I would rather spend every moment with my dearest family than to ever see the world.

I would prefer washing and mending tiny hands and feet over being glamorous and trendy.

I favor heart and character over status and opinion.

{Baby shoes print by MayaLee}

"The epitome of sophistication is utter simplicity." -Maya Angelou

Someday, I'll find someone new to quote. Today, though, I'll grin to myself at the simplistic life I lead. I'm thankful for the sound of the rain outside my window, a constant partner to the sound of my thoughts. I'm thankful for other people's used items that find their ways to thrift stores, and then into my hands. I'm thankful for the way my brother's food--no matter what exactly he's eating--becomes a mustache at the corners of his mouth. (Photo here)

make do and mend.

A pull-out from the latest issue of Frankie.

getting acquainted

Sometimes we do things just to avoid other things. Today I avoided many practical and would-be productive items of business to photograph (in very low res) some of my favorite nooks and crannies. I believe in creating environments in which one's soul can walk around and explore, nestle into, and seep deeply throughout until the space is classic and personalized.

I love the fall when school is starting. There is so much fun to be had. Amidst the excitement and anxiety seems to be a reminder to both mothers and kids that everyone should have warmth to return to at the end of the day.

Also, where can I get her shoes?

I am convinced that most people do not grow up. We find parking spaces and honor our credit cards. We marry and dare to have children and call that growing up. I think what we do is mostly grow old. We carry accumulation of years in our bodies and on our faces, but generally our real selves, the children inside, are still innocent and shy as magnolias.

We may act sophisticated and worldly but I believe we feel safest when we go inside ourselves and find home, a place where we belong and maybe the only place we really do.

Maya Angelou

The art {of Smiling}

There are places in this world with which our souls naturally connect.

Last night as I flew over the Cascade mountains and the Puget Sound and lots of grey sidewalks and so very many moss-covered trees, my soul was warm and filled. I was smiling with my insides. It was my favorite time of day when the setting sun turns everything gold. The baby next to me was zonked in her exhausted mother's arms. The tan line from my watch was finally fading. My curls turned frizzy and the air turned velvet as we landed.

Over the past several weeks I made friends with lots of strangers. I wore a lot of the same colors. I saw old friends, too. I ate too much and didn't wear sunscreen in the sun.

And we're back where we began, again. Here's to smiling with your insides, inside your favorite places.

Monday.

For Katrina's Sun-Dial

Hours fly,
Flowers die.
New days,
New ways,
Pass by.
Love stays.

Time is
Too slow for those
who wait,
Too swift for those
who fear,
Too long for those
who grieve,
Too short for those
who rejoice;
But for those
who Love,
Time is not.

Henry VanDyke

sigh

First things first. Why don't women wear bathing suits like that anymore?

I have indeed fallen off the face of the earth. Into a universe full of sharpened pencils and chapters and staring into computer screens hours at a time. It's all coming to an end, though, and then the summertime crafting and posting shall commence.

In the meantime, run around on the beach and laugh with your dearest pals.

alive

Yes, I'm alive. No, nothing huge or tragic happened. Life just has its ways of engulfing me into never-ending lists of to-do. Along the journey, though, I catch myself in places like these and discover that everything, really, is just how I'd like it to be.

Isn't that the most lovely scene? The ground looked painted for miles. Mmm.

{hiatus}

The last few days have been a bit of a crafting hiatus, probably because I've been living my life a little more like my hero Holly Golightly and a lot less like a truer depiction of myself, Nancy Drew (not in reference to her mystery-solving, but rather her organization and timeliness).

If only I was spending the day with Fred, Dear at Tiffany's and the library.

A pothole garden

A pothole is a road's blemish. Nobody likes them. Say pothole to yourself and try making it nice-sounding. Pothole. We try avoiding them, we occasionally fill them, and someone somewhere has probably cursed them.

Then Pete Dungey {Mister Positive Attitude himself} came along and tried something we don't often do. He planted a garden in a pothole. He took something fairly permanently ugly and turned it into something that will most definitely lighten the outlook of the particular traveler who encounters it.



So. My task is to search high and low for another sort of pothole, or helplessly unattractive thing, and gussy it up a bit. With this perspective, I predict, my world might alter and all my potholes might just start looking like gardens.

Note: I acknowledge the fact that this garden has most likely been crushed by zooming tires more times than once. Don't rain on my parade.

Illustrating a day

Today was an excellent day. If I could illustrate days like these, I would use photos like these {taken near Seattle}:







{Snoqualmie Falls} from here

{Mount Si and Mill Pond}

{Downtown Snoqualmie train depot}

Hello, Void

Typing to a great big void is kind of satisfying. And for now, that's what this is for. I'm not about to blog about what I ate for breakfast (unless it was unusually fantastic) or what I think about current events, or even about my favorite people (call me cynical).

This is simply a white-backgrounded, techinically efficient way for me to organize things I find fabulous. Things I make. Things I discover and things I think are important.

(And by important, I really refer to simple pleasures. The very most important things couldn't be blogged...obviously)

So, void (It's turning into Lloyd in my head. The last thing I need is mentally to turn this into a fictional man named Lloyd. I don't even know a Lloyd)

thanks for having me.