the homesteady

currently

look, this quilt!

currently, i'm...

watching: kristie + i have made it to season 3 of "breaking bad," but i can only watch so many episodes per week. that show is stressful! we're excited for the premiere of "the fosters," though. are you going to watch it?

thinking about: how well "married" fits. trying to be patient while our amazing photographers are hard at work on the wedding photos. how nice it is to sleep with the windows open at night. a summer full of small dinner parties. how much happier i am as soon as the temperature goes up. a dog at home who really needs a trip to the dog park.

reading: i'm reading "the forgotten garden" by kate plimpton right now which, while not the most well-written piece of fiction in the world, is entertaining. next on my list is "wild" by cheryl strayed.

celebrating: kristie + i got married last weekend! we are celebrating marriage, family members, friends, an awesome party + the happy fact that it's all over + we can now move on with our lives! i'm so thrilled to have time now to knit in the evenings, take long walks with samson + generally just feel no pressure whatsoever when i get home from work. it's nice. i missed that. also, i got to say "my wife" at the bank the other day. it felt so good.

making me happy: rain on humid days. lilacs blooming in our backyard, however briefly. a new quilt. a tried-and-true chili recipe. weekend plans. brainstorming new ideas. a kitchen table brimming with flowers leftover from the wedding. friends who know just what to say (or not say). bursts of fresh creativity. driving to three different restaurants so everyone could eat exactly what they wanted for dinner the day after the wedding. buying our honeymoon tickets tonight. talking to my dad. sweaters way on sale at old navy (i got 2). small acts of spontaneity. 

*inspired by nicole from rose runs wild + dani from sometimes sweet!

a saturday barbecue

after the northampton pride parade earlier this month, we headed to our friend claire's house for a bbq in the driveway! it was so nice to sit back, relax + hula hoop a little (check out the gif at the bottom!) after a morning spent in the sun.

northampton pride 2013

have you ever been to a pride parade? they draw the happiest people. everyone attends to celebrate love, community + acceptance. the pride event in our neck of the woods is especially...well, great. western massachusetts is a special place, where almost everybody fits in. it's nice to live here. 

anyway, northampton pride was last weekend + it was a blast. if you're interested, you can click here to read why pride events -- and efforts to legalize same-sex marriage -- are still important.

our gorgeous friend kristen

lots of unintentional opposite-matching (taken during a pit stop mid-pride)

25 things: march (+ april's) tea

you guys, WE GOT MARRIED on saturday! the ceremony was lovely, the weather was beautiful, and i know it sounds trite, but the whole day could not have been more perfect if i had imagined it (well...i should have taken my spanx off a whole lot sooner!). i can't wait to share photos from our incredible photographers + more details about the day, but i'm still so tired. we spent the past two days running errands, opening presents, visiting with family + friends, and getting life back to normal. i'll be back to posting regularly tomorrow + plenty of wedding-related posts are coming your way soon! thanks for hanging in there the past week.

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yeah, i've been slacking a little on this list, thanks to wedding planning, so this tea counts for two, okay? but it works out, because it's my new favorite!

it's traditional medicinals' chamomile tea with lavender + it's so delicious. 

i love chamomile tea (usually with honey + a drop of vanilla extract) + i love lavender in lotions + other products, so i'd had my eye on this blend for awhile. it's awesome, to put it quite frankly. happily, it doesn't taste like lotion. it's rivaling sleepytime tea as my favorite. plus, check out the health benefits...

it's asparagus season!

asparagus season is back in western massachusetts! admittedly, it's not my favorite vegetable, but i love it when it's at its peak. it's called "hadley grass" out here + has quite the devoted following. a local creamery even makes an asparagus ice cream this time of year, dotted with almond slices, that's surprisingly delicious. last week, we bought a bunch of hadley grass from a farm stand across the street from the flea market + used it for my favorite risotto recipe in the world.

find the aforementioned recipe here, from edible pioneer valley. i omit the mushrooms, use a little more wine + a perverse amount of parmesan cheese (usually double what the recipe calls for). this year, after a lightning bolt of inspiration, i topped the whole thing with a fried egg. 

face first: an inspiring photography project

i love "gayface," an ongoing photo series from ashley kolonder. she photographs people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (lgbtq) -- once with their eyes closed, and again looking directly at the camera. the series is a good reminder that perception, and the assumptions we make based on it, is a very powerful thing.

"as a gay woman + an artist, i felt it was of the utmost importance to give the lgbtq community a platform to express their voice + their truth," ashley told me. "i want to show the many faces of this community, the diversity + the strength it takes to be who they are each day. the lgbtq community are not second class citizens in this great nation, and they deserve the same rights as everyone else."

"i thought that there would be a few humans who were into the project + that it was going to be more a project that was meaningful to me + a few, but it has seemed to touch more humans than i thought + i love it!

as i continue, i have plans to cover the u.s. + eventually travel internationally. so far i've traveled to dc, nyc + boston. in the next two months, i'll be going to chicago, ithaca new york, new jersey + all down the california coast. in august, i'm planning on launching a kickstartr campaign for GAYFACE 1st Class, to raise money for myself + a crew to cover 30 more u.s. states.

the photographs are just the first part of this project. once that's complete, there will be gallery shows, projections of these photographs on buildings + landmarks, street art, and a book produced with all comments and stories shared from the photographed subjects' experiences. i've put together a film crew that has been + will continue to document the whole process in hopes to put together a documentary by the end of our first road trip."

find ashley on pinterest, facebook + her website.

*all images used with permission. this is NOT a sponsored post.

the hadley flea market

the hadley flea market is open every sunday from late april until october. it's gotten pretty popular over the years + that sometimes necessitates parking a little ways down the road + strolling in. we've been going a lot lately; it's a great resource for wedding finds!

a lovely vintage tin dollhouse. makes you wonder about lead paint...

be still my pyrex-loving heart! never have i wished more ardently that i had $75.

it's not a flea market without creepy, semi-bald dolls

modern housewares from nicole porter design

nicole porter designs was a featured seller on etsy last week + that's not all -- look for her work in upcoming issues of instyle, redbook, real simple, everyday with rachael ray, and new york magazine. i love her modern desgins with those pops of gorgeous neon.

top: modern neon hardwood bowl in yellow + seafoam

clockwise from top left: gradient line hardwood small bowl in dove gray; modern neon salad bowl in electric orange; on the horizon hardwood small bowl in white bean; modern neon hardwood dinner plate in electric yellow

*all images used with permission. this is NOT a sponsored post.

here + there

follow me on instagram @thehomesteady

the wedding is in eight days. i can't believe how fast this whole engagement has gone by; i remember looking at the countdown on our wedding website over a year ago + thinking "this is going to take forever." 

my posts next week might be a little more photo-heavy than usual. i'll be spending my days with my sister + kristie, putting the final touches on our celebration...and then probably taking a few days off afterward. i'll do my best to respond to comments + emails, but i'll probably be a *little* distracted. in the meantime, i have some great posts ready to go, including photos from northampton pride, another look at the flea market + some artists i'm really digging.

links i've been loving lately...

the stanley film festival (all horror movies) is going to be held at the stanley hotel in colorado, where "the shining" was filmed. terrifyingly perfect!

i love these downloadable projects from poppin.

a portion of proceeds from stone + cloth backpacks goes to students in tanzania.

inspiration for a backyard camping party!

5 easy-to-grow mosquito-repelling plants

jennie lamere is 17 years old, competes in hackathons (+ is usually the only girl there) + invented the greatest thing ever: a twitter app to prevent you from seeing spoilers about your favorite tv shows. 

two delicious-looking recipes...for your dog!

this infographic showing 19 emotions for which the english language has no words gives me goosebumps every time i look at it.

take 40% off oh dear drea's shop with the code MEXICO.

today's great idea: a csa for flowers

on an average thursday in massachusetts...

on an average thursday in massachusetts, two women walked into city hall. they filled out paperwork + applied for a marriage license. they smiled, hugged, then left + went to work. 

*pictures taken with my blackberry