paper cranes

according to an old Japanese legend, anyone that folds one thousand paper cranes so pleases the Gods and the folder is granted a wish.

i'm not sure if i'm going to quite make it to a thousand, or if making a grand wish is even what i am trying for. but doing things with my hands (working in the darkroom, knitting, playing banjo) is what i need to keep my serenity. i've never done origami before, so early this week i bought some origami paper and watched some paper crane tutorials on the internet and taught myself a new craft which i later shared with my little cousin H. i'm thinking of making a garland or mobile out of the cranes. but in the meantime, it's something to occupy my restless hands.

happy weekend--

**canvas camera prints by valentina ramos

snowflake kisses

[the walk to school]

It’s growing up that does this to us. That makes us different people, I mean. One second you are sitting on the red steps at the junior high feeling on top of the world and the next you are standing in the middle of a crowded lunch room with a bag of chips in your left hand and your car keys in your right, looking for the least crowded way out. Then, you’re thrown into a bag filled with rent payments, hastily signed contracts, teachers who don’t care if you come to class or not, and a whole bunch of people you have never seen before.

Your high school friends are gone. They are lost in parties and failed classes and pierced noses. You don’t know how to handle that, because you’re all alone now and you’ve never been alone before. As panic starts to take over, so does the world. It sends you beautiful little things like the sunlight in the front room in the morning, the smell of your newborn nephew, and blankets of fluffy snow in the mornings.

Some might call that life, but to me, it’s so much more than that. It’s growing and learning and moving on and reminiscing on the right things. It’s learning to become a better person and realizing your fault. It’s appreciating the everyday things most of us take for granted. And that, my dear friends, is what “life” should be.

xoxo

- - - - -

e

speaker's block

s.t.o.p.

sometimes life is all over the place and you move four times.

and you start and quit a job. and start another.

and decide to switch schools, and then decided to switch back.

all in the same semester.

but in the end, you figure it all out. and you start to enjoy the small things, like the sound of Special K Berries when it hits the bottom of a ceramic bowl. and the way snowflakes glitter when the wind blows them around in the sun. and the little smile strangers give to each other.

and then you realize, that everything works out eventually. and maybe it takes a little longer to settle into things than you expected you would, but it happens eventually. and the journey getting there was just as worthwhile and enjoyable as the end result. 

xoxo

- - - -

e

yearning for summer

it's been hovering well below freezing the last couple of days in chicago. my mornings have been slower, my stretches deeper, and feet colder. winter has always been m favorite season, but with achy days like today, i'm ready for sunshine, ferris wheel rides, pitchfork music festival, farmer's markets, afternoons spent on my vintage red schwinn, barbecues in the yard, fireworks, and to see my city full of life again.

summer, please come soon.

swooning: Nan Lawson Illustration

while searching for holiday gifts for my favorite friends, i found nan lawson's cute and quirky art on etsy. she is a self-taught illustrator living in los angeles and her quirky character illustrations often feature hipsters, or cult television and movie icons. she also word illustrations featuring inspiring words and lyrics. as soon as i came across her eternal sunshine of the spotless mind print, i was swooning. i just want to fill my whole deskspace / living space with these whimsical illustrations.

you can visit nan lawson's etsy stores here + here // her website + portfolio here //
follow her illustration tumblr here // and like her on facebook here //

my favorites (as featured above): "I Can't See Anything I Don't Like About You" 5x7 $10,
"Wolf Girl" 5x7 $10, "Coffee Shop Boy" 5x7 $10, "Sam" 5x7 $10,
and from her youanchorme store "There Is A Light" 8x10 $16.

1: resolution

let's be kind to our bodies in 2013.
left, e; right, a

a walk

a morning walk past rows of frank lloyd wright houses. empty storefronts and full coffee cups. construction sites and marquee lights. the birthplace of hemingway. remnants of the holidays. and the green line overhead with trains heading towards the city i call home.

there is a solace in walking and feeling sunlight on rosy cheeks. chapped hands untucked from pockets. and a mind wrapped around the wonderful smiles of strangers. there is a lot more i notice behind a camera or on my red schwinn than i do when i'm all caught up in my own head.

i'm thankful for the breathing room the winter gives me, for my east-facing window, easy mornings to be spent on creative work, a house filled with h's giggles, taking cat naps snuggled next to j. i'm thankful that i get to call this space home.

seven a.m. drive

There’s something about the way the world looks in the morning that is so beautiful.

When the sun just starts to give everything color.

When everyone is beginning their day.

When things are slow and calm.

When anything is possible.

When the air is quiet.

I love that. I love mornings. I love waking up and knowing I have 18 hours to make things count. Yesterday is over, and what happened yesterday is forever in yesterday. 

But today is all mine, and I can make it anything I want.

XOXO

- - - -

E

in the morning

mornings are for waiting  for sunlight to enter through cracks in the blinds, taking time to greet the day beneath a cloud of white blankets, doing morning stretches towards the daylight on a large rug, planning out the the day in lists, putting in some good work, taking a lavender epsom salt and rose water bubble bath, then slowing down to enjoy a simple breakfast and a good book.

currently reading, wanderlust by Rebecca Solnit.

_______

i call this smoothie a handful smoothie, it's my favorite way to start the morning. this smoothie is excellent for enjoying alongside a book, in a thermos on the morning commute, or for indulging in after a morning workout.

1/2 cup of vanilla or plain greek yogurt
1/2 cup of orange juice
1 banana
a handful of strawberrier
a handful of blueberries
a handful of pineapple
1 tbsp flax
2 large ice cubes

mix together in a blender and enjoy.