dog days

today is the first day of fall. i've seen it coming for a few weeks with the morning rain and the changing leaves, my melancholy mood with summer gone and winter on the way.

these next few months are what i look forward to. curling up in bed, reading, with the rain outside my window. big burly sweaters and rubber boots. hot tea and steamy baths. chimney smoke and sharpened pencils. it will only last for a second, one heavenly second, and then the snow will come and the mornings will be dark and i will be hungry for spring again.

(photos by: erin)

lacy bits

katy horan is a storyteller. instead of scratching rudimentary sketches on the inside of cave walls, she creates scenarios through folklore inspired paintings and drawings. traditionally, stories are kept alive by being re-told again and again. in many of katy’s pieces this is shown through the repetition of figures in a series of connected vignettes. her most recent work includes lacy ladies, where katy puts her crocheting talents on canvas. her art can be purchased on etsy and littler paper planes. 

star light star bright

according to my horoscope, something unexpected is going to happen to me today. i'm currently still waiting. i wish i was better at sending out birthday cards. maybe if i had blue pool road's astrology card set i would be more prepared. their stationary is simple and beautiful, made with recycled paper and soy-based inks.

pearly whites

the honeycomb texture and delicate painted graphics on self-taught artist isabelle abramson's hand cast porcelain ceramics are unconventional and beautiful. after pouring liquid clay into plaster molds created from found objects isabelle drills, carves, and scratches the pottery until it achieves this unique look.

on my honor

i was never a girl scout. secretly, i was jealous of the girls that were. the badges, the berets, the cookies. visions of roasting marshmellows and singing songs around a campfire. my sister and i, along with our neighbor kristin, formed our own organization called the pine cone club. we created a mission statement and organized a book of achievements, holding our meetings in my dad's old ice fishing house. i remember a photo that was taken of us dressed in club created puffy-paint shirts holding our construction paper books. kristin was wearing a big smile with her sweet adolescent lips coated in fire engine red lipstick (the preferred shade of madonna in "who's that girl").  i, on the other hand, was chapstick free and frowning. i wish i could find that picture. i wish i could remember what i was pouting about. maybe i had just realized that i would never win that new bike with ribbon tassels, a basket, and a bell for selling the most cookies.

the autumn 2009 dear creatures collection draws it's inspiration from a 1960's girl scout theme, with sweet smock dresses that are reminders of the old troop uniforms. it might not be to late to relive my dream after all.

united steaks

with only 2 weeks left of summer, labor day is a time for parties, going to the park and the beach, running through the sprinklers one last time, and, for most of america, grilling. i haven’t made it through 2 cups of coffee yet and already i can smell the lighter fluid and charcoal. something to consider for next year – state shaped steaks. it doesn’t get more festive than that. photographer dominic episcopo's new exhibit, "united steaks of america," which shows our country in images of carved and manipulated ribeye, porterhouse, and sirloin, is currently on display at the state museum of pennsylvania in harrisburg until september 20. 

it's easy as 1-2-3

erin hanson (aka recovering lazyholic) is an austin, tx, based photographer/creator. she designed this delightful alphabet series - a grab bag of metaphors, idiums, pop culture references, and the artists personal experiences.

looking the part

clothing designer, dace moore, consistently creates the most beautiful lookbooks for all of her collections. the fall series, shot at the southlands riding club in vancouver, bc, shows fog creeping across the field, frost melting off of tree branches, and a horses steamy breath breaking through the cold air, all embodying the beauty of the season. the collection has a 1930’s equestrian feel with rich colors, structured skirts, high-wasted trousers, and draped silk tops. the video is a sneak peak of the spring 2010 collection and another lookbook to anticipate. it makes me want to skip winter all together and get on a flight back to paris.

west coast trail

I haven’t done a lot of camping, unless you count the weeks at the end of the summer when my sister and I would sleep in a faded blue canvas tent my dad bought at the Holiday surplus store in the 60s. We would pile in all of the blankets from our bedroom, listen to Neil Diamond and John Denver records, and read chapters from The Boxcar Children or Judy Bloom to each other by flashlight. When the time came for us to take down the tent and return to our beds, days before school would start, the grass would be flat and yellow and match the changing aspen leaves.

In early August, my husband Ben and I spent 6 days backpacking across the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island in British Columbia with our friends Ryan and Jess. We hiked 50 miles along foggy coastlines and through canopy covered rainforests, making our way up and down ladders and over suspension bridges and zip lines, falling asleep every night on the beach, listening to the waves moving away from the shore as the tide went out. It was paradise.

When we finished the hike, our boots were thick with mud and our bodies were covered in a weeks worth of sweat. A ferry took us back to the landing at Port Renfrew to sign off of the trail and wait for our pick-up. We sat on our packs by the road watching cars pull in and out of the harbor, waiting for a man that we had never met. After an hour, Evan arrived. He was easy to spot. We could see the rubber testicles dangling from his trailer hitch as he drove up. He was tall, his head was covered with tight red curly hair, and bright gold crowns covered his 4 front teeth. Jess and I rode in the back seat of his white ford truck with an older Swiss couple that had finished the hike shortly after us. Ben and Ryan jumped in the bed with our packs and Evan’s dog. I could see them through the back window, bouncing as we drove over the washboard surface of the dirt road, kicking up a cloud of dust behind us. If we had the supplies to turn around and do the trail again, we would have, but at that moment it was good to be back in civilization.

In my first week after moving to Ann Arbor the rain hasn't stopped. I finally pulled my nylon jacket out of the trunk of the car and could still smell the heavy smoke from the driftwood campfires we had every night on the beach. It reminded me of the trip, of being with friends, of the musty tent from my childhood. It made me feel like I was home.

(photos by: erin)

strategic style

refinery 29 may have cracked the code to getting noticed by the sartorialist and making street style history. a scarf or quirky hat, a pop of color, menswear, or a vintage bike just might increase your curb appeal.

clippings

like lacework, each piece is linked to give strength to the delicate off-white rice paper artist bovey lee uses in her paper cutouts - letting light and shadow give dimension to the semi-translucent sheets. each piece is dense and intricate, with images rich in cross-cultural references that seek to contemporize and preserve the ancient artistry of chinese paper art.

tender, juicy, and tasty

i don't have a green thumb, or at least not a very good one, but the hot sun and local farmers' stands make me want to get my hands dirty. luckily, according to monkeys always look, anyone can keep a succulent alive. these hearty little plants are low maintenance and are growing in repurposed containers that would be perfect for a kitchen windowsill or deck bench. with sweet names like baby toes, topsy turvy, calico kitten, and hens and chicks, who could resist?

human-like

humanoid's summer collection looks so light and airy, with layers of jersey and voile, it might be the only clothing line that can withstand a humid midwest summer. in august, i've decided to wear nothing but cotton.

day pack

when ben and i were back in los angeles last week we were so busy seeing friends, moving, and finalizing a million details after being gone for a year that we didn't have a chance to go to the beach—we even rented an apartment in venice just to be close to the the hot sand and salty water. i was so disappointed. if we had gone, i would have packed up all of the necessities in my trusted canvas bag. 

here are some of my favorite totes from around the web: (1) anatomical heart, (2) kindling, (3) paris map, (4) letters, (5) bingo, (6) blue lace, (7) permanent vacation, (8) pillaging protection, and (9) snarling fox.

the heartland

i'm back in minnesota for a month. back to writing. back to family and friends. back to the lake and the garden and the place i called home when i was fresh faced and sun kissed. memories make my heart ache - riding bikes to the store on sundays for homemade donuts, catching turtles in the bay, sunbathing on the roof covered in baby oil and lemon juice, sneaking out of my bedroom window past curfew, laying on the dock at night watching the stars, waiting endlessly to grow up. now, wanting nothing more than to go back and stay a little longer.

(photos by: erin)