"whitewashed" by keri weber, kresge art center

ok how cool is miss keri weber.

there's something very alice falling through the rabbit hole happening here. something part nostalgic, part curious. i wandered the galleries today for an assignment & was immediately taken by this. weber used only two mediums, which excited me down to my toes. i'm a lover of the simple and adore her raw approach. while others heavily embraced "all media," weber was able to dramatically create something with only books & white paint.

you know, you don't really see piles of books in a lover's study anymore (on the tv set/silver screen); there's not a lot of klaus baudelaires left or pagemasters. it's all kindles & nooks & interwebs. maybe that's part of why this speaks to me. just like my sister, i'm paper books to the end. it's the feel of the page, the smell of the book, the ink pressed into the paper, the texture of the cover. it just dang feels good. it's not the same to swaddle yourself in fleece & wool, nurse a mug of hot toddy, and curl up with a sleek screen (not to say i'm a technophobe, there's just some deeply rooted preferences of the old world mixed in with my digital love affair. and i don't care how many books the ereader holds, not when i'm working towards the library beast gave belle).

honestly, the more i look at it, the more deeply i fall in love. it's really exciting to be moved by a predecessors work.

ANOTHER YEAR

a week ago husband and i have spent two years waking up to each other. to celebrate, we secretly stole away back to the sleepy harbor town where we were married. 

we trekked out to a deserted part of the beach and spent the morning watching the sunrise & acting like fools in the water. we'd drift in & out of naps & embrace being unplugged. the feeling was so overpowering we couldn't stop staring into the sky & the water like we were stoned. 

afterwards, we wound up heading into the city with sand on our skin to consume lattés & dream of next steps together (houses & dogs, ladies & gents).

find more adventures on my instagram.

i have fallen in love with a floor.

original hardwoods are the apples in my eyes. this is a floor of a home i looked at with husband & our increbs realtor. it's love.

LIFE THROUGH IPHONE

>> blueberry & ricotta pancakes with mama
>> reading andre de dienes' book on marilyn with cali cat
>> buckeye blitz ice cream with hubs from the msu dairy store. supposedly more went on my face than in my tummy. yeah? what of it?
>> i'm on the prowl for the typeface on alabama shakes' debut album

i wish you a lovely week!

INFLUENCE BY ASHLEY & MARY-KATE OLSEN

i've wanted this book since it first hit the shelves. when i spotted it at an overstock bookshop, i clutched it dearly & brought it home. love these two. just love em!

THE THINGS HE CAN SAY

we're going to see more houses this wednesday eeeeee! to say we're excited for round two is an understatement (last time we didn't fall asleep until 3 in the morning like kids & it was christmas), but we've been hinting back and forth about the 19th century home we explored last week.

we were in the car the other night when hubs half smiled and said, "i saw our future in that house."

makes a girl's heart flutter.

THE KIT

my daily stash tucked inside a sonia kashuk tool bag.

THE AUGUST BREAK

i've joined susannah conway's august break.  enjoy my pictahhs...

a door in a house we toured taken on my iphone using the vscocam app.

A PLACE TO CALL OUR OWN

guess what!! (i'm grinning and finding it hard to swallow. or breathe.)
somehow we've stumbled upon a realtor, and she's showing us nine houses tomorrow. nine! we're actually going house hunting! i mean, this is what grown-ups do -- responsible, rational grown-ups -- is it seriously my turn?

you can imagine my dizzying excitement thinking of ripping up old flooring, painting & wallpapering, designing & decorating et cetera, et cetera.
but i am trying to stay focused. i am. mold, liz. pests. gas lines & central air. roofing. but honestly, i'm just too giddy to concentrate. it all just needs to sink in.

and whatever happened to my peter plan complex? my inner fear of planting roots? when did that leave?

at any rate, put on your dancing shoes, loves. we're officially looking for our first home together.


photo found over here via Happenstance.

25

my birthday is coming soon -- 25 calls for extra sparkle.

an occasion for mimosas, balloons, & delicate macarons.

photo via if you seek style from pinterest

in the forest i made my home

i'm taking a trip upstate for a week or so filled with relaxing, shopping, and being a beach rat. i was good this time & didn't overpack & am throwing in a book, my plants, & hawaiian tropic oil (seriously, they've bottled the smell of summer). see you on the flip-side.

photo taken on my parents' property, upstate michigan

from the market

sunday i went out for a quiet morning on my own, and checked out the flea market just west of here. 

i found a gorgeous pack basket that holds two bottles of wine to take on our rare drives out to the water. i also brought home a large picnicking basket to use as my beach bag, a coffee bean sack that i'll stitch into a pillow covering, and a wire egg basket.  

made for a splendid first summer outing!

dreaming, thinking, and planning for a...

husband and i are waiting for a piece of property to call our own. it's been four apartments & three cities since the day we came home from our wedding. there's unpacked boxes in our would-be office corner, and more possessions in husband's parents' basement. renting is a drag, and we're plum tired of the same four walls & a leasing company telling us what we can and cannot do.

i'd much a like a real garden, and a real home with a real front door. i long for that homestead where family comes to gather & tradition fosters.

so as our hunt & wait continues, i snip plans into my spiral book, pin to my nesting board, and continue daydreaming of hammocks & door knockers. 

sigh.

summer strawberry jam

monday morning i drove down to newport to go strawberry picking with my mom-in-law. we were so excited to usher in summertime by getting our knees dirty & fingers stained with berries. it was my first time in a patch and loved it! picking wholesome, growing strawberries from their organic state is so satisfying.

we loaded up with 33 pounds of strawberries & headed for her house for an afternoon of canning & stealing tastes (which were followed up with delicious funny moans & faces).

we cooked up strawberry champagne jam along with some preserves & plain jane jam.

once home, hubs & i sipped on local summer harvest peach wine & fed on strawberries i saved for hot nights like this.

a new tradition? mmhmm.

back from the bay

i love going home. i grew up on lake huron surrounded by forestry and feel like a drifter when away from it for too long.

bell's natural area is just north of town & the biggest secret; the shoreline is massive & used to be where we'd party after punk shows in high school. if you're ever traveling to the northeast shore of michigan, stop here. it's worth it i promise. (besides, there's a hefty nature trail & legit, uncommercialized ghost town).

i'm popping a teepee here & spending the rest of my days a beach boho. join me?

picture of bell taken with my iphone

for just a little while.

how hard it is, i'll be unplugging & heading up to my parents' home in the country for a week. they own a large old farmhouse near the water and since temps will be hitting the 70s, i'll be dipping my toes back into lake huron & living off of pistachios & san pell.

regular posting will resume as soon as my bags hit the floor back home -- this little getaway is long overdue & i'll miss you one million! hugs.

photo source

st. vincent

dear annie clark.

i finally own your debut record.

life just got a little softer around the edges.

above image taken with my iphone

custom folio inspired by field theories

a few weeks ago my sister called asking if i would make a leather portfolio for her manuscript. she sent me dimensions, a few sketched ideas & i pulled inspiration from field theories' beautiful works.

so here it is, in all its handcrafted glory. it feels so good to work with your hands; it forces you to pull away to create something tangible & brings something quite lovely into being.

and i think she's going to like it.

weekend essentials

my weekend will be a lot of recentering, refocusing, & bringing my mind back to the basics. there's so much in our daily lives that stacks and stacks and stacks that it's way too easy to become flustered & overwhelmed. my routine feels like a rat race and right now, all i'm in the mood for is living barefoot this weekend & feeding on nuts & berries.

tank // kinfolk // binoculars // shorts

i hate getting shook up.

it's one of those days where the weak surfaces without you asking for it & you find yourself crumbling behind closed doors. i've once read that bravery isn't being fearless, but being scared & still facing your fears. most often in life, once you bite the bullet of something that has you shaking, you'll come out feeling empowered & alive.  and the very best outcome of all? nothing to regret.


now then. i need a wicked cocktail of strength, god, & a wild hare quick.

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