{looking back} joshua tree

Two years ago we visited Joshua Tree for the first time and, a surprise to both of us, absolutely fell in love with the desert. The complete silence, the expansive views and the incredibly clear night sky was a balm for our city-dwelling souls. We spent hours sitting outside watching the sun set, followed by a razor thin waxing crescent moon. We watched as the blue-orange gradient of the sky deepened and thousands of stars came out, including my old friend the Milky Way. Our first year in September 2020 we saw Jupiter and Saturn in close conjunction, shooting stars, satellites, the International Space Station, and the Andromeda Galaxy. The next year our Airbnb, The Moon Cabin, had binoculars which we used to track roaming satellites and to view Venus, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter and two of its moons, and distant star clusters.

The desert emits something that touches both of us in the same way. There's something about sitting outside looking into the vast distance, hearing nothing but the wind and the odd passing car, watching the one street light change from green to yellow to red to green from seven miles away. Since our first trip we've vowed to visit once a year. These images are from our second trip in July 2021 and we are headed back again this September with my star-loving dad, a gift to him so he can see the night sky from the desert for the first time!

{personal} the cross stitching continues

My cross stitching hobby continues... It's been a little slow going lately, but here are some of my favorite creations from the past couple of years. 

1. Retro Roses from DMC
2. Patterns from a book of Japanese patterns
3. Norwich stitch
4. Blue cats
5. Floss & Mischief moth from DMC
6. Pretty Little Washington DC by Satsuma Street
7. Japanese pattern in progress

{looking back} the great conjunction

 

A year ago during this time, planets Saturn and Jupiter were slowly converging across the night sky, dancing their way through the summer and autumn months to the great conjunction that takes place between the two gas giants nearly every twenty years. In the upper left was a waxing crescent moon with the two planets in the below right, taken two days before the winter solstice.

{personal} my year in books, continued

 

I fully intended to continue sharing my thoughts on books read in 2020 like my previous post, but I kept putting it off. And now here we are nearing the end of 2021 and any significant thoughts on most of these have long since slipped my mind. Nevertheless I had put the effort into creating this little collage and I still like it so I might as well share it!

Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
Space Boy Volume 1 by Stephen McCranie
The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa
Gratitude by Oliver Sacks
This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki & Jillian Tamaki
Chimes of a Lost Cathedral by Janet Fitch
Three Woman by Lisa Taddeo
Awayland by Ramona Ausubel
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe by D.G. Compton
Ray Bradbury The Last Interview and Other Conversations by Ray Bradbury & Sam Weller
An Education by Lynn Barber 
On Flowers by Amy Merrick 
The Revolution of Marina M. by Janet Fitch 
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

{personal} our sixth wedding anniversary

For our first wedding anniversary, we received a card in the mail from my maternal grandmother and grandfather that contained the obligatory well wishes and a single gold dollar stashed inside. The following year we received another card from them with two gold dollars. I thought it was a clever and surprising sentiment and was looking forward to growing our collection as the years went by, envisioning a box full of coins representing the years of our wedded bliss.

The third year my grandfather became sick and wasn't able to send the coins, but I went to the bank and requested them anyway. I figured I would keep the tradition going, even if he couldn't. He ended up passing away later that same year.

One the day he died, I was working my retail job and ringing up customers at the cash register. Near the end of the my shift I was helping a customer who paid cash with some gold dollars, which immediately made me think of my grandfather, as I didn't come across gold dollars very often. After I got home I received a call from my mom telling them that he had passed away. I told her about the gold dollars and asked her if she knew what time he had died and she told me it was sometime between 7:45 and 8pm Eastern Time. The next day at work I looked up the transaction from the day before and the time stamp read 4:54pm Pacific Standard Time. A three-hour time difference would put it at 7:54pm Eastern Time, around the exact time that he passed away.

My grandmother, my mother and myself all agree that it was definitely Grandpa saying goodbye to me.

Today is our sixth wedding anniversary and, just as I do every year, I went to the bank and exchanged six dollar bills for six gold dollars to add to our collection.

{personal} on flowers

Today was a lazy Sunday spent reading Amy Merrick's beautiful book On Flowers. It is divided into six sections on arranging flowers, city flowers, country flowers, fancy flowers, humble flowers and far away flowers. I love how the book is one part memoir one part instruction on flower arranging, but mostly it's about finding and appreciating flowers everywhere you look. I was immediately inspired to run outside and snip a strand of jasmine growing underneath the stairs to our apartment and take a few photographs.

Part of me wishes I had polished the leaves to remove the water stains from the sprinkler at our apartment building. But at the same time, leaving them be makes them true "city flowers." Perfectly imperfect.

From On Flowers by Amy Merrick:

"City Things To Do

Look both ways before crossing the street to look at flowers. 
Stay on the grass. 
Start an imaginary art collection. 
Walk the long way, preferably through the park. 
Put bouquets in your window. 
Smile when you see flowers in someone else's window. 
Watch birds in the park.
Throw a picnic dinner party. 
Carry flowers on the subway.
Order dinner at midnight, because you can. 
Talk to taxi drivers. 
Walk in all kinds of weather. 
Go to the botanical garden in winter. 
Overtip often. 
Volunteer in a community garden. 
Keep herbs on your windowsill.
Take yourself on a very fancy cake date. 
Read a book on the train. 
Make a container garden. 
Know your local florist by name. 
Say it with flowers."

{personal} my year in books so far

Every year I set a goal to read at least forty books. I've been doing this consistently (and tracking my progress on Goodreads) every year since 2011. Some years I even reach fifty-two, which, to be honest, for the past few years has been my secret goal. This is my 2020 year in books so far (and I'm on track!). I didn't intentionally choose covers that coordinated so well, but the above collection is so satisfying... the whites and browns and blacks with pops of pale blue, green and red that tie them all together... It makes me very happy!

Artful by Ali Smith - To be honest, I had to start this book over at least three times because I kept putting it down for too long. It's about the narrator being haunted by her former lover and parts of it can get confusing as the structure is a little odd. The first part was so lovely and there was something absolutely perfect about it that I didn't mind rereading it, but the rest of the book didn't live up to it.

Year of the Monkey by Patti Smith - I don't know how Patti Smith can write about seemingly nothing but visiting coffee shops and wandering and traveling, but this is the fourth book of hers that I've read and I've loved all of them.

The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea by Yukio Mishima - I've had this on my to-read list for almost ten years. It had gone missing at the library and they must've found it because I was finally able to check it out. It was very bizarre with one very memorable stomach-churning part, but overall I really enjoyed it.

Hawai'i One Summer by Maxine Hong Kingston - A collection of beautiful short stories that I revisit every couple of years. One of my absolute all-time favorites.

Idaho by Emily Ruskovich - I've had this on my to-read list for a few years and kept not being able to find it at the library. I finally found it earlier this year in a box of free books at the local used bookstore. I couldn't believe they were just giving it away - it was like finding treasure! I was incredibly excited and it lived up to my expectations. A very haunting, lyrical and beautiful read, though intensely tragic, that is one of my absolute favorites of the year.

A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman - Another book I've had on my to-read list for many years. I found it at the used bookstore last year and finally got around to reading it. Absolutely beautiful descriptions of our senses, very interesting and very informative.

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides - Another re-read from 2012. A huge fan of Jeffrey Eugenides (The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex are two personal favorites that I've also read multiple times), I remember not really enjoying this the first time. I recently found it at the library bookstore for fifty cents. I passed it up but I found that I kept thinking about it so I went back to purchase it. I definitely enjoyed it more the second time.

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder - A short, easy read that I found important.

The Girl Who Reads on the Métro by Christine Féret-Fleury - Toted as being "in the vein of Amelie and The Little Paris Bookshop," this little tome was probably my most anticipated read of the year. It's a nice, easy read, but it was a little all over the place and felt like it was missing half a story. I was disappointed.

The Alienist by Caleb Carr - This was the book I decided to read during my flight back to the east coast to see family earlier this year. I highly recommend for fans of mystery and true crime and psychology! I intentionally read this without watching the television series, but I've heard the series is wonderful so I plan on watching it soon as well.

The Library Book by Susan Orlean - I spied this at a house where I was cat-sitting last year and, seeing as we seem to have similar taste in books, I decided to check it out from the library (ha!). An account of the fire that broke out at the Los Angeles Public Library in 1986, this is part journalistic investigation and part telling of the author's lifelong love of books and libraries.

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson - A true classic that stands the test of time!

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck - Another re-read and another classic that stands the test of time.

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides - I received an advanced copy from a giveaway earlier this year and finally decided to give it a go. I devoured it in less than a day. I would recommend to any Greek classics/murder mystery/psychology fans. It was very enjoyable and a quick read, but not my favorite.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt - One of my all-time favorites that I decided to reread at the beginning of the year. The perfect mystery to cozy up and read on a winter day.

Blood Memory by Greg Iles - Highly recommended by one of my good friends who I discovered has very similar (wonderful!) taste in books. Another wonderful murder mystery!

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton - Relishing a very unique premise, I wanted to enjoy this more than I did, but I didn't know enough backstory about the narrator to care. Also, it's set in the future which was revealed so much later in the story (I promise I'm not spoiling anything) that I think it did itself a disservice.

The Stargazing Year by Charles Laird Calia - Another of my absolute favorites of the year! I also spied this book at the same house I was cat-sitting last year. A year in the life of the author who rediscovers his childhood love of astronomy and stargazing and spends a year building an observatory in his backyard. His descriptions are so beautiful, and it reminded me so much of my own stargazing self.

Now onto my next read to officially mess up the aesthetic. Click here for another collection of aesthetically pleasing book covers.

{personal} my quarantine life

My quarantine life so far: I've gone twenty-five days without wearing a stitch of makeup (except for lipstick, because some days I just needed that little something). I've cleaned the apartment (but nothing crazy). I've done laundry. I've slept in. I've taken naps. I've stayed home. I've taken walks (but not nearly enough). I've worked from home. I've been furloughed. I've had three orders in my Etsy shop. I've supported several local restaurants. I've baked one loaf of chocolate chip banana bread, one batch of chocolate chip cookies and one batch of madeleines. I've started and finished four embroidery projects. I've read seven books. I've watched I don't know how many movies. I've worked in my sticker book. I've thought of finally starting that macramé project (as well as that Holga project, that sun art project, that collaboration with my husband). I've talked to family (a lot). I've texted friends. I've eaten well. I've eaten junk. I've been feeling a mixture of lucky, blessed, uncertain and scared.

In other news, I tried the trendy frothy coffee thing known as dalgona. It's delicious!

{personal} just because

"Because I love you. Because you're you..."

{personal} crazy about chamomile

Flowers from my valentine.

{personal} iphone photos

Every year for the past eight years or so, I've created a calendar for my mom featuring photographs I've taken throughout the previous year. These are my favorites from this past year, all shot on the iPhone 5C (yes, I'm long overdue for an upgrade, but I'm getting by just fine!). My goal this year is to not use my iPhone so much, to slow down and use my DSLR and Holga cameras again.

1. Sunrise behind Griffith Observatory and surrounding mountains, standing at the Hollywood Bowl Overlook, Los Angeles
2. Clouds above Burbank
3. Walking among the wildflower "super bloom" near Lake Hollywood
4. Palm trees in Glendale
5. The coast at Manhattan Beach
6. A foggy morning view of Hollywood Mountain from the Burbank IKEA parking lot

{personal} cross stitch creations

I'm still stitching away and very much enjoying my cross stitch hobby! Select designs are now available for purchase in my Etsy shop.

1. Pattern from Japanese cross stitch patterns
2. Floppy disks by PixelPower
3. Black cats and jack-o-lanterns designed by me
4. Patterns from Japanese cross stitch patterns
5. Pattern from Japanese cross stitch patterns
6. Tiny pixel flowers designed by me

{personal} plants & a life update

Hello there! Here I am posting after far too long yet again. I'm here. I'm around. I'm just not sure where I am with photography anymore. I rarely pull out my DSLR or Holga cameras, yet I still post subpar iPhone pictures to Instagram and I still keep my Etsy shop going despite lower than lackluster sales. Anyway...

A life update!

I took a huge step at the very end of last year and quit the job I was extremely unhappy at. The job I was at for seven years. The job I've had since moving to California. Even though I was unhappy, I was still very comfortable where I was and the thought of job searching and interviewing for the first time in many years was terrifying. But I knew I would never look for something else unless I absolutely had to. I came to the realization that I would rather be stressed about looking for a new job than stressed in my current situation. Knowing I had some savings to tide us over just in case, I quit my job and started 2019 afresh. It was very scary, but I am so proud of myself for finally doing something. It took awhile, but I finally found a job close to home (goodbye 30-60 minute commute!) working for a company that I am proud to be a part of. I'm starting at the bottom and have a long way to go to grow and develop, but it's a great company to work for and it offers us a two-year-plan to get the heck out of Southern California and its high cost of living and awful weather! My husband and I have missed the beauty of the east coast and long to live among its green hills and changing seasons and, more importantly, closer to family. It feels good to have a plan.

Also, I've finally developed something of a green thumb! Pictured above are the first two succulents I've ever managed to keep alive and they've both been going strong for over a year now in their sunny little spot on the windowsill. One hasn't grown at all but is still alive (I swear it's fake) and the other has grown like crazy, producing little babies and stretching out to impossible heights (I fear I'll break it every time I move it to water it). And the larger plant is an epipremnum, a new plant I bought from my new workplace that seems to be thriving as well.

And so, this is life right now!

{personal} painting in instax

I love how these look like impressionist paintings.

{personal} anacapa island part 2

East Anacapa Island in Instax.

1. Sean walking east towards the lighthouse
2. Inspiration Point
3. Service buildings with the lighthouse in the distance
4. Arch Rock
5. East Anacapa with West Anacapa in the distance