SPC: shine

I've had a hard time with this month. Nude, I can do. But shine? It seemed abstract, what with the directive coming from hula herself and a quote by emily dickinson*.  And then, everyone was taking it literally, and I just haven't had any shine in me lately.

I telecommuted today, though, which meant an open-faced sandwich under the broiler and lunch on the back stoop, and I glanced over and saw how luxuriously my tomatoes were shining in the half-clouded Seattle sun.  And today's shoot was born.

ps. To say that tomatoes, entrusted into my care, are actually producing fruit is nothing short of a minor miracle. I used to kill succulents.  I was a host to one christmas cactus that never bloomed in all the four years I watered it. As I drove away from Alaska, I entrusted its care to my sister,  it was twice its original size in a matter of weeks AND it blooms something like twice a year now.  So. The fact that there are at least 10 happy tomatoes growing in my very own back yard, is to admit, out loud, that I DO have some shine in me.

for more shine, go here.

* "I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word. sometimes i write one, and i look at it, until it begins to shine." ~emily dickinson

SPC: Skillz part deux

Is making a fortress out of hand-molded play-doh bricks a skill? What about if you do it during a staff meeting? If so, I win.

I'll call this: the skill of multi-tasking. The skill of being a kinesthetic learner (I've learned that I must have something to do with my hands or I can't listen for longer than 7 minutes). Luckily, my boss gets this and often provides us with tools (playdoh, pipe cleaners, stickers, etc.) to keep our hands busy during a meeting.

I also call myself a creative problem solver. (thank you Odyssey of the Mind). I'm growing out my bangs...and the whole "hair in your eyes as a fashion statment" is KILLING me. I like to be able to see from both eyes (I think they call that DEPTH PERSEPTION). Yesterday, I begged and begged around for a bobby pin but no one had one on them. Luckily for me--there were pipe cleaners on the tables at the staff meeting. TA-DA, I thought. A hair solution! I even added a heart...my love for pipe cleaners will go on.

NB. When there aren't any tools, I doodle. (See here and here.) And then I cut out my doodles and tape them into a notebook, which, by the way, is getting quite puffy and full.

SPC: Skillz

Sorry for the absence, SPC. I've been traveling...to Vancouver, WA (America's Vancouver they kept telling me), to Minneapolis, MN, to New Orleans, LA.  It's been a busy four weeks--without much in the way of "skill" to show for it, unless you count my expert traveller status that allows me to use the black diamond lane at security (it's a pretty great system, actually, except that people get to self-identify their traveller status...and some people apparently don't get that having nine bags, three cameras, two laptops, a purse dog, and lace-up shoes doesn't equate with "expert" traveller).

I'm back to show off that skill of mine that might make me the happiest...baking.  I have long loved the sweet smell of flour and sugar and cinnamon blooming in my oven (okay, the smell was good, but the taste was the real object at hand), long loved presenting expertly crafted (and a few tasty but aesthetically challenged concoctions) to those I love.  Because baking calms me, warms my kitchen, and feeds my belly AND soul, I have recently been exploring new worlds of baking, stepping out of my comfy little quick bread and tart land into the realm of yeast breads and pies and puff pastry (read: I never used to bake ANYTHING that required a rolling pin).  I am now embracing the rolling pin.  [In fact, I might need to make myself a tshirt that reads: Embrace your inner rolling pin.]

I owe a debt of gratitude to my sister, who taught me not to fear working with yeast.  There's really nothing better than kneading bread dough.  It's one of the only times in my life where I'm actually just doing one thing...a calmness takes over because it has too; you're elbow deep in dough and flour for ten minutes.  

Anyway, here I am making my favorite yeast bread to date, Swedish vetebrod, which has loads of freshly ground cardamom in it, plus a buttery, sugary, cinamonny center.  YUM.

Find the recipe here.

See other skillz here.

SPC: Nude

So, this month's Self-Portrait Challenge theme is nude, which is a pretty tall order for one's second month of playing along. Lukily, I'm not too inhibited...but now that I have an etsy site that I link to from and to my blog, it seems like the whole world might be seeing my nude self-portrait...however, if you followed along with this adventure, I guess you've already seen my nude back, which is not that revealing, but is perhaps too risque for some.

So here goes. I had big plans of stripping to take photos in my back yard, taking advantage of the CLOUDY weather we've been having for EVER, but my back door neighbor apparently had plans to mow his lawn ALL DAY. (It is a big lawn.) So, I sat with my curtains closed but still letting in a bit of the light. Not quite the "one with nature" imaging I was hoping, but there's something about the soft light through the grassy window panels that makes me really happy.

Also, I must admit, I feel a little America's Next Top Model while I was taking these shots. I could hear Tyra saying that what I need is more time in front of a mirror learning what poses make me look long and not awkward. Ah, Tyra...

More nudes here.

oooh ooh!

they like me! (or they were wooed by the thought of fresh, happy-pig bacon!!!)

SPC: Still Fresh

Fresh Bacon from the Farmer's Market

My reflection in the shine of the microwave

Joe and I went to the Sunday Ballard farmer's market last week, and we bought all the fresh things the market had to offer:

* bacon from a happy pig

* eggs from happy chickens

* muscles (for pizza!)

* lettuces

* onions

* a happy little heirloom tomato plant

* that amazing pizza from the traveling clay oven pizza people

but the one thing that makes me the most excited...BACON. Fresh, happy happy BACON in a big slab you can slice to whatever thickness your mouth desires. Today I'm going to eat it on a BLT...and I fully anticipate moaning throughout the experience. So there.

Have you been having that conversation that we've been having here lately? The one about how it used to be cheaper to buy mass-produced food that was grown far away and anonymously and that now with diesel prices at over $5 a gallon in the Pacific NW, it's actually cheaper to buy real food grown by real people on real land that you can visit locally?

We have. We're talking about joining a local CSA and in the meantime, we're trying to buy locally and eat organically and just...well...eat LESS than we normally would have back when everything came from Uncle C (that's Costco, in this family) and seemed disposable. (That's SEEMED disposable, not WAS ACTUALLY disposable. Big difference, kids.)

For more freshness, click here.

SPC: Fresh

This month's theme: fresh. Like the DAILY rain we're still getting. (okay, it's just drizzling today, but it's enough that the dogs keep looking at me like...WHAT? when I open the door for them.)

Fresh--Like the bursts of pink blossoms on my azalea bushes out back. Like my new springy hair cut.

----

Okay, so I'm working from home a lot now. (Which, btw, I LOVE.)

Which means, instead of spending my two 15 minute breaks gallivanting around the office and making small talk (and clicking silly photos), I have to find something else to do to amuse my (solitary) self.

Which is why I've decided to join the Self-Portrait Challenge...a weekly theme to inspire self-portraits, coupled with a community of like-minded portrait-eers. Check out the link on the button on the side bar or right here, if you like, for more fresh wonderfulness.