spring time fun

A few weeks ago Jenn came into town for a spa weekend. We only see each other maybe once or twice a year (we have been a lot better about that which has been great) so it was fun to get away and enjoy...


cupcakes, tech storage drive, more cupcakes, room service (angel food cake french toast, um yes please) the superb acting of J-Love, a "couples" massage, cute stuff at even cuter stores ( I bought a turtle plate!) the beauty of Boulder CO, orchids and bath salts (not those zombie face eating kinds), very cute maxi dresses (we never took a picture!) and a whole lot of driving courtesy of Jenn and her trusty GPS. ( I hate driving and I miss Jenn's big red truck too)


Thank you Jenn, for making the trip out here. It was so much fun and I always enjoy spending time with this wonderful person/art soul-sister I used to live with :-) I was lucky enough to travel the very next weekend to spend Jenn's 30th birthday with her. I wish I had some pictures of the absolutely gorgeous party she put together. It was lovely!


Here is the evidence of our trek around beautiful Colorado...

no words...just close-ups

seeking inspiration and love

A while ago I painted over this odd little landscape with white paint and stuck on the word "passion" cut out of a magazine. A few weeks/months/possibly years passed and I tried to pull off the glued piece. This is the result:

I kind of enjoyed how it looked, envisioning raw passion just emerging from the rubble of...something. It was a little dry and fungus looking though so I added some more paint and other words to the painting, including a note that Jenn had given me a long time ago. The note was intended to inspire writing topics so it's definitely fitting. Here is the final version:

Love it. It moves me and motivates me. I liked the playing and mixing of paint with words so I decided to do another painting in honor of my love, Jeffrey. I have been going through old letters, cards, love notes, lots of memories lately. I found an email that he had written me when we were still in college, busy writing papers and doing a thousand things, missing each other always. In the email he wrote: "Even though I can't talk to you, I'm thinking about you Allison. Constantly." This is before we ever said those three significant words or maybe even totally knew how deep our love really was/is for each other. I included some other notes, a piece of my diary from that time and a postcard that has the word "talk." Communication is obviously a really important part of any relationship and my communication with Jeff has always been special and constant, right from the very beginning. I have boxes of letters and emails to prove it! I also found a map that Jeff had made for me to find him when I came to visit him one of the first times at his school. I still love the little trees he drew. The colors are a blend of colors we both like, some cool blues and greens and some more earthy tones. The vibe is kind of hazy which fits my floating feeling of falling in love and melding together with another soul.


This piece is for me and it fits right in with the desire for inspiration. I call it "Constantly."

I heart my journal

oh yes, I have had many a journal over the years. I have kept most of them, especially the ones I wrote diligently in through high school and my first year of college. Mysteriously I stopped writing my feelings in a journal when I was nineteen and starting dating Jeff...before that I must have had a lot to bitch about!

It is fun and silly and kind of sort of embarrassing to read old entries. Some are touching, others tragically over dramatic and some just plain sad. I have had a few sad moments in my life and I managed to chronicle those with a great intensity. There are also some moments that were just too hard to bear with and I never had the strength to write them down. I guess I never wanted to give those feelings a face and a name, even tucked away inside my private diary.

I have had journals of my poetry and journals where I wrote down other writers poetry and things that just spoke to me, things I wanted to remember. I have had journals full of pictures and bits and pieces I either collected or were given to me by friends.

I have had journals where I detailed everything I ate, what I weighed and my exercise, one I kept for almost a year. I threw it away because I didn't want a physical reminder of recording that kind of thing. Not saying it's a bad thing to do...just not the best thing for me.

I have a journal where I write things I want to include in my novel, little thoughts or phrases that form sentences and eventually inspire chapters or character actions essential to the story. I started writing potential song lyrics in there too.

I had a journal that was a notebook between me and one of my childhood friends Katie. We elevated the high school note writing to notebook status and wrote each other back and forth all year long. I was always so excited to see what she wrote me that day.

I decided I needed something like that for Jeff when we were dating and not living in the same city. We have a little journal full of notes and silly drawings, poems and thoughts between each other.


I have had many sketchbooks that doubled as journals because along with drawings I included scraps of other inspirational types of things and sometimes notes about what I was thinking or feeling at the time.


I have journals detailing trips I took, one special one from my life changing, thought altering alternative spring break in Chicago. 

Other than notes for my novel, I stopped writing in a journal for a long time and instead wrote things on pieces of paper. I made lists and reminders to myself. I even taped sticky notes to my phone (I have yet to invest in any kind of awesome phone due to my not answering the one I have) of things I wanted to remember. Some of these scraps of paper ended up folded and quartered and shoved in my purse and a few months ago I found myself digging through them, unfolding them to see what they said. Then I realized I had a new journal, one that Jenn made for me.

It's so pretty and perfect. I came to the realization I needed to start a journal again. Badly. This journal could have everything in it: my art wish list, goals for the week, recipes, reminders, lists and fun thoughts.


I have carried this new journal around with me everywhere. It sits on my desk at work and I find myself flipping it open to write all kinds of things, ideas, questions, new recipes I want to try and personal thoughts. Sometimes I will just glue stick different things in that I think are pretty. It goes in my purse and home with me too. I am learning to never leave home without it.


I especially love the bird cage and the reminder to spread my wings. It always makes me smile. 

noticing things

I was drifting around a little on friday, cleaning up the house and just noticing things. So I grabbed the camera to capture these little moments.

I noticed I hadn't opened my box of books from amazon...books for my classes I'm taking soon. I think they look nice  next to my other inspirations for writing.

I noticed I could see myself in my laptop screen. I also noticed it's really dirty.

I noticed it's my favorite time of day.

and maybe that time of day could help make a great self portrait.

or two...

I finally noticed I had actually half finished my chalking up the word "goals" on my chalkboard wall. Ironic huh?

It's a wonderful thing I have my new-ish journal to keep all of my goals and ideas flowing. Hey, I should talk about my journals...I think I will write about that tomorrow. Enjoy your sunday noticing the little things...

the miracle of life...

we joked a lot about that phrase during Jalaine's long and rough labor but Saturday August 27th, at 4:34pm what I saw can't really be described any other way. Jalaine and Sean welcomed their baby boy, Grady Brendan Colgan into the world yesterday and it was absolutely the most incredible thing I have ever witnessed in my entire life. I feel so happy that she allowed me to be such an intimate part of this special moment in their lives.


Obviously, I totally get how babies are born and how all of that stuff works but nothing really clicked until the moment I saw an actual life coming into this world. It was insane! Beauty and pain wrapped up so closely inside each other it was difficult to distinguish the two. I remember telling Jalaine that this would be the hardest and the best thing she ever did (I can only assume) and I really believe that. I had a new sense of awe for every mother I know, for mine and Jeff's and the two (make that three!) mothers' in Jalaine's delivery room. I felt an overwhelming feeling of love and admiration for women in general and this stunning thing we can achieve with our bodies. I also felt that admiration for the men that love these women...Sean was so sweet and wonderful to Jalaine. I already knew he was a good husband to her and it was so touching to see him on their journey together, celebrating the birth of their son.


I am exhausted so I can only imagine how Jalaine feels. I meant to spend my weekend painting, catching up on all the paint-less days I have missed these past few months. Grady came early so I didn't get the chance to paint but it doesn't matter because there is no way I could have captured with paint the true miracle of a new life. Love you Colgans!

I seem to have fallen behind

long week, I'm exhausted, feeling sickly...excitement on the horizon...got my syllabus for my first graduate class today.


oh, and I love my new bird cage/bird stamp from west elm 

and my new cotton candy body spray...calgon, please take me away.

happy things part two

random paintings stacked up waiting to be finished

scrap mat board used as a palette

details

using a frame in a different way

fun drawings from college drawing workshop

perry the penguin - a gift from Jeff on our six month dating anniversary

stuff I just need to hold onto

pictures and words I have to frame

my thermos found at a garage sale...have you seen The Jerk? You really should.