in other news...

ok, now that i'm done effusing about my trip, here's what else has been going on. our top stories:

hey, i turned 30! what an amazing birthday. i was overwhelmed with the amount of bday love i felt coming out of every corner: the cards, the emails, the gifts. i am truly blessed and lucky and couldn't be happier to welcome the fourth decade. i love all of you who helped make this the kick-ass birthday i promised myself it would be.

summer has been flirting with me. last night i slept with the doors to the terrace open, slightly chilly under my comforter, divine. this morning i awoke to the familiar but forgotten sounds of spanish men yelling and singing on the street. the terrace is almost ready for the non-stop party regimen of the hot months, you better get your bikini body ready!

i've been flirting with summer. i'll be back in the us for july and august and the weeks are rapidly filling up with plans. this time i'll be in the ham, michigan, new york, dc, new hampshire, maine and back to boston. looking forward to seeing you all on that side of the ocean, but we need to make plans soon because available days are almost gone! operators are standing by.

and now, a little friday list of things that have been catching my eye around the internerd:

• thomas friedman's piece in last week's new york times magazine was inspirational. american getting its groove back by leading the green revolution? yes please.
• slate has been featuring excerpts from witold rybczynski's new book about modern home development. my favorite part: an expose on america's on-again off-again love for ranch houses.
  
• this piece about being neighborly at the morning news made me smile. it reminds me of the time i lived with seth in soho and there was the alzheimer-diseased downstairs neighbor who would open her door naked. and then she died.
  
• my friend zoe put on lipstick for this, her new blog.