c-e-l-e-b-r-a-t-e

Been busy, busy. Yesterday was my hubby's birthday. Jason is officially thirty two now! I can't believe he was only twenty four, and me, just twenty one, when we first started dating. Happy Birthday to my favorite person in the world :) Sunday we had a cookout in celebration, but also because we haven't had an official "house warming" party as of yet.  And of course, as my luck would go, it poured all day. It's been bone dry all summer, and wouldn't you know the day we needed the most use of our yard, its a drizzle fest. All was well though, we scrunched in our house, porch, and garage. We feasted on fresh watermelon, corn, potato salad, hot dogs on the grill (Jason burns them perfectly, I'm not joking-they're awesome!) beans, the usual cookout faire. Despite the rain, a lot of friends and family made it out. It was great to see everyone. I'll admit I kind of have a panic attack when that many people are in my house. Juggling socializing, refilling/preparing food, giving folks a tour of the new house...(the clean up before & after) wowzah. But it's my dream to host more family gatherings in the future. We'll see... Hopefully someday when I have a better camera, I will document these happenings better.

As I'm happy to celebrate our lives, I see the next big birthday on the horizon, my thirty year b-day... I have a few months. I feel pretty good about it. I'm in the mode right now where I am quietly saying goodbye to my twenties and pondering my thirties. I suppose I am looking forward to my thirties in the sense that you seem to have it together more in your thirties, more secure, more on track, you know yourself better...right?Or is that all just a bunch of garbage? Do you ever feel that way fully? Probably not. But I feel it more so than in my twenties. There's so much change and turbulence in your twenties. Trying to find direction. From college, to crappy jobs to career, different hair colors, different habits, marriage, making a home, to getting settled into myself. But I feel good. Really happy actually. Calm and happy in the center of my little life.

lazy day

Setting Forest Mourning 24"x36" mixed media on canvas

It's been a good weekend. Jason and I cleaned the house, we did some much needed yard work before fall arrives, and I finished a new painting. Sometimes the simplest of days makes me happiest. Go figure, triangles are back! I'm really into them right now.  I've prepped a few canvases for more like this.  I'm trying to keep in the habit of working on the series as much as I can while juggling the rest of my life. I want to do more small gouache works as well.

Some of our friends just got back from St. Petersburg, FL today.  The lovely and talented Bryanne (you can see her blog and gorgeous photos here) and her beau. They said the ocean was so amazing that they are thinking of permanently moving near it. I can't imagine living near the ocean all the time. I think its healing power would change me. Do you know what I mean? Every time we have vacationed to the ocean (any ocean) we're like two little eight year old kids splashing in the water. It totally rejuvenates you.

I've been contemplating if we would ever move out of state. Jason and I tried once, to Savannah, Georgia, and it was a total failure. We were under prepared, over whelmed, knew nothing of the city and how much it cost. Eventually ended up moving back to Illinois.  Words of wisdom: Visit the city first before you move there. I tend to romanticize things before I think realistically about them.

But I do like to fantasize about places I'd move (maybe realistically) It's nice to imagine a different scenery than cornfields everyday. Here are a few:

1. Nashville, Tennessee (we spent part of our honeymoon here and I fell in love with the city.)
2. Denver, Colorado (okay, I've never actually been here, lots of people we know have been relocating here and say they absolutely love it)
3. Charleston, South Carolina (its close to both the ocean and the mountains, and has some serious history)
4. Portland, Oregon (its where the young go to retire, right?)

Maybe someday. xoxo

inspiration day

I can't believe it is the middle of August already. Summer has flown by... I know that technically we have more of summer to come and perhaps even an 'Indian Summer,' but I have a love/hate feeling when the seasons begin to change.  I feel an excitement for the new season, and sort of a mourning for the season's passing. In a few months, it will be cold and snowy, and I will long for the weather that is now. So I am just trying to savour it. I am dreaming of fall weather though... and my new blue trench coat I found at a thrift store recently. We've already started to have a few cool days/nights...it makes me feel like I'm in the English countryside for some reason. Have you ever checked out Toast? Oh, if only I had a couple million euro.

I have finally been painting a bit lately. I have a new piece I'm pretty happy about...I will post pictures as soon as the new lot is finished. In the meantime, I thought it would be fun to post some work from my favorite artists.  Sometimes when you work full time and you're an artist (and you live in the middle of nowhere) the internet has to do for inspiration.  In my future, I'd like to make a habit of going on at least one field trip a week for new inspiration, in whatever it may be that interests me at the time. But I hope to see some of these lovely ladies artwork in person, perhaps own some.  They're work always speaks to me and is always awe-inspiring. Someday if I am brave, I would like to reach out to them for an interview.

1. Monica Canilao

2. Jennifer Davis

3. Leah Duncan

4. Steffi Homa

5. Camilla Engman

6. Serena Cole 

7. Esther Ramirez

I could post a million more... Maybe next week :) xoxo

day in the sun

Happy Sunday! Today was such lovely day. Blue sky, no humidity, low heat, nice little breeze. Pure perfection. To celebrate the day, I had brunch with some dear friends.We went to this quaint little restaurant downtown that just opened a new outdoor patio and started serving breakfast recently. The building is covered in beautiful ivy and been around forever, but I'll admit I don't go there much. Though, today over coffee and wonderful conversation, I felt almost like I was somewhere else, in a different town, maybe even a different country, which is a rare feeling when you live in the same town you've lived in for nearly twenty years. I love my girlfriends. Sometimes when we get together and talk about the future, I really feel like anything is possible. I feel truly blessed to be surrounded by such good hearted, creative women.

Afterwards, I met up with Jason. His dad was in town and had rode up on his motorcycle with some friends.  Seemed like everyone was taking advantage of the gorgeous weather. We showed his friends around downtown and stopped by the confectionery. Most everyone chose different chocolate treats...dark chocolate covered marshmallows, espresso beans dipped in chocolate, runner bars??? That place is dangerous.  As for myself, I couldn't resist the rainbow attraction of the italian ice case and settled on a small cup of strawberry. The gal working must have been in a generous mood because she gave me a heaping scoop.  All I can say is thank you very much! Jason's dad and company continued on their day's adventure and we headed home. And then I did something I never do... I took a nap. Now, some people are just nap people. They do it often, if not every day. When you are a child, they make you take naps everyday. I am kind of jealous of these nap people, because the idea of getting a quick cat nap in the middle of the day sounds wonderful.  Even the term 'cat nap' sounds wonderful. A content little kitty all curled up cozy  in a chair, their whiskers twitching in the sunlight. For some reason though, I've never been one to take naps. Maybe its my ever active mind, I just can't sit still when the sun's out. But today I did, and it felt great. And the day's not even over... xoxo