a reader’s gift

We received this letter via snail mail recently with a generous check enclosed and have been flying high off it ever since. Not only is the admiration flattering, but the knowledge that all the work that goes into this blog is meaningful to people sustains us in a big way. A true gift. This little…

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‘ordinary people, extraordinary lives’

Every year, New York Times’ publishes a special issue of the Sunday magazine called  The Lives They Lived, usually famous people who passed away the year before. The 2011 issue was subtitled “These American Lives: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Stories.”. We read the stunning issue cover-to-cover, deeply moved, often in tears, haunted by what we read.…

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brown sugar butter cookies with thyme-rosemary-lavender salt

Just before Christmas, I posted my best-ever butter cookie recipe: Ethereal Brown Sugar Butter Cookies, along with many variations. The versatile cookie dough recently inspired yet another improvisation on the basic theme. Actually, it’s an improvisation on my Tuscan Herb Salt Recipe, that I then used on the butter cookies, to make a double-improvisation: Brown…

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cheap, chic, useful: anthropologie’s ephemera clip

A satisfying find from the recently-redesigned Remodelista: Anthropologie’s Ephemera Clip. Made of distressed iron (wonder if it will rust…then it might get REALLY beautiful), with a hole in one handle so you can hang it, it is like a little sculpture…Endlessly useful for clipping together receipts, papers, closing food bags… Related posts: holiday gifts: cheap…

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two mind-shifting quotes to start the day

Two recent bits of brilliance by the mysterious Anne Herbert of Peace and Love and Noticing the Details. Related posts: xanne herbert’s wise + teeny meditations going from “can’t” to “can” fling and be flung (jackson pollock) ann herbert: unaccumulateann herbert: unaccumulate insoluable problem -> interesting solution a reminder, via anne herbert (open doors!)

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mind shift: the great bell chant

This video came from a CD/book called Graceful Passages: A Companion for Living and Dying. It’s read by Thich Nath Hanh and chanted by brother Phap Niem. Whether you’re Buddhist or Not, it’s full of riches. Watch full screen…or just listen (here). Thanks Maria!! Related posts: reminder: shooting stars all around us (gif) insta-perspective: this is where we are travel…

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