everything is in its right place

for perhaps the first time ever in my life, i have experienced something like social butterfly-ness today.
(i think this has something to do with my leaving the country.)

a quick run-through of my incredibly full, wonderful day:

9:00 am: breakfast at provence with kristina. cafe au lait, chocolate croissant, and conversation.
11:00 am: horseback riding with sherry. then, cracker barrel for lunch.
4:00 pm: margaritas and goodbyes with karen and sharon.
6:00 pm: andy's art show opening and simultaneous welcome-back-to-nashville greetings for jenna.
8:00 pm: continued jenna celebration at the green hills grille with julie and kenny and andy and laura.
11:00 pm: lure marlei out of bed for late night tea and cocoa at starbucks.
12:30 am: blog (if i can somehow stay awake).

whew.

hmmm, i don't believe i have eaten anything healthy. at all. unless chips and queso counts. (it was spinach queso.)

today was a string of pearls.

from riding dakota through late-summer woods (dodging trees, jumping over logs of course) to taking in the energy of new art on walls, i felt loved and alive today. i got to be the girl in dirt-caked boots and freshly pressed shirt in the same day. i got to laugh and cry with dear ones. i experienced the most natural part of transition, of season-change: friends are carrying me over the threshold of all things new. this is grace, i think.

i had my first mug of cider today.
autumn has officially arrived, therefore, despite the persistent 90-degree days.
i am thankful...mindful, even.

12:47 am vicky calls. she has just had her first guinness and her first gimlet. anne drinks, she calls them. i am proud.
1:00 am annie goes to bed...

i love julie lee

(but we're just friends.)

julie lee is one of my favorite people in the whole world, and her music is so good. her voice, her songwriting--she is a balm. (really.)

and now, julie has her own website. so go look: click me, please

birthdays and balance.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dearest friends jenna and shannon today.

and. latest finding balance article can be found HERE
(note: have you told all your friends about finding balance yet? shame on you! go on, now...)

pee ess: check out katy raymond's article on addicts and balance as well. good stuff.

home.

i just got home from mccreary's pub in franklin. another goodbye. this tiny pub has become the hub of goodbyes during the past week or so. and driving home tonight, i thought once again, i feel very much at home here. it's strange to think and feel such thoughts when on the cusp of goodbyes for awhile. for awhile. with all this transition, i am definitely grasping a deeper sense of home in nashville. and i'm finding home in marlei and constance and dana and julie. rachel. kim. vicky. all these amazing women in my world are teaching me what home looks like. what i have to return to.

atlanta. i'll never get my words around it, i don't think. marlei and i had the absolute best of times, sitting at various outdoor cafes and restaurants with our cafe au lait or wine. we walked. we talked. we watched movies about greek weddings of epic proportions. we laughed. that's it: we laughed. a lot. time had no hold on us; neither of us wore watches. we simply followed our muses, who were uncannily in sync with each other, and we celebrated the goodness of life. of friendship. i felt my soul top off. and we were accompanied loudly by the anthems of coldplay and rosie thomas and ivy. over and over. by the edge of the ocean, we can start over again.

we should have brought aspirin, though. or alkaseltzer morning relief. (note to self for next time.)

and now, i must go to sleep. get up at 6 tomorrow, and head into work for the last five days of employment for awhile.
time is on your side now coldplay promises.

yawn.