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

to market

there's a farmer's market in our neighborhood that i finally took myself to this morning.

it was a little bit sad, with just a handful of venders, but the few that were there were sweet and attentive and kind.

it's nice to spend a saturday with those kinds of people.

and i made it home with some lettuce for salads tonight, granola, and fresh bread.

another summer perk! 

hoping your saturday has been a laid back one.

lipstick teeth

growing up in a small town, we had the same librarian for both the school and public library. 

she was an older lady, and wore the most fantastic shade of red lipstick every single day. every day! she kept a thousand tubes of it in her pants pockets and desk drawer. and it never ceased to stay on her lips. her teeth and school milk carton straws and library check out cards were always smeared in the most glorious red. 

she was on my mind today as i sneaked an hour to myself in between school drop off's and max's doctor's appointment (stitches are out! hooray!)...sitting watching cars go by and covering my straw and myself in red gloss.

and really that kind of nonsensical or random memory is exactly what sneaking away is for.

and hour alone is too short to fill it with thoughts of work or deadlines or bills or mom butts.

but it's just enough time for funny revelations that you are an occupation away from becoming your favorite childhood librarian. or anyways, wondering if she would approve of your shade of lipstick.

p.s. you all friends are true blue! only the truest would thumb their nose's at the internet ideal body weight calculator for you. haha. 

i took all of you along with me on my walk this morning!