do you?

I don't know about you, but when it's midwinter and I'm gearing up to head to a tropical beach (after wearing 67 layers of thermal undergarments and a top layer of yak hair) I try and "tighten" up a little.

I like to head to the gym with a little extra fervor, eat mostly vegetables (with perhaps a little lasagna midweek), and I use a famous person's air-brushed, works-out-with-a-trainer-every-day photo. This month it's Jewel. She looks fantastic, and lives on a ranch where she rides horses and plays football with her neighbors. She's svelte. She's also not scrawny to the point of scariness, which makes me happy.

There's far too much of that Skinny Like A Scarecrow Actor thing going around, which is in direct conflict with the obesity epidemic in America.

I'm devoted to not becoming someone with Type 2 Diabetes, but I have found it tricky to be the "active svelte girl," too. As I enter my *gasp* mid-thirties, I have discovered that 4-5 miles a day is the trick. Whether it's walking the dog extra far, or going to the gym for 30 mins, I must do something at least 5-6 days a week or I don't feel as great. And isn't that the whole point? Feeling great, and feeling like you fit in your body?

Yep. That is the point.

In Shape Magazine - Jewel

long, long

Apparently I lost my mojo for a while there. It tends to happen from time to time, and then I wake up one day and realize I haven't written anything in weeks and my brain is filled with random thoughts that spill out everywhere but on the page.

For instance: I'm going snow skiing tomorrow and I have a pair of purple coverall ski pants. I'm planning on wearing them and I'm definitely not going to be the coolest kid on the mountain. Luckily, that is not my goal. My goal is to avoid falling, crashing, being run over by snowboarders, and cracking my head; most importantly to enjoy a hot cup of cocoa while resting in between runs.

In another vein, I am looking forward to Christmas this year. I love gift giving, gift receiving, gift wrapping, and gift making. I have a lovely mix of made and bought presents for people dear to me, and I am now on the hunt for some lovely, unusual wrapping paper. Pair that with some lovely, unusual ribbon and I am a happy camper.

Speaking of camping, and being creative, I read this advice from Ira Glass (host and producer of "This American Life" on NPR) to people just getting started on creativity. I understood it as: You'd better write a blog update immediately, or your brain will die.

"Nobody tells this to people who are beginners. I wish someone had told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple of years you make stuff, it's just not that good. It's trying to be good, it has potential, but it's not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase; they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn't have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know that it's normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you finish one piece. It's only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I've ever met. It's gonna take a while. It's normal to take awhile. You just gotta fight your way through."

Last, but not least, if you have wonderful clothing and a pretty closet to put it in, try color coordinating and making a lovely rainbow out of your vintage classics and new loves. Bri (from DesignLoveFest) did it, and it's dazzling.

DesignLoveFest

Ira Glass

in deep

This is my birthday week. I had a lovely Tuesday birthday filled with surprises and visits, fancy gifts, and lots of feeling special. I had a week off on holiday just before that, and visited some of my favorite people in three cities and two states.

I love coming home after trips. Getting to miss home is a little bit wonderful. It means that when you come back, all the things that make up your days and weeks seem less mundane.

This is the season of many splendid things. Parties and celebrations, time with family and planning trips and visits and evening meets. It is full and sometimes overwhelming, and it is warm inside by the fire and cold outside in the wind. I'm ready for some snow, watching the Pup as he pounces through snow drifts and bounds back to me with his ears up (that means happy) and his pink tongue out (that means ready for action). We are busy and exhausted and happy.

photo courtesy of Style Me Pretty

photographer: Heather Waraska

something 'blue'

Some people don't like the color blue. We really shouldn't try to force them. As it is, a bride I know who is 77 days from her vows doesn't like the color blue much, either. She loves color in general, but when it comes to blue.... Well, let's just say it doesn't blow her away like Plum.

As I was plotting and planning out her something new/blue it donned on me that it wouldn't be as fun for someone who is a) not the most traditional bride and b) not a fan of blue. What to do?

I decided to make her something 'blue.' I spent somewhere between 11 and 80 hours on a hair flower (terms like hair piece and hair pin seemed underwhelming) just for her. It was inspired by her dress, and matches without being matchy-matchy. I may have giggled a few times as the pieces came together, as the rhinestones and silver seed beads were set in place. How delightful can lace and silk and tulle and sparkling crystals be? Most delightful.

What was the something? I embroidered the word 'Blue' in cursive with silver thread. It is hidden on the back of the hair flower on silk faille the color of eggshell.

It is a little something, and it is a little blue.

annual us

Rain is everywhere. It is falling on cheeks and streaming down windows. The air is only a little chilly, but the wind is having fun splashing water on the underneath of things.

I am sitting in my office thinking about my weekend. It was my annual Girls' Trip with dear friends, and I am always a little exhausted and a lot pleased afterward.

My girlfriends are wonderful. They are fun and sweet, smart and sassy. They are chic and stylish, perfectly sarcastic, and they are compassionate which makes all the sly remarks and silly giggles balance perfectly on the tightrope that friendship can be. Our tightrope is close to the ground (in case we fall) so we get all the good challenges and provoking conversation without the danger or any kind of meanness. Except when one or two of us are really hungry. And that is usually cured by lunch.

We had four nights and five days traipsing all over Seattle and even managed a 24-hour trip to Orcas Island. We loaded up my Volkswagon pop-top camper van (a.k.a. White Lightening), fully stocked with cheeses and specialty breads and spreads from Pike Place Market, and a few bottles of wine. We rode the ferry, hiked in the woods, went out for lunch, and sat on the beach sipping wine and watching otters. We went to dinner. We rode the ferry back the next day and had such a spread of culinary delights that passers-by made comments. We had to wash honey off the table.

The four of us can spend hours chatting, our conversations fluid, running all over the globe and up and down the span of our lives. We like to seek out boutiques and antique shops, locally made jewelry and small-batch perfumeries. We love dancing and even waited for 11:00p to roll around before we went out. This used to be no problem, but we're not the young sprouts we once were, so there is some self-impressing to do. (I could easily have sunk into the sofa for a nap.) As it was, we wore heels and got silly and dropped into bed at 3am.

Even after 24 hours a day together we were slow to say goodbye. They live 1254 miles South of me, which means we must plan our visits well ahead of time and save our pennies for splurging and discoveries. We found Vinho Verde (a Portuguese nearly-colorless white wine with an effervescent flavor). We found hand-hammered necklaces and Coconut-Curry Theo Chocolate. We have a list of funny quotes that will enter our stories the next time we get together.

I hope it won't be too long.

Here are a couple of photos (thanks to Morgan and Rachel with their Hipstamatic).

gettin' crafty

I feel full of all kinds of exciting, inspired thought. It's as if I've been sleeping (or at least that my creative spark has been taking a very long nap) and suddenly it fills me up and my brain is filled with excitement for projects and creation and Doing-ness.

There's nothing like a sister's wedding to fan the flames. It's months and months of delight, when someone else is the bride and all you have to do is play with ideas and share blogs and photography sites to help her stay inspired. I love it when I don't have to feel the stress of something like planning a big event.

On the other hand, I constantly plan big events in my head, and wouldn't it be nice to plan them out loud for real? Like for weddings? For special people celebrating special things?

A couple of my favorite sources of inspiration:

Style Me Pretty

ee photography

this is glamorous

elizabeth anne designs

cup vs bowl

There is a reason one doesn't eat soup out of a cup or a narrow-mouth jar. It's not a soup bowl.

And it gets soup all over one's chin.

It is easy to reheat this way, though, and I do enjoy the sound of a proper spoon against the glass. It masks the sound of my slurping (when the soup is really delicious or extra hot).

take your soup to work in a jar. and get soup on your chin.