Entering the early evening

Daylight savings is here and already morning chills run deeper. At five o' clock on weekdays like today I walk down the marble hallway in my office building and see rush hour tail lights against a completely dark night. It feels all so sudden, but that's all right.

This year has been full. I know it without needing to turn my mind toward lists because I feel so rich. I did something(s) very right this year and I plan to continue on this path. I'm heading into this winter with the same renewed hopefulness I forced last year except this time around no effort is needed. Two phrases stick with me, my mantras for the next few months: 1) winter restoration 2) the january project.

1) Winter restoration 

Since moving back home I find myself increasingly surrounded by house plants and damned if they aren't soothing. I've seen strange amber seedlings reach right out of lychee seeds and recently, our lime tree came inside for the season. Within a few short weeks there is new growth as well as many tiny buds; the tree is about to blossom.

I find romantic the idea of building a nest and inhabiting it, always have. When I was a tot in China I'd run around the clearing behind my grandma's house where implausibly, there was an abundance of hay. I gathered armfuls to pack down in swirls and climbed into the middle, imagining myself a tiny giant bird.

2) The January Project

This began as an idea for an Etsy collection. Things to start your year off right. Over the summer and fall it turned into a way of preparing for the next great beginning no matter the date. Plans, plans, plans. This January Project in particular will be all about Kev's and my new apartment. We are so so close to closing.

bundle up and you'll be fine.