Pink of Perfection

I think a lot about the creative process: how there are sparks of ideas and bursts of activity followed by periods of inaction. That period of inertia is what always drove me mad. What are we doing if not getting better and moving forward? Something important, it turns out. Like a field that’s given up its harvest, we’re lying fallow: rejuvenating, gathering reserves, collecting our energy for the next big burst.

This, I think, is what is so sweet about winter. When the world slows down, as it naturally does this time of year, we can take the time we need to prepare ourselves for our next surge of growth–whatever that may be. And so we stay close to home, write in our journals, practice yoga, linger over our coffee, and take the time we need to reflect. Its not laziness and it’s not inaction; it’s the practice of shoring up, and equipping ourselves with the care, thought, and ideas for whatever comes next.

In Chinese Medicine, winter is associated with the element water. Water is “the stage of energy before structure; it is potential,” writes Lorena Monda. “To access this phase of transformation, we must create space and quiet within us to mindfully look and listen. We direct this deep looking and listening to the world inside and around us. It is here that we begin to know what we want or what is necessary. It is here that we set our intention.” Continue reading “Winter Wellness Guide” »

Photos: 1. Nordic trees linen napkins, 2. cabin in the snow, 3. soup, 4. fireplace in the bedroom, 5. how to do a self-portrait, 6. candles, 7. birch logs, 8. felt coffee cozies, 9. tea

Words have felt like quite a lot of bother lately, but pictures–pictures feel good. I’ve fallen deeply and quietly into the land of Pinterest and Etsy looking for winter images that feel how I want to in the deep of January: calm, cozy, quiet, creative. On the heels of a weekend like this one, where I woke up to a covering of snow on the wet gray streets and begrudgingly pulled myself out of bed and out of the house, it feels good to be quiet. Monday, the snow melted, and I walked in the rain to get the crossword (a new favorite winter-quiet activity!). Things are good, and even, but I want the muffled quiet that comes with more snow. And so, for a change, I’m making collages instead of droning on and on. You know how it is, I know you do.

Happy Christmas Eve eve, friends! Are you up to your neck in wrapping and bows? Are you buried under sacks of sugar and flour? Well, as long as you’re captive, I’ve got a little holiday tale.

A couple weeks back, I cashed in a very generous gift certificate. On a Friday evening, after a particularly bad week, I walked into a very fancy spa in a hotel. I was the only one there, so I headed to the snack area in my robe and grabbed more than my fair share of almonds and dried apricots. I hurried back to the “heat experience” room, eager to wring out every dollar’s worth of the whirlpool and sauna. Beaten by jets, pores purified, I let a woman named Karen attack the knots in my neck and shoulders. Afterward, I climbed back into my clothes, feeling as sleepy and relaxed as a baby whose been driven around in the car until she falls asleep. And while I waited for the elevator to take me back down to reality, I was transfixed by the scene in the hotel bar. It was crowded, high above the glittering lights of the city and the dark trees of Central Park. Women were holding glasses of champagne and little handbags that cost as much as my rent. You know when someone just looks expensive? It was like I was seeing dollar signs everywhere I looked, on ring fingers, hanging from earlobes, in slim martini glasses being knocked back one after another. It all started to make me sad.

Let me explain: I was very lucky to have received such a luxurious gift, and I was grateful for it. At the same time, I realized that in my own life I was regularly participating in an exchange I wasn’t sure I liked very much. My time for money; my money for things to make me feel better. Spending mindfully on objects and experiences that enrich our lives is one thing. But pissing away dollars to make up for the fact that we’re stressed, that we’re tired, that we work too hard and take too little care of ourselves––it’s a cycle all too easy to get caught up in. And there I was.

Continue reading “What Are Your Most Treasured Holiday Traditions?” »

Are you getting holiday yet? I blame Pinterest, but I’m in full-on feeling cozy mode. Last night I sat in a corner booth in a restaurant that sits like a beacon on a quiet street corner and feels like a lodge tucked into the woods. Over plates cheese and sausage, my book club exchanged gifts and talked about the cold wilds of Nova Scotia. And before that, I walked with my husband as he carried a Christmas tree on his shoulder back to our house. We cut the clear fishing wire netting loose and tucked lights into its branches. We listened to carols, I bought whole milk for homemade hot chocolate, and though the temperatures hover in the 50-60 degree range, I happily wiled away an hour or two making this Christmas vision board.

Who knows what does it? Sometimes we’re in the mood for the holidays and sometimes we’re just not. But even the years when I feel pretty grinchy, I can usually still manage to see the charm in a hot toddy and a digitized fireplace. What I like best is the world at large agreeing to champion the virtues of coziness: curling up, staying home, and cocooning yourself in warmth.

So even if I’ll never get excited about the jangly Christmas jingles in the drugstore or the deep discounts make me seriously consider buying things I don’t really need or want, I can get behind that: more candles on the table, vintage ornaments, and a cheerful, twinkling tree in the corner.

Where are you on the feeling-holiday-o-meter this year?

Even though we’ve rolled into June and you might be mostly interested in crisp salads and bright-eyed, open-faced sandwiches, the truth is that there are still some nights, like this past Saturday night, when there’s a nip in the air and a breeze through the window and curry seems a perfect match for the table. Just a like a lady who, upon first meeting, you know is destined to be a bosom friend, there are certain recipes that when they grace your stove––even when you first dip your spoon in for a taste during cooking––you know are bound to be regulars. Since I first made this recipe in April, I’ve made it two or three more times. And that is a rare thing in our house, where I am always seeking enchantment by a recipe both new and unfamiliar. This one, first prepared for me on a weeknight by my friend Alison, is a keeper. It also marks the beginning of my love affair with full-fat Greek yogurt: oh, yes.

Continue reading “Potato and Pea Curry” »

Today is the reason people hate winter. The world has turned depressing shade of gray-brown and the finest tree branches are entirely encased in ice. Christmas trees splay abandoned, curbside, and the precipitation falling from a sky of doom and gloom is what weather forecasters benignly call a “wintery mix”: it’s too wet to be snow, too icy to be rain. Approaching a corner, one plots how to circumnavigate an icy puddle of indeterminate depth the way one strategized during a game of Oregon Trail how to cross a river. Should we ford it? Float? I helped a woman with a heavy stroller cross one such body of water and saved her from what looked like a near nervous breakdown. “You are a Good Samaritan,” she said. Nonsense––you see a lady juggling two kids, an umbrella, pending expletives, and there’s no choice but to help. In weather like this, the choices are stick together or turn against each other.

And so: I dedicate this weather-beaten Tuesday following a heavenly holiday weekend to our resistance of the bleak midwinter. First up, the bath product that is easy on the pocket and with which I am newly obsessed. I took two baths yesterday, not because I was unprecedentedly begrimed, but because this “bath elixir” is so divinely calming. Too often, inexpensive bath products smell like a gagingly artificial bouquets of cloyingly sweet fruits and flowers. Not so here. Something somewhat romantically called Iceland Moss soothes skin and relaxes tired muscles, and a restrained pour of the molasses-thick gel creates rich bubbles with better-than-average staying power. I especially like the amber glass bottle reminiscent of an old school apothecary. All this delight for $9.99 (or less) is a happy find, indeed, slush and snow or no. We need all the help we can get.

All my old ideas are dying hard. First there was the discovery that puréed cauliflower is good enough to fool even a meat-and-potatoes-loving husband. And now this! I used to feel categorically against spaghetti squash in place of proper noodles. It always struck me as the sort of extreme, no-carb trickery that I just can’t get behind. But here’s the thing: it’s good. And when you’ve got a bowl of meatballs and tomato sauce, it turns out the spaghetti itself isn’t––at least for me––the main attraction.

Have I sworn off real spaghetti and meatballs? No way. But this supper still has all the warm, homey connotations of a big bowl of pasta, but won’t make you need to unbutton your pants afterward. Always a plus.

Continue reading “Turkey Meatballs with Spaghetti Squash” »

I’m not really one to pat myself on the back all that often. Naturally modest, self-effacing people delight me much more than the squawking peacock types. But I’ll be the first to give credit where its due. And y’all, these cookies are crazy good.

Here’s what happened: I’ve had a bit of a thing for chocolate chip cookies the past couple months. It’s the one aberration to my grown-up yearning for plain, simple, healthy food. I sprang for a bag of chocolate chips at the grocery store, only to discover at home that we were out of two key ingredients: brown sugar and vanilla. No matter, I thought. I’ll just double (!) the white sugar. But as I was rooting around in the pantry, there it was on the top shelf, a remainder from a waffle party: a lone, forgotten jar of Nutella.

I’ve never been nutso for Nutella, am not the type to eat it with a spoon (and those types are out there––I believe I’m related to one). This recipe has changed me. And when one of the dearest, goodest people I know was driving in from Wisconsin to make his New York debut, I knew that he would need home-baked fortification. I wrapped warm cookies in paper towels slipped inside a ziploc bag and carried them into a club where people were decidedly more interested in free vodka. But my friend ate one before he changed into his costume, stepped on stage, and proceeded to steal the show. Perhaps a small sugar rush played a part? All I know is I walked away so inspired at the kind of guts it takes to drive your van onto Delancey Street and outshine everyone with your fierce wit, super fun dance beats and ineffable Midwestern charm. Not quite the same guts it takes to swap in Nutella when you’re out of brown sugar, but, well, related.

Continue reading “Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies” »