content. and then some.

this fourth of july,

i received the best present

i've ever been given for the holiday.

(truth be told, it's probably

the only present i've ever

gotten for the fourth.)

nevertheless, this was the best:

we bought bookcases

and unpacked my cookbooks.

you see, they've been caged up

in boxes, waiting for the office

to be painted a pale turquoise - or

what turned out to be an aqua

or slightly bright light blue, still

almost the color of a gemstone -

and for our bookcase to be

reassembled. but, after the office

was painted, i could not bring myself

to place our dark brown bookcase

in the whatever-color-it-is and white

room. and, i really wanted the

cookbooks in our office.

but, in the meantime,

i struggled. i didn't realize how

much i like just knowing that my

cookbooks are an arms length away,

just waiting to be used. and, i was tired

of forgetting they were boxed up -

more than once i came home with

ingredients, like monkfish and

an eggplant two thursdays ago,

only to realize that

i wasn't going to be able to flip

through the new spanish table

to find the recipe any time soon.

but, then on friday, we took

advantage of leaving work early

and found a great deal on white

bookcases. i practically bounced

up and down in my seat the

whole drive home, knowing

what this meant. we sacrificed our

friday night to put them together,

together - a true test, i thought,

in case larry ever gets his way

and we audition for the amazing race

(note: never. gonna. happen.).

and the moment they were assembled,

i looked at larry and he knew his fate:

one solid hour of unpacking, organizing

and arranging books. but, he was a very

good sport about it and by 10pm,

the bookcases looked like this.

i cannot lie.

i wanted to sleep downstairs,

in the office that night,

just because i was so proud

to finally have space to store

them. (there were several that

had never actually made their

way onto a shelf before, instead

relegated to stacks on the floor

of the closet.

but, now they all had their own space.

hello,

blue eggs and yellow tomatoes,

modmex and

the texas cowboy kitchen.

hello,

too many more to count.)

but, i came to my senses.

i slept upstairs.

instead, the next day, we went

and bought a pair of very

unbrooke-like chairs

that for some reason, i've had my eye on.

and now,

for the past couple days,

even though we don't have a rug,

or a lamp, any accessories,

or even a chair for the desk we're

soon to replace, i've been sitting

in these flowery chairs,

so happy to be surrounded

by my cookbooks.

when i look at them,

i'm home.

*it's very important for me to note

that while i've always loved cookbooks,

my true obsession started while working

for the magazine. we were often fortunate,

receiving five copies of the same book and

getting first dibs when it was time for

a cookbook clean out. i think larry regularly

lived in fear of what i would come home with

from the office. and while i've purchased some,

many have also come from friends who have

noticed that i have a bit of a collection and

help it grow come birthday or chanukah time.

unlike an accidental, oh-i-see-you-like-peacocks-

so-here's-another-and-another collection, this

is one i truly love, take pride in and am grateful for

all the time.