Author Archives: elizatwist

Ideas for Merry Making

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As the season of making merry is nearly upon us I thought that I’d share a couple ideas for throwing a studio party that I’ve developed over the years.  Nothing big, but still worthy of sharing, I think.  Originally, this party would happen in early December, but in time I realized that late January was a better time.  The holiday crunch time was over and since January tends to be a busy time in the studio it ends up being a good way to celebrate new beginnings, old friends, and to light up the darkness of mid-winter.  This also keeps the celebration holiday-neutral and more seasonally based which I like.

As is probably clear, I’m a crafty kind of gal.  This means that for me, parties are all about the decorations.  My annual studio party involves hundreds of snowflakes that I cut out of paper, strung together along fishing line, and taped to the ceiling.  In the dark evenings, the snowflakes cast shadows all over the walls of my studio, it was quite magical.  The decorations were up for the party only.  I didn’t want them to distract from our work in the studio, and I wanted to keep the magic of the evening contained.  As the years went on and people wanted to learn how to make their own snowflakes, I started another tradition of a snowflake cutting party.  This one happened in the fall and involved homemade donuts.  (Because we also like to eat).  Decorations, are clearly not needed for a party.  But I do think that some kind magical tradition makes such events more special over the years.  (No photos of the blizzard exist, seeing is the only believing in this case).

I also developed a menu for the party that I tried to stick to throughout the years.  This involved home-baked goodies (alfajores in honor of Sari, dried fruitcake because it’s delicious and nutritious, snowflake cutout cookies for obvious reasons, and a special chocolate mint cake from my own family’s tradition), and a minimal mezze.  I chose to keep the offerings fairly healthy, and alcohol-free.  I wanted to strike a balance between sharing holiday fun and honoring the goals of a healthy lifestyle that go along with maintaining a Pilates practice.  (Yes, I realize that alcohol is a standard within the Pilates tradition, but I’m not much of a drinker and many clients over the years have indicated that they prefer alcohol-free social events).

In the first couple years of this tradition, because my clients all had individual relationships with me, everybody wanted to talk to me, and only me.  I invented a Pilates quiz game to serve as something of an ice-breaker which we’d play for a few minutes every twenty minutes of the party.  As the years went on, my clients developed their own relationships amongst each other and the community surrounding my studio took on a life of its own.  At this point the games weren’t necessary and I could relax and enjoy the fun rather than be the center of attention, a role with which I never felt completely comfortable.

Lastly, I want to share the idea for converting my reformers and high mats into party seating.  Seeing the benches at Brooke Siler’s studio many years ago gave me the idea.

BEFORE:before

 

AFTER:
after

1).  With your final layout plan, place cleaning towels on the floor underneath where you plan to have the benches so that the wheels of the carriages won’t leave marks on the floor.  2).   Remove the handles from the straps and disconnect the straps from the rear wheels.  Keeping the clean parts facing out, wrap the straps around the shoulder blocks.  3).  Undo the springs and lift the carriage out of the frame, place it carefully on the towel.  4).  Move the frame over the carriage.  Fold in the foot bar.  Place strips of a yoga mat along the frame for some stability.  Place a high mat on the frame to make a bench.

THE STEPS IN PICTURES:
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5

Up later this week two recipes from our annual celebration to light up the dark season: delicious and nutritious dried fruit cake, and chocolate mint squares to enjoy only once a year.  One of the things that I love about the Pilates community is the level of creativity that it boasts.  I’d love to hear other folks merry traditions!  Please share yours in the comments.

The Universality of Creativity

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We are all sculptors and painters, and our material is our own flesh and bones. -Henry David Thoreau

Romana encouraged us to lead full and diverse lives.  I remember that clearly….
During my years of study at university, when I was doing a lot thinking before having much real world experience, I became enamored with the idea that everything is connected and that no matter what a person studies there are common grounds of concluding thought.  Put another way, there are many courses of study to arrive at the same general ideas about living life.

Mostly because of this over-arching idea, but also because I have always tended to be a creative person with many interests, I often end up seeing similarities and common threads where others don’t.  I have learned to hold steady on my course despite not always being well received when sharing my thoughts.  Mostly because I’ve got to stay true to myself but also because in the instances where I’ve had the fortitude to inquire further into why my thoughts were received flatly, generally the person in question’s perspective is so different than mine that it’s obvious we wouldn’t have the same viewpoint.

Since delving even deeper into myself with my foray into motherhood, and occasionally peeking out into the broader world to see what others are up to, I’ve come to realize something about ourselves, we are pretty disconnected.  To me this disconnection takes on many forms, from nature, from ourselves, from our close relations, from our colleagues, from our kids, the list could go on.  I believe that a symptom of that disconnect is to compartmentalize how we express ourselves.

If there’s one personal theme that has come up again and again for me as I work together with my husband to lay the foundation of our family life, it’s integration.  Everything all together under the roof of our home.  Everything of ourselves in the dynamics of our relationship.  Everything that we care about must have a place.  Every aspect of our bodies, minds, and spirits must be served and cared for.  Every person, every being if we include the cat – which we do, has an important role to play in the theater of our family life – and in the world beyond.  Everything is everything.  That’s the sort of life that I strive to live everyday.

What I write about here, hopefully reflects that.  Because in many ways this space is supporting me in fulfilling that vision of a whole life lived in the community of loved ones.  Toward that end, I want to make a point which I’ve attempted to make before about the connection of creativity and our place in the natural world.  I admire greatly people who craft regularly, and people who live more in communion with nature than I do.  By in large, those are the bloggers who I follow here in cyberspace because that type of blogging seems to be the most prevalent.  With my Pilates Body Boost project, I began to connect with others from my own profession of Pilates online.  And now, I feel something of an obligation to regularly write about Pilates here.  Believe me, I’ve got plenty to say on the topic, with new ideas popping up daily in the studio.  But right now, something else in me is asking for a little bit of room to express itself.  It seems that the part of me that loves to sew is really demanding these days and everywhere I look, a new project presents itself.  So fair warning, there may be some clothing posts coming up.  But Pilates is always in the mix.  Even if it’s just in my daily mat.

And since I’m on the topic, I’d like to point out all the ways that practicing Pilates is a creative enterprise.  If there is a group of fundamental human activities (I’m sure that somebody has put such a list together), then creating is surely on it.  I cannot think of a more important expression of the human spirit than creativity.  I’m thinking of this excerpt:
“In a way, her strangeness, her naiveté, her craving for the other half of her equation was the consequence of an idle imagination. Had she paints, or clay, or knew the discipline of the dance, or strings, had she anything to engage her tremendous curiosity and her gift for metaphor, she might have exchanged the restlessness and preoccupation with whim for an activity that provided her with all she yearned for. And like an artist with no art form, she became dangerous.”  – Toni Morrison, Sula

And I’m thinking of the wonderful sense of satisfaction we each feel when we make something happen.  Our bodies are rich material for creating, they are literally putty in the hands of our minds.  Its just that mostly we are ignorant to this.  Instead of being conscious about how our bodies reflect our thoughts and deeds, we are moulding them unconsciously.

This became very apparent to me when I began more serious dance training in college.  Looking at myself in the mirror, in skin tight clothing, amongst bodies already more finely tuned than my own, I realized that everything was there to be interpreted.  Unconsciously, we each do interpret each other based on the physical language of our bodies.   (I mentioned my favorite TED talk on this topic a while back).  It was back then that I became interested in bringing the moulding of myself to the forefront of my mind.  In making that change, I changed everything about my life.  Because of that I feel compelled to share what I’ve learned.

Being that I want to share what I care most about, it’s important that I continually come up with new ways to present the information.  Part of that is being open to the insights that come from all directions of this multifaceted life that I’m living.  Today, the theme is creativity, and the idea is that no matter what the medium, creativity is the common thread that binds us all in this human experience that we’re all having.  Given my recent insight, the slogan “do something creative every day” feels like a worthwhile call to action rather than a trite way to sustain a business selling paper.

Which gets me to the point of acknowledging all of the creative things that we do which don’t fall under the typical definition of “creative”.  So here’s to embracing the fullness and diversity of our creativity.  In that we will find fulfillment beyond what we could imagine in a world strictly defined categories.

Why DST Offends my Sensitivities

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I know that I’ve mentioned reading Susan Cain’s book at least once here in this space.  It has been a game-changer for me.  My physical realities have made my sensitivity impossible to ignore.  So that’s good.  But reading her book has opened me up to a deeper layer of sensitivities that I have tended to suppress.  It goes without saying that suppressing part of ourselves for any extended period of time is a bad idea.  But because of the nature or suppression, I’m going to reiterate the point by putting it in writing:  suppression is not a long term strategy for wellness.  All that is to say that I’m getting more and more in touch with my sensitivity these days; it’s turning out to be a boon for me in that it is helping me to honor myself more in my day to day life.  This takes a little fight out of me.  As I’m more accepting of myself, I’m easier in my interactions with the outside world.

For the past few days, I’ve had a nasty and frustrating case of laryngitis.  This is most probably, the consequence of my ambitions.  I tend to pack more into my life than I can actually do, which keeps me going to the point of sickness when I do something crazy like fly to NYC for a 24 hour stay.  But perhaps on a more symbolic level, my therapist pointed out to me today, I’m in the process of learning to speak what’s true for me, for my heart.  Perhaps my loss of voice is reflecting the years of suppression that are washing away as I reclaim the parts of myself that I’ve attempted to ignore.  I’ll chose to believe a little of both stories, because I know each to be true.  And then I’ll get to the point which is to say that this current ailment has put me behind on posting my biannual protest of daylight savings time.

For those who are new around these parts, I am passionately opposed to daylight savings time.  I don’t think that the supposed benefit of more sunlight at a certain part of the day comes even close to outweighing the cost of the disruption that altering our time brings to our bodies.  Now I’ve come to think that it’s my sensitivity that makes me so passionate about this.  I realize that for less sensitive people this is not an issue, they gloss over their weaknesses and challenges easier than us sensitive folk do.  But I’m quite sure that most of us are affected.  Babies and children, for example, are affected across the board regardless of their personal temperment.

Along with others, I suggest that there are other ways to respond to the seasonal changes of the natural world then by changing the hour of our invented time system so that we sleep different hours which in turn messes with our own physical rhythms.  Businesses could have different hours of operation depending on the season, many do anyway.  Start and finish times at work could be flexible so that folks could take advantage of hours on sunlight in the way that satisfies them most.

The bottom line is that DST meddles with our nature for a not-good-enough reason.  And the longer it goes on the more we come to accept it.  (Please don’t take offense to what I’m about to say, I realize that it could easily be construed as criticism, take it more as an abstraction of human behavior rather than a singling out of some people versus others).   Many people I meet don’t really get DST, they see it as a nuisance and a funny thing to get confused about twice a year.  It’s those people who worry me the most, because those are the ones who go along with ideas regardless of how well they understand them.   Their going along creates the current that carries all of us down the stream of those bad ideas.  But us sensitive ones?  Today, my theory is that we are the ones who can save us all.  We can point out the obvious flaws in meddling with time.  We can suggest alternatives.  We can remain true to what we know.  And in time, everybody will benefit because there really is a more sophisticated and graceful way to live in concert with this world of ours.  Dare I repeat on of my favorite maxims?  Simple is the ultimate sophistication.  Changing time is anything but simple.

Reading Cain, has given me strength in my sensitivity and even more courage to share my experience, because we all have sensitivities, and the more we embrace them within the context of our lives the happier and healthier we will be.  So to all the sensitive people out there who really think that daylight savings time is a bad idea, speak up!  Let’s get back on time and stop causing ourselves unnecessary perplexity!

Notes on Making Dresses at Home

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I realized that this dress of mine deserves its own post.  Because it’s been a while since I took on such an ambitious project (necessity is indeed the mother of invention), and it turns out that I’ve learned a thing or two since then.

When I was learning to sew as a girl, I would often reach points of such frustration that I’d throw in the towel.  My mother would kindly pick up the pieces and help me complete the project.  When I moved to California I had a lot of time on my hands and my very own sewing machine (my graduation gift from my mom).  I began to sew all sorts of things, and I even worked as an assistant to a seamstress for a spell.  I learned a lot during that time.

By the time I reached my thirties I was most comfortable sewing without a pattern, something that I’d never thought was possible when I was a child watching the beautiful dresses that the adults around me whipped up.  (To be fair it was only my step mother’s mom who impressed upon me the great feat of sewing without a pattern, as far as I know both my step mom and my mom were more comfortable with patterns).  Regardless of how I went about a project, there was often a fair amount of cursing involved.  (I’ll never forget the day that I was working in the seamstress’s shop across from a repair man who was at work on one of her other machines.  He and I were both cursing to ourselves as we went about our tasks.  Frustration seemed to be the unifying experience for us that afternoon).  It is a wonder that I’ve sewn as long as I have, because for the majority of the project hours that I’ve logged, I’ve been in a state of frustration.  Determined, focused, frustration.  I am an intense person in the midst of a project:  the house gets very messy, I eat whatever food is most readily available, I don’t shower or brush my teeth.  It’s an ugly business making pretty things.

Getting pregnant really mellowed me out (if you don’t count the fact that I gave myself about six months of nasty wrist pain with all the sewing and crocheting that I was doing).  And now that I have my kid around while I’m sewing I’ve noticed something interesting.  Like most moms at home with kids, my time for sewing is sporadic.  This turns out to be a very good thing for me.  I end up completing projects in much more digestible chunks.  And while the frustration is still there, the moments are much briefer because I inevitably have to move on to the next thing.  Perhaps that’s why the cursing has subsided, which is a very good thing because my boy is in the repeat-everything phase of language development.

Being a mom agrees with me in so many ways.  I’m always grateful to find yet another one.  And to embrace the fact over and over again:  my beautiful boy is my teacher and I am his willing and eager pupil.  (Mostly).

Here are a couple notes on this dress in particular.
1).  I managed to do a fair job of shaping the bodice but still the overlapping side didn’t stay put.  So I’ll have to add a hook and eye for the next time out (luckily the bride had some double-sided skin tape on hand that did the job for the wedding.
2).  It was Theresa Laquey who taught me about darts and I will be forever grateful:  darts ADD volume, they don’t reduce it.
3).  I’m not sure that I should ever make clothing out of non-stretchy fabric.  It’s just so much better in so many ways.

Looking at these photos, and forgiving the fact that I felt incredibly awkward and my husband found that fairly annoying because it made me a difficult subject, I see all sorts of room for improvement in this dress, I am truly my own worst critic.  But here’s the important thing:  I made myself a pretty (enough) dress out of fabric that I had on hand.  And I danced the night away in complete comfort.  That’s a double win for a project that I only took on under duress.

I’ve got plenty of other more pressing projects than sewing ones.  But there are still many in the queue and somehow I just managed to purchase fabric for five of those tops I mentioned here a while back at, you guessed it, Piedmont Fabric.  How does that happen?  Hopefully I’ll get back behind the machine before too long, it really will be lovely to have some flattering tops in my closet.  Compared to this dress those will be a snap.

dress rear

dress bodice

Cleaning My Teeth Naturally

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Have I mentioned that I’m finally reading this book?  I’m around one quarter in and thoroughly enjoying it.  One of the mentions that I found interesting is the reminder of Joe Pilates’s interest in all aspects of hygiene, especially the skin.  (I have a couple posts about skin care in the works).   On the topic of holistic care for the body, I’ve been getting to know a lovely lady in our area, Rupam Henry.  Rupam offers our community a beautiful selection of herbal supports for optimal health.  Given Rupam’s professional experience in dentistry she has become a great support for locals who are interested in caring for their teeth and gums in the most natural, and appropriate way.  I’m eager to share what I’ve learned on the topic of teeth from Rupam and I look forward to learning more.

As has been the case for me with the use of natural products, the more I learn, the more zealous I become.  I’ve come to think that there is something particularly enriching about using naturally based products that truly honor and support the healthy function of our bodies because I’ve noticed that the more I know, the more pleasing the experience is.  In the case of brushing my teeth, the more I know, the more enthusiastic I am at every instance of brushing.  It seems a little funny to me that using Rupam’s tooth soap and learning from her has made me such a tooth brushing fanatic, but it’s true.

Let me try and sum it up.  Tooth soap supports our dental health by supporting the naturally occurring enamel that coats our teeth.  That’s great.  But there are a few things to bear in mind when switching from any other product (which by the way, seriously hinders, rather than supports, the naturally occurring cycles that support a healthy functioning mouth).

Apart from the ingredients that holistic folks consider to be harmful to our health, toothpaste consistently has two ingredients that are cause for concern:  abrasive material that breaks down our enamel, and some sort of wax-like material that gives us a false sense of our teeth being smooth and clean (this business of wax will come to bear when I discuss skin care as well, stay tuned).  Rupam’s tooth soap is completely free of abrasives which spares us the loss of our essential enamel.  Even though it goes with out mentioning, I’ll state the somewhat obvious, that tooth soap is full of ingredients that support our natural enamel.  Not only does using tooth soap arrest the enamel destruction that everybody using regular toothpaste (yes, even Tom’s of Maine) is unwittingly causing with each brushing instance; it actually supports healthy enamel, gums, and everything else important to a healthy mouth.

I think of regular tooth paste as a cheat.  Most products give us a quick and dirty, albeit false, experience of clean teeth.  When using tooth soap, one really needs to brush for a good long while, at least 5 seconds per tooth is Rupam’s recommendation if my memory serves me well.  This also means that we need to take extra-special care to keep our pearly whites.  Staining is something that can occur for many people.  While it’s unsightly to those of us who are rapidly becoming accustomed the the absurdly white teeth that are chemically bleached, it is not an indication of how clean our teeth are.  Depending on many factors, some of us are more prone to having stains on our teeth than others (smoking, coffee and tea, and ph level, all factor into the equation).  The important thing that I learned from Rupam is that there is a way to get rid of the stains that does not sacrifice our overall dental health.  Rupam recommends both baking soda on a cotton swab (once a week at most) and activated charcoal (beginning with an intensive course until the stains are gone and then weekly for maintenance).

Now, a word about plaque and brushing.  Plaque is sticky stuff.  Rupam likens it to olive oil on a porcelain plate.  Anybody who washes dishes regularly knows that the oil will come off with soap (no bon ami needed), but that it will take a little while.  The same is true when it comes to getting the plaque off our teeth.  When I brush my teeth for a good long while, yes I’ve become rather obsessive in that I’m probably well beyond the recommended two minutes by now, my teeth feel smooth and clean.  And while I would enjoy the same sensation were I to still be brushing my teeth with regular tooth paste, what I’d really be feeling would be a waxy coating that does more harm than good.  Just the thought of that is upsetting now that I know what I do!

I think that’s all I’ve got for now on the subject of dental hygiene.  I’ve got a feeling that I really ought to be using Rupam’s strawberry flavor on my boy’s teeth, up till now we’ve simply been using water.  And I really must increase my flossing from once or twice weekly to daily.  (Can you believe that I just admitted that in a public place?  Oh dear!).  There’s always some improvement to be made, but it is comforting to know that I’m on a healthy track.

Rupam has more information on this topic on her site along with dentists who offer holistic dental care.

 

Adele Considers Old World Gymnastics at True Pilates New York

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Adele dreaming of swinging on the rings from atop Drago's ball.

Adele considers Pilates training from atop Drago's ball.

With the exception of the past two months, I haven’t been doing a lot of traveling for a while.  Compared to the six or so years when I was off to some far flung place for Pilates training several times a year, this period of constancy has been a real switch for me.  Thinking about my recent travels in this framework makes me understand my overwhelm of the past couple months.  In the past three or so years I really have sunk deeper into myself than perhaps ever before.  It’s relatively quiet and calm in here, compared to that stimulus heavy life I used to live.

A while back I stumbled on a website called Atlas Obscura and I was smitten.  I’m not much of a traveler because I get focused on things and there is something about traveling that requires a particular brand of dynamism which to me seems contrary to that sort of concentration that my passions dictate.  And yet, I love to travel for the insights that inevitably come with journeying beyond my known world.  In traveling for Pilates, I found a workable and, dare I even say, pleasing combination of challenge and reward.  The rewards of learning from others in my profession (with a smattering of exposure to new and appealing items only to be found out beyond) balanced out the great effort and strain that it took be to disentangle myself from my life.

But there is something else that I love about the notion of travel within the context of my passions and that is that there is the opportunity for a double discovery.  Not only to I go to a new place and challenge the tendrils of provincialism that slowly creep around me, but I get to delve into the obscure world of our bodies.  Joe Pilates put it well when he raised the question: “Why boast of this age of science and invention that has produced so many marvelous wonders when, in the final analysis, we find that man has entirely overlooked the most complex and marvelous of all creations:  himself?”

Sure the world is full of hidden places and miracles abound for those who remain on the lookout.  But the same statement could be made about our bodies.  The opportunity for discovery within the body is always right here.  I like the idea of sharing places around the world that have offered me a view into the world within my own body.  And with my visit to NYC this past week, I finally had the opportunity to begin that project.

I’ve been wanting to mention the gymnastics at True Pilates New York (formerly Drago’s Gymnasium) ever since I found Atlas Obscura because while Pilates has enjoyed something of a boom in recent decades, it’s still mostly obscured from the general public.  If Pilates is mostly in the dark, then gymnastics for adults is even further off the beaten path.  How sad is that for all of us?  I’m frequently going on about how amazing Pilates is so I won’t belabor that point here.   While I’ve never taken a gymnastics class myself, I will be the first to say that I’ve seen some midtowners do some pretty impressive moves once they don their tights and leotards.  And while I didn’t know Drago or his team of gymnastics instructors that well, I was always entranced by my curiosity – but I was there for Pilates and I didn’t dare to break my concentration for long.

Adele and I were just in NYC for twenty four hours, on a Sunday no less.  But TPNY graciously welcomed me to snap a couple photos and to spend a half an hour or so on memory lane.  It was nice to be in a place that was so foundational to me and to think about what might be possible for me in the future.  Perhaps some gymnastics lessons?  I’d like that very much!

And so begins my journal of travels into the obscure world of our bodies.  It will be slow coming for a while, but someday I hope to speed up the discovery process (another project for another decade…stay tuned).  In the meantime, I’ve got my body right here with me.  The explorations and discoveries never end!

Click here to read my place description on the Atlas.

 

Happy Halloween!

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Our garbage collecting boy heads out for his first trick-or-treat experience in just a couple hours.  Great fun awaits us!
Happy Halloween! 2013Halloween is by far my favorite holiday as a crafter.  Sure, there’s Christmas and Valentine’s Day, but something about conceiving of and making a costume from scratch really appeals to me.  I have some sort of code of conduct as a mom which dictates that my child must have a costume every year, and that it may only be store-bought in the most extreme circumstances.  Last year our boy got his first superhero costume to match my own – that was before he had a choice in the matter.  But this year I knew that I’d have to be a bit more cooperative since he could very well refuse to wear something if it weren’t to his liking, after all that nearly happened last year with his super-baby suit.  So a garbage man vest seemed like the perfect thing.  I was able to put it together in about two hours and he is so very happy to have the suit to outfit him while he performs one of his favorite tasks.

Here’s to an evening of Happy Haunting!

Adele Takes a (small) Bite Out of the Big Apple

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I’ve worked out a little theory about the cycle of dreams in the past two days.  First, you’ve got to be lucky enough to have the time and space to dream.  Then you’ve got to recognize your dream.  Then you’ve got to make it happen.  In the words of a favorite author, “dreams mean work”.  It’s the making it happen that can often be arduous and seemingly never-ending.  (That’s where my husband and I are now and I find it rather mind-numbing).  Eventually, you are living your dream and life is good.  I’ve know some people who got there and thinking of them often keeps me going.  Along the way, we meet people and while I certainly prescribe to the notion that each and every relationship we have is a blessing, some relationships are more pleasant than others.  And sometimes we are drawn out of our own reality for a spell to receive blessings and feed our lonely hearts.

I say all this because I had a beautiful and timely reminder this weekend of what is most important to me.  Somehow through the fog of my present state, I knew that I had to get to Brooklyn, NY on Sunday October 27, a very dear friend of mine was getting married.  I have been in the midst of working my tail off, so I had evaluated whether or not to attend her wedding with two equal parts, pragmatic and obligatory.  By the time Adele and I arrived via red eye flight, which is far less fun now that I’ve been sleep deprived for upwards of two years (I used to take that flight regularly as an apprentice in my Pilates certification program); I was thinking of my sweet friend and how happy I was for her, listening to one of our favorite albums while riding the subway.  I got off on a tangent about the importance of rites of passage and how meaningful it is for us each to pass through them, and how special it is to bear witness to others doing this.  I knew that I was going for something special.  I knew that I’d traveled a long distance for a very good reason, to participate in a ritual, to support my friend, and to give myself the gift of bearing witness.

I was right.  But it wasn’t until it all happened that I truly remembered.  That’s when I realized just how many blessings had been bestowed upon me through the years, and how good it was for me to come.  To bear witness, yes.  But also to remember.  I also saw, my even older friend who was the one who brought my friend the bride and I together (fifteen years ago when I moved to California).  These two ladies were my companions through my twenties.  I learned so much from them.  But seeing them again, now that we’ve been separated by a continent for many years, I realized the most important lesson that they both gave me over and again in so many different ways:  how to be a friend.  To oneself, and to others.  Friends do things like fly across the country for one day to attend weddings.  Even when they are in the midst of the strenuous tasks of making one’s dreams reality.  Even when they are sick.  Even when they are broke.  Friends show up against all the odds, and they shower you with love during your biggest moments.  Friends dance at your wedding.  Because the commitment of marriage is so big, and so enduring that it must be celebrated with the biggest expression of love and joy that each person present can muster.  And dancing is the best full-bodied way of demonstrating that love.  (And yes, we danced the hasapico to Zorba’s theme.  There was a lady in our midst who most surely spent her youth dancing that dance. But I only realized that once I’d got us going.  What a special surprise for me, I just love that dance and to see it danced by somebody with a lifetime of experience is a beautiful sight.)  It was my friend who first made the long journey to my wedding three years ago.  Amidst all sorts of perfectly legitimate and reasonable reasons for not attending, she came.  She sat at my side, and I was so grateful to have her there with me.  Time and again, she taught me what it means to have your friend’s back.  And now, perhaps it is safe to say that I have learned something very important from her:  to lead with the heart, to be guided by love.  The heart’s vision after all, is always 20:20.

I’m home now, trying my darnedest to avoid mastitis or a cold, but eternally grateful for my good friends and the love that we share.  I sincerely hope that my next trip to NYC will be longer with plenty of opportunities to enjoy the company of those ladies who are dear to me, their families and loved ones who now surround them in the big apple, and to have them enjoy my son and my husband too.

Here are a few photos from our trip.  Adele got to see Central Park after we had breakfast at the Plaza.  After that, I had to go see a lady about a unitard and then I was thoroughly spent.  I had romantic visions of walking along the Brooklyn side of the bridge and photographing Adele and my dress there in the shadows of that famous architectural landmark with the Manhattan skyline as a backdrop.  But the only energy I could muster landed me in cab bound for the “girls getting ready” party.  I managed to get one more photo taken, of the dress, the gorgeous bride, and Adele.  I’ll have to rely on my memories rather than on lots of photos.  But maybe that’s better.  Memories go straight to the heart.

Adele looks at the park

Adele at the Plaza

NYC, the dress, the bride and the squirrel

 

Do You Miss Poppy Fabric?

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I don’t and here’s why.  Just a hop, skip, and a jump from my front door the best of what Poppy offered me is thriving under the Piedmont Fabric awning.  That’s because Lan Nguyen is still working her magic, outfitting us Oaklanders with plenty of fabrics and notions to make our visions reality.  I cannot count the number of times that Lan has given me an idea that has come to full fruition.  Were I a more skilled seamstress the results would surely be even better, but for me, it’s good enough to keep up my life long sewing habit.

My favorite thing about Poppy was standing at the cutting counter asking other customers what they had planned for their beautiful purchases.  Truth be told, Poppy was always something of an indigestible feast for my eyes.  I simply could not fathom the full extent of possibilities that it housed and that overwhelmed me (I am consistently put off by big stores of all kinds).  Piedmont Fabric is perfect for me – not too much, not to little, just right – every single time.  It bears mentioning that the prices are always very fair, clearly the proprietress is a seamstress herself.

Today Adele and I breezed in for some ribbon to finish my dress (by the way, both fabrics were purchased at Piedmont Fabric a while back).  I promise to post pictures soon, even in the likely case that not one-hundred-percent-pleased with the finished product.  Literally, there was exactly the amount of 100% silk ribbon that I needed on the spool.  Perfect every time!

I had to drag Adele out of there because I really must get this dress sewn!  (Brooklyn, NY or bust this Sunday!  I’ve got a wedding to attend.  Adele will be joining me for the trip and my boys will be staying at home with my mom.)  Adele’s got good taste, she went right for the Liberty cottons and was discussing some curtains for her place with Lan as I checked out.  Next time Adele….

Adele and Lan talk curtains

I’d be remiss if I didn’t share a few of my fondest memories of projects that came to life in conversation over the cutting table, Lan is quite the visionary.  There was the dress for our flower girl that I ended up making because my mom was not willing to tackle the, perhaps unconventional but prefectly princess-esque) lace adventure that Lan proposed.  There was the ideal lacy fabric for my wedding ball dress (it’s far more fun to dance in a proper dancing dress rather than an elaborate wedding gown, yes?) that took a serious effort on the part of many to get into my seamstress’s hands.  There was the nursery fabric that became all the accessories to the changing area and bassinet.  The fabric that became my boy’s first superhero costume to match my own (before he knew to have a preference for his halloween costume).  The two dresses that I simply had to make for myself while I was pregnant in order to avoid buying fabric for cute little baby dresses since in my heart of hearts I must have known that I was having a boy.  And much much more.  Piedmont Fabric constantly fuels my inspiration from start to finish!  I feel so grateful to have such a great shop so close.  Now all I need is a little more time to sew….

PS  If you love Piedmont Fabric as much as I do, please leave a comment with “Oakland Fabric Shop” in the body of your comment.  The more people who express their love, the longer we’ll have our fabulous shop!