where i live

i love this map of portland, by corey templeton. can you guess which neighborhood i live in? if you guess correctly, i'll bake you something.

scenes from a craft fair

in sepia tones. hmm. the actual craft fair was brighter and more colorful than these pictures convey.

















it was a fun day with m and mama d, who should seriously get a commission for the sales she made at our humble table.

















if you missed this craft fair, we'll be doing another one at north yarmouth academy on december fifth. also, what will definitely be the most fun and fabulous fair of all, at jen's house on december tenth!

perchance to dream

now i know that i definitely dream in color, because i dreamt last night of these shoes of mine, red and pink pumas that were really fabulous when i got them about seven years ago, and are now very old, worn nearly smooth on the bottoms. in my dream, i was in an elaborate relay race of some kind, and anxiety was looming within me because i knew i was going to have to run a mile, and i was going to have to run it on slippery wet leaf-strewn paths in these shoes.

all the world is birthday cake

i needed to pick bean up early at school yesterday for a doctor's appointment (the waiting room was alarming, full of preschoolers either wearing face masks or refusing to wear them, being chased around by their parents), and after that i didn't return her -- instead i took her to lunch at artemisia.
























we shared a sweet potato sandwich and a veggie dumpling salad. i love the soy-ginger dressing they use on this salad - i always forget how delicious it is.

last night we ate at one of bean's favorite restaurants, asmara, and shared two big vegetarian platters with flora and enoch. then, cake back at home - bean wanted something reminiscent of a strawberry shortcake, so i made a vegan pound cake, cut it into two layers, and slathered it with whipped coconut cream and stewed strawberries.

here is a blurry picture of said cake.
























in case i didn't mention it, the girl is seventeen now.

seventeen

happy seventeenth birthday to my little bean. i don't know how that happened! in honor of her birthday, i present one of dozens of adorable stories i like to tell, like some old grandma, about my girl:


scene: grocery store. bean is riding in the cart. she is about three years old.

little old lady: "oh, such a little sweet cutie pie, oh so cute (or words to that effect)!" she approaches, cheek pinching fingers at the ready.

bean, turning an impassive face towards me: "these people are all hyenas."


can i just tell you how amazed i still am to realize that she was so truly herself at that age? even when she was a baby, she was the same person she is today (although she is able to walk and talk etc now of course), with the same dry sense of humor and skepticism and intelligence?


also, this photograph of bean making muffins (or cupcakes?) reminds me of the time her preschool teacher confessed to me that when her three year olds brought in baked goods, she would ask enthusiastically, "did you help make these?!" and if they answered, "yes," she would surreptitiously not eat any, knowing so well how dirty and germy those little hands tended to be. although i didn't share her qualms, i thought it was funny.

life so sweet

(print by alli coate, available at etsy. i saw it on swissmiss.)

sad

i finally got around to scheduling a doctor's appointment today only to learn that my healthcare provider, a nurse practitioner named connie nagle, died unexpectedly in a bicycle accident just a couple of weeks ago. i barely knew her -- i've seen her a total of six or seven times in my life, and she was basically my gynecologist, so it's not like i looked forward to seeing her or anything. but she was such a sweet, bright, comfortable person, and i really did like her very much. i'm shocked by how sad i'm feeling about this.

electricity

i don't know why, i just like this sign.

16

i am falling way, way behind with the daily novel writing, but i haven't given up yet. i imagined i would write every day at holly's house, but in reality when we got there each day i was so tired from strolling around college campuses and driving all over the states of new york and connecticut that i felt like i'd been doing manual labor for hours and i needed to just sit there, pretty much, and be fed by my best friend. there was one productive day, when i wrote about 1,000 words, but otherwise it was all i could do to keep up with my daily blog post.


in other news, here is a photograph for your entertainment of a highly offensive sign that bean and i saw in vernon, connecticut: