Nothing screams spring more than green and pink. And who knew chives were so beautiful? These are grown in a tiny, humble garden planted outside the U.S. Department of Agriculture in DC, and are harvested weekly for a local food kitchen.

The handful of sunshiney days have ruined me and I'm ready for sun and warmth and fun days outside. But I've got a lot to do. You may have noticed that I've been reworking the websites (the temporary setzeder blog has been combined with emilysetzer.com), and you may see some other website reorganization and designs in the future. Plus I'm working on starting a textile line and opening an etsy shop. Whew! Stay tuned and enjoy the spring photos as I post them (after all the bare bushes and trees I'm a bit obsessed with the plethora of flowers).

So yeah, it's still winter and we decided to go hiking and pretend it was warm, wonderful spring. To be completely honest it did reach about 60 degrees, which was big, and I did close my eyes and stare into the blue sunny sky until it hurt my eyes. And there was a waterfall, which never hurts.

And then decided to just lie there and not look at me. As if I had no idea that she was also about to tear the ball to pieces, but only after carefully prying off the furry outer piece.

Oh, don't mind me. Just testing out my new camera, ie: iPhone. This was taken through the window from a moving train but I absolutely love the graininess and mystical moodiness of it.

The Yuba River is this secret little spot about an hour from Tahoe, down in the foothills where the sun shines brightly, the water is turquoise and the huge boulders glow blindingly white. In other words, it's a little piece of heaven when you've just about had it with winter. Despite having a great time going snowboarding and cross country skiing in Tahoe, this day of warmth and water was just what my awesome friend Sam, her dog Ziggy, and I needed. Now we just need some spring here on the East Coast.

I just got back from a much-needed trip to Lake Tahoe to spend some quality girl time with one of my best friends, snowboarding, cross country skiing, soaking in the sunshine, and lounging by the turquoise Yuba River on a 70 degree day.

I've been learning how to shoot with large format film with an old Graflex 4x5 press camera, warming up the shutter, measuring light with a meter, lugging around heavy gear, getting one and only one shot, and then dipping and dripping the print in the dark room with the smell of the chemicals, a dog roaming at my feet, and a patient dad to teach me. It's been fun, challenging, and sometimes confusing. It sort of reminds me of when he tried to teach me to drive a manual car. To this day I still don't know how, so I'm determined to make sure I learn this from him instead. This is my first photograph and first print of a cold day along the Rappahannock River.

Wildlife and nature are big. Real big. Not since the age of Romanticism has nature been so cool. Of course, these days they're calling it "modern rustic." Perhaps that's how wildlife biologists, ecologists, environmental nonprofits, and even lobbyists and policymakers should start touting their work. I can hear it now. "We need to protect this very modern rustic landscape from ATVs." Maybe, despite all the disbelief of global warming, a second era of Romanticism is actually booming - an era full of "modern rustic" design; and folks who recycle, compost and grow their own food because they really love their land; box stores that sell organic clothing; a time when wildlife protectors can make a decent living. Even the thought of that happening is super, super foxy. I like to believe that most of us really do love nature. To prove it I've included a few highlights below, focusing first on the fox.

Desire to Inspire shows quite an amazing must-have bathroom (the photograph is by Heiner Orth). This bathroom, however, is amazing because it has this great mural of a fox photograph. Not sure if that is Orth's photo of the fox or not, but it is superb. Who wouldn't want a fox jumping over their bathtub?

Etsy: Foxes are very in with the artists on Etsy. Click the photo to see the artist's store.

The Fantastic Mr. Fox (with a tribute to the wolf, might I add): Wes Anderson is the epitome of indie cool.

P.S. Bonnie has an often striking resemblance to a fox. Note the red hue to the fur, the pointy nose, the white-ish belly. Lovely girl. You should see her deftly dash through the forest after a squirrel or deer. Bad girl.

We had quite the ice storm last night in the DC area. Every piece of twig, weed, branch, every blade of grass, was covered in ice, droplets of crystals, a showcase of glass. It was a welcome addition of pretty sparkle to the otherwise gray skies.