now that lucy is back in school we have resumed our “i” street route where we always wave to the grandma we adore (mind you - we’ve never properly met her) who sits in the window. we were really concerned because she wasn't there on tuesday. on wednesday she didn’t see us, but today she waved back! BEST back to school gift ever! x0x0xx
i’m not going to lie… the last couple of weeks have been completely BANANAS and overwhelming. living through a pandemic alone is pretty unsettling what with the social distancing and the COOKING and the home schooling. then there is the election and all the news that logically i shouldn’t watch because it’s all so crazy but i am the worst kind of rubbernecker where i have it on all the time so i don’t miss anything but really i just want to miss ALL of it. then when we finally got into a home schooling rhythm (which wasn’t smooth by the way - lucy and i both cried over her fractions several times a week. sometimes i had to email her teacher that she was missing the google meet because we needed a minute to collect ourselves and wash our faces and eat some chocolate. PRAISE JESUS that unit is over!) our district announced that the kids are going back - lucy FULL time and theo one day a week. i know the people who manage the schools and these decisions are doing their very best but it felt like a BIG leap to go from nothing to four days a week for lu. of course, i am thrilled that they can do some live learning and i AM relieved that we got through so many months of online schooling and my children are still alive. that was a valid concern for me - EVERY time you read about a mother who drove her kids into a lake, she is ALWAYS a home schooler.
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it feels so GOOD to VOTE! (i actually have a huge smile on my face for this picture, but the anime can’t reflect that…)
the other day my son inadvertently changed my life forever. we were sitting around and he took a selfie of us, but when he showed it to me we were in “anime” like a japanese cartoon. i have to say… we looked AMAZING… especially me. my eyes were huge, i had no wrinkles, my neck was perfectly smooth, you couldn’t tell that my hair was frizzy or that i was in my jams and i was even a bit tan. i couldn’t believe it.
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i had so much fun writing this article on bringing natural elements into your home as fall decor. MANY THANKS to the super talented designers and photographers for letting me share their work: emily minton redfield photography, helly swenson duncan of design matters home, lindsay nichols photography, neelam gurm of neelam interiors, gena winter and aubriana kasper of marigold, chris nyce of nyceonephotography, kristin reisinger of spacecraft, heather knierim of HBK photography, kathy peden photography, susan kosonocky of restyle design, d’ann boal of smitten & swoon, lindy williams of westward foundry, rangefinder photography, vanessa empire interiors, nicholas gringold photography, garden studio design and nicole morell interiors. x0x
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hank just turned THREE years old (twenty-one in dog years.) we were feeling very remiss as last september we did not have a proper party so we wanted to make sure we celebrated even though we’re in the middle of a pandemic.
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(my father golfing in the 70’s)
even though i never played the game, golf was a major part of my childhood. my father was an avid player who frequently said, “golf is the most fun you can have with your clothes on.” as an economics professor, he had a pretty flexible schedule and i have clear memories of him preparing his bag (making sure there were plenty of clean white balls and colorful tees in the side pocket and all the wooden clubs were carefully covered in knit sleeves with pom poms on top to protect them from banging into each other) for a round several times a week. when he returned he would meticulously clean his clubs in the laundry room sink with a toothbrush (i am not sure if this was typical for other golfers or if he was particularly thorough.) he never strayed from this ritual so his clubs were always pristine. on those evenings he would take us through EVERY hole at dinner… how far his drives went, how many eagles or bogies or birdies he got, what his final score was and how he outplayed the other members of his foursome. (my grandmother always told him not to let anyone put a basket over his light and he let his light SHINE!)
Read More"say, say, oh playmate,
come out and play with me
and bring your dollies three
climb up my apple tree
slide down my rain barrel
into my cellar door
and we'll be jolly friends
forever more, 1-2-3-4"
when i was little, i was desperate for an apple tree like the one in my favorite hand clapping song. i also wanted a rain barrel, although i wasn’t really sure what that was. forty years later, i do have a great, big, sweeping apple tree in my backyard. my tree has a beautiful, twisted, architectural trunk with a hole the perfect size for hiding easter eggs, it makes lots of shade (crucial for a fair-skinned mama living in a town that bumps up against the sun,) in the winter, the way the snow lands on the branches is right out of fairy tale, it’s covered in lacy, white blossoms in the spring, and every other year or so, my tree grows apples in the late summer.
Read Morewe just had our first blizzard in boulder… in typical colorado fashion we went straight from summer to winter, with only an afternoon of fall. i never get used to the roller coaster weather here. i am never prepared with the right size snow boots for the kids or snow pants that fit properly or matching pairs of mittens. at best, i get a whiff of the cow poo smell (which is a pretty reliable snow predictor - i don’t know why) and i have a few hours to get ready. at worst, i wake up and the yard is all white and i have to scurry around and see how i can outfit the kids in some collection of warm clothes before school starts. we are usually late on this first snow day… i just always expect there will be that third season before the snow comes and even after seven years here, i haven’t learned to check the weather.
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when i was growing up we did not have the friendliest neighbors. the grumpy lady on the left would complain about the noise when we rode our big wheels past her house, the grouchy lady across the street would yell at us just for being outside and the old man next door was very kind, but SO old and frail that he was just a periodic face in the window. after i left for college, i didn’t live in a proper house again for over twenty years… i was always in apartments.
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(lucy‘s first day of school four years ago)
today is the first day of “school.” of course it is unlike any previous first day. usually we all walk over to the elementary school and the teachers are out on the lawn with big signs so the kids know where to line up. i stand near my kids and take pictures of them and with them and with their new teachers. when they start marching toward the doors i follow (a reasonable distance behind) waving and blowing kisses and crying… i ALWAYS cry. except this year because they didn’t go anywhere. well…lucy went into the playroom where her desk is all set up and theo went to his bedroom. he has a desk in there, but prefers to sit on his bed with his big, navy study pillow. i DID suggest that it might be more productive for him to sit at his desk, but i couldn’t in good conscience enforce it as i like to do everything in my bed (except eat because that is too messy.) i always studied in bed and i still frequently work in bed because i like to be comfortable.
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“too often the process is bogged down…by overthink, immovable objects, nervous nellies, politics, geographic fiefdoms, bad catering and/or too much time and resources to be productive. we provide a new way of working which recognizes that these obstacles shouldn’t exist anymore. the goal is to put the right talent around the table at the right time to accelerate brand momentum via rapid marketing prototyping (aka the 'hack'). gone are the days of lengthy processes, group think and all of the things that get in the way of brand momentum.”
andy nathan, founder and CEO, fortnight collective
Read More“fortnight collective is a brand marketing accelerator driven by the desire to liberate the strategic and creative development process. with our advertising hack process, fortnight collective tackles brand strategy and campaign development -- all in two weeks. gone are the days of lengthy processes, group-think, and all the things that get in the way of progress. by putting the right talent around the table at the right time, we look to accelerate brand momentum for our clients. in keeping with our rallying cry 'better hustle,' fortnight helps brands be better, faster.” andy nathan, founder and CEO, fortnight collective
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when designing the baby room for my first child, we repurposed a pair of walnut bludot dressers we had used for years in our own bedroom as well as a vintage steel nurse’s desk from an office we no longer needed. we flushed the room out with a simple, white crib and changing table from ikea and hung bright, happy artwork on the walls. as my son got older, we replaced the crib for a toddler bed and later a “grown up” bed, updated the posters and art on the walls to reflect his changing interests (he shifted from a love of animals to james bond and skateboarding.) to this day the dressers and desk have remained in his room - he is now fourteen.
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because the scenery on our road trip from colorado to california was so uninspiring, we decided to take a different route back in hopes of seeing lots of ocean and even those elusive, giant red rocks. we left our darling cottage at the crack of dawn and hopped on highway 1, the road that follows the coastline, to take us to los angeles. my kids had been questioning why we were traveling a way that would add hours to our journey, but as soon as we hit half moon bay, they understood. it was a LONG day (we were in the car for ELEVEN hours) but my heart was swelling as we traced the coast and viewed the pacific in all of its iterations: rocky cliffs, pebbled beaches, sandy dunes… we detoured in pebble beach and took the 17 mile drive - breathtaking! my girlfriend grew up there so we had her on the phone narrating our journey as we drove through pebble and carmel. she directed us to the most adorable sweet shop on ocean avenue (it was still too early to go in, but we are determined to return!)
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now that we are back in boulder, i got my hands on the print version of boulder county home + garden magazine's summer issue with the pattern and bookshelf articles that include my work! THANK YOU to everyone who participated! x0x0x
somehow against all rational thought i imagined going on holiday in california would also be a break from the corona. of course, the closer we got to the golden state, the more the virus was spiking in our destination. we arrived to a berkeley even more bunkered down than boulder, where EVERYONE was wearing masks in public, where most of the restaurants were closed (except for take-out), where many people still had not had a proper haircut (most notably my parents who look like a couple of the founding fathers - my dad favoring thomas jefferson [normally he looks more like jimmy carter] and my mother’s curls reminiscent of john adams’ with the middle bit filled in) and people practicing really conservative social distancing. nevertheless, we were DELIGHTED to arrive.
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(american gate-leg dining table from 1695-1720 owned by the bowdoin family [founders of college in maine]; photo: historic deerfield)
my dear friend, cait mcquade, who is a museum professional and has extensively studied american cultural history (and has a TERRIFIC blog on the various ways we experience museums) let me know that i am not the first to endorse flexible home furnishings. according to cait: “U.S. domestic spaces in colonial and early republic homes were also convertible. all furnishings were kept against the walls when rooms weren't in use (maybe so as not to trip over things in the dim lighting?). folding furniture, mostly tables, kept the center space open until it was time to play cards, work on sewing, or serve tea.” super interesting!
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in this time of corona when air travel feels dicey, we decided to road trip to california for our annual summer visit… spoiler: WE MADE IT! that may be an obvious conclusion for most, but given my flimsy navigational abilities, it was no guarantee for us. (our odds WERE probably elevated by the fact that my first husband generously decided to accompany us on the ride out - corona concerns aside, i think he was worried that we would end up in toledo or baton rouge by mistake.)
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(so thrilled to include the work of designer mark d. sikes [right side], photo: amy neunsinger)
i’m so grateful for the summer 2020 issue of boulder county home + garden… in addition to interviewing me for an article on pattern, they included a piece i wrote on creating artful bookshelves. SO MANY THANKS to heather knierim of HBK photography (as always) for the lovely photos of my bookshelf projects, my clients for allowing me to share them, my dear friend, designer, mark d. sikes and his favorite photographer amy neunsinger and emily sweet of sweetbookobsession for allowing me to include their beautiful and inspiring work as well… ENJOY! x0x0x
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