Happy Me-Laurie Z!

Wishcasting & Photo Wednesday

2012-03-07T07:03:00.000-08:00

Hello all...I'm on my last remaining 6 days of my 30 day visit to my hometown of St. Louis. Although the first 2 weeks were quite cocoon-y and snuggly, as we dealt with my son's injury and I got reaquainted with my 2 and a half year old grandson (after a 4 month separation), I am now caught up in that typical last minute rush to see everyone I haven't gotten to yet and go to the places which are always on my list when I am here. I am so thankful and happy to have been able to be here so long and enjoy everyones company, and know it will be hard to leave everyone and be apart again until my next visit in June. St. Louis will always be home to me in some ways, but I am starting to feel very ready to return to "normal life" at home sweet home with my husband and our furbabies, my own bed, my art, our routines and comforts and the beautiful Pacific Northwest I have come to adore over the past almost 4 years of living there.
This weeks 52Photos Project prompt is very relevant to how I am feeling right now:

"THIS IS MY HOME"

I love to look out our front door and see this lovely sight.

Our yard is one of my most sacred sanctuaries,

and I am grateful everyday for the abundance

of natural beauty which surrounds us.

Today is also Wishcasting Wednesday, and today Jamie asks:

"WHAT IS YOUR SPIRIT WISHING FOR?"

This question is also easily answered right now, as I feel that my spirit is wishing for my normal life, my routines, my personal space, my husband, my doggies, my art, my yard, my music, my food, my bed, my shower, my home, my everything that I have been away from for almost a month.

(but ask me this same question this time next week, and my answer is likely to be my children & grandson! haha!)

Have a lovely rest-of-your-week!

Happy Me-Laurie Z!

Wishcasting & 52 Photos

2012-02-29T18:07:00.003-08:00

Still in St. Louis...I've been here for 2 weeks now and have 2 more to go, so this is the halfway point! I miss my husband (of one month today!) and doggies but am sooooo enjoying my time with my "babies"!

Today's Wishcasting Wednesday prompt is:
"WHERE DO YOU WISH TO BE FIERCE?"
I am not likely to refer to myself as fierce. I strive to be gentle, peaceful, calm, and flow (ie: as little drama, stress, anger, worry, etc. in my life as possible).
When I got that terrifying phone call 16 nights ago from my daughter, crying the words "Mom, something bad has happened" (about my son's fall, seizure & hospitilization, which is what brought me "home" to St. Louis 10 days earlier than planned), I initially pretty much fell apart. I wandered in a daze through my house, trying to comprehend what had happened, how I felt, what this could mean...how I could possibly survive this if ...well, I cannot even say the words. In a word, I was a mess. For about 20 minutes.
Then...
I.
Got.
FIERCE.
(although at the time, it felt more like "pissed").
I was NOT going to lose another child. I was NOT going to believe that a stupid random occurance was going to cut my sweet, creative, unique, funny, goofy, beautiful baby boys life off at age 23. My beloved son was going to be alright. I could not, WOULD not, believe or even think anything else.

I have always been a bit "fierce" about my kids.
Naturally.

When my daughter first started school, I made sure her teacher was clear that if she did not want to use the word "God" in the classrooms morning recital of the Pledge of Allegience, then she was not to be made to.
When my son first started school, I made sure his teacher knew that he would likely switch the useage of his hand from right to left and back again...and that he was not to be made to use/choose one hand over another.
Little things like that.
I'm sure my kids (now 27 & 23) could tell you dozens more similar examples of my fierceness which they recall (and were likely mortified by).

I am not sure how fierce I need to be now that they are adults (and my daughter a mother herself)...
but I cannot imagine not at least feeling a fierce loveand need for them.
My fierceness about my son's situation somehow got me-and him-through a terrifying experience.
I cannot help but be fierce about them. I always have been & I always will be.
A mothers love is fierce, forever.

And...
this weeks 52 Photos Project assignment is:

A Sweet Escape. Are you about to take one?

Do you dream of taking one? Where?

Have you had one? Do you have photos of your time?

Our recent 2 weeks spent in Maui was such a lovely escape.

And our wedding there was simple,intimate and exactly what we wanted.

A sweet escape, indeed!

See you soon!

Happy Me-Laurie Z!

Precious Time

2012-02-24T10:50:00.000-08:00

.
I'm still in my hometown of St. Louis and will be here until March 13. One month apart from my brand new husband, who is home sweet home in Seattle. But also one whole glorious joyful much needed month with my beloved kids, sweet grandson and good friends. It's hard to be away so long, but I am starting to settle in, thanks to the genoristy of my daughter and future son-in-law opening their home to me. I even have my own bedroom & bath downstairs in their new house. How lucky & loved am I?! Usually when I am here, by the time I get home, I am exhausted -mentally, physically & emotionally- (for me, at least!) from so much rushing & running around and social interaction in overdrive mode But after the initial whirlwind of worry & stress that caused my early/unplanned arrival (my sons injury & hospitalization), things are now settling into a somewhat relaxing routine of sleeping late (i blame the 2 hour time zone change!), sweet, slow moving mornings and then hours of playing trucks & cars & pretend & blocks with my grandson, thrift shopping with my daughter, late nights of DVD movie watching or reading, home cooked meals, and glorious grateful relief of having everyone I love the most within either easy reach or sight (my husband and mom notwithstanding, of course!) I needed this, badly. I need to see, touch, hear my "babies". A mothers heart is never calm, unless those who make it beat are close at hand. Although I have spent the past few days fighting some icky sickiness, I am greatly enjoying the rather lazy, slow paced, rythym of living in a 2 and a half year olds world. There is no cable, tv, or internet (except when I go to Starbucks, like now!) in this world, (but plenty of "Yo Gabba Gabba"!) so my main mode of entertainment is Ryatt, who, obviously, is much more interesting, funny, and adorable than any tv show, movie or web page I could ever hope to see!

Today I wanted to ctach up with 2 online activities I participate in, first being Wishcasting Wednesday
from Jamie Ridler. Her prompt for this week is:

"HOW DO YOU WISH TO SPEND YOUR TIME?"

This is so ironic, because with no internect at my daughters house, I have not been able to keep up with much of anything in my online world (opr the outside world at large, for that matter!) so until I just now went onto Jamie's webpage, I had no idea what this weeks prompt even was... but I think that I already made my answer to this prompt clear in the first paragraph of todays post that I just wrote above! How I am spending my time here in my hometown, with my family (and soon, with friends), is exactly how I wish to be spending my time, for now.

I am also sharing my photo for this weeks 52 Photos Project prompt which is:

"WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO PICK UP YOUR CAMERA?

What have you been photographing/creating?"

My sweet grandson Ryatt, laughing at something goofy his Gooma just said!
Feb. 21, 2012, age 29 months

Obviously, there are endless things that inspire me to pick up my camera (as evidenced by the hundreds of thousands of photos I have taken over the years!) but right now, this week, THIS is what is inspiring me the most. This happy, funny, silly, sweet, senstitive, creative, adorable, joyful, precious little person. I have always called him the man of a thousand faces. I only wish that I could capture them all! I rarely shoot photographs of people, they are just not my thing because I don't feel that I am very good at capturing a persons essence. But his animated expressions just beg to be caught...and savored, as he changes and grows so quickly & so much every few months that I get to be with him.

Hope everyone has a lovely, love-filled weekend! I get to spend mine with Ryatt, while his mama & dada got out of town to celebrate my daughters 27th birthday. Yep, I know what I am talking about when I said that they change and grow so quickly & so much...

~xo~
Happy Me-Laurie Z!

scared & thankful

2012-02-18T20:30:00.000-08:00

Early Tuesday morning, I recieved that middle of the night phone call all parents dread. My daughter was calling to tell me her brother had had an accident, fallen, had a seizure and was on a respirator in a hospital over 2,000 miles away. I was a complete mess from that moment on, and my wonderful husband took over, immediately booking a flight "home" to St. Louis for me. 10 hours later, I was holding my sedated sons hand, stroking his head, and whispering tearful "I love you's" into his ear.
Long story short...he had been on a month long skateboarding roadtrip with other 7 guys , traveling between St. Louis to Phoenix to San Diego, to Los Angeles, back to Phoenix and returning home to St.Louis the night this happened. 6 of the 8 guys had suffered from stomach flu-my son somehow escaped it-but he had been feeling nauseous for the past few days of riding in the van, so had not eaten much at all. They were about 10 miles from home, stopping one last time to get gas and after piling out of the van, he felt dizzy and the nexdt thing he knew, he blacked out, fell headfirst onto the pavement and then came to wondering why he was all wet (from snow he landed in). He gashed his forehead and went to the restroom to clean up, then just as they were taking off again, he became disoriented and started to seize. His friends (God bless them all) were smart enough to know what to do, and got him to the nearest hospital within 20 minutes of speeding through stoplights (thankfully it was around 3 am, so not much traffic on the road to hold them up). He was put on a respirator, intubated, had a ct scan, EEG & MRI, and was in ICU for most of the day. The tests all came back ok other than a tiny undetermined spot on the MRI which they said was not likely the cause. He had been heavily sedated (they said he fought massively when he came to in the ER- it took 8 nurses to hold him down and he took swings at two of them...one even had to go home from injuries on her face!). I spent the night sleeping in a chair next to his hospital bed as he was still very sedated and not able to talk or remember much, wasn't yet eating and was very sore & achy all over, and still being monitered & getting vitals taken every hour or so. The next day he seemed much better, started regaining memory of what had happened and being able to articulate it, got a little of his appetite back and started moving around on his own. After talking to his doctors, he was released about 58 hours after it all happened. He stayed here at his sisters house with us for 2 days, then at his dads overnight & now he is catching up with all of his friends who have missed him for the past month and worried about him through this ordeal.We are convinced that being sick to his stomach from being crammed in the van riding for so long caused him to be not eat which made his blood sugar drop making him dizzy and causing him to pass out, and the head trauma caused the seizure. Thankfully, he regained his motor skills & memory and just has some facial lacerations, lingering headache from the concussion.

(*deep breath* i have never been so scared in my life...* sigh*...my tears won't stop falling....)

Obviously, I have not been "myself" since then, and am just now feeling up to talking about it and starting to think about seeing some of my friends here in my hometown.
I just wanted to write this catch-up post and also share my latest photo for the 52 Photos Project.
This week's prompt was to choose one of 3 prompts from last year:
NOURISH, A HEART or RED.

Here is my photo...

I think it shows both a heart and nourish. The little love inside my daughters tummy in this photo is now 2 and a half...and has been a bright light to me during these dark past few days that brought me back "home" to my babies.
All in all, a very scary experience turned out much better than it could have, and for that, I am a very thankful and
Happy Me-Laurie Z

Wishcasting Wednesday (a Monday catch-up!)

2012-02-13T00:27:00.000-08:00

As I explained in my post yesterday, I have been rather busy for the past few weeks, getting "Maui'd" and spending 2 weeks in Maui on our pre/honeymoon...so I am a bit behind in some of the themed blog posts I participate in, like Jamie Ridler's "Wishcasting Wednesday", which I will catch up with in todays post!

Feb. 1st prompt:
"What do you wish people knew about you?"

I first found this a bit difficult to answer, as I believe myself to be a pretty open book

to most people who care to "read" (know) me, so I feel that most people

know most everything there is or that they care to know about me...

yet, when I really think about it, I realize that I do have some "secret" chapters

which I rarely make known, mostly because they are just not things

I really WANT the whole world to know,

as most are negative and some are just too private to share.

But this question is asking what I DO want people to know about me,

that assumably, they may not yet know(and that I WANT them to know!)...

so, hmmm...let's see...

I suppose that the thing that I wish people knew about me is

that I am so very grateful for every amazing, wonderful,

incredible thing that I have in my life,

and that I absolutely know how very blessed I am

with all of the abundance of love, "fortune", joy, happiness,

"freedom" and security which fill my days now.

I have been through many hells during my life, admitedly some of my own making,

but every day, I am humbled by the many wonderful things I now have

and will never ever take them for granted

and honestly wish that everyone could have the experiences

of love and connection and joy that I am so lucky to share

with my husband, my children, my grandson, my mom, & my friends.

I wish everyone knew that I know and so

apprieciate how very lucky I am.

Feb. 9th prompt:
"What do you wish to attract?"

I wish to attract positive energy, grace, compassion and like-minded, inspiring people into my life.

I wish to attract experiences which will teach me, help me grow & learn and make me a better person,

able to positively influence, touch and inspire others and make this world a better place for all.

I wish to attract, be and share light & love in this world.

~xo~

Happy Me-Laurie Z

A Love Note

2012-02-12T22:38:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's been almost 3 weeks since I posted here...
but I have a good excuse...! (a really, REALLY good one...lol!)

My guy & I went to beautiful Maui, Hawaii for a wonderful 2 weeks!
We have been there together once before a few years ago, but this time we did several things we had never done before...
like horseback riding, visiting a nude beach, and a whale watching cruise!
Oh yes, and you can see photos of something else amazing that we did there!

So now that we are happily home sweet home again, I will be catching up with a few of the themed blog posts I participate in that I missed while I was away doing awesome things in paradise! ;)

Today, my photo for the latest 52 Photos Project from last week, for which the prompt was:

"A Love Note"

I am fascinated by random words and phrases I come across and have quite a large collection of photographs showing these declarations, emotions, and expressions

so many people feel the need to anonymously share with the world.

This is one of my favorites which I discovered

while exploring a beautiful historic cemetery in Macon, Georgia, last spring.

Some may call it vandalism, but I see it as a bittersweet

and much needed reminder of what life is really all about.

I see it as a love note.

If you looked at my photos in the above mentioned link,

you'll know why I am a very very very

Happy Me-Laurie Z!

Feb. Full Snow Moon Dreamboard

2012-01-25T22:36:00.000-08:00

Yes, as I might have mentioned in my post on Monday, I am a bit ahead of myself on a few things right now, the "blame" of which lies in our upcoming two week vacation to Maui ("upcoming" as in 12 hours and 45 minutes until our flight takes off!). I am trying to catch up/keep up/get ahead with some of my online creative participations, as I am not picturing myself doing much art or being online while there, assuming instead that any art I create will be capturing beautiful images (with my brand new birthday Nikon Cool Pix camera!) and any "surfing" will be done in the beautiful blue of the Pacific Ocean!
So that is why I am sharing my Feb. Full Snow Moon Dreamboard (from the lovely Jamie Ridler) today, which is actually 12 days early for the Feb. 7th full moon.

For this months full moon, Jamie poses the question:

"What desires lie buried deep within?"

I admit that I created this dreamboard rather quickly,

using just two magazines to flip through for images that caught my eye when thinking about this question.

I am trying not to overthink the prompts and just see

what I am drawn to as I browse images, and being ok if I feel the need to tear one out even if I am not completely clear on it's meaning

or purpose, trusting that my heart and soul know,

and perhaps someday my concious mind will as well.

I also seem to find images I am drawn to which reawaken,

confirm or validate desires I have,

many of which have gone

unspoken and/or acknowledged.

This is, I suspect, the desired work of a dreamboard...

Aloha~

Happy Me-Laurie Z!

Wishcasting Wednesday

2012-01-25T02:01:00.000-08:00

For todays Wishcasting Wednesday prompt, Jamie asks:

"What do you wish for your health & wellness?"

* the beauty of nature is nourishment for a healthy heart & soul*

I wish for continued good health-

physically, mentally, emotionally & spiritually.

I wish for the inner strength, wisdom and knowledge

to contribute to that happening,

by making positive and healthy

food, lifestyle, relationship and personal choices.

I wish to remember to listen to my body, mind and spirit

when they are giving me signs that there may be a "problem",

and honor them/me by giving myself what it is I am needing

to return to balance, harmony, & health within.

I wish to never take my good health for granted.

Happy (and healthy!) Me-Laurie Z!

My "Go To" Spot

2012-01-23T15:28:00.000-08:00

I am a bit "ahead" of my usual blogging schedule (ha, bet ya didn't even know I HAD one...lol!), mainly because my reality of this week will be only 3 days long, as we are heading to magical Maui early Thursday morning,
so I will then be on "island time" for the next 14 days! (ie: no schedule whatsoever, blogging or otherwise!)

So today I am sharing my photographs for the prompt

for week 40 of the 52 Photos Project:

"Where is your go to spot to renew your spirit?"

This was a bit difficult for me, only because there are several places that I turn to for inspiration, relaxation, rejuvination, connection with my

inner voice and renewal of my spirit, including...

the beautiful nearby beaches, the shelter of my mans loving embrace,

the solitude of my bed to slumber, the sanctuary of my garage art studio,

the warm soft blanket of unconditional love via my 3 doggies,

the soothing world of my favorite calming music, & within the encouragment and inspiration of the many online circles, blogs,

and share sites I am part of...

but I decided to share images of the one special spot that I turn to most often, usually at least a few times a week...

the comfy coziness of an oversized chair

which sits in the bay window

of our bistro,

overlooking

our beautiful yard,

with its abundance of flora and fauna,

an ever-changing waterfall garden pond,

and the majestic trees of the woods surrounding our house...

last fall

last week

today

The blessing of just being able to look out my window to help renew my spirit when I feel the need, is just one of the many reasons I am:

Happy Me-Laurie Z!

52 Photos Project-Week 3

2012-01-19T15:34:00.000-08:00

Bella's prompt for this weeks 52 Photos Project is

"Color With Emotion"

The predominent color around here for the past few days has been...

well, basically

the absence of color!

Achromatic, milky, blanco, white...

As in

6 inches (and counting!)

SNOW!

I did manage to find a beautiful bright rainbow of colors

among the piles of powder,

in our prayer flag.

It hangs on our back picket fence,

near our pond, glider and Princess Masami's grave,

under the dogwood tree.

I had wanted a prayer flag for a long, long time.

So now, seeing our very own banner of colorful squares,

filled with hopes, commitments and intentions,

hanging in a place which is special to us,

stirs my emotions...

(in a good way!)

Just one more small thing that makes for...

Happy Me-Laurie Z

Wishcasting Wednesday

2012-01-18T11:55:00.000-08:00

This weeks Wishcasting Wednesday prompt from Jamie Ridler is:

"If you listen closely, what do you wish to hear?"

I wish to hear the sound of harmony and connection.

I wish for those I love, and indeed,

even those I do not know and will likely never meet,

to put down their shields of fear and distrust and ego,

and realize that we are all here sharing this time and place,

in this life, on this planet, for these crucial reasons:

to learn from one another, to support and encourage one another,

to make this amazing world filled with miracles

an even better place by our shared vision of possibility,

and to live each moment with compassion and love for our fellow man.

The sound of war, the sound of strife, the sound of anger and jealousy

and greed and power and fear and hate and emotional pain

and all of the constant drama that makes up too many peoples daily lives hurts my head, my ears,

my heart.

Life's too short...

What do YOU wish to hear?

~xo~

Happy Me-Laurie Z

Snowy Sunday

2012-01-15T21:20:00.000-08:00

on blanket of white
tiny emerald wings whirring
sips sweet ice water

Friday the 13th Magic!

2012-01-13T12:51:00.000-08:00

Today I joined another online photo group, 52 Photos Project, which posts weekly prompts for taking photos and sharing them on the website and/or the group's flickr page.
Although I obviously already take a bajillion photos on my own, on any given day, I enjoy the "challenge" of a prompt or assignment, and also think that it helps me to see things differently and with more creative eyes to have a specific subject or way to shoot.

I am a week behind in this project,

so here is my image for the week 2 prompt:

"Get In Really Close".

I have lately begun to be enthralled by macro photography, especially when it renders the subject matter difficult to decipher or beautifully abstract, which is quite often the case.

Our lovely waterfall garden pond seems to be an endless source of creative inspiration for me, and this morning, with temperatures around 20 degrees, allowed Mother Nature (or is that Father Frost?!) to work some magic on the surface of the pond. The patterns in the thin icy art is just incredible!

Magical, isn't it?
I believe that magic is everywhere,
if you open your eyes and heart to seeing it!

Have a magical Friday the 13th!

Happy Me-Laurie Z!

Wishcasting Wednesday

2012-01-11T11:22:00.000-08:00

Todays Wishcasting Wednesday question is:
"What do you wish to RECLAIM?"

once a young girl
heart bursting with excitedness
dove headfirst into her days
splashed like a mermaid in the waters of life
arose sparkling and shimmering
for all the world to see
golden sunlight surrounded her
and eminated from her
lighting her way
her fears were simple
spiders, lighting, fire
they changed not
her joyful embrace
of who she knew she was
then she grew up
and away
from that happy girl
her heart now often heavy
her splashing a means of survival
her light dimmed
but her fears burned bright
and guided her every move
somewhere inside
she remembered
a fractured sliver of herself remained
and waited
for reclamation

Although I "freewrote" this (it just poured forth from my hands as I sat down to start this post), I thankfully no longer feel this way.
I have spent many difficult years working through reclaiming the very essence of Who. I. Am.
It feels very good, very peaceful and, on most days, very complete.
I feel not only like "myself" again, but like an ever better version of myself.
Perhaps even more like a "rebirth" has been occurring, of becoming who I should have been allowed to continue being, way back when I was a young, happy girl.

My wish, then, is to continue to reclaim of parts of me which have been lost, stolen, damaged, hidden, or are as yet unearthed.

Is there something that you wish to reclaim?

As you wish for yourself, I wish for you also.

Happy Me-Laurie Z

Full Moon Dreamboard

2012-01-10T12:37:00.000-08:00

I have been "lurking" around this creative online group activity of creating and working with Full Moon Dreamboards at the Jamie Ridler Studio website for a few months.

It looked so intriguing and right up my alley of being addicted to cutting pretty/interesting images out of magazines! I have made dreamboards before,years ago, as well as visual journals and Soul Collage's, all using cut-out images to represent myself, my dreams, hopes, wishes, fears, and things

I want to manifest or just things that appeal to me for some (possibly as yet unknown) reason.

So I decided to begin participating in Jamie's activity with the first full moon of 2012, which just happened to fall on my birthday! I saw differing dates of it falling on both/either Jan. 8 & Jan 9, but either way, I chose to spend a little time outdoors on the evening of the 8th (my birthday), soaking up those shimmering moon beams, and thinking about the question that Jamie posed about this first full moon of Jan. 2012, which is the Full WOLF Moon:

"What are you HUNGRY for? What are you hungry for under this Full Wolf Moon? The wolf reminds us to connect to our hunger, to notice what desires are calling for our attention. Our dreamboards can help us bring these desires to light and to being! This is an invitation to not just notice our desires but to begin the important work of tending them, stepping into what we can do to honour what we know of our dreams. What a beautiful way to begin the year.”

I had some difficulty coming up with very much that I feel truly "hungry" for-(not sure if that is "good thing" or a "bad thing"!). To me that is such a serious, passionate, fierce word, far more so than just "wanting" or even "dreaming of", which seems much more, I don't know, distant and fantasy-like. But "hungry"? That word speaks of need, nourishment, sustenance, survival. More than just something that would make you happy if it happened. I am so content, grateful and enamoured of the life I am lucky enough to be living. Nothing really came to mind as being something I feel actually hungry for...

So yesterday, the 9th, I took some time to go through a few magazines and cut out images and words that caught my eye or spoke to me. many of which I had no concrete idea about what it's meaning might be in the context of the answer to the question I was to represent in my dreamboard.

You can see in the first photo of this post above that I chose to make my dreamboards using plain white posterboard folded in half, one for each month, in a large book format.

Here are some photos of my first dreamboard...

collecting images & designing the layout of the board

I AM HUNGRY FOR:

a way to step out from my "hiding" behind a camera all the time and in turn,

a place/ way/ the courage to begin creating with media that intrigues and excites me

a creative, artistic life designed by me,
encompassing all of the various forms of creating which call to me

the realization that I am the only one able to free myself from my fear of failing
when it comes to new artistic expression,
and the only way to do that is to unbind myself from that fear,
and
just
try
it!

I adore that this first full moon was on my birthday-how magical!
I want to let my creative spirit move me into action
and stop "fretting" about the possibility of
"messing up" or not being "good enough"

my completed board after painting and adding information

I was pretty happy with my board, and in the end, after all of my concern about discovering what I am hungry for, not really surprised at the things which manifested as the "answers" to that question. Not so much anything tangible or material, but rather a sense of strength, confdence, courage and letting go of / pushing past & though/ overcoming the fears which surround pretty much any artistic endeavor I attempt, other than my photography, which I feel so connected to and able to do, with results that please me.
I do not feel that way about ANY other artistic medium I am interested in or have tried, and it has thus far kept me from trying them OR if I DO try, I am so fraught with insecurities and negative thought blockage that the result, along with the entire process and experience, is bound to be less than pleasing or enjoyable whatsoever!

So in essence, it appears that

I am hungry for:

*less fear-more freedom

*less self-judgement-more self-expression

*less expectations-more experience

Last night, around 4 am, I was awoken by a bright light shining into our bedroom windows, which face West, into the woods. It was the full moon, high above the 200 feet tall trees, bright enough to read by!
I briefly thought "I want to get up and look out the window", but I was barely awake enough to think that thought, and recall just the feeling of "ah, yes, so beautiful" before drifting back into slumber, hoping it's luminous light would set a spark in my heart to go forth with a clearer sense of how to feed my creative soul and satiate my hunger.

Doing so would definitely make a :
Happy Me-Laurie Z!

Post-Birthday Post!

2012-01-09T14:51:00.000-08:00

Happy day-after-my 52nd birthday, everyone! ;)

Yesterday, I enjoyed a birthday celebration of

simple everyday activities shared with my guy!

(whom I have not seen much of lately due to his current intense work obligations!)

I woke to find this lovely vase of flowers (and sweet card)

waiting for me on the kitchen island

i love the colors!

During the morning, I spent time talking to my kids & mom

(who all made me feel very loved with happy birthday phone calls!),

opened a few sweet little gifts I had received (thank you mom & Koryn!),

and enjoyed a yummy latte & cinnamon chip scone

while Jeff read us the latest

I Saw U's.

We then had some errands to run, which included...
*browsing at the library (and bringing home a big stack of cool books, as always!),
*picking up our pretty "new" $12.99 couch (Goodwill ROCKS!),
*spoiling me by saying "get it, baby!" to (almost!) everything I drooled over at Michaels,
*yumming up a delish dinner at Mod Pizza!

Then we spent the rest of the evening taking down our beautiful Solstice Tree (while listening to Michael Buble's Christmas CD

one last time until next holiday season!),

and afterwards, I disappeared for 2 hours

to indulge in the return of my two tv vices:

"Once Upon a Time" & "Desperate Housewives"!

My special day ended with us snuggled-up-in-bed-together, eating pretzels, and a (surprise!) reading of this classic bedtime story!

And later this week, I am devoting some "quality time" to getting to know

this brand new beautiful bright red camera Jeff got me!

ooooh, pretty, right?! :)

All in all, it was another wonderful day spent celebrating the simple things that make me feel like a very lucky and

Happy Me-Laurie Z!

Winter Green

2012-01-06T19:00:00.000-08:00

The color of springtime is in the flowers,

the color of winter is in the imagination.

~Terri Guillemets

Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius.
~Pietro Aretino

Of winter's lifeless world each tree
Now seems a perfect part;
Yet each one holds summer's secret
Deep down within its heart.
~Charles G. Stater

I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape - the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show.
~Andrew Wyeth

In spring, summer and fall people sort of have an open season on each other; only in the winter, in the country, can you have longer, quiet stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself.
~Ruth Stout

Taking a brief walk around our yard

to capture small wonders

of this chilly gray January day

made me a very...

Happy Me-Laurie Z

Wishcasting Wednesday (and more!)

2012-01-04T11:26:00.000-08:00

Hello friends!
Only 3 days "late", this is my first post for the New Year!
(So much for my hopeful intention to post everyday!)

But I have been quite happily busy and creative over the past 3 days,
mainly because I am committing to immersing myself in new creative explorations this year.

Here is what 'veI started (so far!) in January:

Strathmore Papers Free Online Art Workshops
This month: "Doodles Unleashed" with Traci Bautista.

one of my first doodles unleashed creations

365 Project
(it will actually be 366 photos this leap year!)

my 365 Project photo for today

Effy Wild's Book of Days
I have wanted to start art journaling for forever...this is gonna be sooooo fun!

front cover of my altered book

Creative Every Day
(although I HAVE been creative every day of 2012 so far, I am still working on joining in on the posts to share my daily creations with the other participants...only so much time in a day to create AND do all the technical stuff involved!)

Finishing up the final weeks of the awesome 6 week long
Creative Goddess e-course

Continuing to participate in lots of fun & challenging art swaps
(I currently have 11 swaps on my "dashboard" and 11 on my "watchlist"!)

With the guidance of the amazing Jamie Ridler,
I'm creating monthly Full Moon Dreamboards

the cover for my Full Moon Dreamboards poster "book"

And the actual topic of my post for today, inspired by Jamie Ridlers Studio blog entry Wishcasting Wednesday, which I plan to do every Wednesday on my blog too.

This Wednesday's Wishcasting prompt:
"What or whom do you wish to make peace with?"

Well, I really hope that I am correct in my feeling that there is really no person with which I need or wish to make peace with...other than myself.

*I wish to make peace with all of the self-imposed guilt I carry (and which brings tears to my eyes whenever I think about it, as I do pretty much every day, and like is happening right this minute as I type this...) about stupid, selfish, irrational, life changing, negatively-affecting-innocent-loved-ones decisions, choices and actions I made years ago...(well, shit...I just realized, perhaps I DO need to make peace with those whom I hurt with these decisions, although they have never given me an indication that they hold it against me...but I sure hold it against myself).

*I wish to make peace with my aspirations to be perfect and my tendencies to compare myself to others (which manifests as inertia due to fear of even bothering to try to do much of anything new and different which intrigues or calls to me because I will suck at it and fail anyway...which in my deepest heart of hearts I know is just not always true all the time!).

*I wish to make peace with my insecurities (ie: jealousies, suspicions, abandonment issues, emotional "going down that road"-ness which only keeps me from realizing/accepting the truth that I am finally in a happy healthy relationship with an amazing man who accepts and even adores me, flaws & all, and is not going anywhere...unless I manage to drive him away with my incessant need to open up my baggage and fling all of my previously damaged belongings at him...!)

*I wish to make peace with my need to please AND control...(how do these two even exsist side-by-side anyway? I can be so weird.)

Thank you for reading my blog.
I wish you a 2012 filled with all of your deepest, dearest wishes come true.

That would make me a very:
Happy Me-Laurie Z

Book of Days

2011-12-28T14:23:00.000-08:00

You may have noticed that I added a few new pictures on the right hand side of my blog page, with links to a few special online art & soul adventures I am embarking on for the new year.

This week between Christmas and New Years has become a time for me to reflect on my experiences during the past year:
what did I do, learn, seek, accomplish, long for, create, become, screw up, change, find, allow, push away, forget, remember, discover, be amazed by, walk away from, begin, fight with/for, spend approximately

525,948.766 minutes

DOING?!

And then I ponder if that is what I want to continue doing in the upcoming New Year, or are there changes, improvements, intentions I would like to incorporate and strive towards, things I want to banish, let go of, say goodbye to, and a certain type of "me" that I want to become more or less of.

Review.

Delve.

Unearth.

Listen.

Look.

Learn.

Reflect.

Ponder.

Accept.

Realize.

This is my "work" over the next few days.

And then, with a little help from other wonderful, wise, generous Goddesses

I have been led to (though the magic of the intertubes!), I will attempt to organize all I discover using the aforementioned process to help me create the New Year (and latest version of ME!) which I will be thrilled and honored to live.

The "work" officially began a few days ago, when I began the year long online art journaling adventure BOOK OF DAYS under the loving, supportive, super creative guidence of Effy Wild.

I started keeping a "diary" around age 8, and had tomes of secret-drama-joy-drivel filled journals over the ensuing years of growing up. However, during my years as an "adult", aside from the sporadic feelings of need to write something-poems, lists, rants, various musings, memories, dreams, questionaires, love letters, hate letters, anything, nothing special,

(*GASP* and this BLOG!)...I have mostly given up on journaling, and the main writing I do now is of grocery or to-do lists!

But that is all about to change, along with finally indulging my desire to learn/practice not only journaling, but ART journaling. Perhaps not so much expressing myself through many words, but more emotions turned out in artful creations. This fits in nicely with my intention to create more, be less fearless, actually do something with all of those many as-yet-unused art supplies that sit all pretty and pristine (and intimidating!) on the crowded shelves of my "studio"!

After a few hours of working on transforming a cost me 49 cents from Goodwill Outlet hardback copy of "The New Yorker Book of Poems",

into my very own Book of Days, here is what I have created so far:

the cover, with my chosen word for the year: OPEN

close-up of front cover dictionary page of word OPEN

the back cover

the spine

the whole delicious outside transformation
(yeah, i kinda like it a lot, yay!)

the inside front cover...maybe my very favorite part...so far!

So that is what I have been working on lately...I hope to complete the creation of the back cover pages next (tomorrow?), and then the group work on the BOD will officially begin on Jan. 1!

I like this time of year. It seems more like a time of fresh new beginnings & possibilities rather than just the end of something (the old/past year). I look forward to celebrating the many good things about 2011, and anticipating even more good things to come in 2012!

How do you feel this time of year?

Do you chose a word to be your guide or intention for the upcoming year?

What is your most joyful memory of 2011?

Until next time...I remain:

Happy Me-Laurie Z!

The Day After...

2011-12-26T19:41:00.000-08:00

Yeah, you all know what the title of my post today refers to, dontcha?
Dec. 26th.
Only the most boring, let down, dumb day of the entire year, huh?
And falling this year on a frickin' MONDAY, no less!
Just adds insult to injury, right?

Well, I just have to laugh at all of that.

Honestly, although I really loved the 2 straight days of down-time...
glowing in a quiet contentment of the simple intimate celebration of snuggle ups with my guy & doggies, lazing around watching holiday movies, eating special indulgent foods, opening special little goodies from special people, wishing my loved ones a happy day via phone calls and watching a pretty color streaked sunset..

...now that
******"it"******
is
*****"all over"*****

I am not really feeling (*negatively) affected, like *most people.
(*or so I hear)

To me,
today is just "another day"...

Another day
to be grateful for the wonderful everyday things I am surrounded by
(every single day).

Another day
to find contentment in (the so many) simple things that are simply amazing.

Another day
to let special people know that I love them.
(and even share some love with strangers).

Another day
to count my blessings.
(as if I could ever count them all!)

Another day where I bask in the glorious miracle of my life and all of the abundance and love and grace and joy and love and thankfulness I feel.

Hmmmm...kinda like...what Christmas (or insert your winter holiday here)
is supposed to feel like and be all about...?

So how was YOUR day after?

Can you find a bit of lingering holiday spirit?

Would you like it to feel like Christmas everyday?

Do you think you could make that happen for yourself?
(and maybe even others)?

Today...
tomorrow...
the next day...
?

Can you imagine what that would be like?
How would it change how you feel?

Happy day after to you and yours!

Today,
and every day,
I strive to be:
Happy Me-Laurie Z!

Our Soul Filled Solstice

2011-12-23T12:44:00.000-08:00

dusk on the eve of Winter Solstice

this year, for my love and i,

a quiet sharing Winter Solstice celebration.

intimate.

contemplative.

reflective.

connective.

transformative.

meaningful.

a soul filled Solstice...

...to you and yours.

~xo~

Happy Me-Laurie Z

doin' nothin' & makin' stuff.

2011-12-14T17:17:00.000-08:00

i keep thinking that, so far, today i have done nothing of "worth"
seriously.
well, there IS a load of laundry in the dryer...
been there since about 9 :15 am.
pretty sure the stuff is dry by now.
pretty sure i will have to re-wash/re-dry due to wrinkles.
ooops.

like i said...
today i did nothing of "worth".
my numb rear end can attest to that.
and my blog reading blurry eyes.

i did get pretty caught up with all the fun stuff that i really like to
discover & follow online though.
(and also finished the yumminess that is 30 days of Goddess...hi Leonie!)

and i now have about 100 pages of goodness/Goddess advice to read
and there are visions of artsy craftsy "sugarplums" dancing in my head ...
(ie: i found about 437 new projects/ideas i want to try to create)
but...
not today.

after this world changing post (yes, that is a ha-ha!),
i am going to give my tired-of-sitting-on-a-barstool butt a rest...
and move it to a much comfier chair...!
to start catching up with two daily entry,
month long projects i am involved with:

30 days of Soul Medicine (hi Sara!)
and
Loving 2011 (hi Lori-Lynn!)

they are both scrumptious and enlightening.
(the projects & their creators!)

i was working on them every evening when we went to bed,
before reading a few pages of the latest book i am into,
before that knocked me out into sandman land like it always does!
my last work on both was on day 8.
yep, this is day 13.
yikes.
i am obviously a bit behind.
(my excuse? my guy has been reading me "A Christmas Carol" at bedtime...
well, one night so far...!)

so anyway, after finishing this post, i am sitting down to catch up
with both of those.
so hmmmm...i guess i actually DID and WILL be getting something of "worth" done today...
'cause I am WORTH it!
:)

and oh yeah,
YESTERDAY i made some stuff...

...like this, for our birdies:

and these, for some special friends:

so...that is me for the past few days.

(and have i mentioned how very much i am contenedly settling into these long, quiet, calm winter solstice days & evenings? snuggle-rific!)

as always, i am blessed to live a life that keeps me a quite:

HAPPY ME-LAURIE Z!

Loving 2011- day 6

2011-12-06T14:27:00.001-08:00

i am participating in the lovely Lori Lynn's Dream Life Studio blog's
Loving 2011.

todays prompt is to share an image you created in 2011...

i have taken lterally thousands of photos over the past 12 months...
and here are just a very few of the beautiful moments
i have been blessed enough to capture...

leafshine

flow

golden

my sweet Ryatt

puppy love

me & my guy

browsing through the amazing moments i have experienced throughout this wonderful year
leave me feeling quite the
Happy Me-Laurie Z!

AEDM the final day...

2011-11-30T10:47:00.001-08:00

This was such a fun challenge for me to create art every day for a month...I know isorta "cheated" more than once by "catching up" with a few days worth of art at once, but that's ok. It definitely helped me to put "make something" on my priority list as many days as I possibly could. I think maybe I will "pretend" that it is still going on tomorrow...and the next day, and the next day and the next...! :)

Here are my final day offerings, another fairly simple act of creativity, doing what I most love to do...just wandering our yard and keeping my eyes open to the beauty that surrounds us...

On this last day of November, I am:
Happy Me-Laurie Z!

AEDM Day 29!

2011-11-29T17:40:00.001-08:00

It was a productive day, apparently due to conciously not ~~wasting~~ spending as much time as usual on my laptop, which allowed me to complete

FIVE creations for Swap-Bot!

This is a domino pendant for the Alphones Mucha Altered Domino swap.

I adore his art and can't wait to see what my partner has created for me!

an old card was embellished with glitter paint to make into a pretty

handmade postcard for the Solstice Postcard swap

this was made for the Altered Bingo Card "Share Your Holiday" swap

I made this postcard out of a magazine image and embellished with glitter paint

and a "ChocoWit" card for a Handmade Postcard swap

For the Haiku A Day journal swap I put together a little booklet with 30 of my photos,

and wrote a haiku to go along with each one

Oh yes, I think you already know how spending my day creating

has made for a VERY:

Happy Me-Laurie Z!

AEDM-Days 27 & 28

2011-11-28T13:39:00.001-08:00

today i am sharing a simple posting,
with a few photographs i took over the past few days...
because that is how i am feeling right now.

introverted.
internal.
introspective.

simplistic.

a fallen leaf caught in a little bare tree branch...

delicate, furry moss growing on a slat of our trellis...

time, perhaps, to bring in our deck furniture for the winter...

the last of the fall scented candles we have been burning almost constantly for the past month...

little baby Annabelle, scrunchy nose snoozing...

simple is good.

and what i need right now.

i am simply:

Happy Me-Laurie Z

AEDM Day 24, 25 & 26

2011-11-26T11:28:00.001-08:00

First off, here is a really quick creation I did one day this week...

I know it is pretty grade school level but I just cannot help my adoration for glitter! We are celebrating Winter Solstice this year, decorating with mainly blues, white & silver, so I thought these would be really pretty hanging on our tree!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, or as we like to call it in our house: "Tufurkey Day"! No really it is NOT as terribly icky as the name sounds or the YouTube videos you have seen, I swear! As a vegetarian, I don't eat many "fake-o" meats because, well honestly, they usually taste too much like meat for me to stomach! I do like the Morningstar Chik Patties and Tofurkey though...maybe it is just the psychological connontation of it not being "red" meat...!
Anyway...we had our usual very quiet, lazy, intimate day of living our blessings of just being together, doing whatever we wanted to do, which included sleeping until almost 11 am, browsing through the 2 ENORMOUS newspapers we subscribe to (I bet they weighed about 6 lbs. each, and consisited of about 99% store ad flyers for all of the "amazing door buster Black Friday-which has turned into Black Thanksgiving Eve-sales...you do not EVEN want to get me going on THAT subject!), playing with our hounds, listening to holiday music, snuggling by the fireplace watching the dog show on tv, playing card games, staying warm drinking Mead, snacking on delicious little appetizers, reading to one another, napping a bit, enjoying a traditional Tofurkey feast around 9 pm and then watching a movie! No fuss, no stress, no mess, no work, no drama, and bonus: we stayed comfy in our jammies all day long!

AND, best of all, my guy & I spent about an hour and a half creating together, side-by-side, for the very first time! I have only seen a few of his works of art, but I know that he is an AMAZING artist and I have been begging/bugging him to just MAKE something for months and months! I had hinted that I had a little Thanksgiving craft project in mind I wanted us to make together to use as a decoration but instead, he just asked if we had any watercolor paper...so I took that as a hint and got everything he wanted out of my "studio" and we proceeded to sit at our kitchen island and paint together for the next hour or so!

Here he is in action (using my super cheap-o watercolors!):

and his finished piece:

(although he says he still wants to add some marker & pastels,

I think it is GORGEOUS as is!)

I swear, seeing how he just whipped this out made me want to never pick up a paintbrush again...sigh...I may have an eye to be able to capture photographic images but when it comes to creating something so realistic and beautiful from my minds eye, I have the ability of a first grader...

as the following photo of MY artwork for the day proves!

(he was so sweet to me in my frustration, assuring me that he would

"love to be in that beautiful forest"!

Yeah, he's a keeper!)

Regardless of how I felt my painting turned out, the process of creating alongside my love was so incredible! I just loved the shared energy we created, watching him work, and trying to make him feel like he always makes me feel: like the most awesome artist who ever graced this earth! ;)

The next day, I worked on a piece I had hoped to get finished before the holiday...but now it will just have to wait until next year to be part of our fall decorations!

I started with a canvas square that I got at Goodwill Outlet, which sells by the pound...so it ended up costing about 15 cents! It had a layer of (what I later firgured out from a second smiliar canvas i got) decorative printed scrapbooking paper glued onto it...

...which I painted over with brown acrylic paint...

...added (with mod Podge) some beautiful dried & pressed fall leaves I collected at the nearby bus stop I frequent...

...and a soft sprinkling of fine glitter, multi-colored wool fiber, gold paint spirals and one of my very favorite quites, by Meister Eckhart...

I am not crazy about how the lettering turned out (another of my weakest artistic abilities) but all in all, I suppose I like it well enough.

And so far today, I have begun work on this, which is in oil pastels & watercolor on a kind of weird paper I also found at Goodwill Outlet-an old notebook of photographic blotter/drying paper! It is heavy and a bit textured, but difficult to work with the watercolors on as obviously, it soaks the water up IMMEDIATELY!

I have no idea who this is or what she is to become...I think it kind of looks like me, although I can only WISH I had hair that thick & luxurious! lol!

So I think that "catches me up" to day # 26...and now I am off to check out other AEDM artists blogs & artwork, and then hopefully get out into my garage studio & create some more...

which keeps me a very:

Happy Me-Laurie Z!

AEDM Day 23!

2011-11-23T16:13:00.001-08:00

Oh how I LOVE the rare occurance when what I am envisioning in my little peanut brain actually manages somehow to flow through my body, out my hands and manifest itself into the art I am creating! Well, I suppose that sometimes it is actually more like my BRAIN is too big & full of what I see and am inspired by and want to attempt to create...but it is my not all that talented HANDS who are the ones who just will not play nice & cooperate in creating what I am thinking of & seeing in my mind!
Anyway, perhaps with the loving spirit of Thanksgiving soon upon us, they both decided to work in tangent today, and for that, I am very thankful! ;)

This is not a GREAT BIG IMPORTANT PIECE OF ARTWORK or anything...just a simple sweet little more crafty-than-artsy banner deco that I have been wanting to make to hang within our fall theme embellished fireplace mantel & hearth.

Although it seems like this fall got cut a bit short with the early onset of rain here in the (duh) PNW, the trees on our acre of woods and all around our area still put on an incredible display of firey reds, rich burgundies, bright yellows and glowing oranges!

I always like to collect some of the very most beautiful leaves to press, dry & preserve for future use in decorations, crafts and art...it IS my very favorite time of year, after all!

One of the best places I happened upon to colecttons of super saturated colored leaves this year was at the bus stop I frequent, just down the street! Here is a photo from a few weeks ago that will give you an idea of the abundance of beauty, all for the taking!

And this photo was taken pretty early in the season...at my most recent bus ride last week, the leaves were about 5 inches deep! Yep, I brought home about 2 dozen, which dried nicely in a giant 6 inch thick old disctionary I have!

So for this little project I used the dried fall leaves, some random scrapbooking paper I had in designs I liked for fall,an Elmers tape runner, Elmers white school glue, Quick grip adhesive, 5mm wide wine colored ribbon, a hole puncher, a sheet of yellow posterboard, pinking shears, and gold glitter letters.

And bonus! It was created without spending any $, because I either already had everything on hand or it was *free*...thanks to Mother Nature!

Here is my little holiday pretty for today!

As simple as it was to make, I think it looks just lovely and will be hanging it every fall, with fond memories of an enjoyable project that came out just how I imagined & hoped it would! (as well as remind me how very much I have to be thankful for, EVERYday!)

It doesn't really take much to keep me...

Happy Me-Laurie Z!

(a very yummy!) AEDM Day 22

2011-11-22T17:47:00.000-08:00

I got DELICIOUSLY creative today! (well, I catually started it yesterday but it became a finished masterpiece this morning!)

But first, I must thank my dear creative friend Koryn H. for sharing with me what you are about to learn. (and to the original creator as well!)

And after you try this for yourself, you will be thanking her as well as me for sharing it with you! Unless, that is, you don't like heaven on a spoon.
And if that is so, don't bother reading any further.
(but really, is it possible to NOT like this? AND IF SO, who ARE you anyway, and WHY are we friends?! Nah, no worries, more for ME then! Lol!)

So here we go...
HOMEMADE Dulce de leche!
(in just 17 you-will-laugh-at-how-easy steps!)

You will need:
1 can SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK
(I use fat free because, well, it's fat free! Which has to be somewhat of a plus considering there is more than enough sugar in it to totally do in my attempt at eating healthy for the day!)

(note: DEF. NOT EVAPORATED MILK...not that you don't know the diff but it could be an honest mistake and personally, I do NOT want to be involved in any way whatsoever with what the end result of using THAT could possibly be!)

& A CROCK POT

that's it.
seriously!
easiest recipe ingredients list ever!

Ok, now for some "cooking" action:

1. REMOVE LABEL FROM CAN
2. SIT CAN IN CROCK POT
3. FILL CROCK POT W/ENOUGH WATER TO COVER CAN

4. PUT LID ON
5. PLUG IN CROCK POT
6. TURN TO LOW SETTING
7. FIGURE OUT WHEN 20 HOURS FROM NOW IS
8. GO DO STUFF FOR 20 HOURS
9. TURN OFF & UNPLUG CROCK POT, REMOVE LID
10. TAKE (hot) CAN OUT (of hot water) W/TONGS
11. TRY TO LEAVE IT ALONE UNTIL IT COOLS OFF A LITTLE BIT
12. OPEN CAN & SPOON A BIG BITEFUL INTO YOUR WATERING MOUTH
13.THINK YOU HAVE DIED & GONE TO HEAVEN
14. THANK ME, KORYN & TIKI TIKI BLOG!
15. AFTER YOU RECOVER SUFFICENTLY, GO BACK TO STEP #1 & START OVER TO MAKE ANOTHER CAN BECAUSE I'M PRETTY SURE THAT YOU (like me) ARE JUST TOO DARN SELFISH TO SHARE THIS ONE!
16. FANCY UP AN EMPTY JAR TO PUT IT IN
(I used an 8 oz. Classico Pesto jar, which afforded me a big ~~leftover~~ "better test it" bite too!),
17. GIVE AS GIFTS, AND BE FOREVER INFAMOUS FOR YOUR HOMEMADE HEAVEN ON A SPOON!

And did I mention how even more amazing this stuff is

when you dip THESE in it?!

(And, why yes, I actually DO have can #2 cooking right now! Step #15 is MUY importante!)

So, all in all, todays "creation" made for one VERY:

HAPPY (and all sugared up!) ME-LAURIE Z!

P.S. You're welcome! :)

AEDM Day 21 (catching up!)

2011-11-21T13:29:00.000-08:00

Well, other than a photography exhibit of about 25 images that I had at an Edward Jones office as part of the Edmonds Art Walk Thurs. night...

...the past few days were a great big snow covered, jammie wearin', movie watchin', chili eatin', birthday celebratin' blur, during which the most creative things I managed to do were to make alot of food and a silly birthday cake for my love...

...and take this gorgeous photo of our snow dusted yard!

BUT at "the last minute" (for me at least!), I suddenly realized that I had not yet purchased Thanksgiving cards for the several special people we always send to, and they really needed to get out in the mail TODAY (Fri.)...so I decided to make my own this year, using photographs I took of the always beautiful fall displays Mother Nature graces us with here in the Pacific Northwest!

I already have lots 'n lots of my photos made into cards which I have on hand to sell at local arts & craft fairs and the like, so I just picked some of my fall themed faves, prettied them up a bit with glitter paint and printed out two lovely and appropriate quotes to add to them.

I think they turned out quite pretty, and honestly, don't know why I even ever BUY cards at all since I have about a million and one of my own photo cards with a huge range of scenes & themes, so I SHOULD be making every card I send out! Much more creative, personal and heartfelt, I believe...so that is a goal I will work on in the future...(after I use up the giant pile of store bought cards I already have! lol!) Yep, I am somewhat of a card freak, and still love sending the "real thing" over electronic ones!

And btw-the chili I made was AMAZING! I sort of "Laurie-fied" a recipe I saw online last week, and I must admit, it was so yummy that I expect it to become a staple of fall/winter eating in our house now!

Here is a not-too-precise guidline if you want to try it too:

1 large sweet potato, peeled & cut into cubes
1 can white corn
2 cans black beans
1 can diced tomatoes (i used some spicey ones from Trader Joes)
1 cup water or vegetable broth
& whatever quantities of various spices that suit your taste...i used cayenne pepper, garlic powder, white pepper & chili powder

I threw it all in a crock pot which simmered on high for about 5 hours & then on low for about another 3 hours...

MMMMM, did our house smell YUMMY!
The mixture of sweet & spicey flavors were so good together! I also served cornbread crackers with goat cheese along with it.

So there you have my attempt to catch up a bit on the past 6 days of creating!
I already have a few special Thanksgiving artsy projects in mind to work on over the next day or so , so maybe I can keep up better with this last week or so of AEDM!

As I said in my first post starting this month long creative adventure, to me, creativity comes in so many various forms, and i strive to do some method of creating at least once a day, no matter how "large' or "small", because doing so assures a very:
Happy Me-Laurie Z!

AEDM Day 15!

2011-11-15T20:15:00.000-08:00

I am feeling not as sad today, after saying goodbye (until who knows when) to my son, who left yesterday after a 10 day visit.

Skyping with his sister & my grandson made me happy...and I also kept busy getting about 25

matted & framed prints ready to hang bright & early tomorrow morning at the Edward Jones office in Edmonds, for Thursday evenings Art Walk. (more about that on Thursday!)

I also worked on embellishing some gloves, head warmer bands and hats with buttons & pretty little crocheted yarn flowers (which my very talented and generous mom made for me!).

(Jeff was amazed that I could "sew"...! I assured him that several stitches to attach these did not really count as actual SEWING...to ME at least! I know even HE can do this much, because we once hemmed curtain valances together!)

I am going to be a vendor for the first time at the Century Ballroom Flea Market in Capitol Hill this coning Saturday, so I wanted to have a few of these done to take along.

I got the gloves and head bands on super duper clearance at the end of winter season last year

(I think they were like 50 cents each).

The dark green hat my mom also made (not really my color though, sorry mom!),

and the multi-colored green one I bought at a senior center craft bazaar a few weeks ago for $2!

(but it's a bit too small for my head!)

So I am hoping that some shoppers on Saturday will think these would make great little holiday gifts!

(it's sure getting plenty cold enough out there to need some extra warmth AND I heard a rumor of the possibility of SNOW within the next few days!)

These were fun to make & I can see myself embellishing lots more things with these pretty little flowers!

Can't help but realize in hindsight, how much I wish I would have taken my mom up on her multiple offers to teach me to crochet...!

But having a mom who is so talented & creative and shares anything & everything she makes,

makes her daughter a very:

Happy Me-Laurie Z!

Sad/AEDM...

2011-11-14T17:47:00.000-08:00

This is sort of a twp-part post today...
So first, I'm just gonna get this out of the way.

I'm having a really sad day.
As you may know, my son Trevor was here visiting me (and seeing Seattle for the first time),
for the past 10 days...
(hence my inability to keep up with the Art Every Day Month challenge!).
I so enjoyed his company and getting to know my 23 year old "baby boy" even better.
It was so wonderful to fall asleep & wake up knowing he was once again slumbering safely under the same roof as me.
It's been too long since that has happened.
(over 4 years).
And I had not even SEEN him since last January.
(WAY too long!)
I love and miss him every single day, probably more than he will ever know.
And now he is gone again...he left early this morning to fly back home to St. Louis.
After arriving, he called me as I requested of him.
To my silly question of "so you got home ok then?" he replied, in typical Trevor fashion:
"No Mother, the plane crashed and I am calling you from the tree I landed in"...!
I laughed at his smart-ass-ness (and my dumbness), as I-miss-him-already tears rolled down my cheeks.
Right now, I'm listening to a "dubstep" music station on Pandora.
Just one of the many interesting & cool things I learned from him while we were together.
Did I mention that he is an amazing artist?
He always has been.
But he doesn't really like me to talk/ask too much about it...
Although I do feel like he shared more than he ever has and I discovered more about what he does/likes.
So now I have been alone all day long for the first time in 10 days.
Lots of time to get back to creating.
But I just don't feel up to it today.
Maybe tomorrow.

So...part two:
Another sorta-cheating attempt to catch up with the past few days of AEDM I have missed...
Here is one of the small pieces I created at my very first attempt at Encaustic Mixed Media creating, at a 2 day, 10 hour workshop I took over the weekend.
(which I booked before I knew Trev would be here!).

I ab so lutley LOVED finally getting a chance to work in this medium.
I had bought all the supplies I needed to start a few months ago...
then just kept looking at them in a panic since then, at the thought of even trying it, when, even though I had read tons of books & online info and watched tutorial videos, I feared I'd fail completely or get stuck or it would be too hard or...well, just pick one of a million of those kind of reasons maybe you also come up with to NOT try something...(FYI: they all fall under the "fear of failure" category, for me at leas!t)
So when I found out about this workshop, I signed up immediately... ignoring my ability to come up with yet another fear: to be creating in close proximity to "strangers" / other artists participating, who possibly/likely possesed far more experience/talent than me!).
(Plus I am a very private "creator"...hmmm, sounds like someone else I know!)
Shockingly, once the class began, I did not feel a single moment of the anxiety and self-conciousness I had feared.
It turned out that we had such an amazing teacher, and we were all so excitedly into the Zen of learning, sharing, experimenting and creating, that it never ever even crossed my mind to be "nervous" about what I was doing (in FRONT of other ARTISTS even!)
I just jumped in, soaked it all up, let it all out, and wow.
Wow.
WOW!
I think I feel an artistic addiction coming on...!
I made a total of 16 (small) pieces during the workshop...
Here are a few more...(not great representations of the intense colors & details, sorry!)

Thanks for "listening" to me today.

I'm missing the presence of my son...
But hopefully tomorrow, I will feel a bit more like my usual:

Happy Me-Laurie Z!

AEDM Days 4-9!

2011-11-09T12:01:00.000-08:00

I know, I know...I went from day 3 to day 9...but I WARNED you that having my son here visiting would be a (VERY WONDERFUL!) deterrant to my normal days of surfing the web, writing, creating, reading, & various "la-dee-dah-ness" that is my normal day!

So as all 6 ft. 5 inches of him still slumbers on the couch (at 11:56 a.m.),
I thought I would try to sneak in a bit of catching up here...

We have been exploring the city and all of it's eclectic & cool neighborhoods everyday since he arrived, so of course, it is the perfect opportunity for me to do one of my very favorite happy-making things, and take tons 'o photos!

So today I am sharing 6 of my fave images taken over the past few days, which I am going to declare effectively (and shamefully easily!) catches me up for all of the days I have missed in the AEDM (Art Every Day Month) challenge! (or at least alieviates some of my guilt!)

I don't know about you, but I see a sweet little heart in the middle of this tree trunk in Pioneer Square...

Took Trevor to a skatepark under the Alaskan Way viaduct about an hour after his plane landed in Seattle!
I can still picture his beaming 8 year old face when his grandma got him his first skateboard for Christmas!

Spotted this pretty little orphan shoe on Broadway in the Capitol Hill area.
So honestly...is it just me, or does anyone else have a soft spot for random articles of clothing in random places?!

I wonder who came up with the idea of standing on the roof of this downtown building to pour gallons of multi-colored paint down the side!
Gotta admit, I love the way it looks!
(plus there are pretty pools of splattered paint drops on the parking lot pavement below too!)

My handsome boy in the city I have quickly come to love (and call home!)

A nighttime shot in the U-District...loved the odd lighting combinations and composition of interesting shapes.

Ok, I feel better now! Time to go attempt to wake up my little boy...the other day he asked me why I let him sleep so late, and I replied that it was because I had to be a "mean mommy" and make him get up early for so many years, so I just wanted to be nice & let him sleep in now, because he is on vacation here after all!

Which of course, makes this mom of a sleepyhead a very:

Happy Me-Laurie Z!

AEDM Day 3!

2011-11-03T20:04:00.000-07:00

Today I am going to sort of s*t*r*e*t*c*h the definition of art a bit...
(no pun intended, as you will soon "get"...!)

For almost 90 minutes this morning, I participated in my very first *"real" yoga class.
With a *"real" teacher, that is...
(ie: *not the cute rubber band man that is Rodney Yee "teaching" me through often garbled 20 yr. old VHS tapes).

I was so excited, having longed to begin a regular yoga practice for years now...
but still had a few niggling fears about trying this class...

First, it was being held at a local rec center...brand new and beautiful inside, but still...not a "real" yoga studio...(yeah, i have some issues with things i consider to be "real" and things i fear to be,well, not as good as the "real" thing, huh?!)
So would it be possible to have the "real yoga studio" ambiance that I had imagined where you "go do" yoga to have?
(which was certainly NOT my living room floor with the liklihood of a dog toy or two being under me or even a dog or three climbing over me at any given moment! Strike 2 for Rodney...!)
(and yes, I DO realize that yoga is something you can "do" pretty much anywhere and is in fact more of a state of mind or way of "being" than "doing", but hey, this was my first "real" time and I wanted it to be like I imagined, truth be told!)

And I had taken a dance class at this rec center a few months ago...which would have been fine because I actually really liked the particular dance and the challenge it presented and the way my body felt doing it and I was really interested in expanding my learning of it...
except that the teacher was better at showing off than she was at teaching...
So I really did NOT want to go through that frustrating experience again-of really enjoying and wanting to learn something but having the teacher be not a very good teacher...which makes me a not very good (or happy or able to learn) student.

I mean, lets face it, my interest in physical activity is rather small & limited, and I did not want to have to put another somewhat rare "longed for" learning on the shelf from disappointment after getting up the nerve to give it a try!
(and yes, i know that there are thousands of bellydancing & yoga classes available. But this particular place happens to be VERY convienient for me-a non-driver-to get to at the particular time the classes are held)

ANYWAY...

YAY!

My teacher, "M" was EXACTLY who/how I hoped she would be!

(When I saw on the course info that she had been teaching ypga "for over 30 years", I must admit I did have a shameful moment of relief that my first "real" teacher would not be some little pretzel young enough to be my daughter. Nothing personal, I just know my trying-new-things-and-hoping-to-not-look & feel-too-much-like-a- too-old-to-be-trying-this-you-big-idiot limitations.)

Not that I am in terrible shape (for my age), and I do have experience/a history (albiet kinda ancient now) of dance, gymnastics, cheerleading, etc. and have been told that I am "bendy"-ala/to quote Phoebe, my alter-ego/soul sister from "Friends"...but the most bending I do these days is probably during my ~~daily~~...ok,~~weekly~~...ok, monthly doggie doo doo duty.

Anyway..."M" was dressed head to toe in purple, (literally-from a purple scrunchie in her silvery hair to her purple painted toenails), and all of the yoga "extras" she brought for our comfort (and success!), such as blankets, pillows, straps, blocks, etc., were in someshade or design of purple.

I was instantly smitten and in adoration of this woman and her declaration of all of THIS
for us!

She greeted & welcomed us, and her voice was a flowing river, washing over the rocks of my soul...and soothing any trepidations I might have had.
(and it helped that the 3 other "students" were a tad older than me!)
(ummm...pretty sure I was in the right place, and not at the Senior Center next door...lol!)

She turned the lights out.

And the soothing music on.

And about 90 minutes later, I left feeling awash with calm and light-on-my-feet and energized and zombie-like, all at once!

I was so calm that I even sort of chuckled at my Phoebe-like move of getting on the wrong second connecting bus to return home and heading back to where I had just come from, so I had to get off at the next stop and wait for the correct bus, which normally would have sent me into panic/you're such a dipshit mode...! (I really do need to start paying better attention to the location shown on the bus marquee, not just the bus number!)

So as it turns out...I can't wait until NEXT Thursday at 10:30 am!

(I might just have to sneak in a little rendezvous with Rodney in the meantime!...now if he only wore purple spandex shorts while sun salutating on that dreamy tropical beach...!)

So that is my "art" for today...

a very:
HAPPY ME-LAURIE Z...
doing
("real")
YOGA!

(oh yeah and here is a photo I took just beyond the bus stop I get off at to head home...
now that is some "real" art...courtesy of Mother Nature! :)

AEDM Day 2!

2011-11-02T21:59:00.000-07:00

I got super inspired by something I read this morning in the 30 Days of Goddess e-course I am currently participating in, and decided that this lovely little creative project would be my art for today!

The idea is from Pamela Belding.

And I so adore what she says about making... A MAGIC WAND!

"Letting your light shine is your gift to the world.
Your magic wand is simply a physical representation of it,
a reminder of your power to make a difference.
I make magic wands because I believe
faith in yourself is the strongest magic there is."
(ooooh...shivers of delight and Goddess goosebumps!)

I had no problem finding several sticks which were parts of branches of about 5 trees that were knocked down in our side woods by a recent windstorm, which Jeff & I just worked on cutting & clearing from our yard last weekend...

The stick I chose to become my first magic wand has a slight curve in the end,
and is such a perfect fit in my hand, like it was just made to be a magic wand in its reincarnation!
There is even a small, naturally comfy place for my thumb to press against as I hold it-amazing!

I picked three of my very favorite fun, whimsical, feminine colors to paint on it:
pink because it is just such a happy, fairy-like, girly color!
aqua because it reminds me of my beloved ocean and tropical things!
purple because it is the color of power, royalty and, to me, magic...
(plus matching glitter paint, of course, because glitter makes all things magical!)

I dug through my many boxes, bins & bowls of assorted "stuff" to decorate it with
(and in the process, discovered a hand full of trinkets I already know that I want to use in creating my next wand...and the next, and next...!)
And the perfect adornments appeared to assist my wand in its conjuring...

Then I found just the right fibers to hang from it too, in luxurious materials and matching colors...

I listened to Enya as I worked (played!) in transforming the stick (already a magical artwork of nature, if you ask me!) into my magic wand...

And so, without further adieu, here is my very own, hand, heart, imagination (and Mother Nature)
created magic wand...

(You may notice in the photo that I left the end of the wand where my hand holds it unpainted...i liked the idea of being better connected, skin to bark, to the magic of nature without a layer of paint between the energy)

and a closer look at the adornments...

Now...what kind of wonderfulness should I conjure up first...?!
(did i mention that i can see myself creating a whole forest full of these?!)

Making this today magically created a very:
Happy Me-Laurie Z!

AEDM!

2011-11-01T18:08:00.000-07:00

So...as if I don't already have tons 'o fun stuff going on to keep me busy
(and happy!), I came across an invitation to join the Art Every Day Month challenge, at:
http://creativeeveryday.com/

So, thinking that I could use a little creative ~~inspiration push~~ shove, I signed up, and today is the first day of the challenge to create art in some way every day through the month of November.

To me, art can be as "simple" as making a delicious meal, snapping a pretty picture, writing a thoughtful letter, making a unique fashion statement, or gathering a fresh boquet of flowers from your yard...OR as "elaborate" as painting a mural, knitting a scarf, sketching in nature, puting on a play or writing a blog! (well, not THIS blog, but you get what I mean!) ;)
I believe that the possibilities which define art are vast and limited only by imagination!

For this first day of the challenge, I completed a mixed media piece which I had gathered the materials for some months ago, and then left it to collect dust on my art desk since then...!
The photo I used in this piece is one of my favorite images of the relatively few of people that I have ever taken...
if you've ever seen much of my work, you know that I rarely take photographs of people...unless it is from far away/unobstrusive/rather "sneakily"....other than of my 2 yr. old grandson, of course, whom I cannot get close enough to or enough pictures of! (or my dogs, who are also are just so naturally cute and goofy!)
But generally speaking, I just don't do people. Just one of my artistic weirdnesses I suppose...living things just have too much going on for me to feel like I can even attempt to capture who they are.
So due to the fact that this image really speaks to me, with it's feelings of exhuberance, energy, light, motion and joy, likely because those are almost always the feelings I have when I am near the ocean, as this little girl was,
I felt a need to honor it by using it in a special way...

I'm not yet completely convinced that I "love" it, or that it turned out exactly as I had envisioned...but I AM pretty pleased that I actually/finally completed it AND that I managed to be successful with day one of the AEDM challenge! (only 29 more to go!)

And all of that makes for one
HAPPY ME-LAURIE Z!

all is calm, all is bright...

2011-11-01T10:17:00.001-07:00

December first...(and quite a beautifully foggy start to the first day of the last month of the year!)
really?!?
If you are like me, it is like maybe March, or even June...
but DECEMBER?!
No WAY!
Where did the last 9 months or so GO?!
Seems like I was just marvelling at the long-awaited (and very late!) start of summertime!
(btw-I pretty much do this every month that passes me by in a matter of a few days time it seems!)

So...we are coming upon MY favorite time of year...no, not necessarily because of the holidays-actually, sort of in spite of all the frantic greedy stress filled over consumption staring us all down.
ugh.
All of THAT is among my LEAST favorite experiences ever.
So I (we) have found a quite simple solution to avoid it all.
We just don't play the game of gluttony in the name of the historically inaccurate holiday which has been turned into a ridiculous excuse for the disgusting pressure/expectation to BUY BUY BUY and GET GET GET and DO DO DO and BE BE BE!

This year, we're simply celebrating the quiet reflective hopeful renewal cycle of nature which the Winter Solstice brings us.

We'll have a small sweet tree, cut with thankfulness from our wooded property,
decorated in little balls of shining ice blue & silver.

A Yule Log we create from one of the many felled tree trunks on our property.

Handmade and second-hand pretties to decorate the mantel & hearth.

We will not be participating in the exchanging of over priced, under used, UNneeded gifts...
our love, and this life we share, every day, are the greatsest gifts we could ever receive. (plus our upcoming trip to Maui will be an awesome gift to one another as well!)

For we have all we could ever need and far more.

For our (adult) kids-just a bit of assistance for what they may need/want.
Gift cards in a relatively sufficient amount to help them out with little neccesities...or luxuries...
it is a gift after all, given in love, to do with what they please...
along with a small handmade token to remind them how special they are to us.

We did "splurge" on a tickets to a few special seasonal events:
The "Cool Yule" concert starring the Seattle Men's Choir.
The "Magical Strings-A Celtic Yuletide" musical performance
The "Portland Cello Project" eclectic holiday concert (complete with an ugly sweater contest!)

(and we just noticed, all three events are on sucessive evenings...!)

We'll probably also spend an hour or so browsing the decadent delights of decorations and home decor at Wight's Nursery.
And take the bus into downtown Seattle to stroll among the cheery throngs gazing at the big store window displays, and enjoying the festivities at Westlake Center.
(two of our holiday "traditions")

But mostly, our celebration of the season will be filled with snuggled up evenings at home sweet home together, watching our favorite holiday movies, sharing yummy food & wine, listening to music, playing games, creating art, doing puzzles, reading, playing with our dogs, and generally just adoring & celebrating one another and the miracle of our life, during the long dark cold winter.

I'll be sharing some of the ways we are celebrating the Winter Solstice through words and photographs during this month of posts...

Whatever your plans for the season are, I hope you will be able to find a way to celebrate in the way your heart truly calls for you to do and which speaks to the very essence of what this time of year really and truly means to you.

Having the ability to celebrate just exactly as we wish to during this usually overwhelming (and often overly stressful in all ways: physically, mentally, emotionally & spiritually..
ie: disappointing) of holiday times,
enables me to remain...

Happy Me-Laurie Z!

Autumn Blessings

2011-10-18T15:23:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned lately how incredibly grateful I am for all of the amazing blessings that are so abundant in my life?

Probably not, since I have not even posted for many weeks now...

I had a rough few weeks back in August that really threw me off of my normal goofy, happy-go-lucky, calm, go with the flow track...
(Still not sure "why"...but I did have 21 of 33 peri-menopausal symptoms I found listed on a very informative website...
Or perhaps I was suffering from post-best-friend-amazing-10 day visit letdown...
Or the dual emotions of being excited/worried about my traveling gypsy son, who suddenly decided to set off with just a duffle bag to see the world (well, southern California and the desert of Phoenix, so far...!)
Or my increasing feeling of overwhelm from being far too involved in Swap-Bot...
I'm gonna go with any one or combination thereof, since I feel the need to have a "why"!

But then all of those down & out feelings I had been experiencing changed, seemingly with the onset of the change of seasons...

(and a wonderful 20 day long trip "home" to St. Louis to spend time with my amazing 2 year old grandson, beautiful daughter and great friends no doubt helped lift my mood!)

But even after returning from that trip where I had such an incredible time, and (again) leaving behind my most cherished "babies" (for a few nore months), I have been feeling more on top of the world than ever...

Many others feel a sense of loss, doom, apprehension, anxiety or sadness as autumn and the quickly following winter season approaches...

But for me, it feels like a time of renewal, a time during which I feel closest to nature as I watch Mother Nature encouraging her children to prepare themselves for the possible difficulties ahead during the quiet solitude of harsher weather.

I find myself dreaming of future possibilities, of eagerly looking forward to a nesting period of sorts, of inner contemplation, increasing fortitude and a sense of calm acceptance and a chance to renew depleted reserves of peace and strength.

I spend more time outdoors...
watching leaves change color and twirl softly onto their winter bed of browning grass, listening to the hurried chatter of squirrels as they seek, find, gather and store their sustenance for the upcoming chill, and scan the clear sky blue sky to marvel at the graceful knowing of geese as they fly in their strikingly simple yet highly evolved V formations to warmer places.

So as the days shorten and the darkness lengthens, I feel more content, more settled, more peaceful, more aware of the bounty of blessings which have been bestowed upon me.

Here are just a recent few in photos that I wish to share with you...
(of course my loved ones are at the top of the list, but these are of other random recent happy-making things...)

pretty welcome home flowers from my sweet man...

our beautiful woods to stroll through...

yummy ( and cute!) pumpkin spice lattes...

our much adored hound babies...

delicious, nutritious food....

Mother Natures many-hued paintbrush...

fresh off the vine in our yard blackberries...in OCTOBER!

SURPRISE DATES!

a wonderous, thought-provoking book...

a brand new snuggly warm blankie (not complete w/o dog hairs, even unopened!)

something wonderful to look forward to when the PNW rains are threatening to drown our spirits...!

These are but a small number of the infinite blessings which surround me and fill my days...

As the harvest is gathered and the warm scents of autumn fills the air, what are YOU feeling?

Can you name a few blessings you are reaping during this bountiful season?

*oh yes...and...

CANDY CORN! Even an almost empty bowl of this sugary ~~goodness~~ bad-for-me-ness brings out my happy inner child! (does anyone else eat only the yellow part because it tastes the best?!)

During this wonderful season, I am finding so many things that keep me...

HAPPY ME-LAURIE Z!

TRY IT Tuesday!

2011-08-30T23:39:00.000-07:00

So this is my first post of "TRY IT Tuesday", which is for sharing with you something I have recently tried.

I have been wanting to start the practice of daily meditation for, like, about 29 years now. Better late than never, huh? I have had here and there experiences with meditating in different forms, from a prenatal exersize class I participated in when carrying my first child which ended with a relaxation meditation to various workshops over the years which included meditations in the teachings to simply taking it upon myself in a moment of extreme frustration, fear or anger to close my eyes, and just *b*r*e*a*t*h*e*...
But now, more than ever before, I am feeling a serious, almost anxiety-inducing yearning to immerse myself in 10 or more minutes of meditation on a DAILY basis...not just during "special occasions" such as in a class or workshop or when stressed out!
I am blessed to have the amazing freedom of being able to choose how I would like to spend pretty much every hour of my every day, so what, you may ask, is the problem with alloting ten paltry minutes per day to meditate?!
THAT, my friend, is my current $64,000 question, and other than the usual "excuses"...

I don't have the right place to do it in
(there are 11 rooms in our house, plus a huge walk-in closet and 2 and a half car garage...and don't forget our large lush yard with a waterfall garden pond and the surrounding acre+ of woodland)

I don't know how to do it "right"
(close your eyes, be quiet and breathe)

I always get interrupted
(turn your cell phone ringer off & tell Jeff to leave you alone for 10 minutes)

...I really do not HAVE an excuse (anymore).
No job, no deadlines, little to no pressing responsibilities, nothing really, keeping from carving out ten measly but majorly important minutes in my self-created days!

Recently, I have been collecting various guided MP3 meditations on my laptop, as well as perusing meditation websites, blogs and videos on YouTube. They are available everywhere and many are free.I'm enthusiastic and armed.

So today, I tried it. I asked for some time alone, I lit some incense, I turned out the lights & I sat in my studio desk chair in the garage. (I will be modifying that seating tomorrow!)
I pulled up a meditation I had saved on my laptop, hit play, closed my eyes...

and meditated.

It was lovely.
I felt calm yet energized when the meditation was complete.

And then, a few hours later, I did another one.

****ahhhhhh****

It was a very good, creative, content day.
I think I will try it again tomorrow.
And the next day.
And the day after that...

They say it takes 21 days for a new practice to become a habit.

I'll keep ya posted...!

(Do you want to TRY IT too?

Here are some videos to peruse:
Intro to Meditation (ignore the first 56 seconds about yoga & pregnancy!)
Simple Meditation (her voice is heavenly!)
So Hum Nama meditation
Self-Esteem meditation

and of course, there are literally thousands more on YouTube and various websites, free for the using!
You can also meditate to relaxing music, or in silence, or with the sounds of nature surrounding you. I think eventually, I would like to explore and try as many variations & methods as appeal to me.
Only 20 more days to go until I have a meditation habit! :)

~Namaste~
Happy Me-LaurieZ

MY Monday!

2011-08-29T16:07:00.000-07:00

Ooops. Another "bump" right over blogging yesterday. huh.
Oh well...we were out having fun again!
It is good enough (my new seld-love mantra!) that I am here now, right? RIGHT!
Well, you might change your mind about that after reading on...!

Keeping with a "daily theme" type blogging format, this is a "MY MONDAY" post...

So...I was looking forward to a wonderfully productive, light filled, lovely shining brimming with delight and creativity day today, and even chose to stay home alone to spend time on all of this heart and soul work today rather than have Jeff drop me off downtown to play while he went on site at his job to meet his new assistant...
but MAN!
What a complete CRAB A** I have been all day long! At already 3:30 pm, I feel I have accomplished little to nothing other than getting a numb rear and bleary eyes from sitting in front of my laptop for *blank* hours!
EVERYlittlething is annoying me and going "wrong" today! I have a super short fuse and my head is achy and I feel like I am full of this shaky nervous energy yet I'm exhausted and ready for the day to be over!
I am trying to figure out why...and here is what I came up with:
*went to bed "early" - around 11:30 pm

*woke up at least 5 times throughout the night

*awake,restless, bored, not tired and anxious with my brain unable to settle down from around 4 am until after 5 am...

*awake again at 6:09 am...

*slept on & off from 6:45-7:45 am

*up for day before 8 am

*no morning latte (trying to NOT make it the very first thing in my body everyday!)

*but the delicious smell of fresh ground & brewed coffee wafted throughout the house and tempted/annoyed/delighted me! (Jeff made his before leaving early this morning!)

*blue screen of death/crash dump bs on my laptop shortly after opening it and starting to work...

*lost internet connection a few times during photo uploads +lost photo uploads & time & had to do it AGAIN

*my sweet baby dogs incessant barking at nothing, my yelling at her, her upset and then my guilt

*attempting to relax by doing a guided meditation...but encountering problems & inturruptions FOUR TIMES!

*spending time "bowing out" of various swapping group overcommitments and feeling guilty/relieved

*trying to listen to various hay House Radio live streaming programs but losing them every minute or so...grrrrrr!!! Why does technology hate me?!!

*an acute feeling of missing my kids and grandbaby and friends (even though i am excitedly counting down the days until i get to be with them for 3 weeks...24 and counting!)

*sigh
*today sucks
*i suck
*what a whiner!
(i can't believe you are still reading this!)

Yeah, I know...nothing really major...like a hurricane or rat in the house or accidental dismemberment.
Still, I just cannot shake this feeling of wanting a DO OVER for today.
Mainly because this is SO NOT the day I envisioned, planned, hoped for and looked forward to!
I kinda feel dissapointed in MYSELF for letting it all get to me.
And spending / wasting so many hours lettijng it build up & ramping myself into a state of
level 666 red alert annoyance!

**breathe**

I am trying to immerse myself in my Goddessness.
To surround myself with the ever growing incredibleness of this day, this life, this world...
To remember that I am a spiritual being having a human experience.

Yes. YES! That made me smile! That made my heart soften. It almost mademe chuckle a bit.
I kinda get it, feel it, realize this to be true with this rather crappy human day I am having!

Huh...so THAT is what it means.
I so wanted to live my spirit today, to have a shining light sparkly fairy dust ride a unicorn see a double rainbow hug a koala bear kind of day.

But instead,

I got a human day.
An imperfect, messy, boring, tiresome, frustrating, dumb, disappointing, pooey kind of day.
Like a lot of people have.
A lot of humans.
And, apparently, alot of spiritual beings as well.

"It is not what happens to you.

It is what DO with what happens to you."

Huxley

"My Monday"...
doesn't really feel like it has been mine, but heck, there are still about 8 hours left to make it mine!

Spirit, do your stuff!

I'm ready to be:
Happy Me-LaurieZ

(bump!) SCORE Saturday!

2011-08-27T18:47:00.000-07:00

Yeah, well, I tried.
So we are *bumping* the first installment of Fun/ny Friday (because I was too busy yesterday having fun exploring in Pt. Townsend all day & into the evening!) and posting today, which is hereby deemed Score Saturday!

"Score" as in "wooo-hooo! Check out this cool "whatever" that I scored at the thrift store/garage sale, flea market, rummage sale/recycling center etc. for a super cheap price!"
Now, as most of you know, I readily admit to being a "score" junkie, and it literally pains me to pass up one of the aforementioned treasure hunting places, but being without my own mode of transportation, my ability to the frequency of "scoring" that would make me deleriously happy is limited.
No, mass transit does not quite cut it for scoring sprees...I tried once and had such a load from just one stop that I was suprrised that no one tried to offer me a sandwich or business card for a shelter!
So some of the scores I share on here may be from the (recent) past.

Thrifting is in my blood-I remember my daddy taking me to flea markets, gun shows(!), antique stores, reproduction warehouses, and even abandonded houses we'd happen upon, searching for a "score". Plus he had his own "collection of interesting and odd items" business for years and years, and was quite the whiz with words, making the sales tag descriptions of the items a work of art in themselves and convincing browsers that they could not LIVE without some particular something they had never before seen much less thought about needing!

Some of what I "score" are practical items, which I just refuse to pay ridiculous retail prices for in "regular" stores. If we are ever in "need" of something, I always want to try to "score"
it first. I mean really, almost everyone you and I know has more than enough/too much stuff...myself included.
(Check this out for a really shameful breakdown:
The Story Of Stuff)

And I pretty much do not have an aversion to buying most anything "pre-owned". Just ask my kids to regal you with the "crotchless panties" score story...no wait, on second thought, please DON'T! And forget you ever read those last two lines... ;)

But of course, much of my scores are really not "needs" but "wants", which is really what most shopping of any kind is if you think about it! We "need" very little, but to me, if a pretty purse is only $1.29 then it suddenly becomes a "need" as WELL as a "want"! (as in I suddenly NEED an orange polka dot purse to go with my...oh wait, now I NEED something orange to wear to go with my orange polka dot purse!) Yes, I am a master at validating "scores"! AND giving myself a little gold star for recycling/repurposing/reusing, right? RIGHT! I just really enjoy the hunt, truthfully.
I know some people get that thrill from buying the high ticket or latest version toys, clothes, furniture, cars, gadgets, tech toys, housewares, etc., but not me. For me, it's all about the uniqueness, originality, odd-ball-ness, coolness, cuteness, fun-ness of something that caught my eye AND carries a prices tag of coins, not dollars!

Most of the scores I'll show on here will be preloved items, but ocassionally I will share some outrageously awesome retail find, which rate as a "score" even though it is "new", because of its super low price.

So here are a few of my recent "scores":

Super sweet 50's style summer frock-the colors are amazing(even though this pic does not do it justice!) and it even has a layer of crinolin underneath! Found it at the Womens Recource Center thrift store in Everett. Almost didn't get it because it was $5.99, a bit out of the "score" price range for me. But I loved it sooooo much and realized that I was meant to have it when I took it to the counter to pay and found that it had a half-off tag...making it, yep, THREE bucks!
SCORE!

Books, one of my greatest loves (and downfalls...not enough time in my LIFE, much less a day, to read everything I have collected!) We are library geeks, and spend hours there weekly. One reason why is the fabulous used books area at the Lynnwood library. Hardbacks are fifty cents, paperbacks a quarter and magazines & kids books a dime. They often have VHS tapes (yes, we still have hundreds!), CD's, vinyl LP's, cassettes, & sheet music. A big foriegn section too. Heaven. Some of these shown are for using in my art creations, gifts, and personal use. Things I find there weekly are among my best SCORES ever!

Hi! My name is Laurie and I'm a purseaholic!
Last count, 47...
Jeff says "one in, one out".
(same about shoes)
But he never counts or double checks.
(so this is our little secret, ok?)
This kinda heavy wooden bead beauty is from Roxy.
(not to be a label dropper but I actually recognize that label and it bodes well for the story)
Goodwill knows their stuff (dammit!)
It was priced at $14.99.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
(who knows what the original retail price was!)
But I was there on the $1.29 color tag Monday.
It was red tag sale day.
And this baby had a red tag.
Which is why it is #48 in my addiction...I mean, collection!
SCORE!

yep, I'm a mugaholic too.
But at least I now finally have some justification for the 25+ mugs I own, because I actually drink coffee every morning since moving to Seattle three years ago!
And I get genuinely pouty if Jeff dares sever it to me in a plain old part-of-our-matching-dinnerwear-set mug. (as if him MAKING IT & SERVING it to me is not more than enough!)
This lovely Allegory of Spring Cafe Arts mug elevates the beautyof a morning latte to new heights, and was a mere 49 cents at Goodwill.
SCORE!

No, I don't have a grandaughter (yet!)
And no, although I would like to shed a few pounds,
I do not aspire to fit into this toddler size 4 swimsuit.
But yes, I DO adore Hello Kitty, AND I collect cool things to sell at various second-hand markets throughout the year.
This sweet suit was found at the Edmonds Senior Center Thrift shop (which holds the distinction of being about 25 yards from the beach, which makes it a double awesome place to frequent!), and was mine for only 99 cents!
It will soon be gracing some tiny beach bum,
(probably at a profit of about $3 for me!)
SCORE!

So there is my first installment of SCORE SATURDAY!
Hope you've enjoyed seeing a few rewards of my latest treasure hunting!

Just one small thing that keeps...
Happy Me-Laurie Z!

Thankful Thursday!

2011-08-25T16:44:00.000-07:00

hi faithful friends and followers...

Once again I have been ~~a lazy bum~~ so busy happily enjoying the summer sunshine and becoming immersed in some new online and art ventures, so this little 'ol bloggy-doo of mine has taken a back seat...well, actually, been left far far behind, for the past month or so. No beating-myself-up over this fact this time. It is what it is and I accept that I am currently lacking whatever it is I need to be writing posts more often. I unexpectedly struggled mightily with the high expectation I put on myself from the start to write every day (HA! The only thing I write every day these days is a grocery list and Facebook status!) and I am hereby entering the "It's Good Enough" phase...basically meaning: if I write a blog post every hour of every day, or every other day, or every 7 weeks or every 4 months or annually....or never again...that is Good Enough for me. (breathe....breathe....breathe....)

But I have been thinking about giving a new "format" a try on here, not only to assist me in writing more frequently, but, as many of you may know about me, I can be a (too) structured, list making, planner type...so this seems just the thing to align my desire to blog with my "gotta do it a certain way" side...so in addition to just writing whatever nonsense ppops up in my head or whatever I feel called to share, I am going to do daily "themes" and see how that goes!
Now, it is reeeeaaaalllllly going against my "certain way" side to start anything new and different on a day other than a Monday (hey, we all have our little quirks!) but that is part of the "It's good enough" experiement, right? Whooooo-go CrAaaaaAzY grrrlll, I know!)
So, without further adieu (ie: ramblings), I give you:

***THANKFUL THURSDAY***

1. my garage art studio

lots of room for all my artsy supplies, internet connection for Pandora music, videos, podcasts, surfing, etc.,

sunshine, greeness, bridies just outside the open garage door, incense lit, doggies barking, privacy,

space to create and make pretty messes

2. The past 15 days spent in the amazing light

of my best soul sister friend, Kelly

sharing everything best friends miss every day when they live 2,000 miles apart.

i love and miss you so very much.

3. Putymayo Music Company & Pandora internet "station"

awesome ways to travel this big wide world though its incredible musical diversity, playing about 20/7 in this home!

4. Fresh flowers from our yard

today it was time to say goodbye to a sweet simple boquet of daisies from our side yard.

i thanked them for sharing their beauty with us as i tossed them over the deck into the woods

to become part of Mother earth once again

5. The Goddess Circle

go here:

http://www.goddessguidebook.com/

NOW.

So...five seems like a nice "certain way" number of things for this list! And, although I could go on & on & on about things that keep popping up in my head that I am infinitely thankful for...there is always NEXT Thursday to share them with you! (that sounded like a committment/expectation, now, didn't it?! We. Shall. See.!) Until tomorrow (just now officially dubbed "Fun(ny) Friday"!)...

Be Good. Do Good. (good ENOUGH, that is!)

~xo~

Happy Me-LaurieZ

I Haz A BLOG?!

2011-06-29T15:45:00.000-07:00

YES, I DOOZ!

A fact that I SWEAR I did NOT forget, though my approximately 10 week absence may indicate otherwise...

Here are a few excuses just because I feel obligated to have some to alleviate my guilt:

*2 days as a tourist in Atlanta, GA
*eating like a pig while in Atlanta
*4 days as a tourist in Macon, GA
*excitement of our daughters college graduation
*worrying about our 3 dogbabies while away from home
(nothing personal, S. who gave great care to them in our absence!)
*7 days in Sarasota, FL enjoying the company of my mom, daughter & grandbabyson
*grandson!
*grandson!!
*grandson!!!
* the beach
*thrift shopping
*grandson!!!
*being sad when daughter & grandbabyson went back home to St. Louis
*hanging with my mom for another 10 days in Florida
*watching movies
*preferring to do pretty much anything else other than be inside on my laptop when I am less than 4 miles from the beach
*surviving a harrowing flight home to Seattle
*unpacking
*missing the beach
*catching up with the pile of swaps I received while gone
*catching up with creating swaps which are due to be mailed
*cheering Jeff on as he ~~continues~~ completes the almost 7 month long kitchen remodel
*enjoying our beautiful new kitchen
*making plans for the next daunting home remodeling project to begin
*preparing for Punk Rock Flea Market
*vending at Punk Rock Flea Market
*recovering form Punk Rock Flea Market
*having a blast at the annual Georgetown Carnival
*seeing all the pretties at the Everett Sorticulture fair
*relaxing by the pond on the new made from recycled plastic milk jug 5 foot long glider chair we bought at the above event
*being suprised with a lovely day on a whale watching cruise from/with Jeff
*exploring Anacortes, WA
*Fremont Summer Solstice nakey bike & other parade & festivities
*stressing with/supporting Jeff during his month long, 4 interview process with WebMD
*bumming out with him when he did not get the job...
*confusedly celebrating with him when they changed their mind and offered him the job...
*marvelling at the annual extreme low tide (-3.6!) exploration of Edmonds Beach
*swooning over Captain Jack at Cinnebar (for free-thanks Nell!)
*being both amazed and depressed by the hundreds of incredible artists at the annual Edmonds Art Festival
*enjoying a wonderful "we got a job" dinner al fresco at Girardi's
*watching practically nightly questionably entertaining movies we get from the library
*and some better ones from Redbox which we are way behind on watching
*treating Jeff like the King he is with lots of fun Fathers Day special activities
*fulfilling a desire to attempt to learn bellydancing with weekly lessons
*being the bookworms we are & hanging out at the library
*drooling over 900+ classic cars at the annual Greenwood Car Show
*fighting with the Jurassic-era ferns and worse-than-kudzu blackberry bushes taking over our yard
*getting accustomed to Jeff temporarily working from home
*hanging an exhibit of my photographs at Sound Holistic Health in downtown Everett
*bemoaning our sketchy Internet connection
*spending 3 hours at Costco catching up with printing photos from the past 4 months
*making plans for playing tour guide when my mom comes for a week-long visit in Sept.
*making plans/flight/car reservations for my 20 day trip to St. Louis in late Sept/early Oct.

Ok, that's all I can come up with off the top of my head...so I hope you can find one or two which seem valid enough reason to you for my lack of blogging.

And by the way...my suitcases are empty, but still sitting out in our bedroom, 28 days after my return home.
(Jeff is supposed to be organizing them with our others...which are stored in a precise and precarious way on a high rack in our closet...
but as you can see, he has been pretty busy, not to mention covered in stain, grout, plaster and emails lately)

Talk to you again *soon!

*hopefully before another 10 weeks goes by...heehee!

but remember, it IS almost summertime here in the PNW...which means being outside (ie: not inside on my laptop) will be crucial in creating a very

Happy Me-LaurieZ!

The Great Quest for THE Dress...(or How The Universe Put Me In My Place)

2011-05-06T01:40:00.000-07:00

So for the past few days I have been publicly bemoaning my unsuccessful search for THE perfect dress for my daughters’ college graduation ceremony, which is in one week from tomorrow.

As you may know, I am an avid thrift store shopper. I buy about 99% of my clothing secondhand and have a huge stuffed-full "Carrie" closet to prove my bargain hunting capabilities (ie: clothing addiction!)

My entire wardrobe probably costs about the same as most people pay for an outfit.

This collection includes about 17 dresses of various styles, many of which I have never worn, but could not pass up priced at only a few bucks, figuring their time would come eventually!

About 12 of those were appropriate for this special occasion...so I never even thought about needing to find a dress-I had a whole store in my closet to choose from!

As a side note...

are you familiar with the weather in Seattle?

No doubt you have heard that it rains alot.

Like several months in a row, right?

Except this year.

I think it started raining daily around Sept. 28th.

Today is May 5th.

And it rained today.

We also got about 27 snowfalls, and a few hailstorms over this long winter.

Now, I am not really complaining.

I don't mind rain...in fact, we listen to a CD of rainfall to go to sleep by every single night (when we are not able to listen to the real thing).

It is relaxing, and I enjoy the quiet calm of snuggling up inside while it is cold, damp & dreary outside...

reading, listening to music, creating, watching movies...

and..

eating.

More than usual.

More than if it was NOT raining and I was not transformed into a slug.

Apparently I ate my way through the past almost 8 months.

Mainly daily selections from the four crummy weather food groups:

Cheese

Chips

Chocolate

(with generous sides of pretzels and pumpkin bread)

So...bet you've figured out where THIS little saga is leading...

yep...

right to

MY WAIST!

(and hips, and thighs and tummy and rear...

and even my upstairs, which definitely do NOT need any stuffing!)

Lady lumps INDEED!

Which led me to a very dreaded place...

The Mall.

Now, I am a self professed, pretty-darn-proud-of-myself shopping queen,

but not so (at all) into the mall scene.

I usually try limiting my need to subject myself to teenage Friday night flashbacks to about twice a year.

Unless Yankee Candle is having their dollar tart sale...

or I am craving a Cinnamon Chip scone from Panera Bread.

(one which happens too infrequently and the other far too frequently...OBVIOUSLY!)

But this was A FASHION EMERGENCY.

Calling for drastic measures.

I rarely shop in "real" stores...

so I wasn't really sure how to go about finding this Perfect Dress.

So off to The Mall I went.

With more than 175 shops (it says so on their website, I checked!), I figured how could I NOT find a dress that I liked...

How amusingly innocent I was back then. (3 days ago)

I have been up front about the fact that I dislike The Mall, but did I mention that I also hate to try on clothes at stores?

Love to look, hate to try on.

And also-love to shop, HATE to shop with a mission (and deadline!).

But I digress...

After several hours of browsing/scouring approximately 174 of The Mall stores, I was only pleased about one thing:

That I had only had to endure the torture of trying on THREE dresses.

Because all of the other 248,961 dresses I saw

were CRAP!

(except the one that made my heart race at Nordstroms-my first time setting foot in that store-which almost turned into a heart attack when I saw price tag...

$118.00!

That is like the ultimate go-crazy shopping spree amount at Goodwill!

I was laughing and hightailing it out of there at the same time!)

So most of the CRAP dresses I saw fell into these categories:

Cute...for a 12 year old.

Too short/mini...unless you are 18 years old.

Fell at a weird length...on an almost 6 ft tall woman such as myself.

Too strapless...unless you are of strapless age, which I no longer am.

Too black...for a 3 pm event.

Too hot...for a deep South event. (Macon, Georgia, y'all)

Too something...

or not enough something.

Meaning...

NOTHING.

Nada.

Zip.

Zero.

And too add insult to injury, Panera was out of cinnamon scones, so I could not even console myself!(with one of the very things which had put me into this predicament!)

And by the way, as a side rant...

Can I not walk more than 10 feet in The Mall without someone wanting to spray me with perfume, rub lotion on my hands, put a fake horsetail of hair on my head, sell me a cell phone, give me a massage or beg me to try a piece of deep fried animal flesh?!

Sorry...that is probably a post for another day of blogging...

(but jeeze...really??! Can you not tell that I AM ON A MISSION?!)

So I decided to walk across the street (it was actually a sunny day!)

to check out Target, Kohls and Plato’s Closet. (can you sense my mounting desperation?)

And again...

Nope.

Goose egg.

Zilch.

After almost 5 hours of shopping defeat, I am exhausted.

Physically and mentally.

I crankily called Jeff to come and get me.

As I sat outside Kohls in the cooling air of the late afternoon, I tried to think of other places to look and brainstorm alternative options.

But mostly, I fumed.

And rued the fact that I was so tall.

And bemoaned my expanded waistline.

And mourned my long-gone 18 year old body (which would have had HUNDREDS of cute new dresses to choose from!)

And felt increasing anxiety about one more seemingly impossible task to add to my far too lengthy things-to-do-before-leaving-on-a-23-day-trip-to-do-list.

And generally just felt big-time sorry for myself.

I wanted to look good & feel good at this special occasion.

I wished that I could just wear jeans. And envisioned resorting to having to wear something NOT perfect.

And as I sat there with my increasing anxiety, I heard nearby laughter…

I looked up from my self-induced fog to see two women walking towards the store entrance from the parking lot.

They were not old, but not young either. Maybe a bit younger than me, say, mid-forties.

One woman had on jeans and a nice top.

Her hair was lovely and she was pretty, and looked happy,

smiling and laughing with the other woman at her side…

And that other woman…she had pretty, dark eyes…

And that was all I could tell about how she looked…

Because otherwise…

she was covered from head to toe.

She wore a dark brown burqa and brown shoes.

Which matched her eyes.

I don’t know what she was wearing underneath the layers of dark fabric.

I shamefully wondered how I could be so…so...

I don’t even know what the word is.

Superficial? Spoiled? Bratty? Materialistic?

Ungrateful?

Forgetful?

Forgetting

that freedom of choice is not a given.

Not guaranteed.

Not universal.

And

that it is a blessing,

and a gift,

and an honor.

Which I was badly abusing and taking for granted and turning into a burden.

I may not have liked the choices I found that afternoon of searching for The Dress.

But at least I had the freedom and opportunity

to choose.

The happy ending?

After a few more enjoyable hours of searching the next day, I found not one, not two, but THREE “perfect dresses”. I got them all, and spent less than $20 total.

Good old Goodwill…! (why didn’t I just start THERE?!)

The moral of this experience?

The ability to peruse crappy choices are better than not being allowed to choose at all.

That woman in head to toe dark brown had happy eyes.

I should know better than to think that clothes make the women.

She was beautiful.

And I was petty.

And I am very, very lucky.

Remembering that will make it easier to be…

Happy Me-Laurie Z!

love 'n stuff lately...

2011-04-21T19:08:00.000-07:00

~whispering secrets to my sweet old Maxie boy~

with my exhibit in the Everett ArtWalk

at BDS /3231 Creatives

Jeff having too much fun ripping up our old ugly kitchen flooring!

the girls barking their fool heads off at...

this poor, pretty (and probably now deaf!) bumble bee!

us goofing around trying to get a good picture

before we go out to celebrate our 7th anniversary!

Smile of the day!

Passed by this house while out running errands...just had to ask Jeff to turn back around to get a picture of it! (and of course, he did!)

Hope you've enjoyed seeing just a few of the things that have recently helped to make a very...

Happy Me-Laurie Z!

me + blogging= FAIL!

2011-04-16T22:55:00.000-07:00

LOL!
Yes, I am laughing AT myself.
Can you tell I am feeling a bit guilty about not keeping up with my goal of blogging *every*day...
(has that happened yet, I mean even like two days in a row, since I started in late Dec.? Doubtful...)

So...here I am, facing the keyboard, ashamed at my slacking.
It's been a month. ONE MONTH, to the date, since my last blog.
I'm pretty sure there isn't a single person actually checking my blog on a daily basis waiting with bated breath for a word form me. (my mom doesn't know I even blog-or quite possibly even what a blog IS, but even if she did, I seriously doubt that even SHE would care to know what I have to say each & every day!)

But that is sort of the problem here I think...
I don't believe that I actually HAVE something to say or that I feel the need to share anything with anyone every single day.
I guess I do with my bf, but that is only because we are together pretty much every moment of everyday, so he HAS to be the one who "gets" to "listen" to me talking about whatever it is I feel the need to talk about.
(lucky guy, huh?!)

So I dunno...should I only blog when I feel like I have something interesting to say, or just blog like a running personal diary?
I have had this identity crisis once already since starting this blog.

Perhaps I have a shy blog, you know, like a shy bladder?...

I THINK I have so much to say that I need to have a blog... but then when it comes down to actually writing, the pressure of wondering if I even have something worthwhile to say becomes too much... so then I cannot manage to eek out a single word in 30 days time?!
(this was SUPPOSED to be a FUN activity!)

Shy blogger...yep, I think I will use that excuse...this time! ;)

So...
here is some random stuff no one other than me will likely care to know, since I obviously have had nothing important to say for a month:

* We still have no sink in the kitchen (going on 4 months)

* Jeff has been working his cute little behind off on the kitchen remodel for...almost 4 months!

*in one month from today, I will once again have that incredibly adorable grandson of mine in my aching-for-him arms again! And in FLORIDA to boot!

*I am officially SICK of rain and cold weather. I don't care if it IS the PNW! Mother Nature needs to get her shit together!

*I am convinced that being around other people's children is about THE germiest place known to man.
Even worse than my bf's side of the bathroom vanity.

* I am capable of eating 10 boxes of Tag-A-Longs Girl Scout cookies in less than 8 weeks time.
(and I could eat more if I had 'em!)

*Against my better judgement, I have become addicted to "Battlestar Galactica" (second incarnation)

*Our middle childdog Dottie becomes more human everyday. And if she WAS a human,and my bf had met her first, I would not be here writing this today. (Mrs. Dottie Richardson). Seriously.

*The more time I have to do things, the less I get done.
No wonder I never got math, or quantum physics.

*This song lyric has been stuck in my head for days:
"People are people, so why should it be, you and I should get along so awfully"...
(and I don't even particularly like Depeche Mode)

*Glitter makes everything better! (or at least more sparkly! and sparkly is ALWAYS better!)

and here is a photo I took a few weeks ago of our forsythia bush...

Despite being a shy blogger, it is cause to be a very...

Happy Me-Laurie Z!

Lately I Like...

2011-03-16T19:49:00.000-07:00

hand knitted pink urinals...look, don't use!

(and I could not even knit a scarf for a worm if my life depended on it!)

I'm not really a big game-player, but I would so play this

for the cuteness and obvious humor alone!

YES- I love veggies, I love that (fake-o) sea glass light, and I love Whole Foods Market!

I worked at one in Florida for a far-too-short 4 months.

At the top of the very short list of best jobs I ever had.

One is opening in 2012 about 2 miles from our house.

I might actually think about getting a real job again...!

Googled images for vinyl LP crafts,

and came across one of these.

So I went to the thrift store for albums and hardware from an old tiered platter and...

made myself one!

Love it. Lots.

Not sure I want to give it up and have it for sale at the next craft fair I do...

but do you think someone would buy it if I did?!

Views like this make long, stupid errand-running days so worth it.

Jeff & I read the "I Saw U's" in the Stranger to one another every week,

mainly for the pathetic, misspelled-word-filled ads.

Occasionally, there are ones that melt our hearts,

Like the line from Rumi in this one.

Especially when Jeff says :

"I believe this about us".

*sigh*

(and a big smile of agreement!)

i do not believe

that i will ever be too old

to not think

that Hello Kitty

is THE most

adorable

thing

EVER!

(and i am not even a feline fan!)

coffee + the Space Needle =

Happy Me-LaurieZ!

P.S. all photos posted on my blog were taken by me unless otherwise noted, in case ya care!

hurting hearts

2011-03-11T18:59:00.000-08:00

i have not blogged for a long time.
several weeks.
everything is ok, i have just been busy.
and lazy.
and with not much to say.
yet beating myself up for not writing.
for not keeping to my intention to blog daily, or at least as frequently as possible.

so today i decided to write something.
whatever came to me.
about anything or nothing.
just write.

within 10 minutes of getting up this morning,
my heart was hurting.

i heard the news.
an 8.9 earthquake in Japan.
and the following tsunami.

so devastating.
so frightening.
so sad.

and then my phone rang.
my sweet daughter.
her voice breaking with tears.
sharing more sad news, closer to home.
her precious chi-chi dog, Princess, passed away this morning.
she was 11 years old.
a tiny little happy 15th birthday gift from her dad and stepmom.

and my heart hurt.
for strangers killed, hurt, lost, scared.
for everyone who knew anyone affected by the disaster.
for their hurting hearts.

and my heart hurt.
for my grieving daughter.
for her pain.
her loss.
her broken hearted sadness.

my
heart
hurts.

so i remember.
i pray.
i love.
i hope.
i count my blessings.

and i write.

thousands of strangers.
my precious daughter.
her beloved dog.

love is love.
loss is loss.

and remembering heals.

and i am really not at all right now, but maybe tomorrow will again be...

Happy Me-LaurieZ

She Is My Sunshine...

2011-02-26T22:04:00.000-08:00

4:42 am CST (a little over 4 hours from now) will be the twenty-sixth anniversary of one of the happiest moments of my life.
The wonderous day in which 6 lbs. 15 oz. of precious, perfect, pure love changed my life forever.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, my sweet bunny girl, Kaelyn Christine Zak!

I have always been so honored and grateful to be your mommy...

You are, have been and always will be
My sunshine!

Today, celebrating the joyous memories of your birth, the years of happiness and fun we have shared

and what a truly beautiful and amazing woman (and great mom!) you have become

is definitely reason to be a very:

Happy momMiE-Laurie Z!

What Have I Been Doing?!

2011-02-19T12:40:00.000-08:00

Since returning from my wonderful trip "home" to St. Louis, I have been feeling a bit, how shall I say...
Lazy?!
Unmotivated?
Out of it?
Unproductive?
Lackidasical?
Still in vacay mode?

I mean, really...it took me almost a week to even get around to unpacking! And over a week to tackle opening the giant pile of swaps I recieved while gone (a "task" that I should have been eager to do!) I didn't even read the Sunday paper until Tuesday! And I have not meditated, worked on my daily "goddess" journal or weekly planner or even thought about creating anything...much less diving into the mass chaos which is the state of my garage art "studio" since before I even left!

This all does not bode well with me.
I am organized! I am a planner! A scheduler! A DOER! A list making/task-crossing-off person!

So today,before I beat myself up anymore, I need to tally what I HAVE been doing since arriving home
11 days ago:

i enjoyed a yummy lunch with my much missed man

at our fave vegetarian restaurant,

Bamboo Garden

i got excited about the daylillies coming up!

and i squealed in delight at our cherry tree's first blossoms...

on Valentine's Day!

and speaking of Valentine's Day...

i was genuinely surprised by a big bunch of beautiful flowers from my man!

(do you think the girls are jealous?!)

i decided to try a snack i kept contemplating on the past serveral visits to Trader Joe's...

(glad it was only ninety-nine cents!)

i thrilled to my fortune of having such creative, talented, generous Swap-Bot partners!

i created an image using one of the lovely creations made for me

i/we searched for a dog/house sitter, found one who looked promising, interviewed her,

thought she was awesome, reserved her for 6 days in May, wrote up care details,

searched flights and hotels, booked flights and hotel,

and finally started getting excited about our upcoming trip
in May, to Janelle's college graduation in Macon, Georgia

(including a few days in Atlanta with our friends Jeff & Sue,
and me going on to Florida to meet up with my daughter & grandson,

and later a girlfriend, to stay with my mom for 17 days!)

i divided up my big heart day bouquet into 6 smaller ones

for us to enjoy in several rooms!

we went to the library and found some interesting movies/shows on DVD...

...along with a pile of books to peruse

i started the daily Craigslist search for a "new" sectional for our family room

(we both agree that we like this one at JC Penney...we just don't like the price!)

i rubbed dog bellies...alot!

So...I guess I actually HAVE done SOME stuff...and looking back now, I realize that these were just the things that I wanted and NEEDED to do, in my own time, as I got re-acclimated to "real" life, my life, our life, this life I so love.

And now, I will commit to doing all of those other things that I think I SHOULD be doing, to feel like I am "back on track", "productive", "organized" and crossing-things-off-my-TO DO list! :)

Including...

this.

Good advice for continuing to be:

Happy Me-Laurie Z!

In 89 Days...

2011-02-16T23:13:00.000-08:00

Wow-the past week since returning from my visit "home" to St. Louis has just flown by and been filled with crazy busy days, trying to get back into the swing of things...can you believe that I just got around to unpacking YESTERDAY?! More on what all has been going on here in an upcoming post...but for now, there is something else I want to share...

Last Tuesday, Mr. Snuggle Butt slept with me the last night before I left to return to Seattle after my 16 days in St. Louis. Before he fell asleep, with one hand tugging at my earlobe, I reminded him how much I loved him and how I thought of him every single day and how he was always in my heart, no matter how far apart we were. I pressed a kiss into his soft little palm, told him to keep ahold of that kiss while we were apart, and closed his tiny hand into mine as we drifted off to dreamland together. The next morning, when my daughter came in to get him so I could take a shower, he woke up, gazed at me through sleepy eyes, fussed his confusion, and reached out his little arms for me. (heart melt). It was all I could do not to cry as I leaned over to embrace him held safe in his mommy's arms. I whispered a soft "bye bye, sweet boy...Gooma loves you and will see you soon" into his ear and kissed him on his chubby little cheek.
I missed him the moment they walked out the bedroom door.
(and her when she drove away from the airport)...

In several phone calls since then, my daughter as told me that he goes to the basement door a few times a day and bangs on it (the room I stayed in was in the basement)...looking for his Gooma?...

Today, my daughter and I booked flights to meet up for a week together in Florida in May, staying with my mom/her grandma. And guess who else will be beach bumming with us for that week?! Yep, in 89 days, I'll be kissing that chubby little cheek again!

I am so glad to be home again with my much missed man & hounds, but being able to look forward to knowing I will again soon get to spend time with my beloved daughter, precious grandson (and my mom too!) is definitely a way to insure that I remain:

Happy Me-Laurie Z!

SNOWPOCALYPSE 2011! (?)

2011-02-01T16:01:00.000-08:00

Kaelyn & Blondie braving the ice pellets to play!

I'm still in St. Louis for another week (YAY!) and have been hunkered down for the past 2 days, awaiting this so-called blizzard that is supposed to hit the bi-state area. The panic newcasts began Saturday night...with my personal highlight being the LIVE reports from 7 different locals, all of the remote reporters confirming that "nope, there is nothing going on here yet"! RIVETING 24 hour "snow mode" broadcasts on the local channels...for...exactly what, I'm still not sure.

i love the "storm mode" running banner! What exactly does that MEAN?!

Yes, there is 11 inches of snow in the rural areas, and Hwy 70 is shut down for hundreds of miles due to whiteout conditions and ice pellets have been falling almost everywhere for hours...but SNOWPOCALYPSE? Hmmm...I remain skeptical as the forcast for the St. Louis area has gone from 12-24 inches, to 6-12 inches, to 4-10 inches to the current 2-4 inches...dang it! Am I wrong to feel disappointed?! Ripped off? I mean, I DID pay over $400 to rent a car and now I have been not driving it for 3 days and have been missing out on plans to hang with other friends and go to some of the places I always like to go when I come home...but only because I am staying in to await the blizzard...which has yet to materialize!

i do NOT miss THIS shi*!!

I DO feel for everyone who HAS to get out in it and possibly get stuck at work (or worse)...but the city has basically shut down in anticipation-even the malls are closed, the Blues NHL game for tonight has been postponed to another date and the 24 hour "quick shops" are closing at 8 pm tonight! I dunno, maybe it is the "vacay" mode I am in being here...I got all excited at the thought of being truly SNOWED IN...but I know it is best for everyone if the extreme dire forecasts of SNOWPOCALYPSE doesn't actually occur. I survived the Blizzard Of '82 (with the assistance of beer & Doritos) and assume that I will more easily and happily survive whatever happens here now, as long as I am "stuck" in the house with my Kaelyn & Ryatt!

Mr. Happy!

We have plenty of tortilla chips, salsa, hummus & pita chips, "puppychow" and magazines, and oh yeah- love! Kaelyn is making white chili in the crock Pot, Ryatt has been happily soaking up all the attention having mama, Gooma, Gramma & Papa home is providing him with (poor Dada Jake is at work at the Moonrise Hotel-which, of course, is booked solid!) and I am so enjoying our quiet,lazy downtime together! It is supposed to get to -5 tomorrow, and the snow IS coming...so maybe by this time tomorrow I will be eating my words of disappointment (along with snow ice cream-YUM!) But even without a foot or two of snow, other than being home in Seattle with my man & hounds, I cannot imagine anything more* I need to be:

Happy Me-LaurieZ!

* but I DO wish that my son Trevor was not in Chicago right now!!! Or actually, I wish he was staying there a few more days so I don't have to worry about them driving home in the middle of the snowstorm...

Beat-Up Luggage and Lotsa Love in "The Lou"!

2011-01-26T12:38:00.000-08:00

(i have no idea whose house this is, i just wanted to share these fantasy icicles!

yes, it is rather brrrrr here!)

Well, YAY-I made it "home" to St. Louis safely, on a boring almost 5 hour flight Monday afternoon/evening. I always like flying Southwest because they are almost always the cheapest fare, the flight attendants usually have a wicked sense of humour which I appreiciate, and to my great pleasure, have added a non-stop flight from Seattle to St. Louis! My parents both worked for the airlines for years (my mom and dad met at a work part for Eastern airlines in the late fifties...then my mom worked for Frontier for almost 30 years) so I am a season traveller and (used to) know a little more about inside airline stuff than the average person. (you should HEAR some of my mom's stories!) I have been flying since about age 5, and can only remnember a few "interesting" incidences-such as the time our plane got struck by lightening and lost an engine ( I was way too young to be scared) or the time I was flying with my mom, sitting in a window seat over the wing and as the flap was moving yelled out "the wing is breaking!", and getting stcuk on standby at Lambert Field for over 11 hours with my two then-young kids, trying to get to Florida to visit their great grandma! And can you believe that I never remember an incident of lost or damaged luggage over all those years of flying? Well, that changed upon my arrival in St. Louis Monday evening...I even let my suitcase go by me on the baggage carousel twice before realizing (accepting?!) that it was mine...the poor little smooshed up thing! I was mannly worried that it was the one which held the 2 one-liter glass bottles of Torinos coffee syrups I brought for my daughter...but thankfully, it was not! And, another kudos to Southwest, I had no more entered their baggage claim office pulling along my pitiful bashed in, wheel bumping suitcase before Debbie had whipped out a brand new Coleman suitcase for me as a repalcement! I was so surprised and grateful,

and was on my way again in less than 10 minutes time!

(I'll skip the boring story about how it took me twice as long to secure my Priceline rental car due to our credit card company denying my card at Alamo because they were suspicious of Jeff having used it in Seattle that afternoon and then me in St. Louis that evening! I'm thankful to them for the security measure but they could have let us know!)

Mr. Monkey working hard to dispel the childproof lid theory of his mamas vitamins!

(he succeeded!)

Anyway-here I am, on day 3 (already!!) in St. Louis, with my "babies"- my daughter Kaelyn, my grandbaby Ryatt...and my son Trevor even made a few hours appearance to hang out with us yesterday! I am somewhat wireless while here, (I'm at the library just for the wi-fi right now), so my posts will be short and few, but suffice to say, being in the presence of my adorable, sweet, playful grandbaby, and my beautiful, funny, loving daughter and son, makes for an over-the-moon:

Happy Me-LaurieZ!

Homes Sweet Homes!

2011-01-23T09:58:00.000-08:00

Trevor, Kaelyn & Ryatt-

three of my "homes"!

This time tomorrow I will likley be a blur of closet trashing random tossing of last-minute-must-have-articles-of-clothing(which I probably won't even end up wearing) into my already-weighs-over-the- legal-limit suitcase, as I prepare to leave for my quarterly trip back "home" to St. Louis, Missouri- to be with my beloved kids (not kids as in little but as in my twenty-something, taller than me son and mom-of-a-toddler daughter), my precious almost 16 month old grandson Ryatt (even though said daughtermom now often refers to him as "The Devil"), and numerous still-love-me-even-though-I-truly-suck-at-keeping-in-touch friends...all of whom I miss MADLY!

I will be there for 16 days, which on one hand, is hardly enough time to get to spend the amount of time with everyone that I want to, but on the other hand, enough time for me to begin to miss my life/man/dogs/house/routine/weather/art/etc. back home...hmmm, I suppose that I really do have 2 homes...how lucky am I?! I call St. Louis home because not only did I live there for 47 years, but it is where most of my heart lives, in my aforementioned kids, grandson & friends, as well as all of the memories and familiarities created during those 47 years living there...
And I also now call Seattle home because, well, it is where I live, where the home I reside in is, where my soul mate and I share our life, where our much loved doggies live...and THEY are very much my heart as well.

I always get annoyed when people say they are "from" wherever they live...for example, if my mom would say she is "from Sarasota, Florida"...nope, she LIVES there, that is where she makes her home now. But she has only lived there for 7 years. She lived in St. Louis for 66 years. THAT is where she is FROM. In my book, you are not allowed to say that you are FROM anywhere unless you have lived there longer than anywhere else. But even that does not make much sense, really. Because you are actually always FROM wherever you started out at, right? No matter how long you have lived somewhere.

But what about where you call "home"? Mr. Right gives me trouble if I call St. Louis "home", because I don't live there anymore, I don't have an actual physical house there anymore. Home is with him and our doggies, in our house, in our life, in Seattle. But my heart? My heart has many homes. Home with him for certain. Home with my children-wherever THEY may be living. Home with my mom, the same. Home with my friends, who are spread all across this nation-from California to Virginia. Home with the memories of loved ones who are no longer in their earthly lives. Home with dreams and hopes for myself, my loved ones and the world. Home.

According to http://www.brainyquote.com/:

"HOME:

One's own dwelling place; the house in which one lives; esp., the house in which one lives with his family; the habitual abode of one's family; also, one's birthplace.

One's native land; the place or country in which one dwells; the place where one's ancestors dwell or dwelt.

*The abiding place of the affections, especially of the domestic affections.

The locality where a thing is usually found, or was first found, or where it is naturally abundant; habitat; seat; as, the home of the pine.

A place of refuge and rest; an asylum; as, a home for outcasts; a home for the blind; hence, esp., the grave; the final rest; also, the native and eternal dwelling place of the soul. "

Yes, I agree with all of these, mostly with *!

So tomorrow around noon, I will be heading home. And I cannot wait to hug and hold and talk with and laugh with and play with and eat with and cry with and snuggle with and read with and shop with and explore with and wtach movies with and go to church with and celebrate with and just BE with everyone I love and miss.

And then, 16 days later, I will return home. And I cannot wait to be back here, with my man & my doggies and our life.

***(SAPPY YET TRUE ALERT!)***
Home truly is where the heart is.
I think I finally understand (and am okay with) that.
Lucky me, my heart is in more than one place. My homes are not bound by walls or roofs or street adresses. My homes reach beyond the actual physical presence.

Just another blessing that makes it possible to be:

Happy Me-Laurie Z!

P.S.
This morning, just moments after logging into my email account, I read an email which was sent to me several hours ago from a Swap Bot member living in the South of France, which literally brought tears to my eyes. Thank you, Kitty. You make ME purr! (http://ohmymassilia.wordpress.com/)

Thrifty Thursday!

2011-01-21T18:36:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged for a few days because I have been busier than usual trying to wrap up *things around here before I leave on Monday for my 16 day trip "home" to St. Louis to be with my kids, grandson & friends!

(whoo-hoo!! I'm more than a little bit excited 'cause I have not seen them since Oct., and Ryatt is walking & talking now!)

*"Things being completing partially finished art, filling up my new MP3 player with music (with ~~a little~~ alot of help from my computer guru/stud!), creating & packaging swaps that will be due to mail while I am gone or upon my return, cleaning house, doing laundry, packing, and shopping for trip essentials such as comfy shoes I can wear in 11 inches of snow (!), a new 8GB camera card, Airborn, and more sweaters...the latter a need which happily resulted in a valid excuse for yesterday being Thrifty Thursday with my friend Julia!

Julia is one of my ~~few~~ only friends who can pretty much match me store for store, hour for hour when it comes to thrifting...(even though we return home starving and having to pee like racehorses!)...plus she has an amazing eye for things and I love watching her make a find that I would have never noticed and then create something unique and beautiful out of it! We DO try to sort of blame each other for being a "bad influence" because even though either one of us has enough "stuff" to furnish/decorate a small Third World country (ooohh...imagine a thrifty chic Tanzania!), really- when you are able to get things like a 25 cent stuffed animal (for a dog toy), a pretty Golden Gate Bridge mug for 50 cents, or a brand new sweet little print fabric handmade baby bib for 50 cents, how can you NOT get addicted to thrift store shopping?! I have had SO many amazing finds over the years of junking---and I do mean YEARS, as in since I was a child, because my dad had a shop of, well, lets just say you could call them "curiosities", which he collected form all sorts of places, and I was introduced at a very young age to garage sales, flea markets and even abandoned farmhouse scavenging! My kids have the thrifting gene as well, with my son boasting a collection of over 100 "epic" t-shirts (all from thrift stores and possibly worth a car payment) and my daughter frequently calling me with an excited squeal to share her latest thrifting treasure with me. I know that whenever she starts the conversation with " I called 'cause you're the only one who will understand...", she is about to share a great find with me! (I got one of those calls just today, in fact, involving coveted $40 (retail) jean leggings found for $3 at Goodwill!)

So Julia & I went to a thrift store in the downtown Everett area that we like alot (I'm not for sure but I think it is called the Women's Crisis Care Thrift Store) which is small but packed to the gills, very clean & organized and usually quite reasonable priced. (there is nothing more annoying than finding a Dollar Tree item with a $3.99 price tag on it at a thrift store...and yes, I have SEEN that more than a few times!)
We also went to the Everett Women's Assistance League which is a larger store, also very clean & organized with great prices. That is where I spotted "the one that got away" for the day-see photo bvelow...!)
Next was a stop at some little shop we had passed many times, which used to be an antique store.
Now it has junk store stuff at antique store prices... $2.99 for an insurance ad coffee mug?! It better come with a free refills! They did have all their clothes half price but they were still not much of a deal (in my thrifting book at least!), plus it was just way too crammed full in there, with terrible lighting, and a tv blaring some ridiculous talkshow with two obnoxious chicks fighting over some loser guy who may or may not have been one or both of their baby daddy...(ugh...I have absolutely no tolerance, interest or use for that kind of crap-it literally makes my head feel like it is going to explode...or maybe it was the funky smell permeating that store...!) Anyway, that place will definitley not be on our list the next time we go out. (although Julia DID get her thrill from a pair of military issue nerdy glasses for a buck, which she is going to have made into sunglasses...perhaps that will have to be a futrue blog post update complete with photos!)
Our last stop was the St. Vincent DePaul on Broaddway which I usually only frequent on Sundays when all clothing is 99 cents-but they have a smaller store across from the big one which has alot of glassware, kitchen stuff, holiday decos, pictures, frames, craft stuff, toys, candles, etc...basically anything that is NOT clothing I guess! They always have great sales going on too, like kitchen stuff or toys at half off the already low prices. This is where we ended our thrifty treasure hunt, with the discovery of a perfectly preserved frog in a glass jar, along with witnessing an employee pushing a cart full of stuff out to the back dumpster to "throw in & break"...!
(yet the Salvation Army Thrift store in nearby Mt. Vernon is closing it's doors after many years because no one is donating & their shelves are too empty to make any sales worth the cost of being open anymore...kinda sad.)

Here are just a few of the goodies I found while out yesterday-it would have taken a several shots to show everything, and since some things are for swaps & some are for gifts, I just grabbed a few random things to share in this photo:

I came home with about 6 bags of stuff, and this little pasiley suitcase was my most pricey purchase-at $2.49! The things in the bags to the left of the suitcase are those old style (Tuperware?) plastic, make-you-own popsicle molds-I remeber them from when I was little & back then I made Kool-Aide pops, but now they will be great for making refreshing, healthy, smoothie pops! And apparently I have a thing for red plaid here lately...I also scored a cool old red plaid lunchbox while thrifting last week!

And here is ""the one that got away (there usually is, every thrifting adventure day!).

I fell in love with this darling polka-dot dress,

and reeeeeally wanted it for a fun little Valentines date outfit,

buuuut...

a. it was not my (winter) size...

b. and even if it WAS my size, I have another long dentist appointment

scheduled for Valentines Day,which will means that this

would have been a bit too dressy for a Valentines evening date

which will likely consist of a lovely dinner at home of soup and Advil...

Of course, that dinner will be made by & shared with my loving man, which means that, regardless of what I am wearing, (probably pj's), and the fact that I will quite possibly have soup dribbling down my still numb chin, he will tell me I am beautiful anyway and that is why- even though I didn't get to get this darling dress- I am (and will be) a very

Happy Me-Laurie Z!