shining egg

7 november

we're celebrating a belated 10th birthday here tomorrow.  i was going to tell you all about it - about the party plans and the compromises involved and the learning curve that goes along with parenting a ten-year-old when you want him to grow up feeling independent and good about himself and his ideas, even when those ideas are not exactly what you would have chosen.  but i'm ex-hausted from this day, which included, among other things, dinner with dear friends, and the creation of a full-sheet ice cream cake with crushed cookies and buttercream frosting.  so i'm off to rest up before fifteen boys arrive at my doorstep tomorrow morning.  

(does anybody remember who posted goodie bags like these recently?  plastic bags with treats, topped with personalized card stock like this.  i'd love to give credit where credit is due - it was a perfect solution for our goodie bags.)

6 november

it's been awhile since i've shared anything about habit in this space.  i've been thinking about it a lot lately - habit - since it's been almost a year since we began.  i've been thinking about the act of taking a photo of my everyday life, everyday (or almost everyday).  i've been thinking about the act of considering my day through a particular lens, about picking out a single moment, or a series of moments, and capturing that in just a few words.  i've been thinking about the record i'm creating of the tiny moments in my days.  i've been thinking about the days when i don't take a picture and how i almost feel, now, that those days are slipping through my fingers unaccounted for.  i've been thinking about how there are days when i have words, but no photo, and days when i have a photo, but the words escape me.  i've been thinking about how it is not just a recored of the tiny moments of my life that i'm creating, but also a collection of tiny moments from the lives of friends and strangers that i'm a part of, and about how there are women (and men and children, of course, too) all over this planet whose lives are filled with tiny moments every single day, and about how that reminds me that my life is so tiny in the scheme of the great big universe. 

i was peeking back through the archives tonight and thinking how terribly grateful i feel for this project.  for the record of the tiny moments of my life in this last year.  for the ability to see those moments within the context of so many other's tiny moments, and for the perspective that offers.  for the reminder that i am part of a community of women working to live considered lives.  for the habit of recording the tiny moments of my life.  for the way it makes me look at my life every day.  for my friend molly and her brilliance.  for all of the women who've shared tiny bits of their lives with us these past eleven months.  (there are three new guests this month, by the way.)  for all of the people who read habit everyday, and for those of you who send us lovely emails telling us how much the blog means to you.  terribly, terribly grateful.

in any case, this photo was an alternate from today.  some days there is only one photo, some days there are several, other days there are so many it's hard to choose.  today, there were two - this one, and the one you'll see over there tomorrow.

and now i'm six days into november and it appears that i'm doing it.  which means that i'll be back with something to say tomorrow, too.  i hope you're not too bored with me already, because it's only just the beginning.  happy weekend, friends.

5 november

i'm going to stop with the tumblr talk, i promise.  just humor me this one last time?  i'm assuming that you're mostly not on tumblr, or following me on tumblr (though if you are, will you tell me so i can follow you?) - so i just wanted to show you how pretty it looks over there.  it does look pretty, doesn't it?  and i thought i'd share a few goodies with you that i've shared over there, because they're so good.  then i'll shut up about it.  promise. 

ready?  here goes.

* go make these.  now.  they're so easy and so good.  dangerous, really.  but flourless.  (found via heather)

* this new-to-me clothing is so elegant, it takes my breath away.

* as does this photo of shari's.

* as well as this artist.

* and i'd like to live here.

* and i'd like for it to look like this inside.

see how good?

there.  i'm done.  i'll still be over there collecting more goodness, but tomorrow i'll be back here, with something else entirely.  and now i'm off to make this, by special request.

4 november

good morning.  the shop is now open for business - featuring "the golden light collection" - and stocked with tiny paintings, postcards, and the tiny prints i shared here yesterday.  as with the beach collection, and as with the beautiful golden light of autumn, these things will only be available for a short time - after thanksgiving, they'll be gone.  

and one more thing before i head out into this day to check off several less-than-pleasant tasks.   tumblr?  which i mentioned yesterday?  remember awhile back when i said (i can't find the post now, but i'll keep looking) that i wished there was a way to "fave" or "like" blog posts?  really, that's just what tumblr does - at least in the way that i'm using it.  maybe some of you mentioned this in the comments?  my brain is foggy on the details, but at last, i've discovered it.  and i'm loving it.  and i figure that if you all join in, we'll find even more loveliness all around.  go have a look.

3 november

i know i said i'd be sharing tiny paintings today, but i'm sharing these prints instead.  i just couldn't resist.  these tiny details - the seaweed and the barnacle - are among my favorites from our trip.  you'll find these small photographs in my shop tomorrow morning, as part of the golden light collection.  and yes, there will be tiny paintings too.

in other news, ms. mommycoddle has sucked me (and a friend) into her new obsession.  it's like a virtual inspiration board.  try it, you'll see.

2 november

as promised, here's a peek at something you'll find in my shop on wednesday morning - postcards from maine: a set of four postcards from my recent trip to mt. desert island.  i'm excited to share these with you - i'm so pleased with how they turned out.  tomorrow, a peek at some tiny paintings.

and soup!  oh my goodness, soup.  i'm glad to know i'm not the only one dreaming about soup lately - i've been making a pot of some soup or another at least once each week since september, and we've been gobbling it up - as though we're needed soup's warming comfort, somehow.  last night, my dear friend naomi made us a butternut squash soup, and it was delicious.  i'm going to try to make it myself next week, and i'll let you know how it goes.  in the meantime, check out this list of soups that stefani complied ages ago.  it's full of goodness.

and finally for today: it's november, and i might just do it.

1 november

well that week disappeared.  i'm pretty sure it was spent stewing about sorting out a few things at school and worrying about sewing halloween costumes - but woooosh, and it was gone.

halloween was a success all around - the costumes (robin hood and this rather obscure jedi knight) were finished before it was time for trick-or-treating, the kids were pleased, the weather was appropriately spooky, the rain held off until after we were safely home, the kids were super polite - wishing everybody a happy halloween and a good night, my witch's hat and cape worked perfectly once again, d. agreed to dress up in the cobbled-together costume the kids made for him, everybody was reasonable about disposing of the candies that break your teeth, i ate only two mini almond joys, and both children were asleep in time for us to watch a movie.  perfection, i'd say.

plus an extra hour of sleep?  yeah.

and now it's november.  the sun is shining.  today is all about folding laundry and putting the finishing touches on a new collection for the shop.  details and peeks tomorrow.  that, and soup.  (because november should be all about soup, don't you think?)

and finally, the forest.

and there you have it.  the ocean, the mountains, the forest.  on our second day of hiking, we descended the mountain through the forest, and what a magical forest it was.  it's hard to believe that these pictures were taken last week.  do you know that feeling?  when you come home from vacation and you feel like it was all a dream?  that's how i feel tonight, one week later, sitting on my sofa, washing machine running, dishwasher running, my little people asleep in their beds.

i loved being in maine.  i loved every precious minute of the trip and the surroundings and the company.  (and did i mention the food?)  and i love being home now.  what a gift.

ok.  so next week i'm going to share bits of a new collection - the golden light collection.  there will be photos and paintings and cards, and i'm looking forward to sharing that with you.  i have a few new goodies to show-and-tell, too.  but in the meantime, does anybody have suggestions for what to do with all of the green tomatoes we pulled out of the garden this week?  

and the foliage.

wow.  when was the last time i was here three days in a row?

i don't have much to say about the foliage in maine in october - i'm pretty sure these photos speak far more clearly than i ever could.  but i will say that we climbed the mountain you see in the third photo - that mountain and the one next to it - on our first full day in maine.  there was a whole lot of steep climbing, and i don't really love heights, so i mostly didn't look down.  but when i did stop to sit and turn around, woweeee, it was extraordinary - the foliage, and the water, and the views.  

there was one part of the hike that took us up a very steep part of the mountain - it was short, but steep (there were metal rungs in the rock for climbing, that's how steep), and visually, it seemed to be really close to the edge of the mountain (have i mentioned that i don't really like heights?) and i was super nervous for a few minutes.  but everyone was really kind and patient with me, and i summoned my courage and climbed.  and at the top i felt so very proud of myself for overcoming that moment of fear.  for climbing up those metal rungs.  for moving forward and not letting myself get stuck.  and i felt so very grateful, too.  for my legs and my arms and my lungs, which carried me up the mountain.  for the parts of this world that are so stunningly beautiful.  for my life.  for my family.  for all of it.  so.  overwhelmingly.  grateful.

and because that's not enough on this thursday morning, did you read rachel's post about habits?  i've been thinking so much about my habits lately.  just yesterday, i was telling a friend that i know that the general funk i've been feeling lately is a direct result of the bad habits i've fallen into - not enough sleep, eating all the wrong foods, no yoga practice, not nearly enough time spent on my creative life.  i know it, and yet i keep on keeping on with those bad habits.  feeling the funk.

so i'm declaring today my day.  i'm going back to my good habits if it kills me.  a proper bedtime.  foods that agree with me.  yoga.  i'm going back to it.  all of it.  it's time.  (and as incentive, i have a little treat in mind for myself if i can keep up the good habits through thanksgiving.  i figure that by then, they'll have stuck.)

speaking of habits.  did i mention our three october guests at habit?  they're awesome.

that's all.  for now.  except for how much i love glee.  (and also modern family, by the way.  i started out watching because it's directed by an old friend, but it turns out that it's pretty darn funny.  thank heavens for the dvr.)

tomorrow, the forest.  and the end of the trip pictures, which is good, because i have other things to share.

moving on to the ocean.

i know.  my love for the ocean is boring already, so i won't say a single word about it.  you can see for yourselves.

in other news:

* l. announced last night that she's a vegetarian.  she says she doesn't like the idea of eating dead animals.  (which happens to be exactly what i told my mother when i was in elementary school.)  so i gave up on the lentil and sausage soup (for now) and made a double batch of tomato soup instead.

* i'm headed out this morning to exchange our sigg bottles.  i read about the recall on jennifer's blog awhile back, and i did a bit of research and found out that wegman's will replace them for me, rather than having to mail them back to sigg.  i hope this goes smoothly, because otherwise, i'm switching to these.

* i desperately need a pair of (red) snow boots.  but while searching, i found these.  and these.  and these.  all of which i'd like to add to my collection.  sigh.  and it's a good thing these don't come in red.

* i'm awful about putting my blog posts into categories.  (i'm really bad at filling out forms, too.  i wonder if they're related in some way.)  but i'm determined to find a way to make categories that work.  any suggestions?

* b. learned to play mary had a little lamb on the cello.  such a sense of accomplishment that comes with hearing a familiar tune come out of a new instrument.

* it finally became my turn for this book at the library.  i've been on the waiting list behind 217 other people for 6 weeks.  i finally have the book in my possession.

* have you seen heather's print for the working proof?  it's awesome.

* and the tablemats jen designed for nahcotta?

* and this.  please read it.  i'm thinking of pasting it to my bathroom mirror.

so much to see, so little time.  i think that's all for now.  tomorrow, foliage.