Saturday, March 20, 2010

i've moved!

i've moved to a new location on the web! come check it out at: http://mamaeffie.wordpress.com/

Thursday, March 18, 2010

thursday things

-the ideal crochet sphere!

-norman rockwell museum... i know it's cheese but i love it. my grandparents have a book of his work and i remember being a little kid and laying on the floor looking at the pictures and giggling my head off.

-wayne coyne on google street view. i have a terribly embarrassing wayne story: he lives not too far from our house, and we used to have a habit of driving by and checking on him. one day, it was the summer of '08, we were driving down 19th street, and he was out running. brady says "roll down your window!", knowing i'm about to do something outrageous. and when we drive by him, i say "hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" like a 13 year old, it was so bad, and so good. and really, i had met him and taken pictures with him several times before, so i still don't know why i was giddy!

-my favorite cookbook: the art of simple food.

-neat clocks.

-beginners guide to zen habits - really good stuff here!



Wednesday, March 17, 2010

happy st. patrick's day!

May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light,
May good luck pursue you each morning and night.
~Irish Blessing

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Monday, March 15, 2010

in my skin.

feeling very here and now today... very present. it's delightful.

the girls are having an adventure: off to a pirate island to find "treadures". theodore is, as always, trailing behind, babbling and wanting so badly to be a part.

i've been journaling nearly incessantly in my big black journal. it always has to be the jumbo, black lined journal from borders, it has been since i was 14 years old. i have 3 pages left in my current, and a brand new, unwritten in, blank book waiting for me. i am so excited to fill it up, it's nearly tangible. i went through and read my past journals the other day. it was weird, cathartic and very revealing. there are constants: lovey, the kids, housekeeping... and then there are mind boggling questions and knots that have persisted through the years. and watching myself un-knot them, over a period of time... that is fascinating and hopeful. sometimes i feel narcissistic, writing the epic of effie's life, but then i don't. journaling has always been something i've done. my first taste of journaling was a little house on the prairie diary, a gift from my grandma for my 8th birthday. i wish i still had it, i wrote so many little details and feelings in it. i graduated to spiral bound notebooks, and then to composition notebooks. and then for christmas, when i was 14, my mom gave me one of the big black journals along with a collection of elizabeth barret browning's poetry. she has always been, and always will be, my favorite poet. (with the exception of my darling lovey!)

sadly, i threw out the journal that spanned the last half of 14-16. on my 17th birthday, i tossed it in the garbage bin and didn't feel the slightest bit of doubt. that is one of the few things i regret. that one journal covered my worst times and some of the happiest and most life changing moments i've experienced. so many teenage epiphanies and plans to change the world, and also my deepest sadness and pain.

i have promised myself to never get rid of my words, from here on out. no matter how tough it may be to re-read them, or even to know they exist, my journals are a very big part of my life.

i don't have lofty goals of my great-great-great grandchildren reading them, or other grand plans some folks seem to have for their journals. i simply do it for myself, and the satisfaction of going back to this day 4 years ago, 2 years ago, last year... and reading where i've been and how far i've come.



inspiration- blue.




Thursday, March 11, 2010

thursday things

-alice in wonderland colouring pages
-6 dishes everyone should know how to make
-just finished another biography on john lennon, i need to watch this again
-nostalgic... i always wanted one of his prints
-the kitchn - lots of inspiration here
-rue de vamp: a design blog some of my friends run. it's lovely!



we're all thrilled spring is around the corner, the girls have been nearly living outside in the backyard.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

inspiration- green & margot.



yesterday this photo of margot made it in the first group chosen for the pioneer woman's photography assignment: cats. you can see it here.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

thursday things

-fantastic celebrity photos. my favorite is of alfred hitchcock & his children.
-elizabeth gilbert's TED talk on nurturing creativity. 20 minutes of inspiration.
-one of my favorite photos
-summer 2010 will be the summer of dresses: this one is lovely! i need to hit the thrift store.
-hopefully getting the living room/dining room painted soon, i'm very excited about that.
-i want one of these, so very much!



yesterday was the first full day of "rhythm" and it went very well. the girls are really into doing what's next because they had so much input while creating it.




one of my top favorite songs of all time, ever. i'm still so glad i got to see them before they broke up!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

spring cleaning and balance.

i woke up this morning with a deep motivation for spring cleaning. i'm ready for open windows, the scent of freshly laundered cotton, & sunshine.

and instead of doing the normal effie routine of attacking cleaning head on: pulling out all of the contents in every cabinet in one day, getting frustrated & giving up by 4pm, i am going to try something different.

i'm going to pace myself and recognize that i am the mother of three small children! my default response of fierce determination and stubbornness to complete a task does not typically allow for making "snack plates", kissing boo-boos, cleaning up spills, refereeing fights or comforting after a tumble. being an extreme gal, i've tended to give up on big projects since theodore has been here, since i can't complete them in a way i want to.

and that's not right either! so, today i'm going to try this new thing, and find balance.

balance has been popping up all over my life lately, and it's crucial. there must be a middle path, & i'm going to find it. i'm determined to do so :)

Monday, March 1, 2010

march!

for the first time since wednesday, i woke up feeling refreshed and well. this bout of sickness has taken it's toll: physically, mentally, and especially on the state of tidiness in my home :)

my lovey called soon after i woke up, in the morning tradition. i got a little thrill to see 3/1 on the caller id. february, without a doubt in my mind, is the worst month of the year to me. it's cold, and nearly every hurtful thing i've experienced has occurred during the month of february. it's only redeeming quality is that it's short. (not to say there haven't been fantastic february days, but in the overall sense, i just don't like the month!)

the babies are all three still sleeping, and i am relishing this alone time this a.m. it's so rare to not have a body on mine. and i do love being a mama, with my whole heart. yet there are times when it is nice to simply sit and not navigate the world one handed.

i flipped the calendar to march, and we already have lovely plans... cinnamon roll dinners and weddings and playdates, perhaps concerts. i love that my calendar is full of signs of life. every nite before bed, i write in what we've done that day and mark it off. my mom informed that the original effie did this as well, i had no idea. i can't wait until one day, i have amassed many calendars full of days we've had, and i can go back and read about my lovely life in an abbreviated, simple way.

speaking of documenting one's life, my big "analog" journal is nearly full. and i'm timid about purchasing a new one, so i've been cutting back on my journaling. i know that is such a silly thing, but i've grown very attached to this one. i started it in may 2008, and it's gotten me through so much. of course i started journaling at 14, and have made my way through many notebooks and journals. but this particular one has shown more growth than any of the older ones. i hope that can be said of the next one, also.

the children are all awake & need tending now. my intention for the day: easing back into normalcy, instead of making a mad dash for complete cleanliness & rhythm in one day. if i were to do that, as is my tendency, i surely will end up back on the couch, with bottles of garlic & vitamin C, begging the divine to heal me rapidly.


what is your intention for the day?