in my cd player... Ivy Long Distance; Saint Etienne Good Humor; Belle and Sebastian If You're Feeling Sinister; Red House Painters Old Ramon Sophisticated music for my oh-so sophisticated age.   on the page... Sarah Vowell Take the Cannoli The sweetest Valentine's Day gift from B. Sarah, like Meghan Daum before her, makes me want to print out whirlygirl's lengthier pieces and send them in a colorful binder to NPR. I know of what they speak, and I write of what they write. So why can't I be famous in that obscure way where only people like me know me?   in my belly... Gingerbread pancakes with maple syrup, blueberries, strawberries, hazelnuts, and powdered sugar. Oh and a candle on top. All homemade. All from scratch. And I made a wish. i lOVe BiRthDaYs!   in my cup... Indonesian coffee from Papua New Guinea   on my windowsill... The sweetest, most cheerful pink and white tulips delivered FedEx this morning from B. I L-O-V-E surprises. Perky little friends to sit by my side and make my day bright, brighter, brightest. Mmmmm, isn't he the best?   intense craving... It was one of those weekends where I looked at the clock every few hours and remembered what I was doing exactly one year ago. Saturday, 2:30pm GMT+1:00: Eating a cheese sandwich at the steps of Notre Dame. Saturday, 11:30pm GMT+1:00: Finishing an amazing meal at the tiny and green and utterly charming Le Machon d'Henri. Sunday, 12:30pm GMT+1:00: Walking along the sunlit grounds of the Musée Rodin. Sunday, 4:00pm GMT+1:00: Climbing the memorable Montmartre steps to the Sacré-Couer. I was even doing the math inside my head, adding six hours to the current time so that I was remembering the precise moments. When I told Erika, she said she would have rethought the whole "whisk you away to Paris" for my birthday if she would have known the longing it would cause in subsequent years. Ooooh, but I wouldn't trade those memories for anything.   smitten... I talked Laine into trekking down to the Angelika (one of my favorite Manhattan places) to see Amélie on her day off yesterday. And though Laine never sees movies, either at the theatre or via rental, and though the theatre was a claustrophobic nightmare, and though the woman next to her cackled at every turn, she still loved it. That is the charm of this film. It is a love letter for dreamers, for romantics, for those of us who delight in the smallest pleasures life has to offer.   picking up... It's hard to believe it's been nearly ten years since I graduated from college. And I think what surprises me most is that I can get sweet phone calls out of the blue from old friends during those days and pick up right where we last left off... be that three months or three years.   your birthday today... Laine sent me a long list of web birthday links, including one profile for my birthday which called me "charming, elusive, and a fantastic storyteller." "Even as a small child, you dreamt of exploring deserted islands, discovering sunken ships, or traveling to other galaxies." Wheeeee! That's me! Thanks, Laine!   headed to... The post office... to mail a special occasion surprise of my own.