a valentine reminisces

work today felt sing-song in its approach to time. each woman received a long-stemmed red rose from rob, our in-house do-gooder. one of the flowers crushed when a colleague picked it out of the bunch and she decided to sprinkle the office floor with red rose petals. i provided homemade brownie bites that whole foods baked up and sang along with sappy, cheesy songs on pandora for fun, taunting my cubicle mates by squeaking out lyrics to lionel richie and michael bolton songs in my raspy cold-ridden voice.

tonight i indulged the gift of argent that my mom bestowed upon me in a bottle of the rare, limited edition black satin nail polish. let me set the scenario for you: i am strolling through nordstrom and remembering her voice saying "treat yourself to something special" and look at my own poorly havocked nails, chipped with the dark mahogany polish revealing flecks of white nail underneath. on a lark, i walk over to the chanel counter. my eyes hardly believe it, but there are two bottles of the black satin nail polish. two. i had tried three times before and every time they had been sold out. on ebay right now, you can purchase a bottle of it for the cheap price of $36.64 (from the u.k.) or the expensive price of $40.00. for nail polish. this is a no brainer and the cheshire cat in me is grinning. black nails are all the rage in the clawing couture realm after all...

fast forward: it's a study night and as i saunter into border's i am visibly dismayed at all the bodies crowding over the tables. shouldn't they all be on dates? at least that guy seated at the good table near the plug, maybe his dream girl will call right now to see if he wants to take a last minute visit to a north beach eatery. hmm. i get my coffee and then see one table open in the midst of all these "study" groups of college kids (who really should have been out on dates with each other). ipod-armed, coldplay turned up, i tackle my first mfa paper. and finish it within two hours. whoo hoo! i will look at it again in a few days to embellish and edit, but this task deemed only a week ago as impossible has now been conquered. here's to poet sharon olds for her incredible way with words. may even an iota slip into my style.

and now i sit typing, jet black nails tapping on computer keys, gleaming in the dim evening light as a pearled aroma of rose petals crushed underfoot clings to my nostrils- the not-so distant happy memory of a valentine's day.