Rooftops

Rooftops

uyguguygu   07.00   Comment  

Is it strange to have a favorite parking garage? I guess it doesn't really matter if it is or not because I do have one here. From the roof of the parking garage I can look out over the city all the way to the mountains, and I'm surrounded by the rooftops of the buildings around it. It's rarely open so I don't normally park there but sometimes when I'm parked in the floors below I'll climb the staircase to the roof of it and just look out over the sprawl of the city and peek at the glorious Rocky Mountains. 

The mountains, are in a way, like the sea: Omnipresent but ever changing. They change with the weather, the snow fall, the sunshine. They are green for a brief minute in the spring, covered in snow that reflects the orange and purple and blue of the sky all winter, and sometimes they are invisible from the roof, covered in clouds. 

Today was clear, and I could see the mountains in all of their glory. The roof of the garage was closed so I took the steps up and had it all to myself. It was also very, very windy and my camera was almost knocked over by the wind while getting these shots, too! 

***

The jacket was kindly given to me by the folks over at T B Dress. The shirt is vintage. I'm wearing an assortment of vintage pins on the jacket and Michael Michaud earrings were a gift from my fabulous in-laws. The jeans are j.crew's matchstick cut. The shoes are by L.K. Bennett. The flannel purse is from Talbots. 

A Celebration

A Celebration

uyguguygu   07.00   Comment  

These four photographs were happy mistakes - a lens set incorrectly, pressed for time, rapidly pressing the shutter, quick clicks facing a midwestern winter sunset with two beloved people in the frame. 

That same day, as I sorted through these photographs, I read this poem posted on Odessa's blog and smiled because I know it as truth, for me and for them:

You came one day and

as usual in such matters 

significance filled everything -

your eyes, the things you

knew, the way you turned, 

leaned, stood, or sat,

this way or that: when

you left, the area around here rose

a tilted tide, and everything that 

offers desolation drained away.

-A.R. Ammons

Sometimes things just work, just like these two in the photographs. Just like that poem. Just like the sunset fading out into velvet dark. 

Welcome friend, you are loved. 

First Day of the Year Ride

First Day of the Year Ride

uyguguygu   07.00   Comment  

On the first day of the year JR and I decided that we were going to ride around the city from friends house to friends house. We wanted to greet them with the happiness of the new year and keep our friends cozy and warm so we handed out pairs of wool socks, which sound really silly but was way more fun and brought much more joy than we could have anticipated. We got started around noon and took a two hour jaunt around. We handed them out to friends we ran into while walking. We left them at unanswered front doors. We gave them to friends who were up and at 'em. We really got lucky with the weather during the ride - before and after we rode it was snowing, cold, and wet. 

Hope your 2014 is cozy and warm so far! 

***

The blazer is by Banana Republic (somewhat similar one here) and the chambray shirt is by The GAP (somewhat similar one here). I'm wearing (again, yes, I know...) Madewell's Skinny Skinny jeans with thrifted shoes. The pearl earrings were a gift from my in-laws and the belt was given to me by my aunt. The bike is a Pashley Princess Sovereign and of course the socks we gave out are made by Wigwam, which are made in my home state of Wisconsin! 

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...

uyguguygu   14.19   Comment  

We went back to the midwest this year, to my parents house. My parents moved this year and this is the first time I've actually stayed at the new house. We had to use google maps to find it which was a strange and unfamiliar feeling.

They are now out in the countryside and I love the place they moved  - there are three tack shops within a ten mile radius, a lake, a pool in the backyard, and enough room for everyone, and I mean everyone, to stay here without having to crowd in. My entire family and significant others plus my in laws are here, too!

A midwestern Christmas is always cozy - we see the the family members from my mom's side of the family on Christmas Eve and the cousins do a silly white elephant gift exchange. Then, on Christmas morning we all exchange and open presents and then tinker the rest of the day with all the new stuff. Our day also included a walk around the neighborhood in the new snow, and a giant dinner with everyone!

***

It's beautiful here! The vest is from Land's End.  The button down and jeans are from Madewell. I'm wearing my mom's sorrel boots. The scarf in my hair is vintage. 

Go Placidly Amidst the Noise and Haste of the Universe...

Go Placidly Amidst the Noise and Haste of the Universe...

uyguguygu   18.59   Comment  

I want to tell you about a book I read when I was fourteen or fifteen. I can't remember the name of the book at it was so short I think I read it in the course of an afternoon. It was classic young adult fiction, the sort of thing written for moody teenage girls (which, of course, I was) to devour and feel like someone understood them. 

Anyways, the book was about a girl who was in high school and wanted to be a dancer. She must have been in a pre-professional company or something. Every day she would go home and struggle with whatever she struggled with and tell her parents she wanted to be a dancer. 

And every time she said that her dad would gently remind her, "You are a dancer."

And that was the whole lesson of this book. You are a dancer. 

But maybe you're not a dancer. Maybe you write stories in your spare time. You, my friend, are a writer. Or maybe you ride your bike up a mountain or only down the bike path by your house. You are a cyclist. Maybe you make dinner every night, and even though the only patrons at your restaurant are you and your family or even just you. You are a chef. 

The point I'm trying to make here, the thing I first read in this book and learned through living and trying, is that you are what you are doing in life. Even if you're not being paid to do it, if there are no material gains or social rewards where you put your time is who you are. 

One of the things that is generally implied in life as you are growing up is "do good work and the rewards will follow." I believe that contrary to that idea the work is the reward in most cases. There is pleasure in having and finishing, of course, but the stretch of hard work, and the space and time you give to being something, if that makes sense, is where the real joy is discovered.

***

I cannot honestly remember the brands of any of my dance clothing. I do know my pointe shoes are Bloch. 

All of these stunning photographs were taken by Jessica Triggs at Heartflip Photography. Love and gratitude to her, always. 

Impromptu Polo

Impromptu Polo

uyguguygu   07.58   Comment  

I don't know how I got myself entangled in this adventure. One minute I was sitting on the lawn chairs outside of the barn I ride at after a lesson and the next minute I was winding my way towards the polo field. I think it had to do with "No riding experience needed." and "It's OK! Everyone can do it!" and the last comforting one..."See that guy? He's never been on a horse before! You can at least trot so you'll be fine!"

So there I was, learning how to hold (both of) the reins Argentinian style, how to hit the ball without hitting the horse, what to look for in a polo pony, and learning why my post lesson riding breaches and paper thin t shirt are not appropriate gear. (I know it looks like I wear the exact same thing riding because I'm in the exact same outfit as the last horse post! I promise I wear other things and that was a total accident!)

I wasn't very good at it, but I wasn't terribly bad at it either, and I managed not to hit any bystanders, the horse, or myself with the mallet! 

What's the latest accidental adventure you've been on?

***

All of these photos were generously taken by Thomas Dole. 

***

Thanks so much to all three of the Colorado Polo Clubs (Anyone have a link to the club in Northern Colorado? I could not find it via google!) that showed up to make this day awesome, show us the ropes, trailer the horses down, and tack up our Polo Ponies. 

***

I am wearing a shirt by Caslon, my breaches are by TuffRider, and my half chaps are from Dublin. I am always and forever wearing Ariat boots to ride in. My helmet is by Ovation, the sunglasses are from Oakley, and the gloves are Kerrits.

Farm Scenes and a Word of Advice

Farm Scenes and a Word of Advice

uyguguygu   20.59   Comment  

There is something to learn from everyone, that I know is true. 

I used to work with this man when I was restoring antique textiles who I learned so much from simply from saying good morning to and asking how his morning was every day.

"Every day above ground is a good day!" he would exclaim honestly as we filed in to start our days of quiet, solitary work. 

It's easy to learn gratitude from someone with that sort of relentlessly positive attitude. Thank you, friend, for teaching me the glory of morning and the worth of work. With that approach to life how could I possibly ever lose?

(More pictures from the farm, as shot by Jessica Triggs!)

Finishing Twenty-Seven

Finishing Twenty-Seven

uyguguygu   19.54   Comment  

There is a ghost town in the desert. When they put the freeway through it didn't reach to this town so it died when the oil ran out. We take the back roads often through the desert and we know this ghost town well. 

Near this town there is a field of daises. It had taken me by surprise - we were driving along and all of a sudden we were surrounded by a field of white. I had never seen it in bloom like that so I asked JR to pull over and I hopped out into the field of daises. They were tough little buggers, those desert flowers. I had to pinch them hard with my fingernails to pull them up. 

We kept going and found a place to pull over and camp in the BLM land, right against the mesas, in a flat spot against the tumbled rocks. In the morning it was cold and a little overcast, and the wind was incredible. I woke up early before everyone else got up and walked a ways down the road, meditating on the last day of my 27th year.  

Its always hard for me to give up another year for some reason and I get a little melancholy around new years and birthdays. I'm not afraid of aging by any means, but I wonder a lot if I did a good enough job with the year that I'd been given. The desert is a good place to let those thoughts settle.