It's never too late to post photos, right? Right.

//Happy New Year!This was a painting I did for my dear friend, Calee. Yay to long-lasting friendships and her wonderful, bright, creative soul.♡

* so for those dear friends that aren't in this video, i hope you know that i adored our moments just as much. even if they aren't here. 

//

There's about a zillion things I could say about this past year. There were moments that were so freaking wonderful, I couldn't even put words to them. There were some that were equally as tough and also have no words, but they probably wouldn't be for sharing anyway.

The end of a year is always interesting. There's a collective pause and thoughts are gathered. Memories are revisited and promises are set for the upcoming year. What's lovely is that everyone has something different. Some choose to share them, some choose to keep them close. I'm one of those people that's annoyingly behind a camera. I like looking through the lens and capturing moments. I love pretty things and animals and I'm sure I take the same shots every year. Except this year, I started taking little videos. I don't shoot everything, because that would be way too much and there wouldn't be much room for actual living*.

But when I looked back to see what I had, I realized that while 2013 certainly had some patches of just going through it, it was also filled with much, much more. For that, I am ever grateful.

Happy New Year. ♥    

Hello lovelies,

It is past my bed time, but I am waiting for Santa to arrive....haha...just kidding. Although, I am certainly in the holiday spirit. How could I not be with all of the holiday movies on repeat!? Seriously, I think Elf played three times during our amazing dinner.

I'm currently in Wisconsin where it is the prettiest winter wonderland ever. There is SO. MUCH. SNOW (aka "nature's glitter" per my revelation this morning!) which makes me happy since the past few days of global warming winter in New York have been - quite frankly - freaking. me. out. (okay...given that it's Christmas the b*t*h-fest will stop here)

So.....dear friends, I hope you all have a wonderful (and safe!) holiday filled with friends, family, good food, laughter (!!), pretty lights, funny animals playing in wrapping paper or chasing bows, perhaps an afternoon nap, singing (!) and so many love sparkles you can hardly stand it. More than this, I hope you take a moment to soak it all in. In the midst of opening presents, drinking coffee or mimosas, and singing carols -- STOP whatever you are doing, look around, notice something, and freaking embrace all. of. it. Because THAT moment...is the best present of all of them. No need to instagram or facebook it. Just live it. Merry Christmas/festivus/whatever you celebrate.

Happy day everyone.♥♥
kk

Some photos from Thanksgiving in Iowa. The open roads of Iowa. Something about them always clears my mind. Family Knitting lessons! Morning light from my bedroom window. My uncle's gardening notes - my favorite, " ~ ten onions are missing" [what a lucky rabbit!] One of my best friends from high school. This cross is also a cell phone tower. Desserts from the Motley Cow. My adorable friend Calee and her amazing boyfriend. Aren't they lovely! Driving on Bloomington street in Iowa City! Corn bins need Christmas love too. The main street in my hometown is how I spent my evenings. Wine and typing.** There's lots to write around the topic of home. I have lots. of. thoughts. But I've recognized that you can't really run away from the place where it all starts. 

// Gum-balls in Queens (how I wish I could jump in there!), a walk on the Williamsburg Bridge, lawn ornaments by my house, awesome office friends [seriously, I love these guys], trying to get across town on Halloween (it was hell, but those kids in the townhouse were so funny), and some flora and fauna of the fall. Fall was fun, but I'm glad that tomorrow marks the shortest day of the year because THAT means the days will start getting longer. One microsecond at a time. ♥

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Change doesn't always happen overnight, it happens in small little circles and a shit ton of "back and forths". We have to remember patience and allow enough  s p a c e   to look honestly at patterns and then figure out what to do with them - if anything. I believe growth comes from recognizing patterns and finding ways to talk about them. Making sure the words coming out of someone's mouth are actually translated properly in the mind. For they are too easily distorted.

Lately, I've found it too difficult to actually BE with myself and whatever's coming up. I've felt disconnected from my body, as if I'm watching the experiences as a shadow. That's not to say I'm not enjoying things because I have had a freaking blast at this month's events (apparently, November was the month for all of my friends to throw parties), but there has been some blue lurking around. Actually, it's more of dull gray. I haven't painted in a few months and can't seem to find it in me to try. I'm too afraid that the paintings will look the same as others I've done, too many swirls and glitter. The inner voice reminding me to just paint is hard to find, it's too lost in a tangle of a bunch of crap.

It's always good to escape the city. To get away from the clusters of crowds, the hurried motion, and immerse yourself into a place where you feel a little more steadied. To feel inspired. I felt better the moment I got off the train in Coldspring. And the woods were filled with little bits of magic everywhere. Tree houses for fairies, a blanket of fallen leaves, and everything was golden. As the sun set, it burned so brightly on along another mountain. It looked electric. I've always felt held in these mountains, protected in a way.

Looking at the photos I am still inspired. When the time is right, I hope to try and capture some of the magic on canvas. Until then, here are my blurry photos (it was quite chilly!).

full set and trail info

This is what I have to say to you. In the first stage of the journey you learned to replace harmful beliefs with helpful ones. It was such a relief to let go of negativity that it became a temptation to stay there - to make your home in those newly acquired positive thoughts. But a positive self image is still a mask. The next stage of your journey is becoming comfortable with the unknown. It involves being clear and courageous enough to rest in bare awareness without having to create another identity, without needing to tack yet another belief to the end of "I am."

Experience the expansion, the spaciousness that comes from resting in the truth of unknowing. It isn't comfortable, at least not now, but it is powerful and inherently creative. It's what your soul longs for. Use the sense of vertigo to leave behind the know, and let go of the need to tether your soul to anything solid or definable.

Let yourself go, over and over, until it is second nature to be weightless.

-Danna Faulds, From Root to Bloom

These are the days of fall.

NY Cares Day 2013 @ W.E.B. Debois High School from Kim Kullmer on Vimeo.

This year's New York Cares Day was lit - according to the teens we worked with. The volunteers for this year's event were high school students participating in the Youth Service Program for NY Cares. Since this was a unique opportunity, I wanted to ensure that the students had a say in what was going to be on their walls, so we met a few times before the actual event. Most of them were seniors, so this mural was a chance to leave their mark. We decided on a mural that would depict "Iconic Brooklyn". The final piece was a landscape of Coney Island to the Brooklyn Bridge. One of the teachers suggested adding Jackie Robinson's baseball number, hence the large 42. The students were great to work with. Their energy was inspiring and they. made. us. laugh.

Here's a little video from our day.

♥Thanks to everyone who came and I hope you all had a wonderful time!

Girlfriends, sunshine, and a carnival from the 1920's.What more could a girl ask for on a Sunday afternoon?This little video (from one of my favorite blogs ever) captures Fête Paradiso even more perfectly. full set* "Merry" time is said very tongue-and-cheek because for whatever reason, THAT is what I kept calling the maritime building (shown in first and last photos). 

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One of my favorite things to do when traveling, is to find the places that are a little off the beaten path. This is especially easy to do in Key West (and most places) with a bicycle.This little island is full diversity and extremes with classes, but there is a constant. The gorgeous sunsets that can be seen by all.

*not pictured* - the moment i heard the click of the bike lock, after riding all the way to smather's beach only to realize that we had forgotten the key. hand-to-head | exactly just how close i got to that egret. for a moment, i considered trying to pet it, but decided it wouldn't be worth the potential fall considering i was standing in the water. plus, i don't think egrets like to be pet. | the zillions of no-see-ums (this horrible bug of a creature) that attacked me (i spent days nursing bites after!) | the strange conversation with the cab driver about cuba | riding back in the dark using the flash light on my phone .. until it died .. then riding in the dark - stressful at the time, but fun looking back. 

p.s. Don't you just love the way the chickens and cats roam the streets. 

there were lots of jellies and they were all this big! aren't they adorable! AND they saved the sea turtle! so many fish! // About 70 miles off of Key West is a lovely, remote island full of nature. It would be the perfect place for the humans to get away from "the walkers" (which btw that show is so good!). It was terribly hot, but so worth it. We spent the day wandering ruins, wondering about the types of conversations birds would have, avoiding jellies, and playing in the water. Could there be anything more perfect? Just look at that blue! not pictured - the sea turtle rescue that happened on the way to the island. apparently, the ferry boat driver (captain?) noticed a sea turtle caught in a buoy the night before, so they had a team (who happened to be a cute couple dressed in the same blue as the day!) come the island for the day to help. i would have watched this sea turtle rescue, but was completely knocked out from the dramamine - as in mouth-hanging-open-sleeping-in-public. a lovely site, i am sure - for nearly the full boat ride there. more photos

There's something about the shift from summer to fall that just gets me, and not necessarily in a good way. The truth is, it starts very early. The shift begins at the end of July - when the sky is the haziest and the leaves are somewhere between slightly-wilted and getting ready to crisp for the fall. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of things I love about the season; cider and layers and falling leaves and cooler nights. Although, let's be honest ... the best parts of Fall are far too brief in New York. Not enough bright yellow leaves and crisp blue days.

I've gotten much better at identifying the moments that are a little harder for me. The ones that I work really hard to rush through, but feel painfully slow. I've found that in "being" with whatever-comes-up, I'm able to move through it - just a bit faster.

It's easiest for me to get to the other side by noticing the beauty that is everywhere. In the small details of a moment. In the ability to remember and to look forward.It's especially easy when you're away from the city and the Berkshires are perfect for this.

*not pictured* - rushing out of the city, leaving much later than planned, and arriving even later than originally expected - due to lack of cell service, we ended up creeping around houses; looking into windows and everything trying to figure out which one was our destination. it didn't help that there were two houses with the same address, but we decided it was highly unlikely that someone would rent a house with a gaping hole on the front porch. thankfully, we found the house. | kayaking on a big pond and going through the marsh, into the tiny stream of lily pads and wild orchids | having a nice conversation with locals on the water | finding lots of treasures in the woods, including exploding touch-me-nots and toads! | the amazing cookies at the gypsy joynt, the birthday cake cookie was the. best. (if you're ever in great barrington, go. also try this) 

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*full set here* 

The Jazz Age Lawn party is great fun.If you are ever coming to New York, plan your visit around a weekend when this occurs. You will not regret it.

It starts with a pretty ferry ride and takes you back in time to the prohibition era. The Great Lawn is filled with colorful dresses and the trees are green, green, green (even on a gray day!) and ladies' lips are red, red, red.

The St. Germain cocktails are divine, but drink them before you start lindy-hopping because that floor is only for dancing.

Make sure to go with amazing friends with heart-shaped lips and even bigger laughs.

Not pictured: Chasing Bill Cunningham on the dance floor to tell him just how awesome I thought he was; only for him to tell me (without looking away from his lens once) to "just get good pictures! just get good pictures!" And like that he flitted away. It wasn't until afterwards that my friends pointed out that in his documentary, he mentioned that he did not like to be bothered at such events! Faux pas fail!

♥

full set

p.s. it is TOTALLY worth it to get the VIP packages. The "bees knees" one was a great deal.

♯spotify

“In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.”

--Buddhist Saying

Do all the other things, the ambitious things – travel, get rich, get famous, innovate, lead, fall in love, make and lose fortunes, swim naked in wild jungle rivers (after first having it tested for monkey poop) – but as you do, to the extent that you can, err in the direction of kindness.  Do those things that incline you toward the big questions, and avoid the things that would reduce you and make you trivial.  That luminous part of you that exists beyond personality – your soul, if you will – is as bright and shining as any that has ever been.  Bright as Shakespeare’s, bright as Gandhi’s, bright as Mother Theresa’s.  Clear away everything that keeps you separate from this secret luminous place.  Believe it exists, come to know it better, nurture it, share its fruits tirelessly. And someday, in 80 years, when you’re 100, and I’m 134, and we’re both so kind and loving we’re nearly unbearable, drop me a line, let me know how your life has been.  I hope you will say: It has been so wonderful.

**I absolutely love this.

Waking up at 5:00 am (I immediately fell back asleep after taking this). Messages of love. Pretty sunsets on above-ground trains. Pretty sunsets from the edges of Brooklyn. A kitty so happy she's drooling. My favorite golden evening light. Things in full bloom and greenery everywhere. Finding quaint places with dreamy backdrops like this one. // yes, this is summer.

A couple of weeks ago, I took another midnight train to Montauk with a couple of gals who also decided to brave the weather. Admittedly, part of me wondered if we were crazy considering the forecast had storm clouds and lightening bolts for the entire day, but we were ready for an adventure come hell or high water; in our case I guess we meant this literally. But my little request to mother nature must have been heard (thank you!) because it did not rain from 4:00-7:00 am. It's during this time that the world begins to stir, but not enough to find a place of shelter.

When you take a midnight train (actually, 12:38-ish am) you arrive at "the end" (seriously, it's a stump) around 4:00 am. From there it's a nice, long walk to the beach. We ignored about 5-6 cabs honking and asking, "are you sure you don't need a ride - you don't even have to pay." We politely declined and explained that we were there to watch the sunrise. Normally, they'd just drive away, but considering the dense. gray. fog almost all of the cabbies surveyed the sky, our backpacks, shook their heads and drove away. It was a little crazy to arrive at the cold, dark beach at 4:45-ish am. The fog was so dense we could hardly see a thing, but the swelling sounds of crashing waves informed us how close the water was.

We did not see a sunrise, per-say, but we did see the light tilt and shift it's way from the darkest black, to purplish-orange, to a gray-blue, and eventually land on middle gray. By the time we left the beach, we realized we were soaked because the fog made it as if we were in a cloud. There was about an hour of wandering while waiting for the first diner to open, but the rest of the day was spent with dark and stormy's (oh-so-apropo), riding in the free trolly blasted with free coconut water signage (the new coffee coconut water = yum {I guess the ads worked}), a sun shower (okay, an actual rain-shower, but it didn't last that long), and discussing buddha cats and the purpose of life.

You know those days that you just. live. This was one of them and it was glorious, despite the rain.

Not pictured: Nicole getting feisty with the guy that started skateboarding on the train at 3:00 am when most people were sleeping. Everyone cheered after she yelled | Me swimming after having a couple of said, dark and stormy's | Oh, and the woman eating blueberries with chopsticks at the diner at 7:00 am. **

It's strange to think that it's been almost 3 weeks since the wedding! I really do not understand where time goes. Anyhoozle, here are some snaps from the trip to the Midwest, which involved my yearly visit to Oklahoma to see my lovely gals and then a little (actually, very long!) road trip up to Chicago. Not pictured: upon realizing we were not going to make it to see the fireworks with Beth, my 7-year old desire to see them suggested we stop in a random town on the way, wait for an hour, and then watch, but Mary's desire (and motherly instinct understood that 10-hours in a car is a long time for a 4-year old) to justgetthere won | the point of the road trip where everything just becomes silly | swimming in the hotel after our 12-hour drive, which consisted of multiple switches from the "hot pool" to the "cold pool" (per Georgia, naturally) | and everyone's obsession with candy crush. **I was thrilled when I could see the fireworks from the hotel! yes, I was obsessed with the Bean! O'hare's knock-off of the tunnel in Detroit, personally I like Detroit's better!