End of the Summer Photos

Camping via yurt in September.

The beautiful wooden chairs on our yurt deck

Family picnic

Tools of the day

Camping in the Mount Washington Valley in August

Reading a book fireside

Images:  Rebecca Tollefsen

On The Books: Road Trip in July

Behind the Walls 2012, Episode #2 ~ First Aid Kit from SöPa productions on Vimeo.

I wrote about all of the things that will make 2013 a good year full of enjoyment.  At the top of the list?  Road trips. We just planned a road trip for July as we'll be heading to the Newport Folk Festival.  Above is an episode of Newport Folk Festival's series Behind The Walls which features performances from artists that performed at last year's festival.  The lineup for the festival doesn't come out until Spring and we can't wait to see who will be there this year.

Happy 2013

Happy New Year! Here's to 2013 - let there be love, light, laughs, letting go and luck for your year ahead!

It snowed on Saturday night and yesterday we got up early and headed out for a Sunday drive into Massachusetts to do some shopping. Here are a few shots taken on my phone of the beautiful snowscape.


 Images: Rebecca Tollefsen

Thank You

For those of you celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow I hope you have a wonderful, relaxing day spent with loved ones. Happy Thanksgiving!

One of the things I am most grateful for in life is my business and everything associated with it, including this space here.  I really appreciate all of the support and kind words that have been shared here (and on all of the other social media outlets I am part of) over the past four years. I'm beyond lucky to have such great readers, supporters & customers! Thank you!

 Here's to a wonderful weekend and kick off to the holiday season - enjoy! xo


 Image: Rebecca Tollefsen

Recently

A couple of photos I recently shared to my instagram feed:

1. I cleaned out some drawers and found a bunch of old concert tickets.  It was cool to go through them and remember who we were with at each show, what point in our life we where at, etc.

2. A view of my messy workbench.

3. Sylas is always asking to play the guitar (he calls it "itar" - with a long I sound).  He will only play the guitar if he has a hat on.  Last night he started playing and then promptly stopped to get one of John's baseball hats.  I think he might be channeling Slash.  When he hands the guitar off to us to play he makes us wear a hat as well.

4. I get really dirty while working and I usually only wear old, worn out clothes.  I bought a canvas apron so I can get dressed in the morning in regular clothing and cover them up with the apron.  Now I don't have to fear answering the door when FedEx arrives because I will have normal clothing on!  I kind of like 'getting ready' in the morning like I used to.  I think it mentally prepares me to be more productive during the day.

It seems like more and more people are using instagram.  This week I had several family and friends join up.  It is a such a fun watch to stay connected!  You can find me on instagram as @rebeccatollefsen.

We started our stove for the first time today and can you believe that Thanksgiving is less than a month away?  I hope you are having a wonderful week!



Images:  Rebecca Tollefsen via Instagram

Document the Day: Road Trip to Portland, ME

This year for John's birthday my parents took Sylas for the night and John and I went to Portland, Maine. Portland is a sweet little coastal town where John and I have spent a lot of time. Before Sylas was born we would go to Portland two or three times a year and we got to know the town quite well. We even spent part of our honeymoon there.  Portland holds a special place in our heart and we hadn't been back since Sylas was born.  We were so excited to go back and explore.  We started out the day walking around the cute downtown and Old Port sections of Portland.  We stood outside of that tattoo shop trying to talk each other into going inside to get something together but we realized that we didn't have enough time before our dinner reservation.

Don't you love those cobblestone streets? And that bike was from a beautifully designed window display.  John is a huge beer connoisseur and as soon as I told him were going to Portland he told me he wanted to visit Novare Res.  John had read about Novare Res having an extensive beer selection.  And they totally did - it was comprehensive and downright crazy!  What an amazing spot.  Novare Res has a beautiful outdoor patio and a cool indoor atmosphere as well.  You can see photos from the indoor section of Novare Res here and here. We were so glad we found that spot and it will be a regular stop when we go back to Portland.  We then headed down to the bay side to watch some live music at a restaurant on the water.

We had reservations at Fore Street, a restaurant we try to visit each time we go to Portland.  We had an amazing meal with the sweetest waiter and a delicious cheese plate for dessert.

The next morning we went to The Standard Baking Co. another one of our Portland favorites.  It is owned by the same folks that own Fore Street.  The chocolate croissant is kind of out of control, just saying.  We feel so lucky that our parents were able to take Sylas for the night.  It gave us time to get a break from our everyday routine and recharge.  Thanks Mom and Dad!


Images:  Rebecca Tollefsen

Phone Photos

work life // home life.


Images:  Rebecca Tollefsen via Instagram

Recently

Summer love.

Image: Rebecca Tollefsen

Recently

1. Fourth of July party/bonfire on center of the lake

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!


Images: Rebecca Tollefsen

Happy Summer!

So pumped that summer is finally here!


Image: Rebecca Tollefsen

Studio Space Inspiration

We've been toying around with the idea of moving my studio space. Currently my studio is right next to the room where we sleep. The workbench where I do all of my fabrication, production and packaging is right up against the wall.  On the other side of that wall is our bed. This means that whenever Sylas is sleeping I am unable to work because of the noise level of my production work.

It never seems to fail that just when I am ready to get to my production work each day John is putting Sylas down for his nap. Sylas generally sleeps for about 2 hours and I am unable to work during that time. I usually use that time to do miscellaneous computer work I need to get done but I really need that time for production. My jewelry business produces enough work for it to be full time hours and waiting those two nap time hours means working well past dinner time.  Also, during the rush seasons like Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, the December holidays I need to work during the night to get orders shipped out in a timely manner.

We have a finished room in our basement and we thought we might fix it up as new studio space. Over the weekend we found out that it won't work out for a couple of reasons. We are now looking at ways to rearrange our sleeping area and my studio space. As the rearranging takes place I am going to be doing some redecorating and I'm excited. I currently have a pretty great set up. I have a huge chalkboard framed by a re-purposed, rustic teal wooden screen door, my work bench is a 7 foot long farmhouse table and my packaging station is a little urban farmhouse style table with drawers. I also have a yellow refinished hutch and a spot for my sewing machine. Everything fits just so and I love the pieces I have to work with.  However, I'd like to have some ambiance in there - maybe new paint, some twinkly lights, some kind of change that is fun.

The photo above shows a studio space from my "studio space inspiration" Pinterest board where I've bookmarked ideas for my new space.  I love the bright white backdrop and L-shaped work set up. I currently have an L shaped set up as well and it is key for separating work, computer and packaging space. I love the vintage 504 signs - I am sure they represent something special to the studio space owner. There is lots of great light and nice pops of color around the space.  In the next few weeks John and I will be making some decisions about how we'll rearrange things and if the changes are drastic I'll be posting some before and after photos.


Image Jessica Hische via flickr  and found via Pinterest.

Music Through The Ages

Sweet vintage action in full effect here.  I continue to try actions out to see what I think and then don't end up loving them.

When I was eleven years old I had developed a fondness for The Beatles so my parents bought me a records player for my birthday.  They thought I might like to listen to their records as many of their albums were from the same era as The Beatles. The record player and their extensive collection of records stayed with me throughout the years. When Sylas was born we moved several things, including our record player, to our basement to make room for his toy room.  The other day Sylas learned how to open the hutch that we store our CD collection in. This was like a goldmine to him. He spent quite a while disassembling our collection. John mentioned that we should just get rid of the CDs. I told him that one day those CDs would be to Sylas what my parent's record collection was to me. We ended up getting out our box of records and going through each one. John asked me my favorite song on each album. It eventually lead to us getting the record player out of the basement to listen to our collection. Unfortunately, the record player is now playing too slowly. I haven't had a chance to take a look at it to see if I can get her up and running. Above are some of the records I enjoyed most throughout the years. King Crimson, Steve Miller Band, Joan Armatrading, CSN&Y, Van Morrison and Cream. Wouldn't the Cream album cover make the best kitchen art?.  We have framed many of the records in our collection throughout the years because they make such great wall art.  I love the history behind the records.  My dad must have traveled with his records often, sharing his favorite bands at gatherings and with his friends.  He would write his name on each one so it was sure to always make it back to his hands after sharing.  Anyone have a record player they aren't using much these days?  We'd love to borrow it for a bit.

The First of December

I don't remember how it all began but for years we've been referring to the first of December as 'Game On', as in let the celebrating begin. John and I celebrate during the month by leaving each other little gifts around the house for each other to find.  The first of December starts our annual tradition and things can get pretty silly.  We try to out-do each other by leaving gifts in funny spots around the house.  I've definitely opened up the refrigerator to find a candle waiting for me.  My mom also partakes in the tradition by having a gift delivered to me on December 1st each year.  Above is what went down today.  John and I had to laugh because our gifts were so similar to one another.  I gave him this resource/cookbook because we are striving to make both healthy and environmentally conscious food choices and generally don't have any idea what we are doing :). John gave me this magazine about urban farming.  We don't have a lot of gardening space to work with and I am always telling John about how we need to get creative about growing our own food.  I'm hopeful that we'll have a little garden on our porch again this summer.  My mom sent along three sweet handmade ornaments for us.  My mom is an extremely generous and thoughtful person.  This year she gave Sylas a beautiful wooden train that is an advent calendar.  The train has a little drawer for each day leading up to Christmas and my mom filled them all with a treat or a note giving us instructions to find our gift among a bag of wrapped presents.  For today the note read "open package that says Game On".  

First Concert

Wordless Chorus, Encore at the Boston 2011 Show

We got to go to the My Morning Jacket show in Boston this month.  To be honest, we almost didn't go down to the show.  On the night of the concert we were both tired, feeling a bit down and staying home to relax on a dreary Sunday night sounded very appealing.  When My Morning Jacket came to town last year we wanted to see them so badly but Sy was a only three weeks old so we waited patiently until they came around again.  Thankfully they released an album and planned a tour this summer.  On the night of the show we ended up rallying and hopped into the car.  We arrived just in time for the band to take the stage.We wore Sy for most of the night in our backpack.  He did a fair amount of pointing and some sweet backpack dance moves.  He loved looking around at all the lights, people and action.  I can't wait to share so much music with him as he grows. 

Something that really spoke to me about My Morning Jacket's tour is that proceeds from each show go to each a local charity in each city they played in.  The band chose the Boston charity Artists for Humanity for show we attended.



Rad

So happy to have found this cover of Forever Young. This has always been such a special song to me for several reasons one of them being that my father and I danced to the original version of this song at our wedding.  Also - fun fact -  Eddie and I share the same birthday ;).  John and I scored tickets to the Eddie Vedder show in Boston in a couple of weeks. Woot.

Winter Farmer's Market

Lucky for us my mother read about a winter farmer's market in one of the local papers and invited us to go along with her one Saturday morning.  Shopping local is something that means alot to our family so we didn't want to pass up a chance to stock up on great products while we could.  It's a long winter in New England and farmer's markets are a little harder to come by this time of year.

This market was located within greenhouses that were filled with lush gardens and the most beautiful plants.  I could have spent my time wandering this part of the market for the duration of our trip.

 But there was much more to see at this winter's market.  As soon as we entered into the vendors' area we were greeted by a circle of harp players. 

 And then we were greeted by the robust hustle and bustle of the vendors' market.  Winter produce, baked goods, cheeses, meats - all locally harvested and as far as the eye could see.
 

 I spent about twenty minutes staring at and then touching these gorgeous yarns.  The colors were so vibrant and inspiring.

Our favorite place was the White Heron Tea booth.  The service was super friendly and they had so many tea products it took us about fifteen minutes to finally settle on a brew. Hot chai and an all day breakfast wrap?  Yes, please.

I read and re-read the delicious menu offerings but we weren't quite ready for a meal so we decided on a cranberry apple ginger iced tea that was out of this world.

It was so great to chat with all of the vendors in person and learn about their process.  We ended up with cheddar goat's milk cheese from Hickory Nut Farm .  These ladies were so sweet and they invited us to their farm so Sylas could interact with their goats.  We also sampled THE MOST delicious maple syrup and learned about the difference in grades.  We went with the darkest grade available and it is seriously a cut above the rest.  We also came home with some african rooibois loose leaf tea from White Heron.  I am sure I am forgetting many other things we bought and my mom did quite well with her selections as well.   Wonderful people, friendly patrons and a thriving enviornment made this farmer's market so much better than we were ever expecting.

Summertime & Maternity Leave

My mom took vacation to spend some time with Sylas and I since The John headed on back to work after his three week paternity leave. She and my father hosted a lobster party one afternoon. It doesn't get much better than this - especially because I love listening to my father tell stories about my grandfather who lobstered after he finished his tim with the air force. My father often helped him on his lobster boat during childhood/young adulthood and it is so interesting and dear to hear stories of what my grandfather was like.  Maternity leave is rad.

Johnny's Baby Picks

John's top three baby picks for our little baby boy.  We can't wait for him to arrive!

Tee

Overalls

Onesie 

My New Sling

Here is the beautiful Beth - the designer and maker behind Babyette.  Johnny gave this to me for Christmas.  I'm so in love with the color of this sling - it is well made and was packaged so sweetly with step by step directions for use.  If you poke around on the Babyette website you'll find Youtube videoes on how to use slings and the other baby carriers they have within their line as well.

A Little Man

We're having a boy! We are so excited and can't wait to meet him.  By the way, the picture above is our baby sucking his thumb which is particularly sweet given that I was an avid thumbsucker for a number of my childhood years. Our baby was really grooving during our ultrasound, we got to see lots of movement - at one point it looked like he was doing water aerobics!