the asteroid belt

jungle batata

been cultivating this pantry-found treasure for a few days..... looks like something out of a fantastic jungle, like it might coil or recoil if you were to touch it's aubergine leaves

spent the first warm day of the year showing ry around the loop! i pride myself on my lengthy walking tours, but after wandering for hours we were both ready to duck into a pub for a cold one.

chicago's funny: with blustery threats of winter on its way, i deemed summer finished back in september. now the leaves have fallen and the warmth is gone from everything, but every so often the sun comes wandering back for a few days, as if to hug the city one more time before the ominous winter settles in.
and so i'm still wearing skirts without tights, thin shirts without sweaters, and walking to work on friday afternoons. chicago, i don't understand you, but i love you






photos: sasha alekseyeva

where have i been? sasha and andrey know- they followed me all around my neighborhood not too long ago.







photos: sasha alekseyeva

love my apartment on these autumn afternoons- the sun spills all over the place and the time is just right for spinning some vinyl... dug up two gems at the resale store last weekend and spent my sunday reading the sleeves.

not quite ready to let the summer leave, i suppose- found the only patch of sun on my makeshift terrace this morning and tried to make the most of these fleeting warm moments...




photos: sasha alekseyeva

how i spent my summer vacation: chicago edition

















with days and days of feeling uprooted and disjointed, i spent my chicago august seeking peace in the sunlight and under the moonshine. beautiful summer, i will miss you and think of you fondly when i'm bundled and bound in blankets in my bed, watching the winter wind howl outside my window... (i'm not ready!!!)

after everyone had left and things quieted down, i spent the first night in the painted lady playing my accordion and listening to it bounce off the big empty space of my vacant living room.


the painted lady is my new home, and the space has such an intriguing energy. my roommates are just as beautiful and rare as the place we inhabit, and i am so looking forward to the brilliant adventures we share in the year to come!
photos: sasha alekseyeva

...i'm baa-aaack!

matt taught me how to make unit origami the other day. first you must fold many many "units" out of tiny pieces of paper, and then very steadily put them together, corners into slots, sets of five, careful pressure. at first it seems random, you know- you put any piece anywhere it can fit. but by the end, when it's almost complete, it takes form and becomes quite clear where the missing links lie. in the end, if your chaos comes together just right, you successfully make a tiny masterpiece (mine is the lovely yellow one in front)!

matt explained this to me as we made them together (incidentally he's a very good teacher) and you know what i thought? i bet you know...

how like life!

well, after fifty years, they've done it! the blackhawks won the stanley cup last night in the sixth game, and i was lucky enough to be right in the thick of the excitement down in the gold coast. i won't pretend to be a lifelong hawks fan, but it was sweet to be part of such a long-awaited, hard-earned community event. check out some of the more serious fans i saw partying out by the sports bars on division street!

I planted these precious plantitas (zinneas in the clay pot, basil in the boot) the day I moved to Chicago, and with the help of the tiny shepherds, look how much they've grown in just two months! In just two months, look how much I've grown...

here in chicago the old rules of spring just didn't seem to apply this year: march came in like a lion and went out like a tiger, april showers brought may torrential downpours, you know.

but chicagoans, we've made it! SUMMER is finally here and i kicked off the weekend shaking my tambourine and my arms and my booty etc. with dear friends at foster beach at the full moon fire jam. best vibes in the city and the most liberating way to get over my long week of studying.

and p.s. i'm totally going to learn to spin poi, it's not even a question. oh, and to play the didgeridoo. obviously.

in honor of mother's day (albeit a little late! i know) i wanted to show you some old photos of my mom that i found digging around my grandma's house, which happens to be the same house my mom lived in when she was my age.


it's strange to think of her studying at the same kitchen table, laying out to read in the same backyard, making her morning tea on the same old stove.


it's strange to think of her before the weight of maternal responsibility dropped on her shoulders, to see her a little wild and free and with friends who were out of her life before even the idea of me came into the picture.


it's strange to see that she looks just like me! and that she once spent her time musing over music and sat on the floor and probably even sang just like me (these days, we love harmonizing to the radio on car trips).

makes me want to leave a great legacy of coolness for my unborn daughter, makes me want to dig through the old wardrobes next!