Colors and Canines

I'm in a summer slumber slump. Warm air makes me tired, the rhythm of a rotating fan makes me sleepy and my projects are in a holding pattern. This summer has gone by faster than ever...only two weeks until college classes begin again.

We dog-sat for half the summer. Tom brought home an out-of-town coworker's Whippet/Pug mix named Toby and after we vacuumed up the fog of shedding hair, we had a high old time playing with the little bundle of innocence and love.



I'm in the prepping stages of another picture for the house. I got the idea after leafing through a House Beautiful magazine. With the gazillion and one paint chips that I've collected, (while others collect pottery or recipes, I collect color) I'm going to puzzle together over two hundred squares into a colorful grid of gradients, shadows and light. I plan for it to be 24x36 unless I can manage to make it bigger without going broke in framing costs. It will represent both a love of interior decoration and digital photography (pixelation!)

My walls stay pretty bare until I can find something meaningful to hang on them. I hate going into houses where department store pictures cover the walls and you can't tell a thing about the owners. I want the walls in our house to be a journal of who we are as people and as a family.

I took this picture of the studio/guest room/hangout desk because it's looking mighty colorful and cheerful these days.

Love to all, Bridget

Old Time Rides

This is a little slideshow I made of some of my photos that I am prepping in hopes of selling at a local member-operated art gallery. Wish me luck and turn on your speakers because there's music with the photos.

Superstitious Mumbo-Jumbo

Smile! It's Friday the 13th.

Examining Beliefs for Accuracy

I recently started Martha Beck's new book, Steering By Starlight. One chapter I enjoyed this weekend is about holding up your limiting beliefs in the glaring light of day and, one by one, methodically working to disprove them. So far, I've put a real dent in 10 beliefs that give me a hard time whenever I want to step into a new direction or take a chance. You know what I'm talking about....those nasty little repetitive phrases that run through your head: "I can't ask for help"; "I'm not good enough at _______"; "If I don't do _______, so and so won't love me".

Some of my beliefs have to do with claiming titles that I don't feel belong to me, like creative. In times like these, I find it particularly helpful to pull out the dictionary to get a clear understanding of the true meaning of words. (I tend to be quite literal.) Take for instance the time when I had my first child....by C-section. For a week or two afterward, I didn't feel like I had the right to say I'd given birth. I felt more like I'd had my child surgically removed, essentially failing the big final exam of pregnancy and the first big test of motherhood. It wasn't until I looked into the dictionary and read 1a: the emergence of a new individual from the body of its parent that I felt I could claim the right to say I'd given birth.

Another word I looked up in my belief dispelling quest was passion, in regards to career, which is something I've been trying to discover for years. I was stunned that the particular definition I was looking for was #4 in the list of definitions. The FIRST one was suffering, being acted upon. It claims that this definition is now obsolete, but after spending years seeking out my passion via books by every popular "expert" with not too much luck, I find this definition not as obsolete as Websters may think.


Consider taking some time and working to pull the rug out from under a few of your own limiting beliefs. Ask yourself, 1) Is this belief true ALL the time; 2) Can you think of a hypothetical situation where your belief would be untrue; 3) Is there anyone through history or that you know personally who broke the "rule" and things worked out great; and 4) Would you wish this belief on a loved one. Get yourself a cup of tea and a pad of paper and start breaking free.

Best Wishes, Bridget

Day Trips

I've been on a few mini adventures with my camera as of late and have some photos to share. The first trip was to Coronado (California) on Mother's Day when I went down for an Historic Home Tour. I love going on old home tours. I just plain love old homes. They have a character that new homes can't even begin to imitate. We weren't allowed to take pictures of the interiors of the homes we were touring, so I just took out my camera on the walks in-between houses.






Last weekend, I ventured over to the Lavendar Fields in Valley Center. They have all kinds of organic lavendar blooming on a hillside at the end of a dirt road. It was a beautiful relief from the surrounding dry Southern California landscape, something my green loving, East Coast soul needed. Enjoy!

An Hour Till Noon

I've got the whole afternoon stretching out in front of me with no particular obligations to meet. Today is my 22nd Anniversary but dear hubby Tom is in class all day, so celebrating will have to wait until he gets home.

Last weekend we spent cruising festivals. Saturday was the Artwalk festival in Little Italy, San Diego and Sunday we went to the Street Faire in Encinitas. I found an artist, Marna Schindler (see link in sidebar) at the Artwalk that paints beautiful colorful and joyful pictures of animals and landscapes. I brought home the two little lovebirds, called Little Buddies, and the picture of "Happy Hank" the dog
because it makes me just that, happy. I love going to art festivals and getting inspired. You can always feel the passion that artists have for their particular creative outlet and that's always something I've wanted to find for myself. This has been a tremendous point of muddled confusion and longing on my part. Many years and find-your-passion books later, I feel like I'm narrowing it down but am still unsettled. I love vintage things and home decorating; I enjoy photography and graphic design. If you have a passion, how did you know that that was what it was that you wanted to focus on and how do you separate it from other things in your life that you enjoy doing? I figure that I already know in my heart what my passion is but have not had the confidence in myself to recognize it.

I'm taking a class in Adobe Illustrator and this week, had to turn in a logo project. I decided to make a logo for the fantasy decorating shop that I have in my head. I call it Homebody. It's full of all my favorite things: vintage pine furniture, big comfy slipcovered chairs, clocks with kind faces, ironstone, art from local artists, pillows made from recycled sweaters or that have appliques stitched on them, candles and soaps with floral scents, quotes in whatever form, hints of graphics - typography with letters and numbers, inspiring books, colorful pottery, uplifting music, photographs, architectural remnants, vases with flowers, things in the shape of a star, and anything else that catches my fancy. I hope you all come.

Quotes

I love quotes. I'm a Mom. So one way I like to pass along words of wisdom without appearing too pushy (I have teenagers) is with this blackboard that's hanging by the front door. I keep a notebook of quotes that I've found online, from books, and hear from television or movies. I'll change the quote out every so often and try to post one that applies to something that is going on in our life. Or just put up a funny quote to make people smile when they come in the door. I hope, when my kids are grown, that they remember one or two words of wisdom from the board that helped them along the way.

Saving Up

Like a squirrel who saves up walnuts for winter, I've been collecting, storing and, frankly, daydreaming over pictures that I've been saving for years that show styles I like and want to incorporate into my home when my husband finally retires from the Coast Guard and we settle in somewhere. I rip or clip pictures and file them in a large binder (I'm up to 2 binders now) or I put them into my "Dream Book" which is a little sketchbook that is almost completely full of inspirational photos. These books are among my most treasured possessions.

Martha Stewart Move Aside!

I love these little cups from Crate and Barrel. When I prep fresh ingre-dients early in the day, I put the chopped food in these little cups so that when I'm cooking, I can just line them up and throw them in the pan. It's wonderful!! This little step makes cooking (something I'm not that fond of) a little more beautiful, a lot more bearable and so much less hectic.

20 Years of the Gypsy Life

Five different homes in 20 years, moving with my husband who is in the Coast Guard. I've been trying to think of some way to commemorate our travels and after being inspired by an art piece in a Pottery Barn catalog, this is what I have come up with. Now there's a matter of how to get it printed....... Hmmmm....

From My Home to Yours

I've just recently discovered the joy of reading the blogs of kindred spirits who are sharing their lives and thoughts with friends they have yet to meet. I was inspired to start my own so that I could communicate with my family who live too far away and also perhaps meet some new friends. Welcome to my world!