The library has been good to me this week. I happily happened upon 150 Best Tiny Space Ideas + A Tree in the House while browsing there. Many of the homes highlighted in the Tiny Space Ideas book are familiar to me, but this is an impressive collection. Worn in New York is another offering by Emily Spivack that I felt focused more on story than clothing. Her first book Worn Stories is my preference of the two. I've also been reading The Great Gatsby all over again with Julia this week as well.  :)
​
This is the city where I'm from + where I'm raising my children, and putting that money back into my city is very important to me.
Some amazing (+ focused) secondhand autumn finds.
Inspiring grandpas + grandmas of the umbrella movement.
​Make it organic, please...or better yet...recycled.
An earth + trash house.
Is new clothing even an option anymore?
​An October playlist we're loving.
Truth.

Hope you are enjoying some lovely transitional weather this weekend, friends!

Love, 
Jane

This week I've thoroughly enjoyed Creative Spaces by Ted Vadakan + Angie Myung, the owners of Poketo. I enjoyed reading about the artists, their careers + the spaces they inhabit. The fashion was pretty inspirational as well.  :)

Protect. Restore. Fund.
See ya.
​That's a good example of how changes in the ocean can affect even people who live far from the coasts.
​Are vegan leather alternatives better for the planet?
In case this was missed over there.
Another 100% merino wool fleece jacket substitute.

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!

Love,
Jane

I wrote these words back in March + wasn't quite sure about sharing them. Coming across them this week...somehow they feel right, so...

This planet has moved toward globalization in the past few decades. I'm old enough to have observed the change. I didn't encounter a kiwi (fruit) until I was twelve...a mango until I was married. When I was growing up I knew that tomatoes ripened in late summer + that we only ate apples in the autumn...because we could pick each one close to home. Today I can find all of those things at the grocery store in March, because they come to us from around the globe. 

Globalization has revealed that our morning cuppa connects us to coffee growers + sugar cane farmers half a world away. The tags inside our clothes reveal a fraction of just how far they have travelled from farm (or oil field) to closet. We. are. connected.

Just as all of this connection is stretching many of us to embrace the necessity of action on behalf of our sisters + brothers around the world...nationalism crashes in like a tidal wave churned up by an earthquake of fear and greed and violence and war and unrest and hunger and need.

Our focus these days is on immense issues. The global scale of the refugee crisis + climate change is overwhelming. My girls are coming of age in the midst of this. They enter spaces always with the thought of an exit strategy...the existence of an active shooter ingrained deep within their realm of possibility. They feel record breaking temperatures on either end of the thermometer becoming the norm...see wildfires + hurricanes + floods devastating disadvantaged populations with increased frequency. Closeted skeletons revealed day after day feel like evidence that the chances of finding a partner with character + integrity are near hopeless. 

Just as globalization has led many to nationalism, it is not surprising that the deluge of all of these issues has coincided with a rise in suicide rates. I know...these are heavy words. The connection I mean to make is that our issues today are big...and each of them requires action. We've become a culture of protests...and we need to speak out loudly on every issue...police brutality, immigration, racial inequity, gun violence, climate change, sexual violence, equal pay, higher minimum wage...... We need to speak up, and we need to advocate for change.

I just wonder about the toll that the enormity of all of this is taking on our children + emerging adults. I feel like I need to do more...like I need to make a difference. I feel like...otherwise, what is this life for? And I see this pull on my girls as well. They care deeply. And they are angry. And they want things to change. I'm so proud of them for that!

But...they also need to know that laughing with friends + reading good books + walking in the woods + drinking warm drinks + discovering a song + sinking bare feet into sand + turning their faces toward the sun...all of that + all of the little things...those are the stuff of living too. 

How will we measure our lives? What is a life well-lived? My hope is that we don't forget that it is both the big + the small...the global + the right here...humanity + the shoulder-to-shoulder...the planet + the single bite. There is so much to be done + there is so much to be enjoyed, observed, lived.

Love,
Jane

I try to keep this space positive, but I am telling only part of my story here. I try to stay on the side of hope...the side that believes our actions can make a difference. I try to believe that all of us here on this tiny planet can thrive together. I try to believe that my girls will have all the opportunities that I have + more. I try to focus on my own actions. I try to believe the best of people + that their logic skills are functional. I try to believe that people who spend time every week listening to the teachings of Jesus understand + believe what He said. 

But people we know carry guns to church + post fake news online + scoff at the idea of climate change. People we know defend the greedy business practices of corporations + argue that embracing renewable energy is not profitable or wise. People we know defend immigrant family separation as a deterrent + say disgusting things about gay couples that dare to look for a loving community within our church doors. People we know support this disgusting, reprehensible, lying, hateful highest elected official to which we are currently subject. People we know can't be bothered to care about who made their clothes or how much trash they send to the landfill. People we know tell us that their actions don't make a difference. People we know post pictures of their National Park vacations + then vote for politicians who deregulate protections for our streams + lakes + wild lands. So, yeah. I'm angry. A lot.

Please listen to 16 year old Greta Thunberg's speech given to the UN today. Anger is 100% appropriate. 

Photo via link.

Love,
Jane

When I saw this poster hanging on the back of the restroom door at Back to Eden Bakery, it made my heart sing. I went back two more times trying to capture it.  :)  Back at home, I was able to locate it in various forms (poster, bookmark, postcard) + to credit Melinda Levine with this gorgeous work.

Love,
Jane

I'm looking forward to digging into Ayurvedic Self-Care Handbook by Sarah Kucera this weekend. I heard an interview with the author + was intrigued by the delicious simplicity of her philosophy. I'm immersed in Dostoevsky's Crime + Punishment along with Julia at the moment...so Kucera's handbook will be a welcome contrast.  :)

Revisited Being the Change a couple weeks ago (+/or watch). 
Keeping America beautiful = disposables?
More microplastic fibers is not the way to go. Let them know.
The needle can move.
Multipurpose manifesto.

This weekend take hold of your good life.  :)

Love, 
Jane

We started back to school this week, and it's always an adjustment to schedules + expectations. The first book Julia is reading for school is the one I couldn't resist picking up in Bend...The Wildlands by Abby Geni. There was a review on the cover that read, "Think Silent Spring by way of Celest Ng"...and I was sold. (Next up...Crime + Punishment. There are similarities.)

The rainforest is burning. How we can help.
Migrant families to face indefinite detainment. "It all comes together like a beautiful puzzle." 
Seeking asylum is not a crime.
​1619.
Plastic water bottle ban. Why would anyone need one?
Fair-trade certified jeans at Target...including plus sizes.

​Hope you enjoy a beautiful weekend on this planet we share.

Love,
Jane

This week has been cool enough to throw the windows open wide + let the breeze flutter the curtains. We've spent evenings at the pool reading books + chatting + soaking in vitamin D. We've picked more tomatoes than our stomachs can hold + ate all the kinds of berries. Sunflowers bob above my head + make me smile every time I see them. The cicadas + crickets are singing boisterously + the lightning bugs can still be found. It's glorious summer.

​I'm reading Simplicity the art of living by Richard Rohr. It's a lovely read that has prompted me to fill many pages in my journal. I am trying to absorb things slowly + thoroughly. How do I free myself from myself? 

A simple capsule to sew + to dance in.

Biodegradable, plant-based shoes.

Four major car makers agree to higher fuel efficiency standards for themselves.

Today, garment manufacturing is one of the largest contributors to modern day slavery.

​I would happily live here.

Things need tending + using no less than buying + creating. Paying attention to use isn't some sort of ineffectual, alternative thing to do. But it's about how we might dress, how we might live in uncertain times with optimism, lightness + principle.

May you experience some of the beauty of summer (or winter) right where you find yourself this weekend, friend!

Love, 
Jane

Every so often I check out a few of Maira Kalman's books from the library. I like revisiting the colorful paintings + quirky words in each one...like yummy conversation-inspiring + thought-provoking picture books for all ages. Relatable sadness + laughter are often wrapped up together...always in a magnificently, aesthetically pleasing package.

Ms. Kalman is a master at pointing out the magic in the mundane...the beauty of the unremarkable...the wonder in the everyday. These pages remind me to stop to remember that my great grandmother gave me handfuls of blueberries out of the pie she was making...even though she never really could put her finger on who this small girl in her kitchen was. I feel a comforting kinship with Maira, because I too tuck bits of the everyday into spots for my future self to discover + treasure. Just this week, I found a note from my much younger Julia that offers a glimpse into a regular...yet now untouchable...day many years ago.

We often look at life as the spectacular paintings in an art museum...as major events + accomplishments. I love that Maira's books prod me to paint the everydayness of a much used kettle with the same care as vacation memories. Oh, how I love to come awake to the beauty in my everyday...the moments that make up a life shared with those I love most.

Love, 
Jane

We did a little sun printing this week. The collection of bits for printing was a great way to add a little more observation + awareness to our regular walk around the neighborhood. (I came across this paper at our local plant store, but have used this type as well.)

Empathy rooted in action.
​Sacred economics.
​A favorite summer treat.
​Wearing the same thing every day.
Fashion + sustainable development goals (free online course).
A different approach.
Windows = solar panels.
Two years until no more single use plastic.

Have a spectacular, simple, summer weekend, friends!

Love,
Jane