the beauty in this moment

new rug + timer setting on camera+ app + her joy + these boots over jeans was the beauty of a moment on friday afternoon.

the picture isn't perfect because the lighting was very dim...i might have overprocessed it a wee bit by accident because i sometimes forget how camera+ works...but i didn't want to forget how proud she was to stand still and hold my hand because "the timer is going!" and how her laughter is contagious and how much we both love the new rug and how darn happy these new jeans that fit in my boots make me feel.

getting us both in the photo makes me happy. remembering the laughter and joy is what matters.

yes.

i imagine a lot more photos like this one in our future.

(the boots are two seasons ago of this ecco style. also have the black. love them big time.)

the space between collection

open up and live bracelet

As I move in and out of the roles I play in my life...
teacher, mama, friend, wife, artist, business owner, writer, and how the list goes on...
I try to pause for a few moments
to notice the space found in between these roles
to notice the world around me so I can get out of my head
and back into my heart.

stand in your light necklace

During these moments, I take a deep breath, soak up the world around me, and listen to the words I most need to hear.

i am home necklace

The Space Between Collection is inspired by those words and the colors I see in the in between spaces of my day during this winter season in the Pacific Northwest:

As I look at the window holding my morning cup of coffee
When I walk from the studio to my house
When I notice the changing colors of the sky throughout the day
When I see just a peek of Puget Sound when I pick up my daughter from school
When I walk in the woods and try to just be present to this moment right here...

I'm having so much fun creating with these colors and phrases that have been swirling around my heart for the last couple of months. Like the "Forest to the Sea" collection, creating these pieces felt like a true meditation. And I'm excited to include several pairs of new Soul Mantra earrings in this collection. Almost all the necklaces are one of a kind, but I will be making a handful each of the bracelets and earrings. You can see more of the collection here in my shop.

trust this truth

This morning, I stood in front of my mirror and whispered these words to myself.

Sharing them here in case you need this reminder too...

(If you want to receive stories of my adventures in creative self-care and gentle reminders like this one in today's post, sign up for my [almost] weekly newsletter here.)

truth

Some days I can feel the mending with each breath.

Other days I just hold on to trust by my fingertips.

here

oh this face :: Millie, my daily companion for the last eight years (she's 12)

enjoying :: apples + peanut butter, coconut milk creamer, hearing Millie snore in the middle of the day (always, always)

listening :: I found my long lost iPod nano last month (lost since 2007), so playlists made circa 2006 are in the air around here. Like this one. Feels like yesterday and 20 years ago all at once.

seeing :: Spending more time with the mirror meditation...giving myself space to notice the truth, beauty, realness of showing up as me when I just look myself in the eyes and breathe. (And feeling moved to ask you to join me. More on that next week.)

reading :: This month's Sprout magazine is all about friendship. And Kelly and I have a little piece about how two little Indiana girls found their way to become friends and how it took one of them moving across the country for them to find one another. There is some really lovely poetry in this month's issue too.

loving :: My new Texture mini comfy skirts. I'm wearing them over yoga pants, and the pocket is perfect for my phone and the length is great for doing yoga (and, well, everyday living). I've been wearing Texture for about seven years now and so glad I decided to try this length. Almost didn't because the word "mini" seems counterintuative to someone who wears an XL, but really this length is great over pants (or even another skirt).

watching :: House of Cards (new Netflix series that is so darn good) + this incredibly hilarious video from Ophira Eisenberg's appearance on the Late Late Show (thanks to Jen for sending it over! Ophira is part of Jen's incredible Telling Your Story curriculum) + introducing my studio assistant (aka Ellie's babysitter) to Alias while we packaged this week (I remembered that first episode being like a mini movie but oh.my.goodness it was fun to watch with someone who had no idea what would happen next. oh and hello bradley cooper!)

trusting :: Trying to clear some distractions so I can trust what I hear in the space where the quiet and my intuition mingle. 

noticing :: Spring is returning. Yes. From the buds on the cherry tree to the green crocus shoots appearing, she is finding her way again.

can you choose love today?

It didn’t go the way you planned
(this day, this moment,
this month, this time in your life)

Can you still choose love?

You weren’t your best self
(your ego was in charge
you got caught up
in envy
popularity
silliness
simply wanting to be liked)

Can you still choose love?

You said things you didn’t mean
(or didn’t even understand
or didn’t even realize
because you were so caught up in the old stories)

Can you still choose love?

You have a tight grasp on what was
(you feel lost
disappointed
forgotten)

Can you still choose love?

You miss a piece of who you used to be
(you’ve tried to hide
or pretend you haven’t noticed
or stuffed the feelings down so very deep)

Can you still choose love?

Today
here
this moment
Can
you
choose
love?

I know it’s hard sometimes
I know the push and pull of life can feel heavy
I know the roles you move in and out of stack up
I know you thought being an adult would be easier
I know you have so many stories inside you

I know
Oh honey
I know

Today, I make a choice
one I’ve made many times
one that can still feel hard
Today,
I walk down the hall
stand in front of the mirror
close my eyes
one breath
then another
then another
then two more
and then I open my eyes and say,
I love you

Join me
Choose love today
Yes

***

I often read my posts aloud once before posting. When I did this today, these words felt like a powerful declaration. So I pressed record in case you need to hear them too. Just click "choose love" below to listen. You can also right-click and save.

(And for love notes like this one in your inbox, sign up for my (almost) weekly newsletter here.)

choose love

yarn goodness (a guest post from my mom)

When this cowl meets wrap started showing up in my Instagram feed, I began to get notes and emails from the knitters among you asking for more details. As I've mentioned, my mom has taken up knitting after about a 30 year break, and I'm lucky to be on the receiving end of many of her current projects. 

I've been wanting a wrap like this one for a long time. I pinned several possibilities from Etsy shops and tried to crochet one for myself (which is sitting unfinished in the yarn project basket hiding behind my couch as I type this). When my mom found a pattern that she thought she could adapt for this kind of look, I said a big "YES!" And now I'm hoping she'll make me two or three more.

I asked her to share some more details about the pattern and yarn for those of you who knit (keep in mind she mentions making it a bit bigger for me because I wanted to truly wear it as a wrap and I'm curvy). In her note below, she also mentions where she bought those little flower pins I've been wearing with my headbands (shown in this post).

Dear Liz,

Here is the information your knitting friends would need to create the knitted shoulder wrap I made you:

The wrap is based on the Ella Textured Cowl designed by Rosemary Drysdale, a free pattern from Tahki Stacy Charles, Inc.  I simply increased the size in width (in three stitch increments to keep the pattern) and length and used an 8 needle (rather than the 7 in the pattern to increase the stretch). This wrap (cowl) is not knitted in the round - it is seamed once the desired length is reached. For your shoulder wrap I added the three inches in length (again stopping at an appropriate place to keep the pattern) so it would comfortably reach around your shoulders.

I used Tahki yarn: Savoy, in the cinnamon color which is color 17. This is an Italian yarn with a great 'feel' when knitting as it is 52% silk and 48% Merino wool. After seeing a completed cowl done in red Savoy at Nan's Needleworks (in Horseshoe Bay, Texas), I purchased the Savoy yarn there and received the pattern at the same time. 

Additionally you have asked about the flower pins you've been wearing with your headbands. I purchased the alpaca flower pins and Ellie's hand embroidered alpaca poncho at Rainbow's End Alpacas in Norway, Michigan. All of these items were handmade in Peru of Peruvian Alpaca. 

 

I hope this answers the questions.

 

Love,

Mom 

*****

a note about the photo at the top of this post :: It is pretty intense for a self-portrait photographer to let someone else take her photo. But in this case, I wanted a quick photo of me that showed another angle of this wrap without needing to set up a timer and other things. So I asked Jon to take a photo with my iphone. At this point he knows I want the camera to be slightly higher than my eyes (because it is a more flattering angle for me as it usually is for curvy girls). And then, instead of bracing for a photo I knew I wouldn't like, I tried to just look at the camera with love. For him. For me. Try this the next time someone is about to take your photo. Look with love. (And it is also totally okay to say, "Hey, can you raise your camera a bit?" Say what you need because it is a photo of you afterall.)

five {really} good things and a giveaway

1) Loving the new illustrated Moleskine journals that Kelly Barton has in her shop. I have one tucked into my purse to catch ideas when they come to me when I am out and about. Love is All You Need paired with that happy bunting is my favorite. She's mentioned that will even make custom Mokeskines for you! (And she's giving one away today. See the bottom of this post for more info!)

2) Ellie's new decision that my name is Mama Kitty and she is "Baby Kitty. NOT Ellie Kitty. And NOT Baby Ellie Kitty. JUST Baby Kitty." Love that when she came home yesterday she said to me as I walked into the house from the studio, "Mama Kitty get over here!" There is magic in the air in the midst of the intensity of every day with a toddler. And that magic side by side with the chaos is where I find the joy waiting for me again and again.

3) The truth on this mug is holding my hand on the days I need this reminder to just trust how it all is unfolding around me (mug from The Universe Knows).

4) I've mentioned Anna Wingfield's shop before, but I just have to tell you about two more of her products that I've been using lately because I'm just so happy to have found a "go-to" natural essences shop with products made by someone who puts so much heart into her work. 

I go through cycles of not sleeping well (this is NOT the good thing) and in December I had a series of nights where I kept having some really bad dreams. It was pretty intense. For the last couple of weeks I've been using Anna's Angel Whispers Sleeping Potion. I spray it on my pillow before I lay down each night (it has this lovely lavender smell). And I've been sleeping better. No bad dreams.

Yesterday, I had a horrible "going to bed now is the only choice" headache, and used the Migraine Relief I had actually purchased for Jon to use for his migraines. Breathing in the mint + eucalyptus smell calmed me and took a big bite out of that intense pain. 

And I've also been using the Trust Yourself roll-on perfume because the name is, well, perfect and it smells so darn good. As you can tell, I highly recommend Anna's products.

5) I am totally in awe of the Your Story Retreat selling out in less than 24 hours. Wow. (Thank you!) Dreaming up a fall retreat on the Oregon Coast in the same place. Yes. We still have spots available for the Feast Retreat this April. It is going to be so lovely and intimate.

****

Giveaway!

Artist Kelly Barton is giving away one of her "love is all you need" Moleskine journals today! Yours will be hand illustrated just for you and will look like the one pictured here (and in her Etsy shop).

To enter:

Just leave a comment below in this post (and be sure to include your email address with your comment so that I can contact you if you win).

The giveaway will be open through 9PM PST on Sunday, and I will announce the randomly selected giveaway winner here in this spot on Monday. Please enter only once. Thanks!

Be sure to visit Kelly's shop!

Giveaway Winner: Comment #23 was chosen randomly. Congratulations to Meghan! Look in your inbox for an email!