12 Days of Xmas in ’12! Day 5!

I’m kind of a treehugger.  I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever hugged a tree, per se, but I’ve touched a few cedars longingly.  I mean, shit, they were asking for it with their cool bark.  Have you seen it?  Up close?    It’s like a cable knit sweater!  Trees are awesome.  And, this time of year, we get to have them in our houses!  Score!  I also live by a pretty great produce stand, and this time of year they sell trees.  Walking by it this time of year is like an olfactory rager.

Oh and speaking of trees, here’s today’s Xmas song of the day, “All These Trees” by Passion Pit.

So my tree hugging earthiness wasn’t always the case in my life. I met up with an old friend from law school last year who, after I told her that our hang out schedule would depend on what in my garden needed processing, said that I had changed.  She said that all I did in law school was smoke cigarettes, drink beer, and listen to classic rock.  Ok, so yeah I kinda did.  I’d like to add skirtchasing (feminist skirts!), putting on hilarious law school comedy shows, and eating pizza to that list but it’s pretty accurate.  It was a different time!  I was in my 20s and lived in NYC, man, come on!  Now, I kinda like gardening and hiking along with my beer, and making my own pizza, and I have a feminist skirt at home.  We like hiking.  And yeah, I know the joke. I thought I didn’t like hiking until I realized it was just walking.  But it’s walking amongst the trees and all they bring that I like.  Point is, when you hike, you can see trees.  You can hug them if you want, whatevs.

I saw a lot of trees this year.  Hey, I live in the Pacific Northwest, that’s how we roll.

I saw eagles in trees.

On the Skagit River, January 2012

I saw owls in trees.

Lincoln Park, West Seattle, February 2012

I saw snow in the apple tree in my yard.

My crib. January 2012.

I saw decaying apples hanging from wintering trees like ornaments in eastern Washington in January.

Tieton, WA.  January 2012.

I saw the apple tree in my yard blossom.

My yard. April 2012.

I saw Double S snooze under a tree shaped lantern.

MO Botanical Garden. June 2012.

I saw trees surrounding the beautiful blue springs of Missouri.

Missouri. June 2012.

I kayaked amongst the Redwoods on the Russian River.

Russian River, CA. August 2012.

I realized this year that one of the best places to see trees are National Parks.  I’m kind of in love with the national parks system right now.  This year I went to Yosemite with Double S’s fam, hiked at Mt. Rainier and took my family there for the first time and to Olympic National park again cuz they liked it that much the first time. And this winter we’re planning the epic winter trip to Yellowstone.  I’m psyched, yos!

I saw the mighty sequioas at the Mariposa Grove in Yosemite.

Mariposa Grove. Yosemite NP. August 2012.

I saw tree lined paths at Mt. Rainier.

Spray Park, Mt. Rainier. September 2012.

I saw mossy giants and nurse logs at Olympic National Park.

Hall of Mosses Trail, Hoh Rainforest, Olympic National Park. September 2012.

And, finally, I picked apples from the apple tree in my yard.  I could make a reference to the Giving Tree here, but I don’t like the little asshole in that story.

West Seattle. September 2012.

And, again, we have a tree in our living room.  I love smelling it when I walk in.  After a shitty week, try to have a good weekend, friends.

Passion Pit…All These Trees

12 Days of Xmas in ’12! Day Two!

Happy friday, friends! At this time of year, a lot of people are making things.  Baking cookies.  Making wreaths.  DIY’ing their gifts for their friends and loved ones.  Me, I do a little of the above.  I make stollen with my dad and traditional family dips and cookies with my mom when I go home to St. Louis.  I make an annual xmas mixtape (duh doy).  I make some presents for Double S and my family.  But what I really like to do at this time of year is see what actual talented artistic people make and do.   Double S and I like to do this by hitting up some of the many holiday arts/crafts fairs that are in the Seattle area this time of year.

Last weekend, we went to the huge and scene-y Urban Craft Uprising and the smaller and scene-y Art Under $100 in South Park.  Both are great.  There was hip embroidery!  There were t-shirts and pillows with amazing screenprinting!  There was letterpress!  There were stamps, clothes, cards (tons of cards!), leatherwork, wallets made from the upholstery of old cars, woodwork, and so on! Think less grandma and Avon, and more tattooed folks who went to art school.  What we’re gonna do when most grandmothers are tattooed, I’ll leave that for you to figure out.  As I strolled around, I heard someone wail to their friend, “Oh man!  I don’t know how to do anything. “  Yeah, you and me both, sister! Here were some of my faves from those shows, you know, by people who know how to do things.

From Murmur Fremo

From Cellar Door Mercantile

I have this up at my house! From Irene Akio.

From Emily Rose in Portland.  I love this.

Also from Cellar Door Mercantile

Wow, I like art with animals.  You should see our dining room, which is filled with almost all animal art.

Yeah, so I felt like I couldn’t make anything either.  The stuff at these shows always a) bums me out that I suck at art, and/or b) inspires D0uble S and I to make tons of plans to make art.  Sometimes we follow through!  See the big decoupage explosion of 2007!  Some of our ideas remain lost to the ages or perhaps materialized as just a forgotten book of cool embroidery patterns bought on a whim on a trip to Whidbey Island.  True story.  We’ve got more ideas for next year.  Double S may finally take that pottery class!

So, it’s Christmastime to me when the crafts start being rolled out and the ideas start to flow, just as much as when I see trees and lights and sip my boozy nog.  Speaking of things that remind us that this is Christmas, here is a sweet little song, “This is Christmas,” by The Eastern Sea.

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I like this song.  Click above on that player (cuz I’m also super psyched that I just learned how to do that!) and hear them give a litany of christmas-y things.   Like this, “This is Christmas.  This is magic.  This is paper.  This is plastic.  This is last minute / shopping mall traffic. This is Christmas.   This is cold weather.  This is jackets.  This is sweaters. This is going /  home together.  This is Christmas.”

The Eastern Sea is from Austin, TX.  Which explains why they think of jackets and sweaters.  They don’t need no stinkin’ parkas!

And if you’re an Austinite, The Eastern Sea is doing an xmas show tomorrow night.  They also have released a full length Christmas album, The Eastern Sea’s First Christmas, with the likes of classics such as “Christmas Don’t Be Late, and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” as well as the above song and a few more originals.  Check it out!

And hey, I know I said I can’t make anything, and I even told you yesterday that I wasn’t feeling like taking on many projects this year, but I actually still kinda did, now that I think about it.  I can do things!

Here’s what I made in my kitchen in 2012, besides the ramen, butter, and sourdough I already told you about here earlier in the year.

This is bagels!

This is pretzels!

This is homemade fries!

This is burgers /  I ground the meat myself!  Editor’s note: These were kinda the best burgers ever, amirite, growandresist?

This is amazing summer breakfast sandwiches/  that will change your life!

 

This is tomatoes and garlic we grew!

 

This is what we did with them!

This is Mexican style pickled carrots that I finally perfected!

This is pickled eggs.

The bonus part is, if I can continue on with this whole blogging thing when its not about xmas music, I can write about All These Things I Can Do® next year.

Have a great weekend everybody!

The Eastern Sea…This is Christmas