Nectar & Light

 

hello there. i hope you've had a wonderful week and weekend. i got back from new york on thursday and have been on an emotional roller coaster of seeing den off for another contract in texas and welcoming my mom for a couple of weeks to help my transition. but oh new york. i've such mixed emotions when i go back - this trip was no exception and we were able to stay in our old neighborhood in brooklyn making it that much more special - and difficult to leave. 

we started with a lunch at one of my favs - the brooklyn fish camp; their oyster po-boy and shoe string fries are one of my favorite meals in brooklyn. that night we met some of our best friends for drinks and a late dinner in the neighborhood - the hanger streak at ai di la is HEAVEN.

the next morning we met jenna and jen for a quick coffee at black gold and a leisurely breakfast at prime meats - and it is exactly these type of mornings {and evenings} that leave me wondering why we left - i miss those girls. i know the answer - but i am having a rather tough time letting go. we spent the rest of the afternoon in the city and then made our way back to see my buddy brian at hand of glory who has now given me five tattoos - he's the shit. and thank you, thank you to heather for the artwork - a sneak peek at some beautiful spot art in my upcoming gemstones title.

and the next day we started at general greene in fort greene which was pretty amazing - the rest of the day was spent relaxing in preparations for the concert that night. i have been to a lot of shows, but the big 4 was my first stadium show since i was a teen and it did not disappoint. i don't give a shit if people think metallica sold out - and i really don't give a shit if people think they've lost their hardcore edge - they killed it and as a die-hard fan for over 20 years, i love the fact that they've pushed boundaries of their original sound and have never been afraid to try anything. it was amazing and one of the best shows - best nights - EVER. my closest friends know how much music means to me and how much i know it will continue to inspire me. danzig recently said something that really stuck with me after ronnie james dio and peter steele died - something to the effect of  "see the shows, buy the t-shits - we're not going to be around forever." do it.

but when all was said and done - my heart swelled to come home to my babies... and bbq.

finally, thank you so much to everyone who commented on the last post - there were so many wonderful ideas that i've decided to award the two sets of cards to my top two in each category and one set of new note cards to two runners up in each.

i LOVED azuree's suggestion of eating a pumpkin pie drowning in whipped cream while shifting out the closets for the season - LOVE - you win two sets of cards love!

and i plan on making patricia's apple torte for rosh hashanah next week - thank you lady - you win two sets as well!

for runner's up - i can't wait to try lizzie's sautéed apples and the girls are i are going to follow anna's ritual and take a leaf walk.

if you are a winner email me here with your address and that you again to EVERYone for the amazing inspiration you've given me.

thank you so much for your lovely comments yesterday. this week is busy with the final edits to the polaroid book (going to print within days!!), the first set of edits for the gem book and the final outlines for the kids book - craziness! in celebration of Instant Love going to print, i want to giveaway TWO SETS of both polaroid note card sets - so two winners will recieve both the original set and our new set that is a sneak peek to Instant Love.

all you have to do is comment and tell me your very favorite apple recipe OR your favorite fall ritual. yes - your working for this one friends. i have a peck of apples that i picked up at the apple fest this weekend; while many are destined for my maple-brandy apple butter - the fate of the others is still in question (that recipe, btw is for what i call "kinda-canning" - ashley is going to teach me the real way). as for your favorite ritual - we are looking for ways to continue to slow down and relish. i will pick my favorite from each topic - so GO!

next week den and i are heading to the Big 4 in nyc and staying in brooklyn the first couple of nights - i am so excited i just don't have words - i think i might be more excited about being in my old neighborhood than i am about the concert. maybe.

i will choose winners when i get back on the 16th - in the meantime - enjoy your days friends.

 

hello friends. i hope you had a lovely and long weekend. ours was wonderful. after realizing that my kitchen just won't be finished any time soon - i stopped letting it keep me from having friends over for dinner {silly, i know.} ashley's family and kristina and her husband ian joined us for our first official asheville dinner party. i took every opportunity, in regards to the menu, to craft magic and then failed monumentally when it came to capturing the evening with photographs {which is explored a bit below}. regardless, it was such a beautiful night with beautiful friends. the next morning we took the girls to the annual apple festival in hendersonville and as you can judge by the photographs - we ate our way down the lovely historic downtown street. i shot my second to last pack of 600 film *sniff* but one of the shots above was taken with my phone - can you tell? i think it's pretty obvious! ;) today we enjoyed a day inside - windows wide - allowing mists of rain to dance lightly in the air. adie and i painted, her sisters drew, i made a crystal and leather necklace and more bread...

so those gentle changes i wrote about in my last post - they are starting to feel like they are taking root. i have been cooking and baking again - a lot. in brooklyn we relied on take-out - a lot. and it took me some time to feel comfortable in a kitchen again. i was surprised to find that one of the reasons i had delayed was fear - what if somehow i lost that gentle rhythmic grace i once possessed in a kitchen? and i had not been inspired in so long. there has been a lot of discussions on blogs of late about over-exposure - there is so much to see and take in - i had been pulling back from all of that for some time and when i found that i finally stopped attempting to digest so much; i wanted to create my own voice again. in an odd way i felt depleted and overwhelmed rather than uplifted and inspired. and there was a painstakingly beautiful moment when i realized - as we all sat down together at the table for the third or fourth night in a row, discussing - laughing about our day - that our girls need this. the coming together at the end of the day is so, SO important and holds a special alchemy when the food has been prepared with love and longing - and i lost that somewhere. we light candles and listen to music every night when we eat now - every night - it's simply become part of a ritual - one that has become vital to our happiness.

and that slowing down has me reflecting on a number of things in my life - in particular, photography. somewhere along the line, i stopped shooting for fun. that might explain the lack of posts this last year as well. i've been so busy writing and shooting for work, that i forgot why i started shooting. why did i start? because i thought the way the morning light coming through the window was glorious - or the way my daughter's curls spilled down her back needed to be remembered always. i didn't make a conscience decision to shoot less - but i know i said to myself on more than several occasions, i want to live this moment, not photograph it. i do realize there is a happy medium - and i am on a quiet path of rediscovery.

maybe it's the south... but slowing down, drinking in life and savoring the details again - it's resonates with me...

and some things i am loving:

~ loving the horrors, the ettes {who i discovered the day after they played the grey eagle!} cults and esben and the witch;

- reading the swan thieves, re-reading jewels: a secret history and wanting to read turquoise;

~ wanting to add this to my collection;

~ planning our garden for next spring & crossing fingers our neighborhood allows us to keep bees - we should find out next week - so hoping i can buy this book; 

~  crushing on darlingtonia moccasins;

more soon.