winter's way

the winter wags on. i find this time of year, for myself, to be very introspective and i yearn to create. maybe it is the time spent indoors or the lack of color outdoors. maybe it is the new year or the passing of another birthday for me. i see the annual trend. i feel the cocoon wrapped around me. my layered cocoon. i'm thinking, i'm dreaming, i'm searching... i have ideas. i have big ideas but my wings are only waiting to spread. and the spring will come. as fast as it can, it will come and each unique bloom will take it's turn. one after the other. while the butterfly breaks open it's cozy cocoon, makes it's way into the warm breeze and ultimately takes flight. i hope to be the butterfly.

i am working through the artist's way once again. i have a few times in the past but have never gotten through the first few chapters due to lack of discipline i believe. this time though, i am blessed to be part of a group of four women who are dedicated to this journey. we meet once a week to discuss our progress and we do a little project the second half of the meeting. i am truly enjoying it and highly recommend forming a small group if you are thinking about doing the artist's way for yourself. i got past the first 4 chapters and this week i feel as though i have turned a corner for sure! if you are not familiar with the artist's way, by julia cameron, check out this link. basically, it's a step-by-step path of discovering or rediscovering your creative self and getting "un-stuck." this process has worked wonders for many, many people. 

EVERYONE is an artist...

in the artist's way there is what you call an "artist date." once a week you are to go on an outing of sorts that inspires you. it's only for you. i have been having fun with this. my first big artist date coincided with my annual trip to the city for my birthday. during the month of january, i choose a day where i go into the city early to walk around, take it some art and design, snap some inspiring photos as my souvenirs and then i meet my mom and we go to some museum or gallery and get a yummy dinner. the fact that it is annual i now know is sad. only once a year i spend a few ours by myself to get inspired??? wow. at first i thought a once a week alone-date was pushing it but now i can see it is so necessary. anyway! once off the train, i headed to my favorite window and display inspiration - anthropologie. not only do i want to own every piece in there but i dream about being their display artist. it's like candy for me. i can't get enough of it. uber creative and always green, these displays or shall i say sculptures take on a shape and space of their own. there has been a curious amount of synchronicity going on lately in my life in many ways which i won't get into today but one small coincidence was that there was a feature in wholeliving this month highlighting two chicago based display artists who came together to call themselves indo. i came across it after i came home that day. their work is absolutely beautiful.

farmer's market cartons fused together in a vertical display with lush plants growing from the center. beautiful.

this year we headed to the american museum of natural history. dioramas galore! oh joy! speaking of diaramas, that reminds me that i have to make one tonight with eden... always fun for me, and i don't hear eden complaining about her grade!

the color and texture in the geology section was interesting as well.

a great birthday month was had. lots of celebrating with friends and family. i feel blessed to be 35! 

woo-hoo!

one gift that i received (and asked for!) was the tribest mason jar mini blender. it makes great smoothies like the magic bullet (which finally lost it's mojo, so i retired it to only grinding coarse coffee beans) but unlike the magic bullet it uses standard glass mason jars as the blending cup. mind blowing, i know. but that means bpa-free blending and storing! the things i get excited about...

 i also got a shiny happy new juicer!!! a breville - oo-la-la. i haven't been using it as much as the mini blender just yet because i am still chilly during the day and juicing tends to cool me down. for whatever reason, smoothies don't have the same effect on me. the other reason why i tend to blend in the winter is because there is a lack of fresh organic produce for juicing but for blending i use frozen organic fruit which is available all year round. anyway, i'm sure i will be juicing away in a few weeks when it starts to get warmer (hooray!) and because kris carr just came out with a brand spanking new juicing ebook, crazy sexy juices & succulent smoothies! i can't wait to give these a try.


my integrative nutrition studies have been truly amazing. i am loving the classes and material. i feel so sorry for the person who brings up nutrition or natural food around me. i never shut up! i guess that's a good sign. i have been mulling around ideas in my cocoon for my holistic health counseling business name and logo. to come...


well, as you all know, the giants won the superbowl which was such an event in my house. i have a happy husband. i still feel the effects. i kept the superbowl fare on the healthy side of course. grass fed, natural burgers with sauteed mushrooms and onions on ezekial buns anyone? bbq kale chips (using smoked paprika)? sweet potato fries? yum. 

february brings hearts and chocolate... 

Valentine Sensory Box


and the birthday of the sweet girl who is always in my heart. my edie bella turned 10! yes, i have a ten year old!?! and she is amazing and smart and talented and funny and beautiful and....well i just love her beyond measure.

tis the season

we're having some fun around here. our days have been steady occupied by holiday preparations and time with loved ones. i am filled up with gratitude for all that i have. as i rush around and cram in one last thing, i would like to stop right here and just take it all in. how blessed i am...

and of course i have just finished "recipes & tidbits: vol. 6" for ya'll. as always, i had fun collecting and trying recipes all year. 

i hope you enjoy my gift to you. peace. love. joy. 

happy healthy 2012!

here, there & everywhere

sorry that it has been so long friends! i've been flitting here and there for a few months. doing a little of this and a little of that, not really consuming myself in one thing at one time. internally i feel the same. i feel as though i am scattered and somewhat uncertain of where i want to send my energy. i think it is the approach of spring. of new beginnings and that shift of our world and of our activities. march is a funny month (now april already). it kind of doesn't know what it wants to be either. "am i winter or am i spring," march said. well, both. i can relate.


this winter i tried to dive back into creating art again. not just crafting. i must say i'm having a great time giving myself this luxury of simply painting just to paint. it has been relaxing yet at the same time frustrating. it has been so long since i have sat down and painted that i have a hard time getting all of those ideas and thoughts i have been carrying around for years, out onto a canvas or paper. it's like all the images and ideas are trying to squeeze through the door rather than wait on line - this is creating a bit of chaos in my work. a sense of disorder or indecision. the more i think about it though, if i were to group my work into a single theme it would probably be "order from chaos." this is what i am hoping will come across in my work and i hope will help me to see the chaos as beautiful and divine.

this painting has layers upon layers of paint upon collaged elements. i couldn't settle though. i just kept going until i just had to stop. that's what funny about abstract painting - the paintings really take a life all their own. i am not sure if it is done... there are a few more in the works that i will post when finished (any criticism is welcome).

my girls have been enjoying watercolors lately. i find watercolors to be very kid friendly (and mama friendly) because the colors are readily there, they are washable, they blend beautifully into eachother, and they can be layered. when the weather gets nice, we usually head outside to the backyard for some real messy art making! can't wait!

toddler art is so much fun. it's all about experiments and discoveries. it's about getting their hands dirty and experiencing different mediums. we experimented with the watercolors and some tissues to see what would happen. then we hung it so that the light could flow through it.

i found this photo my husband took of an ordinary afternoon. i love to see my girls sitting together at the table (and not bickering!) it warms my heart.

at an art show at ROCA, i discovered this intriguing artist. her name is amy gross. she is a mixed media artist who creates these lush and gorgeous natural 'other worlds.' i want to like live in her work. after seeing her show, i caught myself 'looking closer' at patterns in nature, at natural colors and at what materials i've been ignoring as an artist.

on april 5th, i along with a bunch of artists participated in the toms shoes: one day without shoes event. this event raises awareness about children around the world who do not have the luxury of shoes. with every purchase of a pair toms shoes, one pair will go to a person in need. if you are not familiar with this company, take a look. the shoes are comfy, cute and who can beat the cause! we each customized a pair of toms for a silent auction that is still going on. here are mine.

being it's technically spring now, i have begun my spring cleanout. i must say, my clearing out is extensive... i have a walk up attic that is crammed to the rafters. it's so amazing to me how over only about 6 or 7 years we could have accumulated this much STUFF! amazing and sad knowing that i have things hourding in my attic that someone in need will make use of. and the more i think about it, the more suffocating it becomes. so that is my current goal - to get rid of.

i have been reading simplicity parenting - using the extraordinary power of less to raise calmer, happier, and more secure kids by kim john payne. i am finding this book very informative. he discusses the importance of less in terms of environment, the rhythm of the day and packed schedules. this book is really hitting home for me. i'm sure like all you mamas, i want the best for my kids. i want them to have access to every educational toy, explore every experience, bring out every talent but to what end? as i am finding with my 9 year old, it is too much. there comes a point where it is time to weed out, so that there is some homeostasis, room for creativity, room for breathing, room for boredom! i remember clearly being bored as a child but that boredom always, without fail, turned into something great. it's like we need that space to get bored in order to get new ideas and grow in those ideas. so i have slowly been decreasing the amount of toys (they didn't even notice) and i have been changing small things here and there and i have noticed small changes in my girls as well. 

"too much stuff, too many choices, too much information, and too fast..."

if you are like me, who totally loves to stroll slowly through target and fill that cart every month with things you don't need - another cute outfit, another disney princess, another pair of adorable shoes, another leap toy and don't even get me started on the seasonal dollar isles! - than reading this book may be beneficial if not eye opening. and the feeling of liberation i get with every toy that leaves my house almost feels as good as buying it. ;)

p.s.- i've been so lame! i promise to blog more often even if it's just a quick thought or recipe or just an image i am inspired by.

a little glimpse

yes, i guess you can say we are in the thick of it. winter that is. spring is not quite in my sights although i'll be on the lookout, trust me. it was fun to see the girls' faces light up when the saw all of the snow that covered our town. 

february brings some sunshine in the form of birthdays, valentines, music concerts, new books to read, playdates and winter break so i am focusing on that lately. i would like to be focusing on some sewing... maybe over the break.

i heart. . .

...new uses for old things i would have otherwise thrown away. eden and i (and pop-pop, too!) made these wonderful little crayon hearts out of her old worn out crayons. i got the idea here. i saw these silicon heart molds - i guess they were for mini muffins - in the target dollar section. i figured i would make some muffins for valentine's day but on the label it mentioned "cannot withstand high temps for too long!" wow, i wonder how many people missed that message and why on earth.... so i threw it back in the bin. but then i came across this great idea and went back to buy the molds. (you could use regular muffin tins or even cookie cutters but i realized after that cleaning the molds to where you'd be able to bake in them again is pretty labor intensive - use an old muffin tin or just dedicate one to use for crafts only) it's really simple though. you just peel and cut up your old crayons into smaller pieces, then spray the mold or muffin tin with baking spray, fill them up with the crayon pieces (get creative!), bake at about 275 degrees for 7 mins. and viola! swirly heart crayons. so fun! and oh yeah important, cool completely before popping them out of molds. eden is going to give one to each of her classmates with a little note for her class valentine exchange. 

twenty ten

:::fare thee well two thousand nine:::

december flew by me. i had grand visions of blogging about all of the fun crafts and goodies we made but in reality, finding pockets of time to simply do a few of those things with my girls was hard enough. we baked, we wrapped, we sang a lot! we didn't really craft much...i did throw together my annual "recipes & tidbits" book though. here is this year's as a pdf.  i sincerely enjoy gathering and trying new recips throughout the year to put into this tiny book. i also collect little quotes and tidbits about our family that i add in. (if you want to take a peek or if you misplaced the previous years, i have posted all four on the sidebar.) this year's cover has illustrations from one of our favorite winter tales, "the mitten" by alvin tresselt.

parties, dinners, caroling, christmas play! and then christmas day arrived and it was a beautiful day and night. it was a small cozy gathering where we thanked god that we were all there together and where we sang all night around the tree with a guitar, a kazoo, a slide whistle and some maracas! good times.

we were blessed with many wonderful gifts this year as well. to my surprise, i opened a brand new sewing machine! that means i actually have to learn how to sew now. no excuses. so i am going to sign up for a beginner class downtown in nyack. very excited. santa brought me wii fit - and i must say i am very sore! a few handmade and natural gifts were instant favorites.

raggety anns

irish wool hats

fun play food - all natural, wooden and non toxic

so now that all the christmas excitement and dreaminess has faded i have to do the ultimate chore - take down the tree and the rest. booooo. not fun at all. i guess i will do it this weekend. i like to leave the tree up until january 6th which is the epiphany or as we call it in my family, "little christmas." everyone usually gets one more little gift and then it's all over.

january brings its own style - resolutions, down comforters, snowmen... 

i must admit that i do go through the winter seasonal slump every year. it's so hard for me to get movin'. so at this time i usually try to envision what it is i want for this year. i try to dig deep to see what i truly wish for. for instance, i used to just set silly fitness or diet goals that i never kept up with but i have learned over the last few years that simply visualizing a healthy, happy me helps me to eat cleaner, move more and stay conscious of my choices which is what i continually wish for. i also wish to "get clear" about my career. this is always a fuzzy thing which results in working too much and spreading myself thin. then there's the ever present dilemma of balance. so as i wrap up those ornaments and vacuum up a trillion pine needles, i will try to create a picture in my mind of what it is i want for my life. i know that sounds easy but it really isn't. to really get specific about what we want or wish for takes a little meditation. think about it...