Warmth

New Year's Eve. This year, it was perfect. It was an evening filled with family, long-time friends, and new friends. It was also my 35th birthday. I walked into my sister's downtown apartment to find streamers and decorations hung in my honor. We stood at her vast windows overlooking the river and watched the fireworks from the comfort and warmth of the couch. We ate good food, had great conversation and many, many laughs. After the craziness that was the month of December, having an evening to sit and simply get to know one another was fantastic beyond measure. A perfect ending to a year that was good to me.




I begin this year with some new feelings about my life will really be about, what makes home home, and what it means to carve out a space for yourself in this big, ridiculous world.

This past week, although frigid, has been warmed with familiar faces and renewed friendships. It seems a perfect way to start the new year.

Pretty good.

Holy cow, it's been a long time since I was here. I feel like it wasn't that long ago I was saying the same thing.

The sad truth of it is that with all the time that goes into preparing for Second Storie, I have had no time to do anything other than think of what I want to say here. So many thoughts come and gone. The best I can do for now is try to recount my feelings on the show.

In a word: amazing. In my true fashion, I walked in the doors on Saturday to set up my table considerably later than everyone else. I was feeling rushed and under prepared. But when I walked into the the auditorium and saw all of the amazing displays everyone had set up, I was instantly rejuvenated. And once the doors opened, there was hardly a break in the traffic for the next few hours. It was jaw-dropping. All of our work that seemed to go unrecognized was immediately redeemed and we were beaming all day. The day was full of surprises, both big and small. I only wish I hadn't felt so distracted by everything that was going on; then maybe I could have absorbed the best parts a little more. I learn something different each year.

Like my table display - I took mental notes on the best displays I saw at our 2008 show and showed up with a much more polished table. It was a great fit with Karen's display so it was perfect that we shared a table this year. I received many compliments on how nice our display looked, something I haven't heard since our first show.

It felt so cozy. The decorations made all the difference.


my new, simplified display. Thanks for the help, Dad!


Karen's half of the table, including our photo album collaboration.


All I need now is a sign with my name on it and I'll be set.

All in all, I'm feeling pretty good. Next year? Bring it on...

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.