liz murphy of rosie girl studio

April 02, 2020

i am not sure what this means about me, but by far the hardest aspect of the “shelter at home” has been missing my appointments with my beloved colorist, liz. (OBVIOUSLY i mean the hardest thing other than being worried sick about dear friends in new york and the deaths of thousands of people here and around the world and the whole economy tanking.) normally, i go like clockwork to see liz at her NEW rosie girl studio location in niwot every two weeks. i had to miss two appointments which put me at about half an inch of silver roots (unfortunately, my hair grows pretty fast) and i was NOT happy. it did not help that my daughter kept saying, “oh mama… this is not good. please put on a hat!” every time my head was bare. i DID experiment with scarves (this accommodation reminded me of the women during WW II who drew seams down their legs with eyeliner when stockings were not available) and lucy also started wearing one in solidarity… it looked MUCH cuter on her!

eco-friendly home products... boulder county home + garden, spring issue

March 31, 2020 in dining room, family, family room, living room, residential interior

i am a bit abashed to admit that my children are the ones who have pushed me to consider how the product choices i make for my home effect the environment. because of them we now have a collection of metal straws (BIG ones so they can be easily cleaned with a little brush), reusable bowl and cup covers that look like my grandmother’s shower caps (used in place of plastic wrap) and cloth napkins for everyday use, rather than paper ones. i DO cringe each time they rub spaghetti sauce or jam on the napkins because of course that means they will need to be washed. “mama, you HAVE to let us wipe our hands - that’s the whole point” they say. so it was serendipitous when i was asked to write an article for boulder county home + garden on eco-conscious home items and furnishings. i had so much fun discovering these kitchen and home decor products that are both visually delightful (MUCH prettier than my shower caps!) AND support conservation and sustainability. THANK YOU to dot & army, MoMA, marley’s monsters, Khala & Co., minna, archive new york, area home, leah singh and coyuchi for your beautiful, creative and thoughtful designs.

the gift of art... kelly degnan x0x

March 25, 2020 in art

in these unprecedented, uncertain days sometimes the best thing for our hearts is something beautiful. the SUPER talented, inspiring kelly degnan dropped off this joyful, uplifting piece yesterday… what an important, soul nurturing gift. in between vacuuming and cooking and math facts and monopoly and more vacuuming (it’s AMAZING how dirty the house gets when we are all here ALL the time!) we have each paused in front of it to take in the bright colors (i especially adore the hot pink) and notice the shapes and little drips and brushstrokes and depth and texture of this painting. THANK YOU kelly for sharing this beauty with us… we couldn’t be more grateful. x0x0x

kelly degnan is an abstract artist from boulder, colorado. follow her on instagram: kellydegnanstudio to keep up with her gorgeous work.

learnings from the corona

March 24, 2020 in family, exercise

this new reality of corona “social distancing” and “shelter at home” has certainly been shocking and hard to get used to, but i have had some important learnings as well:

(1) ONE pair of sweatpants is NOT enough when you spend every day at home. usually this time of year i toggle between jeans and jammies each day. if i am not going out, i typically get into my jams right after dinner. i have two pairs of lulus that i wear to my bar classes (that is an indication of how frequently i exercise - most boulder moms have a collection of ten to fifteen pairs. but most boulder moms also wear their lulus as regular clothes. i may run an errand or two in mine after bar class, but i rarely wear them all day long.) however, with my new corona sofa regime, jeans are not comfortable attire for a full day. also, i think all the cookie dough i have been eating (we have been practicing home schooling “life skills” and the ability to make proper nestle tollhouse cookie dough is imperative) has made my skinny jeans even skinnier. i DO have a fairly extensive pj collection but i keep reading that staying in your pajamas all day is not good for your mental health. so sweatpants seem like a good compromise… unfortunately, i only have one pair. now my favorite day is the one when my sweats are fresh out of the laundry.

corona

March 18, 2020 in family, hank, holiday, travel

in the last few weeks the world has turned completely upside down. two weeks ago i attended what we lovingly refer to as the “no talent show” at my daughter’s elementary school. this is a day i dread each year as the show goes on for HOURS, the gym is always a bazillion degrees (this is coming from someone who is almost never too hot) and i end up feeling punch drunk and cheering too loudly out of desperation for it to end. this year my girlfriend confided that she’d had two beers before she came, which i thought was brilliant. in NINE years i have never thought to give myself an aid like that. and now i may never have to because it’s hard to imagine in our new corona reality that we will ever jam ourselves into a hot, stuffy gym with fourteen million elementary school kids, their sneezy, coughy siblings and all their parents and grandmas and grandpas to boot.

salad people

March 10, 2020 in recipe

we have never really been “salad people” in my family. when i order a salad in a restaurant i usually eat all the yummy stuff off (the bacon, hard boiled egg, cheese, croutons, candied walnuts, etc and then leave the boring lettuce. the other weekend i was in iowa and i had dinner [TWICE] at the cracker barrel. i had a perfect salad there - it was covered in fried chicken, deviled eggs, cheese and sliced cucumbers and tomatoes. of course, when i got through those things i stopped eating and handed the waitress my bowl of romaine. and then i dipped into my mother’s chicken n’ dumplings, which i highly recommend.) there ARE a few exceptions… i LOVE the simple salad at brasserie ten ten - it has fried capers and tomatoes and butter lettuce in an amazing dressing and i eat all of it. i also love the kale apple salad at oak, which is bananas because normally i won’t go anywhere near kale. this kale is chopped into thin little strips no wider than a dried spaghetti and it’s covered with so many tasty things you can’t even tell it’s kale, which is why i can eat it.

UPDATE on the grandma

March 05, 2020

this morning the kids and i were beside ourselves when the grandma we wave to on the “i” street as we drive to school WAVED BACK! we didn’t think she could see us because my car windows are tinted, but apparently she has really good eyesight. she has such a pretty wave… just like the queen. we have gotten especially attached to her since we lost our gg (there is an uncanny resemblance) and it truly made our morning! x0x

matti berglund's ladies

March 03, 2020 in art, family

i never got to meet my maternal grandmother, but i have always felt that she was looking over me and now she is busy with my children as well. this sense of my own grandma angel has given me peace and a feeling of protection and love my whole life. she has been described as a woman of quiet reserve who bestowed her family and those dear to her with great kindness and generosity. she and my daughter share the same middle name as i wanted to further this connection between the generations of women in my family.

best of houzz 2020 service award

February 25, 2020 in commercial interior, residential interior

i LOVE to get prizes… i think this stems from the fact that i wasn’t a sporty kid and didn’t participate in activities that got rewarded with trophies or medals. i may have gotten a couple of “participation” ribbons the summer i was nine and did swim team, but i never placed. so i am thrilled and GRATEFUL to receive this service award again from houzz. i DO wish they would send me a big, fancy ribbon with my name on it or some kind of statue, but an email notice is nice as well. x0x

gg

February 18, 2020 in family

my grandma had the most beautiful handwriting. i saved all of her letters and cards - even the ones that just reported the kind of weather she was having - because her script was a wonder.

theo's bar mitzvah

February 04, 2020 in family

when my son was in second grade, we joined our local temple. we had always agreed that we would raise our children jewish, the faith of their father, with santa and the bunny thrown in in a nod to my secular upbringing with christian-based holidays. we signed up for the “family school” program which meant that once a month all four of us spent most of a saturday at temple learning about judaism in both large and small groups, finalizing in a service. we made this decision because i am not jewish and wanted to participate in what my kids were learning and because the rabbi leading the family school grew up in the same town and same synagogue as my husband in long island… a crazy, small world synchronicity that we embraced.

boulder county real producers

January 28, 2020

my SUPERSTAR client, emily bossert, of compass was featured in the december 2019 issue of boulder county real producers as one of the leading real estate sales managers here in boulder. the profile shares her heartfelt journey to both boulder and compass. AND she was photographed in the interior of one of my favorite projects on pine street. CONGRATULATIONS emily … i have so enjoyed working with you and can’t wait to see your home completed as well.

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photos: julie kruger

disciplinary tactics

January 21, 2020 in family, hank

(this photo was probably taken right before they polished off MY burrito!)

it’s a wonder that i am not perpetually passed out on the floor dehydrated and starving because my children are always eating my snacks and drinking my water. whatever i may have, they consider theirs. to be fair, when they were little i frequently poured my water into their glasses because i didn’t feel like getting up once i finally got to the table. likewise my spaghetti or chicken nuggets. but they are bigger now and both of them can reach the glasses and the sink and they are perfectly capable of serving themselves. alas, these poor habits are deeply ingrained, despite my recent campaign to change them.

lucy's "teef"

January 14, 2020 in family

when my daughter’s teeth came in they were perfect little white chiclets with lots of small gaps between them. her smile was ridiculous, exuberant and huge. she seemed to understand the power of bestowing her grin on random strangers and reveled in the big, positive reactions she received. she was not shy.

routine

January 08, 2020 in exercise, family, hank, pet, sofa

hank and i are very comfortable with routine. week days, i typically wake up pretty early (6ish) and head right downstairs for coffee. i always set the machine the night before so all i have to do is press one button. hank usually sleeps a little longer and comes trotting down by 6:30. he likes to have his breakfast straight away, while i need my one and a half cups before my scrambled eggs. after eating, hank likes to go outside for his potty. he is pretty quick about this and then goes back to sleep in his favorite sofa corner. sometimes, when he’s had a particularly arduous playdate the day before with his girlfriend dharma, (this is his second girlfriend… ellie moved away) he goes back upstairs and returns to [my] bed. it throws me when i don’t see his big bat ears poking over the arm of the sofa and i walk around the house calling for him until i remember his secondary routine. (unfortunately, hank doesn’t really understand about weekends when i would love to sleep maybe all the way to seven. he sits over me and sighs and breathes noisily until i open my eyes to find his face hovering mere inches above mine.)

happy new year!

January 01, 2020

my vacuum is my favorite appliance. some people meditate or exercise or journal or juice fast to restore themselves and i try to do those things too (except the juice fasting, i would never do that voluntarily, only when i am ordered to for a colonoscopy and i have to say i found the juice fasting MUCH worse than any other aspect of the colonoscopy, so that’s pretty big) but what really calms me down is the crickle crackle sound of unwanted mess or dirt or crumbs being sucked off my floors. i feel this peace spreading through me as i methodically circle my dining table and work my way in neat lanes around my house.

christmas sticky buns

December 26, 2019 in family, holiday, recipe

the BEST breakfast of the year is always christmas morning because of my mother’s sticky buns. they are coils of cinnamon deliciousness with a sticky, brown sugar topping baked on. she makes two pans each year - one with pecans and one without (my nephew has nut allergies.) i prefer the ones with pecans, but i would NEVER turn down a plain one. we think about and anticipate the sticky buns all year long… rehashing how many each of us ate the year before and whether someone selfishly snuck a third before everyone else had seconds. when the pans are cooling we circle round them like sharks, peeking under the tin foil covers and trying to count how many there are (it always varies depending on the girth of the buns) - my mother protectively swatting us away and shooing us out of the kitchen.

see's scotchmallows

December 24, 2019 in holiday

SEE’S SCOTCHMALLOWS

growing up in california, one of the most exciting things was to walk into the classic black and white sweet shop, see’s candies, on shattuck avenue. it always smelled outrageous in there and the sales people (in their crisp white uniforms) greeted you with a free sample of your choice. today, this candy company created by charles see in 1921 featuring his mother’s (mary see) original candy recipes is just the same. the iconic black and white checkerboard flooring inspired by mary’s own kitchen takes you back to another time. see’s first candy shop was established in los angeles and in 1936 see’s candies began opening up all over northern california as well. now there are shops across the country (including DIA boulders!)

george lange

December 17, 2019 in art, family, holiday, photography

last spring i took my kids to the studio of photographer, george lange. he had been living in boulder after a storied career as a celebrity photographer whose projects took him all over the world and was preparing for yet another move back to his hometown of pittsburgh. he was clearing out the prints from decades of work shooting all kinds of interesting people: the cast of friends, tom hanks, sophia loren, a young uma thurman, the seinfeld gang, kermit the frog, bill gates and steve jobs (together!) andy warhol, athletes and rappers and rockstars and jazz musicians, authors and politicians. we spent hours there pouring over the different prints and deciding which ones to bring home. at some point, mr. lange wandered into the room where we were organizing our choices and started chatting with theo about going to summer camp. (theo was wearing his camp kee tov hoodie.) he was unassuming and warm and i thought he was another customer. but then he asked me if i would mind if he took a couple of pictures of the kids and i realized who he was. we went into the garden where he set up the backdrop and he clicked away for about five minutes. he took my contact info so he could share the photos with me later.

these women

December 12, 2019

(my girlfriends in the berkeley high courtyard spring of 1987, senior year)

i have known these women since i was fourteen years old… some even longer. they have seen me through events big and small: first kisses, braces, horrible haircuts, losing the spirit cup (a TRAUMATIZING experience at berkeley high) unreciprocated crushes, minor car crashes, getting drunk, getting grounded, getting lost (A LOT), cross country drives, cross country moves, international moves, getting dumped, getting cheated on, getting sick, getting married, accidentally eating a raisin, fertility struggles, having babies, getting divorced, getting myself back together. they have shared cups of tea and glasses of wine and lots of advice. they have supported and laughed and scolded and called me out and they have LOVED. and as my fiftieth year comes to a close, they have FINALLY all joined me in this decade. i am the oldest in this gang and was the first of these women to have to celebrate this onerous birthday. as each of them stepped into their new decade i breathed a little more easily and i am MUCH happier now that we are all in our fifties together. i LOVE these women.

* not all of my girlfriends are represented here… notably missing is miss margaret x0x