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!

how i spent my summer vacation on the east coast





















on porches and rooftops, in classrooms and forests, with crazy little kids and some even crazier old ladies- i return to chicago exhausted, but i have greatly cherished these weeks in this place that will never fail to feel like home.

spent the last weekend of my east coast summer romping around brooklyn with ry!









all the good flea bargaining, long walks, and supreme company were even enough to help me get over the death of my first and only car, tweety, whose engine finally blew en route to brooklyn at the old age of 16. tweety, rest in sweet peace- heaven knows you've earned it after so many years at my mercy.

made hiking plans with dan the other day but left the destination up to him- he's from a different neck of the woods, you know, and i do like to cover new ground.
but when he led me through the forest to an old and rusty fire tower on top of a mountain, my stomach sank a bit. i am very afraid of heights!
however! as the incurable humanist that i am, i sort of tried to shove my silly phobia aside and began to climb. with a good deal of deep breathing and dan spotting me a few steps behind, i eventually made it to the top, 1,400 feet above sea level.
THIS is what i saw!






it started drizzling while we were up there, but the wind and the view and the butterflies in my stomach felt great. i'm not much one for intense thrills but this afternoon of conquering my fears ran at just my speed!

went down to williamsburg for a great party at ben's on friday night- too bad i was so worn out from teaching young jedis all week (...i'll explain later...) that i literally fell asleep in my pretty dress smack in the middle of the fiesta (in terms of time and space). woke up on saturday, however, feeling quite refreshed! and proceeded to explore the outer-workings of ben's home.

ryan rose a tiny city of ruins up from the ashes of my bonfire pit the other day.








i always feel so privileged to watch my talented friends create, to see through their eyes and hands what mine might never know to look for...