tea for two..or three..

{edamame at tao of tea}

there are about 567,894 reasons why i love portland, oregon.

(maybe more, actually..)

and

on a recent trip to lovely pdx,

(for my birthday, yay!)

i took my mom and sister to one of my very very favorite places for tea.

(it's also one of my top reasons for wanting to move to portland..)

it's the original location of

the tao of tea

***

we popped in out of the rain

for a quick cup of tea..

and found that we really didn't want to leave.

it's the sort of place that you just want to linger

and soak up the zen japanese atmosphere

it's so calming and

the beautiful menu is so tempting..

so we stayed

***

for 3 pots of tea

and edamame

***

and these delicate little wraps with spinach leaves

peanuts, toasted chopped coconut with almonds (amazing combination),

tiny bits of fresh lime, fresh ginger and onion.

***

and we were happy.

(and i was especially happy to share this with my beautiful sister and mom.

..thanks for a wonderful birthday guys!)

xox

if you're in the portland area, i highly recommend visiting the original belmont location

or better yet, wait until i'm there and we'll go together.

in the meantime,

have a great weekend full of things you love.

xo

the sweetness of goodbyes and hellos

***

hello dear friends!

oh, i can't believe that it's been almost a month since my last post.

believe me,

i have thought about you guys a lot

and thought about writing..

(oh so many things to write about..too many maybe..)

if you could see behind the curtain..you'd find 6 or 7 started,

but unfinished little postings.

***

the past few weeks have been full

with lots of thinking and feeling

and not a lot of saying.

it was a windy month full of sadness and change.

where i just let my thoughts float and fly away on the breeze..

lots of reflection

and letting go.

***

i said goodbye to my dear old sweet kitty, flipina.

my little girl who had been my pillow and song-partner for 15 years.

(she would always come and sing next to me whenever i'd sing or cry..

she especially loved 'black bird' by the beatles..you know the one)

i said goodbye to my dear aunt as well.

my aunt who lived in guadalajara

and taught us how to make fresh tamales each christmas dinner.

who loved color so much and is probably the reason i ever started making jewelry.

there was a lot of sadness

and so much beauty in it all too.

***

there was lots and lots of reminiscing

and reliving so many memories and so much love.

there's a quiet beauty in tucking those sweet memories in safely into our hearts

feeling thankful for them

and knowing they'll always be there.

***

looking at the explosion of spring flowers everywhere

(is it just me, or are there more blooms this year??)

has me thinking about the nature of change.

seeing buds popping

flowers blooming in all of their glory

and then fading and dropping off so that the trees can grow.

it's an amazingly gorgeous process

when you think about it.

life is change, i suppose.

and i think i'm okay with that.

wishing you a lovely wednesday.

see you friday.

xox

secrets and surprises..

a

{anna ritskhe}

hi all!

just popping in quickly to say hello.

and to say that i have a secret

(how horrible am i??!)

i honestly love blabbing my secrets

especially when i'm excited about them..

but

this one i just have to keep to myself for the moment.

okay,

i'll tell you atleast this much..

i'm being interviewed by a magazine as a featured artist... this afternoon.

oop. i have to stop there,

because once i get started..

well, you know.

more to come as things develop though, i promise.

in the meantime have a gloriously gorgeous wednesday

full of surprises large and small.

xoxo

(extra x's and o's today..)

just because

*

because it's monday

***

and because it was a long weekend full of sick pets and vet visits

and because that got me thinking about how much

our furry babies mean to us..

how sweet and hilarious

and full of love they always are

no matter what..

***

and because they can always make us laugh..

and because it's always nice to

start your week off with a smile...

..a few hilariously charming and adorable photos styled by cynthia altoriso

in honor of our little furry friends.

wishing you a happy monday!

xo

*photographed by shaw & leach

backdrops by charles broderson

***photographed by charles broderson

backdrops by charles broderson

green is good

{jennifer morris}

in my wanderings around the neighborhood yesterday

i spied some things that i've been waiting (patiently?) for

for a very very long time..

{jennifer morris}

tiny buds, little grasses, sweet ferns (life!)

were pushing up and out of the ground, out of tree branches, bushes, everywhere.

and oh

how happy this made me.

i mean really really happy...giddy in fact.

{jennifer morris}

so giddy that i ran home (mmm..probably more like skipping, actually..)

and immediately started working on

new earrings and pendants

inspired by the new glorious green-ness.

these earrings were the first that i finished..

and there will be more sprouting up in my bead shop

over the weekend.

my musings, on wednesday, of far away beaches and romantic things

are still very much alive and will continue to inspire me throughout the next few months..

it's just that i can now happily add to my collection

inspiration from things closer to home as well.

wishing you a gorgeous holiday weekend

full of inspiration and all sorts of things that make you happy (or even giddy..) too.

xo