elephantine

14/52

A patch of brightness on a gray and rainy weekend — forsythia in bloom.

13/52

Maximum fluff.

12/52

Happy to see these grape hyacinths popping up.

11/52

The hellebores I planted last fall have begun to bloom. I just adore them. My long term plan is to plant a whole hellebore patch. (Right now I have just four of them.)

Also: currently reading and enjoying the vibrantly written novel The Turner House by Angela Flournoy.

10/52

Most of the week was busy with work. But I did get to take a little trip to the Museum of Flight and had some delicious gelato for dessert.

9/52

A few days ago I started rereading Light Years by James Salter. I'm also halfway through Assault and Pepper by Leslie Budewitz, a culinary cozy mystery set in Seattle. Are any of you into cozy mysteries? If so, tell me your favorites. I don't usually read mystery novels, but I've been looking for something light and entertaining recently and am giving cozy mysteries a shot.

I also just realized that it's been a year since I started volunteering with Reading Partners, a program that provides one-on-one tutoring for kids who are behind in their reading skills. I wholly recommend it to anyone who loves books, teaching, and/or working with kids. I've worked with two students so far – a kindergartener and a first grader – and seeing their progress is really rewarding. You can learn more about the program here.

8/52

This week:

Cat kisses.

Snow.

(Also, apparently, Zelda and Rufus were excited for the Olympics.)

7/52

Sweetness from Valentine's Day: flowers from my husband, and a handmade heart from some kids in the neighborhood. Early in the morning I heard the mail arrive, but when I went to check it, it wasn't the mail at all: it was this heart. I looked out the window and saw a group of elementary school kids walking up and down the street with their teacher, delivering these valentines door to door.

The tulips I planted last fall have also started to come up. Looking forward to seeing them bloom.

6/52

The week, in brief:

visited the Wing Luke Museum and enjoyed the Bruce Lee exhibit (for anyone local: it ends today!)

ate a yummy dinner with friends at The Whale Wins,

read On Chesil Beach (I'm not sure if I'd recommend it. It was an odd, uncomfortable novel, and I think it would have been better as a short story)...

and added these new earrings to my Etsy shop & a set of London rubber stamps to Mignon.

5/52

A much more exciting week than the last – my nephew was born! He's tiny and sleepy and sweet. If you have any advice for a first-time auntie, I'm all ears.

Hope your week was a good one, too.

4/52

Recovering from a cold. Hope to have a more interesting post next week!

3/52

A busy work week. As in, two wholesale orders and a lot of writing. I have always struggled with calling my writing time "work," because I don't earn income from it, and the only person I really have to answer to is myself — there's no editor calling about a deadline, no book contract that has to be fulfilled. Yet it is work, and hard work. And fulfilling work, at that.

A few of you asked how my writing is going, so, an update: right now, I have two finished short stories that I've been submitting to literary journals – I've been "collecting rejections," as I like to say. I'm also working on a novel. A new one. (Any previous novels-in-progress that I've mentioned have been abandoned). It's going both sort of well and sort of poorly. Let's just say that it's still taking shape.

2/52

This week, in brief: spent an afternoon in the reading room at Suzzallo doing research for a writing project, had tasty meals at Junebaby and Coastal Kitchen, gave my houseplants some TLC, got a rejection letter, watched a few underwhelming movies, got lots of cat cuddles, went to ballet class. How was your week?

1/52

A few things from the first week of the year:

Broke my tradition of cooking pad thai by cooking a few Chinese dishes instead: veggie chow mein, fried rice, and General Tso's chicken.

Went book shopping and brought home Brooklyn and Swann's Way.

Planned out my seed sowing schedule for the spring. (Purple snap peas! Sunflowers! Love-In-A-Mist!)

Watched Eat Drink Man Woman.

Read the first half of My Cousin Rachel.

And added a new necklace to the shop.

(I'm going to try out a weekly post like this for a while and see if it sticks.)

happy holidays

Hey guys! I'm sorry I've barely blogged this year. Whenever I try to think of something to post, it always ends up feeling too similar to something I've posted before, or feels too frivolous, or forced. But I do still care about this space, and I would love to figure out a way to stay more connected to it.

In the meantime, I just wanted to say: Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! However you spend this time of year, I hope it's filled with warmth and joy.

See you in 2018.

a sale!

For all you early holiday shoppers (or those of you who want to treat yourself): use the coupon code "FALL2017" to get 20% off jewelry in my etsy shop! Sale ends December 1st.

this week's flowers

It's been a while since I've had flowers in the house. I love this fall-inspired bouquet – especially that orange chrysanthemum!

the last tiny tomatoes

It was time to finally dig up my lone tomato plant of the year… which left me with a couple dozen green cherry tomatoes on my hands. What do you like to do with green cherry tomatoes? See if they ripen on their own? Make some mini fried green tomatoes?

one for today

Colors of fall.

on my wishlist

A few things I'm coveting for the garden… 1. chicken wire cloche, 2. ceramic pot, 3. watering can, 4. Renee's Garden flower seeds, 5. potting bench, 6. gloves, 7. potting trowel.

new lucky earrings...

...in clay, sienna, luster blue, and bronze & black!

garden notes / september

Working on adding a little color around here with pansies + violas.

two for today

Up-close with a houseplant.

(Happy Friday!)

new in the shop

I love these JOCO travel cups and I'm stocking them now at Mignon. Available in eight colors here!

garden notes / august

My tomatoes are starting to ripen! And the bell pepper is persisting.

recommended reading

Four books I've recently read and enjoyed:

1. The Leavers by Lisa Ko – "Short and blocky, she wore loose jeans—never had he seen her in a dress—and her voice was so loud that when she called his name dogs would bark and other kids jerked around. When she saw his last report card he thought her shouting would set off the car alarms four stories below. But her laughter was as loud as her shouting, and there was no better, more gratifying sound than when she slapped her knees and cackled at something silly."

2. Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny – "First, in the produce section, they saw some woman with a baby in a stroller and Audra said, "Oh, hi! How are you? Are you going to that thing on Tuesday?" and the woman said, "I don't know, because there's that other meeting," and Audra said, "I thought that got canceled," and the woman said, "No, it's still on," and Audra said, "I wish they wouldn't double-book this stuff," and the woman said, "I know," and Audra said, "Well, if we don't go, will everyone say bad things about us?" and the woman said, "Probably," and it wasn't that Graham wasn't paying attention, it wasn't that he missed the specifics—it was that there were no specifics, that was the way they actually talked."

3. Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – "Your feminist premise should be: I matter. I matter equally. Not 'if only.' Not 'as long as.' I matter equally. Full stop."

4. The Thing Around Your Neck By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – "The drive to the resort was long, on roads haphazardly chiselled into steep hills, and Ujunwa worried that Edward was too old to drive so fast. She held her breath until they arrived at the cluster of thatch roofs and manicured paths. A smiling blonde woman showed her to her cabin, Zebra Lair. She sat on the bed and smelled the cool lavender scent from the linen and then got up to unpack, looking out of the window from time to time to search the canopy of trees for lurking monkeys."

all set for summer

I recently bought an ice cream maker, just for fun. (Well, what other reason is there to buy an ice cream maker?) For its inaugural churn, I made vanilla ice cream with chopped up treats mixed in (one part Skor bar, one part grasshopper cookies). Now, what to make next? Another flavor of ice cream? Sorbet, gelato, frozen yogurt? Boozy slushies? If you have a favorite recipe, I'd love to hear.

garden notes / july

I waited too long this year to start growing vegetables from seeds, but the other day I bought a couple tiny plants to at least have something to grow. Now, every morning, I go check on my tomatoes and my one incredibly cute little bell pepper. I hope they survive!

new in the shop

Serendipity necklace, lucky earrings in plum, lucky earrings in frost, and a thelma bracelet in gold.

june 26th

Rufus, the king of fuzz.

recommended reading

A few days ago I finished reading The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti and I can't get over how great it is. It's a coming-of-age, father-daughter epic; it's a page-turner and also beautifully written; lovely Whidbey Island makes an appearance; it's also just plain fun to read. I already want to read it again.

What have you been reading lately? I'd love to hear.

new in the shop

A couple new pieces of jewelry in the shop! Lily earrings, Aum necklace, Mira bracelet.

june 11th

may 20th

An abstract moment for today.

may 3rd

A tulip from the backyard. I couldn't not include such a long, perfect stem in the photo!

a spring sale

I'm having a sale in my etsy shop for the next week! Take 20% off your order with coupon code "SPRINGSALE" until May 2nd. A pair of Elephantine earrings or necklace makes a great Mother's Day gift :)

april 17th

More spring beauties.

one last thing

I have another short story to share with you!

This one is called "One Last Thing" and was just published in the spring issue of Crazyhorse. I was completely surprised and delighted when they accepted the story. "One Last Thing" is about a mother running an errand for her 10-year-old son's birthday. If you'd like to read it, you can find it in issue no. 91 of Crazyhorse, or you can download a pdf here. I hope you enjoy it.

april 8th

april 4th

Camellia season! The best time of year.

march 29th

Currently reading.

march 21st

fig and strawberry thumbprint cookies

I've been wanting to make thumbprint cookies ever since I first tried one. Unsurprisingly, they're fun and easy to make! Here's the recipe I used...

Thumprint cookies
recipe from Food Network

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup jam*

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer, whip the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla until just combined. Carefully add the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.

Scoop and roll the dough into small balls. (I made mine a little over 1" big.) Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving a few inches between each cookie. Using your thumb, make an indentation into the center of each ball. Fill with jam.

Bake cookies until the edges are golden, about 15-20 minutes. Cool, then serve. Store in a tightly sealed container for up to 5 days.

*I didn't actually measure out my jam – I just scooped it directly from the jar – but 1/3 cup is the amount the original recipe calls for. I used strawberry jam and fig preserves.

Reading Partners

I recently started volunteering as a tutor for Reading Partners, a wonderful program for helping kids who are behind in their expected reading level. It's great because as a tutor you get to work with the same student every week and there's a structured curriculum to follow. In Seattle, there's a waiting list of kids who are in need of tutors, so if you're looking for a way to give back and have time during school hours, I'd definitely encourage you to consider becoming a tutor, too. You can read more about the program here.

(Also: the Seattle branch of Reading Partners has a wish list of books they'd like to add to their library!)

march 12th

An abstract moment.

march 9th

Some bright flowers for a rainy day.

march 5th

Over a year ago, Grant had started noticing so many little yellow notes stuck up all over the house. That was not entirely new. Fiona had always written things down—the title of a book she’d heard mentioned on the radio or the jobs she wanted to make sure she got done that day. Even her morning schedule was written down. He found it mystifying and touching in its precision: “7 a.m. yoga. 7:30–7:45 teeth face hair. 7:45–8:15 walk. 8:15 Grant and breakfast.”

The new notes were different. Stuck onto the kitchen drawers—Cutlery, Dish-towels, Knives. Couldn’t she just open the drawers and see what was inside?

Rereading a beloved book, which contains probably my favorite short story of all time.

march 3rd

Happy Friday!

february 27th

New earrings in the shop.

february 24th

Leaf collecting.