sunday

lots of staring out the window and daydreaming

feathers drawn and waiting for color

sitting on the front porch with Lucy so she can get her vitamin d

and listening to this album on repeat

powerful words

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.

Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."

~ Goethe

The quote above is what inspired me to open my Etsy shop.  It's kind of amazing what a inspirational quote can do for you.  The "dream you can" part of that quote is what really did it for me.  I remember thinking, "Well, I don't know if I can do it and be successful, but I can dream it." 

 That dream was good enough to begin it.  And I'm so glad I did.

Now, I'm not the kind of person who looks in the mirror and speaks affirmations to herself.  (Ok, well, I may have tried it once or twice but I found it to be ineffective and sort of weird.)  But I do find that a great quote written or painted in a beautiful type can do wonders for my attitude.  Here are some of my faves...

"Joy" by Katie Daisy

"Let It Be" by Fresh Words Market and, of course, The Beatles

"Power Off" by Laura George

"Creative Life" print by Hello Cherie Handmande

I also came across an awesome Etsy treasury today, which is totally brilliant, and is good advice for everyone.  See it here.

So tell me, do you have a favorite quote?  Words that changed you forever or helped make your dreams come true?

london

Dear London,

You're breaking my heart.

Please stop.

blurry

...but still cute, no?

p.s.  for more orange cuteness, check out Fiona.

i agree

"The cure for anything is saltwater - sweat, tears, or the sea."

~Isak Dinesen

I agree.

Edit: ok, to clarify, I mostly agree.  Maybe 'saltwater' is not a cure for anything.  But it is definitely therapy.

(via on this amazing day)

thursday

Exciting and creative title, eh?

A few things that made me smile, laugh, ponder and get slightly choked up today...

Driving home from my iced coffee run, I saw a billboard that said,

"My way is the highway.

-God"

 

This photo

And this photo

This saying (found here)...

"Who you are is enough."

And then, of course, there's Lucy...

...but she makes me smile and laugh everyday.

four things friday

Have you heard about "Five Things Friday"?  Well this is only four...

1.  As you know, I'm learning to play guitar.  It's been 6 months now and sometimes I feel like I'm not progressing enough.  Learning to read music has been difficult for me and practicing the fundamentals is not always the most fun part of this process.  Sometimes I head over to my weekly lesson with dread, worried that I will disappoint with my lack of progress.  This week I tried to convey to my teacher that I hoped my slow progress was not perceived as ingratitude, and that I very much appreciate the time being taken out of this person's life to give me this gift of music.  And my teacher - who happens to be my uncle and is giving me free lessons - basically said to me that everyone progresses at their own rate.  That at some point things will begin to click for me, things will fall into place, a light bulb will go off, the planets will align or something, and I will move up to another level.  He's confident this will happen for me and in the meantime, he just wants me to be happy and have fun.  This sort of blew me away because I generally tend to have a pessimistic attitude about myself.  I've been feeling like I owe my teacher/uncle more progress than I've made and I'm the only one who is putting these expectations on myself.  He made me realize that he is taking time to do this because he loves music and he's happy to teach me as long as I'm having fun.  All I can say is that it was an incredible weight off me.  And my uncle, well, he rocks - in more ways than one.  

2.  On a lighter note, I have seriously been enjoying iced coffees from Whole Foods.  Cold brewed coffee has become a revelation.  Cold brew has less acid and less caffeine, which for me, means no more heartburn and less problems getting good rest when my head hits the pillow.

3.  Here are a couple of blog posts about art that resonated with me recently...

Art Is Not A Choice

jealous and alone... or maybe not

4.  Today I created an Etsy treasury full of weeds.  I promise there won't be any sneezing or itchy eyes.  Check it out... Weeds

Gotta run now.  Whale Wars is on tonight and they really left me hanging last week!

Hope you have a lovely weekend.

Love, me