[a million tomorrows] | above.beyond.

today while the blossoms still cling to the vine

i'll taste your strawberries i'll drink your sweet wine

a million tomorrows shall all pass away

ere i forget all the joys that are mine, today.

{r. spark}

{2005 - annie was with us - can you spot her?!}

breathe meg, breathe. those words still ring in my ears. your reminder to me when we sang together. you always said i had such a lovely voice, just like my sisters. me, always too shy to sing in front an audience. i have so many happy memories of our days together. sitting around the thanksgiving table completely full from the wonderful meal mom + you made us and always breaking out into song. family cookouts with the deans and the williams's. i loved when you sang with jack + jack. was there ever a blend of voices better than you three?! i used to sit on the stairs while your quartet rehearsed in the living room so i could hear your amazing harmonies. i bet you didn't know that?!! i would never ever tire of hearing goodbye, my coney island baby. you guys were the best. sometimes i'd be brave enough to open the door and sit on the sofa. i was always in awe. i can never hear a peter, paul + mary song without being immediately transported back to ridgefield, ct. circa 1960something. the great mandella pumping through your stereo speakers in the living room. or late nights at the ryders and me curled up on the couch so tired from the day of swimming and being lulled to sleep by leaving on a jet plane. music has always been a huge part of our family fabric. we sang at family gatherings, the happy times + the sad times, we would break out in song after a dinner at the elms or after church in the driveway. you, always teaching us girls a new tag from barbershop. i have you to thank for my love of music. of course i have you to thank for many things in my life. but i just want you to know that there is always a melody in my head + heart and that melody is you dad. i love you and i thank my lucky stars that i was chosen to be your daughter. happy father's day daddy. xo 

[only the ocean] | plum island, ma

After all this time after all these seasons

After your one decision to go to the water for reason

Now it’s only the ocean and you

After all these lines will all be erased soon

They go out with the tide

Then come back with the waves

It’s only the ocean and you

{J. Johnson}

Bil + Kyle - Ocean Plunge - Plum Island 1 January 2012

Happy 2012 - may you jump in many oceans!! xo

[it's personal] - between the drops | newburyport, ma.

Raining
Raining for days on end
Staying inside again
Making up lists of things to do
When the rain ends
The Children are restless
They played all their games
Again and again and again
If we knew anyone we could call up a friend

But it's raining
Raining, raining, raining

{c. simon}

It has been raining here for over a week. But I'm one of THOSE people who love the rain. The sound of it on my roof, hitting my windows, a sweet little lullaby that I always adore. Of course as I type this, the sun is shining and the sky is blue. Finally. People seem happy. I drove Annie to school this morning and a car actually let me make my turn at the light. Amazing what a little sunshine and warmth does to the human spirit. 

There's a lovely tree on our street and it's petals are scattered all over the brick sidewalk like a pretty pink carpet. It was just too good not to photograph. Annie and I ran out between the raindrops and did a quick little impromptu shoot. I'm glad we did because the petals are now smushed and crushed into the sidewalk from all the rain we've had. Annie twirled and posed and loved the pretty pinkness. And then, ping.... ping.... the raindrops started again so we opened our umbrella and ran home. Spring. xo

Annie's skirt from The Pink Pooka - check out her etsy shop! 

 

{she has the daintiest fingers. love her hands.}

[morning tea] | newburyport ma

i find myself drifting off in thought. sipping my tea. i haven't picked up a book that has consumed me like this in a long time. i can't get it out of my mind. taking me to another world. a world that hangs in the air outside my window, beyond my door. i didn't live in newburyport where some of this book takes place. but i live here now. and it's a far cry from the way it used to be. but the ghosts of another time are still lingering. they must be. this book has brought me to tears. in fact  i've sobbed several times. i can't imagine being so honest. so true to who you are. when i think back to my own youth, my own world, i feel like there is a veil hanging around it. memories not as sharp or clear as they should be. why is that. this book has made me wonder, it's made me grateful, it's made me sad, it's made me long for my family. it's made me want to sit in a room with my siblings and talk about our history. it's made me miss my mother more, if that's possible. and it's made me long for a hug from my dad. xo

Townie - Andre Dubus III

[words of love]. | newburyport ma

Words of love

Softly spoken like clouds above

Drift away

What shall I say?

To let you know the way I feel

Should I cry out loud that love is real?

Or simply reveal

Forever my love

Time alone will tell us

Lovers born in May

May grow bitter and jealous

Faded and gray

What shall I say?

It's not another lovers game

It doesn't seem to have a name

It changes and remains the same

Forever my love, my love

Yesterday's projection will never really know

But tomorrow's recollection will surely show

It was so between us

Ain't no other way

Time has seen us

Day after day

What shall I say?

That isn't in the way I act

That'll carry through the years intact

I'm lookin' forward to lookin' back

From further on down the track

Together in fact

Forever my love, my love {c.simon/j.taylor}

[bertoia love] | newburyport ma

the urge for good design is the same as the urge to go on living.

{harry bertoia}

a splash of 60s a dose of 70s and a dollop of 80s - the three decades that defined me.  from birth through college and career. i saved marriage and motherhood for the tres modern new century - i was too busy being fabulous in boston. wink. wink.  and of course the 90s is where i kept my eye on the prize. career. career. career. and of course  contract furniture. 

i don't know if it was the fact that i was raised in connecticut -  beautiful fairfield county, that i have such fond memories of mid century fabulousness. from my piano teacher to our dentist to the photog who took our family photo in 1976 and all my babysitting gigs where i could peek inside some cool california modern homes - it was just everywhere. and really connecticut has nothing to do with it but  i just associate the two together. i really can't explain it - it's a feeling.  every time i see a beautiful danish credenza, a vintage brown jordan chaise lounge (the lido lace or the vinyl cords - awesome) a george nelson clock, knoll tulip chair, eames anything or even a tastefully made shag rug my heart skips a beat. i am so drawn to that genre.

and my home doesn't even look anywhere near  mid-century - not even close - i'm at that i hate everything in my house stage. but thanks to my sister who scored four bertoia wire side chairs on a trip to pennsylvania {she just knew i had wanted them for years and years} i have a start. and now my entire home has to be redesigned to accommodate them. who wants to help?! hands up! xo

[george nelson. edward wormley. eero saarinen. harry bertoia. charles eams and jens risom] hail to the chiefs.