4/52

"a portrait of my son, once a week, every week, in 2014"

augustus: you got into the cat food and leaves and papa's mozart records the morning i took these photos. i wanted to capture you just as you were, nine months exactly, beautiful, strong, curious, happy.

your auntie thinks you look like bill murray. 

we think you look like our wedding vows.

HERE + THERE

1. juice glass turned into a simple vase

2. a dress on a sunday in january, or as we call it, june-uary

3. this face, forever

4. my little crawler, we all can't get enough

5. trader joes mini roses, mostly always

6. play + curls
7. like father, like son ;)

8. chasing a sunset while waiting for our heater to get fixed

9. more play

10. gus pets a tibetan mastiff
11. sewed him a pair of leggings

12. playing outside one of our favorite coffee shops on an unusually warm friday evening 

yesterday, before going home, i took gus on a country road a few miles north of us to see a golden sunset in the hills. there were llamas and old mailboxes and people out for walks and old trucks slowly moving past us and giant, white dogs that looked like polar bears and trees older than most anything you know. i held him so tightly as i pointed at all the tiny beautiful things and when he closed his eyes from the brightness of that big beautiful sun, i whispered baby that's the wind.

3/52

"a portrait of my son, once a week, every week, in 2014" 

augustus: you are crawling and getting into every. little. thing. (so quickly! so swift!) and every time we leave our home, people stop and talk to us, touching you, rubbing your cheeks, asking your name, how well you are sleeping, what makes you happy. always wanting to know more. because to see you is to love you, and oh my love, how we see you. how deep our love is for you - how deep it will always be.

these photos were taken this morning outside in our backyard before we packed up and left on our sunday adventure. you love to be outside, especially near trees, plants and patches of grass to lay on and pull. you pet a tibetan mastiff today and played with a stranger's string of pearls because you loved them so. i carried you on my chest in your sling and at one point, we had to take off your shirt because it got so hot. we let you taste everything we eat. we let you feel whatever we feel.

i love caring for you. my love, i will always take care of you.

RECIPE: WHEAT GRASS POWDER SMOOTHIE

this smoothie is completely inspired by the witching hour. last evening, in an effort to get out of our freezing home, we took a drive down the road and ended at our favorite fresh produce and natural foods store. it sits along a road that leads to the ocean and i always seem to find "the best things ever" there. we just walked the aisles (i think you tend to do that a lot as a mama, i'm finding) and i discovered my new favorite fresh juice (i mean, that bottle!) and a few other beautiful ingredients to make stuffed bell peppers. i picked up a little bag of this wheat grass powder knowing the incredible health benefits but not knowing exactly how to use it.

after a little thought, i tried adding it to one of my post work-out smoothies and it is absolutely incredible. it is a subtle flavor and not nearly intense as pure wheat grass juice. it reminds me of matcha green tea.

for this smoothie, i simply blended all these ingredients together, including a large handful of ice. mix until thoroughly blended. 

this recipe makes enough for two large glasses. i gave one to my husband and he said that it is his new favorite smoothie, too. so enjoy ~ 

RECIPE: CHEWY VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

our furnace has been broken for two days and there is no sign of it being fixed for at least another three. i am bundled in layers, and have a space heater blowing at the edge of my face and all i can think about is getting away, somewhere, anywhere. the sun is still high in the sky, but the air is frigid and all my indoor plants are in mourning.

anyways, these cookies. these are my favorite chocolate chip cookies ~ chewy, soft and vegan. while i am not a vegan anymore, i apply most of their principles when it comes to my time in the kitchen. i love the challenge of alternative cooking and more times than not, i love the way it tastes, too.

i remember the first time i made these cookies last february, almost eight months pregnant. they were the first thing i ever baked in our new kitchen in this town we have fallen hard in love for, and i remember writing down the recipe on the back of a stained envelope. i think my favorite recipes always start like that: written down on stained somethings.

on a personal note, i really recommend the coconut oil, shredded coconut and chopped nuts. and that tiny pinch of sea salt before it goes in the oven.

CHEWY VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

adapted from this recipe

1 Cup brown sugar

1/4 Cup maple syrup

1/2 Cup coconut oil

1/4 Cup applesauce 

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 Cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 Cups chocolate chips

sea salt, for sprinkling

handful of chopped nuts*

handful of shredded coconut*

*optional, but highly recommended

preheat the oven to 350 degrees. line a baking tray with parchment paper and lightly spray with oil. set aside.

in a mixer, beat together the sugar, maple syrup and oil. beat in the vanilla and applesauce. in a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. fold in the chocolate chips, nuts and shredded coconut.

using a spoon, drop the dough onto the the tray. using two forks, free-form the dough.

sprinkle each cookie with a pinch of sea salt before placing in oven. bake 7-12 minutes, depending on oven. let cool before transferring to a rack.

HERE + THERE

1. favorite new candle, fig and redwood (from target)

2. my army crawler

3. my brother jason, taken the morning he left to move to france 

4. beautiful mama, at the airport

5. paper whites blooming (christmas gift from my mama)

6. thrifted beauty, air drying

7. clippings from the yard that look like a plant

8. lots of cuddles this week

9. sleeping thighs + light

10. sunday at the farmer's market

11. yoga with mama

i was listening to a program at the gym the other day about the scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson and he said something so profound and so simple that hit the very contents of my heart: think big early and get out of the way. he wasn't just talking about astrophysics but about allowing your child to explore and think and question and discover and take part of life from the very beginning.

his statement has nothing to do with these photos, but his ideas are so beautiful and limitless that i am already practicing his advice daily. even handing augustus an apple or a whisk or simply a colorful bowl brings in a light i've never seen. since i can't give him the world, i hope to give him the space to think far beyond it.

2/52

"a portrait of my son, once a week, every week, in 2014"

augustus: i took hundreds of photos this week, many of his naked bum, but i chose these photos (technically it's one, of the same moment, i really couldn't resist) because it explains so much of where we are at right now. he's just beginning to crawl, his hair is curling like crazy (like his papa's) and nap time is sacred, for us both. this photo is from after his nap today, when i showed him my very special box of my very special things.

DREAM DOLL

every so often, people enter your lives who are supposed to change you forever. angelica is one of these people. i met her through instagram and the world she creates for her and her romantic family renders me speechless each and every day. her photos, her writing, her style. she is a modern day victorian goddess.

i received this (by complete surprise!)beautiful doll in the mail today, handmade, thread by thread, by angelica. she is without a doubt, the prettiest doll i have ever seen. the stitching of the moon, the pinkness of her heart lip, the delicate feather scarf. the pale hues. her long limbs and timeless class. everything is perfect.

you can follow angelica's blog here. and purchase one of her dolls here. and follow her heartbreakingly beautiful instagram here.

thank you, sweet new friend. i will cherish her forever.

last photo, from angelica's blog*

PINK SKIES

how many times have i been part of his sunset? i don't dare ask how many more i will get, but rather, what is her name?

listen
read
watch

taken this evening on my canon 6D, unedited.