Pitter Patter

For whatever reason, the song lyrics from Stephen Stills' "Love the One You're With" popped into my head the other day while I was daydreaming at work. Slower work days with fewer tables have drastically increased the amount of mental energy I have to think and overanalyze the time I'm spending here. Well, that and the fact that I have plenty of one-on-one, quality 'me' time to think about being alone.

I repeated the same song lyrics in my head (not that I know most of the words of the song anyway)... "Love the one you're with..." and for the first time, I heard them differently. Hesitating for a moment, I thought, So what happens if you're alone? I smiled to myself discretely. Hmm. Good question, and I bet you can come up with an answer as good as I can. Of course I miss everyone close to me, sometimes so much that it hurts, but I guess being alone grants me one very special opportunity to fall in love with myself. Or at least pocket the love for future use. I choose both.

So inspired by happy thoughts of love, unicorns, horseshoes, and rainbows, here are some photos I've been wanting to share. Think of it as a mini scavenger hunt. Okay, maybe only one photo requires any hunting. Enjoy!

So...Can you find the love?

Saw this when I went hiking to Col de Jaman. It's slightly hidden which made me like it that much more, as if it were meant for certain eyes and I was a lucky chosen one.

Old-fashioned, red, wooden shutters? Check. Blooming flower box to match the fairy tale-esque window? Check. Cut out hearts that tell everyone how much love you have to share with your friends, family, neighbors, and the curious sporadic wanderer? Check, check, check.

The perfect heart for a cookie cutter. Too bad I don't have a kitchen or many of you would be receiving heart-shaped cookie care packages inspired by this window shutter. Ah, pitter patter, pitter patter.

And just because I'm a quote junkie and can't help myself, here you go:

"Do you want me to tell you something really subversive? Love is everything it's cracked up to be. That's why people are so cynical about it. It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don't risk everything, you risk even more." --ERICA JONG