summer garden

watering
planting
deadheading
deer-proofing (ha!)
weeding
bees
bunnies
foxes
chipmunks
woodpeckers
cardinals
drowning in gratitude
magic hour
gardener

dear pinterest

please stop showing me pins that you believe are inspired by my "recent browsing activity".  i have never browsed for, nor am i remotely interested in:

keto bread
keto anything ffs
badly painted faux wood signs/wall hangings
bathroom "art" with bathroom jokes about farting and butts
contouring makeup tutorials
dining room tables that conceal automatic weapons

please just stop.

titles of lists i'm contemplating

flowers to grow this year
ways to be generous
things to do instead of look at my phone
bringing me joy
today
dogs i have loved
streets to walk down

beautiful andrea jenkins has been creating little lists on her blog for a few months.  read them.  she never fails to make me smile and inspire me. 

summer. summer summer summer.

hello summer of 2015.

embracing:

• community.  friendships.  sangha.
• the mountains.
• flowers.  of course.
• painting.  i'm having my first show in late summer/early autumn!
• meditation.  honored to be doing teacher training.
• creating every salad on my pinterest salad board.
• sewing a dress.
• a joyful body.

easing up on:

• the excess stuff in the house.
• my attachment to making more money (in the form of cutting some of my work work hours to make space for art and yoga and meditation).
• things that are heavy.
• isolation.

how about you, summer friends?

suddenly: this summer

• hiking.  x10.
• homemade honey ice cream.
• hulahooping.
• dollywood.
• swim in the ocean.
• something with the squash blossoms.
• plant a wildflower meadow down by the stream.
• shakespeare.  outdoors.
• eat every last bit of the weekly c.s.a. produce.
• yoga festival.
• make a little free library.
• ride our bikes on the creeper trail from abingdon to damascus and back.
• celebrate starry nights, fireflies, cicadas, (little) thunderstorms, hammock naps, the bomb pop and backyard campfires.

my word for 2013

what that means for me today:

• to be energetic and clean in my body and mind
• to be in real relationships, with honest connections and shared values and much laughter
• to have fingers covered in paint, dirt and/or olive oil several times a week
• peace and safety
• yoga and walks in the woods
• to be more delighted with our world, to shift from this persistent disappointment in humankind
• to learn many many new things

hello 2013

here are some things i would like to do with you:

1. start each morning with yoga and fresh-pressed juice
2. (or gratitude and organic coffee at a minimum)
3. go to san francisco and see my girl
4. be mindful, meditate, increase awareness in each moment
5. be more tolerant of people who don't think and are really loud
6. launch type-ography workshops
7. spend more time in nature (hiking and exploring and just being awe-struck)
8. make clothes and jewelry
9. karma garden, part deux
10. art journal

gratitude: week two

thankful for:

• an introvert's lunchtime scavenger hunt (a little something i'm alpha testing for type-ography)
• enthusiastic and energetic students
• solitary sunrise drives
• soba noodles, black sesame and seaweed salad 
• (for three dollars!)
• three dogs who greet me at the door after a long day with so much (really noisy) love and happiness
• the pride when i see my man on stage as uncle vanya
• a sweet friend who is going to teach me to make homemade kombucha (you too...right here next week)
• after way too much research, giving up the idea of vegetarian "turkey" and deciding to go nontraditional for thanksgiving
• a good week

{photograph captured at lunchtime discovery appalachia press.}

sacred

hello sweet souls.  i'm visiting with liz and kelly today over on chickadee road.  we're talking all things sacred and i made a little list to share.
 

a few good things

• brilliant:  ashley judd on the physical objectification of women.
• beautiful:  hydrangeas.  i know they feel a wee bit granny country garden, but they are soft and graceful and that's what i need right now.
• inspiring:  jamie and summer and good food and friends. 
• wellness:  for balance and strength if, like me, you feel like the universe keeps kicking you in the bum.
• anticipation:  the first bike ride of the season.  today.
• dreaming:  my soul kitchen.

happy sunday lovely loves!

winterlove {№6}

four days away from the office. 

four days to check off the goodness on this list:

• mad hunt for new boots.  i want gold boots.  is it weird to want gold boots?
• also:  black quinoa to make a delicious winter version of this with blood oranges and pom seeds in place of the peaches
• locate the perfect spot in la casa for ginormous metal and lightbulb peace sign
• haircut.  you may ask why a haircut is on a goodness list?  it's because my stylist rocks!  she is hilarious and truly an artist of the hair.  also, scalp massage.
• i need a new good book.  any suggestions?
• cuddle time.  i love my man and his new yoga body is nice to look at. 
• sunday morning yoga.  it's my church.
• whole foods trip.  it's odd i know, but i really like strolling the aisles of whole foods.  it inspires me to be my healthiest best.
• also strolling said store with hot yoga man and gold boots would really make me smile.

what's on your list for the weekend lovelies?

ready for autumn

ready for:

• double-spice chai
• grilled tomato and goat cheese on sourdough
• that first soft scent of firepit smoke
• tending to dreams
• talking in the backyard, wrapped in a blanket
• socks and boots
• serendipity!
• honeycrisp apples
• sixty-five degree days
• practicing mehndi on pumpkins and arms and pretty much any available surface
• riding my rainbow bike (sneak peek coming soon-it's awesome)
• a picnic with cheese and figs and champagne

what are you looking forward to?

farewell summer

it was the summer of things i did not do:

• i did not go to paris
• i did not do yoga every day
• i did not take a roadtrip every weekend
• i did not miss oprah (not one bit...is it safe to admit that yet?)
• i did not grill out
• i did not find a new job
• i did not take a lot of photographs
• i did not give up dairy
• i did not finish anything
• i did not beat myself up for not doing anything
• i did not find summer inspiring in the least

autumn, you're my girl. 

let's do it.

top ten

things i get stuck in:

1. resistance (everything from doing laundry to going to yoga to dreaming big)
2. doubt
3. laziness
4. the desire to isolate myself
5. accumulating stuff (seriously, i have the potential to be a hoarder)
6. judgement
7. over-analyzing
8. wanting things i can't afford or don't really need
9. the effing injustice of it all! (i've never outgrown my idealistic youth and fighting the good fight can be exhausting.)
10. rehashing events in my head ad nauseum ("omg, did i really say that?  embarrassing!")

one hundred things i love {41-50}

41.  thrift store glass
42.  super chewy candy:  big hunks, salt water taffy, maryjanes and the best peanut butter chews known to man
43.  the idea of having my own organic farm (i'm much too lazy for the reality)
44.  walking outside on a hot humid summer morning and being hit with the sultry scent of jasmine
45.  the discovery of a new favorite band whose music makes me feel, think, dance and sing out loud in my car
46.  my new ice cream maker
47.  the way babies say hi to everyone when they first learn how (why do we lose the courage to make friends with abandon?)
48.  do-nothing weekends
49.  having a wild imagination:  i can't think of anything more dreadful than the limits of concrete thinking
50.  that feeling of connection when someone really gets me

things i do that are weird

• i must have a blue icee whenever i'm on a roadtrip.
• that's not really the weird thing.  the weird thing is that i insist on taking a photo of my blue tongue every single time.  and totally crack myself up over the whole affair.  the collection of blue tongues would have made a very interesting travel collage and i'm sad i've deleted them.  note to self.
• also, i'm greatly pleased at how my tongue totally goes with my sunglasses in this photo.
• as i'm writing this, i realize that tongues are weird.
• no really, think about it.  they are freakin' weird.
• people think i'm reserved when they first meet me.  i must be quietly observing.
• i get mad crushes on rockstars.  i still dream of being a big-time groupie.  (i've been a small-time groupie...not so rewarding.)
• i am quietly rebellious.  take my short hair for instance.  i have great hair and it's fabulous when it's long, but i can't stand how culture dictates that women have to have long hair and how their husbands/boyfriends insist they can't cut their hair.  it's my tiny feminist protest. 
• sometimes i'm not-so-quietly rebellious.
• i think about random stuff in yoga and it makes me giggle uncontrollably, like when i was a little girl in church.  also, i can perseverate on something really stupid in yoga.  last week a partial memory from years ago flashed in my head:  a friend showing me a chopper in her garage.  it was a full-on-easy-rider-1970's-big-seat-in-back chopper.  this random memory engaged my mind for the good part of ten minutes.  so while my body was doing its best to execute standing bow pose, my brain was all, "why did she have a chopper?  where did she get it?  people don't ride choppers anymore...hey, standing bow pose is kinda chopper-esque in appearance...we are all choppers..."  then the aforementioned uncontrollable giggling.   it's humiliating. 
• it's weird that every time i type the word weird, i type it "wierd" first.
• now i can't stop looking at the word.  am i spelling this right?
• i rename other people's dogs in my own head.  also, when i'm driving down the street and see a dog, i name it.  i have a huge file of really great dog names in my head.  you should consult me before you name your dog.
• i put potato chips inside my tuna sandwiches and on top of my hotdogs.
• i watch the biggest loser while lounging on the sofa with a giant bowl of buttered popcorn.
• i've just realized that there is a need for a "things that i do that are weird, part two" post.  i'm kinda wierd. 

outfitting july

while i continue to explore who i am and who i will become, these are things i know about me that will probably never change:

• sometimes i am really drawn to creams and taupes and wish these colors looked better on me
• these rainbow stars are about as patriotic as i can get when it comes to clothes
• i have really good observation skills, a combination of razor-sharp sensory perception and finely-tuned intuition, but my memory requires that i take notes
• i like to wear boots in summer
• i would wear jeans every single day if i could
• feeling vanilla is not a bad thing...it's not always a mango-raspberry kind of day
• i feel naked without sunglasses; i like being incognito

it's going to be a great week

just because:

• brilliant fragrant blooms are everywhere
• people are more kind once the weather warms up
• i believe in the truth
• it's the last week of my bikram yoga 30-day challenge
• i share my life with three funny pups
• and one handsome gentleman
• i'm reading a really great book
• hoping to take friday off to make it a 4-day weekend
• i have the most loving visitors to this blog (thankyou!)

tell me why your week is going to be great because i believe in the cumulative power of quantum sparkly greatness.

randomness

1. last class of the semester was last night!  while i'm glad it's over, it was a pleasure teaching such a bright group.  i like to teach.
2. i enjoy the sound of words spoken in sanskrit.  i'm attempting to learn my yoga postures by their original name.
3. purple globe alliums!  quite possibly a contender with peonies as my favorite bloom.  all that backbreaking bulb-planting last fall?  totally worth it.
4. i have to go to a work meeting this morning to discuss creating an informative and positive unit presence on facebook.  not really sure how i feel about this?  would you "like" child protective services?
5. the royal wedding hoopla made me nostalgic for that other royal wedding that i watched through 16-year old sleepy eyes and literally uttered my very first "wtf?".  (never been a fan of the whole over-the-top-wedding-princess thing.)

happy weekend friends!  embrace the royalness of you!!!

the small

this week it's the littlest things that shine the brightest:

• tiny buds full of promise
• the (mostly annoying) herd of deer that roam my neighborhood are joined by three new fawns
• sporadic moments of humor in an otherwise frightful work week
• one hour of glee can redeem an entire day
• a spontaneous text message invite from k to hear this artist talk about her process (amazing!)
• the power of the word no
• the grace of the word yes