A Few Things...

I saw this photo on Clare Vivier's Instagram feed last week and promptly did a quick internet search to find that shirt! Mine arrives today. Get it here. 

We just installed two of these small Muuto dots in the kitchen. It's a good place to hang my apron but I'll be just as happy to keep them bare. 

I'm looking for some new napkins before the holiday hosting begins. These ones from West Elm look good and would look cool with my vintage indigo tablecloth...

Now that it really feels like fall we put our fireplace to use over the weekend. I would love to have this match striker on my mantle throughout the season...

We are still looking for the perfect coffee table for our basement. I think these rad table legs from Floyd Detroit might be the answer...

They also make cool book ends, which have been a challenge to find...

I just ordered a set in black to wrangle my cookbook collection. Speaking of cookbooks, I certainly do not need another one but Amanda and Merrill of Food52 (still one of my favorite sites) have a new one out that looks pretty great...

Back to Basics

The last few weeks have been full of re-organizing and tidying up. The kitchen is finally put together and I restocked it with a few of my favorite basics. I keep a stack of these kitchen towels in a basket on the counter...

These are my favorite sponges. I first found them at Trader Joe's years ago but now I can only find them on Amazon. They clean beautifully, never smell and can be sanitized in the dishwasher. 

I finally got rid of all of our random face cloths that had seen better days and upgraded to these super absorbent, soft and affordable washcloths that I keep stacked in the bathroom...

On to the closets, I followed The Sweet Home's guide and upgraded our hangers with these and these. And bought these storage containers for storing our out of season clothes. Speaking of clothes...

I love my new IDLF flannel shirt from Uniqlo...

And my new go-to pant from JCrew...

With the beginning of school, so too came the first cold through our house. This year I have a new cold-blasting weapon...Fire Cider.

I've been a long time fan of drinking raw apple cider vinegar for better health, but this stuff has a few extras giving it a serious, but delicious kick. Oranges, lemons, onions, ginger, horseradish, habanero pepper, garlic and turmeric are steeped in apple cider vinegar for six weeks and then raw wildflower honey is added making a super immunity boosting elixir. 

I'll sip an ounce or so on its own or add it to sparkling water with a splash of unfiltered apple cider which makes for a mighty tasty non-alcoholic cocktail. I'm addicted and am easily making my way through my half gallon.

From My Wishlist...

Um, hello portable pizza oven. I'd love to have one of these beauties in our backyard next summer...

Heath's new seasonal collection is out and I want ALL the things. Like this studio mug set...

This candle set...

And this gorgeous throw...

This luggage also looks cool...

Begin Again

Beautiful vintage indigo cloth from Marine Area 7

A few years ago my friend Rita gave me some sage advice that I still carry with me on a daily basis. I had mentioned how I was frustrated at the time that I had fallen off my own regular Pilates routine. I was re-hashing how maybe it was because I had a toddler at home and was juggling so much and that finding time for self-care no matter how much we enjoy it can be challenging...blah, blah, blah. Typical me, trying to find an explanation as to "why" beating myself up a bit in the process.

Rita wisely said, "We just begin again."

So here I am, two months absent from my last post, beginning again.

This week definitely feels like a new beginning. Today my son is back on his regular preschool schedule. This week also marks a new schedule change for me at the studio which allows me to better balance my home life/work life/husband's travel schedule. The weather here is incredibly beautiful - bright sun without a cloud in the sky but a not insignificant chill in the air. Change is coming.

The last two months have been full of home improvement projects. The kitchen of course (post on that forthcoming) and the exterior got a new coat of paint...

I've been happily spending all of my free time working out in the yard, cutting back plants and hauling and spreading mulch and wood chips. And for the first time I got it together to do a fall planting and put some kale and chard starts in the ground.

Working solo in the yard has also served as a bit of a refuge from the challenge of parenting a four year old who over the last few weeks has more resembled a mad king. At least that's how it feels. So far, four years old feels especially contradictory in that the highs are really high, magical even, where I can't believe my luck getting to be with this little person. But the lows are low, exposing what can feel like the worst in ourselves. Impatient and ungraceful. But the beauty therein lies that even when I am not my best self, tomorrow is a new day and a new beginning.

A huge bright light in the last few months has been discovering this not new podcast, On Being. I have much to say about what a pleasure it is to listen to Krista Tippett and the thoughtful conversations she has with thinkers, artists, scientists, writers. But for now, it isn't a stretch to say that it is life-changing. 

I am enamored with these Japanese towels I picked up at Canoe while we were in Portland last month. We have a small bathroom and no room for a proper towel rack, just hangers on the door so these quick to dry, soft and beautiful towels were a big upgrade. Plus they take up hardly any space in the linen closet.

I'm also in love with my new Hario kettle and teak trivet (also from Canoe)...

It was time for a new pair of wool slippers...

And a new pair of boots...

This Everlane shirt also just arrived on my doorstep and it is pretty perfect. 

The weekend update

We are two weeks into our kitchen remodel. Demo is done and new plumbing and electrical are in place! A few before photos...

Underneath the yellow 1970s lineoleum was a layer of plywood, and underneath that was the original green linoleum from when the house was built in 1940...

And underneath that is the fir subfloor...

Which will be sanded and painted white like this...

Mid demo exposing the lath and old knob and tube wiring...

New electrical...

And new plumbing. The window openings have also been cut down 4" to counter level...

New windows will go in next week and drywall will begin! In the meantime, our "new" kitchen in the dining room is serving us well.

As is our outdoor dishwashing station...

I also celebrated my 35th birthday last week and was kindly gifted some special things from my favorite Heath Ceramics, as well as a new chef's knife and this beauty from Staub...

My brother who works for Brooks also gave me a new pair of shoes that I LOVE (made even more special because they are the first shoe that he fully developed)...

My husband and I also had a date night this week and had an early dinner at Joule, one of our most favorite restaurants in the city. The best part of the date was deciding to walk across the street to Miir. 

I had a sweet latte which was !!!!!!!!!! and Aaron had a beer. We sat and talked and it felt reminiscent of those many hours spent lingering in coffee shops throughout my 20s. I also left wanting one of their growlers (or the half "howler") which would make a perfect last minute father's day gift...

I also want one of their camp cups.

It's All Easy

I've been on a self-imposed cookbook hiatus. (I have a wee bit of a cookbook habit.) But I broke it this week when I bought GP's new one, It's All Easy. Her recipes are always good. Really good. And foolproof. And the recipes in this new book are so spot on to how I like to cook and eat these days that it felt like it was written especially for me.

But when I read the introduction it seemed clear that this book would also hit home with many of my friends, sister-in-laws, clients (pretty much 95% of the people in my circle) who also strive to juggle it all (work, family, personal aspirations) and ultimately find some simplicity in their hectic day to day lives.

"When I sat down to start this book, I had been polling my friends and colleagues on what sort of cookbook they were looking for. These friends all seemed to have a common culinary yearning: They wanted a collection of recipes that they could prepare easily. They wanted to find themselves in the kitchen at the end of their overextended day and be able to prepare something delicious and quick.

Their lives are packed with responsibility and work and children. And yet, they were not willing to give up on the moment – the small beautiful moment of preparing food with some care, by one's own hand, and sitting down to eat it with the people they love. Essentially, they yearned for the moment that is the antidote to all their busyness. A simple reset of the compass toward wholeness and quality at the end of the day, before the next morning comes, bringing with it the dizziness of being pulled in so many directions, a splitting of priorities.

“How to integrate “busy” (anxiety, fullness of schedule, responsibility) with quality of inner life seems to be the issue on the table (so to speak). It’s almost as if the more we pile on our plates, the deeper we long for the simpler aspects of life, which makes perfect sense. But how can we achieve this balance?”

Everywhere I go, everyone seems to be inundated with obligation. Everyone is under an intense amount of pressure to do multiple things simultaneously, and to be doing them at an impossibly high standard. It seems to be a facet of life for our generation: hyper-responsibility. I'm not quite sure why we have done this to ourselves or how/why this drive was imparted to us, but we seem to be living lives where our self-imposed standards leave little time for daydreams and meanderings. We yearn for that lost aspect of life, before smart phones hijacked picnics and walks on the beach. Before media, in all its new forms, made you so aware of what everyone else was doing that the magic of solitude gave rise to FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out).

My friends said they wanted to make good food quickly and easily, but what are they really saying? What is the feeling they are seeking? A road map, perhaps, for a way back to something. That warm wash of simplicity. It takes effort to carve out those moments, and increasingly we need a framework from which we can hang them. Good food at a table can provide the framework.

The food doesn't need to be complicated to be good. You don't need to work for days to create that feeling of fullness. There has been many a night when I have stood in front of the open pantry, totally at a loss for what to throw together, and settled on pasta with butter and cheese, or a can of organic tomato soup and a grilled cheese, or frozen Amy's pizza bites. Meaning, I've done the best I can on that particular day, and gone really easy on myself… with a large glass of wine on the side and no guilt." GP

And a side note...thanks to Molly for directing me to this "Grain Forecast" article in The New Yorker. I could barely keep myself from falling off my chair I was laughing so hard. 

Turboscan

We've been using this TurboScan app for the last year or so and it is amazing. It is fast and incredibly easy to use just like taking a photo on your iphone. It does not matter if there is a glare, a wrinkle in the page or the corners aren't lined up - it adjusts for all of it. Email the pdf to yourself, someone else, print it or upload it to Dropbox.

I've been using it a lot lately sending documents to our amazing accountant (Hi Mom!) but I often use it just to send recipes to a friend or capture something (again a recipe from a book or an article) that I want to print out. 

As for printers, after growing up with HP printers (having to buy extra printer cables and installing drivers that never seem to work properly on the first go) we have loved using this printer the last several years. Set up is a piece of cake and it never gives us any trouble.

February 22

My husband was traveling this weekend and my son and I had a wonderfully lazy Sunday together that began with a little Kung Fu Panda (viewed through a Batman mask)...

We spent three hours playing at his cousins' house and then came home and built train tracks all over the living room. I got nothing accomplished and it was perfect. I feel like as my son nears four years old, I am finally getting the hang of just being present especially on weekends. We rarely have any commitments on the calendar and have no plans other than to hang out. Clean laundry sits in a pile on the floor waiting to be folded longer than it should and the couch cushions are in perpetual disarray having been used to create a fort, a ship, an airplane or some such thing. 

My son loves helping in the kitchen and we got him his own set of nylon knives so he can help chop which he loves. Speaking of kids in the kitchen, I love Molly's recent post. 

Not just for small hands, I am constantly reaching for one of these mini spatulas. (The "ultimate" size is great too.)

A few other favorites this week...

What is it about watching people in the kitchen that is so engrossing? Chef's Table, Michael Pollan's Cooked and my recent favorite, binge watching The Mind of a Chef episodes on Netflix. Watch David Chang, Gabrielle Hamilton, April Bloomfield and others in action. Bonus, each episode is only 20 minutes long...

I love lemon oil and use a lot of it around the house and am equally in love with these little lemon oil cleansing wipes. I always keep a few in my bag for wiping down little hands and they would be really fantastic for travel. 

I've still been cutting out my morning coffee and to my surprise I've found another hot beverage that I am just as excited to wake up for. Chaga is satisfyingly bitter like coffee and comes with more than a few health benefits to boot. I like mine mixed with a spoonful of maca topped with some homemade almond milk.

Still our favorite granola...

I am always hoping this is the book my son with pick for his bedtime story. It is my favorite.

Wouldn't you know I've found yet another Clare V bag to lust after.

Also, these are ridiculous. I would have shown you a photo but I ate them all already...

We're off to enjoy a few days with family in the snow. But when we return I am sure my little rhubarb plant will be 6" tall and I'll start thinking about digging in the dirt and planting peas. Spring is on the way!

Swoop Bags

Thanks to Swoop Bags, we finally have something that can contain all of my son's Legos. He can see them all at once, transfer the whole lot to his room, the living room and back again. (It's also made in Seattle and ships free locally.)

Now I want a mini one.

February

And just like that, it is February. I dropped my son off at preschool this morning and as I am sure many parents can relate, I always feel a sense of urgency to cross off as many things as possible on my todo list before picking him up at noon. But not today. It is a chilly, beautiful sunny day here in Seattle and I am going to enjoy the view out my window and type.

January was truly restorative. Sleep was a priority, as was exercise. We spent most of our downtime at home making art...

Dad too.

And we have been cooking. A few favorites...

I mentioned this dish back in October but it worth spreading the word again if you still haven't made it.

Another one from the NYT, Oven Roasted Chicken Shawarma. It is incredibly easy and flavorful. I served it with rice and the same garlic yogurt sauce from the Melissa Clark recipe above spiked with a little lemon juice. 

Photo from My New Roots

And also this lovely lentil soup from Sarah Britton. This recipe is also included in her wonderful cookbook. I should have paid attention when she said this is her most favorite recipe she's ever posted and made it long before last week. It is truly delicious and again something incredibly easy to pull together for lunch or dinner. Worth noting, in the book version of this recipe she recommends adding a very small pour of maple syrup at the very end to balance the flavor. I did and it really makes all the difference.

My time is up. Off to pick up my little guy.