september

september is...

apples and honey
the new year
harvest
a fast
crisp
family dinners
darker
socks
pears
plums
last bits of tomatoes
a wedding
a birthday
more tea and music and candles in my home

and for you?

summer visions in my head

summer is quickly approaching here and i am ready for it. i've started daydreaming about little road trips and camping and star gazing and popsicles. we got a big bag full of oranges from jon's family, grown off their tree in california, and i am freezing the juice on a tip from tara. we will use the frozen orange juice later for summer drinks, popping them into tequila or seltzer. i'm also excited about freezing tonic, something molly wrote about in my new favorite book. i'm scheming up different sorbet flavors and, in anticipation for our summer csa, i'm thinking about all the different things to do with lettuce. this time of year i still feel the ingrained adrenaline rush of freedom dangling in front of me, yearning to run free as if i had a summer break. i don't have a summer break, but i am determined to not let that stop my fun. i even bought shorts! and i am pulling out my summer dresses! yes, i know this summer will be just right. with canoe rides and hikes and picnics and...so much possibility.

june 1

june is...

barbeques
anticipation of the summer solstice
celebrating
the ice cream machine in constant rotation
flip flops and dirty feet
sunglasses
cool evenings
harvest of spring crops
creative salads (more on that soon)
a short trip to minneapolis
new skirts
late nights

tell me what june is for you in the comments, or leave a link to your blog post about it.
happy june!

signs of spring

 

spring is here in full force! this weekend was an unreliable mixture of sunny and drizzly and windy and warm. it seems that the whole city is about to bloom. people are excited, happy, smiling, and friendly in a way that only spring in seattle can generate. i feel a wave of optimism coming over me and i am ready to embrace it. spring always gives me the sense of new beginnings and recreations. this spring, i am hoping for more challenging creative endeavors, new friendships and a revitalization of older ones, plenty of time wandering around noticing new flowers and smelling the air, to add some gluten-free baked goods to my recipe repertoire, iced coffees, and time for myself.

here's to refreshing our day to day lives!

the year in reflection june-august

looking back at 2009, in pictures.

summer:

using the holga, expired film, summer solstice party, flowers in full bloom, walking across the brooklyn bridge, montreal, french, quebec city, 107 degrees, the ocean, farmer's markets.

*it's really overwhelming to look through all my pictures of the last year, but i think it is a good thing to narrow down one or two that sum up a moment or a time. it is also really nice to post pictures that never made it online. here they are now.

the year in reflection january-june

 

 

looking back at 2009, in pictures.

january through june:

a visit to new york, making new friends, visiting frog hill farm, seattle loses a newspaper, buds sprout at first sight of sun, picking the first crop of chives from the soil, getting a new film camera, the seattle tilth edible plant sale.

festivities

it has been a full few weeks of gatherings and celebrations and festivities. i was lucky enough to be asked to make dessert for two parties. for my mom's birthday, i made the smitten kitchen gingerbread apple upside-down cake. (photo above, which i am now comparing to deb's photo and realize i probably didn't bake my cake long enough!) it was delicious with a caramel top and chewy apples and rich molasses cake. and on christmas day, we made a winter fruit pie from the rustic fruit desserts cookbook. (recipe here).

i'd say, these are both keepers when i need a great go-to winter dessert. i love baking seasonally, highlighting the flavors and fruits available at particular times of the year. neither of these desserts were too rich, but they did serve a lot of people. the winter fruit tart had apples and cranberries and pears and figs in it, the perfect combination of hearty and comforting fruits.

i'm looking forward to the new year, but before it, i'd like to do a post or two looking back on this past year.
until then...

winter solstice

this morning was so dark and at first i was confused. did my three day weekend make me forget what 7:30 looks like? then i realized, yes, it is the longest night of the year today. isn't that sort of a weird thought? i find it odd. so much dark and then slowly days get lighter and lighter. and in the middle of december? it seems like january or february would be the darkest times. they certainly feel dark. (side note: how bout white strings of lights around the city all winter long, wouldn't that be nice?)

anyway, happy winter solstice. whether you hibernate, or light a candle, or celebrate or grumble i hope you have a chance to think about how cool our planet is and it's changing season's. (at least, i think it's cool).

thank you all so much for the birthday wishes. i felt like i could share a bit of my celebration with you through all your notes this weekend. i am now proudly another year older. not telling which year, though :)

take care.

winter berries

winter berries are in full bloom these days, and the cold is bitter. you might laugh at me for cringing at 18-25 degrees (f), but i'm from seattle! i'm not used to below freezing or even a temperature in the teens. i'm not used to snow, either. and i hate to be a party pooper, but i don't even like snow. in fact, i hope we don't get snow this year. last year, seattle had a long snow storm and, because we aren't equipped for dealing with snow (we really never get more than a day of snow a year), it sort of shut down the city for a week.and it was the week before christmas--yes, the busiest retail week of the year was practically dead.

this year, snow can come at an odd time for a day or two and i would be comfortable. i don't mind seeing the white flakes slowly and quietly finding their way down to the ground. i also don't mind putting on mittens and snow boots and big coats to take a slippery walk around the block. so, snow, why don't you just come quietly, have your fun, then leave quickly this year? sound good?

december 1

december is...
hold on! did november already fly by? i feel like it was just last week when i posted my november list. wow. well, anyway,
 december is...

my favorite month
red berries on trees
tights and big coats
gifts and cards and baked goods
the festival of lights
wood stove fires
lots of people and parties
family, friends
excitement
good food
cold noses
my birthday
candles

what is december to you?

thankful

 

hello!

thanks for all your apple dessert advice--most of it came from those of you who aren't even in the states. good dessert needs no holiday, right? yesterday i thought i had decided on this smitten kitchen recipe. but this morning i've changed my mind all over again. i just have to wait until tonight when i'm in the kitchen and see what inspired me then. (good thing i'm not making the whole meal with all this indecision).

growing up, we always had thanksgiving at my grandparent's, where i was the one and only child at the table. instead of being relegated to boredom and antsy-ness, i was given two of the most important tasks. one was to make the name cards and decide where each person was to sit. (we still use namecards in my 8 year old handwriting, with some names mis-spelled). the second important task was to run the coloring contest. that's right--a coloring contest! after dinner and before dessert my grandma helped me collect blank paper and crayons. i stood in front of the table every year and announced the year's theme and how many crayons each person was allowed to take. then i started the timer for one minute, collected the drawings and went into the other room to grade them. i presented every person's drawing, with the grand prize last. it was usually a chocolate turkey. my theme was usually something about fall or the holidays. we don't do coloring contests anymore because i am now considered an adult, but i'd still be happy to go in the other room and look at each person's little piece of art all by myself.

for now, i will leave you with a list.

things i've done in the past year for which i am grateful:

-met lots of new people--globally and locally--through this blog.

-visited the farm where i get my produce.

-launched into a new creative endeavor and fallen in love with it: film photography.

-learned the new york subway system and my way around parts of brooklyn.

-visited montreal and practised my french there.

-had my first photo show

-took on more responsibility at work

-tended to a vegetable and flower garden

...oh i know there is so  much more, but that will be it for now.

oh, one more thing! have you signed up for my mailing list? you can in the upper right hand corner. i have a special sale coming up, available only to newsletter subscribers. go ahead...

october 27

more film images from my walk to work last week. aaah, seattle is having the best fall. i can't stop talking about it! speaking of the best fall, my work has been really vibrant lately. we have hosted so many amazing and inspiring authors this october, i'm sort of sad for it to start slowing down next month. for those of you who don't know or are unclear, i work at an independent bookstore, in the author events department. that means that I--along with four other people--organize, book, promote, set up, introduce and clean up all of the bookstore's community events. mostly, authors tour for their newest book and we host them, but we do other promotions and community related work as well. it's invigorating, intellectual, social and inspiring. and, like i said, this october has been madness in the best sort of way. i've had an event practically every night of the week! i've introduced or hosted people like taylor branch, sarah vowell, langdon cook, tracy kidder, bill thorness, tim flannery...the list goes on.

and last night, jonathan lethem. i know i said a few things about him last week and how i was having a hard time with his new book. no more. chronic city is about manhattan, a step out of lethem's traditional brooklyn scenery. he says it is about the "solacism of manhattan" and the "solacism of cultural obsession." he talked about art as everyone's and how the book will never disappear because it has invested itself too deeply into culture.  it will only mold itself to how the world changes. and, relating his internet bookmark tabs to life in manhattan (or the big world, for that matter), he said "if the rest of the internet disappered, how long would it take me to notice? we create a tiny, controlable system out of gigantic possibilities."

like i said, our super packed events schedule will be soon teetering off to a trickle of only a few events a week and i am both sad to see the busy season go and ready for a well-deserved rest.

what is inspiring you lately?

fall favorites on film

by idathue

 by brianwferry

 

 by jen/sophik

 by abbytrysagain

i'm enjoying all the fall photos around flickr these days and i can't help but notice how well film picks up the wonderful texture and light of fall. above are some of the many examples. i am posting these to inspire my walk to work today. with camera(s) in hand, i'm going to walk along a quiet beautiful boulevard lined with huge maples. i can't wait to slosh through the leaf piles and look up to a yellow, orange dotted sky.

i hope these images inspire your monday as well...

me time

a seattle night on film.
taken last weekend with a special visitor in town. 
more photos from that day to come.

i loved your comments on the last post! i'm sorry to all of you southern hemisphere readers, i didn't even think that not everyone is celebrating fall. it's so easy to only write about what you know. i hope you have a beautiful spring. and, for everyone who asked: i'm moving to a new neighborhood in seattle. not too far, but a big change. i took some film shots of the light coming into my new empty house and i hope they turn out well for me to share with you.

today has been full of packing and cleaning and hauling and moving. and now i am sitting down to take some much needed (and usually neglected) me time. for the next hour or so i get to relax, explore the internet, journal and finish my book. and i will do it all sitting by a window, because i can't get over the beautiful light today.

hope you are well!

happy october

this october i am looking forward to:

leaves crunching under my feet

red, orange, brown and yellow

pumpkins

baking pie

cooking soups

crisp air, woodsy smell

the excited anticipation of a night out for halloween (i don't go out for halloween anymore, but the feeling wont die)

drizzle, cool and dark

a new house...i'm moving. yikes.

wearing more scarfs and shopping for a new sweater

boots

curling up with a book and tea and calling it a weekend
planting bulb flowers

happy october to you

september 17

the fog has finally started to roll in here in seattle. days are still record-breakingly hot for mid-september, but when i step out of my house in the morning there is a soft mist and dew over my yard that unmistakeably reminds me of fall. tomorow is the new year for me and my family. we'll be eating apples and honey all weekend. i really think there is something to be said about celebrating a new year each fall. i mean we did it every year when we went back to school, right? we've all had those nervous, excited anticipation feelings of something new, a fresh start. that's fall, isn't it? i'm excited and humbled to get to celebrate the coming of another new year.

and i'm curious, in what ways do you celebrate fall?

the end of the road

this bridge has a sign next to it that says "bridge dangerous: cross at your own risk."
today is labor day and it is raining. it's been raining all weekend and i finally have to face the fall and the dark. rain in seattle is so nostalgic. after a beautiful long summer, the crisp, wet fresh air reminds me of going back to school, of hot tea inside with sweatshirts on, of running from house to car, of puddles and soggy pant legs. i know there is beauty and comfort in the fall and i know that the rain is the only way to support the beautiful lush spring and summers. i just have to get prepared...

***
thank you all for the FABULOUS (!) comments on my last post. i'm so blown away by how much you loved those photos that every comment i got made me go back and look and love them more. i appreciate all the new people who have commented and all my stand-by friends who keep giving me great feedback and support. thank you all!

***
it is the last day of my labor day weekend sale and i have added one photo from the double exposed roll. i'll be adding more of that roll to the shop soon, but since that one is my personal favorite, i thought i'd give it a day on sale. go take a look at the boulder shot! it is 10% off and 15% off with the purchase of another item. but for you, if you enter weekend deals + the baker's daughter in the message to seller, you get 20% any item in my shop today (monday) only! let me know if you have questions.

*i am going to try to post less about my shop than i have this week and instead set up a e-newsletter for those interested, thanks for your patience.

i hope you enjoy

september 1

is it really september already?
and i haven't even gotten to show you my photos from quebec city. or my farm photos! or my beach photos! i've been a little slow. in my idealism i like to do things seasonally, but i'm learning that with film, time gets rearranged; slows down and stops and starts. i kind of like it.
but will you be okay if i show you beach shots once the weather starts getting cool and the evenings are darker? how will you feel about fields of fresh farm food when the tomatoes and summer greens start to disappear? do you have patience to sit through the last leg of my canada trip into the beautiful, european looking city of quebec? and really, how will i feel posting all my summer shots when leaves are crunching under my feet? i hope it will be an important re-living and looking backwards. i've always processed my experiences on the slow side, taking time for them to sink in. this will be no different. i hope you are along for the ride.

happy september

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comments on comments:
rahel: thank you for finding me and stopping by my blog! i'm excited to get to know yours better.
jane: welcome back, i has a lot of fun seeing your daily questions. i hope there will be more giveaways.
trinsch: thank you thank you. you have a great week too.