I love coffee.  And these beautiful machines make the best coffee at The Other Brother coffee shop in Evanston.

All she wanted was to have sangria in Barcelona. It wasn't too much to ask.

My Aunt Nancy majored in photography at Columbia in Chicago several years ago - my brother and I modeled for a photo project one wintery afternoon (how cute are we?!).  I saw my aunt last week for an impromptu Christmas lunch at Prairie Grass. While I was savoring each spoonful of my butternut squash soup,  I learned that her academic plunge into photography didn't exactly leave her with an idealistic craving to pursue photography as a career.  Apparently, her teachers were judgmental - they didn't like her "contrasty" style.  Which is sad - because I love this photo! I was so happy when Kate stumbled on this old class project in the attic the other day...  just trying to decide which one to frame.

Note... this photo is a hipstamatic translation of the original.

Christmas is over. The new year has begun. But, until there is snow on the ground in Chicago, this tree is not going anywhere.

I've been thinking a lot about New Year's resolutions, and how it's important to make them even if the majority of us will break them. There is pleasure in the hope that you can change. Because you can. And, I can too. A few years ago I was going to the gym fairly consistently. When January rolled around I was intensely annoyed at all of the overly eager new year's resolution gym goers crowding the parking lot and locker room. I knew they would all be gone by March - but I remember having this dark thought at the time -  Why do people fool themselves? They're going to fail anyway. Occasionally, I'm blessed with tiny revelations about my disturbing tendency towards cynicism. It makes me consequently shudder at my meanness and then desire a different heart.

So, I was running an errand the other day and a simple resolution hit me - Be kind. I think thats a good place to start off 2012. If you haven't carved out some guiding ideas to help you navigate 2012 check out Chris Brogan's three words for 2012.

This is a question that bounces around loudly in my brain each night. I wonder, sometimes, if I will ever answer it with excited certainty. I walked by restoration hardware last night and saw a giant hour glass. Hour glasses make me uneasy, I don't like seeing time slip away in such a literal way - unlike these spinning wheels going round and round to infinity.

I took this picture at Mellow Johnny's in Austin. Mark gave me an after-hours tour. It was his idea to spin the wheels.