i promise...

There are so many things we want to do. Things we want to get better at, things we want to do more or less of... (exercise/drink). There are things we talk about, and dream about, and hope to some day actually make a reality. With our day to day and our old habits it's hard to get there sometimes. To make the stuff we talk about our reality. It's hard. But when we do it it always feels so satisfying.

I think about this sometimes. How I should do more of the things that I know will make me happy even if it takes me out of my comfort zone or makes me get off the couch when all I want to do is stay there.

Which is why I love the project Tara is working on, it's called 'I Promise'. And it's all about making promises to ourselves and to others and actually committing to keeping them, or trying our best to keep them. Who knows how many people will actually keep the promises they write down - but writing them down seems to be a pretty good start.

You can read promises people sent in to Tara here. The photos in this post were taken from Tara's 'A House Full of Promises'. And you can post your promise here. It won't hurt, I promise.

Dirty Diana

Some favorites from a recent roll of film taken with my Diana.

oh hi awesome map, i might like to own you.

Get any state your heart belongs to here.

thinking about tights

lots more here.

a mini conundrum

I love this piece created by Elaine Elwick Barr. She calls it 'Gulf Gold-A Miniature Conundrum'. And it's available in her Etsy Shop.

The inspiration for the piece In her words:
One day I was watching a program called After Humans. It showed what would happen to the earth and all of our manmadeness, if there were no longer any humans to look after it. Gradually everything breaks down and is taken back by nature. That's where the Conundrums come from. Gulf Gold is a little bittle statement of the vast riches that come from our dependance on oil, and how the 'man' is cleaning up. This metal barrel stands just over 1 1/2 inches tall and features sterling silver glass glitter, that will continue to tarnish over time.

I want to go to there

My time in LA was ridiculously short. And I promised myself I would return some time this year for a longer visit. Seeing these photos from the Griffith Observatory makes me wish I was going this weekend.


All photos via I Art U.

birthday week!

I used to get a lot more excited about my birthday. As I've gotten older I'm less prone to let everyone know it's my birthday month. But this morning I woke up and thought - hey it's officially the start of my birthday week! And I went ahead and bought myself a dress I've been eyeing for a little while now, this lovely Newsom dress by She-Bible, I got it in olive. I also splurged on an awesome leather belt to go with it. The best part? One of the owners of She-Bible and I got to talking and it turns out it's her birthday month too, and she was sweet enough to give me a little discount for my birthday. I love buying directly from designers and I love birthday weeks.

Kristin McIver

Loving the playfulness and whimsy of Kristin McIver's work.



Kristin's blog.

How To Steal Like An Artist

Full post/article here.

Happy Birthday Mom

How lucky I was to get you as my Mom. xo

So long Maggie Mudd

Glad I got to visit one last time. Maggie Mudd will be closing its doors this Sunday. It's perfect ice cream weather here in SF so go show them some love before they shutter their doors. A worker there told me they wouldn't be selling their pints to local stores any longer either but they will still be doing their ice cream cakes to order online.

Black Gold

This documentary will make you think twice about your morning cup of coffee. It is heartbreaking to see the impoverished farmers in Ethiopia struggling to feed their families in such stark contrast to the millions of westerners who pay more for their daily cup of coffee than those farmers make in a week. There has to be a better solution.

fried brussels sprouts

I attempted to recreate the delicious fried brussels sprouts from Marlowe for Thanksgiving last year. I woke up two hours before my boyfriend so he wouldn't freak out about the big mess I was pretty sure I was going to make frying all those little leaves. They came out pretty good but I didn't quite perfect them. So I was excited to find this recipe over at food52. I'll be making these sometime soon. Not sure if it will be in my kitchen or in my sleeping boyfriend's but I can't resist trying my hand at these again especially with the sweet and spicy combo of honey and Sriracha. Yum.

....

I'll be on the porch.

I feel a little crazy as I'm on my second to last day at Chronicle. It's scary and exciting and really sad all at once. I don't have much time in between jobs but my sweet guy rented us a car and booked us a room at one of our favorite spots to celebrate. Even if it's raining all weekend I'm looking forward to kicking back and getting away for a minute before I jump into the new.