Martinmas Lantern Walk

I have posted before about how I discovered Martinmas in a book about old fashioned, Victorian holidays while I was living in NYC. Obviously I wanted to incorporate this into my domestic church after I had children. Interestingly 3 of the mothers in my online mommy group live in Germany right now due to work or deployments. I love hearing about the popular holidays that they and their July 2013 children get to celebrate while living there. Martinmas is one of those popularly celebrated holidays and their children have lantern walk celebrations at school. It is so nice to think about the universal church and doing an activity here that people are doing on another continent.

I used to just take flashlights with us on lantern walks if I even managed to get us outside. In recent years I have put together lanterns for the children. I use fancy jam jars, construction paper, used tissue paper, white glue, and wire. First I cut out the construction paper and tissue paper in strips that will fit around the circumference of the jar. (I could have taken a lot of time measuring out something that would fit perfectly, but I haven't done that. I just cut a straight strip knowing that I will have to trim off the edges on the bottom and that there will be some overlap where they fit together. We use these once a year in the dark so simple is good enough for me on these.) Next we use the glue in a thin layer on the outside of the glass jar and apply the colored tissue paper to it. Then I have them draw out some designs on the construction paper that either they or I will cut out. I try to recommend a cross for Jesus or an M for St. Martin.  We put glue on the back of the construction paper and apply it to the outside of the jar on top off the tissue paper. I use a rubber band or two to hold the paper in place until the glue dries completely. Lastly I pass them off to Mr. W and have him cut and wrap the wire around the top rim of the jam jar and form a little handle on top.

Last year I remember that the tea light candles kept blowing out during our lantern walk which totally frustrated the older kids. The reason why I put the paper on the outside of the glass was so that I could have an open flame on the inside. Anyway, this year I got smart and put battery operated tea-lights inside. That eliminated that complaint.

I suggested that we stop by one of T-Bone's friend's house on our walk to say hello, but he was mortified by that idea. When I said, why not, they are Catholic too?, he said, yes, but they aren't Catholic dorks.  I probably should have been offended by that, but I couldn't help but laugh. He has me totally pegged! :D

Mr. W opted to stay home and make a nice dinner for us instead of joining us on the lantern walk. Most sources suggest goose for Martinmas too, Cooking With the Saints has a recipe for duck, but we decided that a pork loin would be nice and seasonal. The Feast Day Cookbook has a recipe for cinnamon apples for St. Martin's Day so he made that as an accompaniment. The children's lanterns make a nice table decoration.

After dinner I read the book Snow on Martinmas to them. It mentions lantern walks in there too so I am not the only dork.  

Flamme d' Or

We have been talking a lot about last July when we went to Japan for Mr. W's brother's wedding. I wrote about it a little bit last summer, but didn't post much about our good adventures. One of them was seeing Flamme d'Or. I only had three things I had on my vacation check list: 1)go to a real Japanese style tea ceremony,2) Go to the flagship Mikimoto store in Ginza, and 3) see the Phillipe Starck building.
I have a soft spot for the Post Modern architects and designers. My favorite is Michael Graves because my first introduction to him was when he designed the Portland Building. My second favorite is Starck. I love his iconic spider shaped juicer. I have a Book called Places for Tea in New York city and I went to as many as I could while I lived there among them the Hotel lobby designed by Starck. I loved it, it is not your typical tea setting.
His building in Tokyo is home to the Asahi Beer company. On the first level there is a restaurant. It is located on the opposite side of the Sumida river so we got off the subway at the Asakusa stop and had to walk across the bridge in the drizzle, but his allowed for more photo opportunities. We visited a few Shinto shrines in that area first and then came back to dine in the restaurant so I could get some interior shots too.
Shrine
A cemetery we just happened upon smack int he middle of houses and shops.
An offering of beer.I didn't get a photo of the main part of the dining room because there was a large group of businessmen and I didn't want to be an ugly American. The restaurant has a serpentine shape. The entire length of one wall is covered in upholstered panels.There is a little station near the entrance where the staff has their supplies. Actually there were a lot of stations like this trhough out the restraunt tht were simply carts, not very Post Modern and certainly not something of which I think Monsuier Starck would approve. But I do like this big, bulbous column treatment. A better view of the upholstered wall and leather banquet, the table and chair. The edges of the tables are angled so that they can be butted together.A detail of the feet on the banquet which reflect the shape of the flame on the top of the building. You can also see that this leather has been well worn since 1989.And then there was the bathroom. Starck's bathrooms are always awesome and this one did not disappoint. The walls were undulating stainless steel and it took some time for me to figure out how to get into the stall. Then once inside it I discovered a Japanese style floor toilet. This was the only one of this kind I found while on this trip to Japan. So I was reminded of our trip to Turkey when I last used a hole in the floor, and this was by far much better looking. Dare I say beautiful? The walls opposite the stalls were frosted. The basin for the sink was beautiful, creamy onyx. There was no lever for the faucet, not did it seem to be motion activated. I finally figured out what those random circles on the floor were for, a foot pedal for the water. The hand dryer was a metal box floating on 3 legs. While we were there Our Little Helper fell asleep on the banquet; the poor thing fell asleep nearly every afternoon and slept through dinner because his little body was unable to adjust to the time change. There were stairs to a second level of the restaurant which I didn't get to go see because he was asleep in my lap. However I loved this space and I am glad that I drug everyone there to see it. My brother in law told me that the Japanese have nicknamed this building the Golden Turd. I don't like that one bit though.

A room with a view

I love Florence! When I was in college in Idaho, and hating it, I planned to spend my junior year abroad. I found a program in London for the fall semester and studied there with Ms. H. Ms. HG found a program in Florence for the spring semester. I will be eternally grateful to my parents for giving me that opportunity. For part of our curriculum we took a Byzantine and Early Renaissance history class which gave us the opportunity to go on field trips all over Tuscany and Umbria to see frescoes and statues. One of the places we went was San Gimignano, the Manhattan of Tuscany, because of all the medieval towers. As we drove away at dusk I memorized the view in my mind. At 20 I hoped I'd return to Italy one day, but San Gimignano seem like such an obscure destination that I'd never be back. Imagine my surprise when I learned that the wedding to end all weddings would taking place a few miles away!
I was happy to return to Florence with Mr. W and be able to show him all my old haunts. I was disappointed Ms. HG wouldn't be able to be there with me though. Since we were sharing a villa in Volterra with Mr. & Mrs. K we wouldn't have too much time in Florence so I had to make the most out of it. They would be heading south to finish their trip, but our time in Florence would coincide with Mr. & Mrs. F.
We stayed at different hotels though. Ours was along the Arno and at the foot of the high end shopping street. While we didn't have a river view from our room, the view from the terrace was breathtaking. Breakfast was served with a view of il duomo. It was so awesome; I wished that we could have a few more days here.It was hard to pull ourselves away, but we did so that we could see a few sights. I found another passamenterie shop but unfortunately couldn't think of anything else I needed to purchase. I also wanted to get a Pinocchio as a souvenir for the littlest W. Since the author Carlo Collodi was from Florence, there are little wooden puppets for sale all over the place. On our way to Santa Croce, my favorite church in Florence, we came across this adorable little wood shop. This was the perfect place to find our Pinocchio!We never made it to the altri Arno to have a picnic at San Miniato after listening to the Gregorian chanting. So I also never had a chance to search the artists' shops and studios there for beveled drawer pulls. We also never made it to my school or dozens of other sights. We will just have to return to Florence!
It was a wonderful babymoon alone with Mr. W before we welcome our next son into the world. I'm happy we were able to make it here to celebrate with Mr. & Mrs. Z. There was definitely a lot of stress not knowing how our IF would effect this trip. I hated having to RSVP 'yes' qualifying it with it all depends upon whether I can get pregnant again or not. But it all worked out in the end. And I was only moderately embarrassed being introduced to guests at the wedding who would respond, "Oh, I met you at the bachelor party!" or "So this is the baby from the bachelor party!" I kept trying to explain to people that is not the way it worked out, but Mr. Z said to me, "We are all going to tell this baby he was conceived at HD: TBP. You just have to accept it." I'm so grateful that I am finally pregnant that I think I will do just that.

The wedding to end all weddings

One of Mr. W's college friends finally got engaged last year. I say finally because they are all in their late 30s so practically everyone else is already married, or has had children without the benefit of marriage. Mr. Z is an architect. He has very unique style. His wardrobe consists entirely of 1970s leisure suits. He is also extremely petite. And a vegan. But his diet is mostly alcohol.
He and another fraternity brother bought a house in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood and have been painstakingly restoring it over the last decade. You think I obsess over the details? When the re-roofed the house, in cedar shakes because that is what would be period appropriate, pre-stained shakes just would not do. Instead he insisted the stain them themselves which required dipping each individual shake 3 times. I was living in New York at the time and hadn't met him yet, so I am repeating this story from Mr. & Ms. HG who got roped into helping. During the renovations they decided to remove all the plaster, but not the lathe, from the walls. There was a ton of debris as a result of the demolition, but Mr. Z likes to economize. He decided against renting a dumpster to save money. Instead he Shawshanked it out. Over a period of several months, he would bring a garbage bag filled with debris on the bus with him so he could put it in the dumpster at his office. I love Mr. Z stories!
So it was with much excitement that we learned that he was engaged. We could just imagine what the wedding would be like! I wanted to go just so that I could see what Mr. Z would be wearing. When my parents were married in 1975 my father wore a white tuxedo with a blue ruffled shirt; could we expect something like this from the man of leisure?
Because he is so particular the wedding preparations took a great deal of time for the couple. Mrs. Z to be is a trained interior designer. Usually the bride directs the theme and details of a wedding. And often times the groom will take the lead on certain projects. For us, Mr. W was the driving force behind the food, wine, and beer selections. His one quirky sticking point was that he hated the look of the chairs in my parish hall and insisted we rent better ones. Mr. Z was involved to this degree with his entire wedding. We kept hearing about all the work going into the invitations. To be sure they were the most beautiful, amazing wedding invitation I have ever received. They must have spent a fortune on them. My anticipation to see Mr. W's wedding attire was growing.
Once we arrived in Italy and met up with the wedding party at the Villa di Ulignano we learned the story of the wedding suit. Mr. Z had found the suit he loved. It was made by a Norwegian company that has a showroom in Los Angeles. The LA store did not carry the suit though and for some reason would not ship the suit to the US. Mr. Z would be able to purchase the suit if he sent it to the villa, which meant it would arrive only a few days before the wedding... a bit of a risk. After they arrived in Italy and learned the suit had not, Mr. Z contacted the company. He received a call back from the president who was in the factory tracking down the suit and would overnight it to Mr. Z. Because the won't send this particular suit to the US, there are only two Americans who own this suit. Mr. Z is the second. The first is RuPaul!This suit made all those months of waiting worth it! It is very beautifully made. There are fun little qoutes lining the waistline and the lining is equally fun. A lot of people said it looked like a grandma's sofa. But I thought the brocade was lovely and really brought out the colors of the Tuscan countryside. Mr. Z really is the best dressed groom ever!

My Sienese tassels

We stayed in a really quaint villa in Volterra with an absolutely awesome view. Whenever Mr. W and his friend Mr. K get together they love to cook together or go out to fine meals. (In fact they'd love to open a restaurant together one day if we ever all live in the same town.) The beauty of the villa was that they were able to cook for us nearly every night. We did have plans to have a nice dinner out the night before the rehearsal dinner since we share the same anniversary weekend.
Since I am 6 months pregnant we knew that we wouldn't want to be doing a lot of touring the countryside. A relaxing week lounging around the pool was just what we needed for this babymoon. Did I mention the guys bought speedos for the occasion? They decided when in Rome...We did a little trip into Volterra and a little trip into San Gimignano. We also had plans to go into Siena. However Mr. W came down with a case of what he called Mussolini's Revenge. He blamed it on the ice cubes not being made with bottled water. I think that it was more likely all the steak Florentine he was eating. I'm never fond of rare meat, but during pregnancy it is even more repellent to me. So bloody and yuck!I still was hoping to find some cute shoes to wear to the wedding, so Mrs. K and I decided to drive to Siena ourselves and let the boys hang around the pool at home. I had been to Siena before on a field trip and she wasn't that interested in sightseeing so we were free to wander the streets shopping. Siena is divided into different neighborhoods that all have their own colors and flag. I love the neighborhood spirit here. I did find some black heels with ribbon bows on the back that at 9€ I couldn't afford to NOT purchase.
As we were making our way back toward the car we went down a little alley thinking it might be a short cut. And I discovered the most amazing little passamenterie shop! I had actually put together a short Italian shopping list for myself: a hat, a tassel, and some mirrored, beveled glass drawer pulls. This shop, Tappezzerie Lippi, was just the place to look for a tassel for the dining room portiere! I love little shops like this and wish I had more furniture to reupholster or windows to cover. And money to afford it would help too!
I found a nice fat tassel in perfect colors for the dining room. I think this room is one step away from being complete!

My Florentine hat

One of the things I love most about weddings is that they are a great excuse to wear a fabulous hat. And if it is an outdoor wedding, all the more reason for this red head to protect herself from the sun's harmful rays. I decided to pack a simple black maternity dress for our friends' Tuscan wedding (why waste good money on something I'll wear once) and splurge on a hat once we arrive in Italy. When I studied in Florence I for some really great hats so I was confident that I'd fall in love with something for the wedding. I further rationalized the purchase as saving myself from carting a hat there and back as well as it would be my souvenir.
There was a little bit of confusion between Mr. W and me in regards to our itinerary. I thought we'd fly into Florence, stay there for a few nights before we headed out to the villa. However the way the booking worked for the villa we'd have to go directly there and then switch to a hotel the day of the wedding. Not ideal. We wouldn't be staying in Florence until the end of the trip. That put a lot of pressure on me to map out where I could buy a hat rather than leisurely shopping for a few days prior to the wedding.
I bought my original Florentine hat, which looks like a white cake, at the department store Coin. My flatmate and I walked by this store everyday on our way to and from studio. I also found several delightful pairs of summer gloves there. Coin is in the middle of il Centro near Piazza della Signoria. I searched hat shops and milliners in Florence and discovered Grevi. I got so excited just looking at the hats photographed on their website. Their showroom is located close to Santa Maria Novella. I remembered that there was a public parking lot at the Santa Maria Novella train station. Our friends Mr. & Mrs. K, with whom we would be sharing the villa, were going to pick us up from the airport. I figured we could park at SMN and then walk from there.
The day we arrived I got worried, it was a Monday and I imagined there was a possibility that shops could be closed. I had no back up plan if I couldn't get a hat that day! We found Grevi without much difficulty. It was closed, but only for lunch. Such a relief. We were all hungry too so we walked over to Piazza della Repubblica because I remembered being a poor college student looking longingly at the diners in the restaurants around the piazza. All my happy memories of living in Florence came rushing back to me as we had our lunch. I really wished that Ms. HG had been able to make the trip; Italy wouldn't be the same without her. But, I was able to enjoy my pesto pasta nonetheless!
The wind was whipping around quite a bit during lunch and as soon as we finished our meal it started pouring. I'd packed an umbrella, but it was back in the car. We all decided that we didn't want to slog around in the downpour. So Coin was out. We rushed back to Grevi. So many wonderful hats inside. My only concern was that they were all pillboxes or _; for practical reasons I was hoping to find something with a large brim to keep me well shaded. Apparently big brimmed hats are out this season! I tried on a lot of hats and Mr. W, and Mr. & Mrs. K helped me decide upon one. It has 3 grosgrain rosettes and one big, raw silkbow on top and spotted netting. I don't have anything like it so I am very, very happy. I figured the flowers made it wedding-y.

Why I love Japan Part II

A few days into our trip to Japan we took the Shinkansen to Kyoto for a couple of days and stayed in a really nice ryokan. The littlest W was having a bit of a problem with the time change still. He was pretty good, but would fall asleep for a nap every afternoon which would last until 4 am the next day. This meant we would have a sleeping rag doll at nearly every dinner.
Mr. W and I didn't really have much planned for the trip. Mr. W's brother in law, as a total foodie wanted to see the Nishiki Food Market and the next day his sister wanted to go to the Kyoto Handicraft Center. Our trip up to the handicraft center was a little overlong as we negotiated the subway system, eating, and trying to extract cash from banks. By the time we finally got there I knew our boy would be crashing soon. As much as I tried to contain him, he was running around the shops like a crazy person. Shopping was nearly impossible as we tried to keep him out of trouble. At one point I tried to grab him by the shoulder to prevent him from taking off running. He managed to pull out of my grasp, but immediately fell and slid into the side of a display table. It was a noisy fall, he started crying, but I didn't think much of it. I thought the crying was more indicative of him being tired. I found a chair and sat trying to comfort him so he'd calm down. It wasn't working and Mr. W's sister-in law asked if he had bumped his head. I told her I didn't think so. But she persisted and when I pulled his bangs back I saw that she was right. He had a giant golf ball sized bump protruding from his forehead. I was the worst mother ever!
She and I headed down to the floor that had a cafe in pursuit of ice while someone else went to let Mr. W know what had happened. The women working in the cafe were very accommodating getting us cold ragas and ice, but the boy was not happy having any ice packs on his head and frankly didn't want to have the cold rags either. Mr. W found us by then and we decided that we needed to take hi to the hospital. The bump was freakishly big.
Thank God for Mr. W's brother and wife being able to interpret for us! The information desk at the handicraft center gave us directions to a medical clinic right around the corner. It was a little hole in the wall place, but it turned out to be the best place ever. We got in and Mrs. WW interpreted the situation for Mr. W while I held our boy. He had calmed down somewhat by then, but his forehead didn't look any better. We were called back into see the doctor shortly thereafter where Mrs. WW continued to translated for us. The conversation went something like this:
Doctor: He has a hematoma. You need to keep ice on it to keep the swelling down and he should have a CT scan
Us (as typical Americans) OMG how much is that going to cost?
Doctor: It will be $200, and really this is just the standard procedure for a head injury like this.
Us: $200?!?! Okay!
We were directed out to the hallway where we were told we would have to wait for about 30 minutes. As I sat cradling him trying to keep a bag of ice on his head I suddenly no longer felt guilty about our decision to leave him with my mom during our trip to Italy next month. Who needs the stress of foreign emergency room visits? It was probably less than 15 minutes that we waited before we were called down to the room where the CT machine was. As we started to strap our poor little boy into the machine the nurses noticed that I was pregnant and said that I needed to wait in the hall. I felt bad for Mr. W to have to keep him calm alone, but fortunate that I was showing early enough for the nurses to notice. I was in such momma bear mode that I really wasn't even thinking about the pregnancy and the x-ray machine.
After it was over we went back out into the waiting room and rejoined the family. Our experience was becoming just like that in Michael Moore's Sicko. I know a lot of critics thought that some of the scenes in foreign clinics were fake, but ours was just like that in the movie. We got right in to see the doctor. Those in our family who had had CT scans were charged thousands of dollars and had to go to another clinic, some times days later for the scan. And here we were in some random clinic that had it's own machine!
We were called back in to see the doctor to review the scan results. Everything was fine and the doctor advised us to keep an ice pack on him for the next 4 hours to reduce the swelling. As I listened to Mrs. WW translating this to us I must have made some sort of hopeless looking face because the doctor then suggested that we get some adhesive cooling pads instead. Mr. WW remembered that he had used this product for an injury he had while he was living in Japan so we went around the corner to a 7-11 type store and he found the product we needed. I hailed us a cab so we could take him back to the ryokan immediately to rest.
He was by no means a fan of the menthol sticky patch on his forehead, but it did keep him cool and he couldn't get it off or fight with us. Of all the places to deal with a head injury like that, Japan is by far the best place! We were in and out of there in about an hour and it cost us a total of $250, including the CT scan. Seriously can ther be a country more civilized than Japan? I will definitely want to return, once my children are a little older.

Why I love Japan

I will admit that I was a little reluctant to go to Japan for my brother in law's 2nd destination reception while I am pregnant. Japan has never been high up on my list of travel destinations, but if you are going to be invited to a Japanese wedding, you have to go! Plus, it is family.
But I don't like rice. I also don't like my meats uncooked. I do enjoy teriyaki, but that is the extent of my Japanese cuisine, and frankly I'm not even sure if that isn't an American food anyway. So with morning sickness still in full swing, and a positive attitude to try new things, I packed my suitcase full of granola bars, dried fruits, and snack foods and we flew off to Japan.
At the Narita airport we met up with Mr. W's parents and his sister and her husband, Mr. & Mrs. L. From there we were to take a train into Tokyo and then walk to our hotel where we'd meet up with his brother and his wife, Mr. & Mrs. WW, and her parents, Mr. & Mrs. S. I hope it will come as no surprise that this was a recipe for disaster. I'm not saying the idea didn't have merit, but with a toddler who never slept on the 10 hour flight until 10 minutes before we landed and then took an hour and a half train ride, we were unable to carry out the plan. The problem was we were tired, we were hungry, and everyone was staring at the subway map trying to figure out which direction to go for our "10 minute walk" to the hotel. Also there was a rumor that there was an underground passageway that would lead us straight there. Yeah, we had no idea where that was. So we headed off in the dark and rain only to discover that we were going the wrong way. At this point, with our luggage and the littlest W not in the best of moods, I told Mr. W that we were taking a cab and the rest of his family could do as they pleased if they were really determined to walk and find it on their own. A tad bitchy, perhaps, but I need to take care of my family.
Once we arrived at the hotel, which was very close, but in the opposite direction of where the family was heading, we met with Mr. WW and told him he needed to find his family while we checked in. I was so tired at this point that I told Mr. W that the boy and I would go to bed and he could join the others, once they finally arrived, at dinner. We unpacked a little so I could get into the snack food and get our jams. The room was very tiny, which I was kind of expecting, but yikes, the room was as wide as the bed was long. Unpacking proved to be slightly challenging and I couldn't find bear blanket. We searched high and low in that tiny room and I realized that I had left it in the cab. I was furious with myself! This trip was going to be a horrible, horrible nightmare because I left bear blanket, our most prized belonging that we brought with us to Japan, in the G_D cab. On the first G_D day! Poor little W. He was so tired and wanted to go to sleep so bad and wanted his bear blanket. I felt like the worst mother ever. The room was so tiny that all 3 of us would be sharing the same queen sized bed because there is no way a cot or crib would have fit in there, so I hoped that snuggling with Momma for the night would be an acceptable alternative for him.
Mr. W joined his family for dinner and came back tot he room, but I must have been sleeping pretty soundly because I don't remember that. At some point in the night though I had to get up to pee (thank you, pregnancy) The tiny little bathroom compartment had a light system that I couldn't quite figure out, so Mr. W turned on a small light near the bed. As I crawled back to bed, I couldn't believe my eyes! There was bear blanket wrapped around it's rightful owner! How did this miracle happen?
Apparently at some point the Japanese cab driver realized we'd left this fuzzy square of fabric in the back of his cab and took it upon himself to come back to the hotel. He also somehow managed to reconnect with the cab in which the rest of the family decided to take, having given up their quest to walk to the hotel. How he managed to do this I will never know. All I can assume is that the cab driver was an angel sent from heaven to save us from misery. I lived in NYC for 3 years. Never in all my cab rides did a driver ever return anything, certainly not a child's blanket! You'd be lucky if you left your phone in a cab to have the driver answer it and return it to you for a large fee. For this driver to realize the importance of a bear blanket and take his time to return it was beyond comprehension. Surely we had arrived in the most civilized country on the planet. It set the tone for the rest of our vacation in Japan.