me, myself, and jeff

noreply@blogger.com (chloé) — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 03:41:00 +0000

Hi! I have moved my blog to a different space. You can find me now at chloealexa.com

7/30/14

noreply@blogger.com (chloé) — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 19:39:00 +0000

There is no greater bliss than swimming multiple times a day and taking only outdoor showers the entire week of family summer vacation.

“The sun had come up brilliantly after a heavy rain, and the trees were glistening and very wet. On some impulse, plain exuberance, I suppose, the fellow jumped up and caught hold of a branch, and a storm of luminous water came pouring down on the two of them, and they laughed and took off running, the girl sweeping water off her hair and her dress as if she were a little bit disgusted, but she wasn’t. It was a beautiful thing to see, like something from a myth. I don’t know why I thought of that now, except perhaps because it is easy to believe in such moments that water was made primarily for blessing, and only secondarily for growing vegetables or doing the wash. I wish I had paid more attention to it. My list of regrets may seem unusual, but who can know that they are, really. This is an interesting planet. It deserves all the attention you can give it.” - Marilynne Robinson, Gilead

7/28/14

noreply@blogger.com (chloé) — Mon, 28 Jul 2014 22:06:00 +0000

Ocean Isle, NC 2014

(2012 here & here)

6/30/14

noreply@blogger.com (chloé) — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 19:51:00 +0000

6/27/14

noreply@blogger.com (chloé) — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 15:32:00 +0000

Married four years yesterday. This fourth year means we have been married longer than we dated. In some ways it felt like we dated forever. We became adults together. I like that I did not know myself before we were us because you got to see me figure it out. And I got to witness you grow too. Some advice I heard before we were married was to wait until our thirties to do such a serious and life altering thing because our brains wouldn’t be fully developed until the age of twenty four and that would give us some time to decide what our full-grown brained selves really wanted out of life. Being nearly twenty four now, and you nearly twenty six, I can see that they were right about our brains and about not knowing ourselves at the ages of nineteen and twenty one, but they were wrong also because instead of doing all that difficult business of Getting to Know Ourselves alone we got to do it together, which is about the most wonderful thought I can conjure up in my almost fully developed brain.

6/26/14

noreply@blogger.com (chloé) — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 17:41:00 +0000

Oceanside Pier. March 2014.

6/19/14

noreply@blogger.com (chloé) — Thu, 19 Jun 2014 20:39:00 +0000

An unexpected outcome from a roll of film. One of life’s most simple pleasures. The kind that turn a day around.

5/15/14

noreply@blogger.com (chloé) — Thu, 15 May 2014 19:11:00 +0000

“I think I already understand about life: pretty good, some problems.” - Sam Lamott at age seven
From Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott

4/9/14

noreply@blogger.com (chloé) — Thu, 10 Apr 2014 03:15:00 +0000

Joshua Tree.

The desert is another world. Made me feel tiny like the ocean does. We want to go back soon to watch the sky erupt with stars from our tents. And maybe to climb boulders if we are feeling very adventurous.

noreply@blogger.com (chloé) — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 17:31:00 +0000

Rain makes us miss the east.

noreply@blogger.com (chloé) — Thu, 27 Feb 2014 21:52:00 +0000

Some film from last month.

Beach bonfire in January. Tower 30, Carlsbad State Beach.

noreply@blogger.com (chloé) — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 21:13:00 +0000

Good things lately:

Early mornings with Meryl in the yard. Seeing pink sky and purple mountains.
Nighttime grilling on the patio. Just for the two of us. Just for the heck of it.
Laying on blankets in the sun. With books. Leaving windows and doors open.
Saturday morning girl breakfast with coffee cake and so much bacon.
Audiobooks. While washing dishes.
Anticipating a friend becoming a mother in ONE MONTH.
Thrifting. Finding an old canon ae-1 for $3 that may or may not be functional.
Working from home with a snuggly dog and extra coffee.
Getting packages in the mail from my mom.
Walking around the harbor.

So much to be thankful for when I stop to think.

noreply@blogger.com (chloé) — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 16:05:00 +0000

Spring/February in California.

My favorite shade of red.

2-19

noreply@blogger.com (chloé) — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 02:01:00 +0000

Our home is my favorite place to be. It changes a little bit everyday. I am one of those people who rearranges furniture and belongings so much that it confuses the other people who live here and everyone who comes to visit regularly. Meryl doesn’t seem to mind. There is a constant balance of desiring change and feeling satisfied with the way things are in my life. The furniture rearranging is just the way that struggle manifests itself sometimes. There is something to be said though, I think, for the art of rearranging things in order for them to feel new instead of constantly buying new things to replace the old. So for now our bed is in our sunroom.

I have that feeling of being giddy off breezy backyard sunshine, cooking fancy dinners at home, picking wildflowers for the table, and listening to dancey music. Cooking a rich, indulgent, fancy mac and cheese dinner tonight. Will be consumed with prosecco.

Meryl

noreply@blogger.com (chloé) — Fri, 14 Feb 2014 16:20:00 +0000

We adopted Meryl a week and a half ago. Feels like longer. Feels like she has always been here. She has the loosest, fluffiest neck skin and all four paws are dipped in white. Home is Wherever I’m With You seems to be her philosophy on life, which is both extremely endearing and life changing since it means we will need to dedicate a lot of time and patience to teach her how to be alright by herself sometimes. But she’s smart and she’s the sweetest, snuggliest girl and she learned how to lay down on Wednesday which makes us both proud and confident.
More photos here.

noreply@blogger.com (chloé) — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 23:43:00 +0000

These days are warm and require red pants and sweater tanks. Our backyard cactus sprouted a huge flower on its top. It feels so much like we skipped winter that part of me longs for snow and hot chocolate and knitting while another part of me feels like it is more appropriate to just jump right into the long days of swimming and eating watermelon and sewing airy tank tops. I cannot choose for myself which of these I want. So I think it is a good thing that the weather is not up to me but is rather something to which I adjust and accept.

We are looking forward to a lot of things this year. Projects, trips, changes, challenges. I made a discovery recently which has been completely life changing. Audiobooks! Of course I knew they existed but sort of turned my nose up at them or just ignored them altogether. But for a person who loves books and also loves doing things with her hands…they are a gift from heaven. I think it is safe to say that if you need me I will be in my house sewing, washing dishes, knitting, folding laundry, planting wildflower seeds, cooking, or drawing - while a stranger’s voice reads a book of my choosing aloud to me. What a great invention.

noreply@blogger.com (chloé) — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 20:27:00 +0000

A walk around the neighborhood. Good for what ails you.

december film

noreply@blogger.com (chloé) — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 20:50:00 +0000

noreply@blogger.com (chloé) — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 23:36:00 +0000

A good long visit to our one of our most beloved cities. Snow came on our last day. It made it even harder to leave.

- another photo of my parents in love. they are the best.
- more asheville.

noreply@blogger.com (chloé) — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 16:36:00 +0000

noreply@blogger.com (chloé) — Thu, 05 Dec 2013 16:40:00 +0000

I told Jeff the beach may be my favorite in December. Empty, chilly. The birds own it in winter. The sun still sets there and the waves still crash there the same as in July, but in winter I feel like it is happening only for me. There is nothing quite like being surrounded by something so vast and beautiful and yet not have to share it with others.

"No, summer is best."

Sometimes I like that I can’t persuade him even though I feel I’ve given the best reasons for my opinion. He is his own person. A man. My favorite person. My favorite man.

Sequoias

noreply@blogger.com (chloé) — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 00:37:00 +0000

Thanksgiving weekend. Sequoia national park.

We walked around, among, and through the largest things I’ve ever seen. Just to think they are alive blows my mind. Most of our hike was spent looking up and about half way through we started to wonder if there were any bears or mountain lions around since we hadn’t seen humans for hours. When we would stop walking and crunching the ground we could hear the most empty quiet that we’ve never known anywhere else. Just when my feet had had enough we would stumble upon a clearing with mountains looming in front of us, their tops covered in snow, and I would get a burst of energy just from the beauty.

Twelve hours in the car when it should have taken six means that we are either really good or really bad at road trips. We stopped to pet horses and take photos of lakes and mountains, almost ran out of fuel, drove up and down so many switchbacks on mountain roads that I felt car sick for days after, and sang and sang and sang.

hwy 395

noreply@blogger.com (chloé) — Sun, 01 Dec 2013 23:21:00 +0000

new home

noreply@blogger.com (chloé) — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 22:48:00 +0000

Our new home is something between a house, a cottage, a studio apartment, and a camp cabin. We don’t really know what to call it. But we like it and it already felt like home after only a week of sleeping in it. I already have a routine of moving outdoors around 4:30 since the time change. Looking forward to wintertime fires outside, summertime grilling, Thanksgiving (and other) dinners here with friends, and maybe one day soon having a dog to run around our small yard. Dreams!

noreply@blogger.com (chloé) — Wed, 06 Nov 2013 06:18:00 +0000

Hello! So many life changes since the last photos shared.

We moved from our apartment to a tiny cottage a few minutes drive from our last place. It has a backyard and so many windows and we are very much in love with it. More to come soon. Life is busy and holidays are looming. My head is exploding with excitement, ideas, etc.

For now, mostly taking photos with my phone. Just started posting them over here.

Au revoir!