Mersydotes

A few nights ago, Mr. Mersy and I had a great, long talk.  We haven't been thriving here in NYC, but we really, truly want to thrive.  We've been hiding inside our house, our heads, and our hearts, but we don't want to be recluses.  We've come to think that we need to be bent and molded by this city rather than allowing ourselves to be exactly who we are- something the rest of the nutty population of New York seems to have no trouble with!  Perhaps we've been stuck in a stage of culture shock for months and months. So we sat down and created a manifesto.  A revolution just for us, beginning on a Thursday evening, sometime around 8 p.m., in a tiny kitchen in Queens.  And here's what we've come up with- a whole bunch of tiny things that, put together, are going to let us be outrageously ourselves: We're going to start waking up much earlier. We're going to drink green smoothies. We're going to exercise. We're going ...

I love crocheting- I really do, but the knitting bug has bitten me and I have become seriously infected with knitting fever.  Knitting, knitting, knitting- it's all I've wanted to do.   There's a simplicity to the stitches and to the fabric.  If crocheting is sculpting in yarn, then knitting is a gentle snow fall, blanketing the world one stitch at a time.  In fact, I just finished a trio of cotton washcloths that I knitted for my sister-in-law.  A little something colorful and useful and soft.  And, stitch by stitch, a chance for me to slowly blanket the world in pink cotton! My pattern is simple: Cast on 40, knit 4 rows, on subsequent rows, begin with knit 4 and then either knit or purl depending on the side of the fabric your working on, ending with a knit 4 in the last four stitches.  Once the cloth is long enough, end with four knitted rows before binding off.  A little something sweet and quick to ...

It's time for Mr. Mersy and I to put a bit of greenery around the house.  Even though there's no snow on the ground yet (we've only reached freezing once or twice so far this year), we're missing our escapes to the coast and the mountains.  There's that smell of fallen pine needles and wet soil and grass that's gone to seed and still, marshy water that makes everything right in the world. My sister-in-law told me about an amazing house plant called a Christmas Cactus that lives quite contentedly indoors for up to a century or more if treated properly.  There's a good chance that it could outlive me and my not-so-green thumb!  Turns out, though, that it's neither a cactus nor of the Christmas variety.  It's a rainforest plant that is actually a Thanksgiving Cactus, although unscrupulous plant purveyors in Queens change it's name around the holidays.  (You can differentiate the Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas cacti by the shape of their ...

I thought I'd share some photos of two of our favorite, tasty gluten-free dinners that look like absolute messes!  They taste so good that I was  determined to take nice photos of our meals this week, but I realized that the messiness is part of the charm for these recipes.   Here's our new favorite: Baked Nachos (layers of tortilla chips, cheese, tomatoes, scallions, and black beans) An a tried and true standby: Shakshuka (sautéed onions, jalapeños, chick peas and tomato sauce with feta and eggs) Honestly, I could eat either of these any day of the week, and I promise that they are both delish, but they really do look like a train wreck once they get onto the plate! Have any tasty but messy recipes you love?  Feel free to share! ~Love, Mersydotes

In the air there's a feeling of Christmas... Macy's Lord & Taylor Saks Fifth Avenue Barney's  Bergdorf Goodman Bloomingdales It's 64 degrees and balmy, and Christmas is only a week away!   We started our trek down south while it was still light out and the crowds weren't too overwhelming.  With a coffee stop in the middle of Fifth Avenue, we made our way north and came upon the truly spell-binding windows just as dusk fell and the jewel tones sparkled.  I hope you've seen some lovely lights and merry sights! Love, Mersydotes

Sometimes kindness is a frizzled, grey woman who blows into a parking lot on the edge of a cold November wind, carrying tins and baggies, feeding creatures that have no one else to look after them.  And when asked why she does it, she turns with conviction and declares: "Because it's hard out there." Let's remember that it is, indeed, "hard out there" for people too, and let's be kind to everyone we meet, at every moment. Love, ~Mersydotes

My freshman year of college, the very first class I ever sat in was Astronomy, and the professor was a wizened, elderly gentleman, wearing a pink sweatshirt with a crocodile on it- an expert in the birth and death of stars.  His very first words to us were that although we would be looking at the infinitely big in his class, we should never forget to look at the infinitely small, because it is in both that we find God.  I have remembered his words for years and kept them alive in my heart.   When out and about in the world, I try to remember to be amazed and humbled by both the enormous and the miniscule.  Mama Mersys photographs of the the life cycles of insects do a beautiful job of capturing this sense of awe found in creatures too small for our naked eyes to fully see.  In her photographs, the details of the eyes and wings and hairs and veins of lepodoptera and odonata are breathtaking.  And we've been collabo...

At the place where I work, I'm in charge of making things a bit more warm and fuzzy, and as the season of gratefulness is upon us, I thought that decorating a thankfulness tree might be a nice way of bringing the work community together.  It's turned into something really lovely:  When I was little, my mom taught me to always take a moment when life was hard or things were tough and count my blessings- the best form of mindfulness and the most uplifting form of therapy.  Would you like to see some of the blessings my office is thankful for?  I bet it will raise your spirits! At first, the tree was bare, but then everyone took a leaf and wrote down what they were thankful for and suddenly there was color! Do you have a few things to add to our thankfulness tree?  Let me know! Lots of love, ~Mersydotes

Right when the sun has started to slip away from us a little more each day, we have been able to capture a sunburst in the living room.  Something to lighten and brighten our nest.   The idea came from Design*Sponge, and I had a good time putting it all together- only a few burnt fingers from the hot glue! We've got to get our little place looking spiffy for the holidays- special guests are on their way! Night night, ~Mersydotes

November.  The month when I first saw this city.  The month the light changes and world becomes hushed and somnolent.  A month of in-between.   We're lighting more candles and eating foods that are preservable- apples, squashes, potatoes, beans. As the sky becomes an impassive slate and night creeps up before the day is done, our eyes have been seeking out final tidbits of color. And just in case the seasonal changes weigh too heavily on our hearts, there's a much needed opportunity to smile:  I hope that you are also being autumnal! Love always, ~Mersydotes