Lovely Object #7, Easter Edition

I haven’t forgotten about this series! And this weekend I have the perfect Easter-related object to admire. I’ve become a recent fan of soft-boiled eggs in sweet egg cups. All the runny glory of fried eggs without the mess. And anything that requires special cups and spoons is ok by me!

What: Two stoneware egg cups.

Where: On our breakfast table, with eggs in them. Often.

How: Bought at a little pottery store in the Red Light District, Amsterdam, 2012.

The Red Light District lies between our apartment and the main square, and in the first few months of living here I would often find myself walking through it quite by accident. By now I know which streets go around it, but I also know that it’s not necessary to avoid it completely. There are some treasures hidden in those alleys! I know a few delicious bakeries, a great micro-brewery, the best frite cart, and the best shop to get your husband a present (*wink*). Recently I found this little pottery shop on a side alley.

It’s all made there in the studio, and it’s all very affordable. I’d been thinking about getting egg cups for awhile, and these just jumped out at me, so I snapped two up.

They make a perfect contribution to a delicious breakfast. Tomorrow I’m looking forward to a gezellig Easter brunch with some friends. No egg cups required, but maybe I should bring them anyway? Just in case?

Happy Easter weekend! Hope it’s full of good people and delicious food!

Lovely Object #6

Tags

Czech Republic, drinks, home, Olomouc

It’s still cold and icy here, and we’ve been keeping warm with lots of tea and soup. One of my favorite ways of keeping warm is heading to the brown cafes of Amsterdam, ordering a shot of something strong, and sipping it by a fire. Of course then you have to face the cold again, so it’s even better to do that at home, which is a perfect lead-in to this week’s Lovely Object post.

What: Set of six crystal cordial glasses

Where: On our bookshelf, next to our Dutch gin

How: Found at an antiques booth at the Christmas market in Cologne, Germany, 2011

This makes me look like an alcoholic, I know. I’m not! I promise. But I love the idea of filling these cordial glasses with something special and sharing it with friends.

I was convinced of the magic of this last August in a little Czech town called Olomouc. Jesse and I were couchsurfing our way through the Czech Republic, and our host for a few nights welcomed us to her living room with beautiful crystal glasses filled with slivovice, a plum brandy. The clear, sweet liqueur was made by her neighbors with plums from her own backyard, and she shared it with us while we talked about traveling, history, and literature. I loved that feeling of intimacy and conviviality!

So I jumped at the chance to have my own set of cordial glasses, though I’m not making my own brandies yet! These are the perfect size for just a dash of something to sip while you sit around a table and nibble at the remains of a meal.

This one is full of a Spanish brandy called Rey de Oro, though I also like to fill them with Dutch jenever, and sometimes aquavit. Not all in one night, though. (Yikes!)

Lovely Object #5

Tags

quilts, sewing

What: Vintage Singer Sewing Machine

Where: On our side table, looking all vintage-y

How: Flea market find, at the Amsterdam Waterlooplein market

A few months ago Jesse came home and surprised me with a flea market treasure: a vintage Singer sewing machine that he scored for only €15. Neither of us had any idea if it worked or not, but it looked pretty cool, and that’s less than we’d spend on dinner! As far as my non-professional internet research could tell, the model is from somewhere around 1914-1920. I dusted it off and spun the wheel a few times, but was too intimidated to dig much deeper into fixing it. It’s sat on our side table looking pretty since then.

Now the new year has rolled around and I am this close to finishing my quilt. I thought if I could get the Singer working, it’d be cool to sew on the quilt binding with it (and save me some extra handwork). So the other afternoon we sat down and re-dusted the machine off. Between my general sewing knowledge, Jesse’s problem-solving, and a few Youtube videos we were able to wind the bobbin and get it sewing! That needle trundled along like nothing could stop it.

Such pretty filigree plates

Jesse figuring it out

The feeling of using a 100 year old machine… it’s a little crazy. How many hundreds of pieces of fabrics has it sewn through? This is a serious workhorse.

It’s hand-cranked, which is weird to grapple with. I can manage on smaller scraps, but when I did the binding for the quilt I had to rope Jesse into helping. He cranked and I steered: such teamwork!

Now if I could only stop my reflexes from reaching for the foot pedal and trying to turn the machine on and off every time I sit down… old habits die hard.

With a machine to help, even a hand-cranked one, the quilt will go much faster. Which means: I’m almost done…

Lovely Object #4

Tags

clothes

What: Scarf

Where: On a hook or around my neck

How: Bought in Cortona, Italy, 2005

This is a scarf that stylish women wear (I tell myself) to complete an outfit, or when there’s a slight breeze. The linen (I think) is so loosely woven that it wouldn’t be much protection in a decent chill, but the subtle earthy colors and softly changing texture make it lovely to wear.

Best of all, this scarf has hidden memories. With some items, you know where they came from, always. That “I Heart NY” t-shirt, or the print of the Mona Lisa you bought in the Louvre… they scream of a certain place, obvious reminders of a good time. But I always forget about the origins of this scarf. It’s become just another staple in my wardrobe, something to throw on in the morning.

It’s not until I purposely think about it that I remember the small Tuscan town, the old cobbled street, the tiny boutique. The scarf was on sale, but still much more than I’d ever paid for a scarf before. I almost put it back. My whole tour group was down the street, moving on, and I needed to catch up, and I was wavering… and then I went for it.

Lovely Object #3

Tags

home

What: Red Vase

Where: It’s packed in a box in the US now, but it would normally be displaying flowers or sitting prettily on a shelf.

How: Purchased myself at Pier 1 Imports a long time ago

I was thinking of things that I’ve had for a long time and this vase popped into mind. You’ll have to forgive the picture; it’s the only one I could find, from Christmas a few years ago. The vase is safely packed back home since I couldn’t find a practical reason to bring it all the way to Amsterdam.

There’s nothing that special about the vase, it’s just a regular thing. It didn’t hold my wedding flowers, it wasn’t a gift from a special person, and it’s not exactly a Ming or Wedgewood. But I really can’t imagine my home without it.

I bought it for myself way back in high school, on a whim. My tastes have changed a lot since that time, on the road to college and beyond, and a lot of items have ended up in the Goodwill pile. But not this! I consider it the perfect red, the kind you look for in lipstick but never find. The color is bright and bold without being too overwhelming, and it makes the perfect pop on the shelf. If I saw it in a store today I would still buy it, which is something I can’t say for most of the things I owned and liked at 16.

And every time I move it gets carefully packed up and brought along to grace the shelves of yet another apartment, a pop of perfect red wherever I go.

Lovely Object #2

Tags

embroidery

What: Crane Embroidery Scissors

Where: In my hands, snipping threads, most every night

How: A gift from my Mother-in-Law a few years ago

A few years ago, I was just getting interested in sewing, trying my hand at it. I borrowed a sewing machine, looked up tutorials online, and messed up a lot. By Christmastime I had gotten a bit better, but still not great. That year I received a package from Jesse’s mom, Monterey, who has sewn a fair number of wonderful things herself. She gave me a basket tied up with a pretty ribbon, and inside was nestled a whole treasure trove of sewing utensils: embroidery floss, pins, needles, a thimble, and these scissors. It was a supportive little bundle, wrapped up with “You can do it,” and “Don’t give up.”

I’ve already used up most of the floss, lost a few pins, and left the basket in storage. But the scissors never go far: I use them constantly. I love the crisp snip the sharp beak makes. I love the gentle curve of the neck. I love that the screw doubles as an eye. And I love that women have been using crane scissors for centuries, and I’m just another in a long line.

These scissors are the perfect combination of beautiful and useful, and were such a thoughtful gift!

 

{This is part of a series on appreciating the things I have and use. In case you missed it, here you find my introduction to it, and the 1st Object.}

Lovely Object #1

Tags

home

What: Turquoise Earrings

Where: In my ears, often

How: Bought on my honeymoon in Santa Fe in 2009

On the Turquoise Trail linking Albuquerque to Santa Fe, old trading towns used to sell the precious minerals they mined from the nearby hills. In a tiny town called Cerillos I found these earrings, little drops of turquoise. They weren’t the fanciest earrings there, but they were simple and a perfect color.

Not only is the blue rock my birthstone (December!), but these now remind me of the wonderful week Jesse and I spent exploring Santa Fe on our honeymoon. We relaxed, we walked around the Plaza, and we ate delicious food spiced with green and red chilies.

Since then I’ve lived in rainy Portland and Amsterdam, and the earrings have always brought me back to the heat of the arid desert, the colors of Santa Fe, the chili-spiced chocolate, and a happy time.

Sipping chocolate at the Kakawa Chocolate House, Santa Fe

Introducing: Lovely Objects

Our lives in Amsterdam are very temporary. We’re here for one wonderful year, and at the end we’ll pack up and go somewhere else. Who knows where, but due to money and permits and classes ending, we probably can’t stay here. It’s a temporary home.

It’s colored a lot of how I think about our apartment and home here. The nature of living in unfamiliar places lends itself to really thinking about what you value. In Portland I often felt like we had too much stuff. Stuff we didn’t need or use very often, stuff we forgot we had, stuff we didn’t know how to get rid. Now, living here with only the things I brought in a suitcase, I use everything around me. Because we’re so far from home those little things I brought are even more special to me. I know we’re not supposed to love stuff–money can’t buy happiness and all that. But I can and should appreciate it, right?

I’d like to learn to appreciate the things I own more, to learn why I love them, why I use this and not that, and what makes things special. Someday when we leave this city and find another one to make a more permanent home, I’d like to retain that sense of minimalism. I’d like to cultivate things I love around me, things that are the perfect combination of beautiful and useful.

To help me focus on that I’m going to start a new semi-regular series called Lovely Objects, where I allow myself to appreciate something I already own. Every post will come with a photo of the object, a short description of what it is, where I got it, what I use it for, and why I love it. If nothing else, I’ll end up with a great list of the things I’d never get rid of.

I should mention that this is directly inspired by The Marion House Book’s similar project last year of 52 Objects, where she picked one object a week. I’m not even sure I own 52 things I like that much, so I’m being a bit more vague with mine.

Until I get my first object up, what’s a special object for you?