thanksgiving eats

this year i am thankful for: 

family + friends

(in particular, aunts who are fantastic chefs and cocktail mixers)

health + happiness

gainful employment

kale and roasted root vegetable salad (with dijon vinaigrette)

sweet potatoes with sage, pistachios, and goat cheese

peppery bloody marys
live versions

freedom

the beach

the sun, moon, and stars

pictures like this one

the great state of north carolina

videos like this one

...and a thousand other things. :) 

photos by ann howell brown, 2012

my favorite place

this side table beside my sofa. 

i think i love this space because everything on it comes from all over the world and from different parts of my life, but is still woven together by my absolute favorite ocean-deep shades of blue.
(the color of calm!)

lamp: from my mother's childhood

 teacup: picked up and toted around painstakingly while traveling in india

 spice tin + blue ink bottle: from a thrift shop in rural north carolina

 swedish ivy: grown and sold by one of my students as a fundraiser for a school program

and of course, the side table itself -- thrown on the side of the road and saved by my mother's keen eye for hidden treasure.

fall leaves

i cannot tell you how happy this bright orange tree makes me every time i see it out my window. 

the cotton is turning!

spotted fields and fields of it that i never even knew existed on my way home from school! 

cotton is kind of sneaky; you don't know it's there and then suddenly it looks like it's been snowing...