{8 things}

the stressful morning edition

8 am

lovely way to greet the day: mysterious charges on my paypal account. no, i tell the nice woman on the phone, i did not spend $100 last night at 1 am on itunes. she was very nice and super helpful. i do love a good help line. problem solved.

8:44 am

create new super long password i may never remember as an added security measure.

9am

i spy coffee. ah.

9:02 am

coffee moment interrupted by baby crawling around the living room. must focus on this little trickster. boy is she fast. phone cords? yes, please, i'll try to pull that out of the wall. dirt on the floor? yum, that was tasty. (note to self~ time to vacuum)

9:30 am

time to get that little teether down for her nap. she was really tired and went down easily.

9:45 am

for some crazy reason, i decide to try on some dresses in my closet in an effort to get a jump-start on spring cleaning. why oh why did i do this to myself? i should have known that there was no way that i'd be able to zip 'em up, not with this new nursing mama body, but of course i try. and fail, miserably. cute dresses into consignment shop pile. try not to feel too bad. blah.

10 am

finally find the coffee and actually drink it.

10:15 am

spontaneously write the post that you are reading.

more soon. xo *s

{8 things}

one} i've decided to bring back the {8 things}. it'll be on tuesdays. just like the first one. (be sure to read the list today, i've saved the best for last!)

today. the sun is shining and it's supposed to be 40 degrees. snow is melting, sidewalks are clear. this is big, people. spring is seriously on the way!

today. thinking about how much i love what christine said. such a real post. i also LOVE her new blog design. so pretty!

four} lately, i've been living vicariously through these two sisters who have moved to france. perhaps you know these blogs, but just in case you don't, i thought i'd share. one sister has moved to paris with her two little boys, and the other has moved to normandy with her six (!) enfants. i'm really enjoying their posts. thought you might too.

five} speaking of french things~ my sister, my husband and i went into boston this weekend and saw these two guys. so fun! it was great evening!

six} speaking of foodie related things, on a blizzardy day in early february i preserved some meyer lemons. idea and recipe here. so easy and delicious! the lemons were finally ready to eat last week, and it was worth the wait! so far i've layered them on baguette with olive oil (a good, fancy one) and topped with halloumi cheese and then grilled as an open face sandwich. so so good!

today} we're getting out of the house finally! no rain, no snow, just sunshine! hooray!

eight} my editor wrote to me yesterday to say the advance copies of my book are IN (!!!) and that i should be receiving mine this week! i did a big happy dance and then proceeded to hyperventilate. just thinking about it now is making me get butterflies in my stomach... SO excited to see it and hold it in my hands. (they will be shaking most likely!)

{8 things}

okay, so i seem to avoid blogging when i have too much to say. does that make sense?! probably not, but it's what i did last week. i returned from squam with SO much to say that i just felt overwhelmed and didn't say anything at all. silly me.

i'll get there this week, i promise, but let's just say for today that it was a fantastic time. having ada in tow with my mom made it really great, only a wee bit tricky here and there. grammy sally and ada b made lots of new friends as they strollered around while i was teaching, and i believe that ada was the second most photographed thing after the lake. so we coined a new term: babyrazzi. * to any of the people who were taking pictures~ i'd love it if you would like to share a picture or two that you captured of ada at squam! thanks! : )

{8 t h i n g s}

i did instead of blogging

last week:

monday:

brought ada to her 4-month check-up. (shots. yuck.) then, i did a lot of squam laundry. everything smelled like wood smoke from our fireplace. we had a smokey fire the first night which turned into a big old smoke fest with alarms and all. we ended up having to open the doors instead of getting warm. thank goodness for space heaters. well, i should really say space heater, because when they gave us another we blew a fuse. adventures.

tuesday:

vacuumed my house. this was WAY overdue. ada slept durning the whole thing. it's true you can vacuum around a sleeping baby. what a fun fact! and yes, it took most of my day.

wednesday:

gave ada a bath in her tub. yes, she's had a bath before, but this day marked the first bath where she didn't scream through the entire thing. no arching out or giving me the evil eye either. oh, and neither of us were in tears this time by the end of it all. we even had fun! she smiled and chatted and played... although not evident from this shot, it's true. hooray!

thursday:

my sister came from colorado to met ada for the first time. we've been having lots of fun with auntie heather! my sister is going through some big and brave life changes and we are so proud of her! she recently quit her job, is moving back east, and just today, started an MBA program in boston. exciting things are afoot. yay for my sister!

friday:

heather, jesse and i went to see one of our most favorite guys... it was so fun to see him in person! i love him even more. our bets that he would be wearing jeans, cowboy boots and an untucked white button down shirt were spot on. i'll upload a pic when i can to prove it.

also,

* ada and i went for lots of long stroller walks each day

*i dropped my camera and broke it. yup. (hence, no pictures from squam to share yet, but i'm working on getting them off of the memory card... )

*on those walks i came up with about 62 blog posts in my head that i never had the time to sit down and write.

as i promised my squam students, i will be a better blogger. so with that, i'll see you tomorrow!

xo *s

ps: i wrote this on monday afternoon, got ready to post, and then was sidetracked... so here it is on tuesday am! ah! more soon...

8 things for today.

*  *  *

today.  i realized that it's been a while since my last {8 things}.  so here it goes...  

today.  

i turn 32.  my mom always tells the story about how she had to get the doctor off of the softball field to deliver me.  apparently, he was the pitcher in the middle of a tournament and was not too thrilled about this baby who was ready to come into the world two weeks early! 

today. 

honestly, i am not feeling particularly festive due to the weather and my knee.  neither of those rascally things are cooperating!  the weather is rainy, dark and cool.  my knee is swollen, sore and covered in an ugly new rash.  (i see the doc tomorrow, so i'm trying not to worry)  

today. 

i declare that official birthday celebrations will take place this weekend instead!  

today.   

we are heading to ithaca this week for my husband's thesis defense!  on friday, he'll earn his PhD and will no longer be a grad student!  hooray!  i think we'll end up here for a celebratory/belated birthday dinner.  

today. 

{day one} of twodaysinjuly is here!

today.  

sending birthday wishes to stephanie!  have you seen her latest venture called kitchen sketches?  she is such a sweet and talented superwoman!   i'm not sure how she does it all, she continues to amaze & inspire me with all of her projects and adventures~  happy birthday to you, dear stephanie!  

today.  

i'm loving this old photograph of my grandmother.  my mom is the little girl on the left, she's shown here with her two cousins, and my uncle (on the bike).  the infamous family dog called "skid" is leading the way, heading off to the beach for the day with the kids.  growing up, my summers always included days like that too.  i feel very lucky for those special days on the cape.  

today.  

i am heading into my 32nd year.  looking forward to seeing what it has to offer!  

8 reasons why,

i love july.  (& it rhymes!)  

 *    *    *

 1} my favorite beach.  2} we watched the fireworks from here last year.   5}  birthday cakes with flowers & friends...my 32nd is coming up on the 21st.   7&8}  fireworks and celebrating 3 years (!) on the 8th. 

 *   *   *  

just looking at these july pictures makes me oh so happy.  it's been a bit of a hectic summer so far... i don't see it getting much easier due to the fact that we are still living out of boxes, an upcoming knee surgery, followed directly with a thesis defense and then (breathing in and out) we move.  yikes.  i'm going to do my best at trying to savor the little bits of summer goodness in between...  

we spent yesterday in the car... driving in the rain.  it was tiring.  and since we had gotten up before 6 am (totally accidently because the clock was set wrong... that's another problem with living in other people's houses....)  AND had a broken muffler, well, that made the trip all the more fun.  when we finally got back to massachusetts, i was planning on popping in here to say hello and posting my {8 reasons} but i completely collapsed when it started getting dark out... i think we were asleep at 9.  the good news is i'm totally refreshed with a good nights sleep. hooray.  

tonight, we'll visit with a good friend who we don't get to see very often because she lives in France... we'll laugh over sangria and pizza here.  other than that, the holiday weekend is looking pretty quiet... just exactly what i need!  my plan is to sit in the garden reading this alongside my stinky dog friend (he got skunked while we were gone!)  but i love him anyway and i'm totally looking forward to it. 

happy holiday weekend to you if you are in the States!  

see you next week!  

xo,*s

ps:  i LOVED "away we go"... did you see it too?  

june morning

#3 from the list

good morning! 

yes, the weekend got away from me and it is now monday morning as i type to you.  it was a fun-filled, action packed few days... hope you had a nice saturday and sunday too.

so, without further ado~ 

my {8 things} about june 

1.  some new paintings are beginning to take shape.  i have 10 new pieces in the works all at once. think sunny, painterly palettes,  that are bigger than usual.   i'm also wrapping up a series of some new, tiny ones too!  (remember these?) 

2.  flea markets and farmers markets abound!  (have you seen shanna's farmers market series?)

3.  the strolling of the heifers!  we woke up very early on saturday morning and drove up to vermont to stake out a spot at this parade!  (it was only after we left, that i realized the name is a play on the "running of the bulls")  "the strolling" was one of the top things on my "things to do now that we live here again" list and i'm so glad we went.  (more cows here)

4.  i've been sipping homemade ginger ale in the summer garden and trying to take time to relax. it is so delicious & reportedly good for knee arthritis swelling and pain!  what a bonus! who knew!?

5.  i've dusted off my polaroid camera~  i have a stash of film that my dad gave me that i have been saving and saving, but i've finally given in.  i'll share soon.  speaking of polaroids and loveliness:  susannah's new website debuts today!  love it!  

6.  i am very excited about one secret summery project that will be revealed next week...

7.  i've been drooling over the recent blog posts about the june session of squam.  cannot wait until september!  it truly seems like a magical, creative paradise like no other. 

8. my favorite flowers: poppies & peonies are in bloom.  

so what are your favorite things about june?  

xo, more soon, *s

it's been framed.

hi ya-

i wanted to pop in briefly to show you this piece that has now been framed up.  i used to work as a framer, so this part of the process for me is pretty fun.  a black shadowbox frame with a vintagey polka-dot paper as the background seemed just right.  (i know vintagey isn't a real word, but it works)  i'll be back later over the weekend with {8 things} things for you & a sneak peek.  

stay tuned!  xo, *s

ps:  this little one is heading into the shop in a few minutes... : )     

today's 8 things

today. 

today is friday and i don't know where the week went.

1. today.

here's peek into one of my little books.  these are not my sketchbooks, they are smaller books filled with the scraps i find on the studio floor during a clean-up.  some bits are too precious to be thrown away, so they are saved in boxes and books like this one above.  so yes, since i just had a big clean up in the studio, i have more books like this one that are going to be filled and shared soon.  

2.  today.

stephanie reminded me that  i wrote about this process in the interview you can read here. 

3.  today.

i realized that i the foggy brain feeling i have had lately is due to feeling completely overwhelmed.  not to complain of course, but you know how they say "when i rains, it pours" ???  well, i feel like i have a little rain cloud over my head!  

4. today. 

blasted birds fly away in the car this afternoon and drove around in the springtime sun.  then this song came on, and well, this is how it felt.  you said it so well kelly rae!  things are shifting, in a good way.    

5.  today.

we may have found new home, not sure yet, but fingers are crossed.  you see, we are currently in between homes, jobs and lives.  all of my belongings are in boxes, most of our stuff is in a storage unit in another state and my studio is what you may call a make shifty sort of one at the moment.  you think this could have something to do with #3?!  

6.  today.

loving the lilacs, leafy trees and warm spring breezes.  working on appreciating the little things in life, taking it day by day and trying to remember to breathe.  (yes, i do have to stop and remember to calmly do that once and a while) 

7.  today. 

exactly one year ago today, this happened.  to say that i did a happy dance would be a complete understatement.  BIG hugs to lucie who wrote to holly.  i'm so happy that our first little correspondences have turned into friendships. this blogging world is quiet magical if i do say so myself.  

8. today. 

speaking of squam, (hint, see #2)  this is the best.  check in out!  found via the squam blog.

so that's my 8 for today.  i have so many more... 

what's today like for you?

wishing you a happy weekend!  we're heading to our favorite little "gorges" town for a few days and then i'll be back on a regular schedule.  as i type this, i am already planning next week's blog posts.  how's about another sketchbook peek?!  i'm excited for that.  : )  

i'll also share some more news and a couple of other things to look forward to.  

until then, xo, *s

a list of 8 things. the third in a series.

 

today.

it's thursday and this list was supposed to go up on tuesday. 

today. 1

was not what i planned. (see today. 5)

today. 2

the photo shows a blurry me at the twist fair.  if the picture wasn't so blurry you could see that my sweater was inside out.  proof here, along with more photos of my set-up. 

today. 3

my darling husband sweetly pointed out that my sweater was inside out right before the customers showed up, i was thankful for that.  he wondered if i was following some new fashion trend or not. 

today. 4

just for the record, i was not.  i was a wee bit frazzled due to the fact that the twist fair was also my first day off of crutches in over a month. 

today. 5

speaking of frazzled, i've been on the phone all day with doctors offices & insurance companies. this was not my planned day at all. i'm scheduled for arthroscopic knee surgery in a month.  last week i thought i was in the clear, but i've been told otherwise.  the most important question i had for my doctor was how long it would be until i could do yoga again.  he says 3-4 weeks post surgery.  i miss yoga.  

today. 6

i'm excited because my sister flies in tonight, from colorado, for a week.  my husband is out of town for a while doing field work along the all along the east coast, so that makes having my sister here all the more fun.  

today.7 

my class is over.  it was fantastic and i highly recommend it!  i'll be back with my final homework assignment soon.  for details on how you can take the class too, see my new "byw" button along the sidebar. 

today. 8

tomorrow is a new day.  

what's today like for you? 

xo, *s