Happy Thanksgiving to all of my friends in the U.S. (and those celebrating outside of the states!) I hope everyone enjoys delicious meals with their families & friends.
(Vintage postcard from 1914, sent from D.E.C. in St. Paul, Minnesota to Mrs. Henry R. in Alabama for 1 cent.)
Every year I say I’m going to be more organized for Thanksgiving and every year, it sneaks up on me and I find myself struggling to keep it all together. Yesterday I finished grocery shopping, only to realize we didn’t have any turkey bags leftover from last year. So I had to make an early-morning run to the Jewel today. (Thankfully I beat the crowds and qualified for the express check-out!)
Today, I’m cleaning the apartment and having an internal debate–should I clean the oven now, or after Thanksgiving? (It’s really bad…many a frozen pizza disaster rests on the bottom of the oven.)
Our menu is going to be pretty much the same as last year: turkey, this Giada stuffing, Kathy’s grandma’s cranberries, mashed potatoes & gravy, maybe these carrots, a salad and whatever dessert my mom is bringing. I can’t wait!
In the meantime, I’m secretly hoping Naoto carves the turkey like a ninja:
…and many more!
P.S. The fact that I had to dig out an old wedding photo just shows that I don’t have enough pictures of you!
My artist-friend Jackie is showing her latest series of paintings at Gather, an arts and crafts studio/children’s play place in Evanston. On Saturday, Peggy, Naoto and I drove up for Jackie’s opening. 
Jackie combines painting and mixed media collage in most of her work. This particular series is The Alphabet Series–twenty-six pieces that incorporate objects and animals representing each letter. With few exceptions, Jackie’s work is bright and vibrant and layered with paints, papers, patterns, textures and colors. 
We had such a fun time walking through the alphabet and finding all of the bits and pieces within each painting to represent the letter. For instance, Party Cat above has carrot cake, candles, cups of coffee, cookies, cupcake, cat…
Many of the pieces had a bit of phone book, the Periodic Table of Elements and postage stamps (!!!) worked into them. Hillside House is a great example of these tiny details. The elements of hydrogen and helium are there, plus a tiny map of the hemispheres, some H phone book pages (including the number for my favorite place, Hala Kahiki tiki bar!!), and the best part….
…the vintage cancelled HOMEMAKERS postage stamp!! It was so much fun looking for these tiny details. 
My pictures really don’t do justice to Jackie’s work. The layers and textures get a little lost on a computer screen. But if you’re in Evanston, go see it in person! Kids or no kids, Gather is a really neat space, and obviously I think Jackie’s work is worth the trip.
From top to bottom: Garden Friends (starring Jackie’s greyhound, Alex), Night Lights, Bluebird & Bear, Party Cat, Hillside House and Red Tent. Jackie has a post on her blog where she shares some details about the paintings and you can see more of the paintings.
John the Mailman delivered his last piece of mail on Saturday. Karen and I hung a simple banner in his honor. (I made it using these Paper Source labels on these Paper Source circle cards strung on this Air Mail twine.) 
We left a little gift for John in our mailbox, but we also went down to the lobby to say goodbye. (There may have been tears.)
So far our new letter carrier is doing a commendable job.
It’s been kind of a slow mail week around here. I have a few letters to return and some Halloween mail to plan and some postcards to write. It’s supposed to rain later, so it just might be the perfect night to make some mail.
A quick post today…
I know I blathered on about my letter carrier, affectionately know as John the Mailman, in this post, but he’s retiring this week after forty years of delivering mail.
The Forest Park Review featured a really sweet article about John this week. Our new letter carrier has some big shoes to fill…
P.S. Pictured is a card that Donovan made during her letterpress class with Rar Rar Press. I’m going to give it to John as a retirement card.
My pen friend April just became a citizen of New Zealand. I wanted to send her a congratulations card but of course, finding a “Congratulations on your New Zealand citizenship” card in the U.S. was a challenge. But I knew Hallmark would sell a U.S. citizenship card (Hallmark sells every kind of card.) so I dug around in the Congratulations section in the store and found a one. Naoto was with me, shaking his head. He didn’t see the brilliance in my plan. 
I figured if red, white and blue worked for a USA citizenship, it would work for a New Zealand one. I printed out a New Zealand flag and pasted it over the American flag in the forefront. It didn’t fit perfectly, but I was okay with that. It’s not like I was trying to hide that this card was modified. And I felt that the American flags in the background were a nice touch since April is an American, too.
I added some New Zealand flags to the envelope and went through my vintage stamp collection to find some red, white and blue postage stamps. I had such a great time digging through my stamps and adding up my favorites for this envelope. April often uses an eclectic mix of New Zealand stamps on her envelopes so I *think* she will appreciate the themed vintage postage.
Have you ever altered a greeting card to make it suit your needs? Or are you shaking your head along with Naoto?
Have a good weekend!
On Saturday night, Naoto, Karen and I went to the Midwest Buddhist Temple to experience the Obon Festival. Obon is a Buddhist tradition of honoring and celebrating the dead. According to Naoto, it is the “period of time we believe the spirit of the dead come home.” In Japan, people return home to clean and pray at the graves of their ancestors.
The festival includes folk dances that celebrate and welcome the spirits. Each region in Japan has its own style of dance and music. The dances are repetitive…like line dancing (for lack of a better example) and the dancers circle around a stage where a drummer pounds a giant drum. Some dances include props like fans, towels or wooden clackers and everyone participates to welcome back the dead.
Unfortunately for us, the rain forced the Obon inside so we weren’t able to experience the beautiful dances under the light of the lanterns. Instead we met inside the temple…slightly less scenic but the dances and the music were still a great experience.
The Obon announcer shared the regions in Japan where each dance originated and it was interesting to learn a little bit about how the culture of the region influenced each dance. The Midwest Buddhist Temple offers Obon lessons leading up to the festival so members can learn all of the different dances. I didn’t know this, so we were observers…next year I would like to go for at least one lesson so we can participate. It felt a little weird to just watch, as most people–men, women, young and old–were dancing throughout the night. Some people, especially the older ladies, were very skilled at the dances, and other people were a little bit rusty, but it didn’t matter…only that you were dancing a celebrating your loved ones. It all felt really laid back and festive…a nice way to connect with each other and with those who have passed.
Happy Father’s Day, Dad! Xo
P.S. How’s that bourbon?
kimberly ah 