summertime.

maybe now that it's officially summer, the sun will shine for two days in a row.
a few things we love about summer:
shave ice
the beach
fresh basil and heirloom tomatoes
farmers markets
sunglasses
camping
light out until 10pm















what do you love about summer?
image: martin parr via this cool person.

the writing season

this morning my dad sent me these quotes from stephen king's book on writing.

"Being swept away by a combination of great story and great writing-- of being flattened, in fact-- is part of every writer's necessary formation. You cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you." [p.146]

i think this first quote is my favorite. i tend to gravitate toward writing poetry and short stories, but when i think of work i have been flattened by, i think first of essays. the works of e.b. white and adam gopnik, to be exact. jonathan goldstein's short stories as well as his essays have also flattened me. dickens too. i realized recently, and now again reading this quote, that i need to be even more selective about my reading because i want to be flattened more.

"Reading is the creative center of a writer's life. I take a book with me everywhere I go, and find there are all sorts of opportunities to dip in. The trick is to teach yourself to read in small sips as well as in long swallows...." [147]

isn't that lovely imagery? i love his next advice too:

"...I believe the first draft of a book-- even a long one-- should take no more than three months, the length of a season. Any longer and-- for me at least-- the story begins to take on an odd foreign feel, like a dispatch from the Romanian Department of Public Affairs, or something broadcast on high-band shortwave during a period of severe sunspot activity." [154]

writing is a funny creature for me. it's something i think about doing, something i want to be doing, and for some reason, have a harder time actually doing it than i logically should. i find it easier to make excuses or justify doing other things instead, especially when i think of making long commitments or trying to write something longer than a one-page poem. but a season? i love the sound of a season. a season has completion, but it's not as long as a year. it waxes and wanes, like a good story should. i think a writing season sounds just about right.

i don't want to set any large parameters here, for many reasons. mostly, for once, i want to just see what happens, to start writing and see what the end of the season might yield. i don't know what the harvest will be--it may not amount to much more than writing in our journals more often--but even that would be something. i feel like my life looks like this right now












*

and if i choose to, i can care for it and get more of this














*for the metaphor's sake, i'm pretending those are cherry trees even if they're not. isn't imagination great?

ohdeedoh 1: toadstools.

i recently applied for a freelance position with ohdeedoh--along with about 160 others. we finally heard our fate last week in the nicest rejection i may ever get. anyway, i thought i would share my submissions here.
i have been enchanted by mushrooms lately, so for my roundup entry i found toadstool nursery decor. this is my expanded list--i submitted five--and the i found the larousse page after the fact.
Bunnies and squirrels and owls, oh my! Woodland motifs are still catching our eye in the nursery. Not to be outdone by their fauna counterparts, toadstools are just as whimsical and charming for a little one’s space. Here are some of our favorites.



















anthropologie
the small object
etsy set with hedgehogs
wool felted toadstools
cosmo fabric purl soho
mahar tea set

inspiration: wedding color palette, heart banner

i love the colors of the flowers and fruit. the heart banner would be great fun to do a photo shoot with.
you can find more images from this lovely hollywood wedding shoot here. the whole design is really beautiful.

baby love.

i don't know what else to say: she's here. in our home. crying in her crib. dressed in a kimono night gown made by a friend. wrapped in a blanket used by her sister, then another blanket made by another friend. elle est parfait. we are excited to show her the world.