It’s hard to believe

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That snow like this could be found anywhere in now 90-degrees-in-February Los Angeles, but it really was there just a couple of weeks ago in Mt. Baldy. My children have been deprived of seeing snow more than once in their lives, literally, because it always feels like such a big undertaking. Rounding up the right snow gear, borrowing what we can, having to search for the rest. But this little day trip did prove that it really is worth it in the end.

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It’s also hard to believe it’s been so many months since I’ve checked in here. I’ve gotten more than a few loving emails asking if I had given up this little site, but the truth is, I just haven’t felt as inspired either with my photography or with sharing what I do take here. I do like that I’m not beholden to this as a source of income, as some bloggers are, so that I can take a break and come back only when it feels right. I’m feeling like I’m emerging out of my creative desert.

It may also be because of this not so little thing that I’ve been cooking up for the last 8 months:

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Baby number 4!

Over the weekend

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We just returned from a long weekend camping on Catalina Island with some friends. It’s an hour’s ferry ride from LA, and for us it’s the perfect place to escape the city for a few nights.

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We like to return to a little campground on the far side of the island called Little Harbor. It feels secluded and quiet even if it’s full.  And it still feels pretty and dramatic despite the effects of the ongoing drought. There are literally buffalo roaming on the cliffs, along with wild foxes and cats. It’s a place where the kids can kayak, hike and explore all on their own and embrace the often elusive independence that comes with city living . This trip, all seven of them would go off for what seemed like hours looking for animals, rocks, the perfect walking stick, the highest peak they could reach.

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And at the end of each day, there were s’mores of course. How could there not? Here’s to digging more into summer while it lasts.

 

Bits & Pieces of Summer

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I meant to write this on the day of the solstice on June 21st, but it just didn’t get done. Summer so far has proven to feel busier than usual, with trying to get various work projects off the ground, getting Mateo and Nico to their various camps each morning, Jude to preschool, and Matt away working quite a bit. There have been a few days here and there when we have been able to slow it down like we’re supposed to. There is a plan to slow it all down in the next few weeks.

Here’s some of what we’re enjoying in the meantime:

1. Finding the beach again. Although it’s so close to us, and we often walk along it, we haven’t immersed ourselves in quite a while. The sun and salt on the skin .

2. Enjoying and celebrating Father’s Day with the most incredible man, the best example I know of what a father truly can be.

3. Watching this boy leave boyhood behind by little bits each day.

4. Living room jam sessions. Sometimes the percussionist doesn’t always like the direction the band is going.

5. Trying to capture Jude’s silliness. You have to be quick.

6. Exploring our favorite museums. The Annenberg Space for Photography has a fascinating exhibit on emerging photographers that each of us loved. The Hammer, Moca, LACMA, and Getty are also on the list.

7. The first tomato out of our garden. The first of many (maybe too many) to come. Canned marinara sauce?

8. I’m loving the documentary explosion happening at the moment. The Wolfpack; What Happened, Miss Simone; 3-1/2 Minutes, 10 Bullets; Fresh Dressed; Amy; Cartel Land. Good stuff.

9. These Black Crane overalls, that I don’t want to take off.

10. This album that is currently on repeat, and counting the days until Tame Impala’s Currents comes out next month.

 

 

 

Strawberries

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To him they are ruby-red jewels.

 

NYC + A New Look!

DSC_5051Before I get to our recent trip to NYC, I wanted to thank the very lovely ladies at Wooden Spoons Kitchen for redesigning this little site of mine, and for helping to make it something I could really be proud of! Thank you, Erin and Melissa.DSC_5039As always, going back to NYC is a bit like going home. For those who know me, that’s not a surprise. And even though I moved away almost 10 years ago, it’s as though there’s still a space for me there each time I return. It’s the city that most appears in my dreams. It’s a city that still represents discovery and possibility perhaps more than any other. I know I may only be able to say this from my nice, sunny spot in California, but nonetheless…DSC_5018Luckily (or not), I do believe my children feel the same. My oldest both talk of moving there once they’re ready to head to college. Hard to imagine it now, but I had the same vision when I wasn’t much older.DSC_5036There was Jane’s Carousel in DUMBO, a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, a first Broadway Show (Wicked), a side trip to New Haven to spend time with friends, braving the crowds at MoMA for the Björk exhibit, countless naughty and amazing meals, and lots of visits with more friends we wish we could see so much more regularly. There were also some pretty dramatic sights of destruction, with the remains of a gas explosion that had taken place only one building away from where we stayed, and with a visit to the 9/11 Memorial Museum that Mateo and Nico asked to see, and that I wondered would be too intense. But we were able to sidestep the rougher parts, and marvel at what remained. DSC_5236

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DSC_5235There was also a birthday for an amazing little boy who happily turned 3. If there was ever a boy who wanted to get older as fast as possible, it’s Jude.  He is sunshine. DSC_5161