a new branch

I've branched out a bit and created The Gnarling Tree where I'll be posting from now on. Grace Carroll Designs will be for projects and designs I'm working on and The Gnarling Tree is where I'll focus my random thoughts, fun finds, and inspirations. Join in?

http://thegnarlingtree.blogspot.com/

That's Not Chocolate!

Wish me luck as I endeavor an Argentinian-themed, 5 course meal complete with palm heart and grapefruit salad, Chimichurri-rubbed steak (sadly not on the grille as it's a monsoon out there), fancy potatoes with white truffle oil, sandwiches de migas, and finally, chocolate mousse. All paired with a lovely Malbec, and perhaps finishing with port. I don't usually recommend planning a special meal consisting entirely of new recipes that one has never attempted before, but I feel like a culinary adventure tonight, and I've decided to put great faith in my cooking skills.

In honor of the chocolate mousse (this recipe seems the trickiest) I looked around for images of "gorgeous chocolate." Surprisingly, this little creature popped up (as well as a photo of Nicole Richie with long, dark hair). Not surprisingly, I'll be posting his photo instead, courtesy of Reptile Forums UK.

I'd like to point out that he is not chocolate, nor a reptile... obviously.

So, happy Valentine's Day! May love tickle your prickly spines and give you giggles.

B is for Beauty

Today is dark and felt like twilight at noon. I am sleepy and slow, and contemplating beautiful things sprung from sorrow. For instance, the beauty that is often created in the aftermath of loss. The deepest, most profound kind of loss that leaves a hole where your hopes dwelt.

I've been lucky in my losses, or as lucky as one can be. But I've been touched by the losses of others, great and small, and it is never the loss that holds my attention it is the way in which people respond. How they deal with it, and inevitably go on with their lives... It is, in one word, amazing.

The stories that inspire me are those in which a person encounters unimaginable pain, and through their process of grief and healing find their passions rise up and, undaunted, they go out to change the world. How do some of us wrap ourselves up in our experiences and turn lovingly back around to greet another day?

Three stories circle in and out of my thoughts: One about a man who lost his sister and began building schools for children in parts of the world where schools are a luxury, another about a woman who was pregnant with a baby who was never meant to be, and the third about a woman who lost her child, and to help say goodbye she drew the girl's name in the sand and let the ocean fill the lines back in...

There are common threads through our lives: the coming and going of others, of seasons, of love...

I'd like to spend a little more time appreciating the loveliness around me, the moments of joy and silliness, the carefree hours that I often take for granted. Life feels like a drift of windblown sand...

Impermanence, touched by beauty.