6 years ago today.

It's a little late in the day to be getting around to this, but seeing as I still haven't even printed any of my wedding photos, better late than never.

Happy anniversary, Mike.

Lillyella feature

The amazingly sweet and talented Nicole of Lillyella recently did a feature on me and my shop. It was my first interview of this kind and it was so much fun! In preparation, I put a lot of time in to updating my shop and listing some new items. It was great to have a solid, inescapable reason to do this - it has needed a new look! Thank you so much Nicole!

you can check it out here.

Go read this book. now.

My sister recently encouraged me to read Jonathan Safran Foer's book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Having just finished it I have to recommend it as well. It is really hard to explain just how amazing this book is. It deals with all sorts of wrenching issues like the World Trade Center attack, the bombing of Dresden, family, loss and abandonment. And while it breaks your heart a little on one page, it renews it again on the next. I was often left feeling as though I needed to cry, but at the same time, I was so engaged in the lives of the characters there just didn't seem to be time to cry. I don't know. It's hard to explain. It tugs at you the way Ordinary People does.

It is narrated most of the time by a nine year old boy who in reality is far too smart for his actual age. But because he is both naive and incredibly intelligent, we can experience all the complexities of loss: sadness and fear as well as confusion and a downright inability to accept it. There many pages in the novel devoted to images, photographs and creative typography. The thing that pervades, though is Foer's ability to write with just enough poetry in his words to make you forget that his characters are just slightly outside reality. His writing goes to the heart of them and they feel completely real and tangible. And you fall in love with them.

It is one of my favorite books and I don't think I'll be the same for having read it. I cannot put it any better than Foer does: "...it broke my heart into more pieces than my heart was made of..."

where I was last week this time.....

and where I wish I was today....



Early last week a good friend brought me to one of her special places for a late-morning walk. How she knew it was exactly what I needed, that I had been drowning in all this concrete, and that putting my feet in that water would clear my mind and soul, I can't imagine.
Thanks, S.

Someday soon I will share with you my latest embroidery projects. Things that have me excited and motivated again. It is good, and I can't wait to show you.

a week in pictures

A few photos from our trip to New Hampshire.
They only tell part of the story...



My nieces playing on the water slide; almost every afternoon
was spent like this. A raft, a kayak and a good friend.




At Nubble Light on the coast of Maine.



A quiet moment on a very still morning.



Our hike to the summit of Bald Knob in the Ossipee Mountains.




A fin whale, 23 miles off the coast of Maine. It was
such a calm and beautiful day at sea.



Afternoon sunlight in a beautiful little cottage. It was part of the
original property where we stayed and was built in 1920.




A particularly gorgeous evening that warranted more than one photo.



I loved virtually every minute of it and want to go back.

Home again, home again...

I have spent the last 24-36 hours trying to come to terms with the fact that I am no longer on vacation. It has been a difficult return this time around. I spent a week living with 9 people in a big, luxurious house on a serene residential lake in New Hampshire. Surrounded by trees and only accessible by dirt road, I felt truly removed from my normal life. All that mattered was the temperature outside and the battery life in our camera. Kayaking, swimming, hiking, loons, whales, games and photo slide shows at the end of each day. All of this shared with most of my favorite people on earth.

Coming home to such a boring and quiet house has left me at a loss for how to start each day. I am questioning all that I thought was important and trying to figure out how to keep the idea of vacation in my regular routine. The idea meaning have fun. Doing what I want to do as much as what I have to do.

Photos are coming soon. You can get a preview here.

vacation

You'd think i was already on vacation by how often I post here. Hopefully my week on the lake will provide enough time and thought for me to devote some of it to this space.