{laundry day} Wake You Up to Say Goodbye

It's early, folks. Like, really damn early. Not quite 4 AM yet, and I'm waiting on my shuttle to get to O'Hare. Then it's off on a jetplane to Ecuador, where Joe will meet me at the airport. I'm beside myself with excitement...12 days of exploring, eating, beach-going, Andes-hiking, and best-friend-hanging (one of our closest friends is living in Ecuador, so we get to see him!). It's safe to say that I won't post at all until after I get home, so this little photo-roundup will have to tide you over until I return...

I love the light in this picture (full outfit post to come!)...

Admiring the gnarly, one-of-a-kind fruits of the harvest...

...which turned into this beet and carrot bread and this part of a nutritious breakfast. 

I love the details of this outfit (note: that is a luscious silk Eileen Fisher maxi skirt, originally $212, with tags, that I snagged for $7. Thrifting is good).

Beverages. A killer bloody mary from my brunch with Betsy (so fun! I promise to share more details soon!), and waiting patiently in the early morning light for my Chemex coffee to brew.

I'm really happy with how my hair is growing out. Still weird and untameable, but somehow chic and sassy, too.

Okay, wish me luck on my voyage! I'll see you on the flip-side!!

Title song: John Denver, "Leaving on a Jet Plane" (does anyone else immediately think of this scene in Armageddon when they hear this song?)

{laundry day} Ice Cream Castles in the Air

The Rocky Mountains are home for me. Towering mountains, scores of Subarus, smiling, happy people, thrilled that their lives involve hiking, biking, and just generally being alive; these things signal home. But more than the smiling people, more than the vastness of the national forests, more than the old, western-style downtowns and malt shoppes and railroad depots, the thing that truly tells me that I've returned home is the sky. The sky, out west, goes on forever. Unlike the midwest or the windy city or the rolling hills of Wisconsin or the lake-filled terrain of Minnesota or the cornfields of western Illinois and Iowa, the sky in the Rockies is enormous. It takes up your whole world. And it changes. Immeasurably, minute by minute, it changes, until you go from crystal clear blue to torrential hail to deep afternoon cobalt to the clear night sky of the milky way.

The clouds look crisper there, the blue sky bluer, and the air distinctively cleaner. I love being at high altitudes. The lack of oxygen triggers your body to respond to each breath the way you never do at sea level. No amount of air is wasted, and you can feel the energy rising from each burst of new, clean breath. And hiking, getting up above it all, above the towns and cars and even the trees, makes you feel like you're even more a part of the sky than you already did. Up there, on the ridges and peaks and mountainsides of the snow-capped peaks (quite literally, despite the fact that it's late July), you feel as though there is nothing between you and the rest of the world. And truly, there isn't.

I'm not a religious person. I never have been. But the closest I ever come to feeling that overwhelming, indescribable sense of marvel about the world is when I'm up here, breathing the air and feeling the cold from the wind and the warmth from the sun. It's more of a moment of zen, a moment of pure oneness with my surroundings, with my life. A moment where everything that I've done, and everything that is yet to come, are joined in this sense of being entirely encapsulated by the sky. It's wonderful.

Title song: Joni Mitchell, "Both Sides Now"

Bonzie Corsetry

Available to order from

Bonzie

Kite Design Studios

11 Henrietta St ( next door to Gallweys Choc Café)

Viking Quarters

Waterford

www.bonziedesigns.com

Phone: 00353 86 1230696

Sleeping Pills?

More Pink in Stock

Gals,

I've got to admit.... I'm not much of a gal for pink but in response to the overwhelming demand for pink/purple/blue this season in the new studio we have succumbed to the dark side so to speak. I have to say.... it's actually growing on me ( runs and hides!) . I'm finding myself more attracted to it day by day. I'm sure I'll get a medicated need for neutrals and mutes tones pretty soon but for now the pink posse is in town and the shop shelves are looking uber vibrant!

Selection of Fascinators available now from

Bonzie Designs

Kite Design Studio

11 Henrietta St

Waterford.

Glamorous

How many will understand what I'm doing here? Of course, I always wonder that and it's worked out so far.

edit- I put some vaseline on a piece of glass and put it in front of the lens. It was a bit challenging to work with. 

With a very respectful tip of the hat to Mr. George Hurrell, the king of  golden age, glam Hollywood photography. Some gorgeous examples can be seen Here.

New Fascinators in Stock

Summer's finally here and it's all gone a bit pink in the studio. Lots of feminine vintage inspired fascinators in stock. Perfect for Ladies Day or an upcoming Wedding.

Bonzie Fascinators Available from

Kite Design Studio

11 Henrietta St

Viking Quarters

Waterford.

Phone: 086 1230696

www.bonziedesigns.com

My new, more experimental blog is now up.

Here. 

{recipe} Pumpkin Tortellini and Swiss Chard Cream Sauce

Swiss chard cream sauce with pumpkin tortellini

This time of year, I'm literally knee-deep in red swiss chard. Our garden is massively over-producing swiss chard, beets, and carrots, and I'm stretching the limits of what I can cook with these tasty veggies. One thing I've discovered is that swiss chard is positively delicious as a creamy pasta sauce. I found fresh, locally-made pumpkin tortellini at our local co-op, and recently paired the two for a positively yum-tastic dinner.

I chopped and rinsed the swiss chard, being sure to get all the dirt clods and pesky bugs off of the leaves. I've gotten so much more anal about cleaning veggies since we got the garden, since there is legitimate dirt on everything we pull. I've invested in a vegetable brush, and I spend all kinds of time at the sink, scrubbing away at beets, carrots, and chard.

Since I was using a store-bought pasta, this preparation was easiest. I simply brought a small saucepan of salted water to a boil, tossed in the tortellini, and drained the pot once the pasta had risen to the top of the boiling water. This only took a few minutes, since I was dealing with fresh tortellini, but even with dried pasta this will only take 10 minutes or so.

In a large, shallow saucepan, I sauteed a diced white onion in one stick of butter (hey, my cookware is made by Paula Deen, so why not cook like her too?). Then I added a loose handful of flower to make a light roux. After this, I added about two cups of whole milk (with this step, you could use half & half, whole milk, or even 2%, though milk with less fat content will be much thinner than cream) and reduced it by about half. At that point, I added the chopped, rinsed bunch of swiss chard, stirring and turning constantly until it softened. The sauce is done, and can now be added to the cooked, rinsed tortellini. I'd recommend sprinkling a bit of parmesan or asiago cheese to the dish just before serving, and add a heel or slice of crusty bread to the mix, too. Enjoy!

{laundry day} A Change Gonna Come

These feet were made for wandering.

In the past two years, I've spent a lot of time writing about simplification. I've written about simplifying my life, over and over again, as new changes and developments changed the way I organized my time and lived my life. It's been a process, and one that is nowhere near over, but one which has reached a very real, very tangible turning point. One thing I've realized over the four years that I've lived in Chicago is that true change doesn't happen on its own. You make choices, choices that change the course of your world, and it is only with those decisions that new paths can be forged. Inaction only fosters inaction.

Joe and I climbing mountains in Colorado last year.

So. I've taken the reins, bit the bullet, and endless other cliches, and have made a few decisions regarding my life. I've also made a few decisions regarding my summer vacation, however, so maybe we can ease into it by discussing those first. Next week I'll be heading out to Colorado (much as I did last July) to spend a week with my family in the mountains that I know best. I can't wait to be in familiar territory, with my favorite people in the world. The midwest may have my life, for now, but the Rocky Mountains will always have my heart (and my increased lung capacity from living in high altitudes for so long!).

After Colorado, I will only have two more weeks of living in Chicago. After a year of weekend commuting, dual rents and dueling homes, I've decided to move, officially and completely, to Joe's little corner of the midwest. We're moving to a new house in mid-August, and I'll arrive a few days before the move. I'm excited, terrified, and incredibly ready for this next wonderful step in our lives. One thing I've realized this year is that living in two places, and driving as much as I've been driving, is not the best path to a simpler life.

La Paz, Bolivia, in 2006

But first! Between my family vacation in Colorado and my move to small-town life, I'll be spending ten days in Ecuador with Joe. It's something we had talked about when he first decided to go, but we put it aside because it seemed so impractical considering all the other changes about to take place. But the more I thought about it (and the more my mom encouraged me to think about it, thank you again), the more I realized that this opportunity will not come up an unlimited number of times, and if I'm taking the bull by the horns this summer, I may as well ride the damn thing all the way to South America. I haven't been to the region for years, and it's an area very near and dear to my heart, so I'm incredibly excited to be there, and to see Joe after over a month of being apart.

In the meantime, things will be increasingly slow around here. My workdays are consumed with finishing projects and checking off items on my many to-do lists. And my weekends and vacations will be filled with relaxation, exploration, and adventure. So I won't have much time, or energy, or, honestly, desire, to hop online and update the ol' blog. I've been reading all of my subscribed blogs through my Google Reader, and I plan to continue that when I can, but for a month, at least, I can't imagine doing much more than that. I'll probably pop in here and there to post an outfit or update, but, as I said, don't set your watches to me.

Happy summer!

Title song: Sam Cooke, "A Change Is Gonna Come"

Coffee Buzz

Where Else You Could Be

Sweater: H&M * Pants: Old Navy * Shoes: Target * Morgan Necklace: Tree & Kimball * Belt: Akira

It's Friday! I'm heading out of town this afternoon, and in addition to all my normal weekend stuff, I'm also going to spend some time getting ready for a super secret summer surprise (alliteration and excitement? Sign me up!). So I'm keeping this post short; on words, on photos, on deep thoughts.

I'm borderline obsessed with this outfit, I'll have you know. The olive accessories play so perfectly off of the tan slacks and pink sweater, and it was all incredibly comfortable, too. I'm only sorry I didn't wear it on a day when I had time to get better photos, but this is definitely one of those outfits that I'll wear again and again. It was perfect for a cool summery day in the office.

Oh, and these are the last pictures you'll see of the old apartment. Empty of furniture, boxes, and people, I thought it made a quite lovely backdrop for these photos. Apartments are always so strange when they're empty, as if no one had ever lived there at all. The moving process is all kinds of sucky for lots of reasons, but one of the main ones for me is the mental starting-over process you have to go through each time. It can be therapeutic, for sure, but doing it too much causes a sense of life vertigo. I hope there aren't too many more of these shifts of space in the next few years. I think I'm ready to settle down.

Title song: Death Cab for Cutie, "Your Heart is an Empty Room"

Move Away From It

Sundress: vintage, thrifted * Sweatshirt: UO * T-strap flats: UO * Ring: gift

Now, I have never once promised that I wouldn't wear pajamas on the blog, so don't you all start jumping to conclusions that I'm going back on my word once you see this outfit. This sucker was casual softness at its very finest, and I happily pranced around town all day, feeling cool, easy, and comfortable. These were actually taken on Joe's last day in the country before his big trip, so I especially wanted something that wouldn't cause a fuss for a day of last-minute errands, gullet-stretching dinners, and total silliness along the lakeshore.

Joe might be the traveler, but I'm the explorer...

And you know what? I really liked how the whole outfit came together, too. The bright pop of fuschia from the skirt balanced out the neutrals in the rest of the outfit (and the neutrals of the cloudy, misty day), and all the fabric and slouchiness was somehow flattering. This skirt is actually a lovely midi-length vintage dress, which I found at Savers a few months ago. I'm trying to decide whether to get it hemmed, since it's really quite a lot of fabric on its own. But I love the pattern, and the soft, swishy fabric. Perfect for an easy summer.

I finally finished moving out of my old apartment yesterday. I ended up having to do it in phases, which meant that I felt like I was in transit for weeks at a time. It's nice to be safely ensconced in one residence (for now, at least), and I hope to be a bit more present around these parts now that I have less running around to do. Though with the weather as beautiful as it has been lately, I can't make any promises...

I already have big weekend plans a-brewing. Brunch, beer on the terrace, lots of gardening (you wouldn't believe me if I told you how big everything was getting; I'll try to remember to get pictures again and do a plot update post next week!), packing, unpacking, preparing for my summer trip to Colorado (yay!), yoga, bike rides, and seeing new friends. I may even let myself sleep in...

I've felt a bit scattered for the past few days (weeks, really, but who's counting?), and I'm really looking forward to another few days in my weekend home. What are your plans this weekend? Anyone else as glad as I am that we got a short week this week?

Title song: Modest Mouse, "Lounge"