Every Christmas season needs a little sparkle.
Both versions here are done with outline tip paint markers. They were gifted from a friend and I’ve had such fun playing.
I hope everyone has a sparkle-worthy holiday!
Holly Jolly
Trying to get into the spirit of the season…
Thanksgiving 2019
It’s no secret thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. And as my children get older I try to be very cognizant of explaining the origins while celebrating.
This year I sought out even more age-appropriate books about the indigenous tribes and their celebrations, historically and modern day. And we’ve had several discussions about the misrepresentation of colonials in the lives of indigenous tribes, and how this land we live on was stolen. These concepts aren’t actually hard for a seven year old to understand, and provide important jumping off points for chats about social justice and honoring treaties/promises.
This year, to address a small part of the inequalities, we are donating to North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems as part of our Thanksgiving celebrations. Native Americans have the highest rates of food scarcity in the nation. NaTIFS is dedicated to addressing the economic and health crises affecting Native communities by re-establishing Native foodways.
And, as always we focus on gratitude. We were lucky to have a full table at our celebration this year. And lots to be thankful for.
I love spending this day with family and friends who have become family, cooking an adventurous and massive meal, and recounting our blessings. Hopefully this spirit lasts us the entire season.
Who you are
This quote by Dolly Parton is such good life advice. I’m still working on figuring it out.
Friendship
Being a good and constant friend is one of the biggest goals I carry with me. Friends almost always are worth the amount of time you put in (though you should be careful to understand if the other party does not value the relationship as much as you do). The New York Times had a great article on friendship this week and how to maintain your friendships.
The more pressed you are for time, the more you have to prioritize the quality of your interactions. But I've found it doesn't take much time or disrupt my day to each month: send a couple letters or postcards, set-up a couple lunch dates, reach out with a couple text messages to see what's new with someone who's not local. By the end of the month that's quality interactions with 5 or 6 folks.
It's a ongoing goal, but one that returns dividends.
Clothing Revolution
This quote appears in Patagonia’s latest catalog. The entire catalog is dedicated to reducing the impact of clothing on the environment. Patagonia is unique as a clothing company, understanding their product produces adverse environmental effects and lessening or eliminating that where possible. Perhaps most radically, they’d prefer you didn’t buy at all. They work to make sure their clothing stands “the test of time” so you don’t need new, and also provide services to fix or repair your gear (or instruct you on how to fix it yourself!) They have a thriving market for “Worn Wear” for when your size or tastes change. It is a very revolutionary stance for a clothing company.
“Fast fashion” has become an epidemic in the clothing industry. According to the World Resources Institute, the average consumer bought 60 percent more clothes in 2014 than in 2000, but kept each garment for half as long. Consumers don’t realize how much environmental damage this is doing, in addition to creating terrible working conditions for so many who create these throwaway clothes. Textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of clean water globally, after agriculture. The UN states that the fashion industry consumes more energy than the aviation and shipping industry combined.
As a family, we try to limit our clothing consumption in ways that are also economical. Our kids wear hand-me-downs when possible, and their clothes get patched and re-patched to extend their life. We also attempt to keep a close eye on what they actually need, and not overstock on clothes that will not be worn. (This can be a real challenge with loving and generous family buying gifts and “necessities”!)
But clothes do not stay in our house forever, we all grow or change sizes, and fashions change. Where possible, I give clothes I no longer need to friends or family. The next step is to put sellable clothes on Poshmark (which is also the first place I look for clothing when I need something new). Our last resort is donating clothing, as donation centers are often overrun with too many textiles. They end up being send to developing countries, destroying local markets with an influx of cheap clothing, or end up in the landfill.
So, I’ve made a commitment to not buy myself any new clothing for the remainder of the year. And after this quarter is over, I’d like to solidly switch to companies who are aware of their environmental impact and working to reduce it. This takes effort - it is much easier to shop from a JCrew sale email or to grab something off the rack at Target. (But browser plug-ins like DoneGood make it a bit easier, and are a good reminder!) Buying from ethically and environmentally aware companies often costs more money. But the items I purchase last longer than any fast-fashion item. And I’m invested in this, not only financially, because doing good for the planet and society reflects my personal values. This is my own quiet clothing revolution. Will you join me?
I've worn this same Patagonia sweatshirt (made from organic cotton and recycled polyester) for years. It's been sewn up countless times, and will likely be many more.
This sweatshirt goes on almost every trip or vacation.
Looking forward to its next decade!
Memory Making
My instagram feed is full of weekend outings - my husband and I with our two sons at a museum or a park or an event we find in the city. We bike, we hike, we fly kites. We go on family dates and take day trips to areas around us. I’m often lauded by friends and especially co-workers that I’m “such a great mom”, always being active with my kids. I appreciate that sentiment, and I firmly believe that all parents need validation likely more than they are getting it.
But I don’t go on adventures with my kids to be a good mom. Part of it is selfish.
A large part of the reason my family actively seeks out adventures is that it creates memories. Laura Vanderkam, the author of many time books including one of my favorites explains:
Time perception turns out to be all about memory. The more memory units we have from any span of time, the longer it appears to be. That’s why the first day of a vacation somewhere exotic seems so long. Your brain has no idea what it needs to know in the future, so it’s remembering all of it. All these memories make the time expand.
If you go an adventure or do something interesting, it feels like you’ve really done something (and not in the cleaned-your-house kind of way). You don’t ask, “where did the time go?”, because you remember it! It is the best antitode for slowing down these short years.
We try to make a plan for each weekend. We don’t have standing weekend chores, because we try to spread that kind of thing out over the week. Then we don’t lose a whole weekend day to laundry or grocery shopping (neither of which we can do effectively as an entire family). And now that our kids don’t nap, we can spend the whole day out - say, at a museum, then a picnic lunch, and then a new park on the way home.
That being said, not every weekend is out of the house. This past weekend was rainy, and Todd and I were tired from the previous week. So our new experience was more low key - I introduced my eldest son to a new-to-him game on the ipad - Plants vs Zombies. And we had a lot of fun playing through the levels together - he for the first time, and me remembering how addictive it was! His little brother liked watching - and suggesting “helpful” tactics - but also was content to sit next to us and watch a new dragon-based cartoon. While less Instagram-worthy than a day on the Lake Michigan shore, it was just as memorable to us.
Sitting in the wreckage of an epic couch fort, playing Plants vs Zombies.
A decade at home.
“Good houses take work. And they evolve.”
This summer we celebrated 10 years in our home.
When we moved in a decade ago, there was no way to know our life trajectory. But now, 2 kids, several flocks of chickens, and lots of renovations later, we are happy with our path.
Without professional help, we have refinished almost every floor in the house (and laid a couple new ones!), two bathroom renovations, and built a laundry room. But the list continues, especially as we now typically accomplish day-long, not week-long, projects. We haven’t yet gotten to a kitchen renovation. And while we started the summer with big plans for a new patio, we currently have a big hole in the backyard where as far as we got was busting up old concrete. Our redesigns and rehabs are on more of an extended timetable these days, but we are always working to make this space more of what we need it to be, and to reflect the current version of ourselves.
We are looking forward to the next decade here as a family.
Not long after we moved in, summer 2009. That astro-turf porch was really something.
Late summer 2019, 10 years later.
(You can see we also got a new neighboring house.)
The living room, circa move-in day. The paint color would go within weeks; the window would be replaced within months; but the carpet took a couple years to rip out and finish the hardwood underneath.
Same corner, ten years later (same cute dude).
The ladder on the left is European gym equipment, for our sons to climb instead of the furniture.
So much Kilz on the walls of this house.
New front windows, refinished floors.
Before of our front stairs.
After: ripped out carpet, painted, new banisters, and new front door / sidelights. Just need to finally finish the entryway floor.
Toni
I haven't yet written about the death of Toni Morrison. Mostly because there is nothing I could say that adds to all that has been written. I only hope that she knew during her life how influential she was to so many.
As a white woman, I lay no claim to her. But reading her words in college were some of the first times I began to understand that I lived inside just a fragment of the world. And that there was so much more that I would never live or breathe or fully understand. Her words began to teach me about power and privilege and responsibility, and were a gateway to more necessary education.
To read more about Toni, from those who have said it more eloquently:
And some of my favorite quotes from Toni herself:
“Navigating a white, male world wasn’t threatening. It wasn’t even interesting, I was more interesting than they were, and I wasn’t afraid to show it.”
“I tell my students, ’When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else. This is not just a grab-bag candy game.” ― O, The Oprah Magazine, 2003
“I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge — even wisdom. Like art.” ― The Nation, 2015
Mending
Repairing worn clothing has always been part of my practice, but mostly from a utility standpoint. However, over the past couple years, through Tatter Blue Library and other publications, I’m learning that mending can really be an art form.
Of late, my sewing has been in the form of patching little boys’ pants. (I have a rule that I will only patch a patch once…after that, pants are usually cut off and hemmed into shorts.) Darning wool socks has always been an easy activity to do while watching TV, and since they are hidden inside shoes, it doesn’t have to look great. I’ll sew up hems and repair buttons, but with the exception of my favorite Patagonia sweatshirt that I repair every snag on, I didn’t pay much attention to my own clothes.
That changed when I learned more about sashiko and the art of visible mending. Sashiko means “little stabs” and it is part of Japanese tradition, born of necessity. Importantly, this decorative stitching isn’t just about repairing but extending the life of the fabric by reinforcing the area before a tear or hole. So I started on a pair of jeans that fit me perfectly, but are starting to show signs of wear.
It took a couple new supplies (links below) to get started, but the learning curve was pretty small, especially if you’ve ever sewn by hand before. And it comes together pretty quickly. While I haven’t yet explored more complex designs, this certainly isn’t my last garment that will use sashiko mending.
To get through multiple layers of denim, you need a good leather sashiko thimble. And best to get proper needles, so you can fit as many stitches as you can on it. I suggest a kit that has everything to get you started.
Sashiko stitches are pretty easy to learn, because you are following a grid. Use a fabric pen or chalk to make your guidelines.
Ready to wear!
Also, reinforced the seat, which gets a lot of concentrated wear from my bike saddle.
Patches!
And more patches!
Repairing is such a huge part of our conservation of resources - it is great to be able to do it in a way that enhances or alters the garment for the better! A tradition worth continuing.
For more info on the history of mending, check out these resources:
“Mending Matters: Stitch, Patch, and Repair Your Favorite Denim & More” by Katrina Rodabaugh
“Boro - Rags And Tatters From The Far North Of Japan”
“Alabama Stitch Book: Projects and Stories Celebrating Hand-Sewing, Quilting and Embroidery for Contemporary Sustainable Style” by Natalie Chanin
“Riches from Rags: Saki-Ori and other Recycling Traditions in Japanese Rural Clothing”
Great “vintage” poster from Victory Gardens of Tomorrow.
Dig Deep
On my dad’s farm this weekend, where I grew up, so this phrase has a couple different meanings. Always love being back here in the summer, to see what's growing, and to remember my roots.
Harvard
This month begins my first Harvard class. I've been accepted to their Business Analytics Program, a joint professional certificate program between Harvard Business School, the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS). Everyone has been super supportive of this endeavor and has asked many questions!
The program is six online core courses and two seminars, with several immersions that occur on-campus in Boston. The curriculum explores current topics in business analytics, such as quantitative methods, business and financial statistics, emerging ideas and technologies, big data, and data visualization. As with all Harvard education, the course load is very rigorous, and I’m already impressed by the sheer volume of reading each week. It can be completed in 9 months if you are on the fast track, but I’m aiming for a bit more balance and going for 12 months.
But I am super excited to learn more about digital analytics and transformation. And have a bunch of nerdy critical thinking discussions with my exceptionally talented and impressive cohort! I’m feeling very young and a bit inexperienced in comparison to these CEOs and founders of successful enterprises across many industries. I’m the first student from the design sector (that I know of), so I’m interested to bring design-thinking to the case study method and challenge some traditional business canon.
It will be a challenge, but I’m honored to have been accepted, and excited to dig in.
And, the best part of going back to school - new school supplies!
Surprisingly loving this cheap binder from Amazon. And the “Meeting Book” from Rhodia has always been a favorite. Pens are PaperMate Flair, Normann Copenhagen felt pen, and Caran D’ache metal ballpoint.
