22.365

This is B, my son's beloved, ragged little koala. I know I said I wouldn't talk about my son much, but this photo is significant because he and B have been inseparable since he was 3 months old. Now that my son is turning 3, B gets left behind more and more often. I'm a little sad for B, but excited that my son is maturing.

21.365

Detail of the Pittsburgh Children's Museum. Only minutes from downtown, this is a place for the preschoolers and above to really let loose. We took our kids to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History first, which they loved, but they didn't understand why they couldn't touch anything (they're almost three). The Children's Museum has all kinds of different areas for the kids to explore, touch and climb in. The parents enjoyed it too, and their cafe had really great food for a reasonable price. I wish COSI had something more like this for the preschool set.

work day

Every year I make a little pdf invite for my son's birthday party. The past two years I have stayed with the same simple theme featuring his favorite toys.

20.365

The architecture we saw in downtown Pittsburgh was amazing. You can see sleek skyscrapers, gothic churches and office buildings and unique buildings like this one, the Alcoa building.

19.365

This is a ceiling detail of the Omni William Penn Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh. It is a really stunning hotel and is a historical landmark, for good reason. My son has a best friend who recently moved away and we jumped at the change to drive over to Pittsburgh to meet up with him. They've been friends since they were about 15 months old and it's an amazing friendship. It helps that we also like his parents a lot. :)

Pittsburgh is a city that I've visited a couple of times but never have I had so much fun. We found subways to ride, inclines and an awesome museum. But more on the museum later.

18.365

Sometimes I think winter would be bearable if I lived in a sunny, beautiful place like Minnesota. Don't laugh. They have amazingly blue skies and tons of outdoor activities. It's cold, but I'd take that over the gray Ohio skies at times.

17.365

I love my husband's Subaru wagon. I like everything about it: the subwoofer, the way you sit high in the car, the growl of the turbocharger, I could go on and on. Occasionally I get to drive it. I call that "turbo therapy."

16.365

Lemons can do incredible things. Did you know that you can make your own cheese with one lemon and some milk? Don't be intimidated. It's easy. (I've found that you need at least a 1/4 of a cup of lemon juice for it to work, despite what the recipe says). And it goes great with saag paneer. I don't even like cooked spinach but I LOVE this dish.

I think cooking is fascinating because it's part alchemy, part nurishing.

15.365

This droopy leaf of my ornamental grass plant probably feels the same way we do: we're sick of winter. And the plain truth is it's not over by a long shot. It's still February and we have a long way to go. I like to go to the conservatory to escape for a couple of hours. Anyone else have a favorite place to go? That doesn't involve air travel? Tickets aren't cheap right now.

14.365

I let my son play with markers one day. Probably not the best idea, but we had lots of fun together.

work day - dsolv

I have mentioned previously that I work one day a week. I work at a design firm that has developed a pretty amazing alternative to paper lawn and leaf bags. The concept, branding, product design, etc. was developed in-house (not by me). I was brought in to help with marketing materials and tradeshows. Again, I did not create this logo or brand, I am simply rolling it out to other materials. The product itself is featured in the gardening issue of Martha Stewart Living along with other publications. It's worth checking out. And kudos to the Priority Design team. They are an amazing group of people and I am very lucky to be able to work with them. I am in constant awe of how incredibly smart they are.

* I should note that I am not the type of person to push products on people. I only do so when I find something I really believe in and this is one of them.

13.365

I think I see swatch palettes and pixels in my dreams. Or am I awake?

12.365

This looks like fire but is a folded piece of used parchment paper. It's wondrous stuff. Smooth some fresh dough on it and poof! A tasty pizza that won't stick. You should invest in a pizza peel to remove it from the oven (they are not expensive). I bake mine on a pizza stone.

Sometimes I like to mix things up by creating a white pizza. For sauce, mix olive oil with a little bit of balsamic vinegar and sprinkle in some italian herbs. Brush that on the crust and top with cheese, chicken and asparagus. Yum!

11.365

I rarely let myself drink wine at night while working. However, tasks involving a Microsoft application or MailChimp require a certain a numbness before I can even get started.

10.365

I know, you're probably wondering why I photographed poop. It's really a homemade pretzel photographed at an unfortunate angle. Lesson learned.

That point aside, try them. They disappear really quickly around our house. And it's fun for the kids to help out. We roll them into "snakes" before forming them into pretzels.

9.365

The remains of sushi night. My friends started a get-together to make their own sushi. Each person brings an ingredient, beverage or dessert. We pool our resources, roll some sushi and eat until we are stuffed. Very fun and much less expensive than eating out.

This brings me to one of my favorite subjects: rice cookers. They may sound frivolous, but you can make an entire dinner with one. Or just sushi rice, or even breakfast. My rice cooker is one of the most-used appliances in my kitchen.

8.365

We finished our bathroom remodel right before our son was born. I have no idea how I took baths during construction when I was nine months pregnant. Yuck.

The lovely mosaic tile makes me forget all about that. And three years later it looks just like it did when it was finished. I credit our contractor. Look him up if you need someone who's passionate about what they do and reasonably priced.

7.365

I came upon these lonely little guys that were resting on the floor in the middle of a frantic play area and thought, wow! what a great color palette. Perfect for a kid's room, especially a gender-neutral one. The fact that America is bent on the gender-specific colors is really annoying. I think we're one of the few countries that does that (or so I have heard).

6.365

Sometimes a cup of hot chocolate is all you need to get through the day. My studio gets chilly and I crave a warm mug from time to time. Treat yourself to homemade marshmallows. Don't roll your eyes. It's easy. And they'll taste much better than the chalky ones at the store.

work day

I work one day a week at a design firm (and usually end up working on freelance the rest of the evening since I wasn't home to do it). I decided that on those days it's ok if I can't take a photo. One of the purposes of a 365 project is to enjoy taking photos. Not stress yourself out.

I decided to switch things up and feature some work that I've done, a favorite photo from the past, or whatever I feel like on those off days.

This project came out of a trip that my son and I took when helping his best friend move. I decided to collect trinkets and photos and turn it into a book that the boys will one day be able to read on their own. I highly recommend traveling with your kids. It's difficult at times, but well worth the effort.

5.365

One of the things I really like about our house is a lot of natural light and minimal details. I try to mix old furniture with new, modern stuff. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

One of my favorite places to look for treasures in Clintonville/Columbus.

4.365

Winter is not my favorite season, but fluffy little snowflakes are pretty to look at.

I am not much of a gardener. Should I cut my roses back? I just let them go and they get bigger every year. We inherited them from the previous owner. I bet she would cringe if she saw what we've done to her back yard (sorry, Doris).

3.365

If you live near the Clintonville area and need a place to let the little ones blow off some steam, Firefly Play Café might be the place for you. They've got a bounce house, small climbing structure with a slide, a little play house, some cars to ride on and chairs and tables for the adults to relax.

http://www.fireflyplaycafe.com/

2.365

This is an old paper lantern-type light I bought at IKEA ages ago and I've been dragging it from apartment to apartment. It now resides in my studio and provides ambient light when I need it most: in the evenings when I have a large chunk of time to work without interruptions.

Working from home is not as glamorous as it sounds. It's isolating. It also provides few opportunities to get out of the house since evenings are the only time I can work. But I enjoy what I do and decided to keep working to keep my skills sharp.

There are always pros and cons of working from home.

1.365

I spend a lot of time indoors since I stay at home and work from home. This little plant, struggling to soak up some rare winter sunlight, speaks volumes. I feel your pain, little buddy.

There is a place you can escape to if you need a change of scenery. It's great for kids too.