date day

Today David and I got out of the house for six hours without the kids. Six hours! We have barely been out of our jammies since the night before Christmas, so the fresh air was nice. We took the bus down to the SFMOMA, where both of us were absolutely blown away by the work of the late photographer Francesca Woodman. We have both known people like her in school or in life, someone who is preternaturally talented or obsessed with their work, so her story and work really resonated with us. Her perspective and the way she interacted with her studio environment was unlike anything I have seen. And such a beauty. I want her monograph around for inspiration. My birthday is coming soon, what a great gift that would be.


Before we hit the art, we hit the gorgeous rooftop cafe, where I finally got the slice of Mondrian cake I have been waiting to try for so long. Worth the wait (and the weight, oh the weight, that's a story for another day).


After the museum, we did a little walking around Union Square to see the lights before heading back to our neighborhood for my second trip to Ragazza in less than two weeks. We had some great food and an amazing bottle of wine. Love that place. 


David and I haven't had that much time together since our anniversary last May, when I think we had about ten hours alone together. Such a luxury and so worth the expense. One of the many downsides of living so far from our families. Hoping to do this again when my mother comes to town next month! It was a great day.

Work by a San Francisco artist named Rosana Castrillo Diaz. These graphite on paper drawings of rubber bands and stacks of envelopes were some of my favorites today. Detailed, precise work of objects suspended in space. Especially mundane objects.

Two of me, until the me from my past joins my present self. See?

award season

Liebster Blog Awards

Earlier in the month I was happy to hear that the lovely Tania, from MauiShopGirl, had put me on her list of Liebster Blogs. Liebster means favorite, or beloved, in German, and this award helps draw attention to bloggers like myself, that would like to spread the word even further and make some new friends along the way. Tania is a blogger I met through BlogHer's daily blogging exercises in November and December of this year. She is someone who enjoys lifting people up, and unapologetically uses her blog to share what inspires her. I enjoy reading her blog, and I enjoy the comradery we have found within the group of participants we met this year.

Here's what you do when you receive a Liebster Blog Award:

1. Copy and paste the award on your blog.

2. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.

3. Reveal your top five picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

4. Hope that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.

Here are my top five picks, all "smaller" blogs like mine which deserve to reach a larger audience. Images used below are from their respective blogs.

All Dad, All Day

This is the blog of Ohdeedoh writer Richard Popovic, a musician, environmentalist and stay-at-home dad with some great recipes, a darling baby daughter, and an honest witty take on a variety of things. Definitely check him out. He also put my blog on the map this year by featuring three different projects of mine at Ohdeedoh, but that's not why I'm listing him here. Thanks, though, Richard!

cowl-y-owl

The work of the beautiful Marie, documenting her knitting projects she uses "to handle the angst". Her work is lovely, but she doesn't blog enough. Hopefully she will think about blogging more now! ;)

Burlesque Mama

Burlesque Mama is a dancing colleague of mine and a gorgeous lady who is brutally honest about body image, moments of bad and good parenting, strained relations with in-laws, and adventures in homemaking. Dig deep into her blog archives to find great retro style instruction and inspiration, and a whole lot of irreverent commentary on parenting and children that is great for a laugh or three.

Doodles and Jots

This is Ann's blog. I met her through the BlogHer exercises. What I love the most about her blog is her prolific sketching. Ann is a very talented artist, and I believe a graphic designer, who adds a new sketch to almost every blog entry she writes. Her writing and recipes are compelling, don't get me wrong, but I love a prolific artist. Someone who loves it so much they keep on doing it. I am really into her lineweights, too. Oh, and her awesomely creative art projects like this print she made with carved styrofoam. 

JuneCraft

Her sewable designs are simple, adorable and vintage-inspired. Stella got one of her little kits for Christmas, and I see more coming in the future. I wish she would blog more often! She may be overqualified for the Liebster...I can't be sure how many followers she has, but I do light up whenever she posts something.

wolfeboro in the snow

The only thing that would've made my Christmas any better on a personal level would have been to be here, in Wolfeboro, all snowed in and watching some crazy dog sled race thought the center of Main Street. It's such a dream for me, and I wonder how it feels for all the people who stayed all these years and are still there. I have missed it, and my father and grandmother, and our old house, and my old friends (dead and alive) today, as I do every Christmas. The nostalgia is always overwhelming. We've had an absolutely perfect day, but this is the one thing that could've topped it. I'm not sure how many more years I can go wondering what it would be like to have a white Christmas again, I miss it so!