artist's date picnic

i've been enjoying kimberly wilson's tranquilista e-course very much.

i've also been having a blast playing with my visual journal.

if you know kimberly, then you know she's a big fan of 'omwork.' omwork is what kimberly coined is homework with a yogic twist. so, it's beneficial and fun!

during our most recent class, part of our 'omwork' was to go on an artist's date. i realized that i haven't gone on an artist's date in a very long time.

so, i gathered my gear and headed for my backyard

a nice lunch

a nice view

and a good companion for a lovely afternoon. (now, i realize that an artist's date is supposed to be solo, but i don't think i'll get any complaints for my date)

and let the creativity flow

of course there was much snuggling

and kisses

(and yes, that is a roll of toilet paper you see there... between all of the allergies & recent nose bleeds i figure i'd better be prepared -boo!)

cadyn and i had a wonderful artist's date - just the two of us.

wheel of life/2010 vision board

for those of you that have been reading my blog for a while you probably recall my 2009 vision board, if you are new or need a refresher, click here.

for the last few weeks i've been playing around with making a visual wheel of life. while it isn't exactly in a "wheel" shape, you get the idea. if you are not sure what the "wheel of life" exercise is, you can check out a few variations & explanations here, here & here.

i decided to make an artist's date out of my visual wheel of life. i had magazines, construction paper, scissors, a glue stick, water with a slice of organic lemon (i am on a lemon kick recently), and the drive to make something beautiful and creative.

now for a little closer look into each of the categories...

finances
relationships
health
home environment
self-care
spirituality
creativity
career
(sorry for all of the glare from the glossies)

have you tried the wheel of life exercise or a vision board? why not combine both into one.

artist's date

here is a sneak peak at my latest artist's date

i had the most lovely artist's date that i've had in a while. i've had this plain old cork board that has housed my jewelry for a while now. (i have to have my jewelry visible or else i'll forget about having it.) but i was getting tired of looking at the same old boring board.

see what i mean - boo!!

so i threw on some great tunes on pandora and got to work. i decided to do what i do best and gussy it up!! i gathered some "parisian pink" folk art acrylic paint and a lovely black and white damask print paper (both from michaels).

while i painted i listened to fabulous artist's such as frou frou, jem, lily allen, feist, kate havnevik, imogen heap, yael naim, and regina spektor to name a few. a couple of hours later my jewelry board went from drab to fab!!

here is the finished product with jewelry in place and hanging on my bedroom wall below my 2009 vision board

reset button

today i felt as though my reset button had been pressed. i spent three glorious hours at cheat lake today. you could say that i had an extended artist's date :)

i had originally intended to go to a local park but instead felt the need to be near water. so after meeting up with my friend T and his mom for lunch off i set in order to find just the right spot.

my view

my only companion

it was such a perfect day. the sky was gorgeous with scattered puffy white clouds. the sun was warm and the breeze was slightly cool against my skin making for the perfect combination. the lake was fairly quiet except for the occasional boat or jet ski. the squeak of the wooden docks and the splash of the small waves added a nice ambiance.

i was armed with a couple of books and magazines, my planner pad, my journal, lots of water and some hot tea. while i looked briefly at my magazines i mainly used my time to journal, practice reiki, meditate, enjoy the scenery, reflect,breathe and just be. i finished my visit with some sun salutations (carefully as i was on a dock), a meditation and thanks to the universe for carving out such a perfect day for me. it was exactly what i needed.

how about you guys, have you hit your reset button yet?

artist's date

i've been in such a gmat rut lately that i have been pretty much letting everything else go. amongst the hundred other things one of them was my bookcase that is in our hallway. i couldn't bare to go past it any more. so, instead of making a "task" out of it, i turned it into an artist's date.

here is the "before" shot (compete with books strewn about everywhere and piled high on the floor in front of the bookcase:
here is the "after" pic:
now for the up close shots of the shelves first is my buddhism shelf:
next is the all things french and yoga shelf:
and last is the bottom 3 shelves that include biography, fiction, literature, travel books, gardening and reference.
i love when things are in their places, don't you?! if you have any questions about my books or can't see what a specific book is and want to know the title, let me know. i'll be happy to share what's on my bookcase with you :)

artist's date

sweet carolyn from hang on little tomato sent me an adorable package of artist's date goodies. i used them to pimp up my copy of wreck this journal. it included a funky piece of fabric that i cute up and made a cat-nip cigar for my kitties. (now, i'm not the best seamstress by any stretch, but if it works for the kitties, it works for me.)

sanjay laying on the bed w/ "cat-nip cigar"

sanjay taking a "nip nap" love that >^..^<

i coupled what carolyn had sent me with my left over goodies i collected from my recent trip to dc and made a folder similar to the one i did at kimberly's staycation.
photos by moi

my two days of bliss

i haven't been online as much in the past two days and for good reason.

yesterday, i had an amazing day. i fought the urge to sleep in and got up at 7:30. after i dropped ryan off at work, i came back home and did my planning for the day. i scheduled a massage for later that evening. i met ryan for lunch. we had bento boxes at our favorite local sushi joint. after dropping him back off at work, i had an solo artist date. i did a little bookstore browsing at the local barnes and noble. after that i hit up tarjay to see what there was to see. i ended up getting a small scrapbook (that was on the dollar rack) to put some of our 2009 traveling mementos in. i then headed to tj maxx. between those three stores i could drop a ton of money, but i was strong. i only ended up buying an accordion folder to put some important papers in and two boxes of english tea.

after getting back home from my artist date, i got ready for yoga and my massage. i met my dear friend for yoga at bliss bliss bliss and afterwords we went for smoothies. after smoothies it was time to head back to bliss bliss bliss for my massage. and let me tell you, it was BLISS! after my wonderful relaxing massage i headed home to a hot bath to soak. had a lovely salad for dinner and some hot tea and then to bed. it was a fabulous day!

today was almost as good. it started very much the same. i dropped ryan off at work and then headed to a local cafe for breakfast. i enjoyed a wonderful lox bagel and some coffee. after breakfast, i went to the beauty college to get something different done to my tresses. i have been admiring people decorating their hair with pink streaks, from kimberly wilson to carolyn to yogadiva. these lovely ladies serve as daily inspiration for me. and what can i say, the pink bug bit me :-) i also decided to get bangs. i haven't had bangs in years!!



pink streaks in my hair isn't exactly daring for me. you are reading the blog of a girl who once had a mohawk. yep, you read that right, a mohawk. and let me tell you, it was a kick ass mohawk too.

photos by ryan