Why we left New York

Leaving NY was not an easy choice. My husband and I were both born in NYC, we met at The School of Visual Arts on 23rd St. The city was our playground and source of inspiration. And then we grew up. Our priorities changed, we felt closed in, we needed room to breath. We moved to a suburb and became commuters and had two daughters.

As the girls grew we found ourselves needing more nature around us. My interests shifted from concerts and restaurants to mushroom hunting and knitting. My husband wanted more time with us, more time in the woods, but commuting to Times Square everyday left him little time for either. Commuting two hours each way is soul draining. And once he got there he had to fight the crowds of tourists and fake Elmos just to get into his building. After 19 years, he had enough! 

Our girls, now 15 and 19 were feeling it too. We all desperately needed a change, we had become stagnant both creatively and spiritually. It was either make a major change or continue to do the same thing day in and day out, which was killing us. 

My husband quit his job after 19 years as an Illustrator/Art Director at Nickelodeon and we told everyone that we loved that we were leaving. It was no easy task. Some understood, some felt abandoned. We packed up two PODS and drove across the country with two teens, two snakes and one guinea pig. Off to find adventure and seek our fortune!

So, where are we? Utah! We love it, we feel peaceful, at home and free. We have been here for two months and have no regrets. We have no idea what lies ahead, but we know that God has directed our path and He will continue to do so. 

Now that we are settled, I am free to devote more time to blogging this new adventure as it unfolds. 

I hope you are finding wonder and joy in unexpected places. Don’t be afraid of change, life is too short. 

Beach Holiday

We just came back from our annual beach holiday. We have been visiting the same place for the past 8 years. Not only the same beach, but the same hotel and when we can it, even the same room.

We go on many collecting walks up and down the beach. Each of us looking for what we consider treasures.

My husband is always on the lookout for the smoothest stone he can find. It has to be the best, he will carry it in his jacket pocket all year long.

I always go for the interesting textures and colors. I usually end up trying to figure out ways that I can wear them, like my seaweed scarf. My teen's favorite part of collecting is organizing and categorizing her finds afterwards.

This is so pretty. It could be a soft lacy knitted something.

It's not easy finding healthy snacks at the beach. A lot of fried foods and ice cream. At trip to the local Mart provided fruit, veggies and Larabars in convenient 5 packs. Snob that I am, I brought my own tea. The electric kettle is my friend. 

A friend and I are reading Out of a Silent Planet by C.S Lewis together. After my younger one got super slammed by an ocean wave I offered to take her to the pool. Thinking that she could use some calmer fun and I could get in some reading time. She had a grand time but I did not catch up on my reading! 

About my bag...I picked it up at a thrift store earlier this year and saved it for the beach. Little did I know that everywhere we went this coral motif would be there. Every fancy beach shop was filled with it on towels, blouses, bags, curtains, greeting cards, etc. Our usual hotel room was redecorated this year with this pattern. The lamps were even made to look like coral with lampshades on top! I appeared to be quite fashionably "in the know" with my thrift store treasure.

Into Fall and Back in Time

Last week we went off on an excursion to Old Sturbridge Village. As we drove from New York to Massachusetts. it was obvious that they are ahead of us when it comes to Autumn. The colors became more and more brilliant as we went along. When we got there I was enthralled by this grove which is on the grounds of Sturbridge Village. 

Sturbridge Village is "an 1830s New England Living History Museum". We usually go there on Homeschool Day, but this time we ran of on a whim. They have farm buildings, homes, gardens, shops, a saw mill, grist mill, a cooper, a huge wood burning pottery kiln, yarn spinning, a blacksmith, a tinsmith and more! All working and manned with costumed educators. You can even try your hand at the various crafts and trades.

My younger pretending to do her "chores". 

One thing my husband and I really love about Sturbridge is their bookshop. It's chock full of everything we are interested in. Crafting and herbs for me, American History and trees for him. Since we are entering the spooky month of October I picked up 'Wicked Plants' for myself and a book about the Salem Witch Trials for the girls. I went back the next day and grabbed 'Vintage Knit Gloves and Mittens' by Kathryn Fulton. I started knitting these fingerless gloves as soon as we got home.

My trip to America (I mean Utah)

People from NYC have certain misconceptions about the rest of the country. They tend to look down on the rest as being well...less sophisticated. I am not one of them. In fact I have always had a kind of mythology that everything out there must be sweeter, nicer and cleaner. Everything must surely be less expensive than it is here. 

I have been up and down the East coast. I have been to the West coast. LA and Santa Monica were not what I had in mind when I thought of going "out west". I have been to and around Chicago. No place that I ever visited fit the picture of the America that I have in my head. Until now. Last year our friends moved from NY to Utah. My husband and I decided that visiting them in Utah would be a great way to spend our summer vacation.

As soon as we stepped off that plane things were different. The people were just as friendly as I had imagined. I admit, at first I wasn't comfortable with such effervescence. It seemed a little too "Stepford Wives". But I got used to it pretty quickly, who wouldn't enjoy common curtesy and cheerfulness? I found myself easily slipping into that slower paced, stop and chat with strangers way of life. And those establishments I'd only heard of in the media- Hobby Lobby, Chick-Fil-A, In-N-Out Burger, they were all there to enjoy. 

That was all fun, but the highlight of my trip was experiencing the desert. We visited Arches Park and Goblin Valley and they were both AMAZING. Yep, I found my America. These are the kinds of places I'd seen only in cowboy movies. 

Goblin Valley was like an alien landscape.

It was 110 degrees of blazing sun at Arches Park. We were there for seven hours because  there was so much to see. I used this unusual experience to try a little experiment with the sun. Instead of using sunscreen I covered up with fabric. I dressed in loose cotton clothes. I was covered from my hat to my socks. It provided full coverage protection. Not only did I not burn, but I actually got no color at all! I was also pretty comfortable, as comfortable as one can be in an oven. My daughters were also dressed like this at Arches and the only sunblock I needed to put on them was on the tips of their noses. 

Another beautiful place we visited was Little Cottonwood Canyon in the Wasatch Range of the Rocky Mountains.  We took a 20 minute chairlift ride up 11,000 feet to the top.  It was 98 degrees at the bottom, when we got off at the top of the mountain there was...

Snow!

We hiked around up there, the view was breathtaking and we saw many Alpine type plants and flowers. It was spectacular.

We went to The Utah Natural History Museum to see all the dinosaurs and to Fantasy Con. When my daughter found out Fantasy Con was going to be in Salt Lake City during our stay we had to go. Not only is she crazy for cosplay, but the Bored Shorts Kid's Snippets guys were scheduled to be there and we are all fans of theirs. All around this was the best family vacation we have ever had and Utah lived up to all my mythological dreams of America.

Grabbing at Summer

The last couple of weeks we have been running here and there grabbing at the last drops of summer. I am a follower of seasons and traditions, I don't want to miss out on anything that a season has to offer. Even though I'm just as crazy about whatever season is coming up next, I need to soak up everything, feast my eyes on what is here, RIGHT NOW. I had my last look at the water lilies at the Botanical Garden. They have some of the most beautiful I have ever seen, deep burgundy and apricot. My nine year old snapped this picture. I think it is pretty good,  it's funny how they go for the pink at this age.

That same daughter has a certain hamster toy (named Cream Puff) who has crossed over from inanimate object to vibrant member of our family. She goes everywhere we go. Which means I end up driving back to where we just came from because she somehow gets left behind. I can't tell you how many times I have asked God to lead me to Cream Puff when she has been lost in the woods, restaurant, library, church,  or store. Once I even had to go through a public garbage can to get her back. So far she has always come back to us.

 My daughters get in a tizzy when they think she may be gone for good. I guess it's because there are so many memories of every place they have gone and everything they have done over the last four years. I think she should be retired and made to be house bound. But she is a wild adventurer, always tempting fate, floating in the ocean, getting thrown into trees, being buried in snow. We celebrate Cream Puff's birthday each year, another of our summer rituals. This year she had a party with a blue layer cake, human friends and their hamster toys. 

As long as my family is able to visit a beach, we will. The ocean can take us away from the everyday sometimes petty thoughts that life can bring. It is so big, so deep. Every drop is teeming with life. Any bit you take home with you becomes a treasure. It is both calming and terrifying. There is nothing that compares to the wonder of the ocean. I feel extremely fortunate to be able to share these summer days with my girls.

My elder daughter has been looking forward to The Ren Fest and it has finally come. Another summer treat. She has developed a new character for herself, a gypsy-ish wood elf. She came up with a pretty convincing costume that included latex elf ears, crazy contact lenses and a dagger.

Now I can say that I am officially done with summer. I am ready and excited to welcome autumn. I will now start pulling my favorite fall books. The ones that inspire me to make, cook, and knit all things cozy!

Off the beaten path...

Last Saturday we decided to take a little day trip to Olana, the home of Hudson River painter Frederic Church. Half way there are car blew up. Well, not our entire car, but our car's radiator. Green liquid (antifreeze) shot out and streams of smoke. We pulled off at the next exit and found ourselves conveniently at an auto repair shop. They took us immediately. The mechanic had very friendly eyes. He asked me "are you guys hungry?".   "I've got lunch in the trunk" I replied. I grabbed our picnic and took the girls across the street where I had noticed a wooded area with a picnic table. My husband stayed with the car. 

We ate and the girls climbed and played among the trees. I foraged for something green to put in my sandwich. I got them some ice cream for dessert from a nearby convenience store. All in all it was a pretty good time. When the call came from my husband that the car was ready I was feeling a bit guilty. Here we were having a lovely time and he was at that stinky garage with nothing to do. "How'd it go for you?" I asked him. "Actually I enjoyed it." "What!?" I said.  He said "Yeah, I was listening to the birds and feeling thankful, you know?" . Wow. Yes, I sure do know. I was feeling the exact same thing.

Now with our brand new radiator we continued on our way and finally made it to Olana. We were a couple of hours late though. I was looking forward to a talk and showing of hats from the 1850's to the 1950's. In fact that's why we were going that day.  I thought even if we missed the lecture maybe the hats would be on display, but no. We arrived exactly when the costumed hat lady was driving off with her hat collection and her wealth of hat knowledge! 

OK, we can still get a house tour right? Nope. Too late. Last tour just left, no more today. What to do? Well, it was an amazing day, we were together at a beautiful place, safe and sound (no car wreck). There I am, enjoying the Hudson River view from the porch. Cool how my outfit matches the house.

We spied a lake down below and since we had nothing else to do we decided to go down. Well, the girls decided. We followed.

The girls were excited to discover dozens of snail shells and started collecting a pile. Next they started pulling out the operculum (my daughter told me that's what they're called. I call them the little doors.) They busily collected, I took mild interest until they started washing them and I saw how pretty they are. They are transparent and so delicate. Now I was on a mission! Thoughts of making jewelry and maybe buttons out of these things flew around my brain. So now I am crouched in the mud pulling snail shells of of the water looking for operculum! 

Time flew and soon it was dinner time so we moseyed into town had a nice dinner, then perused the bookshop and finished off at a french patisserie for tea and creme brulle. Not a bad day out, considering our plans were diverted at every turn. 

You know how my husband said he enjoyed his time at the auto shop?  I came to find out that he used that uninterrupted time alone to play with his new camera, messing with the settings. This photo (my favorite of the bunch) and the top one on this post came from his messing around. If we hadn't been knocked off our path he wouldn't have the photos and his time to play, I wouldn't be obsessing about how to use snail doors (which I am!) I am not saying that all diversions will turn out this well, but if you don't allow your expectations to be set in stone you can enjoy the road before you as it comes.