sixty books : may and june

All you really need to know is I'm behind! So, so behind. But, I did read some pretty great books in the past two months, if not very many. You can find my list below...

housekeeping

"She did not wish to remember me. She much preferred my simple, ordinary presence, silent and ungainly though I might be. For she could regard me without strong emotion - a familiar shape, a familiar face, a familiar silence. She could forget I was in the room. She could speak to herself, or to someone in her thoughts, with pleasure and animation, even while I sat beside her - this was the measure of our intimacy, that she gave almost no thought to me at all."


Reading Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson makes my heart ache every single time.

around the house + fighting the doldrums

Helllooooo, February! Man, was January rough for the Swan household. Lots of sick bodies, teething babies, and a big fat dose of cabin fever for all. I kind of thrive on green and warm and no shoes ever; so, needless to say, my winter heart is feeling a bit weary.

Here are a few things that have brought me a lot of joy lately, maybe you'll find something that will warm your heart too:

-I bought a few new house plants to bring some green to our lives, and I spend many an afternoon with the drapes open wide and the blinds pulled way up watching their leaves follow the sunlight.

-I also found these happy, watercolor-y pillows at Cost Plus a few weeks ago and they kind of remind me of my all time favorite pillows from bluebellgrey ( I really love linen. And pompoms.). They make my heart happy every time I walk into my living room.

- Last week I checked out a big 'ol stack of David Sedaris books, and my out loud belly laughing has kept me nice and warm.

- I bought some new make up about an hour ago and I'm feeling like I just spent the best $25 of my life.

- My yin yoga practice. Deep, slow stretching feels healing and grounding to my restless mind.

- Planning a little project of love for the people I love. I'm working on it today and all I can tell you is that there will be loads of red gingham, a little boy bow tie, and (hopefully!)  the cutie pie smiling faces of my babes.

- Too much chocolate and salted butter caramel (Please, please try this recipe. It will change your life.).

Are you feeling the doldrums too? What kind of things help you pull through the long winter? I would love to steal read your ideas. XO

homemade almond milk

image via instructables

Have you read The China Study by T. Colin Campbell? I just finished reading it last night and it has me all recommitted to cutting dairy + animal products from my diet. My family eats a mostly vegetarian diet, but we tend to use butter and cheese to fill in the gaps and because everything tastes better with a little butter and cheese. :)

I have been buying almond milk off and on for the past 5 years, but the artificial thickeners (gellan gum and sunflower lecithin) that popular brands use creates a weird faux-creamy consistency that I don't find palatable. But, lucky for me, almond milk is easy to make, incredibly delicious, and (naturally!) creamy when made with raw almonds.

Here is the recipe I use:

1 cup of raw almonds, soaked overnight and drained
4 cups of water
1/4 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
a spoonful of honey or agave

Blend almonds, water, salt, vanilla, and honey together for 2 minutes. Pour milk into a nut milk bag* over a large bowl to strain the almond pulp, making sure to squeeze out the last drops. Pour milk into an airtight container and store in your refrigerator.

*you can buy a nut milk bag from health food stores near the spouting supplies, or you can make one easily from hemp or organza.

fresh + bright

I've been doing a lot of thinking about goals and plans and years past. I'm not really one to make New Year's resolutions as I'm not really one to follow through until the Spring when my mind and body start craving change and movement and action. My winter body just wants to eat lots of Nutella and take slow, yummy yoga classes, and my winter mind tends to thrive on quiet routines and fresh air. I also tend to try to cram all sorts of new good stuff into my life, usually at the expense of all the good stuff that is already here. I'm sloooowwly  learning how to make room for the new things I want to add into my life by letting go of old habits/relationships/obligations/thought patterns that no longer serve me.

But there is something about 2011 that feels so shiny + new. Do you feel it too? I couldn't help but compile a small list of things I hope to achieve in this new year, along with the things I'm willing to let go of to make room for the good stuff. Here we go, kids...


- Create a healthier relationship with food
I want to kick the panicky, distracted 2:00ish snacking that leaves me feeling dissatisfied + headachy almost every day. I want to sit down and give my full attention to the food I'm eating + the people I'm eating with - no hurried handfuls of Swedish Fish devoured while sitting in front of my laptop and calling it lunch.

- Be more present in my relationships with my children
I waste a lot of time on the internet. There, I said it. Being home all day every day can get a little intense, especially in the long winter months, and I find myself using the internet to escape all the domestic craziness. But ignoring my kids while I check my email for the 20th time or getting lost in blogland doesn't make me feel refreshed or calm, it makes me feel detached from the real world + real people. I want to be completely unplugged until noon,  with just a strong focus on my family + the day ahead. And I want to stop the obsessive email checking (please tell me I'm not the only person who does this?!?) and limit myself to checking it three times a day. oy. This one's going to hurt, I can feel it already.

I need to learn how to be in my life; fully engaged and active instead of constantly thinking ahead, already moving on to the next item on the never ending to-do list. I can't tell you how many times a week this quote from Anna Quindlen comes to mind:

"But the biggest mistake I made is the one that most of us make while doing this. I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of the three of them sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages 6, 4 and 1. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less."

I know there will be times when I can't be fully present, times when I need to step back and even step out for a while. I need to be really honest + clear with myself about when I've reached my limit and when I need extra help + support, and be wise enough to ask for it.

Childhood is too fleeting and far too important to miss because I was too busy checking my email, or worried about getting dinner on the table, or a myriad of other banal tasks that seem to fill up my day.

-Create a home that supports + nourishes my family
When my home is uncluttered, my mind is uncluttered. I want to purge our home of the things we don't need + find 2 new pieces that we absolutely love. I also want to want to clean more, if you know what I mean.

You can read a previous post about this topic here, and there are also three wonderful books that I recommend to every single person I know:


Home Is Where The Heart Is by Ilse Crawford
Sensual Home by Ilse Crawford
Apartment Therapy:  The Eight-Step Home Cure by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan

If I know you in real life, you are welcome to borrow these from me. I'd love to share!

-Stop complaining
This post really made me stop + think about the things I say. I've started to notice all the yucky negative feelings that come from complaining, and how I never really feel better after all is said and done. I want to think about what I'm saying before I speak, and I want my words to be honest, positive, and kind.

-Read 45 books
Just because it sounds fun. And because I really like Miss Sissy Jupe.


Wow, this felt like therapy. Is anyone still reading? If so, what are you thoughts on resolutions? Did you make any this year or do they just make you feel guilty?


image via enroute to forever.

mindful eating in the 21st century

I spent Saturday night watching + listening to this incredibly intelligent and powerful interview with Dan Barber of Blue Hill restaurants + Stone Barns. He speaks passionately about food, especially the farm-to-table movement he stands so firmly behind, and adds his voice to the chorus of those who believe the healthiest and most honest way of growing + producing food is also the most sustainable and delicious.

If you are interested in watching the interview (which I highly recommend!), you can right here. The video is a little over an hour, so you may want to plan ahead a bit.





I love being a part of this conversation, and spend a lot of time talking + reading about (+ making!) food. One of my dreams is to someday own a beautiful piece of land, learn mad organic gardening + farming skills, and cook simple meals for the people I love most...so basically everything Dan Barber does every single day.  I think he's a superhero.

What are your thoughts on food? Do you spend your summer + fall Saturdays at a local farmer's market? Do you grow your own food?

all images from the blue hill website. are you interested in reading more about food? Here are a few of my favorite reads + documentaries that are all about honest food + sustainable farming:  

Books 

Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life    

Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto    

Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food    

Jamie Oliver's Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Life   

Documentaries (Both can be found on Netflix)    

Food Inc. I think every single person in the United States should watch this documentary, it is life changing.    

No Impact Man

home is where the heart is

We are home. It feels so good to be here surrounded by our own things, sleeping in our comfy beds, and getting back into our old rhythms + routines. Don't get me wrong, I love to travel + wander as much as the next person, but it's always nice to have someplace to wander back to - I'm definitely homebody at heart.

There is something about the change of the seasons that makes me reevaluate my home + how it supports me + my family through the fall + long winter months. I've been trying to figure out a more effective way to keep things neat + tidy (I thought this post was especially helpful.), and really, really trying to cut down on all the stuff. And most of all, I'm trying to make my home feel just a little more homey - you know, less stuff, more life.

Have you read Ilse Crawford's wonderful book, Home Is Where the Heart Is? It is one of my favorite books. It's full of gorgeous photos + sound advice about creating a home that can comfort + support you, and how vital it is to put thought into your personal environment.

One of my favorite passages:

"These days we expect our homes to perform on many levels. Home is more than just a place to sleep and eat. It is "polycentric": a place of work, relaxation, and entertainment, a place to sustain ourselves intellectually, physically, even spiritually. But that does not mean it should not still satisfy its more primary functions. "Home" in the true sense should be warmhearted. A place for self-love, romantic love, family love, love of friends. A place to return to, to feel safe. A place of intimacy, domesticity, meaning, and freedom. To find this, we need to look into our hearts, into our inner nature, and knit what we find there back into the fabric of the lives we live now, but in a new way, a way that is not about accumulation, but about reduction, reevaluation, and revitalization."

This is a book I come back to again + again, it is such a beautiful reference for slow, conscious living + a great reminder about what truly matters in life.

So what do you do create a comfortable home? Do you notice your home evolving as the seasons change? What kind of cleaning/purging of stuff schedule do you have?


photos via home is where the heart is. how was your weekend, dearies? we spent ours driving and driving and driving...california is really far away. the kids were awesome + hilarious + just a teeny bit whiny - a total success in my book. have a happy tuesday, okay? ox.

dandelion wine + a giveaway of sorts

"It was a quiet morning, the town covered over with darkness and at ease in bed. Summer gathered in the weather, the wind had the proper touch, the breathing of the world was long and warm and slow. You had only to rise, lean from your window, and know that this indeed was the first real time of freedom and living, this was the first morning of summer."

Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine is my favorite book of all time. Brilliantly written, incredibly sweet, and full of celebrations of everyday life; it is the epitome of childhood summer. It always seems to find me just as summer starts to slip away, and it has finally made it's way to my bedside table.

There are always a few copies I've "rescued" from thrift shops + garage sales stacked on my shelves, and I would love to send them to good homes. Would you like a copy? Leave a comment here, and I'll randomly draw two names on Thursday evening and post the lucky recipients on Friday morning. I'll drop them in the mail Saturday, all packaged up nice + sweet, with a few summery surprises tucked in too.

Thank you for your kind words + the support you've shown me and this funny little space that I love so much. xoxoxo