paint an escape

i hid away at the museum this morning...spending some time alone away from the heat...touching cold marble and holding my breath at my favorite paintings.

i can't wait to bring baby girl here...for max to get to show her how your voice can echo in the large rooms and that there are samurai swords in the basement and a pinochio painting upstairs. 

the best parts of living life together are getting to share the details...

p.s. thank you all much and much for the funny labor stories and recipes! 

i was a week overdue with max and had to be induced...which led to a c-section. it was of course a beautiful experience but i was left feeling like there should be more to it. i'm determined this time to do things the old fashion way. and i'm excited to see my body actually do things on its own this time..i'm hopeful anyways. 

come what may, but next week i'll be stocking up on fresh pineapple and caster oil and ordering pizza while scrubbing the kitchen floors. haha.

odd days and artichokes

i couldn't sleep this morning. i suppose my body has all sorts of nervous energy these days. by 5:30 i was up and in the car driving around...hoping to be able to catch the sunrise or some inspiration...but instead ended up home an hour later with one lone artichoke from the grocery store and a wings song stuck in my head.

i counted the minutes by the tens until it was time to wake max up...i put on a dress and killed some time by searching the internet for funny pictures of cowboy cats and animals in people clothes to stuff in max's lunch and book bag. i hummed along to the song in my head.

odd early mornings and inexplicable vegetable purchases like these seem to be the recipe for a really wonderful and inspirational thursday...or anyways, at least i have something new to throw in for dinner tonight.

xoxo

stacking fruit and counting days

yesterday was sunshine and snow and a date with myself to the farmer's market to smell lemons and buy up all sorts of local goodies. these small dates with myself started out as necessity to pass the time while max was away with his dad...and they've become something i cherish. small gifts i didn't know i needed...

it hit me yesterday that this season in my life is nearly over...and that i already had a little side kick with me, enjoying the walking and the fresh air and fruit.

it's a lucky thing...counting months and seeing an end...being forced to give old habits and rituals a slow and happy goodbye.

i'm sure i'll always need to sneak out for some time alone every once and a while...but in the meantime i'm just glad that baby already seems to like blood oranges and people watching as much as i do.

embracing winter

winter finally peeked in for a bit...giving us a tiny taste of bitter cold air and the thinnest sheets of snow with blades of grass still poking up. you can tell we've been deprived of our snow this year when max can be found outside trying to make snow angels in the snowy grass and bringing in bowls of ice with mud and grass in it for snow ice cream. 

our little guy went back to school today...leaving me to a quiet house with my morning (afternoon and evening) sickness, knitting, snowy walks, and kinfolk volume 2. i couldn't wait to finally get a copy...and when it came to my door it took my breath away. and still is. each feature is an escape...an embrace of the season. my, oh my.

(some of you have asked to see my paintings from this volume...the flower paintings above are little peeks at 2 of them...and when you order a copy you can find them and the others as the transition pages inside!)

i hope all of you are having a lovely wednesday!

if it's snowing great bits of snow where you are, make a decent snow angel for max and me...

winter mornings

there's something really wonderful about a cold and quiet morning.

lucky for me, both of my boys are sleepers...so i usually spend the morning to myself. today has been christmas carding and eating cookies and tea before breakfast.

my sister amy surprised me monday morning with that beautiful white mug and some special tea. for no good reason at all! 

there's something really wonderful about sisters as well.

happy happy wednesday, loves! 

12 days until christmas! i'm trying to teach max the 12 days of christmas song...but i end up adding "calling birds" to every number.

hmph!

p.s. cards from rifle paper co.

they are just the most!

happy september!

summer and fall are colliding beautifully today.

heat and warm peaches...fallen leaves to crunch and a tiny breeze. i woke up this morning feeling a little under the weather....a september ritual. but nothing a little trip to the farmer's market and some stoop-sitting can't fix.

happy september, loves!

xoxo

light breezes seems to whisper

it's taken me years of listening to myself to realize that i need a little solitude every now and again.
time with myself...my thoughts..the silence around me.
most times i find it in small ways...like in the morning when the boys are still asleep or while alone in the car on my way to and from places.
and sometimes i find it in deliberatly special ways.
sometimes i like to wine and dine myself.
get out the fancy glasses, pile up some strawberries on a cake plate, splurge on a new $1 crossword puzzle book and frosted animal crackers, find a place to stake my claim for an hour, and sit and just be.

i found myself in what seemed like my own little secret garden last night..fresh after an evening thunderstorm. i took pictures and watched the sun set and toasted to the brilliance that life can be...to my max who seems like worlds away...to the simple goodness of sipping through a paper straw or wringing out a rain-soaked hem.
and then i sat. and i listened.

eddie veder- dream a little dream

i hope you all can go stake a claim on an hour for yourself this week.

pull out all the stops for yourself...and don't forget the animal crackers.

<3

worry on the doorstep

rainy day saturdays

billie holiday- on the sunny side of the street