a winter picnic

We drove up into the mountains a little ways this weekend for a wintry picnic and we were treated to a little snowstorm! Such a wonder in Southern California.












At first it seemed like just a bit of slushy rain would fall, then it began to hail a little (with the cutest white round pellets), then finally there were real, fluffy white flakes. Actual snow! There were a lot of hikers and picnic-ers headed up the path to the falls. The boys loved just jumping and running around in it. A great memory for us all.

from the weekend

I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures from last weekend--just as it's almost time for this weekend to come around. We had a wintry weekend with rain and colder temps--so dramatic and cozy! Faith snapped this picture at the beach. It wasn't raining that day, but it was cold-ish. Rainer was overheard saying, "c'mon Dieter. Let's go around and have some fun!" Rainer won't go near the water, but he loves jumping on the dunes with his brother.



A highlight was visiting Santa Barbara Natural History museum. We've been there before several times, but this time was so cozy with the rain. Do you see how warmly the boys are dressed? I was thrilled because normally they refuse to wear their jackets. I just love seeing a child dressed warmly. The museum was super fun. I was so enchanted with our visit that I bought a membership, so now we can go all year.



I love the huge, amorphous constructions they've been making with Brio Mec. Lately they've been loving to build stuff. Later in the weekend I also bought them some plain Legos, and oh how they have been enjoying those.



Lunch at Sharkey's on Monday of the long weekend. I'm very enamoured of Sharkey's right now. Everyone was happy and eating well, and they have so many healthy selections.

This weekend it's supposed to rain some more. Am loving this late burst of wintery weather. What are your plans for the weekend?

which magazines are you adding back in?

Awhile back I wrote a post about which magazines I was giving up. Since that time a lot of magazines have folded all together. It's kind of sad. I've enjoyed receiving fewer magazines, but now I'm finding that I actually want to add some back into my life. I recently discovered/rediscovered Whole Living and I'm liking it very much. Lots of healthy recipes in there, workout suggestions to offer inspiration, and natural beauty tips. All the photography is lovely, which is what really draws me to a magazine in the first place. I haven't subscribed to this yet, but I want to. Right now my mother is passing her copies along to me.



I'm also feeling a renewed interest in Martha Stewart Living just lately. I purchased the January and February issues and there's quite a bit in there that caught my attention. The page above is an article on cooking various whole grain breakfast cereals. In the past this magazine has turned me off a little--everything seemed so high end and unattainable! But I think they are trying to ease back on that and present more down to earth topics and activities. I've also noticed them featuring more basic crafts. This month there's a feature on counted cross-stitch which was very simple and appealing.



Yesterday I received my winter issue of 3191 quarterly. Love! This is a very small magazine but very inspiring and artistic. I loved the article on winter hiking.

And my mom recently gave me a gift subscription to Real Simple. I have mixed feelings about that magazine (because it's not really about simplicity, is it?), but this month they had a great collection of essays written by various authors about their favorite ages they remember, which I enjoyed thoroughly.

How about you? Are you finding yourself wanting to add back in some magazines?

PS--I have a Formspring now! Find the link in my sidebar.

a year in the making

This fun little project is "Brandie's Book" from Handmade Home. There is no way this should have been a year in the making, but I started cutting pages for this, and then it sat, sat, and sat in my studio for months. I think the big delay was that I was intending to cut more pages for it, and also I wasn't sure how the binding process would go. The book says to take it to your local copy shop and ask for a coil binding, but I had no experience with asking for such a thing.

The concept of this project is that you gather and collect all kinds of random papers-- blank, lined, colored, images from magazines and catalogs, mailers, file folders or what have you--and bind them together into a fanciful journal. I immediately loved the idea. It was so fun gathering the papers. I bought a simple paper cutter at Michael's and that was fun to use too.

Finally a couple days ago I braved the local copy shop. It is really small and they are very friendly. I told myself walking in, "this will probably go way more smoothly than I suspect. This will probably be easy."

No. I wasn't anticipating that they'd have to take the whole thing apart. The guy asked me to come behind the counter and assist him because he did not get the concept at all and didn't see how the papers were supposed to go. In the end, he reversed a section of the book, which is now bound upside down (not shown in the above pictures!).

I wonder if I should have gone to a big Kinko's? Would they have a machine that can bind the book in one piece?

I do like the result and I think it would be super fun to make these for my friends as gifts. Something to think about for Christmas giving next year . . .

thank you!

I got a new thrifted lamp over the weekend. I like it. It is certainly different and better than the flimsy tippy-over thing we had here before (and which finally broke). I had to buy and new shade and finial for it at Target, so it was not super cheap then, but I just like using thrifted things to decorate the house.

I wanted to thank you all for your very sweet, supportive, and friendly comments over the last week or so, as I've been doing daily blogging. It has been so fun to read all of them. Thanks so much for all the ideas for using nuts, supportive comments about my close snake encounter, and insights and experiences with the whole aromatherapy/yoga thing. I don't get a chance to reply in the comments, or to visit your blogs, very often, but I read and absorb everything you say and appreciate every kind word, so thank you!

I was thinking about starting a formspring to answer specific questions. Anyone have experience with this? Is it easy to use?

So excited--I signed up for 30 day vegan today. No, I'm not going to become vegan, but I'm very much wanting to have a healthy "cleanse" in my life right now. Heather explains it so well in her post.

Happy midweek to you! We are looking forward to rain in the forecast and a long weekend coming up.

happy valentines day!

We had a really simple valentines day: work and school, regular dinner, followed by our annual trail of hearts. The kids were so excited to tell me about their school celebrations and to eat the insane amount of candy they received. I remember when valentines day was just about exchanging little cards and maybe there were some homemade treats at the class celebration. That is how I like it. Now it is like Halloween in February. Sigh.

Favorite memory: Dieter completing all his cards to his classmates late last night. It was a long, arduous haul, but he insisted on making a handmade, Dieter-style card for everyone and doing all the writing himself. I was so proud of him for completing the task. And a special shout out to Ken for staying by Dieter's side and helping him along the way. He has much more patience than I for such things.

Other favorite memory: Rainer walking up to me in the kitchen and plonking down his handmade card to me in the most unceremonious way. Super cute!

Happy heart day to all!

I'm happy to say we did almost everything on both the "dreamy" and the "practical" lists for this weekend. I am feeling so much more energetic. Took the boys to the beach today (instead of the park), and even though it was a short time it was really nice. Next week we will go and stay much longer.

I made three lists today while cleaning out/neatening the pantry. I decided to list all the canned food I use to use up and post it on the fridge. I don't want to be one of those little old ladies who has decades old food in her cabinets one day. I'm so excited that with this list I can use up everything in the next couple weeks. I'm feeling very thrifty and green. I was so happy with the first list I decided to make one for the freezer and one for all the beans/grains/nuts that need to be rotated "into our bellies" as well.

I have a lot of nuts that I didn't use up for Christmas baking. Any ideas of what to use them for, other than cookies and granola?

of yoga, rattlesnakes and steak pie

I had a really good Saturday. I think my health/energy resolutions are starting to kick in a bit. I feel better. I hope it continues.

Thursday I had to do something hard for me at work. I had to go on our school TV announcements (live TV that goes to all the classrooms) and explain to the kids about the new whooping cough vaccine that they are all required to get (a new law in our state). Doing something that stretches me so far out of my comfort zone was energizing. I think I did well, and the important thing to me (other than the obvious utility of getting the word out) was that I stepped up to the plate and did what I needed to do, even though at first I did not want to.

Another scary thing: I was nearly bitten by a rattlesnake today! Ken and I were hiking and all of a sudden I saw a hissing, coiled snake just a bit to my left. I stopped in my tracks. Ken took my shoulders and pulled me back several steps (he was hiking behind me) and said to back up. Super scary! Only after a moment did I really perceive the sound of the rattle going. Oh my, my heart was pounding. I've never encountered a rattlesnake while hiking before.

I feel I packed a lot of activity into the day. That's another sign that I'm feeling more energetic. I did a "white tornado" on the house pretty early in the morning. I let the boys help with the first part of it. I played music and it felt good. I worked in the studio for a bit and then was at yoga class by 10:45.

In yoga there was a woman on the mat next to me using a lot of essential oils, just rubbing them into her hands and chest and stuff. It was quite shocking when I first smelled it. Eucalyptus, I think. The smell was super strong. After a while, I started to enjoy the scent. Is it weird that she was doing that though? It's an easy, beginner's level class, and she came with her eye pillow and essential oils. Any thoughts?



The neighbor's tree is the exact same color as the onion I chopped for the steak pie. Pretty. It's total spring here, except for at night, when it freezes.



So, this was the third year of the steak pie. I do love this recipe, but it took me ALL afternoon to prepare. I was doing well, being all mellow and intentional about it, and mindful, but then became a little emotional and quite irritated when we sat down to the meal and one child loudly proclaimed everything on the table "yucky" and another (a teen child) refused to eat anything and sat there with an empty plate because nothing on the table suited her. Major grrr!

The baked butternut squash, from the same cookbook as the pie (Apples for Jam) turned out to be a hit, and I finally remembered to use the butternut squash we saved from summer. It was so nice having a homegrown vegetable at dinner.

inspiration journal, recently

There is something so soothing about pasting pretty pictures into a book and writing a few words. I guess it's like tumblr, but old school. Sometimes it's nice to do things the old fashioned way. I've always been majorly into journals, office supplies, writing down my thoughts, and list making.

The images here are trying to evoke the "clean" feeling of January.





For February inspiration, I've been clipping examples of accessorizing. I think it's time to learn how to accessorize, at last.

Thinking about for this weekend:

Dreamy
sipping wine with Ken
watching Project Runway with Faith and Dieter (and probably Rainer too, although he's not as interested)
making Saturday morning pancakes
studio time (I hope!)
knitting
making steak pie
baking cookies with the boys
coffee with milk
a trip to the park to enjoy this spring-like weather
yoga
a short hike with Ken

Practical:
laundry
a white tornado
Sunday night and all that that entails (lunches, setting out clothes for morning, going to bed early)

What's on your list?

getting to my health resolutions

{new diet journal}

I'm finally getting around to forming some health resolutions for the new year. I haven't been able to fit in a daily walk as I had hoped (truly, with my full time job and commute and cooking in the evenings, and with it still getting dark early, I just haven't been able to. At least not yet). But I am making some progress on my healthy eating resolutions, or at least I am starting to see what I want to do.

Last summer when I visited my friend Sylvia in Fresno, we were talking about our weight and she suggested that rather than losing then gaining the same 10 pounds over and over again (which is what I tend to do), that instead I should set my sights on just maintaining my weight. I took her advice to heart. And now I'm a couple pounds above the "upper limit" I set for myself, so right now is when I really need to think about how I want to do maintenance.

I decided I'm going to learn one new skill each week. My first skill is "no snacking." And by "no snacking" I do mean a healthy snack of string cheese and fruit at 10am (because I eat breakfast so early and don't get to take lunch until 1pm--I really feel I need to have that snack). Along with no snacking, I'm conscious of taking reasonable portion sizes (not tiny) and not serving myself second helpings.

Thinking about it, even if I only learn this one skill, it would make a huge difference in my overall health and wellbeing and hopefully weight maintenance over the years. So for that reason, I may just stick to these same goals for next week too, just to really make them stick.

I do very well with a food journal, so that is part of this. I'm writing down everything I eat and trying to make it fit very neatly into "breakfast", "snack", "lunch" and "dinner" categories, with no extraneous munching noted.

For most of us women, maintaining our weight becomes an issue at some point in our lives. I'm motivated to stay healthy for my family and for my own enjoyment of old age eventually. What motivates you?

cheap (ish) couch update

{Sorry about the Klean Kanteen in the foreground here. I'm too lazy and forgetful to re-shoot this.}

We've been needing to update our Pottery Barn sofa cover for literally years now, but the replacement slipcovers are so expensive. $499 for the brushed canvas--just the slipcover. Yikes! So for years and years I quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) hated my slipcovers, but didn't know what to do about it.

Finally I realized (via Wisecraft) that the Ikea Ektorp slipcovers fit a PB Basics sofa. Hooray! I still hesitated for quite awhile, because the $49 slipcover (the cheapest one, in white, and the only one in our price range) just seemed too cheap. Would it even be anywhere near upholstery weight? Finally, in desperation I ordered it. Our old slipcovers were just too gross. And happily they fit! And are pretty sturdy! I wish I had done this years ago. The fresh white is such a relief after the ugly Pottery Barn green (I had immediate buyer's regret when I bought it originally, about 10 years ago).

What do you do about living with kids and sofas? Kids + sofas are a dicey combination if you ask me. I'm beginning to think that brown leather would be the answer. How do you manage your couch with kids around?

nature table freshen-up

The nature table has been so plain and bare this last month or so. It was much in need of a little freshen up, so I got out the heart shaped rocks and placed some pears on a tray.

That little felted heart makes me smile. My friend Carrie made it for us. She is not an artsy craftsy gal usually, but for a short time she was needle felting, and gave us the heart. So sweet. The heart shaped rocks are collected from the beach (Faith just found one and gave it to me recently. Again, so sweet.) The vintage tray was just passed down to me from my mother. It's was my grandmother's. I love it. It has a riot of colorful vegetables printed on it. So sixties.



I was browsing through my blog archives a while back, and I was struck by how bright and colorful the nature table is in summer--a riot of color indeed. And it made me think that we really do have seasons here--as subtle as they may be. We don't really have flowers in bloom in our yard in the winter. Nature is transitioning. And the nature table reflects that.

2010 favorites

I got a disproportionate boost of pleasure when I put together this little office inspiration board for February. I used entirely things found in my bag and desk drawer. It is funny how this tiny act of creativity gives me such a boost. On bottom: a sheet torn out of the current issue of Whole Living, next, a sheet torn out of the fall issue of 3191 quarterly, and on top a Nikki McClure postcard. I'm going to try to change this board each month. It's nice to have something pretty decorating the office.

I put together a list of favorites from 2010. I'm still processing the old year and setting my goals for the new. I'm a little slow that way. Honestly, I think February is a good time for that. Things slow down a bit and I have time to reflect.

Favorites 2010

:: cookbook: Apples for Jam of course. I was so inspired by the writing and the photography in this book, and to make it perfect, her recipes are delicious. This was a very successful cookbook for me.

:: rediscovered old recipe: vegetable beef soup. We loved this soup over the fall and winter months. So glad I rediscovered it.

:: book: The Happiness Project. I'm planning to re-read this one soon. I love Gretchin Rubin and she is constantly bringing up interesting points about happiness on her blog (for example, I loved her post today about not keeping score).

:: movie: No Impact Man. I never did end up blogging about this last spring, but I loved the movie No Impact Man and was compelled to buy and devour the book as well. It's a true story (documentary) about a family in New York who attempted to live "no impact" for an entire year, right in the middle of the city. Their journey is fascinating. They found that the practice of simplicity brought them unexpected deep happiness. I was really inspired by this.

:: sewn project: "Mama's Bag," from Handmade Home, both version one and version two. I've used these bags constantly since I made them.

:: best new-to-me blog: Lady I Swear By All Flowers. I love Chelsea's honesty, her excellent writing, her aesthetic sense--her beautiful photographs and lovely apartment, and her two baby boys are simply adorable. I think she's part of a group of younger bloggers who are getting away from the "perfection blog" mindset and keeping it positive, but also real. So refreshing!

:: best new blog: Dinner: A Love Story. Again, so much excellent writing and wonderful dinner inspiration too. I love the philosophy of the blog: the importance of family dinner, even if it's hard, even if we can only manage four homemade meals a week, and even if not everyone's plate looks the same.

:: best family experience: a day in the mountains. Nature time with my family is the best.

:: best new recipe: Enviromom's bean bowls. We make this regularly on Monday nights now.

:: best successful experiment: freezing tomatoes from the garden for future use in the fall and winter. I loved having our home grown tomatoes for soups and stews in the fall. This year I'll surely freeze even more.

:: sweetest blogger ever award: it goes to Erin of Bluebirdbaby. Faith and I were lucky enough to meet her last summer and she is the real deal: positive, welcoming, down to earth, and passionate. Love her!

Do you have any favorites to share? I'd love to hear them.

hello

Oh heavens. So sorry to leave you guys with "pastry encrusted meat items" for nearly a week! I'm sure that was a bit of a gross-out for some of you.

I was feeling so blah all last week, even to the point of not blogging, then after the fact I realized that maybe not blogging was part of the problem. I generally love it so, and much has been written about how blogging can help one see the positive in one's life. Maybe there is some truth to that.

I did have a very nice Saturday--making a pillow, followed by yoga class, followed by lunch out with Ken, followed by a trip to the garden center to look around. It was all very fun. You can see how sunny it was. I'm amazed at how the entire rest of the country is buried in snow right now and we are enjoying spring-like temps. So strange to think about.

I'm going to try to blog every day this week--part of trying to lift myself out of my rut. And I decided to walk every day too, thinking that it might be easier to commit to that daily instead of 3 times a week (that never seem to occur).

Ken's sister is visiting us briefly today (so rare! She lives up north and rarely is down here) so I'm off to make a quiche and clean the house. Happy Sunday to you!