i'll fly away

I got a few Sharon Montrose photos for my niece Riley's room (which, after the remodel we are doing on my brother and sister in law's house, will be the coolest room ever) for Christmas, but if I were going to get one for myself, it would be this one.  

oh, wait, I am not shopping.  

It's beautiful, isn't it?  

cheeks

my sister in law was organizing her desktop and sent me these old photos that I took of my now 3 year old, then 7 month old, nephew Declan!  

don't you just want to squeeze him?  

sometimes he'll even let you.  

fence me in

I saw this fence, made by the Dutch design company Demakersvan, on ffffound this morning and I love it!  I have been wanting to replace our crappy vinyl fence since we moved in and had always planned on building in a nice wood privacy fence, but now I might reconsider!  

additional images from Dezeen.

superstar

did anyone check ohdedoh today or swismiss yesterday and see this?  

See that smiling face?  

That's Jackson.  

He's adorable and brilliant.

78 cents

I vow not to blog about politics what seems like every other day, but I have to post this about Lilly Ledbetter and her brand new law.

(look at that crowd.  This is something both parties agree on, women deserve equal pay for equal work!  But really, look at Lilly Ledbetter.)

Lilly Ledbetter had worked for Goodyear for decades when shortly before she retired someone left a note in her mailbox telling her that men in her position, men who had less experience than this grandmother who'd done more than was asked of her for years, got paid more than she did.  A lot more. With a heavy heart, Lilly sued under the Civil Rights Act.

Federal Court sided with her, awarding her millions, the Supreme Court, not so much.

I am not going to quibble with the decision because Lilly says that what has come after has meant more to her than those millions ever could have.  But, I will say that the Court called on Congress to be more specific.

And be more specific they have been, thanks, in large part to Mrs Ledbetter's unwillingness to give up.

Today, President Obama signed his first law, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act.

It is good day for women. It is a good day for families.

Really,  it is just a good day and we should all thank Lilly Ledbetter.  

c'est fini!

I finally finished the woodwork refinishing and painting of the dining room, and could not be happier with the color.  

I'll take some more (better) photos when I get the art back up (my friend Chris Erchck made that painting, Mark Gutjahr made the blue vase when we were both artists in residence at the EKWC and Steven got me those roses the other day!)

do we have to let it snow?

I was taking this photo of Ollie today because he looked so cute all balled up, when I noticed that despite the fact that there are 2 steps down to the roof deck off Steven's office, the snow is up past the bottom of the door. 

I guess I should be happy because it means our roof is well insulated but I'd be a whole lot happier if it would warm up and stop snowing for a few days!

active sleep

for some reason the baby video reminded me of this one, which I also like.  

hey baby!

I saw this over at Cup of Jo and LOVED it.  

it's a video of a nine month old baby playing in his dining room for four hours, sped up to two minutes.  (interaction with his parents has been edited out for added hilarity.)

I love that once he gets going he spends almost no time on the mat laid out for him in the middle of the room.  

shop 'til you drop

I am sticking to it but, an alternative to the spending hiatus that would avoid the "paradox of thrift" (a Keynesian idea that Keith brought up, explained by wikipedia here because I am lazy and not an economist) could be to change my spending habits to be more mindful of what I buy and from where.

I thought of this article that I read a few months ago about Scott Ballum, who on his 30th birthday decided only to buy things made by people he actually met. He met the farmers who grew his food, went to the New Balance factory when he needed some new sneakers, he met the Nicarauguan woman who grew his coffee when she was visiting New York, etc.

on his blog he says, "My intention is not neccessarily to change what I purchase, but to change my level of awareness and participation in the acts. I'm as interested in knowing where a large, mass-produced object comes from as I am in meeting local entrepreneurs and artists. It's about understanding the labor and encountering the people that make my life, my consumer life anyway, possible."

check out this magazine he put together about his year long project.

As and artist, designer and maker I love this idea. And since Keith has a show coming up in Baltimore (that all in the area should go to and put any spending hiatuses on hiatus) I think he might too.

maybe I could go to the Netherlands to meet the folks at Humanoid before the weather gets warm.  

image from Life (obviously)

if

if I were shopping, which I am not, and if it seemed like spring would ever come, which, sadly, it does not, I would like to buy pretty much everything in the Dutch company Humanoid's spring collection.  

I love the soft colors, the natural fabrics, and most of all I love that the clothes are made by the Dutch, the worlds tallest people, and therefore the sleeves and pant legs might be long enough!!!  

via unruly-things

(btw, I went to bed with a wet head and my hair looks a little like the model's does right now.)

church of stop shopping

As a result of my new  spending hiatus, I have been reading about not shopping and found this article about groups of people whose spending hiatuses are permanent, from the Amish to Freegans to No Impact Man.  

While I am pretty sure I will be back to shopping for pretty things after the spending hiatus is over it's still interesting, inspiring and pretty overwhelming to think about how others live, and live well, without it.  

from Good.

uh, how marvelous!

a lot of people have asked me what it was like to be at the Inauguration, and I have been pretty damned inept at describing it.  

I saw this today and thought the nytimes fashion reporter Bill Cunningham described it very, very well. 

every rose

on Saturday (before the spending hiatus), Steven came back from a trip to costco with the most beautiful roses. 

they just get bigger and more lovely every day.

corn crib

I didn't really know what a corn crib was until we went to see Rick and Toni, but now I am a little bit obsessed with them.  

this a photo I took at the cabin we stayed in when we were in Neilsville in October,

and I saw this one by Samantha Contis this morning on fffffound

(I think I am also a little bit obsessed with summer time photos.  I can't wait until spring!)

no spending spree

Joslyn, who writes the great blog Simple Lovely, made a New Year's resolution not to make any unnecessary purchases for 3 months from January 10th to April 10th and invited others to join her in the effort and to form a support group.  After reading her reasons why (and that exceptions could be made for supplies to make things) I decided I was in. 

But when we decided to go to the Inauguration I fell off the wagon before it ever got moving on so I decided I would start 2 weeks late.  

Sunday was my first day. 

Joslyn has her own set of rules,  which you can read about on her blog, but here are mine:

any supplies to make things or for home improvement are fine. (If I get up the motivation to refinish more of the woodwork, I'm not going to wait b/c I can't buy sand paper!) 

obviously, food is fine, but no more ordering in, and we are going to cut down on exotic or expensive ingredients.     

we can go out to eat every couple of weeks and if we are invited to someone's house I'm bringing flowers or something.  

I am going to make an exception for my niece Riley and my nephew Colin's birthdays, but we'll be having a homemade Valentine's day.  

now in the spirit of the spending hiatus, I am off to make some bread.   

image from Life

happy new year!

it's now the year of the ox.  

some famous people born in the year of the ox: 

Meryl Streep, George Clooney, Dustin Hoffman, Jane Fonda, Meg Ryan, Bruce Springsteen, bill Cosby, Robert Redford and President Barack Obama.  

As for non famous people born in the year of the ox:  me!

According to Wikipedia:

"People born under the influence of the Ox are kind, caring souls, logical, positive, filled with common sense with their feet firmly planted on the ground," and "they make wonderful parents and teachers of children."

not too shabby.  

photo from boston.com

-3º

when I woke up this morning it was -3º.  

as if to torment me the nytimes has an article about Caribbean vacations.  

spring will come eventually, right?

one in 8 million

I just saw this nytimes.com series, One in 8 Million, that profiles an individual New Yorker each week.  They've done a taxidermist, a druggist, a wedding wardrober, and more.  It is "a collection of a few of their passions and problems, relationships and routines, vocations and obsessions."  

The stories are interesting and the images beautiful.  

check it out here.  

cold

I don't understand what is going on in this photo, but it makes me really cold.

from boston.com

good news

When we lived in the Netherlands for a few months a few years ago, several people told us that the canals didn't freeze over anymore and they could not skate on them. They spoke about it as though someone had killed their dog (or global warming had killed their culture) so when I read this story, it made me really happy.

second photo from boston.com

the morning after

We dragged ourselves out of bed Wednesday, sore feet and all, went to the National Gallery. (where I got an animal postcard (or three) for Jackson)




We also walked by the White House and the National Mall to see what it looked like the next day.

(green part=where there was a tent on Tuesday, brown part=where there was not. I think they are going to have to reseed the Mall.)

We made dinner reservations on a great website opentable.com that Amanda told us about, but when it came time to go I just couldn't walk another step.


So, we ordered room service, which, after the bicycle taxi after the Inaugural Ball, is the best thing that ever happened to me. (not counting Steven, of course.)

Now we are back home with Gus and Ollie! (our kennel is really, really great. If you are in or near Ann Arbor, I highly recommend it. Their website here.  

does it make me a bad dog owner that no matter how great their kennel is, I am glad they still missed us?)

We had a lovely time, but I can't help but think of all the museums we didn't see.  We'll have to go back.  

gifts

Our hotel in DC, The Washington Plaza, was great. Steven loved it because it is so Modern with a capital M, it was built in the time of Kennedy and looks it, in absolutely the best way.
I loved it because it was lovely and the people who worked there were helpful and delightful.

The day of the Inauguration they left us a white chocolate White House on our pillow.


And a copy of the constitution where most hotels would put a Giddeon Bible. I think all hotels in DC should do that all the time!

big day

I don't really know what to say about the whole thing. It was a great day, and I worked so hard on the campaign, I kind of can't believe it's real. I am just really happy to have been there.

here are some random things that happened or I thought about:

I have never seen so many people. so many happy, frozen people.


there were a lot of miserable kids on the mall, but the ones around me perked up as soon as things started happening. They were really excited even though I am pretty sure they couldn't see anything.
While waiting in line, I heard one little girl's dad ask her if she wanted to go because she was freezing. she said that she didn't. He said that they could go find a restaurant to watch it in and that it was ok. she said, "I want to be able to say I was there." (and I teared up eavesdropping.)

Aretha Franklin's hat was fabulous. (and made in Detroit.)

The video and sound on the jumbotron screens were out of sync, which made the swearing in look a little like a badly dubbed movie. (the Jumbotrons were great though and really made us people who were far away feel like a part of things.)

giant sleeping bag coats are perfect for standing in the cold waiting for things to happen.

giant sleeping bag coats are really hot when you walk around for miles. (when we finally got out on the mall, I opened my coat and steam came out. Steven said, "you got dry ice in your pants or something?")

Everyone cracked up when Rick Warren said, "Malia and Sasha." like he was quoting from All That Jazz (thanks Jon Stewart!)

People booed Bush whenever they showed him on the jumbotron, but where I was standing they booed Joe Lieberman more.

Joe Biden kind of reminds me of my dad.

When President Barack Obama took the oath of office it was like 2 million people who'd been holding their breath for 8 years, or longer, finally exhaled.

people sang "nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah, hey hey hey, goodbye" when former President Bush's helicopter went by and it was like a scene from a movie to watch the helicopter fly past the Washington Monument.

I did not boo or sing, not because I don't understand the sentiments of those who did, I just don't see the point. It's over, why boo? His kids are there, it just felt mean.

Leaving the Mall was nuts. So many people, but everyone was polite, helpful even. It was pretty amazing. And every once in a while someone would start a chant:
"Fired up?" "Fired up!"
"Ready to go?" "Ready to go!"
"Yes we did?" "Yes we did!"
"Gonna do it again!"

people lined up to take their photo in front of the "Midwestern Ball" sign like it was prom. We didn't, but we stood there for awhile gown watching.

we were as close at the ball as we were far away at the swearing in. right in front, smashed up against the stage!

We met some really great people. A bunch of women who met in college and started planning for the inauguration as soon as President Obama annouced he was going to run. A couple from Chicago who work for Public Allies, a non profit group that is trying to foster a new kind of leadership for a new century, where Barack and Michelle both served on the board. And many more.

I had no idea that I knew so many Sheryl Crow songs, before the ball I could only think of one. (she was really excited and brought a Marine up on stage to dance and sing with her. It was really sweet.)



Jill Biden is tiny (and beautiful), and Joe Biden seemed to be having the time of his life.

by the time Michelle got to the Midwestern Ball, she looked like her feet were killing her (mine certainly were.) I loved her dress. Loved, loved, loved it. and that Barack wore a white tie.

At the ball, Barack said, "If you don't mind I'm gonna dance with the one that brung me. The one that does everything I do, but backwards and in high heels."

They really are the most beautiful, loving couple.

There were some amazing gowns at the ball, and I wish I were able to stealthily take photos of them but it was too dark to go without a flash so I couldn't manage it.
My favorite was a bright turquoise tulle number that was about 5 feet wide at the bottom and worn by a woman who looked to be about 17, but was probably more like 13. She was so happy with her giant princess dress until about 1am when I saw her sitting in a heap on the floor in the corner.

And finally, with four blocks left in the walk back to our hotel, we hopped in the back of a bicycle taxi and it was pretty much the best thing that has ever happened to me.