summer playlist, track one

   

summertime in the city

We're soaking up our fair share of sunshine around here. Plenty of picnics, bathing suits, dear friends, and evenings spent exploring our favorite parks.

I really love Salt Lake City in the summertime.

summer is good for me

face paint. cherries. swimming suits. strawberry summer cake. fishing. sprinklers. garden roses. big plans. breakfast on the porch. muddy feet. road trip. little brown faces. snow cones. farmer's market picnic. talking things out. bird watching. a special birth party for a special mama-to-be. playing in the hose. endless questions about the habits of fairies. a visit to the sea. fresh herbs on everything. a weekend with the cousins. water guns. chasing kitties. new books and ideas. sweaty bouquets of wildflowers from quick little hands. long walks. garden planted and (miraculously!) growing.

movement. light. warmth. healing.


Photo Credit : SignePling

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.

crossing things off our winter list : sugar cookies + doing something kind for someone else

We made these pretties on Tuesday night after Sela's joy school play. I love using Angie's recipe from Blonde Designs for sugar cookies - they always turn out perfect. We were planning on bringing these around to some of Sela's friends, but every time I looked at her she had a frosting knife hanging out of her mouth. I'm pretty sure there's more slobber than frosting on these bad boys :)

And speaking of the play, Sela was assigned the part of a wiseman, which resulted in a heroic + lengthy pouting fit, but when I explained she could wear the biggest, gaudiest, rainbowy-est costume, she started counting down the minutes to show time.

There is absolutely nothing sweeter than watching little kids act out the Nativity - those borrowed bathrobes, towel turbans, and much-too-big mama slips get me every single time. I sat with my heart swelling and tears welling as my wisewoman gypsy babe taught me something about wonder and excitement and awe and magic and all of the good and necessary things that make Christmas mean something.

On a completely different + hilarious note, the kids performed their play for residents of a nursing home and you should have seen how terrified they were of those old people. Sela brought a card she had made for the nicest little old grandma you've ever seen. But when that old lady reached out to give Sela a hug, I felt Sela's entire body stiffen + I was sure her eyes were going to pop right out of her pretty little head. Sela wished her a quick + trembly 'Merry Christmas' and ran straight to the door. And then this morning she made me promise not to make her hug freaky ladies she doesn't even know, crazy mom.

hope your week is treating you well, lovies. i'll be seeing you tomorrow. xoxoxo

a winter list

-take the train downtown to see the lights
-make sugar cookies with the kids
-take time to be still
-finish the Sela + Graham's quilts
-take winter walks
-write new year's resolutions
- make lots of yummy soup + fresh bread (this is my favorite whole wheat recipe)
-light candles every evening
-sleep under the Christmas tree
-make homemade peppermint marshmallows
-make a big pot of fondue on New Year's Eve
-do something kind for someone else
-send Valentines
-host a Febgiving Feast
-make a snowman
-download Handel's Messiah
-start printing off + organizing our family photos (i love these kolo albums.)
-take Sela on a mother-daughter date to see Tangled

image by cerloz via joanna

a fall list

-make applesauce + serve with vanilla ice cream (my favorite fall treat!)
-go to a pumpkin patch
-make a playlist
-decorate for Halloween
-take long fall walks
-German bakery on Friday mornings
-go trick-or-treating
-light candles when the sun goes down
-go on a Sunday drive to check out the changing leaves
-switch up my yoga practice
-enjoy the last few weeks of the farmer's market
-make pumpkin soup in a pumpkin shell ( I've been waiting to try this recipe!)
-celebrate Dia de los Muertos
-buy new shoes
-roast root vegetables
-have a homemade doughnut making party ( do you have a deep fryer? I'll totally invite you if you do.)
-finish sewing our Halloween costumes
-hang out on the beach for an entire week (we leave on Friday! Hooray!)

gorgeous photo by the excellent mrs. french.