Warmer layers that are free from plastic (+ in a style I like) are not easy to find, so Driftless feels like a magical find. Driftless's tag line is "Farm to closet fleece for people who prefer not to wrap themselves in plastic". Yes, please.

Driftless prioritizes organic + regenerative materials sourced close to home. They use 100% wool fleece + organic cotton + wood buttons with the idea that after the garments have been used + cared for for a long time, they will return to the soil as nutrients. Made completely in the USA.

All beautiful photos via Driftless.

I've been trying to tell myself that I am a healthy person who does healthy things. I'm not always sure how to do all the healthy things, but I'm trying to make moves in the right direction.

Lunches are not always my strength. I try to eat mostly whole foods, and I think a good meal involves vegetables + protein. Salads with protein are what I think of healthy people eating for lunch, but I don't always want to eat salad. Lately, my favorite lunch is a green smoothie + a protein. It's a sort of pre-chewed salad along with something to chew. :)

If we want to take smoothies with us to work, we can make them the day before + freeze them overnight. In the morning, we can put them in the fridge + they will soften again. My favorite combination is currently:

• frozen mango (or whatever frozen fruit I have on hand)
• fresh spinach
• a splash of coconut milk
• a little maca
• a little cinnamon
• protein powder
• a squeeze of date syrup
• cold water from the fridge

Our other current lunch go-tos are:

• overnight oats (made in the morning) currently with frozen blueberries, pecans, chai + oat milk 
• leftover supper, of course  :)

I like to keep my grocery list easy to remember, and it's easy enough to grab frozen fruit, fresh spinach and chicken (yes, we are eating a little chicken again...but mainly legumes + tofu) each week. The other ingredients last for a while, so don't need to be stocked often.

Love,
Jane

The evening ritual I am in pursuit of involves:

• connection
• stretching
• recording gratitude
• a good drink

My partner + I both work jobs that keep us on our feet with minds darting from task to task. By the time we get home, we just want to plop down + not move. This little set of rituals is helping us bring a bit more intention into our evenings. We'd pretty much already mastered the connection + the additional hydration, but we knew that an evening stretch could benefit our bodies.

We love our Vessel journalling + had been sporadically doing it on the weekends. When Jo mentioned that she had finished hers by doing it every night, I knew I wanted to bring it into my every day. 

My partner + I decided to take on this challenge together, and we talked through the reasons we weren't currently getting to all of these desirable actions on a daily basis. We agreed to a time that we'd both be ready in the morning + a time that we'd head off to bed at night (in order to not be too tired in the morning). Are we perfect? Nope. Have we managed to show up for our ritual reset more often than before? For sure! And that feels pretty great!

Love,
​Jane

Rituals are intriguing + beautiful. Rituals have the ability to bring us home to ourselves...to reconnect us to our truest selves, to our core values, to our people. Anything can become a ritual just by mentally moving it into that category. This feels so mind-clearing-ly simple + so all encompassing-ly beautiful.

Bringing ritual to my mornings feels like transforming my to-do list into a sacred practice. Each element contains an inherent beauty. Each moment is a gift holding possibility, peace, love + transformation.

I've been having fun with week long challenges. A week feels like a manageable time commitment period for me, short enough to hold my focus + long enough to have some feel for the effects of the action. If I'm honest, I do want these practices to become habits + habits take 30 days to form...blah, blah...but the bite-sized, week-long shift idea is working for me...so that's that.  :) It's a good place to start anyway.

Simplicity is a good tool for my scattered mind, so I kept my ritual list simple + uncomplicated. Each morning, as best I can, I want to:

• take in good words
• journal
• meditate
• stretch

The good words may come in the form of a daily newsletter, a podcast excerpt previously saved, a quote written in my journal, or a chapter or page of a good book. Journalling helps me listen, process, internalize + prioritize. We've been experimenting with meditation + are staying curious about its benefits for us. And I feel like slow stretching + a few sun salutations just opens me up mentally + physically.

I truly feel the benefits of these intentional practices throughout the day. It's like I've touched who I want to be...or nearish...and I feel a bit more tethered to it. My harmony is coming into focus little by little by little.

Love,
​Jane

Years ago, intimates came late in the process of moving our wardrobes toward good for our bodies, makers, farmers + the planet. It really was hard to find intimates that weren't made overseas of polyester + lycra.

These days, the layers closest to our bodies can be a good entry point to thinking about building an ethical wardrobe. We just have more options! Yay!

Lake Jane is one of those brands making this entry point both enticing + easy. Their pieces are designed + sewn in North Carolina from USA-grown cotton that is spun + dyed in California. The colors are lovely, and they are built to last.

I feel like the lighter weight of the fabric is one of the selling points of this brand, when compared with other ethical options out there. The drawback is that there are other options made with organic cotton. Just food for thought.  :)

All lovely photos via Lake Jane. Find this + other ethical brands when you need them on our ethical brands page.

I guess we've always known that brands are not forever...especially these small, fair clothing brands (+ one ceramics brand). The word sustainable is often used to describe them, but it probably feels like a misleading descriptor to their owners. The work they do does not sustain itself. Almost every business involves a lot of hard work (done by someone along the supply chain), but these involve even more intention, drive + grit. These brands are trail blazers + examples of what once felt impossible.

I've written these posts before, but it somehow feels a bit heavier this time around. It is not especially easy to finding clothing brands employing organic, natural fibers + fairly paid makers to add to our ethical brands list. This makes it especially sad to remove these stellar brands from the list.

Thank you SO much:

• ARQ
• Beaton Linen (can't wait to sew with your sewing patterns!)
• Ilana Kohn
• Humble ceramics (have so much fun with your new book collection!)
• Sugar Candy Mountain 
• Mara Hoffman 
• Vege Threads
• The Tiny Closet
• Selva Negra
• Ana + Zac

Thank you for sharing your creativity with us! You have moved the industry forward + we are so grateful!

All lovely images via links.

Love,
Jane

My partner + I just spent three days in Denver, and I thought I'd put a little itinerary here for my future self to refer back to (+ just in case anyone else might benefit in any way).  :) 

It's always a good idea to think through why we are going + how we want our time to feel before we plan a trip. In our case, we went because it's where + when James + Johnny Marr were playing. We wanted our time to feel relaxed + fun. We wanted to spend time outdoors, to eat good food + to think through our intentions for the year ahead together. We used to live in Denver + have visited plenty since, so we didn't feel the need to see or experience everything the city has to offer.

:: Day 1 ::
We arrived around lunchtime + drove straight to Stowaway Kitchen. After sharing a salmon bowl, we walked around the RiNo Art District + stopped in at Recital + Patagonia. From there, it was a short drive to Confluence Park (we parked at REI) where we walked along the South Platte River. (Next time we'll check out the Arkins Promenade.) We especially loved seeing the community gardens where there was a box of free food hanging on the gate for those who might need it!

​For dinner, we stopped at a favorite spot, Vital Root. I cannot get over the flavors of their savory waffle with sungold tomatoes, cherry chutney + roasted corn puree! The entire menu is gluten-free, which is a real treat for me!

:: Day 2 ::
We had an unhurried morning + made our way to Crema for chai/coffee + a gluten-free, sweet potato waffle (one of the only gf options - but very tasty). We brought our journals + spent some time writing + chatting about our intentions for the year to come. It was so nice outside on their little back patio, and we enjoyed this time immensely.

When we felt ready, we walked over to Denver Central Market for lunch. There are a number of vendors there + we chose to split a salad + açai bowl from Green Seed Market. I would love my kitchen to be full of fresh fruits + vegetables (+ not much else) like Green Seed. We sat at the picnic tables out back + enjoyed the shade of the umbrellas + the breeze.

Our plan was to either ride bikeshare bikes or walk around Washington Park, but it started to rain. So we did a little shop hopping to La Lovely Vintage, Homebody, + Yucca (ducking into the bustling Common Threads Consignment when the rain started in earnest). We revisited Vital Root for dinner (sharing a falafel wrap + beet lemonade) + then headed to the concert. We had so much fun singing our hearts out to songs we've been singing our hearts out to for years. And years.  :)

:: Day 3 ::
I ended up feeling a bit under the weather overnight + into day 3, so (again, instead of riding bikes) we headed to Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. It felt nice by this time to escape the traffic + to see nothing but golden fields stretching to the foothills (at times) on this chemical weapons manufacturing site turned wildlife preserve. Yeah. It is a thought provoking slow ride. We were able to see buffalo, deer, prairie dogs, hawks, starlings and a coyote!

I napped my way back into the city where we shared a salad at Farm + Market. They grow much of what they serve in house...which is pretty amazing to see! The rest of the afternoon was spent at Crema talking through plans for the weeks to come toward some of our intentions.

It was a really good little trip with some good reminders for us. I often feel the urge to make a trip "worth it" by seeing as much as possible. The default for us is usually scenery + shops. When we consciously think about it, however, we recognize our preference for having two or three simple, immersive experiences like lingering over a good meal or walking a (doesn't-have-to-be-too-long) trail.

This time we got it right + just spent a lot of time savoring conversation + connection. And that was truly the point.

Love,
​Jane

Until a week or two ago, my partner's + my closet held the access to our attic. Each time the wiring needed to be accessed or a squirrel needed to be relocated (!), I cleared much of our closet to make way. We finally moved the attic access to the hallway + were free to make a few changes that make better use of our closet as a result. 

​I felt strongly about the look I wanted to achieve, and it just makes me smile to look at our closet now. I love the warmth of the wood (this shelving) + the baskets. It functions a treat with stacks of each category of clothing + things we want to keep out of sight corralled in baskets. ​

​The simplicity we've honed in our wardrobes is working nicely for us here. Knowing what we like to wear again + again allows us to keep the number of pieces minimal + the color palette cohesive. For me, this is just another benefit of having a simple wardrobe. 

​I really wanted to have all of my clothing in one place. The amount of space felt adequate, so I set about letting go of some things that I like (love even), but don't wear often. This process feels like taking the chips I actually want to eat out of the bag + placing them in a bowl. When I see them in the bowl, I can recognize enough + will likely eat less than if I just ate them mindlessly out of the bag while watching a movie.​

I feel really good about choosing what I love, being able to see it + knowing I don't need more. That's all, and it's so good!  :)

Love,
Jane