missing snacks

S handed me this note the other day after school. Apparently she didn't hear me that morning when I told her I was putting her snack in the small pocket of her backpack. I'm framing this note, I love it so much. (Click to enlarge--it's worth a read, and I adore the illustrations.)

Poor thing. The day before that I accidentally put her homework in my backpack instead of hers.

Last night she told me she learned how to say "hello" in Pork-and-cheese. It took me a minute to realize she meant Portuguese.

All I can say is that it's been nice to have a little laughter in our week. We've been really busy! But have you seen the new Oliver + S website? It just launched last night. I'm pretty excited about it. Todd posted some details, like how you can purchase all our products in one place now, and how it re-sizes itself for various screen sizes (hello, ipad!), and how you can play with the paper dolls. Try it! It's really fun.

seven

A certain someone turned seven the other day.

Seven seems so big to me, and this milestone hits me on so many levels that it's a good thing we took the week off (S's birthday always fall on a school vacation week) because it gave me a little time to contemplate all the implications, including the fact that I started this blog six and a half years ago, and this blog was the start of my company, which is truly a family business. I never could have imagined we would be where we are now when we decided to have a child. Or to start a little company.

Or the fact that S fits into this dress my mom made me back in first grade. My sisters all wore it, too. It's in really good shape considering that it's already been worn by at least five girls.

Anyway, this photo is mostly for my Mom. To thank her for all that sewing she did for me. And for handling all my special sewing requests. She sewed everything: school dresses, church dresses, prom dresses, blue jeans, quilts, doll clothes, and knock-offs of the Esprit dresses I wanted so desperately and couldn't afford. The list is really endless. She is an excellent sewist and a gentle, generous, and loving mom.

And she also knew when to say no to my sewing requests. Like the day before high school graduation, when I decided I needed a new outfit and came home from the store, fabric and pattern in hand. Saying no helped me to appreciate all the time and effort that goes into sewing. And it gave me the little push I needed to start sewing, myself.

All the dresses my mom made and saved are so precious to me. I just boxed up a whole bunch of them and shipped them back to her because I don't have space for them. But I photographed them, and I know they'll be waiting for my sisters when they have kids(?). Plus, I added a bunch of my own sewing to the box. Nothing like adding to the tradition, right?

Thanks, Mom. And happy birthday, S!

scenes from last weekend

Disdressed is finally getting a little upgrade! Things are progressing slowly around here, but already I think it's a bit easier to navigate and I'm liking the cleaned-up appearance. Do you agree?

Here are a few scenes from last weekend. S learned to ice skate and loved it so much that we're going again tomorrow. The the rink is located right in our apartment complex this year, and the neighborhood kids all love it and are quickly becoming fantastic skaters.

I took these photos early Sunday morning before New York was awake. I love exploring the city when it's so quiet, like on Christmas day when no one is around, and the West Village is especially fun for window shopping and discovering adorable little hidden cafes and restaurants when you're the only one out.

In other news:

• My dad called yesterday, on his way back to Antarctica after coming home for two days between trips there. Believe it or not, it was easier to come home (even for just that long) than to get from New Zealand (the end of his first trip) to South America (where he leaves for his next trip). He departed for the first trip before Christmas and won't be back from the second one until sometime in April. That's a lot of travel, even for my dad.
• S is fascinated with magic right now, and we're up to our elbows in magic shows. Would you like to see a box of crayons disappear? Please??
• Todd and I went to see this with some friends last night and had a terrific time. I highly recommend it if you come to New York for a visit. I loved everything about it and couldn't begin to do justice to the production. The sets, the sounds, even the smells. Or the bizarre sense of isolation one gets from wearing and being surrounded by other audience members in masks. It was all very sexy and thrilling, and I'd go again in a heartbeat. (Although it couldn't possibly be the same experience the second time around.)
• I really need to stop watching TV shows about teenagers. I obsessed my way through all the seasons of Gossip Girl (the fashion!) and then Friday Night Lights (the writing!). Someone move me along with a grown-up selection? Please? 
• It's fashion week! 

Have a wonderful weekend.

year of the dragon

If you've noticed that I've been absent even more than usual you've probably guessed that my schedule has been a little busy. We've been working on developing a new brand that we'll be launching later this spring, and it's kept me even more occupied than anticipated. I had good blogging intentions, and I've been carrying the camera along with me but somehow never using it. I hauled it all the way to Palm Springs a couple of weeks ago and took only three quick photos. Which makes it even more ironic that when I finally had a chance to photograph something (and time to stand still, no less) I had only the ipod with me. But it was Chinese New Year, and S and her friend were thrilled by the popping firecrackers and the confetti and the many, many dragons. I thought I'd share it with you.

We admired the beautiful women on decorated floats:



I liked the home-made dragons:


and the more elaborate dragons:


the drum carts:


the delegations meeting mid-parade:









and especially the little dragons-in-training:



So happy year of the dragon! I missed wishing you a happy 2012, so let's throw that in as well, shall we? I'm hoping to manage a little blog re-design and a lot more blogging very soon. And of course I'll let you know when our new project is up and ready for its reveal, too.

9/11/01

I remember returning to my desk for a moment and being told that a plane had struck one of the World Trade Center towers.

I remember how this news immediately reminded me how, shortly after Todd and I moved to New York, a bomb had exploded under the World Trade Center and my colleague's husband was trapped inside the building. A part of me assumed this was a similar experience that would be over soon. We would recover from it and carry on in the usual way.

I remember a panicked call from my sister, who wasn't sure where my office was but wanted to be sure I was ok.

I remember that someone at the office had a radio, and we were able to get updates from public radio. The announcer sounded almost as shocked and shaken as we felt but carried on with updates and coverage as best he could.

I remember that Todd was out of town on business, and we had trouble reaching each other because phone lines were busy.

I remember seeing from our office windows the smoke downtown and being told we should go home, as we were located just a block from the Empire State Building. We didn't know the extent of the attacks, and rumors were wide-spread.

I remember that, as I waited for the elevator so we could leave the building, someone told me one of the buildings had fallen.

I remember walking home with a friend. The streets were filled with people walking, but everyone was strangely silent.

I remember arriving at Union Square and standing on the street in a crowd, looking downtown together. Where once two buildings had stood, now we saw only one. The street was silent.

I remember arriving home and going up to the roof of our building to look downtown. The World Trade Center buildings were gone. The only thing left was smoke.

I remember that I was taking care of a neighbor's cats while she was on vacation. Since we didn't have a TV, I went to her apartment and watched the images. And comforted the cats. But really, the cats were comforting me.

I remember sleeping, or not sleeping, alone that night and for several nights following. Todd and I were schedule to meet on the west coast for a backpacking vacation and neither of us could get anywhere at that point. I really wanted to be with him.

I remember walking down along the East River early the next morning and stopping in front of a lone fire truck parked along the side of the road, covered in ash and dust. The image still haunts me.

I remember the smell. A friend called and told me to close the windows of our apartment, but I left them open. I needed that stench to know the events were real.

I remember how my dear friend, who lost her office in the attacks, had trouble sleeping for years, suffered depression and anxiety, and was so fortunate to be running late that morning.

I remember passing the emergency room and the posted missing person signs on my way to church the next Sunday. The pain in those signs was overwhelming. The world was changed, and we had no idea what our lives would be like going forward.

___________________________________________________

Until now, I've never written about my experiences ten years ago. As a society, we lost so much on that day, but my own experiences are tiny in comparison with what people with closer ties to downtown experienced. I met an elderly man on a city bus one day, years later, who quietly described his escape from one of the buildings. His life was changed in so many ways as a result of that day. My experiences never seemed worth writing down because I was not directly affected. I was here in Manhattan, but my life was largely separate from the events downtown.

Just two years prior to the attacks, I had worked very near the World Trade Center and spent quite a bit of time there, taking classes and having meetings in or near the buildings. I worked for a brief period in 7 World Trade, I shopped in the neighborhood and met friends there after work sometimes. But then I left the industry and returned to school for fashion design, and by the time of the attacks my ties with the financial industry and the downtown area were minimal.

My story from that day is not dramatic. But like everyone else who watched and was horrified, I'll never forget it. I don't know if we've made sense of it. I don't know if we ever will. Our lives have changed in unexpected ways and have not changed in other more anticipated ways. But I think it's important that we commemorate this day and keep remembering and vowing to make a difference in the world.

wish you were here

We've spent the week with my family on vacation someplace on the outer banks of North Carolina, where the houses are big enough to hold our entire crew. So far we've been dodging trucks (everyone drives on the beach out here!), admiring the wild horses, building sand castles and sand snowmen, baking (more sandcastles--the beach-themed cake was for my sister's birthday), goofing off in the pool, and I've had so much fun riding the boogie board I've pretty much decided to quit work and move someplace where I can learn to surf. But maybe I'll change my mind again when we get back home.








We're the only ones walking back and forth to the the beach instead of driving, so if you see us, wave!

break

Someday not too long from now she's going to grow up and move away, and I'm going to wish for many, many more of these days together.

renovated

We've just finished some renovations to the studio, and I had a chance to show it off yesterday at Pink Chalk. Kathy is featuring all sorts of great sewing spaces on her blog this month, so if you're looking for ideas or want to share off your space you should definitely take a look.


Now that we've been in this space for almost three years, I feel like it's finally come together. We've just been so busy that I hadn't taken the time to do any work on the studio itself. But I'm really happy with it now. We've put linen-covered homosote doors over all the shelving, and the doors are perfect bulletin boards. I love being able to put up everything I'm working on because I can step back and really look and get a good perspective on the scale and colors and ideas as they work together. It's been very helpful to see how new fabric collections play off older groups, to compare and develop color palettes, and to just spread out and play. I actually think those doors are changing the way I work. The leftover pieces became smaller bulletin boards behind the sewing machine counter.



For a while there I had a cute little whitewashed branch suspended from the ceiling, and it was a great place to hang finished garments. That came down when we built the doors, but I'm still hoping to find a place for it. And I didn't get a good photo of the old library card catalog at the entryway. It's great for storing all sorts of odds and ends and just looks fun.

S and I are out in Michigan right now and returning home tomorrow, just in time to pack for a family vacation. I've had a couple of days with my Grandma, and today I think we're headed to the beach. I can't wait!

July 20

Twenty years ago yesterday I married this guy.


That was a really good idea. (Although when he wakes up tomorrow morning and sees that I wrote this he's going to kill me.)

Twenty years of marriage means that it's also been twenty years since we moved to New York. Just a couple months out of college, we drove a giant U-Haul truck out here with our belongings tied up in a little corner of the truck because it was the smallest vehicle the rental company would give us. We carried boxes and boxes (of books, mostly) up to our tiny third-floor apartment on a very hot, sticky day. A lot like today, come to think of it. We slept on the floor of our un-air-conditioned apartment until our sofa bed arrived a few weeks later. (The sofa bed wasn't much of an improvement from the floor, trust me. Somehow we slept on that awful thing for almost five years until we moved to a larger apartment, and then we went out and bought the most comfortable bed we could find.)

I started my first job a day or two after we moved in. Todd started graduate school shortly after that. We barely got by; but we were thrilled to be married, living in New York, and pursuing our dreams.

Since then we've both made several career changes. And we had a kid. And I've never really talked about it here, but two and a half years ago Todd quit his job and joined me in my business. So it's no longer my business, but our business. Now he runs things (far more smoothly and efficiently than I ever did, believe me) and I do what I do best (which doesn't include nearly as many things as he does), and that allows us both to spend more time together and with the kiddo.

I can tell you that being married and rearing a child and running a business together are far more challenging than either of us expected. Our studio and our apartment are both very small spaces, and sometimes the only way to make things work is to each be in a different place for at least part of the time. We can each be in charge independently that way, at least until dinnertime.

But when I stop to think about it all, I wouldn't want to have done it any other way. We still have fun together. We have similar interests and can appreciate each other's interests even when they aren't shared. We have very different senses of humor, but he can still make me laugh. And I'm ecstatic when I can make him laugh every once in a while.

We were very young when we got married. Many, many things have changed in our lives in that time span. But I'd do it again, given the chance.

I hope we get another twenty (or more?) years together.



And he does look like Heather's illustration of him, doesn't he?

summer

Summer, at long last. New York schools continue through June, so S's summer break started with the Independence Day weekend and we've been busy cramming a lot of activities into our schedule ever since. We've made silly treats like cupcake cones (S liked these) and strawberry shortcake popsicles (I liked these and didn't feel a bit guilty eating them), had loads of playdates, run some errands , and made packing lists for all the trips we're taking.




We've also trying to slow down to enjoy picnics, the hydrangeas (especially since I only glimpsed the field of roses outside our building as a blur, I was trotting past them so quickly every day), and to play some games.



Ah, summer! Why do you go so quickly?

loved

I'm still here. It's been an exceptionally busy spring, between the launch of Lisette, the release of my book, Quilt Market, and all the usual work that needs to be done. I've been holed up for the past couple of weeks, formatting the fall Oliver + S pattern collection. And there have been some personal items scattered into the mix, like my horrendous allergies. Wow, what a brutal spring this one has been! I've been a sneezing, coughing, teary-eyed mess. All in all, I'm looking forward to taking a few breaks this summer.

Not all the events of this spring have been happy ones. I need to just say before I get to the point of my post that I'm gradually realizing (I guess I'm a slow learner) life is full of challenges. I'm learning to embrace unexpected issues and to expect them as part of "normal" life. I think I feel less side-tracked when I understand that there will always be some difficulty or unexpected issue that crops up. It's not effective for me to expect everything to settle down after an issue has been resolved, because there will inevitably be another one somewhere down the road. So if I expect challenges and embrace them as part of normal life, I'm less surprised when they arrive. I don't think that's a fatalistic perspective--just a small dose of reality to help keep everything balanced and in perspective and maybe to help me remember to celebrate little victories, too.

The reason I mention this is because last fall my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. This came as a tremendous shock to everyone in our family, since my mom had just finished treatment for breast cancer not six months earlier. But today is my sister's final round of chemo, and she should be feeling better in a week or so. She's handled all the extra attention gracefully, and I'm very proud of her for the ways that she's been both weak and strong through this entire process.

My sister and her family are surrounded by a loving community who have helped to take very excellent care of them during the past six months, and one of her dear friends organized a quilting bee to show her support. We each sewed a quilt block, and a couple of weeks ago a group of us got together to do a little quilting and to celebrate and support my sister. I think I counted ten women who assembled, and as we quilted we got to know each other, since we come from several different parts of my sister's life. These are strong women who each have experienced their own challenges and victories and have each contributed to my sister's treatment in different ways. It was an honor to meet them and to see how they each play a part in my sister's life. (I'm really restraining myself from using the quilt as a metaphor, here...)

Everyone signed a patch for the back of the quilt. I had the honor of signing for my sisters, my mother, and my grandmother, all of whom contributed blocks but live too far away to attend the party.

Here she is with it, almost finished. (I think she and the quilt both look fantastic, by the way.)

And with her friend, Genna, who organized the bee and has put many hours into it.

Genna did an amazing job with the back, too. Don't you just feel the love when you see this?

And I need to close this post with a little reminder: have you checked or been checked recently?

Please don't forget.