2/29/12

a picture & a poem: happiness


So Much Happiness by Naomi Shihab Nye
---------------------------------------
It is difficult to know what to do with so much happiness.
With sadness there is something to rub against,
a wound to tend with lotion and cloth.
When the world falls in around you, you have pieces to pick up,
something to hold in your hands, like ticket stubs or change.
But happiness floats.
It doesn’t need you to hold it down.
It doesn’t need anything.
Happiness lands on the roof of the next house, singing,
and disappears when it wants to.
You are happy either way.
Even the fact that you once lived in a peaceful tree house
and now live over a quarry of noise and dust
cannot make you unhappy.
Everything has a life of its own,
it too could wake up filled with possibilities
of coffee cake and ripe peaches,
and love even the floor which needs to be swept,
the soiled linens and scratched records...
Since there is no place large enough
to contain so much happiness,
you shrug, you raise your hands, and it flows out of you
into everything you touch. You are not responsible.
You take no credit, as the night sky takes no credit
for the moon, but continues to hold it, and share it,
and in that way, be known.

(picture source)
(this poem was recently sent to me by a dear friend...from Risking Everything: 110 Poems of Love and Revelation, edited by Roger Housden, NY: Harmony Books, 2003)

2/28/12

artistic appreciation: society6!


society6 is a company that offers artists a way to sell quality art prints, iphone cases, t-shirts and other cool products to people like me (AKA funky consumers) - without giving up control of their rights. win-win!

2/27/12

just because...it's so dreamy!


we are connected by danna ray...buy it here.

ahhh...monday: in the city/out of the city!

2/24/12

friday fab/five: celebrating leap day!



this year we get an extra day! since it is a rare bunch of 24 hours, my fab/5 are mostly *fantasy* (they are fantasy because, well, leap day is on a wednesday and i have to work so i cannot make pancakes/get a massage/celebrate with kristen...maybe i will get up early and run five miles, but i probably won't...wait, i could get the popcorn though!) what do you have planned for feb 29th?

2/23/12

DIY thursday: on your head!

from mackenzie bass via piterest
sometimes we need a little nudge to try something new in life...something different or challenging. for me that includes breaking free from appearance ruts. for example: i caught myself wearing the same shirt to work every monday for three weeks in a row. that's pretty bad!

2/22/12

a picture & a poem: sleepy!


we tend to sleep better when the clock is wound by todd boss
--------------
than we do
when it’s all

wound down.
I don’t know

why we settle
to the sound.

Somehow
the regular

click and chime
of passing time,

like water, turns
a water wheel

that turns a gear
that turns a stone

that turns upon
another stone

and fine
and finer in between

our dreams like grain
are ground.

(image source)
(poem source)

2/21/12

just because...it's so cool in a literary sorta way!!


i really must make this bookshelf set-up happen in my life...just looking at the image both relaxes me and fills me with joy!

[saw this on the wit & delight tumblr (which is seriously addictive!)...it is originally from here.]

artistic appreciation: joan brown!

After the Alcatraz Swim #3, 1976.

please join me in appreciating joan brown, a painter who lived and worked in northern california.

2/20/12

ahhh...monday! iconic philadelphia, etc.


strangely the red pumps were gone when i got home from work, but the rest of the garbage remained. also, the light show on broad street last week was seriously mesmerizing!

2/16/12

just because it's so cool: art by alex steckly



...work by portland, oregon artist alex steckly.

DIY thursday: a gaggle of chairs!


ok, i have to be honest...i had a really busy weekend and kinda blew off doing a DIY project. luckily, i had these chairs in the wings!

2/15/12

catch me if you can...and you probably can!


i registered for the may 6th broad street run today (me and 29,999 other people sold out the event in 5 hours!) and i am SUPER excited to do this 10-mile run from north philly to south philly. although i will be training hard, my fingers are crossed that i don't have a spontaneous asthma/heart-attack during the race!

(image from the incredible blog: healthyfit&toned found here)

a picture & a poem: flowers...

bouquet by berry & bloom* - your philadelphia source for unique botanical designs. 
(*AKA my very talented friend bri!)

Flowers by Wendy Videlock
--------------------------
for my mother
 
They are fleeting.
They are fragile.
They require

little water.
They’ll surprise you.
They’ll remind you

that they aren’t
and they are you.
(poem source)
(image by randi baird)

2/14/12

love appreciation: heather and ed!

in honor of valentine's day i'm sharing the wedding invitation that i had the distinct pleasure of creating for my wonderful friend heather and (her hubby-to-be) ed. it was fun from beginning to end...especially working on crafting the "H&E" logo.

congrats to both of you and i am very excited to be traveling to MN in april to celebrate your LOVE in style. happy valentines day!

2/13/12

ahhh...monday!

it was a quiet weekend filled with taxes, homework, snow and lovely ladies. my friend wendy made the most amazing carrot/ginger juice...zing in a glass...but i forgot to take a picture of it!

2/10/12

2/9/12

just because it's so true: insight via pinterest!


amen to that! from libertad gómez on pinterest.

DIY Thursday: up-cycled cardigan!

so excited about my updated cardigan!

yes, i have already professed my love for seam binding here...but i just had to use it in another project because it is AMAZINGLY versatile. i changed this thrift store cardigan into a fantastically colorful "new" piece of clothing...and so can you!

2/8/12

a little POP of color on this snowy day...


 ahhh...love this delicate necklace from minoux.

a picture & a poem: celebrating my inner kid!

source

My Violin by Bruce Lansky
--------------
My mom brought home a violin
so I could learn to play.
She told me if I practiced hard
I’d play it well someday.

Without a single lesson,
I tried to play a song.
My fiddle squeaked, my fiddle squawked.
The notes came out all wrong.

My little brother fled the room.
Mom covered up her ears.
My puppy dog began to howl.
My sister was in tears.

My dad pulled out his wallet.
He handed me a ten.
He made me swear I’d never play
that violin again.

i loved legos when i was a kid...and luckily i had enough self-respect to quit orchestra in jr. high!
(poem source)

2/7/12

so you can sew?


lovely dress made/modeled by this cool etsy seller from the BurdaStyle website, which proclaims that it is "for people who sew"...since it does not say "well/good/competently" i guess i qualify!

artistic appreciation: feeling minnesota!


via etsy seller gomattolson

presenting some visual appreciation for my homeland and the creative folks celebrating it's grandeur and quirkiness!

2/6/12

fantasy shopping...a new handbag


a must have for my (fantasy) tropical vacation - this fabric & handle favian tote bag is freakishly affordable and has lovely long straps.

ahhh...monday!


2/3/12

truly vintage style...weekend/life inspiration!


according to one smart woman in the video "(we) young ladies are all going to be old ladies one day"...cheers to these fearless old broads!

read more about this project here.
have a wonderful weekend!

friday fab/5!


2/1/12

a cat for us allergic gals!



how could you not love this Donna Wilson Mitten Kitten Creature?

a picture & a poem: feeling bleh!



design by billy collins
--------
I pour a coating of salt on the table
and make a circle in it with my finger.
This is the cycle of life
I say to no one.
This is the wheel of fortune,
the Arctic Circle.
This is the ring of Kerry
and the white rose of Tralee
I say to the ghosts of my family,
the dead fathers,
the aunt who drowned,
my unborn brothers and sisters,
my unborn children.
This is the sun with its glittering spokes
and the bitter moon.
This is the absolute circle of geometry
I say to the crack in the wall,
to the birds who cross the window.
This is the wheel I just invented
to roll through the rest of my life
I say
touching my finger to my tongue.

(image source)
(poem source)