Here's a lovely poem by the Scottish poet Edwin Morgan to wish you a luscious weekend. Strawberries There were never strawberries like the ones we had that sultry afternoon sitting on the step of the open french window facing each other your knees held in mine the blue plates in our laps the strawberries glistening in the...
Beauty
On Having Imperfect Pictures of Myself on the Blog
One of the most common critiques of the social media world--a world most of us find ourselves entrenched in--is that it presents us with edited and often idealized images of other people's lives. We see more of others' aspirational lives than we do of their real, everyday lives. While we might lament this, we often tend...
Our weekend on Sweden's west coast
Speaking of summer, last weekend we took a train to the west coast of Sweden to spend a few days sailing with our wonderful neighbors (who we call the kids' Swedish grandparents). Henrik has had his boat Maja for forty-five years! We didn't do any actual sailing (we motored around because we didn't have the best...
Why I Don't Tell My Kids to Smile For Pictures
Since my older son's birth, I've kept a blog for family and friends where I try to share a few photos of the kids every day. Like most parents these days, I've taken thousands of photos of my kids - at least. But there's one thing I do differently.
What is Beauty to You?
Having "beauty" as one of the main topics that this blog covers was a difficult choice. Usually, when a lifestyle blog covers beauty, the subjects are makeup and hair, fashion and accessories. What shoes to wear with that dress, what lipstick to pair with those earrings. The posts usually include photos of beautiful women with gorgeous hair...
Found in the fields | A Surprise Face
Now that the days are warm and neverending, we've been taking a ton of walks with the kids. I am delighted each time we walk by this little guy - such a lovely little spirit animating the neighborhood! Photo by me.
Thinking About Clothing
I have an uneasy relationship with clothes and style: I don't really care about fashion and I don't enjoy shopping, but I do like to look nice. I like the confidence that can come from wearing a well put-together outfit--I just can't be bothered to put one together! Keeping up with fashion feels expensive and futile and energy-draining, but...
Found in the Forest | Lily of the Valley
Spring takes its time arriving to our part of Sweden. We still have wide swaths of lily of the valley in the forest near our home, which I love to stoop down to smell. I just learned that it's highly poisonous (which I should have remembered from Breaking Bad!), so don't let your little ones eat it. Its...
A Close-up of Tree Rings
I found this stunning photo of a Russian tree while reading a Swedish magazine called Research & Progress (Forskning & Framsteg in Swedish) and was blown away. Isn't it amazing? Each column is one year in the tree's life, and the thin column with the aberrations is from the year 536, when a severe frost hit in the summer....