Merry Christmas!

From Daniel, Jessica, Levi, Olive, and Chester.

Blankets and Winter's Sea:

I love when I find just the right spot to work. How perfect does this one look?



This was Anna Emilia's spot to "hide, sketch, read and listen." It appears to have worked out too--look at the whimsy in this piece:

Favorite pastime:

window watching.

Crazy Grays.

Daniel and I just took a short trip to New York for Makoto Fujimura's recent work, The Four Holy Gospels. It was such a treat to be there; the series was visually remarkable and as Makoto spoke about it he called it his "life work." We had to pinch ourselves to believe that we got to be a part of such special night.

Besides that event, we bussled around New York. I may have gone to the best show of my life while there: Anselm Kiefer at the Gogosian Gallery. Whew...it blew my mind.

Standing close Kiefer's paintings, they looked abstract; a constellation of ash and dirt and paint. I was tempted to stay close, lost in weathered clay and crackled beauty. But stepping further back I was drawn into gorgeous gray landscapes of depth--they felt like they went on forever. His installations, so fragile and precarious, were encased in glass. These haunt me; they transported me into someone's sad world. I felt the horror in the pieces without knowing their specific story. So often I try to understand the specifics of a story or person in order to feel something for them, this time it was opposite and it seemed natural. I experienced a sort of visual empathy. Language did not get in the way this time.

Here are some images from the show:

Time flies.

I am going to join the ranks of mothers who say that time flies when you have kids. For a while, I was sick of hearing that from every other mother in the grocery store upon seeing Levi and I shopping together. And now Levi is nine months old and nearly every day I find myself thinking how fast time goes now that he's with us.

Here's to nine months of time flying; I imagine this is what it might feel like to look back on Levi's life after 10 years:

Feeling Christmasy.

These days have been a mish-mash of wonderful things and difficult things. And yet the Christmas season prevails; I feel that this morning. Here are a few things contributing in small ways to the Christmas vibe in our home....

Clockwise:
-Buy one get on free Christmas Blend as Starbucks today! In stores and online.
-Three Hour Fire; a short-cut I had doubts about, but is so worth it on days like today.
-Amy Grant's Home for Christmas--an old classic...cheesy but good.
-Volcano candle. My all time favorite candle scent (exception: pregnancy). It will transport you to Anthropologie. :)
-Slip/Moc/Boot--on sale at Nordstrom. I wear mine un-cuffed.