273/365

things my cousin taught me:

how to put on make-up
(use various shades of powdery, shimmery eyeshadow to create the illusion of glamour and finish the look off with the blackest mascara you can find and you never, ever forget strawberry roller ball lip gloss)

how to dance at the teens-only nightclub with complete and total confidence
(bounce, you bounce a lot, and you look off into the distance)

how to make sure all the conditioner is out of your hair 
(rinse and rinse and rinse til strands of hair squeak between your fingers)

how to pack for camp
(you make several lists and then you talk about it on the phone for hours and buy all your travel-size toiletries like, seventeen months in advance)

how to pull off the most legendary of camp pranks
(you color in your cousin's nose with a black permanent marker while she is sleeping and then, incredibly, you fall asleep while doing it so that your cousin sleeps on the marker all night and wakes up to to find a kidney-sized black stain and thinks, for a second, she is actually bleeding black blood) 

how to apologize for the most legendary of camp pranks
(you stop laughing when your cousin is unable to wash the permanent black marker off her nose and you hug her and tell her you will replace the cute sheets she bought specifically for this week of camp and you tell her she can pull any prank she wants on you, any prank at all and you won't be mad and then you tell her, again, how much you love her and that her nose really does not look that bad and maybe there might still be a chance with some of the seventh grade boys and then you tell her that someday we will look back on this and laugh)

how to do all the thriller moves
(you watch the VHS tape of the video a hundred million times and you practice together until you are convinced you are better than the actual dancers in the video)

how to make family thanksgiving dinners fun
(you hide small pieces of turkey and globs of mashed potatoes in people's glasses of water and iced tea when they are not looking and then sit back and watch)

how to send the very best letters and packages
(you cut up your own paper confetti to pack into envelopes and write funny letters and individually wrap little presents and you just magically have the best timing) 

how to be generous and kind
(you lend your very best outfit to the girl at camp who has nothing, you tell her she can borrow any of your clothes any time and then, at the end of the week, you tell her to keep that special outfit, to take it home with her and you never mention it, you never say a word about it to anyone)

how to work the fleamarket like a pro
(you show up on early-early buyer day and make friends with all the best dealers and you are not too proud to dig through boxes of junk and see possibility in the strangest things and you wheel and deal and make sure to stop every once in a while to fuel up on corndogs and lemonade and mini cinnamon sugar donuts)

how to help throw the best kid birthday parties
(you show up with a suitcase full of pink and red things for the big pink and red birthday party and you help fill the pinata with goodies and wrangle five year-olds and man the cherry sno-cone station like a boss)

how to take care of someone you love when their mom dies
(you show up and just hug them and cry with them and help them do all the stuff, like figure out how to get all the flowers home from the funeral and organize all the food for the wake at the house and then help clean up everything afterwards and then you take all the kids to the mall and let them buy candy and stuff at claire's boutique)

(happy 50th birthday, cousin) (I love you and I really don't know what life would be like without you)

198/365

things my dad taught me:

how to be goofy
how to be generous
how to have fun, how to have so much fun
how to shoot a basketball
how to root for the underdog
how to be passionate
how make people feel like they belong
how to ride a bicycle
how to dance
how to tell a story
how to listen
how to be humble
how to persevere
how to drive a stick shift
how to roadtrip on a shoestring budget
how to clean a house (or, how to rage vacuum)
how to build a fire pit
how to do a lot with a little
how to believe in myself, really believe in myself
how to push myself
how to do hard things
how to serve others
how to have compassion
how to love God
how to be thankful
how to laugh
how to cry

189/365

excuses I have made (and will probably continue to make) to eat donuts:

it's the first day of school
it's the last day of school
it's my birthday
it's your birthday
it's been a hard day
it's been a good day
it's monday
it's tuesday
it's wednesday
it's thursday
it's friday
it's saturday
it's sunday
it's national donut day

(happy national donut day, lovers)

163/365

things my mother taught me:

how to be silly
how to be generous
how to pick strawberries and blackberries
how to make a lot with a little
how to bake brownies from scratch
how to make a home feel like home
how to make birthdays inordinately special
how to cultivate collections
how to honor family heirlooms
how to make the library a regular part of life
how to keep a prayer journal
how to road trip on a shoestring budget
how to wrap presents all pretty-like
how to paint nails all pretty-like
how to look at things realistically
how to make christmas feel like magic
how to put on a pair of pantyhose
how to throw a humdinger of a yard sale
how to rock mary kay cosmetics
how to work the fleamarket like a pro
how to bake red velvet cake 
how to bake gooey butter cake
how to make groceries stretch for days
how to care for people
how to love God
how to be thankful
how to laugh
how to cry

I miss you, mom.

158/365

things that happened on this day, twenty-nine years ago:

decided I liked this one guy
let him kiss me
fell in love

(we were babies)

105/365

photobooths visited, from earliest personal memory to present:

six flags (st. louis, mo) (1970-something)
woolworths (somewhere in illinois) (1979)
mall drug store (bloomington, il) (multiple visits,1982-1988) 
shopping mall (st. louis, mo) (1984)
k-mart (milford, oh) (multiple visits, 1988-1989)
department store (tokyo, japan) (1989)
ed debevics (chicago, il) (1990)
hickory point mall (decatur, il) (multiple visits, 1989-1991)
forest fair mall (cincinnati, oh) (1991)
pharmor drugs (atlanta, ga) (1992)
six flags (atlanta, ga) (1992)
six flags (st. louis, mo) (1997)
soho gift shop (new york, ny) (multiple visits,1996-1999)
diner (houston, tx) (2001)
star bar (atlanta, ga) (multiple visits, 2003-2006)
city museum (st. louis, mo) (multiple visits, 2003-2007)
company christmas party (atlanta, ga) (2005)
outdoor mall (myrtle beach, sc) (2006)
unknown bar (new york, ny) (2006)
midtown shopping center (new york, ny) (2006) 
mall of georgia (suwanee, ga) (2006)
ace hotel (portland, or) (multiple, I mean muuuuultiple visits, 2007-2014)
little finnegan's (portland, or) (multiple visits, 2007-2012)
rose festival city fair (portland, or) (multiple visits, 2008-2011)
the florida room (portland, or) (multiple visits, 2008-2012)
musee mecanique (san francisco, ca) (2008)
haight street vintage shop (san francisco, ca) (2008)
house of vintage (portland, or) (multiple visits, 2009-2013)
voodoo doughnuts (portland, or) (multiple visits, 2010-2012)
archie mcphee's (seattle, wa) (multiple visits, 2011-2014)
ace hotel (palm springs, ca) (multiple visits, 2012-2014)
rayko photo center (san francisco, ca) (multiple visits, 2012-2015)
west egg cafe (atlanta, ga) (2011)
bon-ton (paris, france) (2013)
novelty shop (port townsend, wa) (2013)
gift shop (savannah, ga) (multiple visits, 2015-2016)
criminal records (atlanta, ga) (multiple visits, 2015-2018)
ace hotel (portland, or) (multiple visits, 2015-2018)
ace hotel (new york, ny) (2015)
the smith (new york, ny) (2016)
cargo (portland, or) (2018)
quimby's book store (chicago, il) (2018)
ace hotel (new orleans, la) (2018)

48/365

things I'd like to tell my mom, who would have been 73 today:

I miss you
I love you
it's hard without you
and oh my goodness you would be so proud of ava and ezra

photobooth friday

in a photobooth (or not in a photobooth, depending on how you look at it), ace hotel, portland, oregon, one month ago. I'll tell you, it was nice to be in a city with real photobooths again. atlanta, where are your photobooths? your old-school dip-and-dunk style chemical photobooths? where? and don't tell me west egg cafe because that thing never works. also, I don't think those people there even care.

anyway.

in other news, it's friday. 

you guys. 

IT'S FRIDAY.

photobooth friday (birthday edition)

years one, two and three.

years four, five, six and seven.

and now, year eight.

see? see how long his hair is now? he claims to have a hair hero of sorts at school. a hair mentor, if you will. a boy in sixth grade with sandy brown (stick straight) hair past his shoulders. we think this is hilarious but of course, we never laugh. we speak of the hair mentor with great respect.

year nine, year nine. what will your photobooth strip look like?

photobooth friday

cousins, cupcakes and photobooth strips on the last day of the year. which there was talk of earlier but now there's proof. proof that these are things that go together. that this is, indeed, a spectacular way to end a year.

walked away with: a total of five strips (every combination in the booth possible, trust me) and a strange new affinity for coca cola-flavored cupcakes. 

p.s. should you find yourself in atlanta anytime soon, a trip to west egg cafe may be in order.

p.p.s. ava and ezra belong to us (duh) but those other cuties belong to my brother and my sister-in-law. man, we miss those guys. we miss those guys so much.

six years!

of photobooth friday! how is this possible? wait, don't answer that. this I do solemnly swear: as long as there are photobooths, I will be jumping into them. and as long as I am here on the internets, I will be sharing.


p.s. that is ezra up there, top row, second frame. THAT IS EZRA.

dear mom,

you were so sparkly and radiant back then! bright like a roman candle. thing is, you are just as bright and sparkly and radiant now. more so, even. how do you do that? add to that list brave and strong. so strong. I am (and always will be) endlessly inspired by you.

(HAPPY BIRTHDAY)

xo, a

p.s. are you wearing your paper crown? if I was there, you know I'd make you wear that paper crown.

photobooth friday

on a sunday, because that's how I'm rolling these days. this was my favorite birthday present, by the way. my absolute favorite.

photobooth friday

I've been thinking about my mom and dad a lot today. missing them in ways that are hard to articulate. looking at ways to get home. hatching a plan.

photobooth friday

this weekend, I'll load up the canon FTb. I'll finish that thing I need to finish. I'll intentionally mismatch my socks. I'll ask my mother-in-law to teach me how to crochet. I'll get on my bike and I'll ride. I'll not steal halloween candy from you know who. I'll not complain about the rain.

you?

I have big news

I'm headed to gjilan, kosovo with a group of artists from my church this friday. we'll be working with high school art students there as well as holding workshops for the greater art community.

I suppose I've sort of been sitting on this news for a while. wanting to write about it, unsure how or where to start. but now it's here and I'm all out of time. I am in full blown preparation mode and navigating batty pre-travel chaos. if I had the time, I'd tell you all about the country of kosovo. I'd tell you how newly independent and young they are, how 70 percent of the population is under the age of 30. I'd tell you how they're still recovering from a devastating war, how they struggle with a poor infrastructure and economy, a whopping unemployment rate of 40-50 percent. I'd also tell you how hopeful they are. the most hopeful of all the balkans, even in the face of serious struggle.

I'm not going because I believe I can fix any of these problems. or because I believe I can fix anyone. I'm going because I believe art is a powerful way to connect with people. I believe it transcends language and a mess of barriers. I believe it gives voice to the voiceless. most importantly, I believe in how profoundly it reflects the image of God, the ultimate creator, thus connecting us to him in deep, meaningful ways.

the truth is that I'm humbled by this whole thing. I'm going as a teacher but I'm pretty sure I'll come out on the other side the learner.

photobooth friday

sometimes photobooth frames capture exactly who we are in a particular moment. not always, but sometimes. I'll admit, when the booth first spit this strip out, I was a little disappointed. ezra did exactly what I told him not to do-- that is, move in close and make the crazy face. four whole frames of variations on the crazy face. but the more I look at this, the more I love it. because it's exactly who we are right now. ezra, all goofiness and loose teeth and straw-like bangs. ava, all smiling eyes and soft preteen edges and the kitty cat hat she won't take off. and me in the background-- loving them both so much I can hardly stand it, trying so hard to hold onto them like this but failing miserably. because you can't hold on, it doesn't work like that. so you grab them and put them in a photobooth every once in a while and when the strip comes sliding out, you silently celebrate your triumphant (albeit small) attempt to stop time.

happy mother's day, y'all.

4-0

a photobooth strip taken on the last day of my thirties called for a photobooth strip to be taken on the first day of my forties. but of course.

p.s. thanks for all the birthday wishes. you people are awesome.

photobooth friday

and the very last day of my thirties.

photobooth friday

so last december, I took a little trip to san francisco to see what I could see and visit the people I love. one of the things that happened while I was there is that leslie and I finally got our photobooth strip. after two years and several failed attempts, we finally got our photobooth strip. at a vintage shop on haight street (no less) and not before we tripped the power circuit two, maybe three times and shut down the power on our side of the store. I'd like to think it happened because we were just so stunning and electric that the photobooth freaked out and shut down. though I'm pretty sure it was because said photobooth was old and the wiring in the store was wack. but whatever, I'm going with option A. a little fantasy never hurt anyone.

anyway, I'm excited for next week-- for the show, the workshop, for san francisco. and I'm excited to see the people I love. the countdown is so on.