Lovely Lake Michigan

If you have never been to Lake Michigan, pictures cannot do justice to how mighty this looks in person. I look at it and can't believe it's not ocean because that's the only thing I can compare it with. Vast is an understatement. This day was the windiest I have ever seen it there. The sand hurled at my exposed skin, pins and needles all over. I had so much sand in my hair days it was three days until I could scratch my head without feeling and hearing the tiny rocks. We had a glorious swim in the windy waves and picnicked on sandwiches, pumpkin and carrot bread and cheese with crackers. Then we stopped off at grocer's daughter for some delectable chocolate bars and truffles on our way home.

Got left behind hanging out with a monarch for a few minutes.

Searching for treasures.

I asked my grandma to pull over on the way home so I could get these two.

Walking Miss Daisy

My grandma is very devoted to taking the very best care of the pups and she takes them on walks through the woods daily. My grandma is in charge of driving, and Daisy is in charge of making sure everyone stays together and otherwise being the bossiest little dog possible.

Lazy Days on the Lake

My time spent in Michigan this summer felt like no other trip before it; I felt a sense of connection with the place for the first time. It felt like somewhere I could relax and appreciate the simplest of things-- the wind in my hair, farm stand hopping, sitting on the deck listening to bugs talk.

I have a hard time relaxing, especially at home in the same environment that fills me with constant worry about what will come next. In TC, I am not the expert on the fastest way of getting somewhere, and it didn't concern me. This is what my first day of a much-needed vacation looked like. More to come.

More from Michigan

Here are a couple more pictures from Michigan from the day before Christmas Eve. This was the most snow I encountered during my trip. Just a light dusting, really. We all took it easy at the house in the morning, except Daisy, who watched for and chased squirrels that tried to steal food from the bird feeders on the deck. Then we went into town for a little shopping. A couple scarves later, we stopped in at the new spice store in town. It smelled wonderful but all the choices were overwhelming. I ended up with two bags of fragrant loose tea which I'm hoping will last me a while. After, we stopped at the market to pick up ingredients to make this ribolita recipe from Heidi, which was absolutely delicious! It's my new favorite soup recipe. But don't try to make it on a week night, it takes some prep time. And it tastes even better the next day. I also made these after dinner, but they did not turn out very well. Can't win them all, right?

My grandma wearing my sister's ear muffs :)

This is about a quarter of the spices in the store. I loved the big jars and the rustic shelving. It's like a little spice cabin. They had a whole shelf of different salts from specialty sea salts to infused salts. And different kinds of chocolate to eat or to melt into warm milk. Bonus points for the big, super-sweet dog.

Life's a Beach

Hello! I'm don't know about you but I am very, very glad it is Friday. I know this was a short week, but it didn't feel that way to me. Here are some photos I took a couple weeks ago on my way home from getting my hair cut in Half Moon Bay. I decided to take the scenic route home and stop for pictures. It was less foggy than usual along the coast so it was very bright, but still kind of misty-looking. I have plenty of pictures to share from my Michigan trip so hopefully I'll have a chance to sit down and get through them this weekend. I'm hoping my weekend consists of: a latte or two, a chance to sleep in, editing photos, a new recipe cooked/made and possibly some de-cluttering, which actually makes me more excited than it really should.

By the way, I don't know these people but I couldn't resist taking a picture of them. They were pretty much asking for it. I like to take street photography to the beach, no big deal.

Life After School

Hello there! I know I fell off the blog world for a minute again, but instead of dousing you with excuses let me talk about what's been on my mind.

I have been thinking a lot about monotony recently. Driving to the same place, sitting in the same chair and doing virtually the same thing every day before making the same drive home. I have been out of school and working full time for a year now and it feels...well, weird. For as long as I can remember I have said I'm not the kind of person to work a desk job, yet I have been sitting day in and day out and survived the monotony thus far.

One day during my commute, a.k.a. my least favorite part of the day, when I was trying to think of the advantages (besides fiscal reasons) of doing something you feel "meh" about all day five days a week, it occurred to me that some people may enjoy their monotonous jobs because they can be on autopilot while they make money and then do what interests them outside of work. It's not invalid, but I can't help but feel that my time outside of work is very limited and also goes by much, much faster the second I hit the "clock out" button.

Growing up, I remember family, teachers and other optimistic adults would always say "You can be anything you want to be."  I believed them, within reason, as I went through stages of wanting to be a veterinarian, a lawyer, a psychologist and a fashion designer. But coming out of school and into a world where you are lucky to have a job-- period-- and so many qualified people are out of work, it doesn't seem the case. I know "You can be anything you want to be...unless there is a huge economic downturn, in which case you should be anything you can find" is not an idyllic way to raise children, but perhaps it would yield a generation less emotionally attached to their occupation. The downside to "You can be anything" is that if you don't end up doing that thing you told everyone you wanted to do then what are you doing? Settling?

Here's where it gets sticky: I am very attached to the idea of being able to use my creativity in a career. I want to do new things, learn new things and see new things. Ever since my mom died I feel the fragility of life in a much more tangible way. It really, really is too short. For some much shorter than others. I don't want to waste time by not enjoying the present moment and I don't want to regret taking the safe route. I just don't want to be a robot; don't we have robots for that?

Happy Birthday, mom and thank you for everything. Thank you for always encouraging me to express myself from letting me dress myself for school when Punky Brewest was my style icon to always having paint and canvas in the house. Thank you for telling me I can be whatever I want to be.

Wanderlust

sienna., a photo by nicole cross on Flickr.

Currently wishing I were in Italy eating wild boar lasagna while drinking Chianti. Nothing like a Thursday at your desk blasting your earphones to keep out chatter to make you want to catch the first flight out to a place where you cannot understand a word anyone is saying. Don't even get me started on the change-your-life-amazing gelato my cousin introduced me to in Florence tucked away from the touristy main streets in a barely noticeable shop where you don't even see the gelato until they scoop it up and skillfully swirl it into a cone for you until it resembles a scoop. I'll have the triple chocolate and almond, please.

Sleeping Bear Dunes

Here are some pictures from Sleeping Bear Dunes for you to enjoy. The dunes are massive unlike anything I have ever seen before. And speaking of massive, that is a lake people! Not an ocean, a freakin lake! It's unbelievable.

 Just in case you are wonder, those are people, not ants. And this picture does not even do the incline justice...I prefer the view from above.