the beach

tomorrow i get to go to the beach.

i am so excited i think i might faint.

i ♥ the beach.

we’re headed off on our annual SEASIDE xc trip. over 7 hours on a bus. lots of good food. plenty of salty air. pyramids on the sand. a three-course challenge. over 700 xc runners. 1 amazing mud-pit.

(i ♥ the mud-pit.)

a marching band. OCEAN. walking through downtown SEASIDE. ice-cream. and all the rest of that jazz.

here’s a taste of last year’s mud-pit:

what’s not to LOVE?

i’ll be sure to post some new photographs that i snap at the mud-pit this year.

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we gave Daryel a little present and bunch of balloons for his birthday yesterday. funniest thing ever. he clipped the balloons to the back of his shirt and practiced soccer like that. it made me laugh. i can’t really think of anyone else but Daryel who would run around with a bunch of balloons trailing behind him while passing a soccer ball back and forth. Miss Tandy and i were glad he liked it. his exact words, “You’ve made me the happiest man alive!”

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i suppose i’ll go work on some little stories i have going. i’m actually really inspired right now.

(i wish i could bring my typewriter on the bus.)

love.

-Bella.dear

the man who gave Macbeth away.

i have been typing away and away and away. my fingers hurt. i like it. but my story made me mad today. i got a bit stuck. it’s fixed now though. i think. it’s hard to write when there are 3 children in the next room doing 3 different things and Miss Tandy is playing a harmonica right beside you. very difficult. sometimes you just need quiet. but i think what i really need is to give George and Josephine a break and work on my novel. for some reason, i can write in my novel when a hundred different things are going on. that’s what i love about it.

(what i really want to write right now is this amazing little piece stuck in my head. it’s been there for a long time. it involves the fair and kisses and tents and vintage dresses.)

Lala mia was recording this amazing song earlier today. i love it. especially this one part that is soooooo marvelous. so marvelous. i love it. i love it. i love it. i just can’t say that enough.

today i wanted to cry. and i didn’t know why. but then if figured it out. the other day when we were in that thrift shop, there was a stack of old books for sale. i wanted them. O so badly. but $5 dollars a book is NOT a steal. really, who wants to pay $5 dollars for one book? not me. and who wants to pay $50 dollars for 10 books? (there was 10 of them…) i just wanted the books.  but that’s not why i wanted to cry. i wanted to cry because someone actually gave those books away. what kind of person would do that? i wish i could meet them. i imagine this man whose father left him those books after he died, and that young man wanted nothing to do those old books. he had no hankering to read Shakespeare’s Macbeth. so he gave them away. and now he’s alone in his father’s house without those books. and one day, when he sits down with his morning cup of coffee and reaches for a book in his father’s book shelf, they won’t be there. it will be empty. kind of sad.

Mr.Dante told me today, “There’s something I like about a man sitting in an empty room in a tuxedo. Especially the part about the empty room…” i think i like that too. my little brother is the best. he’s walking inspiration for my men i write about. and he’s only 8 years old. i wish i had an older brother too. he would be more walking inspiration, but he would be 20 years old. for now, Mr.Dante is enough i suppose. if only ’cause he’s the best.

an odd collaboration of thoughts, i know, but it’s just what’s on my mind today.

in lieu of mentioning  Lala mia and vintage dresses, i’ll show you something i really like right now. 2 of the dresses in Lala’s ETSY shop: icarryourheart. they’re also in Lala’s closet in my house. snatch ‘em up before i plead and cry and make her give them to me. *wink*.

Pink Swing

this one is The Pink Swing. and you can find it here.

DUTCH GIRL

this one is The DUTCH GIRL. and you can find it here.

i like ‘em. and so will you.

a thought for today….don’t give vintage Macbeths away. PLEASE.

love.

-Bella.dear

RAINBOOTS FOR ME.

O i love love love my life.

here is why:

•i went to SONIC for the first time.

•i had a lovely party.

•i learned to skip rocks (sort of).

•and i have rainboots.

yes, you read that right. i have rainboots. J.Crew rainboots. navy blue J.Crew rainboots with little dalmatians on them. i almost died when my Mumsie gave them to me. i had no idea. i wanted to sleep with them on that night (last night) but my feet got a little hot in them. just so everyone knows, yellow stoplight wishes do work. i say that and i do believe it. and just so everyone knows, i will one day sleep in my rainboots.

i did go to SONIC for the first time in e.v.e.r. in my life this week. the day before yesterday.

it was snazzy. i think talking into the little box and pushing the red button is superb. and the shakes are yummo. not to mention the Kung-fu fighting music they play.

our party was smashing. even though not all the guests showed up. we had pink lemonade. little seagull cut-outs hanging up. lights. lovely dresses. hats and neckties for the gentlemen. LIMBO. some dandy music. swing dancing. cake (we lost the candles…). penny wishes in the fountain. homemade ice-cream. BINGO (i lost everytime). i even got a dandy KEEN bag (i keep my notebooks in it), some Mmmmazing tea, and a little book. i felt special. funny thing, near the end, some skateboard kids showed up and wrote a song and sang it. the song was….ummm….funny. i guess. to me at least. when you’re being “serenaded” by 3 skateboarders at 10 o’clock at night, you have to laugh. life threw some lemons, but we had plenty of lemonade at our party. i thought it was superb.

i was taught to skip rocks today. 4 skips. that’s the most i got. the art of skipping rocks is hard to learn.

i’ll have to introduce you to my boots and my typewriter soon. but now i ought to go to bed.

love.

-Bella.dear♥

No, Danny! and chocolate cake and fedoras.

day 3 of sports camp week. i am tired. today was trying for me. there is one little boy, Danny, who is so adorable and so naughty. you know that book No, David! ? Danny could be in that book. today, during basketball, he decided to lick his ball. with his tongue. all over it. i think i said No, Danny! over 34 times. ’nuff said.

i promised a bit on Lydia. i ♥ Lydia. i think that was my favourite one. i liked Shannon and Georgina. but i love Lydia and Northover. i’m in the beginning of Cecily now. i think i’ll still end up loving Lydia the best. i haven’t read enough of Cecily to decide if i adore it beyond all the others. from what i’ve seen, Clare Darcy seems to have written 14 novels. i shall read all of them. then i’ll let you know what my true favourite is. right now…it’s Lydia. so here’s a bit.

“““““““““““““““““““““

“She had stopped crying, and, after looking vainly for a handkerchief with which to dry her wet cheeks, was reduced to accepting – with a dagger-glance – the one thrust upon her by Northover. ‘There Lydia mia!’ he said soothingly. ‘Dry your eyes and compose your temper, and when I return we’ll sort this all out.’ “

-Lydia: by Clare Darcy

“““““““““““““““““““““

love, love, love the way he treats her like a child because she acts like one. she expects everyone to pretend as if she’s an adult, but really, he knew better. i need a shirt that says i ♥ Northover. because i do.

our party planning is in full swing. this is going to be quite the bash. really. i cannot wait. dresses. lights. typewritten invitations. S.Pellegrino. homemade ice-cream. chocolate zucchini cake. fedoras. flower hair-pins. music. short films. clotheslines. maybe a string of pearls…i’ll be sure to take lots of pictures. i need to remember to remind myself to do that.

Bella's reminder: take photographs at your party. lots.lots.and lots.

(i have a little story to tell. we were in the grocery store the other day. and this man all of the sudden started belting out HAPPY BIRTHDAY to his wife on the intercom. too cute. that is going in a story of mine most definitely.)

tonight was filled with handstands and glasses of milk and cherries and laughing and some Cecily and blue+white flowered nightgowns and waiting for the wedding this weekend and {a little green sweater}.

off to bed now.

love.

-Bella.dear

p.s. i got Miss Tandy’s and my trunks all packed up. mine is filled with Shakespeare and Dickens and Austen and me. not to mention all my magazine clippings and my pencils. Miss Tandy’s has her vintage hats and 2 tambourines in her’s so far. i like our trunks. our little blue trunks.

mustard coats and tall young men~

i made some Raspberry Green iced Tea today. i like it a lot. it tastes like happyness. and clouds. and sunshine.

{i wore my new red lipstick today and a little white blouse.}

i stared at magazine clippings for an hour. then i got out my typewriter (i’ll have to introduce my typewriter soon…) and typed. this is the tid-bit i got out of it.

…………………………………………………………………….

her nose was slightly upturned. it was the first thing he noticed about her. but it wasn’t too awful. in fact, it was quite cute. at least he thought so. her eyes were large and round and blue. not that bright, vivid blue that shouted the moment you saw it. but that pale, little blue that was soft like flowers. he liked them. those eyes were framed by light tresses that looked like sunshine. two little emeralds hung from her small ears. probably family heirlooms. she wore a mustard coloured coat that was open. under it, he could glimpse a high-waisted cream coloured skirt and a pale green shirt with a large bow on the front. her heels were mustard. she never even looked at him, but walked on by. so he followed her, and fell in love with the way she would swing her arms as she walked.  he wanted to run up beside her and grab one of her small hands and swing his arms too. he thought about it. but then, right as the bus stop came into sight, he saw him. he was tall. and his eyes were blue. they were that bright, vivid blue that shouted the moment you saw it. his hair was golden. and if her’s looked like sunshine, his looked like sunlight. he had dimples when he smiled. and on his wrist he wore a watch that could of been his Grandfather’s. he carried his rumpled coat over one arm. and his grey shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows. he glimpsed some green argyle socks when one of his pant legs went up. she ran to him. and he opened his arms and caught her in them. they kissed one another. and he was jealous. jealous of that tall young man. but he watched anyways. he watched anyways till he took her hand in his and they walked away. their arms swinging.

…………………………………………………………………………….

it’s amusing to me. i like the way i took the time to only describe the lady and the tall young man and not the young man watching. because it wasn’t important to me to tell of how he looked. how she looked was important. how the tall young man looked was important. how he looked wasn’t. because no matter how adorable or how sweet or handsome he was, he couldn’t have her. and that amused me, the way it played out.

off to some Tea.

love.

-Bella

Delilah*

i’ve been flipping through some magazines. i tear out sweet little pictures i like, and keep them in a file for future references for my writing. i think i like to collect photographs of pencil skirts the best. and dresses. i ♥ pencil skirts and dresses. they inspire me. every young lady should own at least one{1} pencil skirt and two{2} dresses. at least. (and they’re O so fun to write about.)

*

Miss Tandy’s eating pop-tarts. we realllyyy like pop-tarts at our house. strawberry is the best in my opinion.

i think we get rice for dinner tonight. i’m so excited i’m *blushing*.

*

all those pictures i collect from magazines seem to make my characters more alive to me. i don’t know why, but when i’m describing the lovely little lady in the pale pink heels and cream coloured pencil skirt with cherry red lips, it’s easier to see her when i have a picture of the skirt (or something similar) in front of me. i suppose every writer has their quirks…

*

{i’m wearing a pale pink ribbon tied in a bow in my hair.}

i think my typewriter is calling me. about right now. exactly right now. but i think Mumsie needs some help in the kitchen. so my typewriter is about to get a lesson in patience.

*

i do believe that the little lady i have in my head this moment is wearing pale pink heels because of my pale pink ribbon in a bow in my hair. and that cream coloured pencil skirt, i found something like it in a magazine today. the cherry red lipstick, that’s on my windowsill. pieces of my characters are everywhere.

by the way, her name is Delilah. a fitting name i would say.

love.

-Bella

just one bouquet.

today we head off to camp for a day and tomorrow. i’m going to miss my Lala coming home from her camp. O dear. *sigh*

but it’s dandy nontheless. i get to see some a.m.a.z.i.n.g. friends. my hair is curled. and there’s a mustard coloured pencil skirt waiting for me on my bed. not to mention i can type away until it’s time to leave….

i’m thinking about flowers right now. i love to type about flowers on my typewriter. tulips. sunflowers. poppies. daisies. roses. all of them. those are some of my favourite words to type. flowers can make the most silly or terrible thing romantic. just one bouquet. just one.

(they’re watching Wishbone on t.v. i ♥ Wishbone. i used to watch it when i was little. it made me want a Jack Russel Terrier that could talk, but there were none. *sigh*)

now off to my cup of tea, packing my backpack, typing about The girl in the yellow dress and The boy at the third table on the left, and that pencil skirt.

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

Helena and Marco~love gnocchi

{i’m in a little white dress right now with Candied Apple lips. there’s a sprig of lavender in my curly hair.}

(i keep pressing the keyboard keys too hard because you have to press hard on my typewriter keys).

i have been typing thank.yous for the past hour. i love it. i would spend my whole day typing. i set my old typewriter on my bed and i sit on Miss Tandy’s bed and i type away. i love it. i love to type the words love and like and happyness.

you know, typing up thank.yous makes one really thankful. i sat and i wondered what it felt like to write out wedding invitations. or engaement announcements. b.b.q invites. birthday cards. i’m sorrys. they all make you feel different. and i thought that was cute. i think that would be a good job. calligraphy for cards and letters. you would get to feel happy and sad and ecstatic and excited and sorry and forgiving and loved. e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. and all the while writing beautiful little phrases for people you don’t even know. too cute.

if i made up a little lady who did calligraphy on cards and letters, her name would be Helena. she would have short, curly blonde hair. always smell like lavender. wear green the most. and have the best laugh you’ve ever heard. her fingers are always stained with ink. and hearts are her favourite. she knows nothing about anyone and everything about everyone. no one really loves her. till he stumbles in her doorway. he wants an apology letter. a very long apology letter. when he shouldn’t even be the one apologising. and Helena tells him that. and they fall in love. and O it’s too cute. Helena and Marco~ their names look quite cute on wedding invitations…*blush*

•yesterday i put an apron on and made gnocchi. here’s the recipe.

•GNOCCHI•

:::serves 4 people:::

2 potatoes

2 cups of flour

1 egg

step 1. bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil. peel potatoes. drop into pot. boil until soft. step 2. mash potatoes in a bowl with a fork. mix in flour and egg. make a soft dough. step 3. bring a second pot of salted water to a boil. shape gnocchi by rolling out long snake-like tubes and cutting into 1/2 inch pieces. press fork onto the top of each little gnocchi. step 4. drop gnocchi into pot of boiling water. when little gnocchis rise to the surface use a slotted spoon to remove them. serve while still warm with your choice of italiano sauce.

and that’s it•

really. i’m terribly happy right now. there’s banana bread in the oven. an old typewriter on my bed. a sweet Miss Tandy in the kitchen. the sun in the sky.{shine.shine} and Mr.Dante talking to himself behind me.(boys and their superheroes…)

now off to a cup of tea.

Love.

-Bella♥

.milk-maids and typewriters.

i like today. really i do. so far it’s been grand. my hair is curly. my cheeks are pink. {and i’m wearing a bright magenta coloured pencil skirt and a white+blue striped blouse tied around the waist with a pink ribbon.} not to mention i opened a wonderful brown paper package that had a TYPEWRITER inside. a lovely belated birthday gift. (thank you Auntie Samantha). i am so happy. completely happy. i shall type my life away–not literally.

just so everyone knows, no matter what you wish for—i.e. typewriters, love, attention, happyness, teacups…–you just might get it. i did. *smile.smile.smile*

Miss Tandy and i have been having a grand day together. i think we should make gnocchi in little aprons. do something productive. we’ve been terribly busy watching far too many episodes of 7th Heaven…

today i like paisley and green shirts and Nautica® and paint and running and swings.

but i do not like tight pants. not today.

here’s a little quote:

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“Clare had resolved never to kiss her until he had obtained her promise; but somehow, as Tess stood there in her prettily tucked-up milking-gown, her hair carelessly heaped upon her head till there should leisure to arrange it when skimming and milking were done, he broke his resolve and brought his lips to her cheek for one moment.”

-Tess of the D’Urbervilles: by Thomas Hardy

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as you can see, i still have Tess and Angel Clare on my mind. *blush* that…and typewriters.

-Bella♥