Beacon

 

Light bright beacon of artistic imagination. 

I have leaned heavily into the Mother role - which has physically manifested family-friendly, practical, durable, colorful, grounding and compounding clothes, foods and shelters. But there is a lighter, brighter, ASCETIC aspect of myself I’m turning more and more towards (without eschewing my foremost family-first ethos).

Dirndl

 

Dirndl 

Liebe - Love

How do we, as women, find our personal UNIFORM in the current CHAOS of literally unlimited options?

🦂

 

Balasana - Child’s Pose

Sometimes I forget to be kind. (Ingrained Scorpio habits die hard.) So I APOLOGIZE and try to be better. (There has been a marked decrease in my instinctual ‘revenge’ ways.)

Summer Elixer

 

CLEAN with bar soap 🧼 

SCRUB with sugar/salt + lemon, honey, vanilla, olive oil 🧂🫒 

MOISTEN with coconut oil, castor oil, beef tallow 🧉🐮

SOOTHE with aloe, lavender essential oil, ice 💜🧊

Easy

 

Parivrtta Sukhasana - Easy Twist, Seated Twist, Simple Cross-legged Twist

Couples are yoga 💕

Yes, the answer is kindness. 

Close and Click

Aparigraha - Yama of non-possessiveness, non-greed, non-attachment 

It’s finally here. Mommy’s ‘off’-season. No birthdays or holidays in this home until October and I’m giddy. I sat at the coffee shop this morning practically levitating; Easter was my final hoorah and it’s behind me. 

Of course, there will still be endless playdates, gatherings and pool parties in our near future, but those parlous (albeit winnowed* and well organized!) DECORATION BINS are now clicked shut and closed up in the cupboards — for nary half the year !!!!! 🥂 

*Some sizable, substantial decorations have only lived with me through 2 years, 2 rounds of celebrating, but were a mistake that must be acknowledged and their donation pick-up is scheduled. I hope it’s not too inconvenient to pass along life-size trick-or-treating statues, giant glowing snowflakes, glitter encrusted cranberry wreaths, golden light-up nutcrackers, and stoic German Santa Clauses in May…

Hip to my Hop

🍬 

Sometimes a little piece of candy (or gum) is all the pick-me-up you (your passengers, fellow travelers, skiers, hikers, shoppers or meanderers), need to restore that Springy bounce in your step. So, have a small 🍭 stash on hand.  

My mother is known for licorice or caramel. I carry anything mint chocolate. The kids and their father go for peanut butter. Gum is always a crowd pleaser… you ??? 

Confetti

 

SHOW UP Show Pony!!!

If you’re suffering from the Winter Blues it’s likely those all about you are too!!  Bring on the color, the texture and the prezzies and MAKE THE FUN at the parties. In all the ways Winter encompasses GIVING. 

ATMOSPHERE

Xmas flowerchild dress, jellyfish onesie (on bébé), ‘tartlet’ (so says my brother) ruby and diamond earrings, pink and green tourmaline ring, bows, bows, bows, and BARE FEET !!

Every holiday has its ambiance - decide on and GUIDE that quality, but when life inevitably throws its curveball - just GO WITH IT. Our Christmas turned out sickly and stormy, but it was also curiously easygoing, exceptionally intimate and required a remarkable combined effort - an ESPRIT DE CORPS !!!

Atmosphere - ‘vapor’ ‘globe’

Back to the Sea

Crystal turtle-neck dress, gold and pearl choker, diamond hoops, suede cowboy boots, leather cherry purse, cremant champagne and Coke for Family party in Denver.

 

The river is flowing,

Flowing and growing

The river is flowing

Back to the sea

Mother Earth carry me

A child I will always be

Mother Earth carry me

Back to the sea

- Sun Bear, Chippewa Tribe

Home from the Sea, musing over what the future will be…

Put your own cashmere scarf on first

 

TieDye & bling cashmere/silk scarf.

Woolen thermals, hats, scarves, mittens - not just for children. Mamas be warm!!

Lay it down

THEME Themis - goddess of law and justice “that which is laid down or established”

Numerous trips, imminent holidayS and a berserk number of school proceedings, ceremonies, volunteer opportunities… 

Waldorf education has a classic and constant natural, beautiful inherent theme and feel. I adore coloring within those traditional lines. The more confining the constraints, the more the creativity pours. 

Outside of establishments, though, the choices are maddeningly infinite.

So fix yourself upon a THEME

EG these weeks for me : 
“Sweater Weather - Eastcoaster style” for Cleveland with family
“Romantic, Intimate - Lingerie” for 40th Birthday
“Helpful Elfin” for everyday style & overall mood
“What would a French woman do?” for a couples jaunt to isle St Maarten
“Hershey’s Kiss” in the advent calendar 
“Vintage Niwot” for Christmas
“Fuck it” for family photo, it might just not happen this year ;)

The tighter the theme the better. Don’t you just love a party where the hostess takes you on a very specific journey? And expects you you to show-up primed for said experience! 

commitment

Commitment : dedication, devotion, allegiance, loyalty, faithfulness, fidelity. 

Staying committed to ones values during the buffoonery and indulgence of this festive time I find especially tricky. "I will not succumb to senseless behavior!" I continually tell myself. Then I have a babysitter, and thus a few hours of risky freedom, and the practice of focus over folly becomes especially consequential. Take care of Astrid, connect with other humans and commune with nature - those are my essentials these days. But each morning, each moment, it is still a practice to prioritize these vital basics. Patience is therefore my current mantra and has been all through the Autumn. A first for me to stick to one maxim this long - now that's commitment!

May you enjoy a meaningful holiday season.

the face that launched a 1000 ships

Helen* ~ Bright, shining light.

Names are layered with meaning...
Having grown up with a very particular first 'title' - Astrid - I am ultra sensitive to names and considered designating them to my children an overwhelming task that I would ponder (obsess over) long after the birth certificate was ordered. I found it impossible not to daydream about other variances and still dwell on their first few days of life aiming to uncover what led me to my (our) ultimate decision. I still struggle with accepting their assignments. I am not one to choose the obvious option, either, and I wonder why I didn't go with more crystal clear family choices or blatant 'signs' while bébé was in belly. I fantasize about the monikers fictitous future children would/could have. It can be a preoccupation. My better half is not amused, and reminds me:
There is no right decision, there is no wrong decision, there is only a decision. 

*My grandmother's name was Helen, which served as the inspiration for our second daughter's name.

understated

RESTRAINT
~ unemotional, dispassionate, or moderate behavior, self-control.
~ understatement.

Amazing how well graceful restraint gratifies when we can assuage that insatiable compulsion to REACT.

Anahata Chakra

Make every effort to not get swept up in fake holiday frenzy and instead to focus on the meaning and beauty of Valentine's day. As said best by my daughter's teacher Heidi Burke, (who calls Valentine's day the Birds' Wedding Day):

We are now at that half-way moment between the winter solstice and spring equinox.  It is a moment long celebrated in human history with many festivities and rituals. The seeds and roots are quickening beneath the earth and in the Midwest, those who tap the maples for its delicious maple syrup are celebrating the nearing of time for maple sugaring. When there is deep snow cover in the north, we can observe that the warmth of the sap rising from the tree roots actually melts an open ring near the base of the maples! The cardinals begin 'pair feeding', passing sunflower seeds from male to female, female to male, as a prelude to spring mating. It is the season to recognize and spread warmth of heart, something we as humans can offer to the world!  

Turn your back on commercialism and consumerism. For exchanges - natural, reused, or recycled is best. Paint rocks, sew a felt pocket, string a seashell, transform a popsicle stick...

GIVE to New MOMmy rather than New Baby

Although I preach less-is-more and all-you-need-is-love I do realize you likely do not wish to show up to showers and so forth empty handed ...

I am not one to always follow this advice, and do have a soft spot those impractical items that all of us cannot resist (newborn knit bunny hats!), but this is what new mommies really want and NEED:

1. 4th Trimester / Postpartum Items :

Basically, anything from the lady section in the grocery/pharmacy...

 'Recovery' Bath Soaks and Salts

Earth Mama Angel Baby products 

Mama Teas (milk and uterus)

Cute hot/cold packs 

After birth:

Food basket

If you know her well:

Real underwear, nursing bras, nightgowns, a robe!

Pretty light scarves as nursing covers, stroller covers etc.

2. Thank You Note Set

Small extra special cards that speak for themselves so mama doesn't have to write much.

3. Books

If you had any go-to's, these will save her soul from the wrath of the internet!!

Magical Beginnings, Enchanted Lives Deepak Chopra

The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding or similar

Secrets of the Baby Whisperer Tracy Hogg

Bringing up Bébé Pamela Druckerman

The Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby and Childcare Morell and Cowan

Your favorite baby books are also always appreciated and usually loved for a very long time ...

4. Siblings

Bring a little something for an older child or hand your gift to that child for 'their baby'.

nesting, naturally

Nesting - the instinct to ready your space for new baby - should be all about cleansing and removing, not about adding and complicating. Go with your gut and protect yourself from acquiring more when waiting for bébé. Hormonal, excited and perhaps a little afraid you are a marketer's dream target. Try your best not to shop and find creative ways to divert superfluous gift giving: ask for books or bare essentials like diapers and immediately donate or pass along overflow before it even makes it into your 'shelter'. Excess will only have you swimming upstream! Instead, go with the flow and follow these no-shopping nesting rituals (click). Basically, nothing will feel as good as clearing out, decluttering, and simply cleaning.

How you do one thing is how you do every thing.

And thinking of doing something and actually doing it are not the same thing.

Secret Santa

The Daily Doodle: Out with Hubby crossing our holiday t's and dotting our under-the-tree i's. Oh, and wrapping paper? Check!