last days of the year..

..may they be full of cozy, crunchy, snowy footprints and sweet treats!

hello.

happy looking at all of our green inside and the accumulating white outside. crafting lately to try to catch up with the season.. I will post some images of work in progress when I have time to capture them in some day light. chicago is so snowy and icy!

first snow

white and green. calm thanksgiving morning. coffee brewing and a sharp cheddar cheese apple pie crust in the works. Was a lovely day.

autumn at home and all around me

cozy weekend, full of autumn colors and warming treats.

peeping

The Complicated Bicycle by Nick Butcher is one of the books i tend to frequent and ponder through this time of year. Its one of the first gifts id ever given to s, and even though it is indeed oh so very s, i love knowing its there to peep through and fondle from time to time. Its special for many reasons... see more of Nick's work here.

Adoring these mari balls from tortoise via ah yiyi.

bits of brilliance

If you have a moment, be sure to read this post. Also, close friends of ours, goat island have wonderful words to say, as always. Enjoy this little bit of brilliance.

Above is a poster I designed for Cupola Bobber's latest evening length performance, 'The Man Who Pictured Space From His Apartment' premiering at the Nuffield Theatre, UK at the end of the month.

textures in my kitchen

At home. Dim and calm kitchen, making savory somethings. Stumbled upon this via olivelse. The greys, creams and brown hues are keeping me calm and happy today.

new!

I love my new slippers. I am never taking them off! I sewed a new pillow recently and never posted about it. Poor little guy got neglected. More of this fabric is in tow, so another one of these little pillows will be in the works soon so he has a companion.

futzing

I have been anxious to get started on crafty projects, but all of this good weather keeps getting in the way, and good books that have me glued to the page. Am thinking this will get me in the mood to start futzing around rather quickly. That, and a quilting project in the works for a new duvet cover.

Really fun. Happy things... Here and here, too.

This looks really fun, too.

squiggles

I love the black squiggles in these... this pairing just makes me happy.

Top: sculpture in the centre pompidou, paris.
bottom: looking up in berlin

Some inspirations here and here! Especially these.

two become one

Still looking at film from our time away in europe and seeing something new every time i peek in and scan over film and digital collections. Am loving pairings lately, looking at not just how one image translates on its own, but how another makes the image speak that much louder or make the story have depth, or be more interesting to tell. Also I realize I'm caught up on the smallness of things. If an image is cluttered, I don't see clutter lately. I find myself sinking into subtleties. Concentrating more on shapes, shadows or color. These images here are anything but busy, but I liked these moments and remember them so well. Fleeting moments in a park watching the sun setting in paris and standing, looking and watching patiently.. excited even, to see a storm brewing as seine bits float by in paris.

a little play time

This one loves his bear, and chasing little lights around the apartment. My mother calls them tinker bells.. (i love that she calls them tinker bells).. He chirps at them mostly.. which is one of my favorite noises. Sometimes we break out the flashlight when absolutely necessary. Loving eyes are the best, aren't they?

weekend

its nice to have calm after a busy weekend. indian summer still going strong in chicago, in fact feels like june weather.

pacific on my mind

Above are some shots from a vacation s and I took out west last summer. For the past two years s and I have ventured out west to visit his sister in portland. We didn't make it out there this summer, with traveling to europe and all, but I am a bit sad about that. Last summer we ventured to seattle and spent a week camping in the olympic peninsula, which was breathtaking. So needless to say, not only am I nostalgic about our time spent out west, scanning film from our travels, but i know i speak for the both of us when i say we can't wait to get back.

This recipe is addicting! Thanks, Molly! ..our tomato plants are still flourishing with a few little ones remaining, but we will whip out this pasta dish whenever we are craving sweet, rich tomato flavors in the upcoming months. Of course its not the same, but it'll do. Our CSA share ends next week, but I have to say, we have really enjoyed the tomatoes and cukes that we grew on our very own porch so much more than the ones they grew. Not just because we grew them (definitely a very fun thing, of course)... its just that our tomatoes have been so intensely rich and sweet and dense with saltiness. I've loved every one. Maybe it depends on the type of tomato you grow? I'll have to look into that. Very partial to the ones that are medium to small, bright red and bursting with flavor..opposed to the really large, dull, watery ones. ;)

taking me back

holga film revisited. The top photo takes me back to london. Regents park film from our trip.

Oh... and something I recently read that s wrote:

"This is on my currently reading shelf, and I think as long as I stay current I will be reading this book."

i really love that little thought. it makes me smile.

look!

.. basking in the sun on the window sill where it lay, remaining so still.. untouched and practically going unnoticed.. not even the kitties noticed. or maybe they did and just kept it to themselves.

on my shelf...

eat. shop. paris: the indispensible guide to stylishly unique, locally owned eating and shopping (researched by jon hart, edited by kai wellman). very informative guide to the secret spots of parisian shopping and dining. favorites included but were not limited to :: rose bakery (montmarte), l'as du fallafel (marais), celis (marais), cuisinophile (marais) and port de vanve flea market in the 15th arr.
designers are wankers by neville brody
muji catalogue
cabinet magazine
both by tom gauld and simone lia
the incredible book eating boy by oliver jeffers

I've been digging into the pile lately... the more recent addition to the pile on our shelves that is. Getting inspiration from here and there.. and just about inundating myself with cute illustrations and goofy comics to well written autobiographical books on owning a business... to other more photographic inspired places. Hope everyone is having a beautiful weekend!

walking

The walk is an occasion of limited vulnerability. I offer myself to unpredictable occurences and impingements. The world flows past my body, which may block, pleasurably or uncomfortably, some sudden cometary intrusion and create a situation...Raising the stakes, the world on a walk engenders the mental polarity of critical thinking all the way to wonderment"


quote from "The Walk: Notes on a Romantic Image" by Jeffrey C. Robinson


On our ventures we did so much walking! It was so wonderful exploring all of these places on foot. There is much to be said about walking.. expanding the sense of time, each step elongating the experience. Moving fast is overrated. Walking slowly was wonderful.

Looking forward to the 5th Annual Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago from September 15-16 on Division between Damen and Wood this weekend.

Paris :: Cimetiére du Pére-Lachaise

This is me, standing in the incredibly beautiful Cimetiére du Pére-Lachaise in Menilmontant, Paris. Just a few steps away from our flat off the gambetta stop. It was the perfect day to visit this moody cemetery with the present storm clouds and hints of rain, or more like a misty drizzle. I loved the light.

a prague hello

Hello! I'll be sharing a bit of this and that from our trip in this space once I come to. But for now, I really love this little corner of prague.



turkish coffee and cakes were delicious at our favorite lounge spot, u zeleného çaje, nerudova 19, praha

happy garden + basil-sill

our basil sill is growing out of control! delicious in every meal i've been concocting lately. breakfast, lunch & dinner. :: tomatoes growing in abundance. I hope our houseguest will feast on these while we are away.

last but certainly not least our tomatillos. So wonderful. I see salsa verde in our future, and lots of it. I will miss our plants while we are away.

new cushions!

So happy about our new cushions. They really bring our rocking chair to life and I think their coziness is calling me. mmm.. cold brew coffee here i come.


Both fabrics I made the cushions from are japanese organic linen purchased through this wonderful website.

s leaves for the nuffield theatre tomorrow... preparations calming a bit, which is nice. I leave in a little less than two weeks to join him out in England and travel abroad for about three weeks...will be a wonderful vacation away. We are excited, but will most definitely miss our little ones. We have decided on prague, berlin, (maybe vienna), a few days in paris, then brugge and lastly, london. While s is working on his next performance I have a few fun sewing projects in mind to do while he's away. The delight of coming home to their completion will be nice for him, i think.

garden update

Its lovely to go out and see the progress of our mini porch garden day to day. I have to say our tomatoes are growing in abundance this year! We're thrilled, and they're absolutely delicious. Cucumbers have been good, nice and watery, a bit bitter..but in a sandwich with some creamy cheese or dipped in a bit of creamy dressing cuts at the bitterness just perfectly.

daydreaming of the sound...

puget sound that is.

holiday splendor

i wish we could relax like this every weekend. Bike riding, Flea marketing, book shopping, breakunch at dodo, gardening (we've planted tomatillos!.. Chamomile, dill, mint.. and snatched a few beautiful succulents with flowery blossoms, pancakes at home with friends. such perfect calm and relaxation. I love this time of year.

sunday

just enjoying every calm. moment of it.

schwinn bella..yay for yellow.

Just got a new bike! Isn't she pretty?

green grass

Just stumbled upon greener grass design's website. I'm in trouble. I will be attempting to teach myself how to sew Lotta's apron in the next weeks.. (work is keeping me pretty busy lately). Wish I could get to it sooner, but I have no excuse for my other temptations.

seedlings!

they're so cute. s and i are really happy plant parents...

Our Saturday morning..

nursing our small summer garden and making breakfast... yummm!

Beginnings of spring

Planted two tomato plants, cucumber, strawberries, basil seeds, cilantro, rue, chili peppers and lavender yesterday. Still have our survived thai basil, rosemary, baby basil and african basil plants from last year in pots strewn about the kitchen and on book shelves. I love watching our thai basil and rosemary come back to life. The ultimate joy for me this weekend was getting my hands dirty once again. It's amazing how much of a difference a few more little plants on the window sill makes. We breath better, the cats enjoy having more plants to rub their noses on and nothing makes me happier than to nurture and protect them and watch them grow.

my knitting projects...

I've been experimenting a bit with my knitting lately. A project I have yet to complete is my second attempt at a scarf for s.. hopefully I will have it to him by the time winter comes around next year! I wanted to do something with stripes and I wanted it to look like the yarn had been recycled. I know there is a great recycled yarn by Knit one crochet two called second time cotton, that's really actually very beautiful..but Ive had the toughest time trying to find it in chicago. Actually one of the best tips I ever received, from the owner of a knit shop here in town called knit1, was to go to thrift store and buy a used sweater or two and rip it out and reuse the yarn. Of course you would have to prep it by drenching the yarn in water and leaving it to hang dry so it wasn't terribly awful to work with but I thought that idea was just brilliant. The perfect rainy day project.

some of our inside plants..our jade grew 3x its size since we brought him home and our echeveria "black prince" is growing a little guy!

http://www.domestic.fr/ :: s has this incredible vintage forest illusions wallpaper that we have been working to get permanently placed on our living room wall...but at domestic's site they showcase a multitude of wallpaper art that are really graphically beautiful. More simplistic in their designs, but I love the textures they give to living spaces.

organic farmers and me

S and I decided the best way to live in the city and eat the yummiest food around was to sign up to a local CSA and get our Organic veggies and fruits delivered to us. So we did! I can't wait for our first delivery. We have our little porch for planting and a few pots full of basils and rosemary, thyme and intend to grow our own organic tomatoes again this summer, maybe even a tomatillo or two, but we certainly can't do it all. We searched the web and S and I found a few places and alas, M's Organic Farm in Woodstock, Illinois makes deliveries right to our neighborhood of Logan Square! Can't beat that, plus they have seasonal recipes to guide you through staying experimental with the foods that are delivered. I'm excited to meet the farmers that grow our foods for us too. This is a first for me, which is really sad if you think about it. All of the foods I have ever eaten, besides the the herbs and one or two tomatoes S and I ate last summmer, have all been store bought... and who knows who grew them or how fresh they really are or how they are really grown. Our inspiration came months ago but other folks are eating only locally grown foods as well, such as colin beavan and his family. I have been reading his blog quite a bit lately. He and his family are living quite extremely, but it's inspirational and interesting to read. I have also been reding up a bit about urban planting at mr. brown thumb's blog. He lives in chicago, too.