Category: life

Happy Friday + Randomness

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Happy Friday! While we were in Michigan with M’s family a couple of weeks ago, my mother-in-law quietly handed me a box while I was reading and nodding off on their cottage deck. It was from her mother, my grandmother-in-law as it were, who passed away last September. “Sanae,” her elegant handwritten script had labeled the plain Kraft paper box.

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Inside was a meticulously folded origami box.

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And inside of that, beautiful shibori-dyed fabric. Ronia Marie is a textile artist based in Indiana, where M’s family is from.

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I love ’em. I love, especially, that a woman I’d met only twice who hardly knew me but enfolded me into her family, selected such a thoughtful and appropriate gift.  And that an ancient art form from Japan is practiced with care in Indiana — the heartland of America — where my husband’s family has deep, deep roots. It all feels interconnected.

These handkerchief-sized habotai silk pieces are proffered as jewelry. K immediately beelined for them as soon as I started snapping these photos. I guess we’ll be sharing. We’ll wear shibori bracelets together and think about Great-Grandmom as K knows her, and we’ll learn more about dyeing fabric because I actually don’t know a lot about it and have wanted to dip my toes into what looks like messy fun. Have you done any fabric dyeing? I adore Morgan’s experimentation with shibori (I’ve been asking her to give me lessons for years), and Ute has featured a gorgeous book (I can only find the German version online — I might have to get it anyway) and A Verb For Keeping Warm (of the tunic pattern from earlier this week) also has a heavy focus on textile dyeing — this book by AVFKW owner Kristine Vejar looks amazing.

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Anyway. Wishing you all a terrific weekend! We’re gearing up for this weekend and will be celebrating up a storm for M’s birthday.

A little ferry
Will take us to an island
To our sweet teepee

 

I am now a minimalist traveler

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We made it back in one piece! After a soul-nourishing and relaxing week in Michigan, our flight back to Seattle was mysteriously canceled so we had to scramble to Chicago via rental car to make our connecting flight because all the airlines were booked solid (or so I was told). We cut it super close, but cruised through Illinois toll booths, security checks and grumpy child syndrome with surprising ease. Actually, the grumpy child syndrome was non-existent because K was a champ. She hardly complained and tolerated the almost 5 hours it took from Traverse City to Chicago, and then happily watched her movie on the flight.

What made everything so much easier is that contrary to my natural tendencies, I packed significantly less than I normally do. I’ve mentioned before that I’m the type of person that will boldly toss in a rice cooker and electric kettle to go camping — I don’t believe there is such a thing as overpacking or over-preparation. M and K are light travelers to begin with, so I’ve always been the one to weigh us down.

However, just for kicks, I did my very best to edit down my travel gear this time. I forced myself to limit my baggage to two very small carry-ons for a six-day trip: one for clothes, the other for tools (i.e. laptop, camera, watercolor supplies, etc.). I’m proud to report that I was successful. In fact, this trip taught me that I could have easily cut down on the clothes because I deludedly thought I would be running along the lake on a daily basis and included many pairs of yoga pants and a slew of tank tops that never saw the light of day. I ran once. Okay, I jogged for 10 minutes once and walked for about a mile. Mostly, I slept and read and ate a shocking number of burgers and ham sandwiches. It was heaven.

For future reference, I thought I would record what I actually took on the trip and what I could have done away with. I guess the extra stuff didn’t take up that much room, so it was okay that I had included them and who knows? Had circumstances been different, I might have needed them. All I know is that instead of frantically sewing something for the trip to impress relatives that I see only once a year (which is what I usually do), I selected items from what I already had on hand. Preparations were way, way, way less stressful. Did anyone notice or comment that my wardrobe was very limited? Not that I know of. Would I have cared if anyone did? No.

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Anyway, here’s what I wore (link provided for handmades):

I could have managed without the following, but they were good to have on hand:

  • Black Simplicity top
  • Extra tank tops (5 didn’t get worn)
  • Extra yoga pants (1 would have been sufficient)
  • Swimsuit

Normally I swim, but there was a widespread case of the “ick” (a parasite spread through duck feces – I have no idea what the proper name is, but everyone calls it the ick) near the dock and in parts of the lake so I opted not to touch the water at all. Luckily, K wasn’t affected and M only got a tiny bit that went away in a day.

All in all, it was a lovely trip. Next year, I’m going to go even more minimal!

P.S. The winner of the giveaway is Meris, congrats!

Investing in Quality

linen-pillows1Good morning! I’ve always appreciated the finer things in life — some might call it “expensive taste” (“some” is actually my husband). But I also have a cheapskate side, or maybe it’s this sense that I don’t actually deserve certain high quality items yet.

One of those someday-when-I-feel-deserving items is linen bedding. We have a small closet at the edge of our upstairs landing where I keep all our sheets and pillowcases, but most of them are from Target. I’m pretty sure that the fiber content is indestructible synthetic that will float out into the galaxies completely unscathed should our planet ever combust. I’ve salivated over the thought of drifting off to dreamland nestled upon 100% flax linen sheets and pillowcases since I was a little girl. I was an odd kid, what can I say?

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So, today is my birthday and I thought it was high time I treated myself to some linen bedding. I’ve had a linen duvet cover for a while now, but I finally bit the bullet and ordered this linen sheet set last week. Once it arrived, it was a beautiful expanse of white on my bed, but I felt an urge to add a little extra…grey.

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Using the instructions for the most basic pillowcase from this tutorial, I whipped up a couple of grey linen versions and it was so fast and so easy and so satisfying, I couldn’t believe I’d never made simple pillowcases for my bed before. The only modification I made to the tutorial was to fold the pillow edge 3″ instead of 4″ since I wanted the insert to be completely covered. The French seams are tres luxe. I’d like to try this Purl Soho tutorial with the envelope edge next. I’m already starting to iron other neutral-toned linen. Highly addictive and beautiful to boot. Love.

The gorgeous peonies were a birthday gift from a friend. My adoration of pink flowers is well-documented on Instagram and these make me so very happy.

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I’ve been thinking a lot about investing in quality. I’m no stranger to bargain-hunting and a good deal is always worthy of celebration, because cost doesn’t necessarily dictate quality. Yet sometimes paying top dollar is totally worth it. After reading this book and a slew of other minimalism books, I’ve been reevaluating how I approach everything in my home and my notions of taste and style and quality. I’ve been guilty of wanting pricey, brand-name stuff in the past because of course it’s a way to impress others and it was an easy way to feel better about myself even if it wasn’t altogether healthy. There’s also a kind of safety in established brands. A particular logo may say: “Look, I have good taste.” And though I’m well aware that filling life with expensive things isn’t all that meaningful in the end, it wasn’t until I stopped buying clothes four years ago that I started to examine what was meaningful. I discovered that without the crutch of trends and my go-to stores, I didn’t know what my style was at all, and this wasn’t limited to apparel.

I’m still exploring what “investing in quality” looks like for me. I guess there are certain elements like my love of linen and neutrals that have been unchanging over the years, but I’m still forging my own style and learning what my personal tastes are (and yes, they will continue to evolve). You would think that after living over 40 years, it would be a no-brainer, but no. Maybe I’ll never know for sure, but it helps to shrug off the little voices in my head that blather on saying things like, “you should look like this at this age,” or “you should own these things because ‘successful’ people have them,” or…anything with “should”.

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Hm. I’m almost always surprised at what I start typing when I create these blog posts. My plan was just to mention the linen pillows, but I suppose I’m feeling contemplative on this 13th day of June, now that I’m 45. It feels like a significant age somehow, and I’m excited to see what will unfold.

P.S. The winner of the giveaway is Dora, congrats!

Happy Friday + Randomness

 

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I’m craving stillness
to think thoughts, read books, to sew
and sow and slow down

These images are outtakes from the book (the top one was styled by Rachel, the one below by Allie; both were shot by me) — you may be seeing a lot more outtakes since there were so many images I wanted to include that didn’t make the cut.

Anyway, wishing you all a slower-paced weekend (unless you want a faster-paced, exciting one, of course)!

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P.S. I’m getting a serious case of wanderlust reading all the comments from the giveaway. Thank you for the inspiration!

P.P.S. I’ve actually been reading a bit more lately and just finished this book — hilarious and thought-provoking! I’ve now moved onto this one and and am loving it so far! Makes me want to move to Paris.

Totally Teepee

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Good morning, friends! I hadn’t been able to wrap my head around making plans for the long Memorial Day weekend, but by last Thursday evening, my projects were starting to look somewhat manageable so it seemed only fair that I try to add at least a little bit of fun. Luckily, K’s got initiative, and she had invited a friend for a Friday sleepover. I was able to get even more work done while K played with her buddy and on a whim, I booked a short Saturday/Sunday getaway for my family.

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As you can see, we stayed in a teepee! The second image shows the one we actually slept in — it was called the hummingbird. There were four teepees total as well as cabins and a general camping area. The best part is that it was only a short 20-minute ferry ride away on Vashon Island, and though barebones (which is to be expected with a tee pee), it came with a fire pit and wooden risers on which to sleep. A flap at top can be widened to release the campfire smoke. I had only my iphone with me, so these shots aren’t awesome, but I like including the reference images. The widest riser even had a mattress (exhibit A below), and I appreciated how the conical structure had a very organic look.

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The nearby “barn” had restrooms and a fully-functioning shower, as well as a kitchen and lounge area complete with a pool table and a Native American Indian statue next to a sparsely stocked vending machine. Everything was nicely maintained and the other campers/guests were very friendly yet respectful. Bonus: a jovial dog befriended K.

teepee5 teepee7 teepee3We excel at the hastily-planned-micro-vacation, and this was perfect. I booked the teepee and rental car Friday evening, and by early Saturday afternoon, we were unloading our sleeping bags and pillows onto the wooden risers (M refused to bring a pillow, citing his extremely rugged manliness).

Of course, our trips wouldn’t be complete without some sort of incident. M had spent some time in the barn chatting it up with another teepee renter and at about midnight, he tumbled into our sleeping quarters in a panic. I was already deeply asleep but the conversation between M and K woke me up with their barely contained whisper-shouts:

M: Something huge is out there!

K: Is it a moose?

M: …Maybe. I heard snorting. It could possibly be a bear.

K: Really?? I’m scared!!

M frantically tied the cords to close up and secure the small opening at the base of the teepee, though how that would prevent a gigantic moose or bear was beyond me. I had to finally hoarsely and groggily voice my opinion that it was probably one of the many deer that’s been roaming the area.

Though not entirely convinced, I must have sounded confident enough that they took my word for it, and we all went to bed. K announced the next morning that she had a dream about trudging up to the barn to go to the bathroom, and when she opened the door, a moose was sitting on the toilet. “It was a nightmare, Mama,” she explained when M and I couldn’t stop laughing (sorry honey).

All in all, it was a fantastic trip. She-who-adores-s’mores even roasted marshmallows over the small fire pit. M loved it so much he’s making calculations on how much moolah and time it would take to construct a teepee in our backyard…

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Hope you’re enjoying your Memorial Day weekend to all the US folks — I’m taking Wednesday off to finalize a few things and will be back with a giveaway on Friday!

Speaking of giveaways, the winner of last week’s is Sherry, congrats!