sneak peek at new goodies

New goodies will be hitting the etsy shop on 2/1 (hooray!) so I thought I'd give you guys a sneak peak.



This journal is entirely hand crafted with one of my photos on the front cover...love it! It's 8.5X5.5 and the pages are sturdy cardstock so they can hold up to stapling, painting, charcoal, tape, doodles, crayons, pens or any other way you'd like to express yourself. (I would avoid using fire though)



I love postcards. Like alot. I send them to people, I tack them up around the office, I collect them, I frame them. Postcards are the new black, ya'll. These particular cards are my own images, texturized in fun ways and each card comes with a quote on the back.

Also, reminder that all current goodies in the shop are at a significant discount to make room for newness-please check it out!

Much love on a cold day~

p.s. daily style photo here

mission mondays:: down a different path

if you are new to mission mondays, they are a chance to have a little fun and experiment with joy along with a community of bloggers. They are suggestions, never must do's and you are welcome to participate at any time. For more info on mission mondays and what they are about, you can go here

So Jason and I were walking the dogs in the freezing cold last night when we spied an old window frame with broken panes on the curb. In our neighborhood, putting stuff out on the curb is the universal sign for 'come get it if you want it' and Jason suggested that the weathered wood of the frame looked pretty cool and perhaps we could do something creative with it.

That's why I married him ya'll-that creative brain. Plus his cute butt.

But I digress...

The frame was too big to carry and anyway, we had our hands full of dogs so I planned to just pick it up and stow it in the back of my car on my way to work this morning.

Doing so caused me to take a different route through the neighborhood and it's amazing what a slight change in perspective can do to add adventure to your day. I was inspired to take an entirely different route to work. Since it wasn't my normal drive, I couldn't zone out like I usually do and I found myself much more in the moment, noticing little details and smiling as the sky lightened in front of me.

It's not a new idea, I know. It's one I've heard before and honestly, never thought much of. But now I see how a change prompts more awareness and more now-ness. Any time we are more in the now, we are more alive.

So your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to try a new path. Maybe to work or to school or to the laundry mat or a friend's house or when walking your dog. See what you notice when in the now-either externally or internally. A bonus mission would be to take photos of what you notice and post them in the mission monday flickr group

Happy missioning joy rebels!

a new year, a new ritual

My own new year has been celebrated in my way.

Yet.

A decade ended with a full moon. A decade that involved a whole lot of growing up, a whole lot of loss that was about letting go of the yuck and loss that just plain sucked. A decade that started out with me being a flat broke new college graduate that couldn't make ends meet and ends with me in a cozy home with a cute guy I met in a bar and our two crazy ass dogs. And I wanted to celebrate that-all of it, the good and bad- in some way with my husband and partner in crime.

As we ate dinner in a restaurant with approximately 4,248 other people that apparently decided to start their new years celebrations with a nice meal, I mentioned that I had this idea about attaching wishes to balloons and letting them go.


my wishes, ready to be released

God bless my cool husband, he was all for it. So after the meal we ran to the local grocery store to grab some balloons.


Jason attaching his wish to a balloon

Jason didn't want me to share his wish with you guys...it was personal and all. :-)


photo by jason

After attaching the wishes to our balloons, we went to our upstairs deck and let them go. The weather was cold and cloudy and windy (and not all that celebratory...boo) but we knew that the big beautiful moon was shining somewhere. A quick kiss and then we let them go, where they immediately got whipped away by the wind.

The little ritual was simple and quick. There was no confetti or drunken sloppy kisses. I was in bed by 10.

But it felt wonderful to make a celebration that was uniquely ours and that we could continue together in the upcoming years.

How did you celebrate?

etsy and mission mondays, in that order (oh and happy new year ya'll!)

today's style 365 shot

Okee dokee folks, here is the deal.

I have got some freaking awesome creations that I am so excited about that I'll be unveiling (dramatic drum roll please) on 2/1 in my etsy shop.

Things are changing around here and a new creative direction is emerging.

What that means for you. I have discounted my current stock of photos SIGNIFICANTLY so that I can make room for new goodness. Once the images are gone, they're gone ya'll. So if you've had your eye on a photo, now is the time to get it.

ALRIGHTY. Moving on....

Mission mondays. They're coming back. This coming monday, 1/4. I hope you guys will be playing along! This little break was exactly what I needed to get refreshed and re-excited about these and I can't wait to share more fun and creativity with this amazing community.

And lastly, happy new year folks. I wish for you a year wrapped in magic, possibility and beauty. I'll see you in 2010...

style 365.

Please excuse the serial killer look I've got going on there-I hadn't had my dr pepper yet when I took this photo.

So...style. When I was in the 5th grade, I would wear leggings and my dad's football jersey. Or I would tie a bandana around my neck. Or wear a long sleeved shirt undneath a short sleeved one.

I experimented with style and I loved finding my own unique looks that suited me.

Then puberty hit and we went through yet another move and insecurity set in and my main goal was just to fit in. I didn't want to experiment, I just wanted the latest fashions so that I matched everyone else.

That habit stuck around for a long while.

As I am opening up more to my authentic self, I find the desire to play with style and find looks that thrill me again. And there are threads of the old longing to fit in still clinging to my bones so I'm a little nervous. Therefor, I thought a photo experiment would be a fabulous way to enjoy the journey more. If you'd like to follow along...I've created a set on my flickr account and I'll be adding photos and my comments most days.

What nudges to explore are you feeling?

home for christmas...part two

I was talking with a friend the other day and we agreed that we knew we had become adults when christmas stopped being about presents and started being about togetherness.

I can't even tell you the comfort and magic there is for me in just going home for the holidays.



My mom can be moved to tears remembering the christmas after my sister was born when money was really tight and there wasn't much under the tree. I was five or so and I couldn't tell you a single gift I got that year.



Because what I remember is stringing christmas lights on the tree and making cookies and watching charlie brown christmas on TV and listening to carols. Important stuff. Not what doll I did or didn't get.

I live a few hours away from my parents now so I am not usually around to help them with their tree or make cookies but coming home is coming back into those warm memories and adding more.

Even the great puke fest of last year was done in a place that was warm and safe and surrounded in love. It was miserable..don't get me wrong..but it didn't ruin christmas for me (not that I want to repeat that. EVER.).

As long as I was home, I knew everything was going to be okay.

And I think that, more than anything else, is testament to the love and care my parents put into making home matter-even when home changed frequently in childhood.

I hope your own celebrations were surrounded in warmth...

A white christmas...and no puking

I think the last time I saw a white christmas, I was 12 and we were living in Minnesota.

So I was ridiculously excited when not only did it start snowing on Christmas eve, it started STICKING. Usually when we see white stuff in this area, it melts as soon as it hits the ground anyway.

As we were driving up to my folks, 50 mile an hour winds slapped the snow against our vehicle and the right windshield wiper stopped working.

Yet, we made it up the long drive to my parents, presents in tow, and woke to an amazing sunrise over the snow on christmas morning.

I mean really, what could be more beautiful on christmas morning?

I'll tell you what...no one puking...that's what. Okay, so I was still a little leary of potential illness, given last year's events.

Jude and his mama, my sister

But all we enjoyed was good food and coziness and laughter and naps and more food and presents and lights.

I'll be sharing more soon...