happy saturday

luca is the misfit wildchild, his curiosity almost always leads him to trouble. he is often misunderstood. he is the most like me.

roxy is the golden girl. she manages to be silly and indignant at the same time.

and then there's my simon. he is so opposite from the terriers in character. he is stable, balanced, loyal, certain, protective. these beautiful creatures bring such happiness to my life, I can't imagine a life without them.

happy friday

tuesday and thursday nights you can find me in pilates class. I recently found myself back in the class after several years' hiatus. I really can't tell you why I stopped. I love it. there is something about the concentration and control and preciseness and discipline that makes me feel like a real dancer. my class is small and intimate, usually four or five students and a very mellow teacher who gives just the right vocal direction so you're not always having to see what she is doing to follow along.

the rest of the week I reap the benefits. movement is more certain and more graceful at the same time. I don't have to remind myself to keep my shoulders back and my head level. pilates leaves me with a stability to my presence, both physical and mental, that keeps me grounded, balanced, light and ready to leap through life.

happy friday loves!

(I've had a few crazy days and I hope to have time tonight and more this weekend to travel around the happy 'hood. see you then.)

happy thursday

nothing makes me happier than a free spirit.

they are not easy to find in my little 'burg. most days I find myself surrounded by those who dutifully followed the path that was set out for them without consultation or consideration to their dreams and desires. they grew up in their peaceful suburbs in an intact family unit, acquired a post-graduate degree and that weird thurston-howell-the-third accent from UVA, secured a financially rewarding career path, married and produced four children. not so bad, but underneath all that success, I always sense a disappointment, a longing, a "really? this is it?" feeling. occassionally there is evidence that those feelings are listened to and acted on by these individuals but most times they are ignored and replaced by indignant righteousness in a futile act of self-preservation. this saddens me and I try very hard to to be compassionate.

I am always telling my friend that just because you live in a small town doesn't mean you have to live a small life. we are working on having big expansive colorful unique lives. it's harder to do here but so far, it seems to be working. and little by little, we are seeing signs that we are not alone. here and there are glimpses of souls who walk the roads less travelled that intersect with our own.

that's the thing about free and kindred spirits: they are everywhere.

happy wednesday

writing makes me happy. learning to write better makes me happy. not having enough time to write does not make me happy. this is what I'm faced with this morning. so I'll be back later to fill the space...

...I'm back with a free moment that I'd like to spend here with you all for happy week. I've been playing around with the concept of story in recent months. I love to read and listen to a good story; I've always wanted to tell a good story. throughout my life, I've had multiple characters and plots take up residence in my head and make themselves comfortable. I want to move them out to the world. but in a way that they maintain the magic that is theirs. I always hold back, partly because I feel a weird connection to them and have a strange desire to keep their confidences and partly because when I've started a storytelling endeavor in the past, it comes out different than I want. the story is there, it's the craft I need to work on.

earlier this summer, I received the best compliment ever. I was talking with a friend/colleague who is brilliant (not only in her heart and humor but in her smarts...the girl's getting a judgeship any day now!). I was blabbing along and she was staring at me with a weird look. I stopped talking and she said softly, "you speak like a novel." I was floored. I almost cried. no one has ever said anything like that to me before.

I am not one to take something that I felt so profoundly and dismiss it. so I want to see what's there; to see if I can nurture this thing, this energy, into something people might like to hear or read. I'm taking two storytelling workshops at squam and have been reading a few books here and there to create a bit of scaffolding in which to dabble.

I'm open to producing, but still feel protective about my stories, so I'm going to take this nice and slow. the process of learning and fine-tuning and spending more quality time with the beautiful, tragic and amazing lives in my head and heart is making me truly happy.

p.s. the art in the background is by the lovely sabrina ward harrison. it reads "more joy and metaphor" and "trust".

happy monday

my sweet friends, happy week could not have arrived sooner! I am so excited to see and read about all the exquisiteness that brings joy to your lives. there's a blogroll on the sidebar to direct you all to your cohorts in this endeavor (please let me know in comments if I left someone out or if you'd like to play along...as far as I'm concerned, it's never too late to play.)

if you're anything like me, mondays can be rough, so I decided to frontload the happiness here in a giant fireball of one of my favorite things: anticipation.

I have to say that I am an expert at anticipation. in fact, I do better at anticipation than the actual experience. when I am excited about an upcoming event: a trip, a class, a visit, a project, I tend to play the imagined experience over and over again in my head. each time the details become more and more clear, my senses become engaged, then my emotions. there is dialogue, an unexpected twist here and there, handsome strangers, intrigue. and the whole imagined thing ends nicely tucked in the file "good memories". quite often, once I'm in the middle of the real thing, I'm somewhat disappointed. as I've grown older, I find myself actually cancelling upcoming events because I've really already done it in my head. sometimes this is good and sometimes not.

nevertheless, I don't give up hope that reality will pony up. today, I have much to be happily anticipating:

• autumn: I'm done with summer and ready for my favorite time of year.
• squam: it's my first time and I haven't anticipated something like this for a long, long time.
• U2: it will be my sixth time and while they never disappoint musically, the whole experience doesn't quite match the one in my head (I'll let you fill in the blanks here; hint: it involves a backstage pass...). and I am so happy to see that muse is the opening act. love.
• during my clothing shopping hiatus, I saved some money (not an easy thing for me) and am looking to upgrade my camera to the canon 50d. the excitement I feel here is a bit mixed with some pressure that I will actually have to produce better photos.
• mondo beyondo: I'm hoping this course helps me narrow the gap between what's in my head and what's happening in my life.

real or imagined, we have much to be grateful for. happy monday beauties. oh, and I'm posting an additional photo because my hair looks better in this one and cute hair makes me very happy indeed.

wicked happy

when I shot this photo, I was wicked happy: beer in hand, romping and revelling in a brief and fun stint in the land of youth, listening to the bright talent that is the sunshine and happiness band. (funny thing...a photo of the event ran in the local paper. there were sally and I, standing on a rising above the crowd of tattooed 20-year-old hipsters, me with my camera, sally with pager and cell at hip. we looked like proud parents. or chaperones. or security.)

here's the goods on happy week: starting monday, post a photo (yours or otherwise) and words on your blog about one thing (person, idea, thought, etc.) that makes you happy each day through saturday. if you'd like to be a part of the fantabulous network of happiness, leave a comment and let me know (if you already let me know earlier, I got you, but feel free to reiterate...). I'll post a blogroll on the sidebar so we can all romp and revel in some shared joy.

happy saturday

I am a believer that what you put out there supports, moves and penetrates your life. I try to choose positive energy, but I'm not always successful. for me, happy week was proof that if you contribute and take in happiness and goodness and forward intention, the good mojo permeates and spreads. thank you all for your words and images, they stayed with me through the week and kept me smiling. I am forever amazed that the simplest things bring us happiness and that there is a common thread of the everyday in each of our posts. which only means that happiness is always there. a choice.

I choose happiness: manifested this week in a beautiful jewel; jumping for joy; friends, food and travel; an amazing journey; a fairy-tale little one and that carousel, oh that carousel.

so, you may be wondering about the big blue S...well, lovely ms. aubrey is handing out assignments to list 10 things you like (or that make you happy) that all begin with the same letter. she chose the letter S for me. super!

1. scents. currently loving this one and this one and this one.
2. smiley face cookies from smith's bakery.
3. scottish accents.
4. good old-fashioned sass.
5. sunset magazine is a little piece of california in my mailbox every month.
6. saturdays & sundays.
7. scooters!
8. the smiths. and every other band that transports me back to my youth, dancing on a crowded dance floor like nobody's business.
9. shopping.
10. stories. love hearing and reading them and wish I was more skilled at telling them.

happy weekend happy people!

happy friday

hello curious happy friends! and happy friday. the happy week posts are just brilliant and I am hopeful that this little project has spread warmth farther than we can imagine. I love it. for those of you who are reading, not posting, take a look at tuesday's post for links to other happy week posters. they are amazing.

I was all set to write about how grateful I was to get 8 full hours of uninterrupted sleep at the hotel in richmond (no dogs, etc.). while this still makes me happy, what made me happier was coming home.

I am always taken aback by how much I love being home. the endless rustle of three dogs who can't seem to settle down all at once; the presence of the person I share my life with, going about his evening, pausing to gently touch my back or kiss the top of my head, laughing softly at my stories; the comfortable familiarity of my bed, my kitchen, my yard: these are the things that make me happy. they serve as the backdrop of my life; often unnoticed, sometimes annoying, always there. happy.

happy thursday

the happy part of business trips, which are usually to richmond, is a stroll through carytown (it's really just cary street, but called carytown). this is my favorite type of shopping: an older district where vintage stores have been lovingly restored and filled with goodies.

my absolute favorite is world of mirth.

the shop is a bonafide toy shop, but has many, many wares that appeal to the childish spirit of adults. (my head was too big for these heart-shaped glasses.) there are also funky gifty items, everything from recycled bags to a jesus bobblehead.

I love that world of mirth was imagined to be a whimsical, colorful escape from the real world. there is a sad story behind the little genius who created it (and it's a really tragic story, so don't click over if you are not ready to shed some tears), but the little shop's drive to keep spreading the happy dream persevered. and we are grateful.

I took the blue one home with me. I liked the sparks that came out of his head. he was just a wee bit more committed to his sparking responsibilities than the others.

so I discovered that late afternoon really is a good time to visit a toy store. it was practically deserted and I could play without having to boggart the bike-riding duck from a first grader. although I have to say that the gleeful laughter of children really completes the experience.

if you are ever in the richmond, virginia area, you must spend some time at this happy, happy place.

happy wednesday

this guy makes me happy and I hope he makes you happy too.

he is a rather large (about 18" high) vintage tin toy ferris wheel. I cannot resist smiling when the little cars go 'round and the tiny little bell rings out its circus song. and that smile!

can you help me out with finding hercules here a function in the home other than pure play (not that there's anything wrong with that!)? my idea was to use him as a jewelry holder or key holder or something like that. I dreamed I would effortlessly place him in his perfect funky vintage juxtaposition on the vanity ala amelie or carrie bradshaw's clown table. it doesn't seem to be working. he just ends up looking like a big old toy in a modern setting. do you know the secret to doing this? if so, it would make me very, very happy indeed to know as well.

off to richmond today for two days of meetings and (I hope) a little carytown fun tonight.

be happy.

happy tuesday

is it "cup of kindness" or "cup of cheer" in auld lang syne?

a friend and I are having a disagreement about the lyrics to this iconic song. either way, it's a cup of happiness. and what a lovely thing to disagree on.

this image was shot for our christmas postcards. it makes me so very happy.

a cup of tea, yogi tea to be exact, is just what we need this week. we're both battling killer colds. when I get sick, I tend to become childlike and vulnerable and in need of comfort. before you click away and never come back, one more sick revealing thing about me: I call my tea "yogi and boo-boo" (yogi tea and honey bear, get it?). I hope you come back. I'm not sick very often. and I promise never to speak of this again.

anyway, yogi tea really is the best cure. before bed, you can mix the cold season tea and the kava stress relief tea for a potent, weird dream-inducing and totally restorative sleep.

yogi and boo-boo make me happy.

AND the happy network makes me happiest of all!

have a visit and enjoy these happy lovelies throughout the week. I'm so glad they joined in:

kendalee shows us her glorious Home.

lynne introduces us to lovely jewel.

munted kowhai has beautiful artwork and a photo tour of seattle.

linda sue makes me smile with tiny hats and wee-ones' art.

and heather is taking us to a happy place.

happy week is the best! it really is like a little network of happiness spanning the globe.

it's not too late if you would like to post happiness, let us know in the comments.

happy (mosaic) monday

16 things that make me so very smiley and all warm inside:

1. handknit rainbow blankie
2. coffee
3. lollygagging in huge bookstores
4. grilled cheese sandwiches
5. my sweet man
6. bare feet on wood floors
7. vintage cars (wink to the karmen ghia)
8. moroccan lanterns
9. my simon (and roxy and luca and really all dogs)
10. old neon signs that keep glowing
11. anthropologie just gets it right every time
12. can you be in love with a camera?
13. world of mirth in carytown (richmond, va)
14. children who are loved and adored
15. friendships (happy birthday t)
16. change

and flickr, which is an endless source of beauty, happiness and inspiration. click here to see who captured the images above that make me so happy.

happy monday everyone.

happy week

I was so glad to wake up today and discover the rain had moved on. I need to sit in my backyard daily and my mood is dreadfully affected when I am not able to (like yesterday). even if I have to sit there with the cold wind blowing, wrapped in a blankie, I'm good.

it's amazing how changeable we are and how our emotions respond to our surroundings. this week, I want to focus on things that make me happy. every post will be devoted to pleasure inducing people, places and things.

it's officially happy week.

if you'd like to play along, comment and leave a link to your blog or flickr. rules are not very happy, but the gist is to post each day (through saturday) about whatever makes you smile, swoon, laugh and/or dance with wild abandon.

an entire network of happy mojo sure would be amazing.