Now I See It, Now I Don't

Above: I love the Classic Fit Oxford Color-block Shirt in Multi ($110) by Polo Ralph Lauren--saw it in the Polo window here. Texted to Dan to see if he would like for late/better Father’s Day gift but he said "That shirt looks like a circus clown’s" and then he put the clown emoji, which is one of our personal favorites. 🤡 He always loved the Polo oxford shirts I got for him in all of those colors separately (except pink), so I figured I would give it a try.

Now I see the Kipling bag store and the Swarovski shop across from me, the latter with a glittering crystal curtain suspended from a bar. I see signs upstairs: BURGERS SHAKES FRIES FUN.

Now I don’t see it, head down to write, not daydream.

Sitting in The Mills at Jersey Gardens Mall in Elizabeth (six minutes from the program Skippy attends 9 a.m. to 1:15 daily) with my laptop to work...quite a place. Thanks to a romp through with Skipper on Friday afternoon--much to her delight--I now noticed some good stores here. As in Polo Ralph Lauren, Coach, Kate Spade New York.

Skippy loved H&M, Hot Topic and especially Zumiez (pronounced zoomies/hoping for new skateboard for tricks). She has a longboard but there is a new(ish) skate park in town. In the food court, the sushi place and Häagen-Dazs caught her eye for future visits. I remember being her age and the same ice cream brand catching my eye at Paramus Park Mall. It seemed like such a luxury, and the best of the best on a cone or in a cup. (Now, when I see ice cream, I generally look the other way. Interesting American artifact.)

I’m grateful for the WiFi connection at Starbucks; this little round wood table; a side stool to hold notebooks, earphones, chargers etc.; and the spinach-feta-whole-grain wrap I ordered with siracha hot sauce for lunch.

At 11 a.m. my time (5 p.m. Paris time), my cell phone will ring and it will be a sophisticated man from France who lives at a storied, gorgeous château and gardens one hour’s drive from the city. I will interview him for aspire design and home Magazine, ask questions about the estate and the trees--he actually grew up there--and he will talk and I will write as fast as I can. I generally still prefer to take notes by hand. I have my own shorthand after so many years.

Sorry, I’m just writing, I say. The sources understand. After the call, I go over my notes and flesh out the shorthand to be sure I understand it all in detail.

I better get going because I came straight here to be productive--to write one article about a beautiful Charleston home and to do that phone call.

Enjoy your day. I always feel better connected and settled and accepting/honoring my work when I post here, just like last summer, on some days I was writing on Cape Cod instead of swimming in the sea. So, I say merci. (And since I’ve been writing more frequently about French things for aspire, I added a new post label: French.)