, and passage along the northeast corridor.

My heart is like a singing bird
Whose nest is in a watered shoot;
My heart is like an apple-tree
Whose boughs are bent with thick-set fruit;
My heart is like a rainbow shell
That paddles in a halcyon sea;
My heart is gladder than all these,
Because my love is come to me.

Raise me a dais of silk and down;
Hang it with vair and purple dyes;
Carve it in doves and pomegranates,
And peacocks with a hundred eyes;
Work it in gold and silver grapes,
In leaves and silver fleurs-de-lys;
Because the birthday of my life
Is come, my love is come to me.
-- Christina Georgina Rossetti