seven things just because

1. blossoming pink, 2. holding on
photo collaboration (two girls, two clicks) with miss geek inc, week 3

1. if you are in the puget sound area, want to join me to hear and see jonatha brooke sing this weekend? the show is saturday night. (here's the info.) it is going to be great. jonny and i will be there and would love to see you. if you haven't seen jonatha in concert yet (or you haven't done something just for you lately), give yourself this gift.

2. today i have finally admitted this to myself: i am simply exhausted. i went to portland last weekend to art and soul and was too tired and busy with my two jobs to take my two classes. crazy. however, it was such a gift to spend time with friends...but not getting enough sleep has me feeling behind and overwhelmed and a bit under the weather.

3. yep. i have two jobs. i have realized that a lot of peeps who read my blog don't know this. i am actually a full-time editor who works from home. i don't talk about it much on my blog because...well, i don't really believe in blogging about my editing work. (i also don't talk about it much because when i have mentioned it in the past, i usually get several emails from people asking me to help them get a job where they can work from home. my story is an unusual one and i probably can't help you. i am sorry about that. i don't mean to seem crappy about it, but it just is what it is.) my other job is making things in the little room.

produce section, whole foods (portland, OR), 10.4.08

4. trying to balance the day job with the blossoming business of the little room (and the business that is just living my life) has me teetering a bit. some exciting things have been happening, and i am so grateful...and i am in the midst of figuring out how to balance and how to say no and who to rely on for support and all that good stuff. and it is good stuff. but it is difficult at times. not complaining. nope. just wanting to explain why i might not seem as available to answer emails or pick up the phone. i am realizing i cannot be everything to everyone while also trying to be me...while also needing to be my own best support person.

5. lately i have learned that i yell at the television during political debates. i thought i just yelled during notre dame football and basketball games (just like my dad). nope. i have now hit a point in my life where i yell at politicians. good times. i kind of like the very funny idea of turning the next debate watching evening into a drinking game. which phrase? can't be "my friends" or i will be drunk as a skunk. i think jonny would want to play one where we drink when they don't lie...not mentioning who "they" might be, ahem, as this is not a political blog,* so i'll move on. (and no, we won't be drinking heavily during the next debate. but i do find the saturday night live skits so darn funny. love that tina fey.)

6. i bought the most wondrous fabric this weekend. can't wait to show you. i found the softest flannel that looks just like wool that i will be using on the back of scarves. i just want to drape myself in it. and i bought some huge purple pom pom trim. huge. pictures soon (if the sun ever comes out in this corner of the world).

produce section, zupan's market (portland, OR), 10.4.08

7. did you venture out into the produce section and take some photos? i took a few more in portland. would love to hear about it if you did. (and stay tuned for a new "i dare you" post next week...)

*an aside to my fellow Americans: please VOTE. i am going to say this more than a few times in fine print over the next few weeks. VOTE. please. just .VOTE. (thanks)

want to join me?

washington apples, seattle, 9.27.08

saturday evening, jon and i were up in seattle having dinner with friends and afterward we did our usual "we are in fremont so we might as well go to PCC before we head home" ritual...

while there, i suddenly had an urge to take photos of snippets of the produce section.

when i stood up after bending over to capture as many colors of apples as possible, i caught the eye of a man who had been watching me with quite the bemused look on his face.

if someone created a comic strip of that moment, this man and me looking at one another, the caption above my head might have said, "you mean you don't take photos in the produce section?"

i found it so amusing to think about what he must be thinking. as i walked across the store to join jon and our friend christine, i imagined explaining the life of a blogger to this man...explaining how blogging has caused me to notice my life, my life experiences, in a richer way. how blogging for three years has invited me to document my life now...how i pay more attention.

and this made me think about you...
you out there reading these words...
you trying to do this same thing: pay more attention in your life.

and as i walked up to jon in the cheese section (because where else would he be?), i explained that my mind had connected all these dots from bending over apples to thinking about you out there who visit my corner of the world...how my mind had connected these dots to an idea of a series of posts...a series of "i dare you" kind of posts that i might toss out into the world every now and then...a series of posts where i see if you, you out there reading this, might want to join me in a few things...like taking photos in the produce section...

still rolling the idea around in my brain...

but today,
today i wonder if you just might want to grab your camera the next time you go to your favorite grocery store.
i wonder if you might want to capture something bright and cheery in the produce section.

just for fun.

just because you want to look at your world in a different way...because you want to pay attention in even the simplest moments.

just because you can.

yep.

i dare you.
you reading these words.
i dare you to take a photo in the produce section.

(then come back here and tell me all about it please)

a moment today.

last week, i was talking with a friend about the idea of the energy people create when they are alive...and how that energy remains when they die. i said something about how when i think of you or suddenly feel you, it is as though that energy has circled the globe and found its way back to me. it finds its way back to me and replaces the phone call i would rather make...the phone call i cannot make. or the visit that would now include pulling up to an empty house since your husband now lives in an assisted-living nursing home and wants to stay there...and your house sits empty...though what is left of you sits on the mantle.

this week, this energy that circles the globe found its way back to me. you found your way.

yesterday, when i took millie outside in the middle of the day, i heard this most insistent noise. i thought it was a hummingbird, but i couldn't find it in the trees and honestly figured it must be an irritated bird of a much larger size as that chirping was...well...it was kind of rude and annoying and very, very loud.

today, there it was again. even louder. and clearly talking directly to me.

you haven't been feeding us. you promised her you would feed us. yet, nothing. all year. and now that it is fall, the neighbors aren't picking up your slack anymore. and we are hungry. and cold. keep up your end of the deal lady.

i looked up, shading my eyes from the glare of the noon sun through clouds. i looked up and saw it directly above me. sitting in the huge pine tree, like it often has. and it just kept chirping. looking down toward me and then looking away. a bit like millie does when she watches us eat dinner and hopes we will drop something.

so i went inside and dissolved sugar into warm water and then tore up this mess of a house looking for one of the two hummingbird feeders we have.

i couldn't find them. finally found parts of the one that was the last gift you gave me. remember? that february, right after traveler died, i started seeing hummingbirds. you insisted i start feeding them because the weather was still cold. so i found a local wild birds store and bought a feeder. and you sent me $25. remember? i started feeding them every week. and kept feeding them after you died a few weeks later. i would cry as i put the food out, but i would feed them because you asked me to. and then i would sit in the little room and watch them flit around the backyard. i would watch them and think of you and wish with all my being that i could pick up the phone and call you and hear your voice.

today, that energy of you...that focused, insistent energy that was you...found its way to me in the form of a fierce, tiny feathered hungry creature.

thanks for that.

and guess what? i made a quilt top today. can you believe it? my friend had a baby in the wee morning hours today and the baby was very early and i just felt that this new little boy, so eager to meet his parents, needed a quilt. so i started one. my first one ever. i thought of you when i finished sewing the squares for the top today...thought of you as i reminded myself i couldn't call.
oh and never fear, jonny bought me a new feeder on his way home from work so that my insistent backyard visitor can now eat.

it really was a good day.

love you and miss you my dear friend,
liz

life is full. and good. and really, really busy.

during the last few weeks, my life has been full of creating.

lots and lots of creating.

in august, i began listening to my own advice and started creating things that made me happy...not really focusing on "will this sell?" instead focusing on "does creating this make me happy?" i found a rhythm creating aprons and scarves and necklaces and a few bags before heading to squam.

and at squam, it seems that my joy about what i had created was a bit contagious as those lovely squamlettes proceeded to buy me out of almost everything i brought with me.

it was pretty amazing.

you see, this experience at squam was my first time with such a positive response that also involved people buying. (insert silly smiley face here.)

the thing is, i haven't often talked about the downsides of figuring out the etsy world or vending at an event that doesn't go that well. how does one talk about that in such a public forum? so i share this not to say, look at me!! but instead to say: do what you love. listen to yourself...really listen to yourself. do what brings a wide, real smile to your face. create what makes your heart fill with joy.

the momentum to keep creating and sharing the joys of this creating that has been swirling inside me lately has meant that i am updating my shop more often. (a big thank you to those of you who have visited my shop and found something that speaks to you...thank you all so very much.)

and it has meant that i have been attempting to balance my "day" job, life, orders, family and friends, creating items for the little room, and...well...everything else in between. it has been a bit hectic around here...but hectic in a good way.

and some exciting things are happening.

in this moment, my heart is so full of the goodness and the blessings of this life.

this post is peppered with photos from my sunday: creating new pendants, sewing up the little fabric bags my items now come packaged inside, packaging items up to take to the post office, taking photos of items for etsy, getting a wee bit organized...

so life is full and good. and i am riding the wave as it happens...letting myself enjoy the joy while also learning to set some boundaries...figuring out where i should seek advice and support...walking tall in my decisions as i do know what is best for me...embracing community in a new way...living...

this afternoon, i gave myself a treat of a (high-maintenance) pumpkin spice (soy, two-pump, no whip) latte as a little reward for getting six new selma patchwork scarves up in the shop and sending off quite a few packages at the post office (i love the postal workers at my local post office!).

i hope you give yourself permission to reward yourself with a little treat when you need one too.

blessings,
liz

two girls, two clicks {week two}

1. clear, 2. orange
(click the photo to see it bigger)

me (on the left), geek inc (on the right)

see more at two girls, two clicks.

five (really) good things

paris ii, natasha apron

the album my brother worked on/recorded with ben lee and jessica chapnik, the soundtrack from the australian film the square, has been nominated for an aria (similar to a U.S. grammy). jessica's voice is beautiful...loving these songs (visit her myspace page to hear some of them).

fall is here, which means it is that time of year when we begin to light our favorite candles at dusk.

finding a rhythm to my days as i try to balance it all and letting go of self-judgement when i don't quite find that balance.

creating. lots and lots of creating happening around here in any free second i have. (i've added natasha aprons to the shop.)

staying connected from this one-person inhabited island i sometimes feel that i live on.

how about you?
what are five really good things in your world?

name them.
i dare you.

hoping. wishing. helping.

A few weeks back, I was reading blogs in bloglines and came across a link in one of the crafty blogs I read that took to me to a post on another blog where I read about how a family was waiting and hoping and praying for the lives of two incredible people...Stephanie and Christian Nielson. This couple, parents of four small children, was in a private plane crash in August; the flight instructor died in the crash and Stephanie and Christian are recovering from extremely severe burns with months of recovery ahead of them. Learn more about this family on Stephanie's blog; read updates on Stephanie's sister Courtney's blog here.

When Morgan put out a call for donations to the NieNie Etsy Benefit Sale, I joined in by sending a Natasha apron...and plan to also join in by shopping...I don't think I will be able to resist all the goodness in one place.

The sale starts tomorrow, Tuesday, at 10 AM PST (more info here).

***update***most of the items sold out in the first hour of the sale. morgan has indicated that she will be adding more items Wednesday morning (seems people are still sending things to her!), again at 10 AM PST.

I hope you will check it out...and think about buying a little something for you or for someone in your life...something infused with the goodness of people coming together to help one another.

Additionally, from now through Sunday, I will donate $3 from each sale of the Soul Mantra pendant "Seek Peace" to the NieNie benefit fund.

rainy. sunny.

1. rainy day bike, 2. september 08 049
(click to see a bigger version of our diptych)

two girls, two clicks.
a flickr group started by andie and kristin.
two girls on two coasts.
one diptych each week.
starting this week, miss geek ink and i are joining in on the fun.

(PS does anyone know how to make the center of my blog wider so that i can use bigger photos or not have the photos crop automatically [like in the previous post]? help oh wise bloggers)