Mornings

People who live in 4-season climates who claim not to suffer from seasonal depression are liars. They have to be. As the leaves on the big tree outside of our 5th floor apartment start going from summer green to a violent shade of yellow, as beautiful as it is, I can feel my heart sink into my gut. I love autumn because of all there is to see and smell and eat (mmm...cider doughnuts). It's sensory overload in the best way. However, I would be a fool to completely absorb myself in this fleeting season with the reckless abandon I'd like to. I know full well that any rainy, windy day will strip the trees of those leaves and all we'll be left with are gray skies and perpetually wet black branches.

This is the time of year I start distracting myself with beautiful things to lessen the blow of fall's quick descent into the 6-month season known as New England Winter. My distraction usually comes in several forms:

1. Obsessive online shopping where I spend hours, sometimes, filling up my cart, only to abandon it for another website, where the cycle starts over.

2. Investing far too many of my hard earned dollars in magazines about all the things I want. Martha Stewart Living, Elle Decor, Real Simple, ReadyMade, they are my porn. They allow me to fantasize deeply about how beautiful I wish my 500 square foot apartment could be. This apartment could never actually be anything that even remotely resembles beautiful, but the dream keeps me going. Cookie, Real Simple Families, Body+Soul, Fit Pregancy, for the life I would like to have sooner or later (though I've never been fit in real life, so don't ask me how I'll accomplish being fit while pregnant). Martha Stewart Weddings....I just had my wedding. MSW is just a sick addiction I'm not really ready to let go of.

3. Attempting complex recipes in my galley kitchen on my mini-stove for my husband who doesn't like adventurous food. These recipes usually fail anyway and we order chinese.

4. Planning projects, buying the supplies, then never doing them. Creative, household, etc.

My Private Sky is going to serve as an outlet for the things in life I covet or try to attain, whether it be inner tranquility, dessert plates from the flea market, or the bread pudding I tried to make the night before. The name of the blog is taken from the beautiful amazing thing I found in the most recent issue of MSW, a set of custom hand-painted dinner plates made by Nymphenburg called "My Private Sky". Seven plates map the sky as it were on any specific date, anywhere in the world. If only Nymphenburg had a shopping cart on their website, or listed prices. I would totally add these plates, then maybe the ruby-encrusted porcelain skull necklace they make, then perhaps a glass doll with red painted lips, only to abandon the cart and try to find something similar for less from Anthropologie.

By the way, if you haven't gotten me a wedding gift yet......