lovelier seas

2012-01-26T15:50:00.000-05:00

Alden and I went to the Transit Museum this morning. He thanked me by not taking a nap this afternoon. It's a very exciting place, the twain moosam.

A few kind souls have requested that I update this thing. Here are some blurbs of the Now/resolution updates:

The gluten-free way of life is difficult for a bread, pizza and pasta eater. There was a day a week or so ago on which I called Ian to request that he bring gluten free beer home with him, because I was going to order us pizza for dinner. I'm still not sure if it's funny or really sad that neither of us realized just how ridiculous this was until I had actually dialed Robertas' number. I can tell you that at the time it was mostly sad. On February first, we are ordering pizza.
I have been feeling better, with no tummy aches so far this month, even with some sort of nasty stomach virus knocking down nearly everyone we know. Yikes! Also, my blood pressure seems to have lowered?? Not sure if that's related...
Coffee drinking increasing. Not going to worry about that right now.
Alden and I will soon be spending lots of time with a sweet little baby! No, I'm not pregnant. I got another babysitting job! I am really excited about this little lady and her amazing mama and papa. Hopefully Monsieur Le Bun will be amenable to the addition of a wee one to our routine. He's really good when older kiddos come over to stay for a bit without their mums and dads and I think on some level he understands what's going on, but only time will tell. Unlike many of his buddies who have (or are about to have) little siblings, Alden will have us to himself at bedtime and on weekends, mostly, so I'm hoping we will be spared that sort of new baby jealousy. Or at least, not on the same scale.

There are no more bullet bulletins that come to mind. Blogging feels weird. Not bad weird. Just weird.

2011-12-30T16:18:00.000-05:00

Who doesn't love resolutions?? I try to make new ones (or remind myself of old ones) regularly, but there's nothing like the start of a new year to really motivate me. I came home from our Christmas trip really energized and feeling much more positive than I have been. We come from such good people and are surrounded by a force field of love. It's no secret that 2010 brought financial struggles, the likes of which I had (thankfully) never known and while I adjusted my attitude accordingly in 2011, I still did not manage to figure out exactly how to fix the situation. I think I've got it now and I'm feeling much more at ease, more confident for the future and will hopefully be ready to meet Quetzalcoatl in 2012. Just kidding. Though you know, it would sum up my own personal mythology so neatly to meet my demise just as I truly believe to have finally figured it all out. Summarily: It is in my nature to learn everything by the most circuitous path possible.

That said, here are the things I will attempt to do/change before the winged serpent makes his glorious return!

Contribute (meaningfully) to the money-earning portion of our family upkeep!
Be the most amazing babysitter ever!
Drink less coffee, more tea!
Eat less meat (which whittles it down to about once or twice a month, probably) and fewer grains! Eat no refined sugar! Eat more vegetables!
Spend (wayyyy) less time online! (Sorry already-neglected blog!)
Read more books for myself! (Without reading fewer to Alden)
Make more just for the sake of making!

I think that's enough, huh? What are yours? Happy New Year!!

2011-12-20T15:55:00.000-05:00

I have been enjoying the quiet in my little shell lately. We have been preparing for our annual Christmas migration and though we don't have cards or stacks of gifts to bring, we do have a handful of handmade offerings for our deserving families. Though I wish we'd planned better this year, I do feel good about not having gone to stores to buy things, just for the sake of buying. We did sort of go overboard (for us) buying Alden some toys from his list (yes, he had a spoken list) and I feel a little guilty about perpetuating the holiday stuff extravaganza with him, but aside from the occasional treat in the mail from grandparents, we don't really buy him toys, except for his birthday and Christmas. So, really, I don't feel too conflicted about it. The funny thing about parenting is that every possible topic becomes highly politicized and even if you feel certain that you're really doing quite ok, there is always another mama or papa around the corner to make sure to let you know (even if you didn't ask) that they certainly would never do things your way. Sometimes it's difficult to be open and adaptable in a type A town, you know? Winter is a wonderful time to scrunch up and reflect inward. Trying to focus on what's really important and let the rest fade into the ether. So! I'll see you in the new year. Happy Everything to you! Much love.

Borough Burrow: Sarah Butler and James Ewing

2011-12-05T09:29:00.000-05:00

Borough Burrow is a documentary project that focuses on the homes of the people in my neighborhood, and slightly beyond, Bushwick, Brooklyn.

Sarah was my very first reader-scouted lead. She emailed after hearing about Borough Burrow from a friend and as we were setting up a time to meet, we realized that we had recently met at the birthday party for the daughter of our mutual friends! Bushwick really is a small town, you know. I am so excited to know two more of its dynamic residents, and happy to be introducing them to you here.

Who lives here?

James Ewing and Sarah Butler

What's your subway stop?

L train, Dekalb Stop

Do you own or rent your space?

We rent.

Approximately how many square feet do you live in?

mmm… I think it’s between 600 and 800sq feet

How long have you lived here and where are you from originally?

I moved to New York from Montreal to do graduate studies in August 2007. James and I met (thank goodness!) as I was completing my studies. We moved in together shortly thereafter, in June 2009. He’s from Bloomington, Indiana, but he came to Brooklyn from Seattle. We’ve both traveled a lot (myself through Europe, in Paris and London, him through South East Asia and Africa), but those are the general trajectories.

What do you do?/Do you work from home?

Yes! If you can believe it: we both work from home. This is our little “loft for a photographer and a writer.” We’re artists—I also teach and James also does a lot of documentation and commercial work. Our divergent obsessions—text and image—lead to some interesting contrasts in work flow, and good conversations. He likes to listen to talk radio programs while he’s in post production. NPR; RadioLab, 30s sci fi radio shows are always drifting out of his office. For me, it’s all about instrumental jazz and piano. I’m saturated with language already! He says “Every picture is worth a thousand words,” and I say language can be more mysterious than image.

With the business growing we’re intermittently really lucky to be able to travel for work. At the start of 2011 we completed our first commissioned collaboration, an architecture report for Domus on a new cultural center in Spain. James is spending more time on site shooting, so I have my hut in the woods.

Where do most of your decorative items and furniture come from?

It’s a real mix. Ultimately, a lot of our furniture is from IKEA—a fact that James and I are both kind of ambivalent about. There was a great article in the New Yorker on this recently. We’re bummed to be surrounded by so much particle board, which is likely off-gassing and shortening our lifespans, even as I write this. What’s more, in a previous life James worked with a master craftsman, so he’s capable of making gorgeous pieces…his sister Chrisstina has this beautiful wood corner unit with paper screens. I’d also prefer to have spent more money supporting local artisans and/or reclaiming vintage pieces.

Otherwise, it’s a little bit random! My favorite piece is my desk, which was something I’d had in mind for a long time before literally finding it. I think it was last summer already: I’d just finished a day with Jessica Goldfond in her Shiny Squirrel pop-up as it was at Metropolitan Green; James and our friend Yasunori Matsui were coming to pick me up with all of my gear--and so we had a van everything, and here’s this desk I’ve been dreaming about. Perfection!

I noticed that you seem to have a fondness for circles and spheres--do you consciously search for round things to decorate with?

No kidding! No, we never noticed it—must be subconscious...I wonder what it means!

Is this Home?

I’m going to just go ahead and be extremely schmaltzy: for me, home is wherever James is. So yeah, this is home. I mean, it’s been so totally intense! We’re really two sides of the same coin at this point. This little space allows us to live in New York without sacrificing any principles as working artists. We’re able to travel regularly; and always know that there’s a cozy nook in the world for us to return to. We’re surrounded by other artists—musicians and academics. And we’re close enough to everything a person could want: grocery store, laundromat, post office, subway station, parking, all on the corner! A few blocks over there’s an excellent, well-used green space (Maria Hernandez Park). We’ve got Café Ghia, Guacuco, and the Wyckoff Starr. And galleries all around! I can’t see it indefinitely, but, for the next 2-5 years, yup! Home sweet home.

Thanks so much to my new friends Sarah and James!

2011-11-30T14:33:00.001-05:00

While I sit here, trying to figure out what can be made from our random assortment of ingredients, while also reading blogs and scanning Facebook for "news", other people are actually working on their projects. On the Etsy blog today: The Facebok Project. Good grief. I love it so much!

Just the inspiration I need to get back to editing the latest installment of Borough Burrow. Hopefully.

Lately all I want to do is make things for people I know, and cook. Winter makes a lump of me.

2011-11-28T08:39:00.000-05:00

Hello, strangers!

I hope that you had a lovely Thanksgiving. We did. We are polishing off the last of the turkey (aside from the frozen stock and soup), cooking for another family with a new baby (Alden is asking about his sibling now...??) and cleaning up the work space today. On that last note, I've decided to join in the Cyber Monday festivities and offer 20% off anything in the shop, using the code CYBERSPAAACE. Today only. Ends at midnight, or possibly early tomorrow morning, depending on how sleepy I am tonight. Small businesses are the best, huh? Go get yourself a compound dress. You deserve it.

2011-11-17T00:02:00.000-05:00

I encountered these neapolitan ice cream houses a few weeks ago, on a walk to Bed Stuy with Alden to visit some good friends. The pink one would suit us well, I think. It's fun to imagine how much better your life would be if only it existed in there. Sometimes when we go away for a while and come back home, I see our patchworked and graffitied door in the same mysterious and exciting light that normally shines only on fancier stuff and I am reminded that it's what's inside our heads and hearts, not our walls that makes us. If only that cinematic way of thinking could be stored and brought back out at will.

There are a few little things for the shop that I'm working on very (painfully) slowly. Some Buckminster Fuller pants to make your toddler appear as though (s)he is rising from an improperly-constructed geodesic dome, maybe some mittens. We reach a golden developmental stage, bask in its warm glow and relax our pace a bit, forgetting that the boom times should really also be the hustle times. A rough patch hits and with it, the urge for me to escape into making, with little time or resources to do so.

It's the hardest thing in the world, to grow up, and we never seem to stop doing it.
Gosh, I'm sleepy.

2011-11-10T00:00:00.000-05:00

I took a very small internet break last week--no blog-reading, no Facebook, no excess chatter. It was nice and I kind of want it to continue, though I think that maybe I updated my status like three times today. Funny how that will happen, almost without my realizing it.
Ian and I just watched a documentary about stress that was pretty motivating. I have a new hero and feel compelled to try harder (or maybe softer) to chill the eff out about...pretty much everything. Stress is really bad for you, see. I know you already know that, but it's worth reading again. It seems communicable, too, which is lousy.

Pretty soon I will have more interesting thoughts and even some images to share. I kind of just wanted to let you know I'm thinking about you, in my rambling sort of way.

2011-10-27T14:28:00.000-04:00

Last year's costume is going to be hard to beat. Dinosaurs are cool and all, but they've never really inspired me in that special way. Also, it's difficult to find the motivation to complete such a messy project (the hood is being reconstructed from a down vest) when the the orders are being changed from ORANGE TRICERATOPS!!! to A TRAIN!! THOMAS THE TRAIN!!! Really, kid? Maybe I can split the difference and he can go as Dinosaur Train, though I kind of dislike the idea of branding Halloween like that.

Anyway, it's crunch time (omg, I just typed that) and instead of spending Alden's nap sewing, I've been perusing this book that Ian's awesome mom gave me on our last visit. A friend saw it on our kitchen table yesterday and remarked that she had seen it on like, four other tables in the past week. Brooklyn! We have a thing, you know? There's stuff we're into over here. I'm going to embrace it. Especially since I am already in winter-time, hunker-down, stay-in-the-hood mode and will therefore have loads of time to experiment with all manner of home fermentation for health and weirdness.

Sewing? What's that? I'd rather watch bubbles form in a jar of rotting vegetable matter.

2011-10-25T14:10:00.000-04:00

The bun went to his first protest Friday afternoon. If you ask him, he went to a "concert party" and had a fun time, until it wasn't any fun anymore and then we took the Dinosaur Train (also known as the 4 to the L) back home. We went with some new neighborhood buds, a rad mama and her 7 month old. Als is not often terribly interested in babies, but every once in a while at the concert party (during coloring time, while making noise in a drum circle...) he would turn around and ask where Baby G was. Pretty cute. Also amazing were his twirling moves during Dan Zanes' set, but I can't share the video...because I was singing along. To "Pay Me My Money Down." Ian says that my speaking voice is in a hard-to-hear register. That might explain why I sound shrill in a crowd? Maybe I should employ the human mic on a regular basis. Oh, how I wish everyone could experience that--So many voices projecting the message of one, as one.

2011-10-20T12:54:00.001-04:00

It looks like an amazingly lovely day out there and poor Alden spent all of lunch peering out the window over the fire escape and wistfully informing me of his desire to go outside. I would be happy to oblige him such a reasonable request, but we are trapped here waiting for our good friend, Mr. UPS, whose name we do not know, but who is rad and who will stop us anywhere in the neighborhood to deliver a package if he sees us. Now, it wouldn't be so VERY important to wait on this package, except that it contains diapers. Rotten, foul, Earth-killing diapers. One of us is working very hard to get them out of our lives, but one of us has pooped three times in their underwear today. I'll let you decide which is the cooperating party. It just so happens to be the very same party responsible for feeding cathartic lentil soup to the offending party for lunch. I guess we're both to blame.

What Alden did not poop on (other than the potty) is this very funny little outfit that I've just listed to Etsy. Though, he did try on the skirt. We had a brief, confusing (for me) chat about why he doesn't usually wear skirts, but how maybe he could have a kilt? Or maybe a skirt...if he wanted...or...how about some crackers??! Now he's exhausted and I'm going to drink some coffee. Everything as it should be over here.

2011-10-19T11:45:00.000-04:00

This photo is a few weeks old, but it may as well have been taken today.

Borough Burrow is fixed, thanks to Wednesday Babyswap!

Bon Iver is perfect music for sitting at a computer, drinking ginger beer and doing boring computer tasks on a rainy day. Just in case you were looking for such a thing.

Time to pick up the bun...hopefully he will be good and sleepy. I've got a dinosaur costume to work on.

2011-10-18T16:20:00.001-04:00

Take me back to analogue days, please.

I recently switched lovelierseas.com (don't go there, there's nothing yet) over from Yahoo (please don't ask me why it was there to begin with) to another host and forgot that there was anything there to move. If you've tried looking at Borough Burrow today and could not see most of the images, that is because I am a distracted mama who forgot that most of her apartment shots were hosted by Yahoo. Um. D'oh!

It will be fixed! Maybe tomorrow.

Sorry!

2011-10-12T14:08:00.000-04:00

Have you ever tried photographing three two year olds during a coloring party?

We hosted our tiny baby sitting coop this morning and are now happily wiped out. I am so grateful, every day for the amazing mamas (and their wonderful wee elves) I have met since having Alden. Community and friendship are so important and babies are such great catalysts for those things.

Sorry it's been so quiet around here. We have been busy with playdates, meeting new friends, cooking for new baby families (which I would suggest that everyone do, as it is incredibly gratifying to all parties), and exploring our city without a stroller. Alden is such a little person now and loves sitting on the L, all by himself. As much fun as I am having hanging out with our little guy, every day I am also pretty frustrated by the lack of time that I have for my own projects. On good days, I marvel at the mamas who write blogs showcasing their myriad activities and projects, while surrounded by a swarming brood of buns. On bad days, I curse them. How is it done?? More babysitting coops? Less intense children?

I am finding myself researching preschools and am suddenly overwhelmed. This was a task I started when I was pregnant, having heard rumors that NYC schooling is serious and competitive business. Then I took a huge step back, realizing that, to begin with, I didn't have a school-aged child and also, that I'm not sure I want to participate in the madness. But, the thing is, I'm realizing that it needn't be madness. It's madness because too much emphasis is placed on where they go and there is too much competition *among the adults*. It isn't the testing that's freaking the kids out, it's their obsessive parents.

So now I'm back, looking at the schools and thinking about applying now for next year. Als will be three next year! The deadlines are this December! Though there's no way to know for sure if he will be ready for preschool then, my gut tells me he will be. This friendly little bun just loves being around other kids so much. Could I handle that much time away from him, though? Even if it means getting back to working full time? I wonder.

We're going away for a few days to visit grandparents, ride in cars and drink Starbucks coffee like proper suburbanites. I have a few little things to post to Etsy and show you when we get back.

2011-10-01T14:13:00.000-04:00

Alden tried this dress on for size this morning and declared that a little girl would like it very much. He then climbed a bookcase in it, perhaps to demonstrate the ease-of-movement allowed by such a full skirt.

I kind of can't believe the roll of this pointelle is almost finished. Part of me must have thought it was a lifetime supply.

2011-09-27T12:01:00.000-04:00

We met an adorable little girl in the park today who had just turned two. Her grandmother wowed us by having the little girl correctly identify letters of the alphabet that she had drawn into the dirt under an oak. Alden was impressed, and apparently feeling he was in good company, proceeded to explain to us that the girl knows her ABCs "and so does Alden" (he does not) before drawing and identifying straight lines, curves and squiggles, which I didn't know he could do. He then complimented the girl on being a nice kid who doesn't grab or hit, while he made a track around her in the dirt for a feather train to vroom on. All the while, the girl sat, quietly drawing in the dirt until finally, with Alden inching ever closer and occasionally grazing her with his enthusiastic drawing and vrooming motions, she stood, waved to us and said, "bye bye."

My kid is turning into the overly enthusiastic spaz who wants to be friends with everybody and I love it so much.

2011-09-21T16:22:00.000-04:00

I have no idea why Blogger has decided to upload all of my images sideways today, but I'm going with it.

Remember this dress? No? Then introduce yourself, already! We probably don't know one another very well. I used to sew clothes for women--this was the compound dress, a favorite from my old line, dear birthday. I still have some of this wonderful, organic pointelle thermal cotton leftover and as much as I'd like to just whip out 50 pairs of infant and toddler leggings from the stuff, I think this dress is a better use of the material. So! It's available in the lovelier seas Etsy shop now.

2011-09-20T16:54:00.000-04:00

Haven't had much to say lately; feeling transitional, with the seasons, I guess. Hard to motivate, but not content to sit idle, I have been embracing the cooler weather and spending nearly all day (every day) at the playground. Feeling that lonely-in-a-crowd vibe that comes from not Working enough. Boss for hire! Volunteers only. What sort of characters would I conjure up by taking out an ad for an intern personal manager? That's more complexity than I care to deal with right now.

Here! Some images of our personal chaos, for a rainy day.

Incidentally, do you or someone you love reside in greater Bushwick? Lesser Bushwick? Borough Burrow is taking all applicants. Show us yours domiciles!

2011-09-09T17:30:00.001-04:00

I mentioned before that lovelier seas is now available in sunny Arizona at Tumbleweed & Poppleswamp, the handmade goods shop and studio of my amazing (and prolific!) friend Erika. The shop blog is now featuring a series of interviews with the makers whose wares Erika sells, starting with little old me. I'm really touched and honored. It was fun to answer questions and to start thinking and dreaming about my work again, instead of just worrying about it. Thank you so much, Erika! xo!

I meant to write a whole post about Alden's sewing machine a long time ago, but I don't think I ever got around to it--it's from Etsy seller, Wood Clinic and we love it. he takes it apart and uses it in many ways that I never would have thought to use a sewing machine, but it's really fun to "work" together, now that we've rearranged our space a bit and share a studio.

2011-09-07T20:48:00.000-04:00

So long, summer. I'm ready to bake bread and make soup, drink cider instead of lemonade, wear sweaters and socks again. Als is ready to put on a shirt...almost. To celebrate the cooler weather and fall's arrival later this month, all summer items in the Etsy shop are now 50% off. Hooray!

2011-09-03T15:52:00.000-04:00

Every year it takes me until August to begin to appreciate summer and until late August to really want to participate in what summer means. June and July are just stifling, endless. August and September, so rich and fleeting.

Bushwick and I have a love/hate relationship, but I think I'm finally learning how to begin guiding it more loveward. I'll refrain from sharing any deep spiritual-style secrets, since likely my revelations are based entirely on my mood, but I was pleased to be handed a large gift of free school-grown basil as Alden and I walked home yesterday afternoon. And naturally, this was the universe talking. Or something. Pesto was made and all through dinner, all I could think was how awesome it was that some kind stranger just handed me the bunch out of the blue. It kind of blew my mind. Today it seems slightly less magical, but I'm trying to cultivate that sense of reverence and excitement, so maybe I shouldn't even admit to being underwhelmed?

Anyway. I am reading Awakening Loving Kindness and thus forgiving and embracing my variousness! Go team Pisces! (Incidentally, have I broached this subject before--the astrology subject? How nearly every wonderful, thinking person I know half or whole-believes in this stuff? Curious.)

2011-08-30T13:05:00.000-04:00

We hid away from Hurricane Irene in northwest Michigan for a few days. Alden took his first airplane rides, I saw my first REAL dunes (dude!) and we got to visit with family we don't often have the chance to see. It was wonderful.

After a restful morning in Maryland, catching up with the llamas and the goats, grandpa drove us back home. Sigh. You know, I feel I could probably travel for the rest of my days. I just really love being out of my element right now.

2011-08-24T13:58:00.000-04:00

Karie/ Shelter is the featured seller on Etsy!! This is quite possibly the best featured seller interview I've read so far, but I might also be a little biased.

2011-08-24T10:12:00.000-04:00

Beautiful baby Vivi in her knight-in-shining tunic. Way to walk, little lady!

We are going on a little trip to visit family in Michigan. See you next week!

2011-08-23T21:51:00.000-04:00

Today, while Alden napped, I cut out three little pairs of baby harem pants and worked on catching up with This American Life. So engrossed was I in my task that when from all around me, but from nowhere in particular came a tinkling sound, as if many unseen fairies were swirling cocktails from their party in the air, I decided that instead of fairies, it was probably rats or mice in the ceiling. That made no sense either, really, but you know how Ira's voice can become so all-encompassing. Anyway, I guess there was an earthquake in Virginia and lo and behold, we felt it as fairies in Brooklyn. Far as I know, my people down south are all just fine, save for some broken glassware (fairies!) and bruised tushes. Wouldn't it be wonderful if such acts of nature could always be interpreted as having occurred because fairies were partying? Well, I for one have been trying to get some of that nonsense back into my daily routine.

Right, the daily routine! Today's sewing resulted in but one pair, as a certain someone woke up from his nap early and made a big to do about every little thing. Poor guy is still recovering from his brief hospital stay last week. We are dealing with stranger anxiety like never before, but also playing doctor with mama and papa, which is sweet. I had my temperature taken with an A/V cable labeled a "motorscope" about twenty times today.

The pants are in the Etsy shop.

2011-08-22T23:13:00.000-04:00

Just starting to sew up some fall things--there are two pairs of lined (reversible!) toddler harem pants in the Etsy shop right now. These were super fun to sew and then have Alden try on. He was bummed about having to wear this particular pair for the pictures, because he *really* liked the floral corduroy ones. Alas, they are a 3T and too big for bun. He did concede that these are cozy, even if they do have birds instead of flowers.

2011-08-19T23:45:00.000-04:00

Not much to report on the sewing front this week. There is a very sweet pair of lined harem pants in Liberty corduroy, size 3 in the works, to be posted about on Monday, perhaps. This week flew and then crept and then flew by again, the way time tends to do when you're faced with the unfamiliar or frightening.

Alden had a febrile (fever-related) seizure on Tuesday morning and we took an ambulance ride to a hospital in our neighborhood. It was not a glamorous place, by any means, but I am glad that we were bored enough to be able to make such judgments. Alden is fine, just a little shaken up and out of sorts from the whole experience. There's a little virus going around amongst his friends and bun's little body decided to fight it with all its might; 105 degrees is just too hot for a wee person!

We came home yesterday morning and have been taking it easy-ish, but if today's flour and salt explosion in the kitchen can be used to gauge such things, I expect he'll be back to tearing the place up properly by tomorrow.

2011-08-15T08:16:00.000-04:00

There are now two more little knight in shining tunics in the Etsy shop. I love making these, but I guess it's time to think about fall, huh? A rainy, sick (me, not Als, thankfully) day is perfect for pattern-making and movie-watching.

Have you seen Babies? We watched it when Alden was tiny and I recently showed it to him--it's a new favorite! He thinks the scene where the bigger brother in Mongolia is teasing his baby brother with some fabric is hilarious, no matter how many times Ian and I say, "oh, that's not very nice, is it?" or "poor baby" Alden just laughs and laughs.

Borough Burrow: Jessica Ralli

2011-08-09T21:33:00.032-04:00

Borough Burrow is a documentary project that focuses on the homes of the people in my neighborhood, and slightly beyond, Bushwick, Brooklyn.

I had the good fortune to be directed to Jessica Ralli by an old buddy from high school days. Jessica and I met last Sunday afternoon at her home in Ridgewood, Queens, just over the border from Bushwick. I could not have asked for a warmer, more receptive host and I am so excited to share our photo shoot and email interview with you. Please click below for her story.

Who lives here?

I do! With Oliver, my husband, and Mia, our whippet/lab/mutt.

What's your subway stop?

The Myrtle Wyckoff Stop on the L/M

Do you own or rent your space?

Rent

Approximately how many square feet do you live in?

Approx 900 Sq Feet

How long have you lived here and where are you from originally?

Oliver and I both moved to NYC in 1997 for school. We've been in this particular apartment for 3 years. I was born in Berlin, and grew up in DC. Oliver was born in Connecticut, and grew up in Belgium and Chicago.

Oliver had a sweet story about how he met Jessica--could you share that?

Jessica and I both went to NYU. I saw her around for four years and was super attracted to her, not only because of how beautiful I thought she was (her eyes totally reeled me in), but because I could also sense that she was a very confident woman, which I like. I was mostly a loner so I only watched her pass by me, and would always feel my stomach float up to my throat, so my stomach got in the way of my words, hence silence. On one of the last days of college I saw her standing on the corner of Houston and Broadway. I realized it was now or never so I walked up to her and introduced myself to her. She was ice cold. I asked her what she was doing, and she said she was on the way to get some jeans at Century 21. So then I asked if she'd mind if I walked her downtown, and she cooly replied that she wouldn't mind. So we proceeded to walk downtown on Broadway. She was cold, I worked my scraggly charm as best I could, she bought 2 pairs of the same Helmut Lang jeans, buying two pairs of the same jeans confused me, but eventually I got her phone number. The adventure goes on from there....

What do you do?/Do you work from home?

Jessica:

I have a clothing line for kids called "Soft." I used to work from home. I started Soft in our disgusting living room on Starr street in 2008 that had 35 year old carpets and drop ceilings. I worked for a while from here in what is now Oliver's studio, but needed more space for clothes and staff so now my office is on Ingraham in an old sweater factory. I used to be a special ed teacher, and I worked mostly with kids with Autism and sensory issues. My clothing line developed from my experiences working with kids with hypersensitivity issues, who could not tolerate seams, tags and other bothersome clothing features. I love designing clothes and owning a small business--it requires me to combine so many passions and get better at stuff I'm terrible at (math). It's a hustle though.

Oliver:

I am a co-founder of the art collective and band PassKontrol. Last year we put up a run of "New Hope City", a multi-media, sci-fi rock opera, at the Bushwick Starr, which I co-produced, co-wrote, co-directed, acted, and played music in. All together, we have released about seven self-produced albums, eps, and soundtracks, including B38, our latest album, named after the bus that runs down Dekalb Avenue.

Last Saturday we organized The Arbitration Rock Festival, which was a benefit show for/at the Onderdonk House on Flushing Avenue. It is an old, Dutch farm house, built in 1709, that stands on about 1.5 acres. It is very near and dear to our whole crew. This is also where Jessica and I got married two years ago. Here's a music video that I made featuring the Onderdonk House.

Recently, my play "3 Grams Of Spacebox" was produced at the English Theatre in Berlin. I am currently working on a screenplay for a film version of New Hope City.

I act and do voice-over work for television commercials, and am a cast member of The Bushwick Home Companion, a live radio show that has been broadcasting from the Bushwick Starr and The Northeast Kingdom.

A bunch of my short-story writing about New Hope City, and visual art for PassKontrol can be found here.

Where do most of your decorative items and furniture come from?

So many different places. Ikea--for the functional basics like a lot of shelving and kitchen hooks and whatnot. I have a few pieces from my grandmother, who had a big house filled with mid-modern furniture. A lot of our lamps are from Oliver's childhood home. A bunch of furniture came from Salvation Army, and the junk place on Starr Street. Most of our decorative pieces came from our previous neighbor, Genesis. She lived next door from us for the first two years we lived here and was incredible generous with her awesome stuff, as she pruned her apartment in preparation for a move. I also helped organize the Genesis Breyer P-Orridge Tag Sale at Famous Accountants and we got a lot of great stuff there including some african statuary, an amazing Bauhaus Wassily Chair, a keyboard and samples from Gen's early Psychic TV days, and lots of orange plastic stuff. Our rugs and quilts are from Etsy--an awesome shop that specializes in Afghan and Pakistani textiles called Blue Teddy. All of our art is from friends--mostly local artists.

Your space has a really interesting story, can you share a bit about the provenance?

Oliver:
Our previous neighbor was Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, artist and musician, founder of Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV. Gen lived here for many years with her partner Lady Jaye. They owned the building and lived in the apartment next door to us, while our apartment served as their office, and living space for Gen's daughter. The building was imbued with an incredible creative energy, and from the moment Jessica and I walked in the front door, we knew that we wanted to be here. Genesis was one of the most wonderful, inspiring and lovely neighbors we could have ever asked for, and our time living next door to her and her dog Big Boy was very special. One goal in living in this building is to keep Gen and Jaye's creative spirit alive, which has been an exciting and effortless endeavor. The basement of the building was redone by Genesis and Lady Jaye, and was intended to be an art gallery. However Jaye passed away, so that project was put on hold. Eventually Jessica got Ellen and Kevin into the space, and they opened Famous Accountants, which, in my opinion, is one of the raddest galleries in town.

I use my studio to play music, record, and write. All the work that Gen and Lady Jaye did here serves as a huge artistic inspiration to me.

A great film about the life of Genesis and Lady Jaye was recently released, and features tons of beautiful film footage shot in our building.

Also, Izzy is our current landlord, and we couldn't be luckier to have him. He's very open to all of the things happening here, so I want to make sure to give him a very special shout-out.

Is this Home?

Yes! This is totally home. We feel very connected to the building and its incredible past and how it is evolving in such an exciting way and remaining an important place where art is made and shared (the gallery Famous Accountants is in our basement). There is an amazing energy in this building and our apartment--it was here when we got here and hopefully we continue to breathe new life into it. It's the best place either of us have lived, for sure--and we'll be here a while.

Super big thanks to Jessica and Oliver Ralli!

2011-08-09T15:50:00.000-04:00

It's 3:40 pm and I have a toddler trying to nurse himself to sleep on my lap. Anyone with a little one who has missed a nap knows where I'm at right now: completely wiped out and desperately in need of some quiet alone time, yet determined to keep this tiny person awake through dinner and a bath so that he can tuck into bed early. It's raining out and our building is quiet, our best buddies having gone home after an awesome morning of toy trains, the park and annoying the crap out of the art kids working quietly on their laptops through lunch at our local art kid cafe (sorry dudes!) Can we stay up for another hour and fifteen minutes, until an hour which could reasonably be referred to as "dinner time?" Gosh I hope so.

On Sunday I met some really high quality people and photographed their apartment for Borough Burrow. The photos are being edited and the entry organized and I hope to post it here tomorrow. Yes!

2011-08-05T08:21:00.000-04:00

Alden and I snuck away to Cape Cod to visit family last week. Endless hugs and kisses, seals and fishing boats, fried seafood, horseshoe crabs and digging in the sand were just what we needed. I walked in the door yesterday afternoon and saw our apartment with fresh eyes--does that happen to you? Everything just looked better to me after having been away.

2011-07-25T12:49:00.001-04:00

My baby boy is two and my baby sewing project is one! To celebrate one quiet, but magical year of lovelier seas on Etsy, please enjoy 40% off everything in the shop by using the coupon code "1YEAROLD" at checkout. Offer good through Thursday the 28th.

2011-07-22T12:15:00.000-04:00

This family is amazing and this image from their adventures just had me unconsciously weeping with joy. Can you imagine just how light that little girl's heart must be at this exact moment? Have you ever seen a dolphin in the wild? It's unreal. Her mind is being blown.

Nothing you want to do is impossible! Carpe Diem! OMG!

More inspiration from this week:

The Soules are raising chickens for eatin'

Karie and Rob go back to Vermont (for a little bit)

2011-07-20T23:03:00.000-04:00

Today it occurred to me that the opposite of what I've always thought to be true is the real truth. For me, at least. To meet lofty goals, in the past I believed that the first thing to do was to tell everyone about the goal, so that there would be an element of accountability involved. When you're working for yourself (and if you are quite as fond of relaxing/daydreaming/wandering as I am) it helps to have an outside force or two with a cocked head and wagging finger to remind you of your path. At least, that was my theory. It turns out, I think, that sometimes maybe by talking about a plan or a project too much before it's really gotten started just gives me the illusion of having done something before I've even begun. Anyway, I'm working on becoming quieter. Not just talking less, but listening more, to myself as well as to others.

Als and I did a pretty good job of listening and being quiet together today and at one point, just as I was about to suggest it, he said, "wanna watch Mr. Rogers while mama sews." Having the same idea at the same time as a two year old felt pretty awesome, especially when the end result was this:

The smock (from One-Yard Wonders) was meant to be a birthday present, but didn't get finished quite in time. He was really excited to wear it, which made me so happy, I whipped up the little striped top while he napped. That in turn made him so happy, he clutched it to his chest and demanded to change into it right away. May he never outgrow his love of handmade!

2011-07-18T21:52:00.000-04:00

Do you read the blog A Cup of Jo, by Joanna Goddard? I love it. Last week she was away on vacation and posted seven wonderful entries by mama friends in a series called "My Balance." Each woman answered questions about how she balances working (mostly from home) and family, with lovely photographs of their work set-ups, etc. Reading how other women get it all done is really fascinating and inspiring to me, but I also have to work really hard not to be jealous of their situations, especially when I read words like "babysitter" or "date night" since they are uttered not just infrequently, but never around here. We can't afford either, frankly because I am not "working" and I can't "work" because we can't afford a babysitter.

This is no pity party. I love my life and I love that I am able to spend So Much Time (every waking minute!) with Alden. But, (there's always a but) there needs to be balance! I keep hoping that I will have some huge organizational breakthrough and figure it all out overnight. I'll magically be able to keep Alden entertained while I design, draft patterns, sew, photograph, edit and market a handmade clothing line that will be hugely successful and will allow me to then utter even more magical words like "baby sitter" and "date night" or...oh my gosh..."haircut!" But really, that magical thinking is one of the unfortunate byproducts of too little sleep/adult conversation/time alone.

I loved this series so much and really have so much respect for all of the amazing mamas interviewed. Even with babysitters and haircuts and date nights, raising munchkins is hard work. No joke. I do wish, however, that there was a voice a little more similar to my own tossed in there. Or at least, a story that started like mine and went in a balanced direction.

2011-07-18T14:17:00.000-04:00

We had a little party for Alden at our favorite playground yesterday. Those top shots are Alden spinning excitedly in front of the snack table as I set up. He was deliriously tired by the end, but we all had a great time.

2011-07-14T12:20:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is Alden's second birthday! Which really, makes it his third, doesn't it? Anyway, he's two times 'round the sun tomorrow and the poor guy is fighting to rid himself of some pesky spots brought on by a fever earlier in the week. Coxsackie virus has been going around, but this looks more like Roseola to me, the expert. Have I mentioned my difficulty in getting Alden insured after his old insurance ran out? No? Then I won't. Suffice it to say that we were not planning on the bun getting sick and, alas, we used such resources as might have otherwise been used to say, get him checked out by his pediatrician, on toys. Lots of toys. A gross amount of toys.

Last evening was the second in a row spent wrapping these gifts (some of which are from loved ones--thank you!) and it occurred to me earlier that perhaps I am doing it wrong. Not the wrapping so much as the buying. Ian is excused from this, I won't say "we" because other than providing the funding for most of these gifts, I did all of the gathering. Months' worth of gathering. Harvesting, really. I never thought I would be one to buy so many toys. Don't even really believe in them, you know? And besides, Alden spent this entire morning either drawing with chalk or building a little city out of the giant cardboard boxes that delivered his gifts to our door. He touched not a single toy during this work!

Still, he does like receiving gifts and (perhaps more importantly, to our purposes here) I love giving them. For the past few weeks, leading up to his Very Special Day of Near-Certain Disappointment, he has been making requests here and there. Currently, he is convinced that he is going to receive a "RED CARRRRR!" though he has not been very specific about the size or type of red car that is supposedly coming his way and I can tell you that while there is a stack of boxes and packages taking over my sewing room, with every manner of gift imaginable within, there is no red car.

Clearly, there is no need for a red car and he will most likely forget all about it when faced with the onslaught of vehicles, animals and books which he is about to receive. But, I mention this red car because last night, as I was carrying Alden from the bathroom, freshly scrubbed, with an animal-free mouth (we brush 'em out, you see), he flung his noodly little arms around my neck, squished his slobbery (yet minty!) little mouth against my cheek, looked at me and said, "I love you mamamamama." And, you see where this is going. After squeezing him tight and telling him how much I love him, my brain began buzzing and whirring with thoughts on where to find the perfect red car.

Oh, he's worked his magic on me, this one. I'm going to need to fill my own bag of tricks a little more quickly to keep up.

2011-07-06T16:07:00.000-04:00

my dear friends in patagonia, az, today is your lucky day! i am sending off our first lovelier seas wholesale order to tumbleweed and poppleswamp, owned and run by one of my best buddies ever, erika rier.

i made two new knight in shining tunic tops for tumbleweed, and will be offering the same prints in the etsy shop very soon.

unrelated thoughts:

+ wish i could have spent more alone time with the francis alys show this past weekend

+ i like the name francis for a boy

+ but i once had a rabbit named frances, and my aunt maggie had a cat with the same name

+ and alden really likes the frances the badger books

+ no, i'm not pregnant

+ also, i don't want to go to the dentist this evening

2011-07-04T14:51:00.001-04:00

happy independence day, us of a. i hope you're all lighting sprinklers and eating cold things!

*edit: yes, folks. lighting sprinklers. not sparklers. that's too obvious. light the sprinklers, for night approaches!

2011-06-28T15:28:00.000-04:00

things are progressing very slowly around here and i'm spending most of my time alternating between being totally ok with that and living in the moment and feeling inadequately slow and disorganized. it's fun! no, really. the fun parts are fun.

the renegade craft fair was so much fun that i'm considering applying to crafty bastards in dc. i only have a few more days to decide/work on the application. i guess i've really decided that i want to go for it, but i'm hung up on the statement. crazy, i know. i have never really had trouble spewing out endless variations of enthusiastic adjectives to describe my sewing work, but i'm feeling a bit rusty these days.

part of the problem is the issue of materials. i still have a good sized stash of liberty fabrics that i love and want to use up. they're beautiful and people respond really strongly to them, but i don't intend to buy more for lovelier seas use. ideally, ian and i would revive our collaborative efforts and have our own prints produced on organic fabrics. i would like to use exclusively organic or vintage/repurposed materials from now on, but i have this lovely stash to work through first. that, and i can't afford to buy any more supplies at the moment. so, coming up with a suitable statement regarding what i do, that works for right now is tricky.

just some thoughts. it's been quiet around here, i know. i have been getting a good, solid dose of that heartbreaking feeling that one gets when surrounded by beauty and magic, which has been wonderful and i've been aching to share it, but have no images or words to convey it all properly. i'm hoping that july and august will help free up the kinks in my heart and mind so that i can just do the work without the worry. you know what i mean?

2011-06-21T20:05:00.000-04:00

have you seen julia's new shop and collection?? i am bursting with wants and desires right now. bursting, i say! beautiful work, photographed and presented beautifully always makes my heart fluttery. this is very good stuff.

2011-06-18T14:55:00.001-04:00

finally! this was to be a quiet week of maxin' and relaxin', but gosh, by now i should definitely know better than to expect things to go as planned, right? anyway, nothing crazy happened, just a lot of running around and boring errands. does anyone else have this problem where their cell phone always breaks like, two weeks after the warranty expires? i kid you not, i have had to buy a new phone three years in a row now. i recognize salespeople at the verizon store in union square! this should not be.

anyway! the news is that my darling angel is taking another one of his epic three hour naps and i am coffee-fueled and and AND i have just listed the renegade craft fair leftovers to the etsy shop. yes! accomplishment. to celebrate, i'm testing out this coupon code business ol' etsy offers-- enter RENTEN during checkout to receive 10% off your order! free shipping in the US, as always, my friends.

happy weekend and happy fathers' day to all you rad dads out there!

2011-06-14T13:05:00.000-04:00

here are some photos from last weekend's renegade craft fair in brooklyn. saturday was rough, weather-wise, but my hearty neighbors were out in full force and though we were shivering and blue-lipped in our custom shortalls (by anna! thank you so much!) by the end of the day, i'm pretty sure i never stopped smiling once. the combination my my awesome booth-mates, karie (and rob!) and anna (and brandon!) plus our AMAZING display literally made me giddy.

this may sound strange to anyone who doesn't have a kiddo, but part of what made the fair and the weeks leading up to it was that through all of this work and the connections i made with other makers, i felt...like myself again. you know? like, more than a mama (not that i am not super proud and excited to be a mama, of course!), but *me*. the whole me. this is what i need to be doing to be my complete, happy self. not craft fairs, specifically, but making and sharing and talking about making with makers. i need more of this back in my life!

at the end of the day on sunday, i told sue, the fair's founder and organizer that this was the best looking craft fair i'd ever seen and it really was. almost every booth had something swoon-worthy in it and it was hard to keep from spending my hard-earned pocket change on other vendors' goods. i bought a few little things, but the best loot i came home with were the overalls from anna and an amazing belted wallet (see below!) made for me by karie and rob.

here i am, super cold and clutching my tea, death-grip-style, but as you can see, i could NOT stop smiling. thank you friends!
(last photo by my friend marissa of soor ploom, who will be at the brooklyn flea next weekend with her clothes for little ones!)

2011-06-09T16:44:00.000-04:00

my friend siri is loaning me three toddler-sized dressmaker's forms for the renegade craft fair this weekend. i'm getting really excited and have been sewing up a storm this week, trying to make some last minute lovelies. there are three more little shirts on the sewing table, half-done, some ladies' undies (found almost all sewn in a bag of scraps!) that need elastic and a few yards of fabric begging to be sewn into *something*. i know that i need to ease up and just make some simple business cards and tags, then round up some tiny hangers and call it a week tomorrow, so i can relax at dinner with karie and anna and friends in the evening. but! cramming is so much more exciting and challenging when there's a toddler around, you know??

anyway, i hope to see you at the fair!
saturday and sunday, 11-7
mccarren park, n. 12th between bedford and driggs
we will be booth #13 (unless last minute changes are made) which will be on the quieter side of the park, where the softball fields are, not the track, where most of the fair will be.

back to work!

2011-06-06T12:24:00.001-04:00

we are experiencing some major developmental landmarks and hurdles (they tend always to travel in pairs) and in spite of trying to stick to a morning sewing routine, alden and i just had to get out for a little bit, early today. little boy blue walked right into the playground, turned to face me and sat for the camera all on his own, with no prompting or suggestion from me. i don't know if he's psychic, the perfect model or just a curmudgeon, but i'll take it. i could however use a better lens for this thing...

as for this weekend, we did end up seeing several shows and studios and i am so glad for it. though i've been trying really hard to refrain from typing about such things lately, ian and i have both been in major creative slumps lately and we are both of the type to become hopeless and to shut down a bit when we don't get enough time to ourselves to just make stuff. i will admit to having been very near to tears just about every day for the past two weeks. but! after seeing so much art on saturday and being given five uninterrupted hours to work by myself on sunday, i am feeling so much better. and i have ideas again! amazing what a few hours can do. oh, and new music. not to disparage the wonderful elizabeth mitchell, whose albums alden and i enjoy almost every day, but i needed some fresh noise in my ears. fleet foxes did the trick nicely. and this weather?? fuggetaboutit. i'd never leave this city again if it were like this all the time.

now back to work while my lovely little one sleeps (with no crying! for the first time in weeks!) in his own little bed. i'm editing this new hat pattern, which alden is modeling above. it's perfect, but was slightly too puffy at the top. i think this strawberry one i'm working on will be a final draft. come see my at renegade this weekend! i'll remind you again later.

2011-06-02T11:46:00.000-04:00

three more toddler petal hats were added to the shop last night.
i'm trying so hard to get more stuff made for the renegade craft fair in just a little over a week! it's a good thing i have such lovely boothmates or i would definitely be in trouble. it is exciting to be doing a fair again and having a deadline is the best motivator for Getting it Done. whew!

this is my last weekend to work before the fair and it happens to coincide with Bushwick Open Studios, which ian and his studio mates are participating in. we didn't see as much as we would have liked to last year and i'm afraid i will see even less this time around, since i'll be scrambling to get more sewing done. the only event i have penciled in (other than checking out ian's new work, which i haven't seen in months....can you believe it??) is a visit to kids' canvas, which is run by one of our lovely neighbors and which seems like the perfect place to start sending als for a few mornings in the fall.

if you are in nyc, you should definitely try to come out to bushwick this weekend. the mta is trying to destroy the fun by shutting down L service, in spite of having been informed of the event way in advance, but arts in bushwick has posted alternate routes. it can be done!

this little light of mine

2011-05-30T22:13:00.000-04:00

after a week of dark clouds (turns out, mercury is not in retrograde), my parents came to visit for the weekend. brooklyn gave them the toughness test as well, but they passed it and we had an excellent, if too-short visit. we were all smiles (ok, mostly all smiles, it was a little late in the day for some of us) by the time we had our 'til-next-time dinner at northeast kingdom.

i would put these on alden in a heartbeat

2011-05-26T13:07:00.000-04:00

anniel shoes from smallable, via small magazine

i've gotten pretty good at ebay. will have to keep a lookout for these in a few months, when some lucky polka-footed kiddo gets a little too big for them. nyc kids' consignment stores can be a goldmine, too. ahh fashionable youth! i love it.

and yes yes, i would so put these on my sweet little boy. i actually think they are very him. maybe even more so, the ones with stars. i mentioned before that alden is an excellent judge of a person's sex. i'd say he's about 99% accurate. we haven't actually run into any transgendered (or, let me change that to obviously transgendered) people yet, so i wonder what he will make of them or if he will notice. it's interesting to me that he should start to make distinctions between women and men so early and i can't help but assume that i am probably responsible for this in some way.

since reading this article about parents who are keeping their third child's sex a secret until (s)he is old enough to decide on a gender identity, i've been noting my own classifications of people and have tried to go back to calling kids "kids" instead of girls and boys. alden usually only classifies adults, kids are usually just kids to him, which i like. kids are free!

as for the article (have you read it?), there is a long discussion thread going on in one of the local parent listservs that i read regarding whether or not these parents are messing their kids up by bucking tradition in such a way. i can totally see both sides clearly and agree with almost everything everyone has said on the subject. complicated stuff, huh? mostly though, while i do greatly admire these people and the strength of their convictions, i worry that this may be too extreme a social experiment to conduct on a child. obviously their neighbors are kind of awful and should recognize that regardless of their own feelings about the parents and their parenting, they should be kind and respectful of the children. sadly, that doesn't seem to be so obvious to everyone. of course, that is the whole point.

at the playground yesterday, alden and i were waiting in line for the swings and i was explaining to him that we were second in line, which meant that when a swing was available, one baby was going to get to swing before it was our turn. a swing opened up and i said, "see? now it's his turn. the next time a swing is available, it will be your turn!" the mother who was putting her infant into the fresh swing spun around and hissed at me, "it's a GIRL!" and then made a show of having a discussion with the mother next to her about people thinking girls are boys just because they don't have hair yet. clearly, she was nuts (and ok with referring to her daughter as "it") but i know non-crazy people who are offended when their child's gender is misinterpreted. alden is mistaken for a girl all the time, especially in our neighborhood, where children tend to be dressed in a gender-normative (albeit, with a slight brooklyn-thug bent) fashion. that doesn't really bother me. what bothers me is having him witness adults make a big deal over these distinctions.

anyway, those shoes man. they are rad. for everyone!

2011-05-22T09:28:00.000-04:00

they talked about the high price of furniture and rugs
and fire insurance for ladybugs

a ladybug, by request. next he wanted a "ladybug fire engine" for his pet to ride.

2011-05-18T21:16:00.000-04:00

for what seems like ages, i have been searching for the perfect sun hat for myself. i had a nice straw one once that looked pretty good, but it was too lightweight and would just puff right off of my head like a wisp of smoke at the first hint of wind. i'm not really a hat person, but what with getting burned all the time and not enjoying the zinc sunblock zombie look so much, i think i'll get over my reluctance to make my own shade. anyway, i ordered one from the lovely cal of hodge podge last week and it's wonderful. of course, i've only worn it indoors so far, since it's been raining for a few days now, but i'm actually sort of almost excited about the sun again! almost.

after inspecting the amazing craftsmanship of this hodge podge hat, i decided to try my hand at making a little, alden-sized sunhat. not bad, huh? i kind of love it, but it's way too girly, i think. even for my sensitive, floral-loving guy. so it's in the shop now. i don't know why it didn't really occur to me to make little hats before! they're really fun and pretty quick to sew up.

2011-05-16T11:33:00.000-04:00

one more wee item for the shop. i made some harem pants for a lucky 3-6 month old yesterday. at least, alden thinks the baby who will wear these to be lucky--he really wanted to try them on! my boy is an enthusiast. i love it.

it's raining here, which i think is great, even though the forecast is for an entire week of this stuff. each year i'm more and more into cool and rainy over warm and sunny. i'd be even more enthused if the rain cover for bun's maclaren still fit. anyone else have this problem?? the thing is so snug that it flips the sun shade forward when i try to put it on. and we just sold our bugaboo bee on friday! that thing had the best rain cover. c'est la vie! well, c'est la vie in the city. in the rain. yay spring!

2011-05-14T12:28:00.000-04:00

it's too late to join in the fun, alas alas! but the ever-inspiring elsie marley blog is just wrapping up the kid's clothes week challenge in which mama makers made one kiddo clothing item a day for a whole week! amazing. there are some super awesome entries. check out these wings!

so bummed i couldn't get it together to join in this time around. i need to do this on my own though, as poor alden is becoming really attached to the garments i have him model! i've caved and am giving him one of the pairs of mirabelle shorts. i don't expect that we'll share a fondness for floral shorts for long, so perhaps i should relish this time and indulge his outfit requests. pretty sure that means we are going to need a new pair of rainboots soon...

2011-05-13T23:55:00.000-04:00

i was on the fence about whether or not this was a girls' tunic until i tried it on alden this morning. he loved it and i think it looked really cute on him, especially with our favorite pants from bu and the duck.

alden has recently taken to pointing at people on the sidewalk and subway and classifying them, which is fun. i love that most people think it's really cute and funny. today however, he got a scowl from a woman after he pointed at her and said, "think that's a woman!" and then, changing his mind, "think that's a man!" oh boy.

which brought me to wondering, how does one introduce the notion of the fluidity of gender identity in a normal way? i found myself trying to explain to my not-yet-two-year-old that some women look a little more like men and some men look a little more like women and that that's cool and isn't it wonderful that people can express themselves in so many different ways...? um. yes! it is! let's talk about this later. but when?? dude has questions and observations already! so exciting and so challenging, this child-rearing thing.

2011-05-13T13:59:00.000-04:00

karie wrote a really sweet entry about me, our friendship and our history as makers. maybe the 90s revival will include a lawnchair comeback? but, don't call it that...

2011-05-11T08:41:00.000-04:00

there are more play shorts in the shop this morning, this time in liberty's mirabelle print, which is one of my favorites. i used the last big bits of fabric that i had for three pairs of wee shortsies and i'm so tempted to keep a pair for als. but! i will offer them for sale first.

we had a lot of fun taking these photos. alden discovered the metal washbin of zippers and entertained himself with a game of "AND THEN!!! we'll get MORE ZIPPERS!!!" the rules involved scooping up as many zippers as two tiny hands can hold, dumping them on the bed and then tucking them either under the duvet or between the bed and the wall. not sure on the specifics of the classification of zippers into the two categories, but i think maybe the brightly colored ones were being tucked into bed.

in other news, my city boy is an animal lover and wants to see them every day now. we have discovered geese in the east river, sea gulls down the block and on monday alden fed sheep and goats at the central park zoo. he was surprisingly bold and didn't seem concerned when his whole hand ended up in their mouths or when the goats stuck their heads and long necks through the fence to nudge him for more.

i love raising alden in new york and i feel lucky just about every day that there are so many wonderful things to see and do here, but i do sometimes worry what his childhood might be missing if he isn't given the chance to just run freely through the woods on a regular basis. but then, of course, he would no longer be in the running for Mayor of the Block and i think he's got a real shot at that esteemed position.

2011-05-10T09:31:00.000-04:00

i wish i could say that i took this photo! alas, it is from lilies of the valley, a handmade company in canada that i found via etsy. check out this amazing caftan for hippie babies. perfect for the sun-loving gnomes in your life, no? this is definitely something that i would snap up in a second if we were headed to the beach anytime soon...sigh. anyone out there tried such a thing on their toddler? alden and i have been arguing over sunblock and hats lately. maybe a caftan is the way to go...

also, what wouldn't i give to be crawling around a field of clover right now?

happy mothers day!

2011-05-08T08:31:00.000-04:00

you know i love you if i'll share this photo with you. some ladies look so made up and presentable after giving birth. me, not so much. i was TIRED. and puffy. took me 3 days to drain the 55 lb reservoir i was toting around with me. but, look at that little dude. he was alden, through and through from the very moment he was born and for that i would waddle my own personal pond around the city for months, even years. motherhood makes a woman crazy like that.

2011-05-04T12:54:00.000-04:00

i have purchased shamefully few handmade clothes to date. as a maker, i tend to overestimate just how much i will in fact make for myself. it's easy to shrug my shoulders and say i'll just make something that i like but can't afford. as i was working on this shirt last night, i realized that the few handmade pieces that i have purchased spoke to me because i really could see the hand that made them. in every stitch. they are imperfectly perfect (one even had a pin stitched into a seam by mistake!) and as different as their individual makers.

lately i have been trying to whole-heartedly embrace the wabi-sabi. maybe i have too much virgo in my chart, but i lean toward perfectionism when i craft, which, is of course unattainable and so i'm almost never happy with anything i make. this blouse demonstrates a sort of controlled letting go. finding balance is important. i think i'm getting close. i definitely won't be sewing pins into the clothes that i intend to sell, but i am really liking some raw edges and workable "mistakes" lately. this blouse has a little bit of each.

there is rain today and sir is napping, so we're going with a dark, sepia-toned studio shot. my friend kathryn found this lovely cotton fabric for me while thrifting. the flowers are blue. my favorite. i'm keeping this one, but will be making more for the shop, for the renegade craft fair and for an awesome trade that karie and anna and i are hatching. prepare to see us in uniform next month! oh man.

ps--were you a dear birthday fan? are you quite small? julia is selling a shirt that i did in fact love quite a bit when i made it. own a piece of dear birthday history!

2011-05-03T10:02:00.002-04:00

on saturday night, ian and i left alden with grandpa and went to a wedding party at rasputin in coney island. words cannot describe the wonder that beheld us--perhaps this cellphone photo can give you a glimpse. we felt as though we had stepped into an episode of twin peaks. sadly, we had to leave for our hour and a half subway ride home right as they were setting up what looked to be a trapeze act. pretty sure i saw chloe sevigny on our way out. nicki is by far my favorite big love character, btw.

in making news, i'm about to sew up a test run of a lady blouse. i'm so excited for it to work that i'm stalling...worried that it won't.

coming soon:

2011-04-29T08:09:00.000-04:00

the next installment of Borough Burrow is in the works, featuring another greenpoint mama friend.

sorry for the relative silence this week--alden and i lost our working rhythm somehow and traded our sewing hours in for playground and kitchen time. considering the fact that it's friday, i'm just going to continue on this path and head out to the sandbox now. have a great weekend! we'll be back to work on monday.

2011-04-25T13:38:00.000-04:00

hello monday people. did you have a lovely weekend? i did. or rather, would have, if i hadn't been plagued by Mega Crabbiness the whole time. can we discuss hormones for a minute? really, now. i had forgotten what it was like, was blissfully ignorant of my previous life as a menstruating woman. alden was conceived in october of 2008 and my monthlies didn't return until this past february. i was such a happy person for over two years!

this is me now:

or rather, that was me yesterday.
now i feel great!
ladies, do you get the super crankies every month? if so, what do you do to feel better?

2011-04-22T13:47:00.000-04:00

ollie ollie alden, dancing on the bed and showing off his new shorts. there are some in the shop now, too! as you can see, they are great for dancing in. these are really the only reason that i have for looking forward to warmer weather. that and well, i can't wait to see some tiny toes peeking out of sandals, too. other than that, i'm really enjoying this cool and drizzly spring.

happy easter, peeps! (omg, yes i did)

2011-04-20T20:35:00.000-04:00

my assistant and i have matching minnetonkas, filled with sand.

i've delegated the task of office plant selection to my assistant, which has relieved a heavy burden.
choice is a source of anxiety!
for him, it is simple: red geraniums, white easter lillies.

my assistant and i are still streamlining our productivity, but our general synergy is sometimes enhanced through changes to the predetermined agenda.

2011-04-19T21:16:00.001-04:00

on sunday we attended an easter egg hunt, put together by one of the amazing, super organized mamas in my local chapter of Awesome Mamas and Pretty Rad Toddlers. alden had a great time, found a few eggs, ate a little chocolate, then high-tailed it out of the grass in favor of the currently-dry water park, where some slightly bigger kids had gathered their collective vehicles and were having some sort of impromptu derby. at least, that's how i imagine that alden saw it. here he is, riding in a yellow pickup.

i have more easter/springtime related items to share, but ian and i are trying to adhere to a new no-later-than-10pm bed time. did you know that getting 4 hours of sleep a night is not enough?? apparently i could be smarter, slur my speech less, if only i slept a bit more! who knew?

anyway, there's one more item i must share before nodding off--i've entered a blog contest! that's right. all of the good, respectable bloggers whom i follow are nominated by readers, but hey! why not nominate myself for fun? why not, indeed. and so i did. please click over to circle of moms (there is also a link in the left sidebar), if for no other reason than to find some new kiddo-themed blogs to read. there are so many good ones! but you know, do vote for me, if you please. oh, and you know, once a day is perfectly acceptable :)

2011-04-19T13:17:00.002-04:00

there are a few new things in the etsy shop this afternoon!

i kind of wish i had this outfit in my size. if only there were more of these fabrics! alas.
maybe a cat is hiding a few yards in a teapot and some very generous mice will sew it all up for me. alden and i have been reading the tailor or gloucester. i'm certain he can't understand what is going on, but he insists on reading it every day now--it's a nice change of pace, as fox in socks was implanting in me a few too many brainworms.

2011-04-16T12:02:00.001-04:00

this morning, i drafted a basic t shirt pattern in alden's size and tested it out with some old thrift shirts from the re-construct pile. it fit perfectly, but needed a little something. what is it with small ones and diggers??

now that bunny boy is napping (can you predict from this wildly happy expression that a meltdown followed literally five seconds later?), i'm going to cut out some girly Liberty print ones. maybe even with diggers...? have you see these elsie marley plush diggers? amazing.

and, oh! i made a facebook page. if you're so inclined to like a thing in such a way, please do like me!

2011-04-15T07:00:00.000-04:00

good morning!
the winner of the shorts giveaway is...#4! yay matisse!
thanks so much to everyone who entered. that was fun.

i sized two new patterns for the shorts yesterday and have a bunch cut out and waiting to be sewn. if all goes well (and my elastic order arrives), there should be a few for sale in about a week.

rifle paper co. + martha

2011-04-13T11:56:00.000-04:00

image from marthastewart.com

i just saw this on the rifle paper co. blog (which i absolutely adore) and had to share it. anna bond did a little collab with martha stewart and now big M has some amazing rifle stationary available for download on her website. free fun!

if we were having another baby, i would definitely be planning a library-themed shower. brilliant! and with bunnies. oh my.

giveaway shorts!

2011-04-12T22:58:00.002-04:00

or longs (they're rolled)...or maybe...bloomers?! anyway, some smallish pants for warmer weather were on our agenda this morning. alden helped me (he's really into tossing butcher paper scraps into the recycling) edit a pattern that i had started on sunday and then, while he napped, i whipped up two pairs in some hand-dyed organic cotton that i had left over from the tidal detritus collection of yore. alden was so excited to try them on when he woke up; i can't help but wonder how long his enthusiasm for being dressed and photographed will last, but for now, he is clearly thrilled to model. yes!

did i mention that i made two pairs? i did. i had it in mind that one would go to one of als' buddies, but i think that said heavyweight bebe would need a slightly larger pair. so! the matching pair is up for grabs in our inaugural lovelier seas giveaway! hooray! just leave a comment (and be sure that you leave me some way to get in touch with you) by thursday at midnight, nyc time (that's right) and friday morning i will announce the winner of these size 2T shorts! shipped right to your door, anywhere in the world.

ps--that adorable sweater is indeed handmade, but not by me. my grammie made the same pattern for all of us soles kids when we were small. alden loves it and even wears it to nap in.

commenting closed! we have a winner! #4--matisse! congratulations and thank you to everyone who entered!

2011-04-12T06:00:00.003-04:00

i felt a little silly and (ahem) cheap buying just three tulips from the greenmarket yesterday. when we got home, alden and i found three different milk jugs, one for each stem, so they would feel important (it is key that a flower be made to feel important, you see) and we set them up on the kitchen table. then i remembered that three is a magic number and we listened to this.

Borough Burrow: Casey Laytin

2011-04-11T00:00:00.042-04:00

Borough Burrow is a documentary project that focuses on the homes of the people in my neighborhood, and slightly beyond, Bushwick, Brooklyn.

Alden and I were happy to find ourselves invited for a play date at Harper's warm and sunny home a few weeks ago. Harper's mama, Casey Laytin was gracious in letting us share their apartment with you--a little tour of the Laytin/Wallace household and an interview, after the jump.

what's your subway stop?

GREENPOINT - G

do you own or rent your space?

rent

approximately how many square feet do you live in?

not sure but at least 1000

who lives here with you?

Ryan, my hubby
Harper, my bebe
Tom, our friend
Bugsy, our cat

how long have you lived here?

A little over 6 years, but Ryan has lived here since 1999. As all New Yorkers know--Never give up a good apartment!

is this Home?

for now, yes

what do you do? do you work from home?

First, I am mom!

Second, I just started my own personal chef/catering company called Demeter Kitchen. I also work as a food consultant for Pi Gluten Free making allergen free foods, and as the chef for The Juicy Naam . I am opening the new Madison Avenue location for my boss then I head out to East Hampton mid May to re-open her EH store. It my 5th year working with her. I do all my computer work from home and some recipe development, otherwise I am in a commercial kitchen.

Ryan is an artist, curator and soon to be gallery owner!!! and an AMAZING dad! His new gallery, Halsey McKay opens May 20th in East Hampton--check it out!

where do your decorative items and furniture come from?

Our decorative items come from our travels, our families and our furniture from our parents, grandparents! and IKEA.

you have a great art collection--where did you find most of your pieces?

My husband is an avid collector. He traded for most of it, bartered for some, bought a few. We have very generous friends who are amazing artists and a lot of the newest art was given to us as wedding gifts and as gifts for Harper. Ryan and I also give each other art as gifts for big occasions! We met in an art class in 1992 ;)

any tips for the budding collector?

Ryan says: Prints are a great and affordable way to start. This company, Forth Estate makes some of the best.

It is also good to just go to galleries and develop relationships with the dealers. It can seem like a big jump to start buying contemporary art but it is one of very few things that you will not regret having spent your money on.

My advice is to buy what moves you. And if I could follow that advice and had no financial barriers, I would be staring at a Rothko painting right now!

do you find that you've had to adjust your decor to accommodate a baby/toddler?

We have done some very little adjustments. the best thing we did to get ready was get rid of a lot of clutter! I finally threw out things i should have said goodbye to 15 years ago and we held on to the items that really meant a lot to our history. It feels right now.

thanks so much to Casey, Ryan and Harper for sharing their Greenpoint home!

2011-04-10T13:16:00.000-04:00

ian took brave sir bunny out for an trip to the metropolitan museum of art today, so that i could get some uninterrupted ~~fleetwood mac listening~~ sewing time in. i'm taking a little break after completing the airplane top for alden. he's going to be so psyched. poor guy was sad to learn that the unicorn top was not for him.

during cooperative moments (and naps) this week, i managed to draft another size of this pattern and then alter the original one based on how the smaller one turned out. i added some length and made the sleeves a bit easier to sew. i also experimented with putting the facing to the outside, which i do like better. so! one shirt pattern checked off the list. i think i'm going to limit the sizing on this one to 18 months and 2T for now, as the style is so roomy that the 18 month could easily be worn until 2 and the 2 until 3.

on a completely unrelated note, i've been dreaming about sanding and painting our dreadful floors. they're a hideous shade or orange (which you can't tell here because i've over-iphoto-ed these shots) and splintery and the woodfill is crumbling. but, what an undertaking! it will not happen. but painted floors...how nice. white appeals to me.

coming soon:

2011-04-05T12:42:00.000-04:00

the second installment of Borough Burrow, featuring Casey Laytin, local mama and chef in her greenpoint apartment.

i'm branching out of bushwick, in order to get the project rolling. it's nice to be free of that restriction for the time being, and to be able to share the awesome homes of some of my brooklyn friends, while i build up a little collection. stay tuned!

2011-04-04T22:00:00.000-04:00

alden woke up from his nap today to discover that i had accomplished my goal from last week a day early. after congratulating me, he quickly asked to put on this little sample top and claimed it his own, stating, "mama made dat for you!"

it is a super roomy and boxy, hippie tunic-inspired wisp of a thing that i think will be perfect in the summer. the sample ("has bicycles ON IT!") was made using the last of my Baron print Liberty tana lawn.

so, i'm thinking that, while i do like the style with one print like this, it might be much more awesome with the facing on the outside in a contrasting print. or patchwork. i am also sort of torn on the length. it's really very boxy, which i think is adorable, especially with these skinny khakis (popupshop), but i'm worried that on a taller bunny, the length might be a little too belly-baring. i'll just have to wash the strawberries and bacon (yeaahhh) off of this one and try it on some bigger buddies.

anyway, now i have a pattern! a single, in-progress shirt pattern. in one size (92, or 2t) but! it's a pattern and it is progress. it has come to my attention that sometimes attention-to-detail can be a little crippling to the creative process, so for the next few things i make, i am going to try to just sort of throw some stuff together and see what happens. i spent way more time making measurements and marks this time than i did sewing. i realize that that is why this top came out almost exactly as i envisioned it, but it also took almost a week to complete, which is too long. so. i'm excited to hopefully share something new in less than a week!

2011-04-02T15:21:00.000-04:00

sometimes we play with our food.

i'm only sleeping

2011-03-30T22:59:00.000-04:00

my friend erika has generously taken on the task of helping me organize-to-realize just a few of my lofty goals. i've always been a dreamer. i like to think that i'm a do-er too, but i know that mostly i'm a dreamer. doing is awesome! doing is great, but you know, sometimes it's hard to get motivated. i mean, look at this cozy scene. you can't tell me that, if faced with this pleasantness just about every day, right about the time your morning coffee is becoming a faded memory, you wouldn't be sorely tempted to curl up like a cat and drift off, too. right? well.

erika and i had our first goal-oriented phone chat last night and when i hung up i was practically high, i was so elated and excited and just in awe of this lady, so full of ideas and energy! she totally understands my work situation and hang-ups and difficulties, and as a mama herself, has gone through them all and found solutions. it was so refreshing to talk with someone who not only listened to my frustrations, but offered real guidance and helped me set some little short-term, achievable goals. part of me feels silly for being so overwhelmed that i couldn't come up with these on my own, but mostly i am just incredibly grateful that i have such amazing people in my life.

alden and i are working on adding a few new activities to our morning routine. he's already really excited about getting his own sewing machine and kiddie scissors.

2011-03-26T22:09:00.000-04:00

my boys have been sick this past week and i've been getting to know my friendly neighborhood laundromat better than ever. turns out that early afternoon on a monday is an excellent time to get the washing done, fyi. i'm actually considering letting (what i hope is) the last batch of towels, blankets and jammies "acquire virtue" just so i can avoid the chaos that certainly awaits me should i try to go tomorrow. hm. decisions.

it's been a long week and i've been talking up a big game about patience and positivity and self-fulfilling whatnot, so in order to make sure i didn't go back on my big words entirely, i took myself on an outing this afternoon and met a friend whom i hadn't seen in a long time for pirogi in greenpoint. then i bought some flowers. and some crackers. and some ginger ale. then i cut up a chicken and made soup for a couple of dudes who are still really just a little too sick to enjoy such a thing.

2011-03-22T14:27:00.000-04:00

i've mentioned the amazing karie and her rad new shop shelter before and i don't mean to repeat myself, but take a look at what my postal carrier brought me in the mail the other day.

(image from the shelter shop)

so much amazing detail in one little bag. i can't wait to take it on spring time adventures with alden! happy birthday to me! thanks so much, karie!

(ps, you can get a peek into karie's studio via tamera's lovely blog, where she's posted an interview with our magical elf friend)

ways to help

2011-03-19T13:04:00.000-04:00

raffles are such an awesome idea. i ran across these two during my tiny blog-reading break this morning:

HEARTS + HANDS

PRIMOEZA

at a loss

2011-03-17T14:33:00.000-04:00

this is the first time that we have been unable to give anything substantial (to us), financially to help out during a crisis. a friend of mine posted on facebook today:

"praying" for Japan is not a solution - DO something!

and though i understand, i think, where she's coming from, i know that we are not alone in our inability to contribute any more than a few measly dollars. that doesn't mean that we are sitting around ignoring the chaos and sadness unleashing in japan. i've never been a religious person, but i think many of us non-religious types do hold some spiritual beliefs and i do think that there may just be something to putting out positive energy, be it through prayer or meditation, etc. we are all so small and fragile, let's take care of one another, by any means available.

2011-03-16T12:44:00.001-04:00

on monday, alden was pretty under the weather, but after staying in all morning and then sharing a nap with him, i decided that we needed to get some fresh air. well, fresh-ish air. we put on the ergo carrier (which is seeing much less use these days, since we received a quest zodiac and a coma sack for christmas) and headed into the city.

i finished up a birthday gift card (hello new dress and shoes! how i've been needing you) and then we went over to purl, where alden picked out this lovely liberty airplane print. ahem. i tried to talk him into the sweet pastel colorway, but he was adamant about the blue. i even tried putting the blue back and telling him that we would buy the softer one instead, to which he replied firmly, "don't like it!" well, i'm glad he knows what he likes, at least.

on our way out, he spotted a little felt bunny finger puppet at the register. he made a grab for it, "want bunny!" but was thwarted. i told him i would make him one, which i did. he found it on his bookshelf tuesday morning and promptly thanked ian for it, because papa is the known maker in the family. i've got a lot of work to do to catch up with papa eeeeeeaaaan. especially since karie and anna and i got into the brooklyn renegade craft fair. june will be here before we know it!

* on an unrelated note and in the interest of full disclosure, i've joined the amazon associates program. i thought a lot about this and then decided i was over-thinking it. if you require an explanation or find this unsettling, i can talk about it more, but in the interest of not boring my readers to tears, i'm keeping it short. i am considering also adding sidebar sponsors in the future, but would keep those for small or handmade businesses that i handpick. if you are interested in this, please get in touch!

cloudbursting

2011-03-16T12:15:00.000-04:00

a few weeks ago, on a saturday, i tormented ian by playing simon and garfunkel as we all got ready to go out. right before we left, i made up for it by playing this song to sort of cleanse the palate. alden dug it too and insisted that i dance with him while he hummed along in his adorable atonal way. it's been in my head ever since and seems appropriate for a day like today.

2011-03-15T21:00:00.000-04:00

today i am 33 years old. 33! that's a lot, huh?

on saturday we left alden with our friends (and alden's bestie, henry) for the morning and went out for a nice brunch at five leaves. we hadn't been there in ages and it did not disappoint. then again, it would be hard to ruin a date, which comes maybe twice a year? we've got to work on that. alden was fine. better than fine, really. he actually took a nap at his buddy's house and was put down to sleep by henry's papa!
amazing.

today henry's mama took me out for lunch and we walked all around and then took the mini buns to music class. at the moment, ian is baking me a cake and waiting for the buzzer to announce the arrival of our roberta's pizzas, which (oh sweet...it's here! that was like magic) will be had with some lovely wine. yes! why can't it be my birthday all the time?

2011-03-06T22:03:00.000-05:00

one of my mama friends opened an amazing new store in greenpoint. caribou baby is the kind of natural parenting resource that i desperately wanted when i was pregnant. adriane carries a beautiful array of wraps/carriers, cloth diapers, non-toxic cleaners and bath products, bottles, pacis, and wonderful wooden toys--this little camden rose pick-up truck has been in alden's hand since thursday afternoon. the space is so warm and woodsy and welcoming, with a little reading nook and a lovely back room for classes. it's pretty much a dream space and i hope (and believe) she will do very well.

i had planned on stopping by again this afternoon, as i had every intention of waiting in line across the street to hear ina may gaskin speak at the warsaw, but today was overtaken with chores and time slipped away. it's for the best, really--i'm finally typing in a seated position, from our new workspace/office. in our railroad apartment, the smallest room has been used as a bedroom for all three of us, while the large and sunny front room has gone mostly unused since alden's arrival. today we finally moved the bed into the front and set up my sewing machines and the new computer in the tiny room. there's still a lot of shifting and organizing to be done, but it feels so nice to be sitting down in a dedicated work space. at last! hopefully the work will follow shortly.

2011-03-03T21:03:00.000-05:00

i haven't finished reading this article about people who are too hard on themselves, but what i read really resonated with me. i'm often grumbling about people who seem too happy, taking life in stride, mostly because i am insanely jealous of them.

we are busy casting off the shackles of our own self-criticism over here, but it's hard work. how do you do it?

in other, completely unrelated news, i am feeling a deep gratitude for the seemingly endless font of inspiration and love i've been given through the introduction of the many amazing women in my mama group. we had a big get-together this afternoon, the sort of which i haven't attended since last summer and i came home brimming with enthusiasm and inspiration from chatting with so many mamas who are DOING stuff. really awesome stuff. i'll share some of that stuff soon.

thoughts for this morning

2011-03-02T08:49:00.000-05:00

+ alden needs spring clothes.
+ there is a sample sale at the manhattan outpost of our favorite williamsburg baby store today.
+ we are going.
+ before alden was born, i tried to buy mostly secondhand clothing for him.
+ and i swore i would make most of what else he might need.

nineteen and a half months

2011-02-25T18:58:00.000-05:00

yesterday we visited alden's best friend henry and went for a camel ride in fort greene.

today we went for a post-downpour walk (literally and metaphorically speaking...it was a rough day indoors) around our subway stop. a man working outside a plastic factory on our street (yes, this is why we are crazy organic obsessives, or at least, part of why) stopped us to chat alden up. als practiced his new waving technique (that is to say, he waved at the man, which i realize should not be new to a 19 month old, but we recognized that his lack of waving up until now was just shyness) and i could see straight through the man's shirt and chest and ribs and i watched as his heart melted right then and there, running down to add to the puddles on the sidewalk. "made in brooklyn??" he asked, to which i proudly replied, "yep!" and then watched as what was left of his heart melted away with the rest.

2011-02-13T22:24:00.000-05:00

one year ago

two years ago

three

ten

2011-02-12T22:00:00.000-05:00

thoughts for this evening:
raw milk is not as scary as i previously thought it was and is, in fact, really delicious.
coffee at 8 pm is a good idea.
my favorite blogs right now are this one and this one.
i'm thinking of monetizing this blog that nobody reads, but worried that i might lose my soul if i do.

2011-02-04T08:13:00.000-05:00

thoughts for this morning:
the Borough Burrow photos are loading entirely too slowly on my computer...are they on yours as well?
i am going to have to learn how to live without photoshop, now that we have a mac.
also
if it takes a certain amount of psyching myself up in order to handle a chicken carcass, should i really be eating chicken?

Borough Burrow: Kathryn Miller

2011-02-03T08:53:00.024-05:00

Kathryn is a vintage seller (secretlake) and freelance visual display artist. She lives with her dog, Jason off the Flushing stop of the JMZ.

own or rent?
I rent my space.

approximately how many square feet do you live in?

The square footage is approximately 462.25

how long have you lived here?

I have lived in this apartment since September 2009, I've lived in New York since 2006.

where are you from originally?
Burlington CT. It's sort of a cool place, there are lots of woods there, we used to get lost in them. I think it is mostly known for the haunted cemetery, the graves are all sunken and they only poke out of the ground a few inches. At least they did the last time I was there.

how would you describe your aesthetic?

I think my aesthetic is largely inspired by my grandmother's house, her decorating style is a lot more minimal though, I tend to be more messy. I like patchwork quilts, nancy drew books, kitschy animals and plants. My apartment is also my work space so it tends to sometimes look more like a stockroom than a living space. I like the colors red and grey, the 1970s, plaids, florals and things that are a little bit creepy.

where do your decorative items and furniture come from?
Pretty much all the decorative items are from thrift stores or made by me. My dresser and bookshelf came from Junk in Williamsburg, my couch came from my grandmother's back porch, I found my kitchen table in my dad's warehouse and the chairs were given to me by my friend Mark.

which items did you make?
The quilt on my bed and the pillows on the couch.

do you feel settled here? is this home?

I'm somewhat settled, I love New York and I can't imagine living in any other city. I have no immediate plans to move from my apartment but there are times when I wish the neighborhood I live in was a little different. I'm really not sure what would make it more of a home to me, I guess maybe after I have lived here longer it will seem more that way.

thanks to kathryn!

coming soon

2011-02-01T12:09:00.000-05:00

a few posts back i mentioned a new project in the works and now that it is officially in progress, i would like to share it with you. presenting: bushwick home invasion! (oh my gosh, is that the worst title ever? well, it's a working title and will change soon. i think. it's sort of offensive, no? anyway...) in which i document the homes of friends and neighbors in bushwick, brooklyn. i absolutely love apartment and home tours, but most of those that i've seen are of the inspiring-but-unattainable variety. who hasn't wondered what the inside of that apartment upstairs or across the street looks like? this project is my excuse to go find out.

my dear friend kathryn was kind enough to allow me to use her apartment as my test run and i am excited to share the images and corresponding interview with you shortly. the photos are still being edited and i'm streamlining my questions, but i hope to have the post up before the week's end.

if you or anyone you know lives in bushwick and would like to be a part of this project, please send me an email. xo

2011-01-28T22:41:00.000-05:00

i have spent a shameful number of free hours this week caught up in a mind-bending search for the perfect canister or jar in which to place wooden spoons and the like. why this is suddenly more important to me than say, eating or, cleaning the apartment that said Very Important Canister would reside is beyond my powers of explanation. anyway, this one has really captured my imagination, though maybe not so much for stirrer storage.

thoughts for this morning

2011-01-26T09:01:00.001-05:00

tumblr blogs are always a little but infuriating.

i wonder if anyone has ever put chains on stroller tires.

january

2011-01-21T11:37:00.000-05:00

most days, when alden is napping in bed and i've mustered the power of will to stay awake myself, i putter around the apartment doing absolutely nothing of consequence for one and a half to three hours. it would be relaxing if the puttering were not the direct result of not being able to quiet my brain long enough to make a plan for how to properly use this time. or if i could somehow allow myself to just do what i'm doing without guilt. why is it that caring for a child full-time seems so decadent to me? i can't decide if it's guilt over not making any money, some sort of strange feminist guilt, a desire to be doing something else or a combination of these things.

since my sewing space is taking longer to come together than anticipated (and no, i can't work on it while he's sleeping...the curse of the railroad apartment) i dreamed up a photography project for myself. i have the first shoot lined up and am looking for more participants. i'll explain more when it's unveiled, since i tend to be embarrassed when Big Plans are announced but never seen through. it's nice to have a project to work on that seems like something that i can do with alden. we'll see how he reacts to being assigned the role of photographer's assistant.

i've just found that taking off slippers and stepping with bare feet onto cold kitchen floor tiles is a good exercise for bringing oneself back to the present. i need to find more such exercises.

2011-01-15T10:55:00.000-05:00

i am so excited about the amazing things my sister-from-another-mister (uh, and another mama too), my dearest karie has been making. karie is a world-traveling, design/build-ing, paint/craft-ing wunderkind (who just happens to be fully grown) and her work is infused with her spirit of adventure and enthusiasm.
please have a look here:
shelter on etsy
the shelter blog

2011-01-09T21:56:00.000-05:00

did i mention that christmas was good to us?

well, to be more accurate (and fair), our families are incredibly good to us. we were all showered with an overwhelming amount of presents, food and love and we are still enjoying ourselves silly while rolling in our excess. ian made possibly the best roast chicken i've ever had tonight (thank you martha stewart's cooking school and grandma julie) and he is now making white chocolate, cranberry, walnut cookies (thank you universe). we are trying to make christmas last all year.

this weekend we spent the last of our play money and bought ourselves a shiny new iMac (thank you various soleses). we're still trying to figure out where to put it, so typing on it is sort of too-close and blinding at the moment. i expect that this won't be a problem once i take my new lenses (see above) to have my prescription put in and i can then sit a respectable distance from this GIANT screen. to coincide with our shiny new gadgetry, i have officially fixed the quirks keeping me from my new domain (lovelierseasdotcom, not yet active) and must now (!), in the new year (!!) really get back to work...somehow (!!!)

ian and i are both really itching to start doing some creative work for ourselves and we took our philip seymour hoffman (we think) sighting, which was followed immediately by our ian-in-harper's-magazine sighting as an auspicious sign. i mean, it's not every day that a celebrity holds a door open for you, right? it must mean something. then again, maybe it wasn't him. anyway, ian has work in the february issue of harper's!

whew. it's sort of gross, i know, to be gushing and bragging about our stuff and coziness, but after the past few months of relative hard times and ian's pre-christmas stresses, i think maybe it's ok.

2011-01-06T13:07:00.000-05:00

trying to finish up some very late little gifts for a few of our baby friends while alden was napping and it occurred to me that though i talk incessantly, i never really say what i mean with words. if i were a superhero, i would want my super power to be the ability to instantly shoot craft from my fingertips. though i guess, not to fight crime or anything. maybe i'd rather just be magical.

2011-01-02T21:00:00.000-05:00

we made it to maryland, virginia and back! we won christmas! hooray!

it was looking pretty bleak. sorry for the bummer of a last post. but we made it and had a wonderful trip. we're a little bit sad to be back home to a slushy brooklyn, what with christmas and new year's being over and done with, we've definitely been hit with a dose of post-holiday glumness and the weather is not helping.

but! now we can get back to those back-burner projects. painting, sewing...fixing up our apartment.

it has been a fairly productive weekend. shelves were measured, cut and installed in the bathroom, pretty storage baskets were ordered, alden's crib was transformed into a toddler bed and (oh please don't let me jinx this) he is currently sleeping in it.

yes! sleeping in his own bed. it's only been an hour and we expect he'll climb back into bed with us later, but there were no tears or protests or even questions about it! i plunked him down on his pillow, sidled up next to him and read a story, then turned off the light and nursed him and voila! sleep. he did look at me funny and ask for his kitty and bear, but he didn't wake up when i left and he seemed to sort of understand what was going on. so exciting. it's a start, anyway.

so, happy new year, friends.

happy soles-tice-mas madness

2010-12-23T16:09:00.000-05:00

i type this as i p a t i e n t l y await the arrival of the already-late fedex truck. the fedex truck upon whose timely arrival rests our little family's ability to drive south to see our parents/grandparents. alden and papa are napping the time away. i'm being "patient" and watching the clock.

this has been the craziest week we've experienced in a very long time and poor papa has been the brunt of most of the insanity. first, he was selected as an alternate juror for brooklyn's grand jury, which meant that he was going to have to leave alden and i in virginia while he came back up here to check in and possibly serve every day until new year's, when he would be allowed to come down to meet us again. but then, what luck! he was dismissed! only to be mugged the following day. his wallet, phone, work bag, everything but the cookie-making gadgets he'd just purchased, gone in a flash (and a headlock.) but then, what luck! the robbers were nabbed! his wallet returned! but, he'd already canceled his credit card number. and without a credit card, we cannot rent a car. so! hello overnight fedex credit card delivery! let's see if this works.

of course, if it does work (please do let it) and we are sent driving off into the sunset this evening, that does not mean we are off the hook. oh no. for we may have to return in order that the crooks be given their speedy trial. on tuesday. by the grand jury that our dear darling man was previously set as an alternate juror for.

what is going on here? madness, all of it.

fedex has 25 minutes to make their second promised arrival time of the day.

we're all packed and ready to go and would very much like to leave brooklyn for a little while.

merry christmas! may you all be exactly where you want to be.