A little piece of home

Near the beginning of our relationship, I read in an astrology book that Leos love to be spoiled; since then I have done everything I could think of to keep my "lion" happy (except for the "I miss my boyfriend" crying jags - sorry Bear.) I'm definitely not super rich (or even close to well-paid) and I have had to be kind of creative to find ways to do this within my limited budget, but damnitalltoheck if I haven't had a great time doing so.

In addition to the aforementioned classes, working on my Turkish and trying to learn some authentic cuisine, every week for the past 15 weeks (okay, except for that one week where I was very busy) I have sent Bear a card in the mail. I even had "love pigeon" photo stamps made for postage. They've been funny, they've been naughty, they've been sweet and only 2 of the cards (that I started sending before he even left) have been lost in the mail so I count myself very lucky. As our time apart has been winding down, I have been ramping up my efforts. A few weeks ago, he received a handmade card (made by moi at one of my crafting nights with Dubs) that included a hand decorated CD with the soundtrack from a show we like to watch, a video from a dinner party our friends had here after he left and a few pictures of us that I love but haven't posted to the album I keep for us on Facebook.

The week after that, I finally got around to sending up my intended "care package" that I had been working on for him that included:

A 2x3 framed picture of us (the same one that I sent to his parents and plan to give to my mother.)

A "wife-beater" tank top I have had since I was 16 years old that was given to me by my bff at the time and is my FAVORITE lounging shirt (scented with a bit of my perfume...) I'm almost 30, so that shirt has been (lovingly) practically worn to shreds but I trust that it will return to it's rightful place in my wardrobe.

And (in my opinion) the piece de resistance...A little piece of "home."

I already live in West Seattle, Bear loves Alki and we've discussed eventually finding a place to live in that beautiful beachy neighborhood after he returns, so I came up with the idea of sending Alki to him since he has to be so far away right now.

After an exhausting search for the right vessel (a decent sized jar with a cork stopper - finally found at Bed, Bath & Beyond and originally filled with sea salt, appropriately enough) I made my way to Alki on a gorgeous sunny Seattle day.

After I grabbed a coffee at the Tully's we tend to visit and sent a few "teaser" photos from my phone's camera, I took my ziplock baggy down to the beach and collected sand, shells, some weathered beach wood and a few feathers.

Once I was home I narrowed down the selection and slipped in an Alki Beach postcard with a short love note written on it - my own version of a "message in a bottle."

When the box was finally received intact in Turkey, I received one of the sweetest emails a man has ever sent to me (not that I don't get gag-worthy emails from him every day, but this was off the charts adorable.) Truthfully though, the best reward for me is knowing that he will always have a little bit of Seattle close to him even when he is thousands of miles away.