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| © Steinert, Sonnenuntergang in Hirtshals |
3/30/12
friday fab/five: energy!
1. first aid kit: heading to union transfer on saturday night to see these amazing swedish ladies perform live. VERY excited.
2. assorted vitamin water zero: so, i am training for this race in a few months and i realized that i am probably doing myself a disservice by not really preparing my body for an hour of running at a time and thus decided to jump on the electrolyte bandwagon. am i exactly sure that this product is doing anything? not really...but it definitely tastes refreshing!
3. lunchtime yoga: my job is gracious enough to subsidize a weekly yoga class and although i sometime have to drag myself away from my desk - i am always happy that i do! and reading this book by claire dederer last year was a great way for me to learn more about the practice/history of yoga.
4. green tea: we've all heard about the benefits of green tea and i wanted to add a cup to my daily routine so i put a "tea reminder" alarm on my iphone...and guess what? i now drink tea everyday before the alarm even goes off! habits! word! (this mug is from the awesome etsy seller lennymud)
5. rosemary essential oil: too much computer time dulls my brain and nothing revives me like some rosemary essential oil rubbed on my temples. and don't worry, if you try this yourself you will not smell like an italian restaurant.
(#1 image source/ #5 image source)
3/29/12
DIY thursday - springtime spaceship!
i have such an affinity towards mobiles, and how they can slowly twirl in space, so i decided to create a little sparkly springtime mobile to spruce up my petite bathroom!
3/28/12
a picture & a poem!
a certain kind of eden by kay ryan
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It seems like you could, but
you can’t go back and pull
the roots and runners and replant.
It’s all too deep for that.
You’ve overprized intention,
have mistaken any bent you’re given
for control. You thought you chose
the bean and chose the soil.
You even thought you abandoned
one or two gardens. But those things
keep growing where we put them—
if we put them at all.
A certain kind of Eden holds us thrall.
Even the one vine that tendrils out alone
in time turns on its own impulse,
twisting back down its upward course
a strong and then a stronger rope,
the greenest saddest strongest
kind of hope.
(poem source)
(picture by me)
3/27/12
artistic appreciation: andy curlowe!
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| source |
andy curlowe's work is so beautiful and dreamy...it really fits the dazed-out spring i've been having here in philly...even if he is based in cleveland! i saw some of his work on the blog mint and had to spread his talent.
3/26/12
3/23/12
friday fab/five: a few of my philly favorites!
1. tierra mia organic nail salon: all of the services that i get from tierra mia are really top-notch AND i just discovered that they are BYOB...a glass of wine while you are getting a pedicure? sounds good to me! the last time i was there i picked up this fabulous wooden ring!
2. beadworks: after a very loooong time, i finally made it back to this (off south street) bead store. totally making some new earrings tomorrow!
3. free library of philadelphia: full disclosure - i volunteer at the library, so i am there a lot in general, but the newly renovated lending library is like a sacred space to me. sometimes just i wander around the stacks...touching all the spines!
4. fairmount park: i know, i know i talk about the schuylkill river way too much, but i have never lived so close to all it's fabulous features (One of the United States' largest and oldest municipally-operated park systems, Fairmount Park encompasses 9,200 acres and includes 63 neighborhood and regional parks.) AND since i am training for the broad street run i have been spending many many many hours in the park!
5. lost and found: i don't get to this old city clothing and accessories store often enough, but i am always happy when i do. some of my favorite and most cherished items are from there...like my wallet for example!
3/22/12
DIY thursday: inspired by nature!
i have been spending a lot of time (too much time?) stuck inside creating on and through my computer. it was so nice this past weekend that i decided enough was enough and gave myself an art assignment...
3/21/12
just because...my allergies are making me stare into space...
...so why not stare at this beautiful video while i am enduring my endless sinus headache?
(we are ready/dancefloor diplomacy via philebrity = 20 musicians, 38 songs, all played live)
a picture & a poem: contemplation
finale by pablo neruda
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Matilde, years or days
sleeping, feverish,
here or there,
gazing off,
twisting my spine,
bleeding true blood,
perhaps I awaken
or am lost, sleeping:
hospital beds, foreign windows,
white uniforms of the silent walkers,
the clumsiness of feet.
And then, these journeys
and my sea of renewal:
your head on the pillow,
your hands floating
in the light, in my light,
over my earth.
It was beautiful to live
when you lived!
The world is bluer and of the earth
at night, when I sleep
enormous, within your small hands.
(pablo is my absolute favorite...i could read his poetry for hours! poem source)
(picture by me)
3/20/12
artistic appreciation: rex ray!
3/15/12
DIY thursday: makin' it up!
i am NOT a girly-girl, but i love the make-up tutorials made by sam and nic - the british sister-team - AKA pixiwoo.
sam and nic are sweet, funny and sincere...and watching them is totally addicting. if you know me, you would know that most of these looks are a bit out of my comfort-zone, but getting an inside peak at these professional make-up artists at work is completely fascinating! here are a few of my favorites...
3/14/12
a picture & a poem: sigh...
last spring by gottfried benn
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Fill yourself up with the forsythias
and when the lilacs flower, stir them in too
with your blood and happiness and wretchedness,
the dark ground that seems to come with you.
Sluggish days. All obstacles overcome.
And if you say: ending or beginning, who knows,
then maybe—just maybe—the hours will carry you
into June, when the roses blow.
(poem source)
(picture by me)
3/13/12
artistic appreciation: spring favorites via etsy
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| the wheat field by katie daisy - print |
the weather in philly has shifted into full-on spring...trees are flowering...bulbs are blooming...allergy spores are attacking my head. i figured that it's the perfect time to share some of my favorite spring-themed creations (currently for purchase) via etsy...
3/12/12
ahhh...monday: parades, etc.
(if you are in the philly area, please make time to see "van gogh-up close" at the PMA...it was so much better than i expected! i started to weep while looking at one of the paintings...if that does not convince you to see this show i don't know what will!)
3/8/12
DIY thursday: living wall art!
take it away bri...
3/7/12
a picture & a poem: memories
the dairy queen at sunset by elaine equi
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after each private episode
one re-enters society anew
amid cowlicks of light
a swirl of voices
sharp in the nose
as razorblades of grass
sharp is "the taste
of noise" after silence
the cool residue
of an electrical disturbance
carried home
in a paper cup.
(image by me)
(poem source: surface tension, poem by elain equi. coffee house press, 1989.)
3/6/12
artistic appreciation: book cover love!
sometimes i DO pick a book by it's cover! and most of the time i'm glad that i did. luckily, the website the book cover archive can help me appreciate the designers/artists who create the outward appearance of some of my literary favorites! and feed my (small) typography addiction. shhh....
3/5/12
3/2/12
3/1/12
books i read last month!
i was almost going to take a picture of the photoshop cs5 book that i am reading for my class...but i would rather focus on the fun reading i have been doing!
2/29/12
a picture & a poem: happiness
So Much Happiness by Naomi Shihab Nye
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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
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!
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| from mackenzie bass via piterest |
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!
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| 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
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...
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| 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!
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
DIY Thursday: up-cycled cardigan!
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| 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 picture & a poem: celebrating my inner kid!
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| source |
My Violin by Bruce Lansky
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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)
(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!
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