I am a Starfish.

“I am a starfish,” the little boy said as he lay there sprawled out on the wooden floor. “I can breathe like a starfish and live forever like a starfish.”

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That was my little brother this morning during Mathematics—man, do I ever love that little boy. Who else has a life like mine?

(And some people wonder why I write what I write…)

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Today has been sweet.

Creamy yellow sweater.

Apron.

BREAD BAKING.

Book binding.

Rooibos tea.

Tuna melts.

Dangling earrings.

OPERA.

And Starfish.

(Not to mention it’s only half over.)

Love.

-Bella♥

Happy Anniversary (MOM+DAD forever.)

sometimes, my life is PERFECT. i’m being completely honest here.

it’s perfect when i’m sitting on the kitchen floor and eating Jet Puff while wearing red lipstick. it’s perfect when i figure out exactly what to say next and that little *ding* on my typewriter sounds and i happily re-read my words again. or when i go walking with my marvelous sisters and we’re all spiffied up and have nowhere to go but 7-Eleven. or when my Popi comes home from Jury Duty with a dozen roses in his hands for my Mumsie but he can’t find her and looks in every single room for her (which he just did). it’s perfect when i have an apron on and am making Easter bread when it’s not even Easter. or when i watch Lala mia walking about town with her Mary Poppins purse on her shoulder and her hair all done-up and high heels on.

today feels like a perfect day to me.

{i’m wearing the traveling dress.} we had a splendid run this morning. i have red lips. there are avocadoes on the kitchen counter. Lala mia is sitting at the table sewing a wedding veil (and no one’s even getting married…). a glass of milk is next to me. and this is in my head…

“”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"

they were laying on the kitchen floor. they had just mopped it. his jeans were rolled up past his ankles. her dress was tucked up past her knees and knotted at her hip. soap was everywhere. they had gotten a little out of hand. he was still breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling, his heart pounding. she laughed when she looked over at him. he was laying there with his sandy hair a tousled mess falling over his blue eyes. “you need a haircut.” she said. he peered over and took in her own messy appearance. her chocolate tresses were piled on top of her head and covered in soap. “you need a bath.” he retorted. she blushed. “i was under the impression that the soap you poured all over me cleaned me up enough.” her voice had a biting, but playful tone. he only smiled at the ceiling. and his hand slowly made it’s way across the floor and met her’s. he intertwined his fingers in her’s. they held hands. and stared at the ceiling. and layed on the soapy floor.

“”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"

today is a perfect day. i made that little piece up. and it’s my parent’s anniversary. that makes it perfect.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY DADDY AND MOMMY.

i ♥ you like the dickens.

love.

-Bella.dear

a recipe for happiness.

yesterday was to be a novel day. but – *blush* – i got a bit distracted. or rather, angry. (Mumsie and Popi were adamant that we clean our room. i.hate.cleaning. so i took on the role of a 2 year old and threw myself a temper fit. and made myself soooooo angry. i wanted to write. but the room is now clean. and just so everyone knows, parents are usually right).

when i’m angry there are things i like to do. i either get out the curling iron and curl my hair for 2 hours straight (which was quite impossible due to the fact that Lala mia was painting the hallway) or i go for a walk (so i went for a walk). Miss Tandy and Franny and i all headed out spiffied and sunscreened up. we had no destination in mind, but 7Eleven became our first stop. we went in and bought ourselves 99¢ Arizona® tea drinks. i got an Arnold Palmer and was happy.

after that we walked past the town fountain and made penny wishes.

then we headed off to a little thrift shop downtown where i found 2! Clare Darcy books and a copy of Fiddler on the Roof. i was even happier after that.

our last stop was the Museum. i ♥ Museums. my favourite part of our’s is when you walk into the room upstairs where they have the doctor’s kits and eye-doctor’s things. old eye-glasses and chairs. leather bags. everything amazing. i like to stand and stare at this photograph on the wall and wish that those old leather bags on top of the shelf were mine.

this picture makes me smile.

we finally made it home after being picked up by Mumsie and running a few errands with her and Lala mia. i wasn’t angry anymore. even though i barely got to work on my novel when we did get back. you see, it’s hard not to fall asleep after walking around in 95° weather for 3 hours – not to mention we had a Smallville marathon the night before till 12 o’clock (i.e. midnight). i think i only wrote 2 sentences. *blush*. but they were good sentences.

so yesterday was not a novel day. it was a happy day. maybe today will be a novel day…

a clean room + a walk + Arizona® Arnold Palmers + penny wishes + 3 books from a thrift store at the steal of 25¢ a book + Museums + 2 sentences in my novel + a nap + some Smallville + time with your 2 little sisters + a painted hallway + homemade bread – acting like a 2 year old = happiness.

and that’s a sure recipe.

{i’m in my pearls and a shirt with a big bow tied around my waist right now.} i just might make today a novel day. it’s not hard to have a novel day when your room is clean and you have a bow around your waist.

love.

-Bella.dear

p.s. today, i want to be able to sing opera so bad i could cry. if i wasn’t going to be a writer, i would probably be an anthropologist. and if i wasn’t going to be an anthropologist, i would be an opera singer. that’s not to say i have the chops for it though. *sigh*. the things i cry over…

yellow shoes and red lips make me happy.

i am in ♥ with Spirocreations on Etsy right now. their shoes just blow me away.

Tinkerbell Ballet Flats

i think the Tinkerbell Ballet Flats are my favourite. but the Mary-Jane Moccasins are a close second.

Mary-Jane Moccasins

this Husband and Wife team are marvelous. so talented. it makes my head spin. take a look if you can…

{i’m wearing a little graphic pattern skirt today. and red lipstick.} i’m happy.

we went to the grocery store earlier this morning. i found some LEGOS in the parking lot. only once in my life will that happen i think…

on tap for this day:

•bread baking in an apron.

•cleaning.

•making little felt flower hair-pins.

•writing letters.

•finding an ice-cream recipe for the party.

•and watching some Aaron Stone with Mr.Dante.

(i woke up in a sour mood this morning. Franny has been stealing my socks and wearing them for 3 days in a row. that is just as bad as when my feet get hot. i hate it. makes me want to rip up a thousand pairs of socks. including mine. *sigh*. the downs of living in a family of 7.) but you know something? who can be in a sour mood while wearing Reel Red lipstick? i.can’t.that’s.for.sure. so i put it on and made myself happy. i will always collect red lipstick. and then i will always be happy.

now i’m off to wish for shoes and bake a loaf of bread and cry over Rudy Steiner who died in The Book Thief today. (i finished reading it again. for just about the 5th time).

love.

-Bella.dear

Georgina:::::::::::

today my Lala and i are making buttons for our blogs. i already put her’s on the side of my blog. take a peeksie at it. she’s a wonder. i like her’s. a lot.

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we really need some bread. we have none. maybe if i find the time, i’ll slip an apron on and whip some up. bread is my favourite thing to make. it’s the only thing i can make. at least, that’s what i say. and believe me i’ve tried to make other things. out of the 3 cakes i’ve baked, all of them broke. and my apple pie, well, let’s just say that fell to pieces. *blush*. i’m not an a.m.a.z.i.n.g baker. but i am a bread baker. and i love that.

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for my little button for my blog, i’m going to use our clothesline. i ♥ our clothesline. and of course, it will involve a {little black dress.}

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i’ve had my nose buried in Georgina by Clare Darcy. i think that book is pretty darn cute. it’s not as incredible as Pride and Prejudice. or as lovely as Evelina. but i like it. i like Shannon the best. but Georgina is awfully adorable too. i like how Shannon is never the representation of pure chivalry, but he always plays the part of unruly gentleman. the man who shows up just to cause trouble and then says he had nothing to do with it. i find him amusing. and i love how he loves Georgina and won’t even say it. i think Georgina is adorable because she seems to despise Shannon for his behavior but can’t help but love him. and she is terrible at hiding her feelings and intentions. but i do like Shannon best.

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i made these little blue and white napkins for my Mumsie one Chrsitmas. i think i’ll incorporate those into my button too…

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Miss Tandy lost her Thomas Hardy book. O dear. i do hope she finds it.

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my button will have 1 bit of cornflower blue.

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here’s some Georgina:

” ‘How did you know who I was?’ She demanded. ‘No one else did!’  ‘I should’nt be to certain of that, if I were you,’ he said dryly. ‘These people have a great deal of tact, Miss Power, and if they were to observe a strawboy wearing footwear of a sort that assuredly is not common among country lads, they would not necessarily take it on themselves to embarrass him – or her – by calling attention to the fact.’ She instinctively looked down at the tips of the soft blue slippers peeping from beneath her straw skirt…”

i love that part.

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now off to take some pictures for my blog button.

love.

-Bella

…poofy…hair…

Miss Tandy and i just finished watching The Magnificent Ambersons. i like that movie. i own the book (and have yet to read it), but seeing the movie was a.m.a.z.i.n.g. i completely hated George. up until the point when his Aunt Fanny went crazy on him and he had to calm her down in that little dumpy apartment because she thought he was going to leave her and all she had was 28 dollars. then, i felt he learned his lesson and deserved for me to like him. so i did. and i found him to be spoiled, a brat, utterly rude, and really sweet♥.  that is why i like that movie. i love it when i hate people and then learn to like them throughout the book or film (not to mention that Jonathan Rhys Meyers is reaaalllly hard to hate. even when he’s playing the part of a brat).

{today i’m wearing an orange checkered apron and a little blue shirt.}

i made some Friendship Bread a few minutes ago. i love friendship bread. and i love making it. the task usually falls onto the shoulders of Miss Tandy (i say it’s a task because we somehow ended up with bag{s} of it. it’s hard to give friendship bread away when you only have so many friends. so now, we have to make all of it.*smile*) but when i get to do it, i do so enjoy myself. i think Miss Tandy likes to do it because it involves pudding…

we also watched Disney’s Tarzan today. and i realized my favourite part of that entire movie is when Tarzan goes back to rescue the apes and Kerchak looks at him and says: “You came back…” (in disbelief). and Tarzan replies: “I came home.” that is the best part. there is not a doubt in my mind. that is the best part….you know, i really have to get myself the Tarzan books. but for the life of me, i cannot find them.

so….right now, i’ve been watching a lot of movies. i think it’s partly because i miss my Lala (she’s at a camp). and she took the camera with her. *cry* but i’ll be alright. and movies aren’t that terrible. some of them, are l♥o♥v♥e♥l♥y. like Tarzan. and The Magnificent Ambersons. and Tess of the D’Urbervilles (it’s on the floor in my room). i love good movies.

now i’m off to type on my adorable typewriter and have a little cup of tea and twirl my fingers in my very poofy hair.

-Bella

.Dan+Madge forever.

we went to the yearly library book-sale today. i got some smashing new little novels. poetry. irish jig music. old stories. all the rest of that jazz…

i found an adorable little book called “Love Is.” and i loved it. and then i looked inside the cover. and i loved it even more. ’cause it said this:

♥

‘Love is…

Madge,

during the day and at night,

awake and asleep,

now and always.

Dan-1969′

♥

i found that completely sweet. i hope Dan+Madge love(d) eachother forever. f.o.r.e.v.e.r. how darling. to write, ‘Love is Madge…’ he must have been awfully sweet. awfully sweet indeed.

{i wore a little pink floral dress today.}

this morning i went for a run. then i donned on an apron and baked a loaf of bread. and then i spent some time making little cookies with Miss Tandy. while hopping back and forth trying to watch my favourite scene in a movie—boy and girl sitting in a tree together. little lights. white dress. fear. laughter—-so hard to try and glimpse all that while taking cookies out and putting them in the oven. not to mention cutting them out into bears and gingerbread men…

tomorrow i get to see my Lala. i cannot wait. it will be wonderful. PIÑATAS. fireworks. tea. books. love. smiles. joy. ♥.

i ♥ my Lala.

there’s a girl on the t.v. trying on 27 dresses. such a cute movie. the little parts where they say pretty things to one another are the ones i love. and the part when he pencils himself into her day-planner every month.week.day. it’s cute. or when they run around the store registering the bride for the ugliest stuff. that was cute. and when they both love the exact same part of the wedding…turning to see the groom just as the bride walks in. that was the cutest. sometimes i wish i had 27 dresses. maybe i do…

happyness {with a y.}

-Bella

.liking a lot.

i made this up this morning♥.

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she was terribly upset at him. her face was crimson. “do not presume you know me,” she said. “just because we lived across the street from one another ever since i was 6 does not mean you know me.” he smiled a bit. “but i do know you.” “you.do.not. you can’t.” she retorted. he ruffled his sandy hair with his fingers. “i know your eyes are copper, not brown like he says.” “copper and brown are…similar…relatively the same…almost the same.” she stuttered. he didn’t even hear her words. “and your hair is auburn, not red.” she began to pout and turned away from him, stomping her yellow heels. “you like peaches better than apricots. and you’re allergic to shellfish,” he continued. “i know you hate tuesdays because your mother made you clean the cat’s litter box every tuesday when you were 11. and your left ear is smaller than your right.” she peeked over her shoulder at him. he went on, “you prefer early mornings to late nights. and you would rather drink tea than coffee.” she turned back towards him, her little blue dress twirling. he was peaking her curiousity now. “you’re favourite colour is yellow, not pink. and…and…and i know that you don’t love Peter.” she was stunned. “how do you know all this?” he stopped smiling. “because i love you for goodness’ sake. i have since the day i met you across the street when i was 8.” he began to cry. “i loved you the day i taught you to ride your bike. i loved you when we sat in a field all St.Patrick’s Day looking for four-leaf-clovers. i loved you when you didn’t invite me to your 13th birthday party because i was a boy and i snuck in anyways. i loved you the time we went Christmas caroling, just the two of us. i loved you when you wore that little yellow dress i bought you. and i loved you the most the day you told me Peter asked you to marry him….and you said yes.” his face was wet with tears. “i love you Stella. more than he ever will. more than he ever could. i know everything about you. and i love you. i love you.” she was pink now. pink up to her ears. “you love me? you love me and i never knew? you never told me?” she watched him cry and nervously smoothed imaginary wrinkles out of the skirt of her dress. he rubbed his eyes on the sleeves of his grey shirt. “yes. i love you Stella. so much. i love you. i always have.” she swallowed, and her little neck got very tense. “you can’t love me Edward. you can’t. i’m getting married…and i love…that is, i think i love…no…no, i’m sure i love Peter. i have to love him. i should love him.” he cried harder. “no you don’t. i know you don’t. because i love you.”

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i like it. a lot.

today has been good so far. i’m thinking of making some bread. in an apron and jean shorts. how amusing it will be.

{my hair is very poofy today.}

i like today. i like it the way i love♥ cornflower blue paper.

have a snazzy day.

-Bella

.tick.tock. introductions to a little clock.

i have a little clock.

"looking down" on my .little.clock.

it sits on my window sill in front of my bottle collection, and right beside my box of jewelry, and is brilliant.

my.little.clock.

i wind it 4 times every morning when i wake up, and 6 times every night when i go to sleep. i ♥♥♥ my little clock.

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today was beautiful. i wrote in my sweet little novel. and i wrote in my story of Guy. it made me feel good inside. i liked it.

i had Mint Tea today.

i also had toast for breakfast out of homemade bread.

you can only always have beautiful days when there is homemade bread in the kitchen….

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(if you look closely, you can see the reflection of my camera in the face of my .little.clock. “tick.tock” goes the clock….”snap” goes the camera shutter).

-Bella

“little contrary me”

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I could both see them and hear them talk before I entered, and looked and listened in consequence; being moved thereto by a mingled sense of curiousity and envy, that grew as I lingered.”Contrary!” said a voice as sweet as a silver bell. “That for the third time, you dunce! I’m not going to tell you again. Recollect, or I’ll pull your hair!” “Contrary, then,” answered another, in deep but softened tones. “And now, kiss me, for minding so well.” “No, read it over first correctly, without a single mistake.” The male speaker began to read: he was a young man, respectably dressed and seated at a table, having a book before him. His handsome features glowed with pleasure, and his eyes kept impatiently wandering from the page to a small white hand over his shoulder, which recalled him by a smart slap on the cheek, whenever its owner detected such signs of inattention. Its owner stood behind; her light, shining ringlets blending, at intervals, with his brown locks, as she bent to superintend his studies; and her face- it was lucky he could not see her face, or he would never have been so steady. I could; and I bit my lip in spite, at having thrown away the chance I might have had of doing something besides staring at its smiting beauty. The task was done, not free from further blunders; but the pupil claimed a reward, and received at least five kisses; which, however, he generously returned.

-from Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte

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i love that book. adore it. really i do. the first time i read it, i hated it. almost all of it. ’till that page. that little paragraph. it changed my whole opinion of that book. it made me love that book. and now, i read that book over and over and over, and i find myself liking it more and more and more. it’s ridiculous how one can make their mind up about something and be so sure and then you can change everything you thought about it. i do that quite often. O little contrary me.

i wore my little grey dress today. i watched Miss Tandy paint props. i re-wrote a puppet show. i wished for cornflower blue rain boots. i talked to my Lala. i got a darling present in the mail from Miss Kirstie Rae. (thank you sweetheart. i love it.)  i thought of groomsmen and their a.m.a.z.i.n.g socks for little stories. i wrote a bit about ‘Guy’ and shoelaces. i had a short nap. and i was happy.

now i shall go to sleep and wish for the B.B.C version of Wuthering Heights.

tomorrow will be lovely.  i should really bake some bread, because we have none. i suppose i will… O the joy i will feel of being in an apron.

-Bella