dear universe

thank you in advance for my beautiful, life-changing, soul-blossoming journey to india.

and the amazing new job.

namaste,
me

{amazing photo credits here.}

mosaic monday

the new year resolutions edition:

1. do yoga
2. eat whole, organic, local
3. learn something new
4. nurture relationships
5. embrace worthiness
6. capture beauty
7. practice silence and stillness
8. go
9. celebrate

please go here for photography credits.

happy monday friends.  it's a new day.

mosaic monday

good morning beauties! 

last week a friend shared this video and i watched it over and over.  and now i can't stop thinking about hooping.  i had a hoop tucked away in the basement (purchased a few years ago in the brief train-simon-to-be-a-circus-dog phase).  for some reason, i thought it would be a breeze to wrap it around my hips and start swirling away like when i was ten.  umm...not so much.  but the practice is so much fun!  i'm totally cracking myself up over here with the hooping shenanigans.

thank you thank you thank you for all your lovely comments on sunday's post.  this place is always a safe soft spot to land because of you. 

i hope your weeks are filled with sun, fun and laughter.

{photo credits here.}

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there's a subtle summer static in the air.  it's making me smile with anticipation.

{flickr artists here.}

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i don't know what has gotten into me...i can't get enough of soft tones and (eek!) pastels!  so i'm just going to yield to the attraction and embrace this quieter, but no less powerful, version of beauty.  just like these lovely flickr artists did.

happy soft + pretty monday.

bonjour inspiration!

whimsy + drama + story = paul octavious' same hill different day. {via oh joy.}

holi mosaic monday!

thank you all for your love and support during the month of love. I'm so happy to have friends visiting and always for the love and insight of your brilliant minds and hearts. we now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

and it's holi today!

I am hereby declaring that the western calendar is way too slow for me and choose to believe that today (TODAY!) is the first day of spring. let's make this week one of vibrant color and hopefulness, shall we?

and today, I have put this one on the list: participate in a holi festival. in india.

and did you see that hunk of glowing moon last night?

(please see my flickr faves for the holi photographers, in my excitement, I forgot to post the mosaic with credits!)

a little flickr love

from my recent favorites. I love it when there is an unintentional thread once the images are grouped. clearly, I've been loving me some red lately.

{photographer credits here.}

...insomnia...

...is easier with a beautiful dream world of images to wander through...

{please visit here for flickr credits.}

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last week: nostalgia.

this week: wanderlust.

if you could leave on holiday right this second, where would you go?

I'm dreaming of the california coast, highway 1 in a karman ghia with mia, fish tacos, surfing, tide pools, the santa cruz boardwalk, old friends, diner pancakes, motels that smell of salt and sea...

{flickr creds here.}

mosaic monday

sixteen things I'm loving right now:

1. girls with the guts to do pink hair;
2. bubbles;
3. airstream trailers, especially the bambi;
4. carousels;
5. mad prints (worn beautifully here by nic);
6. bike riding;
7. old movie houses;
8. the tink of piano keys;
9. rainbow sno-cones;
10. picnics;
11. lemonade stands;
12. vintage cowgirl boots (or these that look vintage for a mere $1300.);
13. the idea of a vintage motel (we all know the reality doesn't measure up);
14. these chairs make me positively giddy;
15. farmers markets;
16. catching fireflies and promptly letting them free.

what's making you happy?

{please click here for flickr photographer credit.}

mosaic sunday

hi everyone! I'm leaving for the d.c. area today for the week. did I ever tell you that I'm part of a great team that teaches child abuse professionals to interview kids? we'll have a class of detectives, prosecutors and child protective social workers for the week. I love the program and I love the rest of the faculty, so I always look forward to these training weeks.

what I don't look forward to is the sense of secondary trauma I leave with at the end of the week. it's a solid 5 days of sexual abuse, violent crime and hurt kids. it can be a bit much (in the real job, you get it in bits and pieces, so there's plenty of recovery time). and part of my job is to keep the class interested and committed in doing this important but difficult work.

hence, the happy kid photos. I hope these smiles inoculate me this week and bring you a big dose of joy. the knowledge of what some people do to children's bodies and spirits can impact my psyche in a huge way. it's a delicate balance, to stay with the real material and be resilient to its effect. I will miss you all and will try to check in throughout the week.

{click here for flickr photo credits.}

p.s. click here to see the heart-wrenching video we start the week with (there are religious overtones, but the message is important). if you have the opportunity this week, make a child feel loved and protected.

mosaic monday

I love these photos of beautiful girls with their cameras. each relationship between artist and instrument is captured perfectly. my favorite is cristina, bottom left corner. not only because I have serious camera envy, but because this photo was taken in 1995, to memorialize a point in personal history (before the flickr self-portrait-with-camera craze). it contains so much emotion.

I received my camera almost two years ago and she has become my constant companion. she's the best friend who helps me see my world for all it's beauty, large and small, grand and ordinary. she introduces me to people when I'm feeling friendly and lets me hide behind her when I'm introverted.

happy monday friends. don't forget your cameras.

and please pay tribute to the beauties above by clicking here.

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I find myself in the mood for a candy-colored life. how about you?

{candy karma is sweet and colorful; let's spread some.}

flickr creds here.

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after last week's daily riot of brilliant color, I find myself craving pale shelter. all weekend I have turned to flickr to gaze upon color bleached by the sun and faded by time and emotion.

thank you flickr faves, they're just beautiful.

mosaic monday

now this I believe in: what goes around comes around.

lately I am drawn to shapes of circles, dots and swirls (see last five posts). maybe subconsciously I am seeking to become less linear. who knows? what I do know is that sweet circles make me happy and I hope they make you happy too.

see here to give credit to our flickr friends.

I don't get it

{danbo image from djcopeman}

I do my best to stay positive in this space, but sometimes I have to let loose and vent. minor irritations can become pervasive with me and I can't focus on the sweet. and sometimes, I just need to be contrary. here is a list of things I don't really care for that others can't seem to get enough of:

1. rachel ray.
2. and all associated colliquialisms ("evoo", "yummo", "rach"). there is enough time to say the entire word correctly.
3. telephones.
4. brown rice. it tastes like dirt to me.
5. twitter. I was first made aware of this scary thing the day after seeing r.e.m. last summer. I went on the band website and the twitter stream from the night before was still up. I perused the tweets posted during the concert: "it's hot." "stipe just did the robot." really? were you not at the same concert I was? you were able to incessantly make mundane comments during that experience? wow. plus, being "followed" is strange to me and really no one needs to know when I'm going to step in the shower. and I tend to resist most bandwagons.
6. the danbo obsession on flickr. although he has been up there staring at me as I write this post and I guess he is kind of sweet with his square head and all.

I feel better now. thanks and feel free to convince me otherwise.

mosaic monday

I ♥ gelato for its brilliant colors and creamy sweetness. and that it's "cheaper than heroin". my favorite's pistachio. what's yours?

{love on flickr here}

p.s. bottom right corner: on the mad hunt for that fabric!

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missing the west coast, especially san francisco. my girl is there, my heart is there.

{photo credits here.}

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I was a little girl alone in my little world who dreamed of a little home for me. I played pretend between the trees, and fed my houseguests bark and leaves, and laughed in my pretty bed of green. I had a dream that I could fly from the highest swing. I had a dream.

~priscilla ahn

happy monday swingers.

{flickr creds here.}