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Spring is here. Although to most people who don’t live in Southern California, the distinction between the seasons may seem to come down to the difference of a few degrees. We feel it, however subtle. Hummingbirds are darting through the petals in front of my desk window. The bright pink bougainvillea flowers that lie dormant in winter begin to soak their color all over the city once again. Fog begins to roll in off the beach around dinnertime. As the days get longer, we can sometimes make it to the beach to watch the sunset, and bedtime often comes just as the night begins.

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Indigo runner

Last Thanksgiving, I tie-dyed a white cotton table runner using the Japanese Shibori technique. It typically involves folding, twisting or bunching cloth and binding it, then dyeing it in indigo. Whatever is used to bind the fabric will resist the dye, resulting in areas of the cloth that take the distinctive blue dye in patterns created by the resistance, and other areas of the cloth that remain white. Got that?

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I’d like to consider this new series of the boys as a sort of status report. Some quick portraits that make me pause to see (and remember) just where each of them are in their lives. All three are at such different stages: one entering tween-dom, one right smack in the middle of childhood, and one with two feet now firmly out of babyhood.

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Something for V-Day with the classic blend of chocolate and toasted hazelnuts but rolled in a truffle. And while a certain ubiquitous brand has the market cornered, I find that besides being a little too sweet for my taste, it also has way too many questionable ingredients.

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Green burr

Yes, I am part of the herd that is doing a cleanse right now. New Year, new gut, right? It’s not part of some resolution to eat better as it is to climb out of the cookie, wine, bread and cheese pool that I dove into last month. Even though it all felt so right at the time…

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I’ve missed being here. It’s been a longer pause than I usually like. The reason? Hmmm. Life with three children is always hectic. Even when we get away, as we did just after Christmas. To be honest, the holidays kind of kicked my butt this time, and I’m not exactly sure why. I (and especially my kids) love the family Christmas/Solstice traditions we’ve created, I love celebrating with our friends and family, and as someone who loves to cook, I usually don’t mind the marathons of mealmaking that come out of my kitchen. Part of me just wasn’t as prepared as I would have liked. Part of it was trying to work through it all. And there was a low-humming virus that kept vibrating though the house for what seemed like forever.

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Yikes. Where’s the time going? It’s clearly moving too fast for me, and it’s been hard to keep up. With work and kid activities and all that I try to cram in for the Holidays, I feel as though I’ve been traveling in one big circle, on to one thing, then the next and the next and then start all over again. I love this time of year, and the creativity and giving it allows, but man, it’s a lot.

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A few photos from our recent (and annual) visit to Underwood Family Farms’ Harvest Festival. The pumpkins and the squashes are perhaps the only vestiges of Fall here in Southern California. We’re having what seems to be an endless summer. The sun is still roasting, you still need a hat and a gallon of water to get through the day. As often as I like to brag about the “mild” weather here in the West, right now I almost envy the folks back East who are enjoying Fall as it’s meant to be, with days when you actually need to pull on a sweater.

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Between Mateo’s birthday in July, Matt’s in August, mine on September 10th, and Nico’s on September 24th, it’s feels like a non-stop cake and balloon parade as summer comes to a close. There are, of course, worse problems to have.

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