we spent five christmases in amsterdam while we were living there as expats… there is no more magical place to spend the holidays… there are strings of lights outlining the bridges and arching across the streets so that the whole city is lit up, there are pop up outdoor ice skating rinks and holiday markets and olie bollen (DELICIOUS big round donuts doused in powdered sugar) trucks suddenly appear all over the city. but my favorite tradition was the christmas candy. pompadour, our beloved neighborhood chocolate shop, made whimsical marzipan characters (funny frogs, little piggies, red, polka-dotted toad stools) and fruit (oranges, pears and a pokey, round one that i could never identify) each december. i still don’t know what those guys had to do with christmas, but i looked forward to seeing them (and EATING them) in pompadour’s front windows during the holiday season.
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holiday photo 2021
in family, holiday, hank, photography
once again my kids completely lucked out for our holiday photo. my super talented friend, stephanie beresford, wanted to try out some new camera lenses and did a little shoot with them in the backyard. i have no idea when we did this… just that it was “some time” during the pandemic (i think i have permanent corona brain, which has left me unable to remember when anything happened) but it WAS in 2021. theo’s hair is even longer now and lucy has more of a “middle school” air about her, but beyond that they look the same. after all that these kids have had to process in the last two years: the corona, home schooling (especially “math with mom”), me being in school and FREAKING OUT over autocad and sketchup, endless door dash, multiple horrendous shootings, me too, BLM, all the wild fires and smokey air, the loss of our beloved GG AND the loss of our grandma on the “i” street, my vacuum being in the shop for so long (which has lots of ramifications for MY mental health and subsequently theirs) and just the loss of “normal life” (i keep imagining them sitting in a bar in their forties chatting with someone about this pandemic period, “how crazy was your mom during corona?”) i just couldn’t put them through further trauma for a more recent photo… i’m an AWESOME mom like that!
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nancy drew
in family
(nancy when she finds that elusive clock)
mothers take on many roles: taxi driver, referee, party planner, aesthetician, tutor, home chef, nurse, cleaning service… but one gig no one talks about when you are pregnant is that of detective.
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thanksgiving grandmas x0x
in dining room, family, holiday, recipe
i was lucky enough to have three grandmothers (FOUR if you count the grandma we used to wave to on the “i” street): my father’s mother, my mother’s mother (who i never met because she was gone long before i was born) and my gg, my grandpa’s second wife. all of these women had a huge impact on my life.
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thanksgiving gratitude
(hank LOVES dressing up for thanksgiving!)
even though the corona is STILL effecting us all (nearly TWO YEARS later… HAY SEUS!) the pandemic has made me really grateful for a lot of things i took for granted PP…
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my lovely gas fireplace
in pet, residential interior, hank
(hank snuggled up by the fire)
even after eleven years in boulder, i am always caught off guard by the weather. this year we had a stunning, temperate fall with outrageous rainbow colored trees and then POOF - the wind rolled through, the leaves fell down and we got this freezing sleet/rain/snow with temps in the low thirties. my body just could not process the drastic change (hank’s didn’t have to as he simply refused to go outside) and i was FREEZING, despite my hat, scarf and jacket.
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devil's thumb
lucy and i recently had a special mama/daughter weekend at devil’s thumb ranch. theo was meant to come, but i got mixed up (corona brain!) and thought he didn’t have school on friday (it was the monday that was off and theo would have missed three tests) so lu and i played hooky instead.
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happy, happy halloween! x00xx
halloween is one of my least favorite holidays… i don’t like bloody stuff or getting scared or being out in the cold - more than once we’ve had halloween SNOW here in boulder - or staying up too late. (one year lucy got the barfing flu and she could not go trick or treating - i have to say i was so HAPPY to stay home and just hand out candy - she wasn’t feeling TOO bad. it WAS a little unnerving because i wasn’t sure i should let her rest on the sofa in case she threw up again, but other than that nagging concern it was the BEST halloween!) i DO like candy and i LOVE seeing my kids dressed up (as long as there is no blood or wounds or axes or spooky masks.) unfortunately, they don’t appreciate when i weigh in on their costumes anymore… PRAISE JESUS i have hank.
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I GOT MY VACUUM BACK!*!**!
PRAISE JESUS! my vacuum and i are reunited. it was a TOUGH separation but now we have an even greater appreciation for each other. THANK YOU to all the lovely friends who offered to lend me yours. and a bonus… lucy showed me a new anime filter that allows you to smile. i do love the original one but you always look a bit glum with it and that is NOT how i’m feeling now… just beside myself with excitement! x0x0x
life without my vacuum
in family
(me and my vacuum in happier times)
i’m sure you’ve all been on pins and needles wondering how i am faring without my vacuum… NOT WELL i would say. as i write this my vacuum has been in the shop for NINE days and we have never been separated this long. i DID make some rookie moves in the first two days - i served toast and eggs for breakfast on day one. lucy munches her toast like a wood chuck… crumbs go flying. normally, i don’t let this flap me (remember she has not yet attended cotillion) because i have my trusty vacuum to clean up her storm. but this time i had to wipe down the floor myself.
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an eclectic mix of modern and traditional on hawthorn
in this architecturally traditional home, we wanted to create an eclectic mix of modern and antique furnishings to give the interior dimension, texture and personality. the color palette for the finishes is a range of whites and soft grays and warm woods, punctuated with hits of black. we brought in lots of color through the artwork, photograph and textiles.
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my vacuum is my security blanket
in family
i may have mentioned how much i love my vacuum… there is something about the way it sucks away all the yucky stuff that has fallen on my floor and makes that satisfying clickety sound as the crumbs or the little edges of lined paper from a spiral notebook that theo tears off his homework or the bits of the chewed up sticks that hank brings into the house go into the tube that gives me a much needed sense of peace. i imagine it’s how most people feel after meditating. when i try to meditate, i end of thinking about all the things i need to do, like vacuuming, which is calming in its own way, but not as nice as actually vacuuming.
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creating a home office
in office
just when it seemed we would all be going to back to work (outside of our homes) the delta arrived and dashed those plans. it might be time to consider how to make your home office space as useful and beautiful as possible so that “going to work” (even if your commute is just downstairs) is a pleasure.
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hank's FOURTH birthday
(baby hank at his first birthday)
hank celebrated his fourth birthday last week…he’s TWENTY-EIGHT in dog years. this year his birthday fell on yom kippur… that’s a bit of a bummer because it’s not the most festive day (it’s “the day of atonement” in judaism.) the morning before, he skipped his breakfast. i can’t tell you how unusual that is so i thought maybe he was fasting a day early in order to get yom out of the way so we could properly celebrate on his special day. or maybe he was just being really cagey. of course, the fact that he wasn’t eating made me super worried so i scrambled him some eggs to entice him. he DID happily eat those. i forgot about his food bowl full of kibble and left for a meeting. when i returned he had eaten that too, so ultimately he had TWO breakfasts.
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yom kippur
(theo at his bar mitzvah)
this week is yom kippur, the day of atonement in the jewish religion. while i never converted, i am raising my children in the faith of their father (with santa and the bunny thrown in) and i have spent more time in temple than i have in any other religious setting. i have hosted loads of seders, rosh hashana dinners and break fasts (i can cook all of the holiday food, except brisket - my brisket is TERRIBLE - so we have roast chicken instead), i know a fair bit of the prayers, or at least the tunes and i have a general understanding of the fundamentals of the religion.
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published in "inspired interiors"
i was so delighted to be invited to share some of my projects in this book, “inspired interiors” that features interior work from various talented designers from coast to coast. THANK YOU heather knierim of HBK photography for the beautiful photos and to my wonderful clients for the opportunity to create these spaces! x0x0x
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happy, happy 80th birthday to my darling father
in family
(my father in the early 60s)
my grandmother was a force. while most women of her generation were getting married and having children, she was working as a telephone operator by day and having a fine time being squired around the restaurants and nightclubs of minneapolis by night on the arms of a bevy of young men. she never did get her driver’s license, but also never lacked for rides to whatever social event she was meant to attend. she almost always got her way and when she was displeased she would dismissively wave her hand and say, “oh FISH!” unconventionally, she married my grandfather at forty and had my father on september 3, 1941 when she was forty-one… EIGHTY years ago today. she absolutely ADORED my father.
Read Morefortnight collective featured in boulder lifestyle magazine
i finally got my hands on some hard copies of boulder lifestyle magazine and this great article featuring fortnight collective (and the space i designed.) THANK YOU again andy nathan and your awesome fortnight collective team for the opportunity to work with you! x0x0x
weekend with dad
i spent the last few days with my dad… my mother went to “quilt camp” for the week with her quilting girlfriends as she has done for probably the last thirty years and i came out to berkeley to keep my father company for the weekend (i am so HAPPY that flying is an option now!) it is strange to be in the house without mom… we always have our coffee together early morning which she prepares in her very fancy, complicated machine - dad does not drink coffee - and sit at the kitchen table chatting. so i had to make my own coffee with her machine that is as fragile as an orchid and as demanding as a toddler. the first day the machine cooperated nicely which made me feel really competent and possibly a bit cocky. but the second day panic set in as he refused to carry on after i pressed the cappuccino button and red lights started flashing. i thought the little drawing was indicating that he was low on beans, but when i opened the top, there were loads of them in there. finally i realized that i was meant to empty the grounds. this is tricky as the large, flat pan is also full of mucky water that you don’t want to spill as you awkwardly make your way to the sink. finally i got everything dumped and reinstalled and then more red lights were pinging at me… this time he was low on water. HAY SEUS! he makes really good coffee but needs so much attention (this is why i have a VERY simple drip maker) and honestly this one is a VAST improvement from her last machine who was even more finicky and difficult to understand. that one had to go to the shop for detailed repair a few times before he was finally put down. my mother mourned him deeply until she brought this current guy home. she does not have pets, but caring for this coffee machine is far more consuming than feeding and cuddling with hank.
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rumble tummy
whenever my dad cannot find a term or phrase that adequately expresses what he wants to say, he just makes one up. i grew up being told to, “sit up straight and stop SLUNCHING!” at the table or asked whether i was going to finish the “dritzel” on my plate - the last of my sauce or remains of my dinner or received announcements that someone was a “GROMP” … very unpleasant, far worse than a “grump.” (he is generally very communicative and if for some reason he cannot speak - like when my mother is saying something - he does not dare interrupt her - he finds another way. he frequently stands about a foot and a half behind her chair at the kitchen table and indicates how he feels with his eyes - he makes outrageous faces while my mother is speaking which sends my children into peals of laughter. about twenty five years ago he had his jaw wired shut for many weeks after a throat surgery and had to physically write down what he wanted to share on a yellow legal pad. my mom thought he would be spare and discriminating in what he wrote because it took more effort… instead he filled notepad after notepad with ALL of his thoughts and ideas both deep and trivial. and he made sure my mother read every single one in real time.)
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