How is Christmas two weeks away?

We've been so busy this year that the whole Holiday season has sort of crept up on us.

But this weekend, we went shopping in town to all of our favorite groceries and butchers to pick up food we don't get out in the suburbs. The Vietnamese grocery on Argyle, the Greek shop just off Clark on Foster, the German grocer/butcher in Lincoln Square.

And as weird as that sounds, that will put me in the holiday mood. The holidays are all about love and gift giving and community and eating well. . . well, we're going to eat well all week!

Renegade 2011

It feels like Dan and I have been going and going and going for months straight--traveling for the holidays, Dan's shows, friends' rock shows, weekend work for me--all in funnel down to the Chicago Holiday Renegade Craft Fair. And every bit of it was worth it.

The fair went really well. I met loads of lovely, charming folks (both sellers and buyers!) and I sold a good chunk of rattles and mitts and scarflettes. . . even a little luchador.

Here's the gorgeous booth my man built for me (that a few other vendors claimed jealousy of) with the new name banner I put together this fall.



On both sides of us were incredibly nice, incredibly talented artists.

To our left was the Anne Benjamin of Mok Duk, whose illustrations and posters were some of the best at the fair (she, Jay Ryan, and Laura George are neck and neck for me). She also makes beautiful bespoke wedding invitations:

I totally got some of these small prints as Christmas gifts for my niece and nephew (which I can totally say here, because they are too tiny to read yet. . . )



To our right was Reuse First--a couple that also prints illustration work, makes creatively bound blank books. . . and the total hit at Renegade, succulents and cacti and candles in recycled fine alcohol bottles. They source their bottles from local bars, and as beautiful as liquor bottles are, it makes total sense. They were swamped by customers all week.


And then across the way was a Minnesotan beekeeper--Worker-b--selling all things bee-related: honey, lip balm, wax, etc. Their booth bee was ridiculously cute. I don't feel like I can cheat on my brother bee keeper with other keeper's stuff, but it's still always encouraging to see other keepers out there doing their thing!


And then upstairs, I was knocked out by Rachelle Vasquez's scarves. Truth be told, I'm not sure I would wear them as scarves. They're pretty expensive as scarves go and I'm such a wuss in the cold that I need a scarf that covers every inch of my neck and lower chest and ears and. . .

But these are totally cheap for what I think they actually might be, which is fine art. Just crochet the animals and then frame these up in gorgeous barn wood shadow frames, and this artist could sell these for $700 to $900 in a gallery show. Easy. The craftsmanship is amazing and I was totally jealous of her skills.

Renegade is Coming Up!

This coming weekend, fivetrees will have its very own table at the Renegade Holiday Craft Fair!

Dec. 3 + 4, 11am-6pm
Pulaski Park Fieldhouse




Hope to see you there!

garage graffiti

Saw this walking between meetings at work on the inner wall of a garage.

Totally beautiful.

The Summer Just Evaporated

The year flew by, and most of it was terrible. I like trying to find the silver lining, but it was really hard this year.

But I just found these photos on a camera that I had for forgotten I had taken. . . and it makes things look pretty good. . .

. . .

All new houses built within the last decade on the Outer Banks look like this:


And because hurricanes tend to blow in every few years and destroy older homes, more and more houses on the Outer Banks look like this--though often built in spearmint green, pink, pineapple, as if the OBX is a slightly more northerly outpost of Miami beach.

Most houses on the OBX when I was a kid looked really differently than this. The grand homes had high sloped dark green roof lines and were covered in dark grey weathered shingles with white trim around windows and doors. Usually they had wrap-around deeply shaded porches and every window was covered by a green shutter--propped open on a green stick when weather was fair. The lesser homes, were lowslung modern concrete block houses with profiles so short that the dunes protected them from the worst winds of incoming storms. All houses built to be cool before air conditioning took off. Houses built to blend into a island of sand and sea oats. Houses built by people who knew, unless the weather was bad, you wouldn't be spending much time in them anyway, and so, built sturdy modest getaways for families to nestle into for a stolen week or two each summer.

A few still exist, but they're a dying breed. . .

There was sun. I swear.

Walk on the Beach

On the yearly family vacation at the Outer Banks. We usually stay in the quiet still of the Southern end of Hatteras Island, but Hurricane Irene damaged all of the routes in in ways that we hope aren't permanent or crippling.

So, this year, we headed north to Duck. Duck is not our kind of town--more expensive, while being really packed in tightly. None of us quite understand why it's considered so fancy except for the exorbitant pricing. Yesterday, I saw a 4 oz. bag of pistachios for $8.99. One red pepper at the big grocery store? $2.99. Silly.

But it's still the Outer Banks. It's still the Atlantic. It's still fresh seafood and time with the family. So, we're gritting our teeth and having a lovely time.

The first day was overcast and a little drizzly, but if it's not outright pouring, there's no excuse to stay inside during vacation. So, Ma, Pa, and I headed out to the beach for a long walk to the pier.


Pelicans are out in full force travelling south in big groups. A big Noreaster was blowing on our first full day and the pelicans were mostly gliding.

Even the dunes want to extract a price from you in Duck. He he he.
Seriously, though, unexploded ordinance? Terrifying. We stayed on the beach. I'm hoping, though, that this is the length to which wildlife folks are now going to protect birds' and turtles' nests--scary signs to keep you out of breeding grounds.

The Core of Army Engineers builds piers that look an awful lot more stable than the piers on the rest of the island. So straight and solid.

Lots of cool stuff blown up on the beach by successive storms. . .

No one could ever claim that our L.P. is not a handsome wee dog. He is small and cute and good looking.

But many also know that he is an obsessive little guy. Tenacious and mostly interested in chasing things, all things. . . any thing. Today, he pulled this runner bean from the bottom of a vine in the back yard and brought it to me to play fetch.


Not surprisingly, once thrown, that bean was pretty hard to find. . .

September Farmer's Market

It's all I could do this summer to fight the monster of glumness. But without fail, the farmer's market was there to brighten each Saturday. . . and then to fill the week with food that I am sure is helping me heal and get healthy again.


Right now, my own garden is cranking out herbs and tomatoes and string beans and hot peppers.


The farmer's market is augmenting that harvest with broccoli and melon and peaches and the first apples of the season. It's going to be fall soon and the fruit will drop off, replaced by butternut squash and pumpkins and chard and onions and leaks and spinach. But I'm certainly enjoying the last hurrah of summer.

New Cowls at Fivetrees

I love making cowls and mitts. Both give me an opportunity to play with color or new lace patterns I haven't tried before in finite projects. And there's such an immediate pay off. A day's work and there's something beautiful and complete to show for the time spent.

Anyhoo, here are a few of the new cowls in my fivetrees shop: