-
Favorites January 2019
Heidi of 101cookbooks does these lists every once in awhile and I love them. Here’s what I’m loving.
This interview with Molly Rosen Guy (Shop Doen). My Dad used to tell his doctor that he just wanted to get well soon so he could go home and read the Chicago Tribune every morning in his favorite chair by the window.
My friend Erin told me about Kid Gorgeous, the hour long comedy special on Netflix and I’m so glad she did. His robot bit had me laughing hysterically (with headphones, after bedtime, with old halloween candy, as a parent might do). More laughter for January!
I’ve been making this light, tasty chicken stir-fry recipe for ten years and the sauce is still my favorite mix of soy-vinegar-garlic-ginger. If you can get Boston lettuce, the wraps are really fun, but tortillas will do, sour cream adds a lot as well. (Martha Stewart)
This interview with RadioLab producer Latif Nasser. “I love Google Alerts. I have dozens of them active at any given time.”
A passion project of Alice of Forest Bound, the Cabin Escapes Directory is so fun to page through, imagine getaways and nab interior decoration ideas.
Light, bendy, and rechargeable, these clip-on reading lights were a total win as Christmas gifts for the girls.
The pinterest account of Willaby, an organic blanket brand from Georgia.
-
retelling
None of my clothes quite fit in a way I like, so I got bangs instead. I need a little high self-maintenance in my life.
The girls love to have their nails painted. Joan manages to stay at the table and let them dry for fifteen minutes after I paint them. Later she comes back with three of them completely rubbed off from activity. “You forgot to paint these,” she says.
I’m reading The Magician’s Assistant. The main characters names are Sabine and Parsifal. So pretty. I think Ann Patchett might be my favorite light fiction. It’s still beautifully and carefully written, but the stories are fast and the relationships are so engaging. This title was briefly $2 for kindle edition, a fact I found out from this lovely list.
The girls have started retelling stories of good and bad things. “Remember that silly guy?” “Oh yeah the one with the hat?” “Yeah.” <laughs, giggles> But also, “Remember at the playground, that mean boy who said ‘I’ll push you if you don’t get out of here?'” <solemn faces> Again and again. Until playground = mean kid. Who was there but once, who at the time they simply shrugged at, but now he has managed to sweep all other memories aside. It frustrates me. After the twentieth retelling “Ok,” I say, “We’re not telling that story anymore. Lots of other nice things happened at the playground. We’ve met so many other friends there.” I’m not sure what else to say–ideas?
-
these daze
Alma is asleep on the bed. We’re moving forward with the assumption she loves to sleep with noise! The girls tell me those chess pieces are watching a movie. I have fallen down a rabbit hole of obsession with Jenny Gordy of Wiksten. She makes incredibly beautiful perfectly lovely things for her daughter. And she writes brief and candid captions. Do follow.
I’m re-reading Momma Zen. It’s so good and soothing, I want to quote the whole darn thing here. The thing that always strikes me about this book is that Karen Maezen Miller only had one child. And yet she just caught it all, all the difficulties and transitions and wisdom to be gained, the first time around. Impressive.
When you have a baby, the boundaries of a day are not boundaries at all. What you thought was a day–daylight followed by an evening meal and assorted frivolities–is only one half of the day. A true day goes on much longer! A true day is a night and a day and a night again. A true day never ends.
-
Favorites
This photo by our friend Jared. You see photos like these and you remember–oh yeah, phones have nothing on nice cameras.the girls are loving: Kiki’s Messaging Service (1989) Hooray for the discovery of another wonderful anime movie from Studio Ghibli. We love the lively spirit of the young girl characters in Our Neighbor Totoro (1988) and Ponyo, and Kiki’s got the same mix of honor and adventure. She’s a current top contender for Lux’s halloween outfit.
For our next movie day I’ve got my eye on Song of the Sea. Has anyone watched it with their young ones?
Can I wear this to Costco? a pinterest board by Grace that I just discovered.Bloom Naturals salt scrub: the girls are obsessed with taking “just a pinch” of this at the end of their baths. It makes them smell delicious and rubs off dead skin as well. Wildly all-natural and a great price. I also use her bug spray on all of us in the evenings because we get nighttime mosquitos (does such a thing exist?? We’ve got them.) and I don’t have to worry about crazy chemicals being on our skin overnight.
10 Lessons from Tibor Kalman: I really loved reading this. I’ve been curious about Maira Kalman’s deceased husband Tibor and their relationship for a long time.
Speaking of creative couples, Lux is really into the TV show Octonauts and I am just loving the fact that it was created by a husband-wife duo that live in Canada. They are incredibly talented! Here’s a overview/interview of Meomi Studio.
-
5 Links from under the dribble
I really enjoyed this pretty introverts on the internet essay.
Joe played Little Wings for me last night and it was so nice. (specifically the “Light Green Leaves” album from 2002)
I’m reading Pilgrim at Tinker Creek to completely check out for 15 minutes and its totally working.
My favorite part of Alice Waters’ ratatouille recipe (that I’ve made approximately 20x in my life) is when you drop a whole bunch of basil straight into the hot pan. My second favorite part is how it tastes better when it’s three days old.
Joe wrote up an article about diagrams and published it on the very hip Medium where it has been lauded and acclaimed far beyond our kitchen table.
An email from my friend Jordan about a new movie and a new show. We all need a friend like her to keep us appreciative and in love with good media:
…Oh I am SO glad you like Bling Ring! I just loved it, too! Whoever the girl is who played Chloe, make her a star RIGHT NOW! And the Thiessa Farmiga-dances-with-a-gun-
moment was actually disturbing. She really put on the disaffected girl with crazy eyes hat there and it just WORKED. I’m calling it Sophia’s best yet, as the highly dreary nature of Virgin Suicides does not allow for repeat viewing 🙁 What else do I love? Orange is the New Black! But in a much more well rounded way. I wouldn’t exactly stand on a box and defend Bling Ring to people as universally lovable, but Orange is the New Black… If someone doesn’t like it they’re an asshole. Seeing Natasha Lyonne as a heroin junkie turned inmate turned brassy advice giver could be too spot on to work, but instead it goes off just perfectly! And Laura Prepon really works for me in her role too. I think it’s her renaissance post-That 70s Show. Really all of the characters just weedle their way into your heart 🙂 And it’s so weird to see a cast of women, just almost all women – who aren’t particularly attractive either! The male characters really just exist to highlight the female story lines. That Jenji Kohan. A lady for ladies.