Because weekends mean days like this:

The best thing about San Francisco is that even after four + years of active discovering, there are still treasures of the city left to be found. J and I spent a Saturday afternoon seeking salvage, sun and beer in secret happy places.

There are facts. One is that I can not be in a wedding and also take photos successfully (yay for C hiring a photographer so I could have fun and be present). Another is that I had a tad of a mutual obsession with A, my six year old sidekick and new muse, who was officially my date to the wedding. I could blog the 50 photos I took of her while following her around like paparazzi, but that wouldn’t be representative of the fact that this was one of my oldest friend’s wedding.

My C, who became a friend over lyrics to Jagged Little Pill at summer camp in the early 90s, who as a preteen I drank a bottle of whiskey with in the basement, who I shared some of the best and worst days of my life with… It’s not at all hard to imagine us here now, dancing to the soundtracks of our youth. Not even a broken foot was keeping me off the dance floor.

Congratulations C & A. I love you.

There are a trillion priceless photos of us in my archives, but I happened to come across this one today and decided it was pretty representative of us, at least in 1995 (trouble).

To not only have thirty five female friends you love, but to find they’d travel from all over the country to share their love and strength with you before giving birth says a bit about my dear friend A and the gorgeous people she surrounds herself with. Here are a few photos from the day we all came together to celebrate the next chapter of her life, one expected to start any day now.

After what I think has been the longest hiatus from my blog, I finally have some random film to share. The cameras have made their way to parties and places, but I’ve spent too much time getting carried away in the fun (and making videos on Vine!) and not enough time documenting. March and April will be filled with adventure, so I plan on making up for it soon. Until then, here is the randomness of my February.

the third annual Hats & Highballs party

from the windows of a few work days in New York

C’s bridal shower

Part 2 is the revival of the Mamiya, and I’ve never been happier to have her and her gorgeous 120mm film back. Scenes from El Ganzo and the cactus garden, three days of well earned relaxation at the most perfect hotel we’ve been to.

…and it’s called El Ganzo.

We wanted to keep it all to ourselves, to preserve its pristine beauty and quiet charm forever- but it’s just too wonderful to not share. I described it to a friend from a big red chaise lounge as a “cooler, beachy, less hipster and more MOMA version of the ACE.” This is a place where art and music replace stereotypes of spring break Cabo, where there really is no reason to leave the grounds other than to step a few feet to the beach. The Cabo of live jazz by morning, Joy Division by day, Leonard Cohen by late afternoon and live rock at night. Swim, swim, lounge and read, have a drink and tasty fresh fish…

It was our second trip to Mexico together, something we’ve been saying we needed to do again since we left last year. It was exactly what we needed for a few days of decompression. I’ve decided to post the Mamiya photos separately from the Polaroids, so another set to follow.

(technical note: the black mark in the photos turned out to be the battery clamp which had come undone.)

From Sonoma to flamenco to French class, the shooting range with Nick and getting to spend Jenna’s birthday with her over cocktails and cheese, ending with a visit to the Legion of Honor via Vespa with Kristen, it was quite the week. Armed with both a Land Camera and the Polaroid back for my new Mamiya, I spent a few days moving backwards in photography. Perfect digital photos seem so boring now compared to the super messy and imperfect polaroids that now litter my living room.

This weekend marked our third annual Harley Farms dinner for Jenna’s birthday, as well as a trip to Sonoma to visit my now very pregnant and dear friend for a million years, Audrey. I’ve never appreciated crisp, beautiful northern California winter days more.

My new Mamiya arrives today, but I’m becoming quite attached to the Polaroid. I’ve been learning so much- most notably this time that I should really count all the way for a proper exposure, and that 100 iso can seriously struggle in sunset lighting. Next adventure: experimenting with the Polaroid back I splurged on for the Mamiya. My divided heart shall fret no longer.

J and I were good friends for most of the four years I was living in Australia, but became closer and closer in the four since I’ve been away. Tortured that I moved to the US just weeks before Mischa was born, I then had the additional unfairness of having missed Finn’s birth by a day on my last trip to Australia two years ago. Thanks to a visit from J while she was pregnant with Finn and our escape this year to Hawaii, I haven’t felt disconnected at all. And thanks to Skype, I’ve watched the children grow and become gorgeous little people.

When I arrived on Christmas morning (J and I had decided in Hawaii that I should come to Christmas and see where she grew up) I was greeted with a shrill of AUNTIE JILLIAN!!! AUNTIE JILLIAN! -the best hello ever in the world. It was the nicest Christmas morning I can remember, with six children under four dancing and prancing through the ‘fairy garden’, running wild and free. We swam and relaxed with beers in the tropical heat, ate seafood and became involved in a full-on water fight with the neighbors and their dogs. I’ve never felt more at home or more fortunate to be at a place in time.

These are some things my eyes saw and the caravan I called my sanctuary on the lawn for the three nights of perfect escape while writing and reading and taking life in.

Collecting old editions of Alice in Wonderland wasn’t an original idea. A good friend Erin had many copies and started giving me some, and over the years my eyes have been drawn to so many pretty jackets that a little collection of my own began. It’s my favorite story in the world and the origin of Little Bat (twinkle twinkle little bat, sang the Mad Hatter).

I was reading through the 1951/62 Washington Square Press edition I found yesterday this morning and landed on a poem at the end. And because it’s too beautiful not to leave you with before boarding a flight to Australia, here goes:

A boat, beneath a sunny sky
Lingering   onward dreamily
In an evening of July —

Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear —

Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die:
Autumn frosts have slain July.

Still she haunts me, phantom wise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.

Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.

In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:

Ever drifting down the stream —
Lingering in the golden gleam —
Life, what is it but a dream?

………………………………………………
Lewis Carroll
(editor’s note: The initial letters of this poem when read downward give the full name of the original Alice - Alice Pleasance Liddell.)

photo from my trip to Boulder a few months ago.

From the farm lands of southern NJ, my grandmother’s birthday and a quick stop in New York with Q- to the streets of Paris and my first discovery of Copenhagen, here are some polaroids from the last few weeks.