Edie Wadsworth

from the archives………

February 22, 2011 by Edie Wadsworth 37 Comments

Greetings from a very quiet house this morning. My girls got into trouble, bickering and sassing and whatnot, so I’ve banned them temporarily from my presence and given them a hefty amount of history to do. Don’t feel too sorry for them. They spend most of their time with me anyways and they’re learning about the beginnings of the American Revolution. How much punishment could that possibly be? I’ve been busy with house plans and inventory lists and grandparents visiting and seem to keep forgetting I have a blog. And since there are many of you who are new to this neglected place, I thought I’d dig in the archives to see what I was doing this time last year. I was making soup. You might like it too. Perhaps you need a little spice in your life!

Update: An hour later, we’re all hugging, talking about Patrick Henry and memorizing the introduction to the Declaration of Independence, while the girls promise they’ll never leave me to go to college. What can I say? My heart is mush.

Spicy Tomato Soup

{with a hint of blue cheese}

don’t let the blue cheese scare you. this is the best tomato soup i’ve ever eaten. ever. just ask stevie.

he won’t lie for me just to promote my tomato soup.

Now, if I’ve already offended you with the suggestion of blue cheese, don’t get your panties in a ruffle.

You just use a little—for a complex layer of flavors—- and I highly doubt you could tell it had blue cheese in it, if you didn’t already know.

Try it and you could always substitute the cheese if you have serious issues with blue cheese.

The other two stars of the show are sriracha and a large can of cento tomatoes.

Sriracha is a deliciously-hot-addictive sauce that has seductive powers unlike any hot sauce

you’ve ever had. Your mouth might burn but it will not stop you from adding more. A little squirt into soup is makes all the difference!

You’ll need these ingredients:

a few splashes of olive oil

1 small onion

2-3 cloves of garlic

1 28 ounce can of tomatoes

1 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes

1 cup chicken broth

2 T. honey

1 small squirt of sriracha (more if you like really spicy–but start small)

handful of basil leaves

about an ounce of blue cheese (or your favorite easy melt cheese)

1/3 cup of cream

kosher salt and pepper to taste

You’ll also need a submersion blender!

The directions:

In a large dutch oven, add a few tablespoons of olive oil. Don’t measure, just swirl a few times. Then add the chopped onion and garlic and salt to taste and then saute for about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes in their juice. Then add the rest of the ingredients except the cream and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Use your submersion blender to achieve the consistency you’d like and then add cream. Taste it and reseason as necessary. I almost always have to add more salt and more honey. And if you accidentally go heavy on the sriracha, add a little more cream to balance the heat. Serve with artisan bread or crackers and prepare to be lavished with ” mmmm’s” and gratitude.

Garnish with basil and enjoy!

Bend it Broken

February 14, 2011 by Edie Wadsworth

In all my desolate,

Above every dream

And throughout the cold parched night

You stay.

Wild and fierce, flaming light.

Winding every piece of this mess into hope.

Crushing these doubts with water and wine.

I see You like this only in suffering.

Pain has clear eyes.

I am learning that there is only one kind of gift that comes from Your hand.

You twist everything into love.

You burn down walls I build and card-houses too.

Your streams of mercy rush in

Tear it clean down, wash it all new.

Because You know how to love your children.

And your best gifts come strange.

Teach the stone heart to say thank you for this winter-grace.

And bend it broken again.

And again.

***************

Video of Mat Kearney singing ‘All I Have’, taken by yours truly in Nashville

my favorite line, dedicated to my valentine
“Tired of the same song everyone’s singing
I’d rather be lost with you instead.”

comments closed

I’m still here……

February 7, 2011 by Edie Wadsworth 94 Comments

…….just a tad overwhelmed by it all but slowly making my way out of the fog. Thank you for continuing to check in on me and for your prayers. You are the best!

You have so blessed me with all the cards and thoughtful gifts. I will never be able to catch up enough to thank you all personally but know that I am so grateful.

My friend Kim (whom I call Kimmie because I add ‘ie’ to way too many names) wrote me the above poem. She’s my smart engineer/yoga teaching/book loving friend who claims to not be a writer. It’s a beautiful thoughtful piece of poetry and one of my favorite gifts. Love you Kimmie.

And Jill sent me a box full of turqoise joy—several handmade lovelies—that made me giddy with excitement and a fabric flower and a lovely ‘ponder’ bird from my friend and mentor Denise, who is the very reason I started this blog in the first place. You girls know how to bless a sister!

Kristi, my friend and previous roomie, made this awesome zippered pouch with the girls’ picture on it. Isn’t it the cutest thing you’ve ever seen? Muwahhhh. I love it friend.

Ruth sent me the most beautiful hand-made scarf in just the perfect color. It’s so wonderful to have something handmade to keep me warm. Thank you so much sweet Ruth.

Boy do y’all pay attention. I received these compotes which are exACTly like the ones I had. Love them. Makes my kitchen feel like home. THank you Heather!

And then there was the handwritten note from Emily (my soul-breathing sister) and the bookmark from one of my favorite blog friends Melissa (handmade with unkind words—possible cursing?— spoken to her sewing machine!) and the fabric flower pin and ‘You are Mine’ necklace from Susan (my beloved friend and latin teacher to my girls).

and then my friend Michelle, a local photographer, who had taken lots of pics of our family in the past, sent me a CD full of pictures. (sighs and tears and hugs Michelle)

A couple years ago, I ordered the ‘All You Need is Love’ sign from Melanie at My Sweet Savannah. I could hardly believe it when she sent me another last week in the mail. You are such a dear Melanie. THank you so much! It’s starting to feel like home around here! (And in case you were wondering what I found at Anthropologie in Nashville , I got books and bowls and dishtowels)

One of my favorite blog friends Meg sent me this awesome vintage ‘E’ necklace. ILOVEIT! Thank you dear friend 🙂 I can’t wait to hug you and thank you in person. When are we gonna do that, btw?

And Lisa Leonard, yes THE Lisa Leonard sent me this awesome ‘Much Loss, More Gain’ necklace with a heart and the word ‘Love’ on the back. I feel so blessed and was happy to hug Lisa and thank her in person at Blissdom.

And then there’s these dear saints. I can’t imagine how hard this has been on my mother. It must be so difficult to watch your children suffer. She’s been an incredible source of love and support and I’m so thankful for her in my life. She went to Nashville with me and sat in a steamy pool room for hours while my girls swam. Aren’t granny’s the best? I’d never sit in there that long.

And my sister, who is like my right hand, I don’t know how I’d function without her. She’s toted me everywhere and put up with all my valleys. Actually, she’s gone right down there in them with me and I’ll never be able to say thank you enough.

And reason number 177 why I should have been from Texas: here’s my current shoe collection.

No wait, apparently, I don’t wear shoes. I wear boots and flip flops.

The ones in the middle are Frye riding boots and are the second most favorite pair I’ve ever owned in my life (2nd to the Ariat riding boots that perished in the fire). It’s a shame really that I don’t ride horses.

*Sadly, I ordered another pair of “shoes” this week. Take one guess. Yep, brown cowboy boots. It’s a sickness really.

*We are doing pretty well these days. We’re living in a great rental house that we’re slowly but surely making our own.
*We are working on house plans and I am painstakingly trying to produce an inventory list of EVERYTHING that was in my house for the insurance reimbursement. It’s a teeny bit overwhelming. Did I have 20 pairs of jeans? 30? how many spatulas? bowls? Noone will ever believe the inventory list of my MAC makeup or my lamps for that matter. Or the books or the dishes. Anyone want a part-time job?

*I had notebooks and magazines full of inspiration pictures that are now gone and I’d love it if you’d send me links to your favorite home inspiration pics {or your favorite brown boots}. I’ll save them into a file for later. My cousin JamieKnoxville sent me this one when I asked her to be on the lookout for master bedroom pics. I should have known better. You gotta hand it to her though, it is sorta

Texas-y. Study it and get back to me.

*The girls and I are back in full swing with school and everyday we seem to remember something that we’ve forgotten to reorder.

*I’m hopelessly behind on responding to your most thoughtful messages and I profusely apologize. If you’ve sent me anything that you wanted a response from, if you wouldn’t mind to resend it now that my inbox is more manageable.

*I got a new camera, of course, and I hope to post about it sometime. {I love how people keep asking me, “Is that new?” MmmmmmHmmmmmm. It’s all new. From the MAC down to the boots. }

Back to the camera, I LOVE it. It’s a Nikon d7000 and Ken Rockwell wrote a great review about it. I was ready to upgrade anyways and was pretty sure I’d get the d700. The d7000 is $1200 cheaper and is being touted by many (including Karen, who’s teaching my photography class) as being as good or better than the 700. One thing I know is that this camera is like buttah. And we all know how I love that.

Have a great week. Maybe I won’t be so scarce around here but next on my list of inventory is my closet, so if you don’t see me in a week, send in the troops. Or better yet, let’s have an inventory party and y’all tell me everything that was in my closet?!

Much love,

xo,

edie

Blissdom::The Courage to be Vulnerable

January 31, 2011 by Edie Wadsworth 91 Comments

i am overwhelmed and exhausted and inspired.
blissdom was amazing. again.
i’ve missed my friends so much.
they are the most generous, amazing, smart, caring, compassionate, creative people i know.
i am blessed to sit among them and share their stories. we laugh. we cry. we marvel at how tightly our hearts are knit together.
even across the miles. and even across the lines—– of race and age and religion and politics.
i’ve never felt more at home than in their company.
and we learned from some very wise and bright minds that it really comes down to relationship.
what is blogging about? relationship
why do i twitter? relationship
facebook? relationship
and guess what relationship requires?

that we are willing to make ourselves vulnerable.

period.
that we are willing to need someone else.
that we are willing to say so.
that we are willing to be hurt.
because the willingness to be vulnerable is where relationship lives.
the question is: are you willing?

i am thankful for a group of women who are willing.
to share their stories and their gifts with us everyday.
i won’t take it for granted.
i will read with more understanding.
i will give the benefit of the doubt.
i will ponder what a privilege it is to do this.
i will do it with fear and trembling because true joy lingers near the willingness to be afraid.
but to give of ourselves anyway.

thank you for risking it.

“…we are losing our tolerance for vulnerability…..in our culture weakness is synonymous with vulnerability. Vulnerability is absolutely at the core of fear and anxiety and shame and very difficult emotions…but it is also the birthplace of joy, of love, of belonging , of creativity, and of faith. And so it becomes very problematic when as a culture we lose our ability to be vulnerable.”
author and speaker Brene Brown

ps. on a related note, i did pretty okay (only teared up a few times) until the last day. then i lost it. cried like a baby when i told patty and jessica and brooke and ruth and nester and emily and melissa and ruthanne goodbye. and might i say that true friends know what to do with vulnerable. they respect it. they nurture it. they embrace it. they understand it. because they live there too. and they blaze a trail for the rest of us to live from our broken, vulnerable selves in the safety of true friendship.

pss. i’m working on finding some fun stuff for my entryway (here at the rental house and to be moved to our house once it’s built) so if you have any inspiration photos for an entryway, please send them my way. i’m looking for a console table, a great lamp, a rug and some awesome accessories. thank you for helping me get my *stuff* back.

xo,

edie

*more to come on my excursions i hope. but today, we’ve got a full day of school and i’m starting karen’s photography class. wish me luck!

How Stella Got Her Groove Back

January 25, 2011 by Edie Wadsworth 105 Comments

Once upon a time there was a girl

who was learning to live in grace

and she settled happy into home

finding her way through the broken.

she held tight to things unseen and watched mercy grow new.

she threw herself reckless at love

and he fought brave for her.

she found her way in the water

where the drowning takes His toll.

but she holds Him to His promise

as she breaks the smooth glass

and breathes in grace.

she sees like new

because hallowed Flames dance all around.

*****************

I am going to Blissdom tomorrow. I haven’t packed one thing. But I have made fudge—because that’s how you make friends in the South!

My girls are going to Nashville with me and JamieKnoxville is even flying in from NJ.

We have a date with Anthropologie and West Elm and ZGallerie because I’m kinda in the market for a few good home items.

We will eat at Bound’ry and shop at Trader Joe’s and laugh like school girls into the night.

There are so many people that I can’t wait to meet and so many more that I can’t wait to hug.

I hope I don’t cry.

I probably will.

I can’t wait to see you.

And if you’re not coming, I wish you were.

You will be missed.

xo,

edie

ps. thank you for meeting me in this space. you make my days.

this ps. is for my sister and her concerns about my ghetto SUV: I changed my oil, cleaned my car and tried to get the dead animal/soured milkshake smell out. She’s as good as new. *wink* I’m gonna go with the quote that “a clean car is a sign of wasted life.”

amen.

Bookclub with Amy Greene, author of Bloodroot

January 23, 2011 by Edie Wadsworth 47 Comments

At least four people told me about it. “You HAVE to read this book. You’ll love it. It’s about growing up in Appalachia.”

So when Ms. Cindy told me that the author Amy Greene was signing books at the fall festival, I felt guilty that I hadn’t read it yet.

But I went to meet her because I knew. I just knew.

I apologized profusely that hadn’t read the book yet. She was warm and kind and easy, like talking to my sister. I was instantly drawn to her. I loved the book already without reading one page.

I devoured it in two days and a long night. It got under my skin, Avett Brothers style. The characters wouldn’t leave me alone. I wrote Amy an email declaring my love for her work. She graciously agreed to come to my bookclub.

***********

Fast forward three months. A lot has changed for me. My life will never be the same.
It was two weeks ago when it dawned on me that Amy was scheduled to come to our bookclub on January 21st.
I had been looking forward to it so much but I wasn’t sure I was ready. Could it get through it without crying? Could I moderate the discussion at all?
Maybe we should postpone.

But I knew her paperback was coming out and she’d be busy with book signings and tours so I decided to ‘keep calm and carry on.” I’m so glad I did.

*************

My bookclub friends have been so generous and loving to me during this trauma. They’ve done every kind thing you can think of and more. It was so good to see them all. And then my sister reminded me that it was the one month anniversary of the fire. My dear neighbor Ms. Jan, who has been like a second mother to me during this mess, had graciously offered to host us at her house so it was kind of like ‘going back home’ for me, difficult but therapeutic. I’ve had a hard time finding my words lately so I’ll sum up my thoughts about spending the day with Amy in an email I sent to her yesterday.

“I don’t even know what to say. I’m so blessed by you, by your heart, your sharing. It was our one month anniversary of the fire and so to be with you, back home, near it all, was kind of overwhelming. Johnny was so right, the healing comes with remembering, with going back. It will go down as one of my all time special days. I will remember it with the tragedy, which is so fitting, really. I know my friends loved you so. I don’t think any of them, save one, are from here but they have embraced us and our quirky ways and have learned to love our life here by the mountains. I’m so proud of them too, for learning to love us. I looked at the pictures and it’s funny, you and I both have the same blue eyes, almost exactly the same color. The color of healing and joy. I’m so proud of you for giving so much of yourself. For learning to live vulnerable, to give freely, to be willing to be hurt. You are so easy to love, like a sister——right there among us —-but teaching us to live our calling, to follow our dreams.
It was magical and enchanting, just like Bloodroot. You have a very special gift Ms. Amy and I am so blessed to know you.”

I can’t thank Amy enough for the gift of her presence and if you haven’t read her book, by all means, get that baby soon. It’s now available in paperback at Target!

********
My gifted poet friend Patty wrote a beautiful piece about our day together and a big thank you to my dear friend Sue, who loved the book, read it three times, and had wonderful questions ready!

I have the best friends ever.

I’m including Amy when I say that. I love what she said to me, “Some people are just meant to know each other. And I think we are. ”

Amen.