jem fabric store in nyc

Walking through a fabric store is a lot like walking through a library for me. I slip into a sort of sleepwalking, day-dreamy state taking in all the possibilities.

This is Jem in NYC, where I was this time last week. A particularly funky and creative store with a graffiti sign out front, a coffee stand, creaky wooden floors and racks of marvelous things to gaze upon. Plus a workshop in the back for a still-secret project that I'm helping cook up that I can't wait to tell you about. Heaven!

the art of looking up

My husband is a great looker-upper. I mean that figuratively – he’s irrepressibly optimistic. And literally – the guy loves looking up.

When we first started dating, I realized that I often looked straight ahead, right where I was going. Or worse, I would look down as I made my way through the world. But years in Mike’s company has encouraged me to tip my head back from time to time and notice where treetops meet the sky, the details of a roofline, and birds tracing an invisible swag through the sky.

When I was in New York, I kept sending Mike photos like these. Little love notes about the power of looking up, both figuratively and literally.

a few days in nyc

(photo from here)

Friends! I am off to NYC for a few days. I'm working on a big project that is hush-hush for the moment, but when I can reveal all in a couple months, you will be the first to know.