Tuesday, August 19th, 2008
blissful relief & wishing trees.
We found an apartment. I can’t even begin to describe my relief in this & I am borderline emotional, knowing that it’s all over. So much ample time has been spent trying to find our next humble abode; not to mention a lot of time stressing, a lot of time crying (on my part, because when all else fails, I cry), & a lot of time seething over misfortune. But… we have finally found a place & we will be moving in at the end of this month. To say that I am happy would be a complete understatement.
Lover & I have been indulging in goo-gobs of relief & gratitude, as well as some much needed quality time. We walked around Old Town this past weekend, holding hands while window shopping. We got coffee (I opted for ice tea) & discussed future plans for the new apartment. We frolicked about as though we had just started dating; it was disgustingly sweet & romantic.
While wandering through Old Town, we came to a courtyard where 21 small trees stood, each filled with hundreds of white tags hanging off of its limbs. On each tag was a wish or two, written by perfect & longing strangers.
Lover & I lingered around a few trees, reciting some of the anonymous wishes in a low whisper, giggling at the innocence of some, & brooding over the others that were brutally honest. Some of them were written by little ones; their wishes were adorable but sincere. (One wish said that they wished that their dog would live forever. Another said that they wished they could have a monkey.) Most of the tags, though, wished that there would be no more war & that we would all be filled with peace & love.
Lover & I were absolutely mesmerized by the idea of this; we wanted to contribute. On each table in the courtyard there was a wooden box, & in the box were blank white tags & tiny little pencils. Lover & I sat down & contemplated on what wish we should add onto a tree. Lover wrote his almost instantly; he wished that we would all be liberated, everyone & everything. It took me some time to think of a decent wish & eventually, Lover suggested that I write the first thing that comes to mind since I was having such trouble. So I wrote:
I wish my husband would take me into his arms, kiss me on the forehead while whispering, “I love you.”
Lover looked confused; he said he always does this (& he does), but I told him that it was the first thing that I thought of. After we tied our wishes to a tree — we each picked a different tree — we continued to read more wishes.
Suddenly, he stopped me; he took me by the hand, wrapped his arms around me tightly, kissed my forehead & whispered in my ear that he loved me. It was terribly romantic & expectantly unexpected.
I think this is absolutely magical. I never thought that I could find beauty in the sight of trees, seemingly littered with paper.
I also find it interesting that when I was presented to make a wish, any wish that my little heart desired, I couldn’t think of one. Truthfully… I have everything that I could ever hope for: I have a darling husband, who loves me dearly; I have a beautiful dog, a wonderful family & a closet, heaping full of items to keep me clothed & warm. & now, I have a brand new apartment waiting for me to move in. What more could I possibly ask for?
Such a cliche thing to say, yes… & I am completely stifled that something that cliche could actually reign true. But I am humbled by it.
on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 at 9:51 am:
Wow! This post brought tears. Thanks for sharing. I would love to make my way over there to participate :)
on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 at 9:59 am:
Awww! Blessings Counted!
on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 at 10:00 am:
so romantic!!
and what a great idea to have something similar to this in your new apartment!! except maybe with an artificial tree and everytime you have guest over, they can leave you guys well wishes.
on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 at 11:09 am:
nice! such an optimistic post. so what town are you going to be in?
on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 at 11:29 am:
Awww, how adorable. I am so happy that everything has worked out for you with finding an apartment. YEAH!!! Also, I find that story so adorable. I love the wishing trees, I wanna go!! :)
on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 at 5:18 pm:
How sweet! I am glad you found an apartment. Also, the trees seem so charming and your special moment touchingly romantic. And I am not usually a romantic!
on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 at 5:26 pm:
I absolutely love this! I’ve heard of “wishing trees”, but haven’t ever seen any. I may have to make my way over there to see them…and make a wish myself.
I can understand how you feel, being at a loss for something to truly wish for. I feel like anything I came up with would be fairly superficial or selfish, because I sometimes do feel like I have it all…
on Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 at 3:31 am:
heyy this post is amazing!
and i love the tree pictures!
yes i ripped the tights myself with scissors lol
you just have to cut a hole and then strech the tights and the runs will appear. its just that simple :)
on Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 at 8:15 am:
What a beautiful post… you have an amazing way with words.
I wish I had stumbled on the tree art, the pictures look fantastic.
Congrats on finally finding your apartment!
on Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 at 9:45 am:
That’s such a gorgeous idea!
And I’m very happy for you, for having things finally coming together :).
on Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 at 10:19 am:
@ Amanda: Aw… I wish you could. :] It’s such a lovely idea.
@ Aaron: Yes, indeed. ;]
@ thatShortChick: That is SUCH a great idea! I would love to have something like that in my house! You are brilliant. :] Thanks for the idea.
@ nicopolitan: Thanks. :] I’m still going to be in Pasadena, but that wasn’t our first choice. We had thought about Eagle Rock & Silverlake, but didn’t find anything worth the driving distance.
@ Kelly: thanks, love. :] I wish everyone could be apart of this; it’s truly amazing.
@ The Clothes Horse: Aww! Thanks! & you definitely strike me as the romantic type. ;]
@ wishcake: I am the same way. I could have asked for a cute new bag, or some makeup… but when it really comes down to it, those things don’t REALLY matter. & it was that thought that brought me to feeling like I truly do have everything I need in my life. =] It’s a wonderful feeling.
@ denise: wow, I can’t believe you did it with scissors. You inspire me to keep all of my ripped tights. & I rip them all within a week of having them. ;/
@ tedybera_09: thank you! :] I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
@ sandy: thanks, love! I am pretty darn happy myself. :]
on Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 at 6:23 pm:
Congrats on finding an apartment! I loved this post!
on Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 at 7:58 pm:
What a lovely post! Best wishes on your new nest :-)
on Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 at 8:09 pm:
This is a really beautiful post. Honestly, your description of what most of the wishes said made me choke up a little. I’m also very, very glad that you’ve found an apartment and you’re feeling happy. :)
on Thursday, August 21st, 2008 at 1:47 am:
Congratulations on the apartment! That’s great news! :-)
The wishing tree thing is so beautiful!
I’m glad that was what you wished for most!
*Hugs*
on Thursday, August 21st, 2008 at 5:34 am:
Beautiful. We should all be this thankful for the things we have. :)
on Thursday, August 21st, 2008 at 2:09 pm:
What a great idea!
And congrats on finding an apartment!
on Thursday, August 21st, 2008 at 4:46 pm:
Wow. That was a great post! Those trees are beautiful.
Good luck with the new apartment!
on Thursday, August 21st, 2008 at 5:41 pm:
@ Anna: thank you! & thank you. :]
@ Always in Style: thank you so much. =]
@ Cammila: Awww. Thank you. :] Yes, it was so very touching. I wish I could have memorized the others that were there. They were all so neat.
@ Confused: thank you! I am relieved, as well.
@ ashley: absolutely. :]
@ Meg: aw, thanks. =]
@ Simple Mindz: Thank you so much. I’ll try not to lose my while packing/unpacking. ;]
on Monday, August 25th, 2008 at 9:43 am:
YAY!!!! So glad y’all found a new home!!!
on Friday, August 29th, 2008 at 10:29 pm:
SO glad it worked out!
on Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 at 10:29 am:
This post is awesome. (I’m very behind)…I want to go to this place…what a great idea.
And….your life is such a sweet story!