write. a doe bay workshop

I signed up for this writing workshop.  I thought about it for two whole days and nights and then realized if I didn't sign up and pay for it, I would miss out.  I must have just made the cut-off because seconds later I saw a post that it was sold out.  I'm lucky #25.

I mentioned the workshop to my husband in passing to see what he had to say (which wasn't much), but couldn't stop thinking about the opportunity and chance to get away from my day-to-day and converge with fellow like-minded souls on the magical Orcas Island in the San Juans.

I came clean with Steve on our way home from Southern California.  The safety of a long stretch of road and not having to look him in the eye is what helped the words spill out of my mouth.

He had questions, but he supported me 100%.  He's good like that.

Writing in this space has been hard to do since I signed up.  I'm not exactly sure why.  I need to press on and carve a little time out each day to jot down my ideas and dissect my past.  I have a lot of curiosity about the writing process and a heck of a lot of fear about digging deeper and discovering what makes me tick.

I just finished Claire Bidwell Smith's The Rules of Inheritance and Kelle Hampton's Bloom.  Both women are teaching at this workshop, along with one of my favorite bloggers, Nici Holt Cline, and talented musician/artist, Daniel Blue.

Nervous.

Excited.

Reflective.

Ready.

Now all I gotta do is…

Write.

50 is the new 40 :: Happy Birthday, Steve!

Steve's 50th birthday was discussed at length this year.  Usually, he's not one for making a fuss about himself but this year was different.  We needed to do something to mark this milestone and we discussed so many options that it finally overwhelmed me and I decided to surprise him with a trip to Costa Rica in March and a plan to skip the parties.  I knew he'd be okay with that.

As the days were leading up to his birthday, I became really sick and bedridden.  My mind was racing and all of a sudden I wanted to do something else to mark the day of his birth.

Luckily, we have very sweet friends who own Rocker Oysterfeller's Kitchen + Saloon and wanted to treat my husband to a special meal and libations on Tomales Bay on his actual birthday.  I rallied and drove my husband down to his surprise birthday luncheon at the Tomales Bay Oyster Company.

Our friends are expert caterers and thought of everything.  Bubbly, specialty tequila, oysters, chili and flank steak tacos.  We laughed, sipped and spent the best four hours on the bay catching up and watching our friend, the chef, work his magic and create his art.  The food and company were  fabulous.

Thanks, Shona + Brandon.  You guys are the best.  Thank you for celebrating my husband and being such amazing friends.  We're lucky to have you in our lives.

We had one more celebration the very next night with a quiet dinner party for eight at River's End.  Again, our friends own this magical place and the wines and meal were over the top spectacular.  Bert even bought a cake and busted out a 1979 Fonseca Ruby Port to punctuate the end of the evening.

In addition to the Costa Rica trip, I wanted to purchase a piece of art for Steve that marked this special birthday.  I ended up purchasing original drawing from our friend and artist, Hannah Day.  It's an ink drawing on recycled paper of a red ladder leaning up against a leafless tree and a dozen or so little tiny ribbons on the branches blowing in the breeze.  I think it's just beautiful and told Steve the ribbons symbolize many of his life-to-date accomplishments, with many more ribbons to come!

I hear 50 is the new 40 and you've never looked better, Hecht.

Happy, happy birthday, my love.

2014 :: Acceptance

This year started out slow and quiet.  Our family spent a quiet night watching movies and falling asleep before midnight.  It was exactly what we needed after the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.

I jumped back into my exercise routine by taking a six mile New Year's Day hike with my fellas and our good friends.  I also had the urge to cook at home and try to reboot our healthy eating habits.

Coffee + Beet Juice Study

I've started a drawing a day journal, along with Grady, and I think this will be a fun exercise in trying new things and not getting so attached or intimidated by making art.  Grady plans on using his Brushes application on the iPad and saving same in Dropbox every day this calendar year.  Yes, he's learning a lot about that thing.

Keri Smith's Wreck This Journal Series were a big hit with the kids

We ended the last few days of winter break with friends.  G had his bestie sleep over (which is almost unheard of around here!) and the Rangel girls spent a sunny Sunday with us playing games, running around the property with water guns and critiquing the chicken liver pate that I made with Jill earlier in the week.  The verdict?  It needs a bit more salt say the juvenile pate experts.

It took us all week, but we finally finished writing our thank you notes.  I usually like to have this done on January 1st, but it just wasn't in the cards this year.

My word for the year is Acceptance.  Last year's words were Let It Go.  I feel like I did relinquish a few things in my mind, as well as in my day-to-day life of obligations in 2013.  I really let traditions go over the holidays and it did feel good to let it go and try something new.

I'll work harder on accepting myself this year, my choices, my life and how I contribute to this great big beautiful world.  I'm going to try a few new things on for size and accept my progress as success, whether I succeed in the traditional sense or not - I will have tried something new and that's going to be enough for me this year.

I'll also accept my past failures, transgressions and mistakes.  I'm not perfect and I'm worried that if I don't finally accept all of my failings, I'll keep repeating them.  I need to let the past go and move on. I have so many things and people to be grateful for.

We ended this week at our secret beach in Jenner.  The kids had so much fun running, jumping, whipping seaweed through the air and being silly with one another.  I had a million other things to get done at home, but I'm so glad I stopped and accepted the opportunity to get out into the world and enjoy these three little souls.

Happy New Year, friends.

Xmas Road Trip :: Southern California

The days leading up to our road trip to Southern California were filled with lots of busyness and finalizing little handmade projects, packing suitcases and doing all the things you do before you leave home for a stretch of days.

Cornflake wreath gifted to us every year by a dear friend

We were surprisingly calm in the wake of our little adventure and I attribute this to how intent we all were on enjoying the journey.  It wasn't all about presents or staying home this year.  We were breaking tradition and hoped that we would be better for it.

Xmas shopping relief in Bodega Bay

I hit a patch of stress during the week leading up to our departure, but quickly spun out of it.  What I realized is that I have such power over how I react to situations and I rarely serve myself or my family when I sit in that place for too long.

We hiked around the back of our property the night before we left and visited the llamas, hunted for feathers and watched the sun dip down over the hillside.

Our little family was so ready and it felt so good, satisfying even, to turn off the heat, lock the doors and hit the road.

I gifted Grady a few books for the long journey and he quickly dove into reading Riordan's The Son of Neptune and listening over and over again to Lorde's inaugural album on his iPod.

We approached our destination in the early afternoon and marveled at the barren landscape and gigantic, hardworking windmills that dotted the dry, scruffy desert floor.  Palm Desert was in our sights.

We quickly settled in with Steve's lifelong friend and his girlfriend + nine month old baby boy.  They are in the United States for six months, visiting from Paris, and they were nice enough to let us stay with them at their cousin's vacation home for four days.

We enjoyed slow mornings, lots of coffee, unlimited cribbage matches, a trip to the day spa and watching the Sound of Music with Grady.

Photo courtesy of David Silpa

We spotted our first roadrunner, swam in the community pool and hit the local area thrift shops.  I even spent an evening with an old high school friend and his family, who lived just eight miles away from where we were staying.  Steve and his friend went to a local casino (and won!) and we even toured Cathedral City looking at xmas lights.

Grady was smitten with this little french bebe and got a little sad as we readied to leave our friends.  He loves him so much (and so do we!) and thinks they are like cousins.  Well, they kind of are.

We said our goodbyes and made promises of getting together again in the very near future.  We hopped in the car on Xmas even and pointed it towards Oceanside, where Steve's dad lives.

The Dinosaurs of Cabazon

The weather has been incredible so far and we drove with the sunroof open and enjoyed the sunshine.  It was such a welcome change from the cold, stormy xmases that we typically spend on the Sonoma Coast.

We lugged our bags inside and enjoyed a few days of xmas cheer with Steve's dad, grandmother and the errant family members who popped by for a quick hug and a glass of bubbly.

I discovered that the xmas spirit has skipped a generation in Steve's family.  His dad's home was tastefully decorated with vintage xmas ornaments from his mother and grandmother, a train track was set up around the tree and his grandmother's xmas china set out on the table just waiting for xmas dinner.  It's come to my attention that perhaps my husband's disdain for xmas decor was a genetic defect because everyone else in his family is into it.  Grandma Lavinia showed up wearing a xmas vest, Aunt Bev popped by wearing jingle bell earrings, a Santa hat and Santa shorts.  Who knew they made those?  I took it all in and appreciated my in-laws in a new, heartfelt way.

It was a technology xmas for the Hecht household.  After the crushing disappointment last year for the boy over an iPod Touch, my husband convinced me that it was time for Grady to experiment with a little technology and so an iPad mini was the only gift Santa brought this year.  When Grady opened his Santa Sack he looked a little stunned and then happy, really happy.

Steve drew a Willow Tree for Grady using the Brushes application & printed

I have my reasons for holding him back in this area, but Steve also had valid reasons for wanting him to be set free to learn and explore on the iPad.  I will write more about this later, but I chose to embrace it and let my son (and father) bask in all of the technological glory that was in their hands.

Grady carved and painted me the annual garden marker to add to my collection.  This one is a black phoebe and just needs the right sized stick when we get home.  This is a bird that visits just outside our kitchen window in the morning and I can never remember its name.  I will now.

The day after xmas was almost 80 degrees and so we took a drive to the Oceanside Pier and strolled down the boardwalk.

Grady scored some sweet sunglasses at a little vintage thrift store and posed with this suspicious looking brown pelican.

Mom scored some fun glasses, too.

Three generations of Hecht men.  They are from solid, honest, hardworking stock and I love them dearly.

The next leg of our journey took us to Anaheim Hills to stay with my bestie and her family.  We quickly fell into easy conversation, opened a bottle of bubbly and caught up on all of life's happenings.

Her oldest is leaving for Spain in January and we were happy to see her face and meet the boyfriend that she will be traveling with for the next year.

This is the worst picture, but I wanted to capture our little guys (and big) with the limo driver we had.  Scott arranged for a driver to take us to sushi and they took us home in a limo for the boys.  Grady thought it was the coolest thing ever!

We had a great time with our friends and packed it up for home Sunday morning.  It's hard to say goodbye, but we were ready to get back to our little home on the hill in Valley Ford.

Ahead of the game

I seem to be ahead of the game this holiday season.  I've been making realistic lists and ticking things off said list like a boss.  I've even taken the time to use my hand-carved stamps to decorate said lists because I just like looking at a pretty list way more than a blank, boring list. Yes, lists make me happy and keep me on track and I've needed a guide to help me get to the finish line before we jump in the car and head to Southern California for the holidays.

The last week was all about getting our packages out to loved ones with enough time to spare so that they arrive before xmas.  And by Tuesday, I was done.

This year family members and very close friends will receive the hand-letterpressed poem that Grady had published this summer over at mamalode.com, along with a family photo and a print of Grady's painting, Invisible World, that will be published in the coming spring.

A calm has settled over our home this season and we're working really hard on keeping the crazy from entering our little abode.  So far, it's worked - but we have had to remind ourselves to check in with each other, look at the calendar and discuss whether or not we just want to fill it up or leave it blank.  And I have to say, it's definitely like stretching a new muscle.  My first inclination is to add it to our calendar, but seeing a stretch of days with nothing on them except work and Grady's basketball practices has been a nice, welcome change.

Steve and Grady went down to San Francisco to see the Hockney exhibit at the de Young Museum and, just like I thought, they were amazed by the body of work of this prolific artist.  We had previously watched a Hockney documentary and thumbed through every page of the exhibit coffee table book and picked our favorites.  G was impressed with the Yosemite works that were produced by using the Brushes Application on the iPad.  Steve loved the massive video installations.  I'm so glad they had this father and son outing and enjoyed hearing their take on this masterful artist.

Grady decided to get all of his hair cut off after his basketball last weekend.  We found a wonderful stylist located next to one of my favorite thrift stores.  Kismit, I tell you.  He looks so different!  He's in love with himself and can't stop looking in the mirror or touching his newly chopped locks.

The annual dog biscuit making happened and I went ahead and doubled the recipe and set about churning them out for our canine friends.

Our evenings have been filled with cribbage matches between the guys, while I clean up the remains of dinner and the day.  This bonding over cards has been sweet to witness.  There is a lot of math happening but, more importantly, the gentle ribbing and smack-talking that accompanies this nightly match makes me smile as I shuffle around the house and overhear bits and pieces of their father-son banter.  Grady finally beat his father this week for the first time.  A big, big event around here.

The only social obligation we had on the calendar last weekend was the annual Jenner Xmas party.  We have been attending this social event since Grady was two years old and we were deemed honorary Jennerites from our dear friend, Cheryl.  She pours her heart into this little event and finds delight in the children sitting on Santa's lap, singing carols and having them swirl all around here during this small-town soiree.

I asked Steve to bring his tripod and snap a group photo for all of us.  Bert is acting like a grizzly bear and Isabella is channeling her inner-zombie, but I love it.  It's exactly what I wanted and needed to remember this beautiful day, surrounded by our goddaughters and our favorite Jenner friends.

We all talked about mixing it up next year and skipping the Jenner Community party, but we all agreed we wanted more time with just the nine of us.  Cold bubbly in front of the tree and the children reading my favorite holiday book The Twelve Days of Christmas [Correspondence] by John Julius Norwich.

What a beautiful way to end this quiet, intentional week.

Traditions + Slowing Down

Decorating our fake tree
Linda Mahley's yearly wreath cake baked especially for us with love + lots of green food dye

Back in 2009, I decided it would be fun to get a vintage aluminum xmas tree.  So, for the past four years we've had that little 4 foot tree and it was fun.  You couldn't put any lights on it though or hang any heavy ornaments.  It was over 50 years old and came in the original box.  I loved that little tree, but I was ready for a change.

Peace

After talking with the guys while we were in Big Sur, it was decided that we would have a green tree this year, possibly live, but most definitely green and with lights.  I ran across this five foot tree that came with the lights already on it at Alphabet Soup Thrift Store in Petaluma and bought it on the spot.

Grady selected the ornaments and decorated the tree for us and I put up the Advent calendar in the kitchen.  In an effort to minimize holiday stress this year, we decided to take it down a notch in the decorating department - as we have been discussing more and more how environment and design affect our mood here at home and, especially, with each other.  It's true.  When my house is in disarray or the flow of my living room isn't working, it's time to change it up and purge the space.

The house feels warm, seasonally appropriate and calm.  Oh, and bright.

These shoes are all the rage around here
1st game of the CYO Boy's Basketball Season 19-23 Win in OT against St. Elizabeth

As we discussed how to avoid the holiday madness, we talked about switching it up this year and skipping xmas.  Not really skipping it, but getting away and trying something new.  I've been a real stickler for being home for Grady each year and letting him wake up and lazily open presents, shuffle back to bed if we want to, eat a late brunch, stay in our pajamas all day and watch movies together and independently.  It's one of my favorite days of the year for those reasons.  So, while I really love the comfort of xmas day in our home, I was willing to mix it up.

Bloomfield Farms CSA box was gorgeous this wee
Lunch box notes for the boy

After a few calls to friends and family, it was decided…we were going to meet up with our friends from Paris in Palm Springs and meet their new baby, Lilan.  We plan to stay with them at their family home for four days leading up to xmas eve.  After that we'll head down to Steve's dad's house just in time for xmas eve dinner and spend xmas day with him.  I'm really looking forward to this trip to Southern California and I'm sure Santa will have no trouble finding us.

Making those plans spurred me on to making birthday plans for Steve's 50th.  I had been toying around with the idea of a big party, but that's not really my guy's style.  We even talked about having a series of small dinner parties to commemorate his half century, but that seemed more stressful that fun to me.

In a stroke of genius (yes, I'm going to take full credit here), I remembered that my man has wanted to go to Costa Rica for over four years.  I have been hesitant to jump on that vacation bandwagon and I'm not sure why.  He started talking about Costa Rica again and asked if he could slip away with his best friend next year for his birthday and would I mind?  I didn't mind at all, but it turned out that his friend couldn't go.  My guy was deflated and that's when I decided to get on this party train and plan a trip to Costa Rica.  I called our friend who owns a home down there and has offered it to us many times and made a plan.  We leave February 28th.  Happy birthday, Steve.

The oh-so elusive photo of the two of us

We attended Steve's work holiday party last Friday night and asked Grady to snap a picture of us.  We still cannot master the posed photo.  These are blurry and funny.  Looks like Grady needs to work on his focusing skills in photography, as well as school.  

Doggie cookie packaging over the years
My sweet little boy all lit up

My health has been on my mind a lot this year and I still haven't been feeling great lately.  After a quick visit to the doctor, she informed my blood pressure is now too low and took me off one of my medications.  That was the good news.  I then went to get an EKG and they found some sort of abnormalities in the test.  That news triggered a stress test appointment and it turns out all is right with my heart.  I continued to feel lousy throughout the weekend and ended up with the stomach flu.

Sickness is a great, humbling thing.  I had so many things to do this weekend, packages to wrap, items to bake & make - but I was in bed for 36 hours straight.  I listened to my body, I had no other choice.

We have had freezing temps for about a week along the coast.  The citrus trees are covered and I'm trying to keep them alive…but it doesn't look good.  Meanwhile, the stores are packed full of my favorite winter fruit - satsumas!  This is a harbinger of winter and I look forward to it every year.

We purchased Grady a new comforter for the Valley Ford Mercantile & Wool Mill and it is made from wool sheared from sheep from our local fibershed.  The owner of this business is Steve's client and it's amazing what she is doing on site at her Wool Mill.  Grady had previously been sleeping with flannel sheets and FOUR blankets!  He was still cold and the temperatures have been in the 20's every single morning, going on eight days straight.  Now he's toasty and warm and I feel lucky to know about this wonderful source for bedding.  I'm going to slowly start replacing all of our pillows and get a comforter for our bed, too.

Beauty + Sparkles

I've been busy buying a few things for the holidays and wearing accessories that sparkle as often as possible.  I love this time of year.  The art above is by the son, Daniel, of artist Geninne Zlatkis.  We are huge fans of her work and I was impressed by the work of her 16 year old son, as well.  I'm gifting the rabbit print to Grady for xmas.

Sunrise w/ xmas tree reflection
Lunch notes for the boy

I'm going to work on slowing down this week and really be intentional with where and how I spend my time.  I feel like it all goes so fast and I'll do my best to stay in the moment.