Today is my 35th birthday. I have not done a ton of reflecting on this as per usual, the month of May is a busy one and the glorious occasion of my birth gets swept up in all the Mother's Day/Graduation/Stationery Show/Product Development mayhem. It's ok, that's how I like it for the most part.

Today I woke up a little early, had a few moments to myself and thought about what I would most like to have for breakfast. This Dark Chocolate Lemon Banana Bread immediately came to mind (sorry greens smoothie and healthy fruit!) and so I set to it. It is actually a tiny bit of a healthier version of banana bread with the whole wheat flour, heart-healthy olive oil and yogurt. It also has considerably less refined sugar than most recipes and if you are really looking reasons, good dark chocolate has great anti-oxidants...so technically, you are preventing disease by eating this. Hey. It's my party.

I found the first version of this recipe here, where I love almost anything Heidi makes. Heidi could tell me to follow a goose off a cliff and I would consider it. The goose would probably be delicious. My only tweaks were that I used the zest of a whole lemon (I think more lemon really balances out the chocolate and makes this really different, in a delicious way) and I once added walnuts. Which was good, if you like walnuts. I also skip the glaze. I didn't think it was necessary, but if you are an icing person, I think a lemony cream-cheese icing would be a good match over the glaze.

Birthday Dark Chocolate Lemony Banana Bread (BDCLBB for short):

You will need:

1.Cup all-purpose flour

1.Cup whole-wheat flour

3/4 Cup dark brown sugar (Make sure it's dark brown and not just brown, you can also use Dark Muscovado)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 Cup chopped bittersweet or dark chocolate (I think it is best when sort of shave-chopped...just be careful not to shave-chop your fingers)

1/3 Cup olive oil

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 large (or 2.5 smaller) mashed, ripe bananas

1/4 C whole milk yogurt (0% greek yogurt works best)

zest of a whole lemon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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Preheat the oven to 350˚. Put rack in the center

Grease and flour a 9 x 5" loaf pan (or equivalent)

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, baking soda and salt. Add the chocolate and combine.

In a separate bowl, mix the olive oil, eggs, mashed banana, yogurt, zest, and vanilla. Pour the banana mixture into the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake until very golden brown (dark, but not burned...keep an eye on it) for about 50 minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool for a few minutes then turn the loaf out to cool completely.

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Enjoy!

Let me know what you think!

xoxo

Technically, this year the darling buds are of April (or in some cases, late March!) because it has been so warm, but they do not rhyme with "day" and April has too many syllables.

I spend as much time as I can outside, in the woods, or in the garden or at the seaside. It's where I do my best thinking and breathing and get the most perspective.

Sidebar: It is also, it turns out (of late) where I see the most, ahem, intimacy. Is it me or are the local wildlife being less discreet than usual? I mean, raccoons, squirrels, rabbits...the neighbor's cat! It's like an 'extra' channel on cable around here! Geez!

Sorry...

I love being outside in the springtime and seeing everything creep back into life. Sometimes, because we are so busy, or because some of us live in more extreme climates, spring can seem to "pop". Like one day it's winter, and WHAM! It's spring! But that's not really how it goes. Tiny bits at a time the fresh green pokes it's way out of the ground or off the branch, the flowers on the trees are first fuzzy pods and then tiny cups before they are full flowers. Every growth has a thousand tiny steps.

Nature approaches cautiously and takes its time. I have had the benefit of observing that practicality this year as I walk each morning. Practical, but not nervous, or shrinking. There is also a confidence there. Sure, it may freeze again and we've certainly had snow on Mother's Day before, but the blooms come anyway and are not less bright. Nature does not keep score, or shrink nervously from past failures. Last year's long winter, or a harsh spring freeze that squashed its buds years back. No, Nature enters with enthusiasm...coming into the same bright life each year, with no less gusto even though it has done this same thing year after year. It does not shuffle in or act ho-hum. Nature shows up. With bells on. Again and again.

It is with this reflection, and on this date (well into this new year) that I have finally figured out my 'word of the year': AGAIN.

I am going to practice the art of "again". I am going to enter with enthusiasm. Dust off my gusto, and keep at it. I am going to do this again and again because I love it. Because it's worth doing and because it makes me feel alive and meaningful.

I plan to apply the above mantra to various parts of my life, but I think you get the drift. I am going to show up, not because I never have before, but because I will always have a new bud, or sprig to nurture and because sometimes 'again' is what counts.

As I wrote the title of this entry I was prompted to reread one of my favorite Sonnets by Shakespeare (I studied Shakespeare at length, and have many works that are close to my heart, but this one was admittedly made a favorite by "Dead Poet's Society", swoon.):

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed:
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

I have long considered this a romantic conversation. From a lover to a lover. But reading it now, I would like to lobby for its consideration as a letter to yourself. Your spirit. Your SELF. With gusto.

xoxo

PS. These photos are from Instagram...I am newly obsessed (and yes, late to the game...about a billion dollars late...lol) and you can find me at: curlygirl510

For those of you who know college basketball, all I need to say is that it's March 15th and we are still playing. For those of you who don't... that's kind of a big deal.

My husband is an assistant coach for MIT Men's Basketball team. If you didn't know before now that MIT had a basketball team, you are about to.

For the first time in the school's 100+ year basketball history, the team is headed not just to the NCAA tournament, but to the Final Four. Having only lost one game all season they are leaving Cambridge for Salem, VA with the best record in the school's history and a chance to make history again by bringing home the Championship. You are about to see them on ESPN, hear about them on NPR and maybe even Sports Illustrated. With headline's like; "MIT Who?" and "Revenge of the Nerds!". They are about to show folks how it's done.

The stories will talk about their incredible record and team of talented athletes that also happen to be engineering whiz kids. They will talk about how they have to balance the intense workload of their classes with the growing intensity of the season, and how these student/athletes are the future leaders of America. They will talk about excellence, and they should.

What they won't talk about is integrity. And they should.

One of the single greatest virtues of this program is the integrity with which it is run, and if you have been watching the news lately, or know anything about collegiate athletics, you will know what an enormous feat that is these days. From the Head Coach, Larry Anderson, to the coaching staff, to the athletic department, this program is squeaky clean and earning what they get every step of the way. There are no athletic scholarships at MIT. You have to GET IN to MIT on your own, then you can play basketball. There is no 'athlete tier' grading or class schedule either. They have to go to class and make their grades just like every other brilliant kid on campus. Sometimes having to take a test the morning of a game and always studying into the wee hours after practice. There is an in-it to win-it attitude that is built the old-fashioned way, with sweat, dedication, passion and hard work. These guys bust their butts and I couldn't be more impressed.

So, if you have a spare favor with the basketball gods to call in, use it on the Engineers (our mascot is a vicious looking beaver...nature's engineer. I'm serious). We are also accepting crossed fingers, toes, prayers, traditional dances and good ju ju.

No matter what the outcome, congratulations Coach! You guys earned this and we are so so proud of you!

See you in Salem!

xoxo

Great Photo by: Dawn Anderson

Hello!! I am back from a little vacation having achieved a dose of much-needed R&R (and a tiny amount of sunshine!) on the beautiful island of Oahu. I am getting caught up here at CGD and Marmalade (back up is the price one must pay for said R&R...) and feeling a little bit more like I know what day it is again.

While I was in Hawaii, I was treated to some of the most lush and incredible landscapes I have ever had the privilege of laying eyes on. I was also able to enjoy some of the magnificent fruits and nuts and fresh delicious fish that are so readily available there. Eating wholly and locally is a growing passion of mine and the more I learn about food, the more interested I become in the people and places who grow it.

For a few years I had been reading about what Outstanding in the Field was doing, and how they were growing and I was dying to get to one of their events. So last year, for a friend's 40th birthday, we treated ourselves (and her) to what would end up being one of the top 5 favorite things I have ever done.

You would think hosting an intimate dinner for 200 strangers in an orchard or on a beach or in a pasture would be something of a fiasco, but with almost 10 years of experience putting these dinners together, the team of food gypsies at OIAF is a well-oiled merry-making machine. The recipe is simple: 1 local farm + 1 local chef (or restaurant) + 200ish local food lovers + a sky full of stars = an evening to remember!

Using only local (most as local as a few feet from your chair!) ingredients and providers and the vision of a local chef, the dinners have garnered something of a cult following. In fact, the night we were there (at a peach orchard in New Hampshire) we met people from all over the country who had made an OIAF dinner part of their yearly travel. In fact, while we met lots of first -timers like ourselves, I was amazed at the number of people who had more than one or two of these under their belt!! OH! And about that belt... mine had to be loosened!! The food was nothing short of divinity. From the local oysters to the peach pork tenderloin...even the wine was made by one of the families in attendance!

When we first arrived on a late August evening, we were loaded onto a little tractor-tram and wheeled through the grounds of the peach farm. It had been raining off and on most of the week, and there was some speculation that we would be under a tent instead of the night sky so we wore our wellies and each brought a plate from home as instructed. Once we arrived at the site, there were sparkling peach beverages, fresh oysters and the afternoon sun graced us with her presence. We chatted with other guests and heard a little OIAF history from founder Jim Denevan. The staff was super friendly (and relieved that they had made a game-time decision to not put up the tent!) and seemed just as enchanted as the rest of us with this glorious evening.

After awhile we were piled back onto the tram and ferried into the peach orchard where we came upon the most incredible thing I have seen (in all my days of catering and doing events)...what seemed to be a single long table snaked down a row in the orchard stretching farther than they eye could see set to the decks with service for a 5 course meal! I am pretty sure I made an audible squeal. We ate family style well into the night and left full, newly minted lifers. I (heart) OIAF 4-ever!!

Locations and dates were announced on March 1 on their website. Tickets go on sale on the 20th. TICKETS SELL OUT FAST so you will want to be poised at noon on the 20th if you want to get them. I may have to call in sick that day....

It is a bit of a splurge, but I promise you will not have a more magical dinner with 200 people you have never met before. You will also leave with a renewed awareness of the bounty around you and what the earth has to give in your area. You will also get to enjoy the creativity and genius of a chef in your area that has a passion for that bounty. It is all in all good soul-loving stuff that I couldn't get much more enthusiastic about.

Follow them on Twitter for updates and let me know if you end up going (or have been) ! Coach and I are gonna put our finger on the map this year and try somewhere new!

xoxo

It is presently unclear to me how it has been TWENTY DAYS since my last blog post. I have been busy, sure, I am always busy. I have been trying to catch up on a bunch of things and be in several different places at once, yes. But that is not out of the ordinary. It feels as if I have some how been ruffied by my life and woke up three weeks later!

I am so sorry to have disappeared for that long! Thank you so much to those of you who checked on me! (That scene from Bridget Jones where the wild dogs find her in her apartment all alone comes to mind.)  I felt so loved and missed and I marveled a little at the blessing of having a community of almost-strangers whose thoughts went to me when they didn't hear my voice. That is such a lovely thing.

The truth is, I guess I needed a break. After the holidays, which were fun (and beautiful...see my favorite shot of our holiday window at Marmalade above), but frankly, a little hectic...we closed up shop and the warehouse for a few days and counted inventory (not my favorite task). We tried to get the shop back in order, prepared for our Katie's maternity leave and got ready to go to the first of several trade shows.

We packed up, flew to Atlanta, polished off the showroom and did the dog and pony for a solid week before flying home and then I spent the rest of the week catching up at Marmalade, filling orders from our fabulous 'Winter clearance sale" (Nice Job! By the way! You guys know how to snag a deal!) and getting ready to host a baby shower for a dear friend (cute details to follow). I am exhilarated by it all, and a little tuckered out. I have decided that the New Year for me actually starts in February.

February is the new January.

With all of this great stuff piling up on my plate, I find myself bracing myself for it a little bit. I get asked a lot: "How do you do it all? Well, obviously, I don't. Sometimes I come to a screeching halt for, oh, 20 days or so.

The truth is, you can't do it all...by yourself. I have been thinking a ton about this, this past year, but really intensely this past month. As I add more to my plate, more beautiful opportunity, exiting possibility, necessities, obligations, wants, have to's, musts...I have called on my friends and family and co-workers and staff more than I ever have in the past. More than maybe I have wanted to. And graciously, and most-often willingly, they have shown up to help make things happen, get things done or pull something off... it really does take a village.

This is something that I plan to meditate on more this year. Spend some gratitude on, and really get right with. I think in this ever-quickening world we live in, one that is filled with possibility, we can find ourselves wanting to do more and more. There is nothing wrong with that. It can be very inspiring and empowering, but it can also be very defeating when we begin to expect ourselves to be able to accomplish all of those things, and do them well. It exhausts me just to think about.

The reality check is that anyone that seems to be 'doing it all' is not doing it by herself. Not even close. Take a moment to look around from time to time, see who you call on, who helps keep all of your balls in the air. When you figure it out, be grateful for them. If you find yourself short on help, enlist some. And, of course, be part of someone else's village too when you can. It makes everything you accomplish together so much richer and more possible.

It is also just a good idea in general. Your village will usually find you before the dogs do.

What have y'all been up to for the last few weeks??! Fill me in!

xoxo

Happy New Year!!!! Oh how I love a brand new year! I venture to say that this first, fresh few weeks of the year is among the most sacred times for me. I feel energized, reflective, inspired and creative. I feel full of pride, a little relief and a touch of fatigue over the year I have just wrapped up and then, after a brief but important couple days of hibernation, immerge bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I have big plans for this coming year and those big plans each have a thousand little steps. It is best to approach them one at a time.

In order to put last year to bed, and begin this one there are a few things I must get in order first. Things like inventory at the shop and warehouse, taxes, and travel-plans for the upcoming tradeshow season. There are also a few, ahem, cobwebs that need to be cleaned out. Places in my life where I have let things accumulate making it hard (or unpleasant) to do the things I really want to do in those places. This can apply of course to relationships, thought processes and most obviously to physical spaces. In this case... my studio.

Oh. My studio.

How can one expect to fill the world with creative genius when one cannot find a clear surface on which to put a pencil down! My thoughts go to Sherlock Holmes.

I have a 2011 wrap up post in the works, but this little studio re-org took up the better part of yesterday (into the wee hours of today) and I am pretty excited about it and wanted to share. It was a rough go. An epic organizing session. A true test of my attention span. There were points at which I thought the studio just might win the battle.

It started like this:

Not so bad you say? That's just because everything was shoved into the closets (we did have guests for Christmas after all...)

Not bad, but it would get worse before it got better. About 3 hours into my studio smack down it looked like this:

I had to stop for a snack. I sorted, I stashed, I chucked, I purged, I was merciless yet careful, thrifty yet thoughtful and above all... clever. The best thing I can't believe I didn't think of before was getting this pantry rack for the inside of my art closet door!! It pretty much doubled my storage space for 'small stuff' and made me APPEAR to be far more organized than I actually am! Double points!

I took these photos in the wee hours, so they are kind of dark, but I think you get the picture. All in all, I am pretty excited about how it turned out and can't wait to get in there to make some new cards!

Top 10 great or weird things I found while cleaning:

1.) A letter from a former student that she wrote me after I left the school for a job in Boston. She was secretly my favorite, and attached was her 1st Grade photo. She is now in college!

2.) A Year 2000 U.S. Mint Proof Set of Quarters (my Dad puts them in our stockings and I never know what to do with them!)

3.) A photo booth picture of me and Coach in Italy, right after we got engaged.

4.) The book my friends made me for my 30th birthday...full of letters and photos!

5.) My old retainer. Gross.

6.) A note my Dad left on my desk after they helped move me to Boston.

7.) My ear buds (totally been missing those!)

8.) Both of my LOUIE awards! (better dust those babies off!)

9.) My old 'design files'. Binders full of magazine pages with stuff I liked on them. Life before Pinterest!

10.) A stash of my wedding invitations. Feels like just yesterday and a million years ago at the same time.

So there you have it. As far as my studio goes, it's hospital corners for right now and I'm feeling pretty good about it! It's amazing how much energy you can get from moving some energy around. It sometimes stirs things up a bit, but I have never regretted doing it.
Are you harboring some energy somewhere? Burying a little light? I'll bet you are. We all are. Here is my official plug for getting to it this month. DO IT!! YOU WILL FEEL SOOOOO GOOOD! Promise! And don't worry, you will have plenty of time to go ahead and mess it right back up. That's what life is all about.

What do you need to get to? Say it out loud here. Maybe it will help!

xoxo

I hope you enjoyed the gift guides and found them even a tiny bit helpful. Next year I will try to get them out a little earlier, so the elves have a little more time to work. Speaking of gifts, I got one of the best gifts ever a few weeks ago when I had a houseful of friends in town and a very pleasant surprise.

Since many of my nearest and dearest live far away it is sometimes hard to keep caught up with one another and know the little details of the every day. We make a point to see one another regularly and try hard to catch up on the phone, but all lead busy lives and I often feel the miles between us. I secretly daydream about them all living on my street and having the most fantastic block parties.

Since December is an insanely busy month for me and since Lacy was taking her health coaching practice to the next level, I asked her if she would come out to Boston (from sunny California) to cook for me and Coach for a week and squeeze in a visit. She is a very obliging girl and happily agreed. We have loads of photos and recipes to share and I can't WAIT to tell you about it in a couple of weeks.

The food was magnificent, the company sublime and we had timed it right so she would be in town for the 4th annual Marmalade Friends & Family party. Lots to celebrate! Our first year in the new location, and just an annual fun party for Marmalade and Curly Girl Staff and our friends and families.

My college bestie Laura was coming up from DC for the festivities and I knew the two of those girls would just love each other. I love having everyone in one place!

The night of the party arrived, and I managed to stay awake long enough to attend (I wish I was kidding more than I am...) and after a few moments chatting with some of our guests, I looked up and saw someone come in the door. In my mind, I thought: "WOW! That girl looks JUST like Wendy. Weird." As she walked towards me I realized that it WAS my other college bestie having just flown in from Kansas City to surprise me!! This is how it went:

                                      "OHMYGOSHICAN'TBELIEVEYOU'REHEEEEEERRRRE!!"

              "IT'S REALLY YOU! I AM SO SURPRISED! YOU CAME ALL THE WAY TO SEE ME!"

                                   "OHMYGOSHICAN'TBELIEVEYOU'REHEEEEEEEERRRE!"

I love love love surprises but am usually the one executing them and not the one on the receiving end! Wendy and Laura had managed to keep it under wraps and even had Coach in cahoots! I was on cloud 9. (Thanks Lee M. for the pics and being there to capture this moment for me.) We got to spend the weekend catching up, hanging out and just being in the same space together for a tiny bit.

We took the dogs to the beach with another friend (thanks Lizzy for the pics) and had a perfect New England winter day - including lobster and onion rings!

I had such a happy day with my girls. I felt like a dog at the beach! Thanks to all who made that feeling possible!

Time well spent with those you hold dear is too big to put on any wish-list or gift guide. It doesn't fit into a stocking or sit under the tree.

It calls you on a Wednesday or shows up with a bottle of wine. It takes a walk with you, or a long drive. It travels through two airport hubs and goes through security to get to you. It doesn't involve gadgets or take batteries or need it's software to be upgraded, in fact, it often requires you to unplug.

It is the best gift you can give someone else or yourself and it will never be worth less than what you paid the day after Christmas! I promise.

Have a safe and happy Christmas holiday and may your time together be as rich and buttery as the cookies you eat!

Have a greatest gift ever? I would love to hear about it!

xoxo

I woke up before dawn today thinking about all the things I needed to get done to get the shop ready for this weekend. This is a big one for us. Our annual holiday open house and sale, which tends to be our busiest day of the year, after which we close the shop for 2 hours and then open it up to our staff, family and friends to thank them and celebrate with them. It is a fun day. A very very long fun day.

To take myself down a stress-notch, I made a quick mini-list of some of my favorite things about the holiday season and thought I would share.

1.)Coziness! Having a home full of family or friends or both. Hunkering down in something flannel with something or someone warm. Love it. (image: via)

2.)Christmas cookies! Making, eating, sharing, packaging...the whole nine. My favorites are my mom's buckeyes and my neighbor Debbie's Italian Grandma Cookies (I don't actually know what they are called, so I call them that.) (image: via)

3.)Dressing up! I love parties and the holidays offer more than their fair share! Bring on the bubbly and the heels! (image: via)

4.)The first snow fall. But just the first one. (image: via)

5.)Singing! I love to sing, and I love Christmas music (yes. I am that person) and the possibilities for song are almost endless this time of year. Bring on the classics! (Image: via)

6.)Hall-decking!! Decorating is my favorite! I just can't get enough of sparkly, magical, glittery things. Or anything that smells like a Christmas tree. Need something wrapped in balsam? I'm your girl. (Image: via)

What are a few of your favorite things about the season?

xoxo

Hello! Here it is Wednesday and I have been off line nearly a week. How glorious! (well, sort of, except I missed you...) I would like to say I was taking a much-needed break, but it would be more accurate to say that holiday retail season has begun!! I have been working the shop for the big shopping weekend and then playing 'elf' and decking Marm out for Christmas until the wee hours. It looks sensational if I do say so myself (great job elves!) and I will show you a bit later this week.

I did get the day off on Thanksgiving, which was lovely. Coach and I live far away from our families, and this year with his coaching schedule and my work schedule, travel to one of those far away places was simply not an option, so we had a very nice, pretty romantic Thanksgiving Day date! We ate a delicious meal at one of our favorite restaurants then walked around Harvard Square, did a crossword puzzle together (sort of ) and capped it off by seeing The Muppets Movie. It was a perfect affair. We have both been so busy, it was nice to just have the day to reconnect. And, P.S. The Muppets Movie is the happiest movie on earth. I left with the biggest smile on my face! Thank you Jason Segel.

I did not, however miss out on the full Turkey Day meal or leftovers for that matter (phew!). I hosted some dear friends for a 'Friends Thanksgiving" potluck on Sunday. It is among my favorite things in life to host dinner parties, or host people in general. I just love having a house that is full of people. I love setting tables, and lighting candles, and fluffing pillows and having guests. I would have made excellent "staff". I don't love doing dishes, but that is a small price to pay for a warm house.

As I was setting the table (above) I got to thinking about being 'home'. How much I missed my family, and how sad I was not to see them on this holiday, but how glad I was to have chosen some family for myself here in Boston. How we, as humans, do that. We tend to nest into places, to surround ourselves with people and things that make us feel safe, and comfortable. What a nice trait that is.

Then I got to thinking about an email that I received back in August. It was from a Sara O. Sara is in the U.S. Navy and wrote me from Afghanistan. This is what she wrote:

... I'm in the Navy and I'm deployed to Afghanistan. When I got here the first two cards I got
in the mail were Curly Girl cards! Both from friends that were also deployed in Kuwait and on the USS Reagan. I just wanted to let you
know that I love your cards and blog.  I hung up both cards and your calendar, I attached a picture of them.

Thanks for brightening my day!

I was so tickled to think of Sara getting these pink and turquoise big square envelopes in her mail on a big grey ship! I was so thrilled that she had friends that thought of her when they saw the cards and sent them. I was so excited to have been part of brightening that day. That far away. For that woman, serving her country.

When I was setting the table, I hoped that Sara was sitting around the table with her real family, and if not, with people who felt like family.

All of this thinking, and eating, and thinking got me set on a bright and shiny little project.

If I know a woman in on active duty in the military who would love Curly Girl Cards, then I'll bet you guys do!! Let's send them some love and color shall we?? Here's the deal:

Send us the full military address for the woman or women you know, currently serving active-duty (we will certainly send to active-duty men too, if you think they would love to get a Curly Girl Card....pink envelopes are equal-opportunity day-brighteners!) along with an email love-note to them. We will print out your email and enclose it in a Curly Girl Card and send it off to them for you! On us!

Send emails to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (mark the subject line: SEND LOVE) by Monday December 5th 10am EST

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Thanks for playing along with this and thanks to Sara O. for her service and inspiration!

xoxo

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!! I hope you are cozied down with friends and family feeding your belly and your spirit. Last year I shared my favorite way to say grace at the Thanksgiving table and I have not come up with a better one. I think I might say that one forever.

This year, I wanted to share one of my favorite writings. It is by William Ellery Channing from his Memoirs. I think it is a good reminder, as we gather together, that though there is much that strives to separate us from one another, whether it is opinion, or geography, we must try to remember that, at root, we are all made of the same stuff. The same magnificent stuff.

Here is the full excerpt:
 

"We are to be animated with a love which embraces all, of every rank and character. A love, which forgets divisions and outward distinctions, that breaks down the old partition walls and seeks a divine spark in every intelligence. Love which longs to redress the existing inequalities of society, which substitutes generous motives for force, which sees nothing degrading in labor but honors all useful occupation, and which everywhere is conscious of just claims and rights of all. Calling upon the mighty to save, not crush, the weak. And a love, which in a word, recognizes the infinite worth of every human spirit."

Love to you and yours. xoxo