some thoughts...

i grew up through my high school and college years thinking i was a "city girl." my dream, looking back, i think would have been to have a job at some high-powered graphic design firm in the heart of new york city, with some reason to speak french on the side. the more i think about it (or maybe the older i get... is 24 too young to be having "the older i get" thoughts?) the more i realize that i don't think that's really me. the real me hates high heels and wants to be barefoot in the grass all day. i'd much rather wear a flowy sundress than some chic little black number. eating homegrown grape tomatoes and cucumbers straight from the garden sounds much more appetizing than any entree lined with caviar (don't take all the caviar. that caviar is a garnish!... if you know what movie that is from, comment me and i'll send you something special!).

i certainly wouldn't call myself any sort of enviromentalist, and i don't have an obsession with being "green," but i do think sometimes about what kind of earth will be left for our kids. maybe that's the real basis of my thoughts... it's not so much getting older, necessarily, as getting ready to hopefully have kids in the next year or two. in lots of ways the idea of a farm or homestead is really appealing... space for my kids and dog to run and play without worries of being run over by a huge suv racing home from work at eight when dinner was at seven. spending their free time reading under a tree rather than my trying to make sure they don't learn about the birds and bees at age five because they accidentally saw an episode of desperate housewives. crocheting snuggly blankets by the fire in winter.

i'm sure quite a bit of what i'm imagining here is probably quite unrealistic... romanticized by memories of picking blueberries in my grandparents' backyard when i was little and pictures of beautiful homesteads where other people have done the real work. but i don't think it would be the worst thing to slow the pace of life a little bit... set up house somewhere where you can spread out a little and walk more places and climb trees and play barefoot. maybe even a barn with a hayloft and rope swing, if we're really talking dream-world.

but yeah... wide open spaces. little rows of things growing. making new friends.


on a note unrelated to pretty white cows... congratulations to christine of my bella colle for winning my one year blogiversary drawing! a big thanks to all of you who left comments... thanks for reading and participating!