Today

6:45am
I woke up later than usual this morning, probably from watching this movie last night--cute, super cute :). Soy latte at 7am, it disappeared so fast! I just might have to get a frozen something later, because I have every reason in the world to say "yes" today...

9:00am
Dance class, a perfect way to start a birthday. It was a packed studio, but the energy was electric, we were all excited to be exactly where we were. When the instructor asked what our focus should be today, I wanted to speak up and say "celebrate!!" But shyness took over and I hesitated, and someone else said "let go" and another said "surrender" and yet another said "joy!" And I realized, I didn't have to say anything at all, we were all there for the same reasons.

10:13am
I had a date with a Green Goddess dressed in spinach, kale, apples, lemon, ginger and apple juice. This is why I need a good blender friends, because I can't get enough of all things green in a cup.

1:15 pm
By this time, the happy birthday messages, calls, and texts have started dropping in, and I see that wishes are coming true...


And now I look ahead to the rest of my day, I see reading some new mags I picked up,  I see sushi in my near future, I see a few surprises being planned by the three people I love most dearly...

Oh!! And one more thing I have to share!! Speaking of surprises, look what found its way to my house anonymously yesterday! I've been subscribed  to receive handmade gifts!! For June and July I will be receiving a variety of lovelies in the mail--all from independent artisans, all handmade.  Someone knows me very very well :). It's such a wonderful idea, I just may have to share the love :)...



Have a wonderful weekend, thank you for all the birthday wishes :)!
xoxo

Gobble gobble...

I did. I gobbled the weekend right up. Everything about the last two days was slow and intentional, just as I hoped it would be.  With a boy who embroidered his favorite bear (his first attempt ever) and a Girl Scout stopping by with her my thin mints, can I really ask for anything better? Ok, one more thing, a clean and shiny car via the rainbow car wash. The kids love it-- who needs Disney World?

Hope your weekend was just as sweet...

Monday Love

xoxo

Weekending with Amanda...

Every last sparkle

Snow arrived by surprise yesterday, along with complete delight and joy on all of our faces. Though it will probably all melt by tomorrow, we are enjoying the beauty that white can bring.

Winter has been mild on us newcomers, and the heartache of climate change leaves a dull ache in my diaphragm. Despite these feelings, I know there must be joy. There must be gifting the present with our presence. It's a silent kind of happiness, one that carries the burden of reality and an unknown future.

So for today, on 12-12-12, I make a wish, and hang on to every last sparkle....

xoxo

ps. I have to give a big hug and thank you to Monica who helped me with Blogger this morning. She is responsible for the new look and for helping me keep a shred of sanity. Blogger, you are hanging by a thread with me...

The wind is wild

So, a good friend of mine suggested that I don't write poetry on the blog.

His opinion is that poetry is a difficult thing to connect with, extremely subjective and ambiguous. Meaning, I may know what the hell I am writing about, but others may not (like studying poetry in 9th grade). The other thought, my poetry just sucks and no one gets it.

I do see his point in some ways. Whenever I post poetry, it receives the least amount of comments compared to anything else I post. The real question is though, do I give a crap? I don't, not one bit.

Don't get me wrong, I love posting things readers respond to. But I think if we have been blogging long enough, we get better at not measuring success or joy by the amount of comments received. If I did, I would have quit a long time ago, hehe. Receiving and giving comments carries a meaning all its own, a meaning filled with honest gratitude, kindness, and connection. I have learned that the better I get at separating ego from giving or receiving comments, the more honest and authentic I feel.

So back to the poetry. I am also learning that to truly commit to being creative, you cannot give two shits about rejection, failure, approval, or any form of external validation. Harder said than done, I know. I can say with self-proclaimed expertise, praise can be an insidious poison that creates addicts if we don't remember our intentions. So if and when a kindness does arrive, humility and gratitude overcomes ego and ambition. I may not be a natural poet, and I may not be particularly good at prose either, but I lose myself in the beauty of words. Anyone that spends time listening for the heartbeat a collection of words can muster, is reeled in helplessly and willingly by the daydream and romance the rhythm spins. This is what I love, this is what I seek.

So, here I am helpless and willing, tossing my words out into the world with no agenda, only for the joy of it :). That's just what bloggers and writers do :).

I wrote this last night as the winds around Boulder shook things up a little...(btw, if you couldn't tell, I love alliteration :).

A walk in the moonlight
is a wish that won't be made tonight.

The wind--
wild, whooshing and whirling,
crashes against the window,
waving woody branches as if
wanting them to grow wings and fly.

I wait for the whistling--
or the howling,
but the gusts want to
wax and wane instead.

Without worry, I feel warm
and safe within my house
as a whirlwind of leaves
scatter across the streets,
wandering far away from where they once began.



xoxo

Happy Wednesday

Outline

I don't need to see the details all the time. When I squint my eyes just enough, the features fade into hazy lines that color, not define. The big picture helps me remember what makes a day worth living, and with the right outline, everything else falls into place.

Eat well.
Move my body.
Breathe deeply.
Love.
Do something that brings happy.

Monday love...

xoxo

The morning so far...

This is the view outside my bedroom window.

This is Alfie on my desk every morning as I write.

I am taking a nice long look because we are heading back to FL today. We will be spending time with our family over Thanksgiving and while I am sad to leave home, seeing family makes me happy. 

I have someone else I want you to meet.




This is the newest member to my polaroid family. I haven't used him yet but you will know it when I do.

I wont' be too quiet while I'm off visiting family. Twitter and Instagram (with FB dragging behind) baby....I'm trying, I really am....

Off to finish packing and planning on visiting you soon...
xoxo

Weekend hues

do you see a face too?

Fox Games by Sandy Skoglund

I am wooed by color, completely. I am enchanted by the hues that have seeped into memory this weekend via optic sponges. The contrast of blues on greens, the fearlessness of red and its ability to change with just a smidge of light, the yellows and browns, and even the black and whites gripped my visual attention, inspiring. The Van Gogh exhibit opened this weekend at the Denver Art Museum, and I have to say it was mind blowing, truly. A Jedi master of color is what he was...

I've also been playing with the polaroid and Impossible Project's latest film. The surprise of color, the wonder of what will surface makes me feel like Charlie opening a chocolate bar...Yes, I am still addicted. And now something new...bookbinding. To read books, to write on inviting white pages, to  hoard collect them, to be obsessed by love them, yes, it's a lifelong affair that never gets old. But now I have taken the relationship a step further and have learned to make them. The craft of stitching them together lovingly, carefully, intentionally, yes, we have reached a new level, books and me :).

So enough about my weekend...how was yours????

Monday love
xoxo

with Amanda...

p.s. Thanks Petra for introducing me to Alex Winston--LOVE HER! Samples in the sidebar :).

15 minutes

It's truly a gift what 15 minutes can bring...a much needed break, time for the expansion of a creative thought, or time to give something else precious moments of our present mind...

Amazement emerges when an ugly crack in the pavement becomes beautiful or when I can hear a broken leaf murmuring the approach of fall.... But it's the knowing words from friends that draws my attention and the circles of warmth around my heart and mind. So with gratitude, these last 15 minutes I have are spent thinking of and thanking you...

much love to you and may your weekend bring you light...

xoxo

52 Photos Project

{Polaroid sx-70 land camera}

Yarn Along 10.26.11 {same but different}

I am joining Ginny today for Yarn Along, and thought I'd show you what I've been fiddling with lately.

I have three photos, pretty much of the same things--the knitted hat using leftover Honey colored Puffin yarn from Quince and Co. and Soule Mama's favorite hat pattern, and Ahab's Wife which I'm aaaalmost done reading (good but definitely drags here and there, and the excessive symbolism is beginning to drive me mad, like a lot of characters in this book).

The difference in the photos is that the first is a real polaroid pic, the second is a polaroid pic app., and the last is from my digital camera. It's just curiousity really, and I wanted to see and feel the difference in emotions evoked between the photos. What do you think?

It's all fun, and it's nice to know there are several apps you can use to play around with the feel of your smart phone photos...In the end, though I love the vintage feel of a real polaroid, the digital cameras are the most honest. That is, until we start playing with the editing, which I didn't in this one, I swear...

Happy Wednesday and Yarn Along :)
xoxo