orange (wednesday)

i remember drinking fresh orange juice on the beach in marco island

from one of those orange shaped cups with the green lid and straw

something made me think of this memory the other day; i could smell that orange juice mixed with suntan oil, fresh air, and salt

i missed my parents in that moment as i closed my eyes and thought about the three of us, me sitting between them, on the beach of my early childhood vacations

at some point, i took a break from orange juice and all things orange flavored; not sure why, but it became a twenty year break

all my friends and family knew that orange was my least favorite

but after living here, on the west coast, for a few months, i began to crave oranges

and now i drink them, eat them, and breathe them in

perfection nestled in memories

day three of color week

yellow (tuesday)

day two of color week (find out more here)

green (monday)

this morning, when i hopped over to house on hill road, erin shared that she is participating in leya's week of color. (click here to read all about it.) sounds like fun, doesn't it?

i decided to join in...

*******

a weekend full of

laughter

playing

love

breathing

friendship

sewing

watching movies (scary but good and beautiful)

enjoying the sun

doing

planning

being

catching my eye. april 24.

backyard tulips, april 2008

this delightul, beautiful, inspiring blog

this post about finding grace

this post full of beautiful truth

alicia's tulip photos (i want to go to see these tulips next year; i am marking it on my calendar)

this post full of a mother's love

jen's important reminder

sandi's gorgeous line of fabric

what is catching your eye this week?

five (really) good things on a wednesday evening.

there are five really good things in this photo. five things that made my quiet night a good one. can you spot them? (just click on the photo to see what they are.)

take a breath and then take a moment to name your own five really good things.

i dare you.

blooming...a question.

backyard bloom, april 2008

it can be very difficult to check in with ourselves when we are in the midst of living our lives. we have so many roles that we juggle and so many things to get done and we are pulled in this direction and in that way. it can be easy to forget ourselves. this can happen even when we might be in a place where we have time to do things that are "for us" (like creating and writing and taking photos and cooking on and on).

all the ideas and thoughts and hopes and dreams that tumble inside my heart and mind sometimes invite me to just want to take a nap. my wish that those dreams would become real now or my idea for a new design that takes over the energy i need to put into the current design i am working on can quickly change from inspiring to exhausting.

in the balancing of my full-time job with time with family and friends with living this creative life with trying to breathe, i can lose sight of what i am actually doing, how i am actually growing, how i am living in my life. it is hard to see when i am standing in the middle of it all...

today though, as the confused snow falls once again on the spring blossoms, this thought came to me:

how are you blooming?

it felt like an invitation to take out my moleskine and write an accounting of me. to write about where i am right now. it felt like an invitation to sit quietly and close my eyes and breathe and just notice. it felt like an invitation to honor me and where i am in a given moment in time.

i wonder if you might want to join me...

this is an invitation to let go of the shoulds and the pulls of others and things around you. this is an invitation to check in with yourself through writing an accounting or sitting quietly or whatever other way moves you.

this is an invitation to honor how you are blooming in your life.

nine.

it snowed (and hailed and sleeted and rained) yesterday. it didn't stick but snow on the tulips is getting to be a bit much. (last weekend, it was in the seventies.)

i am gathering bits of things for the farm chicks show in a few weeks. i have so much to get ready for this show that i know i just can't worry about the fact that there are only three items in my little etsy shop. although i do worry a bit for some silly reason. but what i am creating is making me so happy. (and i will share pictures soon.)

in my gathering of things, i somehow found myself the proud owner of...ahem...a lot of vintage fabric yoyos (after leaving an antique mall yesterday). i mean a lot. not a small amount. it is fantastic fun.

i also won a huge button lot on ebay. huge. i mean not small at all. and i can't wait to sort through them and clean them and then pour them into a huge candy jar to take with me to the show. i am going for kind of a vintage candy store look for my booth.

i cried watching the season finale of torchwood (on bbc america) last night. cried. it was really sad. but good. i love that show.

i watched the papal mass today. not exactly sure why seeing that i am not catholic (yes, it is true, i went to notre dame and i am not catholic). it was interesting (i have been to a few masses in my time, but i never watched one with commentary before today). i actually said aloud to jon, "the pope's voice is so cute." was i the only out there who said that? well, no one in yankee stadium said anything. those people were so well behaved and quiet. it was a wonder to behold through the television screen...wonder what it was like to be there. probably very beautiful.

tonight, we are going to see the gambler in concert. if you don't know who i am talking about (or about my love of the gambler), read this post. i. am. really. excited. almost to the point where i am acting aloof about it because i keep thinking something will come up to prevent me from going like the last time (although at least it won't be a biopsy like the last time). i have warned jon that there are so many memories with these songs (many involving my grandparents), that i might just cry through some of them. i know, i know. but this is me.

today is a day where i am procrastinating some things. and i just have to breathe through that and know that it is okay and everything will get done. as it always does.

i feel very grateful for the connections i have made and keep making since i started this blog. as i seek balance in my life and try to stretch and grow in different directions while walking forward on my path, one thing continues to become clear: i am really blessed. thank you for you.

catching my eye. april 18.

michelle's seattle photos (and recent posts full of truth and beauty)

brianna lamar's poetry and art

nina's book of trees

the daily april poems at geek ink and darlene's blog

ali's inspiring weekend creative post

the incredible happenings over at jen lemen's blog

amanda's (deeply beautiful) remembering

tammy's "inspired friend" pillow

in this moment.

know this:
right now
in this moment
you are not alone

five (really) good things (about today)

beach view. westport, washington. 4.12.08

1. connecting and really feeling heard by another person. (thank you)

2. getting a phone call from a friend who shared some really great news. a new baby will be welcomed into this world in november. i love that kind of news.

3. finally beginning to work on some new flag sets. (and getting my order from papier valise with some delightful bits to add to them.)

4. mugs of genmaicha tea.

5. the sun shining brightly through the window.

what five things were good about your day?
take a moment...think about them...then share them if you want. (please...just put them right in the comments of this post or on your blog and let me know about them. thinking about your five good things might just change your life...or at least your perspective for a bit.)

breathing above water (in westport, washington)

in my dreams
they nudge me hello, then teach me to breathe
and i twist and turn and swim beside them



and saturday, i got to spend time with them outside my dreams
and they came as close as ten yards from the side of the boat



i laughed through tears of joy
as my heart felt like it was home

*photos taken by jonny*

a little about artfest

I must admit that no, I haven't unpacked yet. And, ahem, I am still in my pajamas this Thursday afternoon.

My heart is still full of the joy that was Artfest. The connection and the creating…this is what I will remember. I learned so much this year…especially about myself. I tapped into confidence, which in turn tapped into a sense of self-joy. Is that a phrase? Self-joy? Well, it seems to represent how I was and am feeling.

I was indeed twirling during Artfest just as I had been twirling the previous weekend.

And, just like the last two Artfests, I was too present in the moment to take photos. I guess I just wanted to experience more than document. I think we have to do that sometimes. Step away from the camera (or maybe the need to capture something to blog about it) and be with the people who surround us as we experience something, whether it was something out of the ordinary like Artfest or something a bit more everyday like sitting at a table eating lunch.

But, it is also a joy to document…oh yes it is. And, I have loved reading the posts on others' blogs about their Artfest experience and seeing their photos. People made the most incredible art this year. (Yes, this happens every year, but for some reason show and tell night just seemed full of more vibrancy and more people feeling brave enough to share their creations.)

After my first Artfest, I came back to this space and wrote about all of it in several parts. My head was just spinning with all the wonder that was my experience. Although I would like to tell you about my classes (I will take photos of what I created...I promise I will Jen) and why I love Port Townsend and so many other things, today, I am feeling more drawn to say this:

This year, Artfest was about me meeting me.

I had Annie Lockhart's class the first day and I decided to use a vintage hand mirror in my assemblage piece. Although that piece was hanging in my dorm room for the rest of Artfest, I felt as though I carried that hand mirror around with me and was constantly looking in it seeing my true self.

Through connecting with so many people…through the many conversations and the shared truths with Kelly Rae…through the moment when I heard Michelle's voice for the first time Wednesday and felt my heart widen…through watching the joy on Kelly's mom Carol's face after her first class…through the laughter until tears rolled down my face…through the deep friendship I feel when I spend time with Kim…through the "oh yes I totally get that" moments shared with Candice and Julie…through eyes meeting with understanding as I talked to my new blogging friend Kelly…through the shared meals with Diane…through the hugs with Blue Poppy and the immediate connection I felt with her friend Mindy…through the moments after class with Ali and Dona and Jill and Stephanie…through learning and chatting with Reisha (am I spelling your name right girl? email me and tell me please)…through the sunshine and the windy rain…through the "how are you?" moments with Misty…through the tears...through sitting on the floor in the dorm hallway sharing about classes and life and a common love for Theo's artwork...through the wise words of Susan…through the joy (and wisdom gained) that is time spent with Katie and Judy…through the commiserating over no heat or hot water…through the learning from Annie, Bee, and Nina…through the connecting with familiar faces like Ginny and Joyce and Sharon and Kristen…through so many other moments…through it all…I also connected with me.

I spend so much of my time alone that it took this year at Artfest, and the time spent with others, for me to get out of my own head and see myself.

Through the excitement and ups and downs and creating and connecting, I feel strong and grounded in the person I am becoming.

senses. owens beach morning.

i am usually quiet in these posts, so imagine i am whispering these words: i want to collect my thoughts when my head is less sleepy and my mind less fuzzy from this lack of sleep and threatening cold and then i will write about some of the details that were my artfest experience (my favorite artfest yet)...but for now i wanted to share these photos from my quick jaunt with michelle to owens beach in point defiance park this morning just before she headed to the airport to go home...

*******

{smell}


{touch}


{see}


{hear}


{taste}


{and know}

twirling inside

the plate of the car in front of diane, susan, and me at barnes and noble sunday evening.

i spent the weekend twirling inside friendship, community, and words, lucky enough to spend an afternoon with a friend then an evening with two goddesses and a day writing and listening to poetry and another evening of laughter, words, and truths...

i. love. poetry.

i took another workshop with susan wooldridge. when asked why i was there that day, i said that taking her workshop last year helped me to find another layer of my authentic voice.

yes. yes. yes.

some words i wrote on sunday:

i am a baby blue fifth chakra'd studebaker convertible
i am the fourth from the landing brown-carpeted step on garland circle
i am ignored red lips stroking your hair
i am tangerine fringe tickling the top of her silver damasked living room
i am the comma following the disappearing, webspinning secrets
i am the coocooing echo
i am clutter
i am mending


diane begins the workshops she hosts in a small one-room"house" on her property. we sat in a circle and the air seemed to crackle with all that was about to happen in a little workshop filled with words as people shared why they were here and a bit of their hopes. the sacredness of a circle of women. in this case, women i had never met until that day. i am ready to go back to diane's for a workshop as soon as i can. (you should join me.)

susan invites such a sense of safety and openness in her workshops. listening to the words of others is partly what makes the experience feel like such a sacred one. all day monday, their phrases kept running through my mind. such beauty and truth in their words. you can get to know a person you have just met by listening to their response to prompts like: "i am" "my soul says" "i know" "my mother says" "write one line about the prom"

fantastic.

i. love. poetry.

in just a bit, after i finish packing and somehow complete one more load of laundry, i will leave again. this time i am headed to artfest.

another opportunity to twirl inside friendship, joy, beauty, words, color, community.

i am blessed.
so very blessed.

today, i am sending you, yes you reading this, love, peace, and poetry.
and i invite you to go read a poem. go on. then come back here and tell me about it.
i dare you.

blessings,
liz

PS if you have sent me an email recently, sorry i have not replied. i will when i return. thanks for understanding.