tumult;

Right now is a crazy time for me. Finishing college. Moving onto a farm. Becoming a caretaker. Being in a band. Working two jobs, while interning and being a full-time student. It feels like it will never end, but i think i'm coming out of a hibernation period and starting to participate in and enjoy the wonderful olympia community that i live in!
So here's to enjoying the tumult and trying to notice fall along the way!

Ghost town;

If you, dear reader, are interested in the swedish folk bands, I highly reccomend first aid kit. I'm obsessed, this is no lie. I just want to listen to their music all day every day. They will be in Seattle in two weeks... and I would love to go but limited funds keep me just watching this video over and over again. Thanks for making such beautiful music!

Interiors;

Being down in california and seeing eric's parents and sisters houses started me thinking about how much work I want to do with with my space. The above dreamy Wyeth painting captures the tenure of the late summer lull in which i find myself. Already scrambling for winter as the leaves begin to turn and always wishing for the resources to make some project.

First Aid Kit

Found myself falling in love with the nostalgia for american folk music that is coming out of Sweden right now. First Aid Kit is a sister duo that write some great songs and have the voices to back it up!



For more great swedish singers check out The Tallest Man on Earth.

inspiration;

I've been meaning to publish a list of my current inspiration. So here it is!
vintage americana;
nothing. nothing. nothing inspires me lately quite like old-school americana. I was thrilled to see airsteam trailers in action during our road trip back up from California.

A.A. Bondy;
He's an amazing american sonwriter. His lyrics are beautiful. His guitar style is old-school-southern meets 90's alternative. Most of all his songs are perfect and his second album is even better than his first!

Andew Wyeth;
His landscapes and portraits make me heart hiccup.


The aesthetic for "Days of Heaven" was inspired by his paintings.

Fall is coming...

Eating seasonally has brought me to living seasonally...and for fall that means getting into designing and sewing and knitting my clothes. Lucky for me fall is also the fashion world's time for change. All the DIY bloggers get inspired, this inspires me and -----voila!!! (I've especially been inspired by Tavi, Katie, Miss James and Esther, thank you all for being so lovely and talented!)
Fall is a magical time to me. I moved from seasonless southern california in fall of 2007. September air, falling leaves and learning about layers all bring me back to the wonder of experiencing my first fall. I love the preserving. The bounty of the season and the joy of gorging yourself on fresh fruit for the last time until next year. I love the subtle changes in light. How the whole town changes and how you can smell all of this before it happens....
I love fall. And this fall will be my last as a college student. It is an introspective time of year. Full of improvements and preparation for the winter ahead.

We've also been in band mode. Which means me and the banshee get to spend some pretty good time together. I really love playing the banjo. It's such an unsophisticated instrument that i never feel embarassed to tell people that it's what I play!

Inspiration;

If you believe in the dichotomies, you may find yourself to be a contradictory person...I guess I do!.... I'm deeply, weirdly practical: I love fixing plumbing and irrigation, I delight in very technical baking projects, I love sewing and mending and knitting and biking... all for very practical reasons.

Parallel to this practical aspect runs a deep satisfaction in beauty. I love (love love love love love) fashion, painting, cooking without a recipe, drawing, playing music, singing, dancing and can obsess for hours over the lighting in one photo i find in the blogosphere (just ask my boyfriend...). In my early college years these parallel aspects of my personality wanted to become warring ideologies, but the more they develop the more I realize that they work in tangent to keep me inspired!

So I propose a toast (if indeed there is anyone here to toast with!) : To the beauty of necessity and the necessity of beauty!

Here is a list of what has been inspiring me lately:

tractors

kitchens,

braids, poppies, late summer, prairie dresses,

early 1900's fashion,

long hair,

aprons,

plant breeding,

jersey cows (<3>

the virgin mary,

homesteaders,

mothers,

grandmothers,

seeds,

canning,

butchers,

oxfords,

menswear,

beards,

soil,

the northwest,

chickens,

the tallest man on earth,

first aid kit,

joanna newsom,

blossom dearie,

the accordian,

ruby red slippers,

farm boots,

garden clogs,

straw hats,

long skirts,

parasols,

and of course my parallel: