Sleepy Hollow

"Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons." -Jim Bishop

The final week in October boasts peak foliage around these parts: how is it possible that every year I forget how magnificent it is? Tiho and I spent Halloween evening in Sleepy Hollow, NY. We hiked through Rockefeller State Park Preserve for the hour leading up to sunset and then strolled the bustling main street of picturesque Tarrytown before stuffing ourselves silly at our favorite Greek restaurant in village center. While walking back to the car after dinner, we sipped hot cider and admired all of the costumed kids and adults running through the streets. It's so fun to think about next year's Halloween and how different that will be with an almost-one-year-old. Whoa!

[Photos: October 2015 / iPhone 6+]

Shakespeare Garden & Strawberry Fields

The only perk of pregnancy sickness and exhaustion is the fact that Tiho now drives me to shoots and sticks around to help with equipment. This means we get a lot of bonus "dates" after spending Saturday mornings chasing toddlers around parks and playgrounds.

Last weekend, I had an early session in Central Park's Shakespeare Garden. I love that place. It's one of my most popular spots for client sessions because it always has amazing light and provides a gorgeous backdrop for photos. After the session wrapped, (here's a peek on instagram), we strolled through the ramble down to the John Lennon memorial, aka Strawberry Fields, and then went and enjoyed lunch and our first couple visit to Giggle (a baby store).

We tested out a couple of strollers and carseats (even though I'm already 99% decided on those two purchases) before getting the shock of our lives when the store manager came up to us in a booming voice and said "Congratulations! You're the lucky winners! In honor of Memorial Day, I am offering one and only one customer 20% off anything in the store." Um, what? Okay then! So we officially bought our first (and by far, biggest) baby purchase: the most comfortable glider I have ever sat in. Even Tiho agreed, and trust me, he's a tough sell. It should arrive next month and will replace a chair in our living room...'cause baby is pretty much only getting a corner in this one-bedroom apartment!

The Week's End + Online Reccs

I woke up early this morning for an appointment and was almost immediately lulled back to sleep by the rain hitting the window. I've had these past two weeks off from work (the perks of teaching in a private school--spring break for half of March!), and my plan for the remainder of the day involves organizing my closet, laying in bed with a book and cup of tea, and taking an afternoon stroll into town for dinner provisions, flowers and a manicure. Life is rough, I know. :)

I took this photo last week when I was visiting my mom for a few days on the Cape. We were driving home from the store when we--quite literally--stopped in our tracks in order to watch the sky do completely amazing tricks.

The other day, I was visiting my friend Elizabeth and her brand new squishy little baby, Thea. We were talking about blog-reading and offering suggestions based on the various sites we visit on a regular basis. I've been reading blogs for years (nearly the entirety of my twenties) and have whittled down my loyalty to a small handful. I used to be super into design blogs and now only follow one or two. Same goes for food and fashion blogs. I feel like most people read what interests them based on wherever they are in life. At least that's true for me. Here's 20 current favorites below:


Parenting/Family:
Coffee + Crumbs
Camp Patton
Where My Heart Resides
Tulips & Flightsuits
Mockabee 7
Babyccino Kids
Love Taza
Practising Simplicity

Home/Design:
Emily Henderson
Yellow Brick Home
Smitten Studio

Lifestyle:
Wit + Delight
Design for Mankind
Reading My Tea Leaves
Hither & Thither
Cup of Jo
Laken B. Nix
Oh Joy!
Fleurishing

Food:
Sprouted Kitchen

Brand-new-to-me:
Making Room

Bonus...10 instagrammers I love: @angelahardison, @ameliamarthelia, @childhoodunplugged, @kaeyelch, @amandajanejones, @mamawatters, @courtneyadamo, @bythebrush, @pobke, @alice_gao

Any must-read online favorites I should check out?

Here's to a restful, fulfilling weekend for us all!

Straw & Feather

Spring is coming, spring is coming,
Birdies build your nests.
Weave together straw and feather,
Doing each your best.

Spring is coming, spring is coming,
Flowers are waking too.
Daisies, lilies, daffo-dillies,
All are coming through.

Spring is coming, spring is coming,
All around is fair.
Shimmer, glimmer, on the river,
Joy is everywhere.

Daffodils symbolize the first whispered breaths of spring: they represent hopefulness, joy, new beginnings, warmth, sunshine, rebirth.

Do you know that in ancient herbalism and medicine, the scent of a daffodil was used as an intoxicant? For the over-thinkers, or the anxious, breathing in the scent significantly relaxes and calms the mind. No wonder I can't stop placing little glass jars in every room.

At This Point In Early November

It's raining today and the trees outside the window are the richest hues of copper and gold. I feel more attuned right now, noticing the sound of my shoes crunching over the leaves on the street, or how my living room currently smells like the coziest combination of evergreen and cloves, or how the kiddos on the city sidewalks are pink-cheeked and wearing tiny wool hats.

I love this time of year; the transition of the harvest season towards the holidays. I love curling up under my cream-colored cable knit throw on the couch in the evenings and feeling sleepy only minutes after dinner and not caring if everything on my list gets accomplished each day. I love sipping hot soup from a mug and hatching plans to make a wreath from red berries & twisted eucalyptus and the way the late afternoon light bathes everything in the softest, warmest glow.

I love moments that make me startlingly aware that a memory is being made; for example, when Tiho picks me up and twirls me in the kitchen in the middle of chopping onions to put on our pizza.

At this point in early November, I am gratified by the bountiful gifts surrounding me and the unbridled appreciation I have for them. We, as humans, all too frequently forget these gifts; the gifts derived from nature, from kindness, from interconnectedness.

As the season of giving commences, let us all strive towards a little more intentionality.

Magic Hour // Paris

Did you notice that I completely stink at making time to edit personal photos now, thus failing to share any from the Paris + Barcelona portions of our European trip two months ago? Glad we got that squared away. This post is me attempting to get my shiz together. You'll probably see the rest of the photos by Christmas.

**

The most pressing problem we faced while in Paris was where to position ourselves the hour before sunset each night in order to take advantage of prime photo-taking light. If I'd had it my way, we'd utilize a cloning machine to be everywhere at once, or better yet, a time-traveling machine enabling us to relive the magic hour over and over again.

Alas, strolling along the seine proved to be the optimal choice.

I've decided that on our next visit to Paris, I'm only taking pictures at dusk. At the very least, it would mean a lighter bag and more time for baguette consumption during the day.

P.S. What's funny about these pictures, relative to my disclaimer above, is that I barely touched them in post-processing. The light in Paris is sublime.

Salt + Air

I greet you today while sitting at my desk, a little bit stuffed up and sniffly with a summer cold, sipping a hot cup of cranberry tea and catching up on loads of work after a week away to my most beloved place on earth, Cape Cod.

Shortly after waking each morning while on the Cape, I walked outside and immediately inhaled as deeply as I could to fill my lungs with salty air. The seemingly omnipresent restlessness I've felt in recent months subsided for the first time in a long, long while. I spent one entire afternoon lying in the hammock reading while the sun warmed my skin. A couple of different mornings found us practicing yoga. We walked the flats, watched the sunset and the moon rise over open water, ate seafood until our bellies popped, and squeezed in a wedding and abundant downtime with friends and family.

In Seven Gothic Tales, Isak Dinesen wrote "The cure for anything is salt water: tears, sweat or the sea."

At this moment, disputing the aforementioned proves futile.

A Walk In The Park

Here's one very important item I forgot to include on my summer bucket list: plenty of downtime in Central Park. Without a doubt, I consider it one of New York City's greatest treasures--time there is never wasted. During the summer months, the vibrancy of green in every direction (as evidenced above) is enough to make you forget you're in the middle of the city.

I am currently reading Sister Mother Husband Dog: Etc., a book of essays by Delia Ephron (Nora's sister). The way she writes about New York City causes me to frantically search for a pen so I can transcribe my favorite little bits, like this:

"If New York is for you, nothing else will do. The beauty, the excitement, the friction, the thrill of mystery...mostly, however, loving New York is personal: the  validation of identity. New Yorkers are born all over the country and then they come to the city and it strikes them, 'Oh, this is who I am."

This is true for me, having come here for college ten years ago (ten years!) with nothing more than a few plastic bins and the beautiful naiveté of being eighteen and out on your own for the first time.

P.S. More bubbles!

[Photos: May - July 2014 // Central Park, NYC]

The Blue Lagoon // Iceland

We kicked off our trip with an eight-hour stopover in Iceland. Tiho purposely booked our flight to London with this layover so we could adventure to the Blue Lagoon, only a thirty-minute bus ride from the Keflavík airport. We arrived a bit groggy after a red-eye flight but perked up immediately upon entry to the lagoon.

I look forward to returning to Iceland someday to explore more of the country. From what we observed during our brief sojourn, most of the terrain is made up of open sky and massive rocks. I've never seen anything like it before. The one word that keeps springing to mind is vast. The views were breath-taking and surreal: Tiho and I both commented that it felt like we were on another planet. In the future, I would love to tour the southern coast of the country to see the wild ponies, waterfalls, glaciers and tiny coastal towns.

Here's a gratuitous (albeit grainy) iPhone pic of yours truly soaking in the hot, milky steam. We didn't dare bring the good camera anywhere near the edge.

Viva Sweet Love

“Sweet spring is your

time is my time is our

time for springtime is lovetime

and viva sweet love

(all the merry little birds are

flying in the floating in the

very spirits singing in

are winging in the blossoming)

lovers go and lovers come

awandering awondering

but any two are perfectly

alone there's nobody else alive

(such a sky and such a sun

i never knew and neither did you

and everybody never breathed

quite so many kinds of yes)

not a tree can count his leaves

each herself by opening

but shining who by thousands mean

only one amazing thing

(secretly adoring shyly

tiny winging darting floating

merry in the blossoming

always joyful selves are singing)

sweet spring is your

time is my time is our

time for springtime is lovetime

and viva sweet love” 

― E.E. Cummings