2. Continue to work on fully realizing and appreciating my life right now and not being so worried about the uncertainty of the future.
3. More time in West Marin, contemplating and hiking once the knee is better.
4. Get rid of more stuff and have less stuff. Buy and keep only what I truly love. The real challenge is two collectors living in a small apt and keeping up with this...
5. Continue to work on spending more time with my own little family and establishing our own traditions.
6. Sleep more, talk less!
7. Breathe, deeply and often (it's so easy to forget)!
It's Christmas Eve and I am supposed to be working but instead I admit I have been trawling etsy for the past half hour or so and I turned up some adorable suede booties! Exhibit A:
Exhibit B:
I'm quite sure these would go with pretttty much everything that I own, but I am also quite sure that I gotta hold off...for now...
Incidentally, I have had these Minnetonka mocs for about 6 years and think they are the greatest!
I had a pair in pink when I was super young and thought the same thing back then! Though my color taste has evolved somewhat since then, some things never change.
Funny how topsy turvy life is. It never ceases to amaze me.
The bf broke his kneecap last week. No insurance. And he graduated from college. And we're prepping for Christmas. And I had to apply for a job opening I'd been waiting for. And we're taking care of the bf's son through Christmas. And I have no days off except Christmas itself and the day after. It's been totally insane. My mind has never been so scrambled! I'm taking each day as it comes and trying to break even that down to moment to moment. It's making all this easier to manage. I do love the Christmas season, even in this whirlwind.
My favorite Christmas song.
Hoping you all have wonderful holidays! Hope we all get a little respite somewhere in there and make the most of it!
It's too hot in the apt to sleep tonight. Back to Christmas shopping for the bf. It can be difficult, as I mentioned before, but I think I am done at last!
Of interest, perhaps, to you: I bought this book for him tonight, a book of dreams! I can't believe I'd never heard of Lloyd Kahn before somewhere along the line -- he lives in Bolinas and wrote the famous book Shelter in the early 70s. (I'm loving his blog now!) I've picked up Builders of the Pacific Coast multiple times at my favorite shop, Gravel and Gold, and been totally taken -- the houses and spirits shown within are just what make my little heart sing (and the bf will agree)! The images resonate with what I've grown up around and what we hope our future dream home will be someday -- derived from and in harmony with nature, a bit rough edged, and hewn with love. It seems like just the kind of fantastical book we need to have in our home -- utterly inspiring. I have to admit this gift is as much for me as it is for him! I may post more about it once I've read the whole thing.
Other Christmas gifts I'm giving are super man-specific so I won't go into great detail here...Giants tickets for the three of us and a Nitty Gritty vinyl cleaner (we are both huge record collectors), other assorted odds and ends. Last year we had a gift-free Christmas, which was good, and this year I overdid it, maybe to compensate? It's always a bit of a trial, attempting to figure out what will be a hit for the man who claims he doesn't want anything. But the payoff is grand, seeing his surprised and sweet face!
And, thanks to Lloyd's blog, I have spotted yet another book I would love to pick up eventually:
The bf and I have planned a bitty one night getaway to Calistoga in the new year! I'm thrilled!
It's the (relatively) cheap time of year to hit up Indian Springs and we've made it a bit of a pilgrimage the past few years. Normally outlandish, between Nov and March you can swim in the gorgeous hot spring fed pool for just $200 a night-- which is really two full days, since you can stay till 5pm after you check out.
I'm not a spa girl at all; in fact, I have never been to any other one or even used any of the actual spa services at IS, but I find laying in the warm water for basically two days straight, watching the fog slowly creeping over the dark, forested ridge lines and the incredible billowing sparrow "clouds" that open and undulate in the sky to be the absolute best kind of refueling a gal can do. It's worth the price of admission, esp when your grandma is treating you for a Christmas present!
My great grandparents used to come to this very spot way back in the day to stay in the cottages and get their hot spring on. I love that.
and p.s. There's a great Native American jewelry store on the main drag in town. I often come home with a treasure or two.
Also having problems not buying this...for my cat. A teepee for cats? Honestly, while I can freely admit I am obsessed with my cat, I truly don't usually get so silly about cat stuff (he is as happy as anything in a plain ol' grocery bag), but the plaid underside of the bearskin rug is the extra kicker. Too much! And my cat lives and dies for cardboard or any paper product, really. He would be delighted. Don't know where we have the room in the apt, though.
And aren't these models just beyond gorgeous? I think they are Burmese. Sweetfaces!
Oy vey, this freakin' blanket is making me crazy! It's wayyyy the wrong season to buy something so outlandishly expensive and not needed for ones' self...but I am so fully tempted!
In the spring, I was on a True Blood bender. Lafayette is my favorite character and his home, with its various religious symbols, plus a prominent Virgin Mary shrine, as well his general attraction to a mutation of magic and mysticism in the sticky South, got me thinking about Voodoo, a mixture of African and Christian religions, which eventually led me to Haitian Vodou Flags.
As seen here in photos from the home of folk art collectors, the flags are hand sequined and each design presents mosaic-style images of different gods that inhabit the Vodou spirit world.
And here's another from the Museum of Craft and Folk Art in LA.
The flags are fascinating to me -- the symbolism, and also the use of sequins! The sparkle adds such an unexpected and reverential quality to them. They can be quite expensive, but another way to have a little Vodou in your home is with these papier mache ornaments. Proceeds go to Haitian relief.
The one on the right represents Papa Legba, guardian of the crossroads. I'm feeling particularly drawn to him these days!
Lately all I've been doing is dreaming about taking a road trip to Santa Fe via Arizona. Actually, I've been thinking about it for about 2 years straight at this point, but in the past few weeks I've been checking out more books about Navajo weaving, pre Columbian art and adobe decor that have further whetted my already ravenous appetite.
No idea when I will actually make it there, but I have a feeling I will pass out with joy when I finally reach the promised land of the Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe Indian Market and cliff dwellings, among a billion other special and sweet things.
I read about something that sounds totally amazing today: The Hubbell Trading Post. It's in northeastern Arizona and is the oldest continuously operating Navajo trading post, now operated by the National Park Services. Definitely will be on my list of stops along the way!
Have I mentioned I am totally over my so-called "career," mostly cause I can't make enough money to actually live, even with 2 jobs? I'm open to suggestions...I don't really know what to do with myself at this point aside from run away to Santa Fe.
