trees all dance

Gwan won

treesalldance — Sat, 13 Feb 2021 03:59:25 +0000

How long will you dance before finally growing weary and sit down to rest? In rest, you disappoint your partner, in the waltz, you lose yourself. A quadrille is what you need. An opportunity to somehow be both together and apart. You ignore the torn hems and scuffed shoes and try to enjoy this distracting…delight. Is it? A delight? The tears and scuffs grow in your mind until they are all you can think of and so, you finally sit down. Your partner is disappointed. But so are you.

Falling out of favor

treesalldance — Thu, 08 Oct 2020 01:31:41 +0000

When the moment arrives that you realize that you’re no longer the chosen of your beloved, you chuckle a little in disbelief. A tiny “oh“, is all you can muster. And then the tailspin begins. You start replaying in your mind every interaction in reverse order trying to pinpoint when the turning point was. Or had it always been this way and you were too besotted to notice?

You’d thought you were both working on the same puzzle. Turns out, yours was crossword, theirs, jigsaw. Or you never really worked on a puzzle at all but you pretended to because you were in love. And that’s what lovers do.

The worst of it is when you reach this point before they do. You don’t want to bring to fruition what for now feels like it lives alone in your head. But it so clearly lives in your bed, too. That minuscule nearly invisible pea reminds you that there will be no rest until you both arrive at your destination. And that destination is hurt.

On dreams

treesalldance — Sat, 26 Sep 2020 11:41:41 +0000

Not for the first time, I dreamt last night of my grandmother’s garden. I drifted through her house, opened the Dutch doors and stepped out into one of her many lush tropical gardens. I was checking pumpkins for ripeness. Even sleep cannot break my connection to the natural world: the advent of fall means I have been engaged in this particular pursuit during my waking hours, too.

Surveying the garden for its bounty makes me feel infinitely connected to her. My earliest memories are shaped by my remembrance of running to her bedroom at dawn, looking sleepily out her louvered windows and seeing her tending her garden. Watering the flowers, weeding the beds. I had no idea as a child how deeply important this ritual behavior would become to me. If there is prayer, I find it among the flowers. If there is peace, it’s in the ginger step of my feet on the ground and my hands in the soil and the swish of my housedress (another ode to the women in my life)as I float between the rows.

24 hours of happy

treesalldance — Fri, 22 Nov 2013 13:18:37 +0000

VB native Pharrell Williams has created the world’s first 24 hour music video. Hear the infectious song and see the dancing here. And have you seen his youtube channel iamOTHER? My favorite series? Definitely StereoTypes. Happy Friday!

The last item I purchased…

treesalldance — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 20:37:31 +0000

was a garbage can. We have some kind of weird garbage can issues going on around here. Three lids have disappeared completely. How does a trash can lid go missing?? A fourth lid broke off. So yes, we are on garbage can #5 since we moved into our current home three years ago. I have a feeling our youngest kiddo is responsible, but I have no proof!

Weekend links

treesalldance — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 12:30:21 +0000

Paper clay project at the Martha Stewart American Made event.

I’m in New York again this weekend and doing the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk on Sunday with my family.

Congrats to Ashley Murphy of one of my favorite ballet companies (and former school), DTH on her nomination.

Do you watch this series from i am other? Here’s the latest. StereoTypes-Mama Said Knock You Out

My Jane Austen era dream home. When can I move in?

And don’t forget, you can always find me blabbing away on twitter, or lamenting my lack of iphone on instagram. Have a great weekend!

Weekend links

treesalldance — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 20:32:59 +0000

Have you ever had a red lipstick day? I recently discovered it’s magical powers. My favorite is Nars Pure Matte in mascate.

Lark and I painted a pumpkin today. It’s white, but once it dries completely, we’ll be adding eyes and mouth to make it a ghost.

Speaking of pumpkins, I’m going to make pumpkin cupcakes or muffins this weekend, I haven’t decided. I’m not a pumpkin fan myself, but the family likes it.

The reason for all the pumpkin talk is that I got two with my CSA bag this week. We are participating in one for the first time this fall and I’m enjoying introducing veggies to the kidsI don’t normally buy. Radish anyone?

I have questions…

treesalldance — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 13:00:45 +0000

How is it possible that the two year old makes the biggest messes, and in the least amount of time?

Why did I forget to check the weather last night to see how low the temps would drop? Are my tomatoes going to survive?

Is it weird to love a Halloween decoration?

Can I just give in to my (rare) junk food cravings and call it my body preparing for winter?
(there’s no photo accompaniment for gluttony!)

I need answers, people!

Five things

treesalldance — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 14:49:49 +0000

Inspired by my friend Anna, here are five things on my mind this morning…

I am constantly thrilled and thankful to be surrounded by brilliant, creative, beautiful women. How did I attract this fabulous set into my life?
This past year, especially the past few months, I have focused quite a bit on self care and the importance of taking time to do things for myself. For me, this includes doing my makeup, and wearing fabulous (to me) outfits. I get comments to the effect of “Oh, you look fancy!”, but really, I’m just getting back to what I’ve always loved. And as a result, I’m obsessed with nail polish (thanks to Anna). I’m having such a fun time with color, even if my polish job isn’t perfect.
I have a large custom crochet and knitting order. This was somewhat unexpected, but I’m thankful for the opportunity right now. I am hoping to acquire some new stitch treasuries soon so I can do some designing.
We went to the beach on Friday and two important things happened. Luis, who hates sand, actually came down to the water with me! And then Wren took what is now one of my favorite photos of myself.
I spent a fair amount of time assembling free art prints this weekend, deciding which of my own photos I wanted to print, and buying frames to create an art wall in my living room. I have a very colorful art wall above my desk full of rainbow kiddie art and a mix of small prints, but this one will be much larger. Thank goodness for pinterest inspiration.

Dumbo Arts Festival

treesalldance — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 12:03:29 +0000

Saturday afternoon, I headed to the Dumbo Arts Festival. On the way there, I dropped past my old elementary school which was hardly recognizable. It’s now a magnet school and they even have play equipment! When I went there, we had to kick rocks! Ok, maybe not, but it felt like it. There were tons of people outside Grimaldi’s as usual.

I swear, you have to get in line before you’re even hungry if you want to eat there! I headed to Pier 1 b/c there was also a dance festival happening and that was one of the stages.

After watching a dude hop around on one leg with a bucket of water sloshing around (not a modern dance fan) and then this adorable group, I walked over to the children’s area. There was a charging station, so I dropped my cell phone off and wandered around for a few hours, stumbling in and out of artist’s studios.

I even picked up a print for $1 at a sample sale at Sesame Letterpress.

I then met up with one of my longtime online friends for the first time. She’s also a native New Yorker (and an artist!) that moved away and just happened to be in town this weekend We have the same birthday and we both have two boys and two girls. So of course, we’re both supercool! Right? We went to superfine and were sort of disappointed with the limited menu between lunch and dinner, but made the best of it. We wandered the streets some more after eating, eventually making our way to Brooklyn Roasting Company. I don’t drink coffee, but the I love the smell.

After we said goodbye, I stumbled across Dumbelle, The Most Adorable Store Ever and knew immediately that I would have to check it out with Wren on our next trip. I mean, look at the paper dolls! And there were bunting, lanterns, and fringe garlands. I could live in that store!

All in all, Saturday was one of the most creatively inspiring days of my life and it really made me homesick.

More pictures here.