right now…

 

right now:
+this is what my screen looks like
+just got a happy dose of “friend of the devil”
+it’s my brother’s birthday
+my mom is listening to a fresh baby cry - a baby born in her hallway
+warm laundry waiting to be folded on my couch
+daydreaming about what i’ll put in lacie’s package
+a little dizzy from twirling my baby – my seven month old baby
+my hair is curled – and NOT in a ponytail
+lukey is playing super hero’s… and his super hero’s sing
+i can’t find the stash of honey roasted peanuts i bought andrey for a snack – he must’ve taken them to work.
+craving a snitch of honey roasted peanuts
+i’m thinking about my pretty sisters
+trying to ignore my impulse to hit the road
+i realize that i am impulsive about alot of things

you?

la la lovely package swap – part two

so… miss carolynn has received her lovely package which means i get to share it here on my sweet lil’ blog.
i got the email from danni of oh, hello friend revealing my swap partner and i was so excited. i got right to work on getting to know carolynn by sending her this email:

  she responded quickly and answered all of my silly questions – like this: 
<<a favorite spot in my home would have to be my back screened in porch.
it has a super comfy outdoor couch and i can just curl up with my laptop and my puppy and escape in to the outdoors >>

i kept all of this in mind as i did my gathering
contents included:
1. a copy of sing+songs (“a mixed tape”)
2. a sweet hair pin from oh, hello friend  
3. a pack of letterpress note cards from simplesong designs
4. a handful of pretty japanese paper tape
5. a few mini latte bowls in pretty fall colors from anthro
6. a ruffle tote made by me!
now this is the pretty part:

do {you} want a mini version of my lovely package? i saved up a few goodies to share with {you}

{a lovely-lindsay-lovely-package giveaway}
leave a comment here by sunday evening – the 30th and i will pick a mailbox to send treasures to.
but… you must answer all of my silly questions, too.
love, lindsay

la la lovely package swap – sneak peek!

remember this? the lovely package swap?? i was paired up with sweet carolynn of the  pretty blog/shop two brunettes. i was so excited to see that i had been matched up with such a pretty cyber-space. she’s really lovely and after getting-to-know-you emails {you should see ‘em – the emails, i mean. they’re both over the top} i quickly found out that she is a girl from my own heart. anthro + fleet foxes + sun porches + happy tape + miniature-goodies +  crafty skills +  lovely blog pictures = swap partner happiness! it also means that i had an excuse to order from some of my favorite etsy shops and pick up extra treats while on my seattle adventure.

the whole idea behind this swap was to package your gifts up all pretty. my specialty. and i couldn’t wait to get in my creative place and make carolynn something fab to find in her mailbox. i kept waiting for that free time to come. to turn up my music – sprawl my supplies out all over the house and get to work. that quiet/free moment just wasn’t happening and i just kept waiting. finally the other night – all boys in this mad house were asleep. one on the couch and two in my bed {guess which was which and you’ll get a prize.} i flipped on pandora and buried myself in creative goodness. it was so fun. and so happy. and so relaxing. cutting + gluing + magazines + yarn + sewing machine + blitzen trapper + pretty gifts + sweet carolynn for inspiration = lindsay, totally in her element. {you should have seen me – this package is over the top} i can’t wait to show you the rest.

love, lindsay

serve. love.

 

 

margy finally put into words something i've been trying to understand. 
we all want to give our children a better life than we have had,
but each family's experiences place them at a different starting place. 
it could take generations for some families to progress to the level that is another family's starting place.
still, we're all on the same ladder and have the power to pull each other up,
but not in giant leaps - only one rung at a time.

                                                                     -stacey bess
                                                                                                                                   lessons on love from the school with no name 9th ward relief society enrichment night 
(a sewing production line to complete school supply bags for the humanitarian effort)
++++
we had a perfect turn out. ten plus sewing machines. stitching along.
my heart is full.

not alot to ask. it seemed simple. and small.  
{throw a few extra school supplies in my shopping cart and some donated time on a thursday night}

but to some children – somewhere - it was big.
and to the mama’s of those kids… it was huge.

URGENT!

seattle air

my mom’s totem animal is a dolphin.
on a wobbly boat in the middle of the ocean - somewhere in tahiti
she leaned over the bow and took a deep breath. she’d made her connection.
i’m not sure what my animal is.
although - i did feel an odd connection to the hippo at a zoo once.

i do know - however – what my totem city is.
it’s seattle. and i’ve known for a long time.

i could roll around with that city for years.
my window goes down as soon as we hit the mountain pass.
i stick my head out like a happy puppy.

i breathe that city in deep.

not sure how andrey got me to come home. must have been the promises he made me to return again soon.
again and again and again.
love, lin

tag-a-long

i got tagged by alexandra jade
so here's how to play ...
1. open your first photo folder saved on your computer.
2. scroll down to the 10th photo.
3. post that photo and story of it on your blog.
4. tag 5 others to play along.

the first photo folder is called A&L and it’s got a collection of pictures of me  and my handsome husband. this was picture number ten. it’s a simple picture but tells alot of stories.
i am pregnant here. with lucas jude. very pregnant. (pregnant nose, mom. see!) andrey’s dark hair was an accident. done by steen. and i remember being super concerned that lucas was going to meet his dad while he had elvis hair. on the other hand - my hair is my natural color. which is sort of cool. cause it hasn’t been that way since. we are looking in the mirror at our morain street house. our first place. andrey’s red shirt was his valentine’s gift from me. and the lifted collar was a very russian-teen thing of him to do. oh! and those fabric baskets in the background. an anthropologie sale steal! we look so young to me here. three plus years and another baby boy later.

i tag:
roxy
allyson
danyelle
kristin
jeff

“follow a heart that’s asked from the start to lead…” – leona naess

   
sunday afternoon found both me and andrey out in the foyer of the church. one boy for each of us.  i’d asked him to tag-a-long with me to help me wrangle the boys during the meeting. (or maybe he could wrangle and i could listen. yeah – that was my real plan.) instead there we were. out in the hall. gavin happily rolling around on the floor and lukey unable to hold still. i caught myself in my frustration – smiling. i caught a glimpse of andrey – smiling in his frustration, too. then we laughed at each other.
we couldn’t help it.
andrey has been extremely busy. work has him all tied up in every direction. his mind is occupied. yet there were several moments during this weekend that i could tell he had let all of that go and was trying really hard to just enjoy these free minutes. it’s hard for me not to fill up all of his free time with things i need him to get done. which also meant me letting go of the projects i’ve got on my brains. things that can wait.
so – we sat in the backyard for a few hours on saturday night. we took a late evening walk through the neighborhood. we enjoyed a good laugh in the hallway of the church house. we held hands on the drive to moses lake to visit his lovely sisters. a trip that’s been postponed for weeks. we sunk into their couch together and let them wrestle with our kids for a bit. we talked to eachother on the way home so he wouldn’t fall asleep. it was simple. the difference slowing down made - was huge.

only monday still came this morning.
and i can’t wait until we slow down again come friday night.

love, lin

cilantro grove sunday’s

it’s been ten years this summer. ten years since jess & lace & linds walked our yellow graduation flip flops across the blue bridge during the wee early morning hours. not many days after that - boxes were packed and she went there and she went there and gina and i went way over there. boxes packed with memories of the golden gate, a blue suzuki, a white sunbird, a silver honda, and a red metro, a pizza couch, jess’s snowflake sweater, macaroni and sauce, swimsuit bubble baths, zack blankets, silver bff rings, lilith fair, seven little sisters, shelley’s pool, gina’s room, pasco boys, richland boys, benton city boys, brandon, poison apples, e.f.y., making the book, , throwing the party, bon fires, overalls, girl/boy wars, and mama karleen…

there’s kids now. lot’s of boys and one sweet girl. and gina’s growing her first babe right this very second. and miles and miles and miles are between us. no matter what though, no matter if the years keep passing and the miles are getting farther. we start right where we left off. there’s something so magical in already knowing the in’s and the out’s of someone. and already knowing that you love them anyway. knowing what they need without them saying the words. knowing what they’re made of. knowing exactly what you’re going to get. there’s such sweet comfort and safety in that.

i can call up lacie – any day of the week, anytime. no matter what. she’ll hear me out. whatever i’ve got to say. at my loneliest, her voice is familiar. at my happiest, she’ll delight with me, at my most frustrated, she’ll offer advice. her couch is still always open… just like back then. only she’s the mama now.

gina carries a chunk of my lindsay heart along with her on every adventure she goes on. on hikes, and treks, on cruises, and runs… my heart thump, thump, thumps her some gina love. for a quick minute we were all eachother had in a tiny big-city apartment. she and i held on for our lives. and i’ll love her forever for not completely giving up on me.

jessie and i catch each other in a quick phone call here and there. between chasing boys and being wives we catch alot of answering machines. the message is always the same. “hey you. just sayin’ hi. thinking of you. wishing you were closer so we could chase these boys together. love you!” cause really that’s all that needs to be said and she gets all of me. still. cause we’re just like each other. we love the same pretty things, the same pretty music, the same simple goodness.

jessie’s here this summer. on a quick stop before she packs up her family and heads for singapore. by a fluke of happiness i get her for a summer minute. a summer to be mama’s together. the same silly girls. and we sit back and watch – cause we’re already thinking the same thing. how lucky we feel to watch our boys play together. how much we love each other. how we wish big things for each other. how i hope she’s going to be safe way over there… and how she hopes i’m safe sittin’ right here.

i threw a picnic for jess last week. to celebrate her birthday and give her a wish or two. had we been ten years younger we probably would have jumped off the dock. running start – no looking back. then we would have laid on our backs under the shade trees and imagined ourselves ten years older with four kids in tow…

happy summer birthday’s girls. i love each one of you and wish you so many happy, happy things.
thank you for finding me way back then…
love, lin