Monday, May 20, 2013

A Moment With Great Gatsby

My husband Kevin travels a lot for work and last week he was in London. Due to my new regime of not drinking during the week (unless "going out" or "emergency") I was a bit wobbly by Saturday. My friend Monica rescued me from my hausfrauserie with an invitation to a pizza party she'd won in a school auction.

Selfie, old top you've seen it before
My friend Monica and me

The Oakland house
Looking over to the pizza oven area
The owners are into punk rock and Chinoiserie 
Their vege garden

The pizzas were made in a outdoor oven at a lovely Oakland home, a 1920's Tudor remodeled five years ago using reclaimed 100-year old wood and employing a number of local artisans as well as others who flew in Italy.

For a moment, sipping Prosecco on the lawn lit brightly by the sun even at 7pm, I could imagine myself in a Great Gatsby  scene chatting to my friends Muffy, Cricket and Charmeloy:  "Darlings, darlings do come to The Island next weekend, it'll be desperately dull without you!" Frocks with a dropped waist and a mid-calf length do nothing for me, but I notice in the movie they've hiked the hemlines to above the knee. 

Kevin arrived home yesterday afternoon to cries of relief all around and turns out he'd been receiving texts all week from my disgruntled tenants.
"Mum's so unfair"
"Mum's so mean."
"Your wife is seriously crazy." When he's really mad, one of the kids refers to me as your wife. And if you're wondering what the  word "seriously" adds to the "crazy" (I asked in the past and was met with a pitying stare) it elevates it to a technical term that can't be disputed.

Something about that last paragraph is similar to last weekend's.  Aiming for Great Gatsby and getting Groundhog Day...


I woke up this morning with a crick in my neck from reading Rules of Civility on the sunlounger at the pool yesterday. A chaise lounge injury...wee bit Great Gatsby, n'est pas?

57 comments:

  1. Oh, my dear Jody, you are the most Gatsbyesque woman I can think of, living in the most Gatsby part of America. Utterly iconic! Though, if you let your soul out to play, it would be very much above pizza. Foie grass, pheasant under glass, baked Alaska, dahling; nothing so pedestrian or plebeian as pizza.

    And "your wife"! Oh my. That's, well, um. . . . "Hmmmm," said the Bear, not entirely sure what to make of the situation.

    As to civility: courtesy, politeness and bed-hopping. Or is that chivalry? This is getting all too confusing for a Bear of Vey Little Brain. Exit stage left, scratching head.

    Blessings and Bear hugs!
    Bears Noting
    Life in the Urban Forest (poetry)

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    1. On the poetry front, I just got the latest from Mary OLiver today

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  2. Love your outfit Jody:) Have a great week!
    ~Anne

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    1. Thanks Anne - your scarf over your way today was a lovely blue

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  3. Was it the drink free week that the kids thought cranked up the crazy d'ya reckon?

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  4. Sorry to read about your neck, Jody. Hope you feel better.

    Beautiful house!

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  5. I get called your wife and indeed between the two boys sometimes referred to as your mother! There again their are times when it's "your son!"
    Loved the Great Gatsby such class!

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    1. How funny they refer to you as "your mother" I won't tell my kids that, they will take a shine to that one

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  6. No mid-week drinkies? Are you mad? Ha! My niece refers to her mother (my sister) as Elle Freak. Lovely.

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  7. You're not alone. Over the weekend The Teen and the Tween called me "Psycho". Apparently I "flip out" like {snaps fingers}and they are clueless as to why I am prone to instant fits of rage.
    Couldn't be the backpacks and shoes all over the floor, or the laundry piles left randomly everywhere, or the sink full of dirty dishes or the muddy dog prints trailing through every room in the house as everyone else sits in front of the tv oblivious now could it????

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  8. I guess I have it relatively tame as the kids are kind of small at the moment. They just say "mummy is being all weird".

    And a handbuilt pizza oven - oh my hubs would die and go to heaven for one of those. He even has a little piece of paper ripped out of a magazine with details of "the one" which he will have one day ... one day. I just know it will become a home to hedgehogs.

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    1. There was even a dessert pizza with whipped cream - actually a very efficient way to do a party have to say!
      Oh hedgehogs, forgotten about those.
      However was just reading about how Oprah is re-doing her kitchen and is taking out her pizza oven. Not sure if that is because she never used it or she used it too much!

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  9. You look lovely as usual, Jody. And that party doesn't sound too bad. The location is dreamy.
    Ada

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  10. Love the look and I think you would fit in very well with Muffy! I love that the wife is seriously crazy...

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  11. Crack me up Jody! Your kids are so funny. No sauv blanc all through the week, well I like that you have an "emergency" clause!

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  12. I have the 'I'm out', 'difficult day', 'cos I feel like it' and 'cos I'm worth it' clauses. Love your kids texts ... my daughter has just turned 12. No texting Dad yet; we're still at the eye rolling, huffing, puffing and occasional slammed doors stage. So much to look forward to?!!!

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    1. Cy, nine and Teddy (the dog) were the only ones who did not complain about me. teddy because he has no opposable thumbs and Cy because he doesn't have a phone.

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  13. The Rules of Civility...thought it was like the Great Gatsby crossed with 50 Shades of Grey (without the bondage..)

    I just posted about Gatsby too - we live in the area that East Egg was based on...

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    1. You are the source of the "green orgiastic light" on the bay!

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  14. Neck pain is no fun
    What so ever under any sun
    Even going all gatsby at your sea
    Might make you reach for a drinky lol

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    1. Cuppa tea in the night for me
      Does not make the mama happy

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  15. I aspire to having a chaise lounge injury!
    I guess being called "your wife" is better than just "her", something I'm familiar with!

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  16. I have yet to be called mean, but I know it is coming. Sigh.

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    1. It may never. Don't think you're necessarily going to suffer my indignities!

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  17. 'Aiming for Gatsby and getting Groundhog Day' Love it. And I love your top (again) and I love the idea of a party that inspires Gatsby thoughts! I have yet to see the movie.

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    1. Me too. Can't wait. Even my 15 year old liked it.

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  18. Muffy....what a name!

    I Love Rules of Civility, such a good book.

    I have emergency rules for booze too.

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    1. Funnily enough I have known two Muffy's in my lifetime and one Cricket.

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  19. Haha - love that the kids were texting your hubby! However, after seeing that first picture of you, I'm struggling to compute how you have kids old enough to text. You appear to be getting younger with every blog post. Looking fabulous and glad you had a great night out with your girlfriend...xx

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    1. Bad I-phone photos always erase the wrinkles, better than La Mer (which I don't buy)

      So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
      ― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
      a real photo would reveal all...

      Ok no more quoting of the GG from me promise

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  20. The reference to "your wife" positively put me in stitches. Love that!

    Did you love Rules of Civility? I adore it -- it stayed with me for days after I finished. I also just reread The Great Gatsby. I loved it, but moreover, I think I, like you, love that time and place. Or at least, my everyone-lives-like-Gatsby-perception of that time and place!

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    1. Loved Rules of Civility - cannpt believe it was the first book he'd written. Great Gatsby stays in your mind forever and on re-reading it really is so beautifully written.
      “In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.”
      (in retrospect the men and girls sounds a little creepy..)
      I had to memorise quotes when I was an exchange student at New Canaan High...

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  21. You are hysterical! PS-love that floral top!!

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    1. Thanks Erica its a DVF, Diane is always a good option.

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  22. I love your top, and I love that Tudor HOUSE!

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  23. Ever so chic and the prosecco was indeed a welcome relief after the week you had. I always get a kick out of your stories. Cheers to that!

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  24. You are so funny and I really love that top. Those colors look so good on you!

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  25. Im' sorry, but that line "Your wife is seriously crazy" made me crack up. I love how he distinguishes from "mom" and into an accusatory "your wife". Kids..

    Brittney

    anotherbeautifulthing.blogspot.com

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  26. Blogger ate my comment!
    Your kids crack me up. I love the way they sent complaints to their dad by text.

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  27. Lovely outfit - just wish it was warm enough here for sleeveless tops! The children's texts made me smile especially the 'your wife' one - so funny.

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  28. Love your boy's SOH:)
    Sleeveless tops? Long gone days pour moi.

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  29. I love a good selfie. Especially if it involves a Gatsby-esque Jody in a sparkly top :)

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  30. Love the Oakland house. It reminds me of the house I dream about on a weekly basis. I wouldn't mind getting stuck on Groundhog Day if it's a good day. :)

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  31. Funny! thanks for visiting me, glad to meet you in return.

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  32. feeling very jealous that we don't have a chaise lounge injury

    they sound delicious.

    *wavingfromLosAngeles* (with an english accent)

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  33. You look super, love white :)) This place looks gorgeous xx

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  34. Hmmm, The Clash and a posh house in Oakland? the old punk rocker in me has a small problem reconciling the two.

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    1. Green Day guys lives just down the road in bigger pile...though they are post-punk.

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  35. That pizza party sounds so good...how is it possible that I'm hungry again at 9am? You are definitely living a modern Gatsby-esque life Jody!

    xo Mary Jo

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  36. Hilarious that you refer to your children as the tenants. Must adopt that one!

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  37. Rules of civility are really lacking in our contemporary society. It should be a must reading. What a great location!
    I am really happy to have discovered your blog.
    Greetings from Rome
    laura

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    1. Actually in the book ( a novel) many of the characters behave without civility or even manners. Its someone's first novel and a good one!

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  38. I've heard this was a great read. Maybe I'll get it for vacation..I'm loving the chaise lounge injury! :P

    Sounds like our house..Glad you got out. That house is gorgeous!

    Don't take it to heart..Darn peanut gallery..

    xx

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  39. The scenery is so beautiful in your photos, thank you for your share.
    cpbay.com

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