feeling quiet

Despite the foreboding forecast, the skies cleared and the sun shone like mad for the rest of our trip. After such storms, it felt like a true blessing to be sitting on the beach in the warmth. I sat and watched the waves all morning.

I'm posting more shots on Flickr if you'd like to see.

vision quest

I'm spending a few days out in nature. It turns out though that the whole place has wifi and I have no self control so I'm online even though I told myself not to be. We made it about half way through our guided wild flower walk before the rain started, and it hasn't let up since. Can't say this was exactly what I had in mind, but it's peaceful here regardless. Thank god the beds in our tent cabins are heated.

weekend away

It was a quick trip, but we had so much fun in Seattle over the weekend.

radishes

I love this snack. Radishes sliced thinly and doused with lime juice, cilantro and salt.

springtime

As far as I'm concerned, today's weather was absolute perfection.

listening to stories

I never really had a relationship with my grandparents. My dad's parents both died before I was born, and my mom's parents lived far away and died while I was in middle school. Luckily for me though, Baba (who is really my friend's grandma) stepped in and has been my grandmother for the last fifteen years. She lives in a little duplex overlooking a ravine filled with Eucalyptus trees in Santa Cruz.
When I wander around her house as I did this morning, I love to ask the story behind everything she has. She has intentionally kept her belongings to a minimum, so the items she does put on display have been placed there with great care. I clicked these shots as she told Cristina and I about traveling alone to China and India in the 1970s and about the trauma she still remembers feeling as a child during the Great Depression.

decals

Do you ever catch yourself getting involved in a project you know you're going to regret? Every time I decide to paint something, I trick myself into thinking it's going to be a breeze and then hours later I'm wondering what's wrong with me that I can't ever remember that painting is laborious and never fun. Last year I helped my boss redecorate the twins bedroom. They moved out of their cribs and bringing in 2 twin-sized beds meant a serious re-do. She found a really cute decal on Etsy and I agreed to help her put it up. Easier said than done - but with the two of us working, we managed. Then, months later when I was rethinking our bedroom decor I decided to order some decals. I knew full well that the more intricate the design, the harder to apply. So why not go with that super swirly design that is 10 separate pieces? Fool! What I didn't know was that our wall was going to pretty much reject the adhesive. It took several hours and many curse words to get it up. Thankfully it looks amazing, so I fear that some months down the road I'm going to convince myself that I should buy decals as part of a redesign.

I should mention that the second photo wasn't taken by me, but the clearly talented Jess Watson.