For Kelly.

This is Kelly. She is magic.

She is an artist. She makes beautiful things, from leather, from stone, from the earth.

She is adventurous. This is a lady who gets her boots good and dirty.

She is loving. Kind. She walks her path with a full heart.

She inspires me continuously, and has for years. There are times that--with all of her wonderful and God-given gifts, not to mention her humble spirit--she doesn't seem quite human. A bit supernatural.

But she is human. In fact, Kelly knows what it means to be human a lot more than most of us. She is very familiar with the light and dark that makes up life.

She's battling cancer, and has for about 5 years now. It's back and it's stage four.

I feel like I should point something out, something important. The thing about Kelly, about the cancer inside of her, about the good fight she fights: it does not ruin her. Ever. It also does not define her. She is brave in the most extraordinary and seemingly mundane way--she lives her life. She wakes up and drinks coffee and swims in the river and plays with her dogs and eats beautiful meals with her husband and creates things that have the ability to change how people see the world.

The world needs more people like Kelly, but it needs Kelly herself even more. She is a light-seeker, always searching for truth and beauty. And she is also a light-giver. If you know her, even a little, you know what a gift she is.

I'd like to ask you all to consider making a donation towards her treatments she'll be needing. I think you can understand what it would mean to have the financial burden of health issues lifted from her shoulders. Let's do that for her, even if we can't do anything else.

Did you guys ever see that movie, Horton Hears a Who? (Bear with me here.) Remember when Horton encourages the inhabitants of Whoville to make their presence known? They shout, "We are here! We are here! We are here!"

It might be a silly analogy, but that's what I want Kelly to hear. My hope is that, in her quiet moments, when she is working or walking or just listening to the wind, that she hears a thousand tiny voices, all over the world, shouting for her, rooting for her, praying for her.

We are here, Kelly.
We are here.

To donate, go HERE.
To see more of Kelly's gorgeous work, go HERE.
To see her IG, go HERE.

We love you Kelly!

Nov. 1

Savoring the humble things
A pumpkin-chocolate chip loaf made for my brother's birthday
Long, chilly runs in the rain (made better by new sneakers)
and wonderful, handmade gifts from a dear friend

I'd be grateful for all this
even without the recent events on the east coast
But it's made all the more acute
with so much darkness nearby

Hayden turned six over the weekend. We threw a big party with a giant cake and homemade ice cream and green crepe paper strung up all over. Our house was bursting at the seams with family. Good times. Great times actually.

My husband and I were discussing how, in those first three (yes, three) sleepless years of Hayden's early life, we fantasized of making it to this time, this age, where he would still need us, but also be more independent. Oh, and sleep through the night. We looked forward to that too.

And here we are. I know every mother says this, but I can't believe that we're here. We made it. We have a beautiful, little happy family....such a challenging ride, but so worth it.

**Hop on over to my friend Willow's new website www.theivyplumcollection.com if you have a moment. She asked me to write a bit for it, and it really is the loveliest community of inspiring and creative women. Check it out!

If I could deliver these flowers to my friend Nina in person, I would.

Today...

Remember those plans I'd made for taking self-portraits of the clothing I've been making and blahblahblah? Well, they were swiftly abandoned and taken over by an art-date with an old soul whom I love very much. Someone I'm very happy to call "friend".

The wild thing about plans changing unexpectedly is that--at least most of the time--the end result turns out to be exactly what your soul needed.

Nothing more than paint, music, and conversation. (Oh, and maybe a little thrift shopping, just for a breather.)

After a tearful and arduous week, I'm going to bed tonight feeling blessed and relieved.

Happy Saturday to you all. <3

a little trip.

Tomorrow I am off into the urban wilderness that is Philadelphia, to meet the lovely, painterly Nina Schmidt. She's showing her new series at the Burlap and Bean Coffee House.

photo by Nina Schmidt

She is beautiful and down-to-earth and unbelievably talented. I can't wait to meet her. :)
I will definitely be back in a few days with pictures and stories.