I'm back! Almost...

Tonight I'm putting yogurt & honey on my skin, chamomile tea on my eyes and avocado in my hair. Then I'm going to bed at 9. After I shower of course...




I haven't written a thing for the past few months, but it's for happy reasons.

   Reason_1: I'm gone to work as a designer for a wonderful little architecture firm! We work    on alot of residential projects, and the office is on Cedros, in Solana Beach. It's two blocks from the beach in the charming little design district. I'm thrilled, but haven't stopped running around since mid-January.

   Reason_2: I've been teaching 7 yoga classes a week, some during work hours, some before / after work in addition to JLC. Being employed at two different places,  it's needless to say my car looks like I live in it full time. 

So I haven't had much time for much else. I miss Hadley and when I come home at night she gallops toward me through the loft, eagerly slipping on the hardwood. My heart melts and I forget how exhausted I am for a few minutes as we embrace and say hello. 

But I'm not complaining; I am overjoyed and grateful that my opposite dual careers are both starting to take off. I'll begin to retro-document soon, and post, now that I'm starting to adjust to my 80-hour / week work schedule.

New Year's Eve 2013: A Style RETROSPECT

WHAT I WISH I WAS WEARING:

this is my new years eve girl: I really like her attitude!

 

WHAT I ACTUALLY WORE:

// Cluny silk kimono dress

// Anthropologie lace & velour green/yellow/black pumps [a Spanish shoe designer called Anastasia]

// Marc Jacobs evening cross-body purse/clutch

// Teased hair + eyeliner, blush + mascara  [I only wear makeup on super big deal occasions! or when I feel like    getting creative for the sake of an outfit]

My long time tradition of bathroom photos continues... As our celebration was fairly low key compared to the usual big deal I like to make of this annual evening, I snuck a quick photo in the restroom mirror of Craft & Commerce, since we didn't have a camera!

E l e v e n days into the N e w Y e a r

And now on a happier note [and I realize this is a bit late]: Happy happy new year everyone! You may not be aware, but New Year's Eve day and its late night celebration are my Christmas. Well, quite literally actually. 

Since the former USSR was a strictly secular country when I was growing up, New Year's Eve was the most glamorous, cozy and exciting night of the year. The morning of, many women would get facials, take long baths and prepare party food for the evening. The gentlemen, as I recall, would buy champagne, take the kids to the park for a bit, and clean the house for guests. 

I recall multiple years taking a nap around 2pm, and not waking up until 5:30, so I'd be able to stay up later. I'd wake up tingling with excitement, take a bath and put on the new party dress bought for the occasion.  I'd welcome family friends as adults walked around in glamorous dresses and edgy suits, spreading cream table spreads on combined tables. There would be a Christmas tree with a plethora of presents, music, dancing, champagne and I'd get to stay up past 4 in the morning.

So as a keepsake from my childhood, I take waving farewell to the old year and welcoming in the new one really seriously. 

On the Last Friday of 2012, it Snowed

These past two weeks I've spent in the Midwest. As soon as I land and step off the plane, a deep comfort begins to awaken somewhere deep within me, radiating through me, somehow making a crumpled up piece of paper laying by my favorite corner bar feel sentimental.

But this past year has come with alot of mixed feelings. Too many sad events. I have been so scared lately. Worried. About my family, that's had to suffer the deaths of two family members this past year. But more than anything I'm worried about my Mom. I could try to explain here how much I love her, and how completely alone I'd feel without her by me, and how I'm starting to feel that I've lived too far, having moved here to the West Coast, and for too long, without living une vie quotidienne near her. This past year has made me morbid and scared. But it wasn't without joy either. Despite it all, every day there is something to feel incredibly giddy about. This dichotomy of life is so fascinating, so much happening simultaneously, taking us from inspired and exuberant to devastated. Tragedy interlaced with sheer, pure happiness.  That's what makes the experience of oneself and all that's around us so thrilling.

And seeing as how this is the last Friday in 2012, and it's snowing gorgeous soft snowflakes in Milwaukee, I can't help but feel grateful amidst harsh realities. Grateful for every moment, every sensation, grateful for my beautiful mother and her soft voice and for how she still handfeeds me berries [read: stuffs them into my mouth as though I were 2] as I sit at my laptop, designing or researching.

There's a new year around the corner that I'm completely not ready for. Or maybe I am. Maybe if I keep living in the moment like this I won't mind that the year is here before I'm ready for it.

I'd like to wish everyone who reads this a mindful, introspective new year. May you live in the moment much more often, stop to acknowledge how grateful you are to be where you are, and enjoy all of the beautiful ephemera that life gives us.

Happiness Is A Warm Puppy, Even If Said Puppy Might Be High

Pauli's MKE Guide _ part I

Milwaukee has a fantastic scene of laid-back gourmet that I feel compelled to write about.

coming very soon...

a  x p o l l i n a t e  s t u d i o  guide to MKE's authentic cool and delicious

-Alterra Foundry
-Beans & Barley
-Comet Cafe
- & more

crepe + design work sunday