Happy Birthday, Halloween Baby !

Today is David’s 50th Birthday !

Happy Birthday, My Love !

I know the number makes you twitchy !

But Happy Halloween Birthday from your favorite Witchy !

 

Here’s a couple of pics from the weekend so far…

Us smooching and hugging at Perkins Cove, Maine on Friday night…

A gorgeous pumpkin fence in Ogunquit, Maine. We really enjoyed our evening, laughing our butts off at Bob Marley and eating a nice dinner at Jonathan’s Restaurant.

Last night, we really rocked our Saturday night by carving his and hers pumpkins…

Remember when that used to be going our “drinking and dancing at the club” nights?…

Not so much, anymore ! This was much more my idea of fun for this time in my life.

I bet you would be surprised to know which pumpkin was carved by which one of us !

Today is getting ready for trick or treaters.

I am thrilled that the usually boring city of Manchester has finally changed the trick or treat time from 1:00 in the afternoon to 4:00 through 7:00 pm ! Much more Halloween-y!

Plus some homemade carrot cake for the birthday boy later on. I bought a 5 and a 0 candle…much kinder than putting 50 candles on the cake, right ?

Hope we survive the sugar coma…

Happy Halloween!

Haiku My Heart Friday

What is right with you ?

Let that be the starting point.

Shine today, Beautiful One !

Head over to recuerda mi corazon for more haiku loveliness.

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A great weekend in the making, I think !

Tonight, David and I are going to dinner and a comedy show at Jonathan’s Restaurant in Ogunquit, Maine. We are seeing Bob Marley, the comedian, not the reggae singer who is no longer with us !

I bought the tickets for the evening for David as part of his (50th) birthday gift. His birthday is actually on Sunday, October 31st ! He is a Halloween Baby who doesn’t really like the whole dress up thing. That’s okay though…sometimes I ask him really nicely and he gives in !

I have organized some other little surprises for Sunday as well.

All kinds of good things to celebrate my sweet, shiny, gorgeous Honey ! Yay !

My haiku today was inspire by a post on Choosing Beauty. Go over and check out the treasure that Liv posted ! She is one inspiring and beautiful chick !

I hope your Friday is full of right-ness !

Big Love !

Thankfulness Thursday–Gifts of Friendship

Belated birthday gifts from my friend Kim, aka The Bodhi Chicklet. They arrived in the mail yesterday from Montreal !

The card has her artwork on it (gorgeous!) from a special day we spent playing at art journaling together. The paper clay heart and name tag where also made by my sweet friend, as was the mixed cd of “music to play by” ! What perfect gifts for this arty chick !

As part of my meditation process and especially when I am having a hard time falling asleep, I start making lists in my head of things I am grateful for. At the top of the list, every single day is my deep, deep gratitude for the wonderful friendships I have in my life and the many and varied gifts that those friendships bring me.

Some of my friends are there for venting to, listening to the crap that sometimes builds  up and has to be let go of.

Some of them serve as mirrors for me, showing me my shiny bright side when I have somehow become unable to see it for myself.

Some of them “get me” so well, it makes me feel so comfortable and at ease with being completely myself when I am with them.

Sometimes my friends serve as the person I turn to when I am in total awe with the beauty around me and look into their faces and see that awe reflected there as well.

Some of my friends need me deeply, which makes me feel so valued and privileged, to really be there for another person, to be someone’s angel once in a while.

And some of them know how to make me laugh my ass off, which is something every single one of us needs !

Whatever the gifts that they bring me, I am deeply, deeply grateful for all the friendships I have in my life. It is truly one of the things that makes this life so beautiful and so worth living to its fullest.

I am thankful for you, my Friends.

Big Love!

Wishcasting Wednesday–Shedding Old Beliefs…

 

 Jamie asked “What do you wish to shed ?”

My first thought was of course, pounds !

But really, even more than excess weight,

what I wish to shed is the idea that I am somehow broken,

in need of fixing,

unworthy,

bad.

I truly believe in my deepest heart of hearts that the only way to improve, to grow,

to learn to really love myself,

is to learn to focus on what is right about me,

what is perfectly imperfect about me right this minute,

and what is GOOD.

Not sure why this is always so hard but I know this is the answer.

I wish to shed the belief that I am “bad”, for my own good….

Wishing you a Good Wednesday, Wonderful Ones.

Monday Morning Messages…

Message #1

No Excuses !

Not even a very bad hair morning !

Listen to the voice that says “Put on Your Shoes and Walk !!!!”

 

Message #2

Especially that big SUCKY one inside your own head !

Tell he/she to f-off ! This is your one precious life !

 

Message #3

If I am not broken, then nothing needs fixing.

I have everything I need right in this very moment to live the life I want to live.

 

Message #4

Love is everywhere.

Have it for yourself.

You are totally and completely worthy of it !

 

These important messages were brought to you by

The Color RED

and the Number THREE.

Happy Monday, Beautiful Ones.

Rainy Sunday…

Sunday afternoon in the Queen of Arts Studio…

Kitty cats are dozing…

Gutters are dripping with the sounds of cold Fall rain…

Smooth tunes are playing….

Paint on my fingers…

Piles of varnished rocks are drying…

Ahhhhh…

Happy Sunday, Beautiful Ones !

Haiku My Heart Friday–The Life Artist

Stop this crazy ride !

I jump off into the Now,

Paintbrush in my hand.

 

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For more haiku my heart, visit our lovely hostess, rebecca, here.

Happy Friday, Beautiful Ones !

Rediscovering…

I have my issues with anxiety. I think it is part of being an ultra sensitive person in this world with so much crazy, hard stuff surrounding us.

Anyway, anxiety sometimes gets the better of me, especially at the more hormonal time of the month.

For the last month or so, there has been so much good stuff in my life, I am utterly and completely blown away.

That is why when anxiety gets too intense when life is good, I get really, really pissed off !

Which, believe it or not, doesn’t help !

But yesterday, I realized that I had kind of let go of one of my very best tools for dealing with anxiety.

I HAVE NOT BEEN WORKING/PLAYING IN MY ART JOURNAL !!!!

Dumb-dumb girl!

David had suggested I do some meditation to help my anxiety. Sometimes that is a good thing, but not when the crazy bug in my head is too out of control ! That passive activity doesn’t work when I feel like I am jumping out of my skin.

But then I was suddenly drawn to shove all my “crafty” crafty fair stuff out of the way and  get out my journal and make ART instead…

Ahhhhh, that feels so much better….

Three page spread in my Teesha Moore style journal…

kind of crappy photos as it is cloudy and dark here and the journal is too big for my scanner…picture it much more rich purple than this washed out blue and lilac…

“Keeping all the balls in the air is harder than you think.”

“When you want something, all the Universe conspires to help you achieve it.” – Paulo Coelho

I am telling you, for the few hours involved in making these pages over the last two days, the anxiety was gone. Present in the present moment, looking for colors, texture, composition, connection, my mind is quietly focused on what is right before me…

Heaven !

Oh, Art, I love you !

You have saved me once again.

 

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Here are a couple of “work in progress” photos of some of my crafty craft fair stuff…

Glass circle pendants/ring/magnet ? pieces inspired by Rock My World rocks – little “one of a kind” collages under glass…

I think I just may need to keep this one for myself…

Happy Thursday, Beautiful Ones.

I hope you remember to pick up your own best tools today.

Big Love !

Semi-Wordless Wednesday–Wearing Purple

Let’s STOP Hate !

Spirit Day, October 20, 2010

(click button to find out more.)

Rocking the Walk…

 

Look what I found in my livingroom today -  a cozy black and white curl up…

Come on, Cheeks, let’s go. It is a beautiful day - time for a walk to rock our world a little…

 

Check out the yellow right in front of the house…

and that orange across the way…

Appropriate for the artist from the yellow house on Orange Street…

Let’s leave one right here on this rock path. I like this one a lot.

Hey, look at this sign !

   

Better do as they say…

This way works too…

Don’t ya think ?

       

Here is some more fine yellow – look like feathers of a beautiful yellow bird.

Let’s throw in some red to cap off the walk.

Back to the studio to make some more crafty things for the Craft Fair in December.

Like these sweet birdie ornaments from an old French encyclopedia pages.

Oh one more thing I just must share…

Every Monday when I go to meditation, I leave Rock My World rocks on a cement wall that leads into the building and on a bench just inside the doors.

Last week, my meditation teacher Deb, found this note on the bench and took it for safe keeping. She gave it to me last night…

How cool is that ????

The Rock Fairy’s world just got rocked, Big Time !

Back to my paper and glue…

Have a super Tuesday, Lovely Ones !

Rock Fairy meets Writer-Lady in Madison, CT.

So I had an awesome Saturday in Madison, CT.

David and I headed out Friday and stayed over night at a Days Inn in Branford.

The only good thing about the hotel other than the location was that it was clean. We both commented that they must have had an excellent photographer for their website…but anyway…

We had prepped in lots of little ways for the trip.

From brand new his and hers phones equipped with texting which got wonderfully used for communication between Patti and I (I have been sucked into this new technology now !)…

to the essential Rock Fairy bracelet that was a gift from the author herself last year…

 

After a semi-okay sleep, we were raring to go and meet Patti and her publisher, Mary Norris, for coffee at R.J. Julia Booksellers before the book event.

 

This was one of the most beautiful bookstore I have ever been in. Think the children’s “Book Store Around the Corner” from the movie “You’ve Got Mail” for adults times 10 ! Just beautiful and so full of juicy, juicy book goodness !

Of course the first thing we did was go and locate “Creative is a Verb” on the shelf.

We both got such a thrill to see it there and open it to the pages where my art is in the book !

Imagine, going into a bookstore and seeing some thing that you have created there ?!! I can imagine how proud Patti feels when she does that, because I sure felt it when I saw my artwork in her creation. David’s pride in the whole thing filled me up even more ! I was kind of filled to the brim all day !!!

We met Mary and Patti for coffee in the bookstore cafe. I gave my friend a huge hug. It was so good to see her in person and look into her beautiful eyes !

I may not know Patti that well in terms of everyday stuff, but we definitely have a connection that is very special to me.

I feel like I know my Writer-Lady Friend by heart.

And I feel like she knows me that way too.

(Mary Norris and Patti Digh – photo by Patti)

I was also very happy to meet Mary, Patti’s publisher at Globe Pequot Press. She is the one who takes such good care of getting Patti’s visions onto the printed page as well as corraling all the incredible art work that a call for art from Patti brings in.

 

She brought me a sweet little gift that she found – a perfect heart shaped rock! I was very touched that she thought to bring the Rock Fairy such a perfect little giftie !

After a short but sweet chatting time, we headed upstairs for the oval table book sharing event. 

There was lots of laughing (photo by Mary Norris), 

  

a few tears, and some creative fun, as Patti shared stories of how her three wonderful books, “Life is a Verb”, “Four Word Self-Help” and “Creative is a Verb” came to be.

 

(photo by Mary Norris)

We all posed for a photo with the tiny, sweet pink crayon apron that was given to Patti by Sheila, a mom who recently lost her 4 year old daughter to cancer. Donna’s apron and Donna’s spirit will be traveling with Patti on her tour.

There was time for a few photo opts with Patti, so you know I grabbed my chance. Here’s the shots Patti took of the two of us.  Don’t you love how we are even styled perfectly for a photo together ? ;) This one was us with my piece from the book.

(That’s my man hanging out in the background.)

And here we are with the box of Rock My World rocks that Patti is offering as little gifts on the tour as well. Love, love, love that !!!! She also have us some perfect “Creative is a Verb” book marks.

I got my three copies of the book signed. One for me to keep. One for my mom and one for my pal Suzanne. I was asked by Patti and a few others to sign my artwork in the book. That is another first ! It felt  kind of good, you know, like an  acknowledgement of  the care and creativity that goes into creating artwork for publication.

I have been calling myself an artist for a while now, because I know that art and creating are essential to me living the life I want to live. But I have to say that having that title recognized on the outside of myself made me claim the title even more strongly !

Kim de Broin Mailhot, Artist. – that’s me !

Any how, it was a lovely day and I felt so very blessed to be on this planet on this day.

 

David and I had a yummy late lunch at a local pizza joint after saying goodbye to Patti at the bookstore.

Then we headed to the city beach in Madison, which is right on the Long Island Sound.

The skies and water views were magnificent !

We smooched a little…

(I love this man so very much. He makes me feel so very shiny !)

 

Found more art in the every day…

and headed back to our clean but not very scenic hotel that we had paid for two nights in advance.

That’s okay…

The dreams were sweet anyway…

Happy Monday, Beautiful Ones !