Golden Light, Green Trees, Perfect Kids

I've spent the past few week writing poetry at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, but I haven't wanted to put my camera down. The light is bonkers gorgeous, and there's something about the green landscape of the southeast that makes my bones feel good. I've been lucky enough to snag a few other fellows and their families for some snaps here and there. Summertime!

At home in Durham: what I ate (who I snuggled)

Now that my hometown of Durham, NC has become kind of a destination for eating (or something), friends planning to go down south often ask me for recommendations about where to eat in the Triangle Area. They are inevitable sorry to have done so, because I usually respond with a list so jam-packed that it's all but impossible to complete, as well as a series of colorful threats and inducements designed to press them into following my food itinerary down to the letter. Obviously, this is a ploy for vicarious eating.

When I headed down to NC for my sister's college graduation, I had a pretty good idea of where I wanted to hit up, starting with my own Mama's kitchen, where everything is more delicious than everywhere else. Beyond that, there were ramps panini with Emma at Toast, pastrami sandwiches with Izzy at Neil's Deli (followed by ice americanos at Open Eye), yet more iced americanos and brownies (and photo snapping) at Guglhupf, a spicy dark and stormy followed by pasta with peas and cream at Antonia's (E's graduation dinner), and a delicious picnic prepared by Emma and her Carrboro housemates, which featured fresh watermelon and hot pigs in a blanket. 

 In an ideal world I would have made it to The Parlour (scoop of goat cheese, scoop of beet), Cocoa Cinnamon (Middle Eastern Iced Coffee), Vimala's (dosas), Old Havana (El Caney) and Scratch (a cortado and shaker lemon pie) as well, but I am only one woman.

After each meal, I collapsed into a pile with my sisters, fell asleep, and arose several hours later, restored. Truthfully, pretty much everything is awesome so long as I can lie around in piles with my sisters after I eat it. From now on, my instructions to those looking for great eats in Durham are as follows:

1. Run or walk the Al Buehler Trailer (fully optional, important insofar as it augments the appetite and cultivates a serene demeanor).

2. Eat at the restaurant (or home) of your choice (so long as its from my pre-approved list, and so long as you take notes so that I can enjoy it vicariously later).

3. Locate snugglers, lie around in piles. 

See how easy that is? I'd say you could borrow my sisters for lying around in piles, but you can't, because they are my sisters and they are mine.

New Small Friends Through the Lens

One of the great happinesses of having long-term friends is watching them become more themselves over time, and in new ways. 

When I was in NC this past week, I had the chance to watch some beloved friends play the new and gorgeous roles of parents and grandparents to awesome small people. I'm pretty sure I got teary behind my camera at each one of those sessions at least once, seeing how the best qualities of people so dear to me are now poured into the care and keeping of rad small humans. Life just keeps happening! It's pretty cool.

What I See When I See You: My Isabelle

A few minutes staring at my amazing sister, a handful of photos that reveal (hopefully) the strong, hilarious, brilliant, huge heart that she is.

A Few Things I'm Excited About: Exam Week Edition

-It is Exam Week, a special time of grading and eating takeout food. I have alternated between indian food and pizza, rage-full grading (usually something I did wrong) and joyful grading (usually something my students wrote awesomely). I photographed a a few family sessions and a newborn session, which shot me full of sustaining endorphins. In the in-betweens I was also well pleased by the things below, mostly superficial or consumptionist in nature, as befits this otherwise solemn time of Assigning Students Numbers that Will Haunt Them Forever.

-Call the Midwife! Season Three! After the grades go in!

-I gave into the latest Ugly Shoe Trend and ordered Saltwater Sandals for Isabelle and myself in tan and red, respectively. They do not look ugly to me, but then, neither do my Danskos or my 22-year-old stuffed monkey. They are very comfy.

-Nickle Creek! New Album! 

-So much gratitude to the good people at the Ploughshares Blog for this article.

-And, in the same universe, This twitter feed

Los Feliz Day Care @LosFelizDayCare · Apr 25

Certain families have sent Subway sandwiches for lunch and it's not OK. Knox was found chewing on his yoga mat and we believe this is linked.

-I went picture-taking at Union Market a few evenings ago with my wonderful friend Alicia, and afterward we rounded up an awesome dinner consisting of chamomile cocktails from Buffalo & Bergen, various smoked fish from Neopol, and PB&J ice cream from Trickling Springs and we sat outside and ate it all smugly, as hipsters do, and we now officially recommend these foods.

-Finally, something about my skin? My face got really dry during the endless winter, which I didn't really know how to deal with. I am generally fearful re putting moisturizer on my oily face, but I tried a few drops of the rosehip oil that Rachel got for me last year in Argentina and it was awesome. Now I use it every day. It absorbs really well, doesn't feel slick or gross, and is very soothing. So. That's my recommendation if your skin is like mine.

photo: awesome woman who starting voguing for me from her car window at Union Market. I wish I could have photographed her more.