How do we forgive ourselves for all the things we did not become?
Quote from Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
Given the stars
Trying on some new mindsets in 2024, but always attempting to be thankful for what we've been given.
Wishing for peace and ceasefire in 2024.
Happy new year!
(Quote by Rebecca Solnit, lettered by me)
Clear View
Knowing what to do is not actually doing it.
younger in October
Quote by poet W.S. Merwin.
Wedding Suite
It had been awhile since I’d done a wedding commission, but I was excited to partner with a friend of a friend for her special day earlier this summer. She planned a beautiful garden party and was hoping for some signage and name cards that could be embellished with pressed flowers for her Michigan wedding. One of the easiest brides I’ve worked with, we came up with a signage suite that pleased us both. And the photos by Cassie Kieda really make them sing.
All photos courtesy of the bride, shot by @cassie.kieda and @oliviaandersonphoto
Flagship
Inspired by lyrics from Jason Isbell. I like the idea of both being a flagship and having a fleet.
Summer Solstice 2023
Today has the most daylight of the entire year, signifying the start of the summer season. My family enjoys marking time using the solstices. Tonight we’ll have our version of an urban bonfire to celebrate. Happy Solstice, y’all!
hold it lightly
Inspired by artist Lisa Congdon, who has adopted “hold it lightly” as a practice in her life. You can have the {goal, ambition, dream, list} but you aren’t clinging to it, not trapping it. It’s a way to feel more flexible, more relaxed. I’m trying it.
R & R
Hope everyone gets what they need this weekend.
Marathon for Every Mother Counts
This year is a milestone birthday for me. So when Every Mother Counts asked for team members to join Team EMC at the Chicago Marathon, I decided this was my year. I’m a longtime supporter of Every Mother Counts, an organization dedicated to making pregnancy and childbirth safe for every mother, everywhere. And I’m thrilled to be supporting them through running my first ever marathon.
Please help me reach my fundraising goal if you are able. Donations go toward Black and Indigenous community-based organizations in the U.S. and abroad to eliminate racial disparities in maternal health, as well as to help fund original, accessible content, tools, and resources for people to share and raise awareness in their own communities.
Please donate if you can.
Looking for myself
Last night I had the pleasure of attending an event for You Could Make This Place Beautiful, the newest book by Maggie Smith. Maggie is a poet, and this memoir is the most poetic prose. The epigraph is the quote below by Emily Dickinson. And it very much sets the stage for her writing - both the story and the framework.
My Goodreads review for the book reads: “Raw. Beautiful. Like the quartz stone she rolls around in her hand rubbing with her thumb, this memoir takes a series of moments and rolls them around different metaphors and frameworks. A very engaging structure of vignettes and poems and snippets of thought. Though unabashedly (actually almost belligerently) an incomplete story. Clearly prose written by a poet.”
At last night’s event, Maggie was interviewed by my favorite local author, Megan Stielstra. Megan is a master writer, editor, educator, so hearing her thoughts on the book and its construction was enlightening. I was also able to reintroduce myself to her, as my book club once invited her out to drink and talk books with us - it was unforgettable!
Quote by Emily Dickinson
Myself, Maggie Smith, and my best friend since childhood, Abby, who is the best partner for all literary events.
Selfie with Megan Stielstra.
Advice
Just a little advice…
