i drool rebekah. amazing friend!
after admiring her work for almost 15 years, i am constantly amazed at everything she touches.
today i brought in four more roses. how can i resist photographing these sweet gems?!
and as life has slowed, i’ve enjoyed a little more time in the kitchen.
missing my sister, on her birthday weekend, and all her effortlessly healthy cooking — i tried to recreate a cabbage soup we had a few times during our 5 week time together last summer. it was customized to her liking from a recipe in the lovely cookbook “super natural everyday”. i didn’t remember everything she did — so i customized as i went and it turned out amazing! now, there is no picture of the final product because everything got too busy when it was finished, and well i forgot. but trust me, try it. delicious!
clean up, core & slice a full head of green cabbage into thin ribbons.
warm a couple spoonfuls of coconut oil in a large soup pot over medium.
stir in some finely ground sea salt. add about 4-6 gloves of chopped garlic and 3/4 of a large yellow onion that is thinly sliced. after they begin to smell amazing, about 3-5 minutes, add about 2 heaping tablespoons of curry powder. let these flavors blend for a little bit…
add about 5-6 cups of chicken (or vegetable) broth and a can of drained chickpeas. simmer for a while. add more salt if you feel like it needs it…
add the cabbage and let it collapse. keep on low heat for a while, letting all the flavors mix well while wilting the cabbage.
i had some bacon in the fridge so i cooked that up and added crumbled bacon & about a half cup of coconut milk right before serving.
i loved it. i felt so full and warm.
and the boys seemed to like it too!
so perfect – my children eat cabbage soup and pose perfectly for the camera.
kidding — i think they just picked the bacon out of it.
and i bribed them with a popsicle to pose for a picture. 
happy sunday!
eat cabbage & enjoy roses.
and bribe, i mean REWARD, your kids with healthy fruit popsicles.
lastly…
i have about 4-5 double delight rose buds right now…
i go check on them daily. quite the anticipation.
and about two weeks ago i planted about 50 sweet pea seeds.
oh heavens the excitement seeing the little greens popping out of the soil now.
be ready for obnoxious flower posts for the next several months. it’s uncontainable.
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there is a great deal to learn about roses.
but possibly… there is a more to learn from roses.
roses are quite complex in their nature and care.
the foundation for roses matters. 
their branches are imperfect in appereance, but they are strong, and purposeful.
rose bushes don’t do well spreading themselves too thin, trying to make too many roses.
if the branches go in too many different directions, the outcome is diminished.
so scraggly, useless branches need to be pruned. energy needs to be poured into creating a beautiful rose, not a bunch of branches of leaves.
if a rose bush is not tended, it does not reach it’s potential. in essence, it’s beauty is never revealed because the focus has been lost.
pruning is essential.
taking the bush down to the bare minimal.
clearing out the old, the dead, the useless.
however, hacking away at the bush carelessly can be damaging. pruning is a careful process. with thought & intention.
only then, can it come back healthy & ready to again create beauty.
the branches from which roses emerge are intense in their protection of the soft, delicate rose. they can really hurt. and while they seem like such a tough & thorny ugly bush, they are quite fragile. a unique juxtaposition those rose bushes are.
some rose bushes produce an abundance of roses… they are filled with bright green leaves & trailing roses everywhere. but when you look closely, the roses aren’t very pretty. they aren’t all that interesting. And mostly, they are not complex. However… from a distance, these blooming & leafy rose bushes are quite charming. And very popular. Because they produce a lot of roses. And often quantity wins over quality. I’m not saying I’m not a fan of these — I quite like them too, for a certain purpose. I just find it so interesting that what appears great from a distance & has a lot of popularity is not what is most beautiful, unique, and complex.
Other rose bushes produce very few roses. but those roses are rich, complex, smell beautiful, and are far superior in beauty. those bushes from a distance are not very charming. they take a lot of work…
i only wish my grandma was here to teach me her lessons, what she had learned.
i look at these beauties and think about why our generation has a reputation for ripping them out of old gardens so often.
and i wonder what it was, about these roses, that had previous generations loving them.
possibly an appreciation & a respect for beautiful things that take hard work and time.
and our generation’s desire to have a lot… that looks good… from a distance…
possibly…
well anyways… i hear roses are coming back. and i think we are all getting it little by little. i hope.
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we all love to be inspired — and my friend corey set up a blog meant to inspire with different creative contributors… i’m up over there, pretty sweet.
doing something super basic & not fancy that i love to do. simple hostessing of friends and sharing a meal together.
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it’s a new year and i’ve already started getting several questions about when some workshops will be happening – and i’m super excited to be expanding and developing this part of what i do.
the other day someone asked me about why their pictures without a flash weren’t coming out – and i was almost embarrassed how excited i got talking through all the ideas and options of how to develop photographs without the use of a flash – of understanding how to use light & your settings… i realized then, we need to set up some workshops and get together over coffee or wine and create, learn, and inspire together!
this will be the third year i will be offering workshops — usually they are under the radar, clients & friends only, word of mouth. this year i will be doing more – so that more people can come.
about the workshops:
- takes place in late February & March
- three hour workshop with a focus on going deeper emotionally & personally into why you want to photograph in the first place
- with that foundation, workshops are broken into three parts : 1. technical/knowing your camera, 2. practice (on models), 3. explore post processing & digital tips
- only 4-6 participants per workshop
- two levels : 1. Beginner Workshop 2. Intermediate/Advanced Workshop (not intended for professional photographers but I welcome you if you want to come)
$250 per workshop or a combo of both workshops for $400
- to register, email me – or comment on this post with your interest.
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But I would be so very interested if you ever decided to offer an online workshop. Your work is just stunning!in honor of martin luther king jr. day – my son’s first grade class voiced their own dreams.
i have a dream:
“…that there were no guns in the world.”
“…that Martin Luther King was still alive”
“…for everyone to be happy”
“…that no one would litter”
“…that there were no more bad guys”
“…that everyone had food”
“…that everyone would be nice to each other”
“…that everyone would share and be kind to each other”
“…that no one would kill animals”
“…that people would be kind and thoughtful to each other”
“…that no one would kill other people”
“…that no one would die anymore”
“…that more homes would be built for people who need them”
“…that sickness wasn’t real”
may we never cease dreaming and believing.
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with all the healthy goals that come with a new year beginning… i think the sunset with an old friend was the perfect dessert to a kale dinner.
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join in – or view others here : …so i sipped some re-heated coffee in the tidy guest room and listened to “gregory alan isakov” before pick-up. 
now let the wild rumpus begin.
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