head in the clouds: an afternoon away.

Because we're most assuredly working on Saturdays, as wedding photographers, we sometimes sneak in our weekends on Mondays. Crazy as it may sound to those who sprint at the strike of 5 p.m. on the clock (a la Fred Flinstone), when you own your own business, it is sometimes hard to STOP. breathe. notice the sky is blue. And that's just what we purposely made time to do on Monday. 

Armed with a blanket, books and a $1 kite (thanks to a "manager's special" find at Kroger), we took off on a walk to the park. We even stopped along the way and treated ourselves to a cheesesteak from Woody's. And then the most glorious thing occurred. After carefully selecting a shady spot under an expansive, old tree, I laid my head down, looked up and saw it. I know I see it every day, but on this day it came into focus in the lenses of my eyes. The sky was painted a brilliant blue! 

"Look at these clouds!" I shouted to my husband as if I'd never seen these puffy white marshmallows floating in the upper atmosphere. When was the last time you stopped to see what creatures the clouds create?

What a reviving day. And a reminder that it's necessary every so often to stop. and look at the clouds. 

And because I also got to enjoy some reading, here's a list of the five most recent books I've delved into:

1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins--Well, yes, I had to! I knew I was going to want to see the movie, and I gave in to the hoopla. That being said, it is a great transporting and undemanding read. I'm not usually a "postapocalyptic reader," but Katniss garnered my attention from the beginning. At first I was truly troubled by the rules of these games, but I'm pretty sure that's the point Collins is trying to make here. 

2. Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult --I'm a Picoult fan through and through. Just like my rule for seeing any movie casting Audrey Tautou, I will most likely read any book written by Picoult. She reaches my journalistic side with the amazing amount of research, investigation and detail that reaches every page. And this book is no different. Except that it requires tissues.

3. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows -- If you're a literary nut like me, this is your afternoon read by a window with a cup of tea. A compilation of letters, it's nice to get lost in this conversation for a while. Set in 1946, it's a different kind of war story. If it's possible to describe any wartime depictions as charming, then these two have done it.

4. The War of Art by Steven Pressfield -- Bam! This book is a tour de force for any artist as we all face blocks to break through at some time. It's one that I hope to keep and read at the beginning of each year to give myself another boost; a way to conquer any Resistance I have built up; a time to decipher the two lives Pressfield says we all have: "the life we live, and the unlived life within us."

5. Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho: A Casebook edited by Robert Kolker -- Well, if you didn't know I was an English/Film nerd by now, it's really out. Yes, when I see the clearance bin at a university bookstore, I wander away from the group and go bargain hunting...and that's where I found this gem. I realize it's not for everyone, but for the girl who was so intrigued by this mysterious man that she took an entire course in college on Hitchcock, it's a neat read. With Hitchcock as the film's auteur and Bernard Herrmann behind the score, how can one go wrong? Even if you're not as much a film fanatic as I, your hairs still probably stand on end when you hear the famous "Hitchcock chord."

Supposing there's another afternoon in my future where I'll find my head in the clouds, what book recommendations do you have?

xoxo-E